"We talkin' bout PRACTICE.....PRACTICE"

For a short week (off on Tuesday for Veteran's Day), this has been a long week so far. I think I tend to get comfortable with these short weeks, and don't prepare myself adequately for the rigors of the week as a whole. My day starts at 7am when we get to school. Classes are over at 3:30. Basketball practice (more on that later) starts at 3:45 and ends at 6. 11 hour days are no joke! The first few months of school, I used to pass out on my desk 7th period (a planning period-- no class), because my body would just involuntarily shut down. I've since stopped napping in school, but have made an honest effort to get to bed by 8:30 every night. I haven't been to bed at 8:30 since elementary school-- this is wild! Lately, i've been sleeping pretty poorly too. I tend to wake up every two hours, and slowly drift back to sleep. Even though I budget for 9 hours each night, I usually get about 6 hours of solid sleep.

The past few days have been BUSY. Despite the nonstop action, I've been feeling better about the flow of the day/week. It's nice to start a new advisory with a plan in place, knowing all of my students, and being in control of most things in the classroom. I'm gradually beginning to be on top of things too....it's not enough to know students-- you have to know them in and out. As a special educator, and especially as a case manager.. it's not enough to know how a student is doing in my class... I have to know how he/she is doing in all of their classes. I have to know their situation at home, their background, their level of performance, their abilities, their weaknesses, their tendencies... I've come to know my students in ways that I would have never imagined (sometimes to my dismay). Some of our kids are going through, or have gone through a whole lot at such a young age. Your heart breaks for them, but it's also encouraging to see them seemingly carry on so well despite their circumstances. These are some of the most resilient people I've ever met. My relationship with my kids has afforded me the opportunity to have such meaningful interactions that I really value and enjoy. I find myself thinking about my kids all the time--I just thank God that I don't have to take care of them when they leave school! HA!

The new advisory has had its fair share of ups and downs. I've seen some motivation from some sutdents that I never saw in the first advisory. I'm also seeing certain students remaining in their old ways--failing to turn in assignments, not paying attention in class, and just having a lack of interest in general. Some of my kids become space cadets from the moment they sit in their seats.... no wonder NASA spends so much $$$$$-- I swear they're sponsoring my kids for their daily space missions..... Regardless of the downs, it's been a joy to witness the progress my kids are making. "High School Musical 3's Biggest Fan" has really turned things around. He went from not writing complete thoughts/sentences on assignments to writing full grammatically correct paragraphs with complete thoughts that show evidence of thorough analysis. Others have made tremendous social and emotional growth. It's been a real blessing to witness some guys mature.... it's a slow process... but I've been able to celebrate (with them) their small lessons learned as I see them happen.

The other joy in my life is girl's basketball. We have a squad of about 12-14 girls (6-8th grade) who are eager to learn the game and be part of the team. The problem is that we have 4-5 girls who have a lot of skill... they've been playing for a few years now. Aside from them, the rest of the team really needs to learn the basic foundations of the sport. Practice is wild.... some girls are going behind their back doing reverse layups, while others are double dribbling and shooting on the wrong basket. Obviously, we want everyone to get playing time and an equal exposure to the sport. We also want to be a competitive team.

We had our first scrimmage last night. What an adventure. We started slow... the other squad had this girl who was like 5'9... about my size, and quick as all. She would put the ball on the floor... gather, and be at the hoop for a layup. She must've scored like 15 quick points. Most of our inexperienced girls had NO clue what to do... and were very nervous! Some of them almost came to tears they were so nervous! It was a hot mess. We had some bright spots, and played really solid defense.... but we still have a lot of work to do. After losing 32-14, it was disappointing to see only 10 girls (out of 16) come to practice today. We're trying to create an atmosphere that allows for the girls to have fun and be a solid team at the same time. We have the talent-- we just don't have the commitment and the motivation just yet. For some girls, unfortunately, basketball might not be the best choice for them-- It's hard to have that conversation... seeing how much fun they have at practice and how hard they want to learn.... but how do you keep girls on the team who only show up to one practice per week? But coach... we talkin bout PRACTICE! I'm waiting for it... I really am.

Commit yourself. Be apart of something. It is only when you give of yourself that you can receive so much more. When you give, give your whole self. Anything less is just walking through the motions. Do not let others think that you are committed to something that your heart is not in. You never know who is depending on you, do not let them down. Make a statement about yourself with your dedication and integrity. Be someone and something to someone else. Be committed.

-ed.Prince


Check this out: I've been working on this project for quite some time since I saw it posted on the internet (http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/) awhile ago. You can make your own smartboard (2,500$ touch-screen whiteboard) with simply a nintendo wii remote (40$) an infra-red pen (10-30$), and of course a projector. If your school provides projectors, this could be an excellent tool for you in your classroom. I've had some success with my visual learners (almost everyone can benefit from a visual) already. In this video, I demonstrate a few applications that might be appropriate for your classroom.