Excitement abounds. Tomorrow is our last day of professional development before the inevitable beginning of it all. This year holds so much promise... a lot to build on and look forward to. Check it:
Paul has opened a ninth-grade academy for students seeking to enroll for one last year to ease their transition to high school. Our focus is two-fold: providing a curriculum that heavily emphasizes the growing importance of technology and global awareness/responsibility. As an educator, I don't know that I could ask for much more in terms of the scope/focus that we're working with. It's not to say that we won't teach traditional standards/subjects by any means. Yet and still, our focus will always be grounded in purposeful learning that demands a constant evaluation of the demands and offerings of the world that we live in.
Naturally, I'm planning to come correct in my approach to instruction--being that it is my second year and all. Still much to learn, but I've got enough under my belt that I can't wait to put in to practice and use to the benefit of my students and their achievement. Definitely using the technology aspect of the curriculum to my advantage. Got separate twitter, facebook, and blog accounts set up for classroom use. Check me @MrDeShields, jdeshields@paulcharter.org (facebook), www.mrdeshields.blogspot.com (blog). I'm really excited about getting my kids on the blog and on twitter. Trying to do some revolutionary stuff on the blog-- so keep your eyes/ears open.
Stay tuned for the Service Learning movement too-- man... too much to be excited about already. Now I just need to see my kids.....
Peace.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Preach!
Two of my favorites sound off on the importance of teacher evaluations:
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/washington/news.aspx?id=126167
The one and only Todd Johnson is in the District covering Education as a part of his grad program at Northwestern. He was able to catch up with one of the best professors I've ever had the pleasure of learning under, Ms. Carmen Rioux-Bailey.... check her video if you get a chance, and be sure to follow the man, the myth, the legend as he writes about the state of education in DC for the next few months!
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/washington/news.aspx?id=126167
The one and only Todd Johnson is in the District covering Education as a part of his grad program at Northwestern. He was able to catch up with one of the best professors I've ever had the pleasure of learning under, Ms. Carmen Rioux-Bailey.... check her video if you get a chance, and be sure to follow the man, the myth, the legend as he writes about the state of education in DC for the next few months!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Killing Creativity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY
An interesting, and amusing discussion on the problem of the lack of creativity in schools. KRob, as I call him, always has something worth reading/listening to.
One of the more salient points that he makes throughout his lecture is that as educators, we're killing creativity in schools and in classrooms. The "system" is set up to reduce the importance of creativity in evaluating our children. An interesting tidbit that supports this claim is the fact that Howard County schools (Maryland) removed originality and initiative in 1999 from their grading system claiming that there was no way to measure how creative a student had been in the process of actually completing the work that had been assigned. How can we encourage creativity if we're not willing to find ways to reward it? Try to teach a dog to be obedient without any praise, rewards, or acknowledgement-- it's almost impossible... and that's just the half of it. From there, you hope that the dog can apply the principle of obedience to things like responding to various commands, resisting the temptation to urinate on the carpet (something Skippy is failing to do in his old age), and sitting/staying when the situation requires it. The same goes for creativity. We don't encourage creativity enough to expect it in our classrooms. And hear me out, I'm not just talking about telling your kids to be creative on a project or to give creative responses to a question asked. In that sense, we've simplified creativity to an adjective-- something that you produce is/was creative.... failing to acknowledge the fact that the approach, the process, and yes, ultimately, the end result was creative.
Creativity has to be an ongoing process--especially in schools. Too often, I hear, "You can't teach creativity--either you have it or you don't". I tend to disagree with this premise holding the belief that our minds have to be sustained and nurtured in creativity. Children, and especially young children are some of the most creative individuals out. The artwork that children produce is expressive and somehow always seems to come with an explanation of sorts. I agree with KRob's belief that school's indirectly discourage creativity. One of the more unfortunate realities of the education system is that we've stopped seeking the truth and have started to look for the right answer. Truth be told, if we took the time to ask the whys and hows of everything we study, we'd spawn an intellectual thirst that could not be quenched. Debates on the logistics of the "right answer" would lead us to understand that sometimes the "right answer" isn't synonymous with truth. Too often, we give the, "That's just the way it is"-- and unfortunately... the response is discouraging our kids from finding out more... from wanting to know more.
What better place to encourage creativity than in a place that's supposed to support intellectual curiousity and individual student acheivement?
An interesting, and amusing discussion on the problem of the lack of creativity in schools. KRob, as I call him, always has something worth reading/listening to.
One of the more salient points that he makes throughout his lecture is that as educators, we're killing creativity in schools and in classrooms. The "system" is set up to reduce the importance of creativity in evaluating our children. An interesting tidbit that supports this claim is the fact that Howard County schools (Maryland) removed originality and initiative in 1999 from their grading system claiming that there was no way to measure how creative a student had been in the process of actually completing the work that had been assigned. How can we encourage creativity if we're not willing to find ways to reward it? Try to teach a dog to be obedient without any praise, rewards, or acknowledgement-- it's almost impossible... and that's just the half of it. From there, you hope that the dog can apply the principle of obedience to things like responding to various commands, resisting the temptation to urinate on the carpet (something Skippy is failing to do in his old age), and sitting/staying when the situation requires it. The same goes for creativity. We don't encourage creativity enough to expect it in our classrooms. And hear me out, I'm not just talking about telling your kids to be creative on a project or to give creative responses to a question asked. In that sense, we've simplified creativity to an adjective-- something that you produce is/was creative.... failing to acknowledge the fact that the approach, the process, and yes, ultimately, the end result was creative.
Creativity has to be an ongoing process--especially in schools. Too often, I hear, "You can't teach creativity--either you have it or you don't". I tend to disagree with this premise holding the belief that our minds have to be sustained and nurtured in creativity. Children, and especially young children are some of the most creative individuals out. The artwork that children produce is expressive and somehow always seems to come with an explanation of sorts. I agree with KRob's belief that school's indirectly discourage creativity. One of the more unfortunate realities of the education system is that we've stopped seeking the truth and have started to look for the right answer. Truth be told, if we took the time to ask the whys and hows of everything we study, we'd spawn an intellectual thirst that could not be quenched. Debates on the logistics of the "right answer" would lead us to understand that sometimes the "right answer" isn't synonymous with truth. Too often, we give the, "That's just the way it is"-- and unfortunately... the response is discouraging our kids from finding out more... from wanting to know more.
What better place to encourage creativity than in a place that's supposed to support intellectual curiousity and individual student acheivement?
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Guess who's bizzack
http://education.yahoo.net/degrees/articles/featured_five_hot_futrue_careers.html
Apparently I have one of the top 5 hot future careers... who would've thought? It says something about how people are beginning to recognize the value of not only education, but of educating and providing services for those who are most in need. It would be real nice to see a salary increase for those in the education sector-- I know I've had this conversation with most of the people that read this blog, so don't take it as me going back on what I originally said-- let me clarify. I'd hate to see teaching all of a sudden carry the luxury of having a 6-figure income. I think we've all encountered those people who go in to practicing law or medicine or whatever other sector because of the financial security that comes along with it. I'm not knocking the desire to be financially stable, it's something that we all want and are concerned about, but there's a difference between stability and wealth. With that said-- for those who do their job because they love it and are compensated generously... that's the best of both worlds. I'm leery of those individuals who are motivated more by their salary than they are by the purpose and potential impact of their work. I want to work with individuals who are working to improve the lives and situations of those they are serving. There are certainly some that are working to get that paycheck-- the ones who watch the seconds, minutes, and hours tick off the clock and avoid interaction with children as much as possible (bizzarre, I know). If teaching became a 6-figure profession as some have "promised" (Ms. Rhee and http://www.tepcharter.org/), there will certainly be those who are qualified (TEP charter deems qualified as being in the 90th percentile on both the GRE and GMAT--WHOA!) but in it for the wrong reasons. Then again, there are many teachers in it for the wrong reasons now! Anyway, I digress, only to say that I think a reasonable increase in pay for educators might bring about some more respect for the profession. It shouldn't take money to change people's perception of what one does, but that's how a capitalist society operates.
My apologies for the rant-- it's probably because my wallet is empty, HA!
I've been wanting to update for quite some time. My conundrum was founded on wanting to write about something positive, but always having something on the forefront of my mind that might be perceived as being negative. I remember reading through TFA blogs before joining the corps last year and thinking, "Yo, these people hate their jobs", or "I must have just signed up to work in the psych ward of a hospital or something". It's too easy to write about the little things that get on your nerves and stay on your nerves for what should be a few minutes but somehow turn in to a few days/weeks/months. To convey that on my blog wouldn't be reflective of my experience, and of the success of my students.
While I avoided the urge to post about things like dealing with adults (or children trapped in adult's bodies), losing a semi-final basketball game, and grad school, I could not resist the urge to write about standardized testing and how it has become the bane of my existence. For those of you who don't know what the testing game is all about, there is one test that determines whether a school has made adequate yearly progress or not (AYP). I'm sure there are a number of other categories that might have some influence on your AYP report card, but the test seems to stick out as the one factor that can make or break a school. The test is given for English and Math, and students are labeled as being below basic, basic, proficient, or advanced depending on their performance. To date, we've taken four practice tests, the last of which was completed today. From here, we will take the real thing in April.
Our goal: to be 100% proficient as a school. Our mandate (to meet AYP): 60% proficiency or something along those lines. I currently have 5 students that are proficient. The rest are either basic or below basic. On the first pre-test, 70% of my students were below basic, having only answered two or three questions correctly. On the third pre-test, not only had the majority of students moved out of the below basic range, but they had also moved much closer to a level of proficiency. Now, I'm excited because kids are improving at a rate of 3 points per test. Most of my kids started around the 6-7 point range. They will need at least 21 points to be proficient. I try to take the time out to recognize my kids for their tremendous growth as much as I can. I feel like they're insulted by the label of "basic"-- and rightfully so. Basic doesn't encompass how much they know, or how much knowledge they've gained over the course of the year. Basic doesn't acknowledge their motivation, or their desire to succeed. Basic really doesn't tell me a whole lot about where my kids are at. So my question is, what does basic tell you? For the big-wigs who are determining whether we, as a school, have made AYP: what does BASIC tell you? And what do below basic, proficiency, and advanced tell you? I'm really curious to know how we've come to the point where one 90 minute test can measure a school's adequate progress.
My conclusion: testing is an easy solution. It's convenient. A test is measurable, and it accounts for "how well a school is doing in terms of educating its students". What it certainly doesn't do, however, is account for those priceless moments where a student is truly learning something. The most valuable moments, in which light bulbs shine brightest and teachers communicate the most complex ideas in ways that students can understand and master. These moments happen daily... I've seen them. Let's start focusing on the moments that matter. There's only so much that a student can show in 90 minutes on paper. Come and see what's going on-- check out some of the good things that are happening. Don't let a test tell you about our school, our kids, our teachers-- come see them for yourselves. Do it early and do it often-- then, you can be the judge of whether or not we're making adequate progress.
Apparently I have one of the top 5 hot future careers... who would've thought? It says something about how people are beginning to recognize the value of not only education, but of educating and providing services for those who are most in need. It would be real nice to see a salary increase for those in the education sector-- I know I've had this conversation with most of the people that read this blog, so don't take it as me going back on what I originally said-- let me clarify. I'd hate to see teaching all of a sudden carry the luxury of having a 6-figure income. I think we've all encountered those people who go in to practicing law or medicine or whatever other sector because of the financial security that comes along with it. I'm not knocking the desire to be financially stable, it's something that we all want and are concerned about, but there's a difference between stability and wealth. With that said-- for those who do their job because they love it and are compensated generously... that's the best of both worlds. I'm leery of those individuals who are motivated more by their salary than they are by the purpose and potential impact of their work. I want to work with individuals who are working to improve the lives and situations of those they are serving. There are certainly some that are working to get that paycheck-- the ones who watch the seconds, minutes, and hours tick off the clock and avoid interaction with children as much as possible (bizzarre, I know). If teaching became a 6-figure profession as some have "promised" (Ms. Rhee and http://www.tepcharter.org/), there will certainly be those who are qualified (TEP charter deems qualified as being in the 90th percentile on both the GRE and GMAT--WHOA!) but in it for the wrong reasons. Then again, there are many teachers in it for the wrong reasons now! Anyway, I digress, only to say that I think a reasonable increase in pay for educators might bring about some more respect for the profession. It shouldn't take money to change people's perception of what one does, but that's how a capitalist society operates.
My apologies for the rant-- it's probably because my wallet is empty, HA!
I've been wanting to update for quite some time. My conundrum was founded on wanting to write about something positive, but always having something on the forefront of my mind that might be perceived as being negative. I remember reading through TFA blogs before joining the corps last year and thinking, "Yo, these people hate their jobs", or "I must have just signed up to work in the psych ward of a hospital or something". It's too easy to write about the little things that get on your nerves and stay on your nerves for what should be a few minutes but somehow turn in to a few days/weeks/months. To convey that on my blog wouldn't be reflective of my experience, and of the success of my students.
While I avoided the urge to post about things like dealing with adults (or children trapped in adult's bodies), losing a semi-final basketball game, and grad school, I could not resist the urge to write about standardized testing and how it has become the bane of my existence. For those of you who don't know what the testing game is all about, there is one test that determines whether a school has made adequate yearly progress or not (AYP). I'm sure there are a number of other categories that might have some influence on your AYP report card, but the test seems to stick out as the one factor that can make or break a school. The test is given for English and Math, and students are labeled as being below basic, basic, proficient, or advanced depending on their performance. To date, we've taken four practice tests, the last of which was completed today. From here, we will take the real thing in April.
Our goal: to be 100% proficient as a school. Our mandate (to meet AYP): 60% proficiency or something along those lines. I currently have 5 students that are proficient. The rest are either basic or below basic. On the first pre-test, 70% of my students were below basic, having only answered two or three questions correctly. On the third pre-test, not only had the majority of students moved out of the below basic range, but they had also moved much closer to a level of proficiency. Now, I'm excited because kids are improving at a rate of 3 points per test. Most of my kids started around the 6-7 point range. They will need at least 21 points to be proficient. I try to take the time out to recognize my kids for their tremendous growth as much as I can. I feel like they're insulted by the label of "basic"-- and rightfully so. Basic doesn't encompass how much they know, or how much knowledge they've gained over the course of the year. Basic doesn't acknowledge their motivation, or their desire to succeed. Basic really doesn't tell me a whole lot about where my kids are at. So my question is, what does basic tell you? For the big-wigs who are determining whether we, as a school, have made AYP: what does BASIC tell you? And what do below basic, proficiency, and advanced tell you? I'm really curious to know how we've come to the point where one 90 minute test can measure a school's adequate progress.
My conclusion: testing is an easy solution. It's convenient. A test is measurable, and it accounts for "how well a school is doing in terms of educating its students". What it certainly doesn't do, however, is account for those priceless moments where a student is truly learning something. The most valuable moments, in which light bulbs shine brightest and teachers communicate the most complex ideas in ways that students can understand and master. These moments happen daily... I've seen them. Let's start focusing on the moments that matter. There's only so much that a student can show in 90 minutes on paper. Come and see what's going on-- check out some of the good things that are happening. Don't let a test tell you about our school, our kids, our teachers-- come see them for yourselves. Do it early and do it often-- then, you can be the judge of whether or not we're making adequate progress.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Look Harder.
Simplicity kills me sometimes.
While the inauguration festivities have come and gone-- the division created by the election has not. I cannot stress how disappointed I am in people's simplicity. "My president is black... his house is white"... or how bout the text I received on inauguration day, "You know why it's so cold today? Because they said it'd be a cold day in hell before a black man was president"... sentiments like these are killing me. I, along with many other Americans (black, white, latino, asian), have celebrated the fact that our country has come far enough to elect a man who is different from the previous 43-- someone who is bi-racial, someone who is African-American. This is a big deal-- I see the pride in people's faces... my Dad smiles from ear to ear everytime he mentions something about President Obama. The man represents so much to so many people.
I take no issue with an appreciation of history being made--with the acknowledgment that a beautiful change has come. My issue is with the divisiveness that the election of President Obama has already created--the same divisiveness that I wrote about around election time. We have got to stop celebrating President Obama for just being a black man. When I hear President Obama speak-- one thing is clear. He is not satisfied with just being black-- his blackness is not what defines him. He strives to be a good husband, a loving father, a man of the people, and an agent of change. I think one of the tragedies of Obama's campaign is that he felt the need to identify himself as being a black man. Clearly he's bi-racial. He noted on a few occasions that he sees himself as everyone will always see him... as a black man. Our own perceptions have contributed to a man's understanding or lack of understanding of himself. That speaks to our inability (as a nation) to give up the small stuff. We're still seeing a black president before we see a loving and talented leader who is capable of bringing unity and change to our nation. I'm sure that some will criticize me for not "understanding" what this means for "us" and that I'm failing to see the historical and cultural importance of such an event-- please understand that this time... we're really at the mountaintop. The only difference is that we're on the mountaintop with fellow brothers and sisters--black, white, asian, latino, gay, straight, old, young, wealthy and poor.
My apologies for the rant.....
BIG NEWS... I applied for this community grant through the Brown Rudnick public interest group before our winter break. The other day I received word that they would be giving my class 1,650$ for a reading intervention program and some ALPHA smarts! God is good--all the time. It is truly amazing to have someone put faith in you. I love how I can apply for a grant via a brief application online and a group of people can deem my cause to be worthy of their financial backing (and a significant backing at that). That's beautiful to me. I have faith in our humanity because of examples like these.
The girls lost a tough game last night. We fought back and forth all game before losing to Friendship Jr. Academy by 2. Man, it's hard to motivate the girls sometimes. For the first three and a half quarters, it seemed like they were content to just be losing by 5-10 points. It wasn't until they pulled within two that they seemed to be invested in the rest of the game! We're still trying to find ways to keep the motivation consistent, and I think that will come with some more success. Regardless, we're 6-2 with two big games coming up. Your support would be greatly appreciated!
A question to consider-- how are our children? Are they fed, do they have shelter? Do we provide them with enough affection? Are we telling our children that we love them enough? Are we telling them that we love them at all?
Sometimes I wonder whether or not we're aware of our responsibility in dealing with children. We'd like to assume the best-- to assume that they're being loved at home, that someone is there to listen to their problems, that they're not exposed to violence, hatred, or abuse. We assume that our children have been given the tools to survive and live in a world that most of us are struggling in. Do we take the necessary precautions to ensure that our children are getting what they might not be getting otherwise? Are we taking care of our children as if they were our own? Sometimes it just kills me to think about how we bring the defenseless in to this world without providing them with the necessary defenses they need. I suppose the thought ultimately came after holding my four month-old cousin. Everyone was telling her how cute she was (very true), and giving her lots of love and attention. Kind words poured ouf of their mouths and smiles were abundant. I just wondered what her life would be like if she never received any of that. Then I thought about some of our kids.... and realized that was their reality.
While the inauguration festivities have come and gone-- the division created by the election has not. I cannot stress how disappointed I am in people's simplicity. "My president is black... his house is white"... or how bout the text I received on inauguration day, "You know why it's so cold today? Because they said it'd be a cold day in hell before a black man was president"... sentiments like these are killing me. I, along with many other Americans (black, white, latino, asian), have celebrated the fact that our country has come far enough to elect a man who is different from the previous 43-- someone who is bi-racial, someone who is African-American. This is a big deal-- I see the pride in people's faces... my Dad smiles from ear to ear everytime he mentions something about President Obama. The man represents so much to so many people.
I take no issue with an appreciation of history being made--with the acknowledgment that a beautiful change has come. My issue is with the divisiveness that the election of President Obama has already created--the same divisiveness that I wrote about around election time. We have got to stop celebrating President Obama for just being a black man. When I hear President Obama speak-- one thing is clear. He is not satisfied with just being black-- his blackness is not what defines him. He strives to be a good husband, a loving father, a man of the people, and an agent of change. I think one of the tragedies of Obama's campaign is that he felt the need to identify himself as being a black man. Clearly he's bi-racial. He noted on a few occasions that he sees himself as everyone will always see him... as a black man. Our own perceptions have contributed to a man's understanding or lack of understanding of himself. That speaks to our inability (as a nation) to give up the small stuff. We're still seeing a black president before we see a loving and talented leader who is capable of bringing unity and change to our nation. I'm sure that some will criticize me for not "understanding" what this means for "us" and that I'm failing to see the historical and cultural importance of such an event-- please understand that this time... we're really at the mountaintop. The only difference is that we're on the mountaintop with fellow brothers and sisters--black, white, asian, latino, gay, straight, old, young, wealthy and poor.
My apologies for the rant.....
BIG NEWS... I applied for this community grant through the Brown Rudnick public interest group before our winter break. The other day I received word that they would be giving my class 1,650$ for a reading intervention program and some ALPHA smarts! God is good--all the time. It is truly amazing to have someone put faith in you. I love how I can apply for a grant via a brief application online and a group of people can deem my cause to be worthy of their financial backing (and a significant backing at that). That's beautiful to me. I have faith in our humanity because of examples like these.
The girls lost a tough game last night. We fought back and forth all game before losing to Friendship Jr. Academy by 2. Man, it's hard to motivate the girls sometimes. For the first three and a half quarters, it seemed like they were content to just be losing by 5-10 points. It wasn't until they pulled within two that they seemed to be invested in the rest of the game! We're still trying to find ways to keep the motivation consistent, and I think that will come with some more success. Regardless, we're 6-2 with two big games coming up. Your support would be greatly appreciated!
A question to consider-- how are our children? Are they fed, do they have shelter? Do we provide them with enough affection? Are we telling our children that we love them enough? Are we telling them that we love them at all?
Sometimes I wonder whether or not we're aware of our responsibility in dealing with children. We'd like to assume the best-- to assume that they're being loved at home, that someone is there to listen to their problems, that they're not exposed to violence, hatred, or abuse. We assume that our children have been given the tools to survive and live in a world that most of us are struggling in. Do we take the necessary precautions to ensure that our children are getting what they might not be getting otherwise? Are we taking care of our children as if they were our own? Sometimes it just kills me to think about how we bring the defenseless in to this world without providing them with the necessary defenses they need. I suppose the thought ultimately came after holding my four month-old cousin. Everyone was telling her how cute she was (very true), and giving her lots of love and attention. Kind words poured ouf of their mouths and smiles were abundant. I just wondered what her life would be like if she never received any of that. Then I thought about some of our kids.... and realized that was their reality.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Halfway Crooks
So we've reached the halfway point of the school year. December came with the quickness... but things slowed down like crazy post-Thanksgiving. It was like someone told the kids that they didn't have to do work after Thanksgiving. "Yo Mr. DeShields, we ain' supposed to have work... what's this mess? Mr. DeShields... I got a headache (day after day after day)... We supposed to be drawing pictures of snowmen and watching movies and all that"--
Psssshhhh... needless to say, the last 2 weeks before vacation were an adventure. Kids and teachers alike were strugglin. Plenty of highlights though, as always:
-Our holiday program was off the hook. Paul really puts on some nice programs... and the arts department is really committed to what they do. Shout out to Ms. Floyd, Mr. Wegman, Ms. Johnson, and Mr. Saltman for all their hard work.
-The girls won a game 31-0. Unfortunately we played a team of 5th and 6th graders. Frustration abounds with our schedule. The game before, we showed up at a gym 45 minutes away to find out that the team we were playing didn't even have a middle school girl's team. We decided to scrimmage the team's high school squad..... man, that was painful to watch. Our girls did their best, but they were just completely undersized.
-3 IEP meetings in 3 days... all lasting 3 hours each. The IEP marathon was wild... and the meetings were even crazier. Wish I could share the highlights of the meetings, but just know that they were out of control.
Now that we're on break though, I've been thinking about some things for the second half of the year. Leslie and I attended a development session on co-teaching. It was really helpful to learn about some practices and strategies that would work best for us in our inclusion classroom. It'll be cool to be able to implement some of them after the break-
Some thoughts/plans:
-Differentiation has to get better. I've got to be able to address similar needs in different ways. It means more planning, but it also means your class can move forward together (less re-teaching/foundational lessons in the long run).
-Organization is serious. I used to be able to get by with minimal organizational skills, and by passing things off as "looking neat" in college... but for real, you've got to be on point in the classroom. While I haven't lost any papers or tests, I've certainly come close. Word to Target right about now, I need some desktop filing trays.
-More to come as my mind slowly recovers from being in break mode......
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Break is legit so far... and there's still more break to be had....
Here's what I've done:
NAP
Read- I'm reading Ben Carson's new book about taking risks, and a book by the former CEO of HR Block (he gave up his position to become a high school math teacher in kansas city--interesting so far, but I keep sensing his ego more and more).
Watch movies (I'm up to 12)
-Slumdog millionaire is the best movie I've seen in a minute... freida pinto is ill-na-na too... and I shall marry her.
-I waited forever to see Che: The Argentine (or Che Part One)-- it was well done, but was entirely about the Cuban Revolution-- it was interesting to see the dynamic between Guevara and Fidel....Guevara basically did everything Fidel told him to. I read a review that said the movie cast Guevara as being both controversial and as a revolutionary... I'd have to disagree and say it cast him as being a positive influential figure-- most of his controversies stem from post-Cuban Revolution...specifically dealing with him torturing bolivians.... so it'll be interesting to see if they address it at all in part 2?!
something stuck with me from the movie though-- Guevara was big on educating his soldiers and making sure that they were literate-- "One who cannot read or write is easily deceived".... so true.
Spending time:
the best part of being home is spending a good deal of time with family and friends. my parents both work longgggg hours, so i've really enjoyed the past two days with them.
on Christmas, my grandparents, my uncle, and my cousin came over. we had a meal, I passed out, and we all had a great time. it's just really nice to get up and spend uninterrupted time with loved ones.
Psssshhhh... needless to say, the last 2 weeks before vacation were an adventure. Kids and teachers alike were strugglin. Plenty of highlights though, as always:
-Our holiday program was off the hook. Paul really puts on some nice programs... and the arts department is really committed to what they do. Shout out to Ms. Floyd, Mr. Wegman, Ms. Johnson, and Mr. Saltman for all their hard work.
-The girls won a game 31-0. Unfortunately we played a team of 5th and 6th graders. Frustration abounds with our schedule. The game before, we showed up at a gym 45 minutes away to find out that the team we were playing didn't even have a middle school girl's team. We decided to scrimmage the team's high school squad..... man, that was painful to watch. Our girls did their best, but they were just completely undersized.
-3 IEP meetings in 3 days... all lasting 3 hours each. The IEP marathon was wild... and the meetings were even crazier. Wish I could share the highlights of the meetings, but just know that they were out of control.
Now that we're on break though, I've been thinking about some things for the second half of the year. Leslie and I attended a development session on co-teaching. It was really helpful to learn about some practices and strategies that would work best for us in our inclusion classroom. It'll be cool to be able to implement some of them after the break-
Some thoughts/plans:
-Differentiation has to get better. I've got to be able to address similar needs in different ways. It means more planning, but it also means your class can move forward together (less re-teaching/foundational lessons in the long run).
-Organization is serious. I used to be able to get by with minimal organizational skills, and by passing things off as "looking neat" in college... but for real, you've got to be on point in the classroom. While I haven't lost any papers or tests, I've certainly come close. Word to Target right about now, I need some desktop filing trays.
-More to come as my mind slowly recovers from being in break mode......
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Break is legit so far... and there's still more break to be had....
Here's what I've done:
NAP
Read- I'm reading Ben Carson's new book about taking risks, and a book by the former CEO of HR Block (he gave up his position to become a high school math teacher in kansas city--interesting so far, but I keep sensing his ego more and more).
Watch movies (I'm up to 12)
-Slumdog millionaire is the best movie I've seen in a minute... freida pinto is ill-na-na too... and I shall marry her.
-I waited forever to see Che: The Argentine (or Che Part One)-- it was well done, but was entirely about the Cuban Revolution-- it was interesting to see the dynamic between Guevara and Fidel....Guevara basically did everything Fidel told him to. I read a review that said the movie cast Guevara as being both controversial and as a revolutionary... I'd have to disagree and say it cast him as being a positive influential figure-- most of his controversies stem from post-Cuban Revolution...specifically dealing with him torturing bolivians.... so it'll be interesting to see if they address it at all in part 2?!
something stuck with me from the movie though-- Guevara was big on educating his soldiers and making sure that they were literate-- "One who cannot read or write is easily deceived".... so true.
Spending time:
the best part of being home is spending a good deal of time with family and friends. my parents both work longgggg hours, so i've really enjoyed the past two days with them.
on Christmas, my grandparents, my uncle, and my cousin came over. we had a meal, I passed out, and we all had a great time. it's just really nice to get up and spend uninterrupted time with loved ones.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Different strokes for different folks...
So...I've been trying to work on differentiation more and more in my classroom in an effort to address some individual needs, and to allow my kids to work in groups more--we're getting there... but still, another attempt:
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