It's goal writing time...

It's that time of the year where I have to sit and go over with my principal about goals that I should have for the year. How many of you have spent hours pondering over this topic? The simple thing would be to look at test scores and reading levels and call it a day. However if anyone were to tell you that teaching is simple, they clearly have no idea what teaching is like. Soooooo I was racking my brain over how to clearly state that I would like to have some kind of positive effect on my kids with it being measurable and defined. But there's the catch...how can someone put a clearly defined and measureable label over something that is clearly not...learning?

We all know that students consume information at different rates and styles yet we are to measure them all in the same method and style. How fair and accurate is that? My point being is that if a student who might not learn how to comprehend a story but learns how to stay out of trouble and helps others around him, be ready for the real world of tomorrow? Clearly we would all love for them to be perfect students with A+ averages, but we all know that's far from the case. So, with that being said, which skill or trait would you want your student to leave your classroom and be successful with? We would all love for our students to be nice, and honest, and responsible, and dependable, so on and so forth. If a student who had history of being disruptive left your room with a desire to help others with positive comments, wouldn't that be just as important and vital to a career as anything else?

Teaching is such a demanding profession. Clearly you need to be everything at all times to everyone. Where would you rate job readiness skills in a student with test scores? How would you know if you were an effective teacher to a student?

What kind of teacher are you?

After watching this video I had to think about how I engage my students. It's easy to get stuck in a routine not using technology, but in the end the ones who suffer are the students. They need to be able to learn how to use the techonolgy around us in manner that will aid them in their learning. How many teachers do you know have no clue what a blog is, or what even a podcast is? We need to do a better job of educating and spreading the word out about technology, so that our students will be better prepared for tomorrow. After watching this video do you feel that you are engaging your students correctly?

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Why Work Sucks!!!

I was listening to the radio and I heard Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson talk about their innovative ideas of work culture. Can you imagine going to work and not have to go to meetings, can leave when you want, and show up when you want? Sounds weird, I know. But for some companies this has been just the thing to get morale and productivity up.

Here is a small part from their book, Why Work Sucks:

Do you hate cramming all your work into the weekend?

Do you resent having to beg permission to watch your kid's weekday soccer game?

Are you tired of seeing people who aren't very good get promoted because they arrive early and stay late?

This is a very interesting idea. Going to work, and focusing on making sure that my students are going to get the most out of this year. The purpose ofcourse is to move away from just those who get by just "going through the motions". Both the employer and the employee will look at what each can do to achieve the determined objectives laid out.

I do feel like the majority of staff meetings are well....not the most productive use of my time. Imagine being able to say, "Hmm, No I don't think I'll go to the meeting today, I have other things to do?"

Sooooo.....Here's my question to you, what's your take on this idea? Would you be interested in working in a place that focuses on only the result?

Do you believe???

I know that by know you're probably looking at the calendar and trying to count down till the next holiday. School can be rough, draining and sometimes very unforgiving. However after watching this 8min video of student Dalton Sherman, I'm sure you'll feel energized to get back at it again. Thanks to Wesley Fryer and Sandra Fivecoat. Enjoy!!!

Mother has problems with Bilingual Pre-K

I was going through my google reader when this story came up. At first I was taken back by the title, but after reading the story I realized that the issue of immigration and making english the official language, coming up again.

What's the point in having an english speaking pre-k if the majority of students are bilingual? It is a numbers game, and you can't please everyone, but you at least try to do the best that you can.

What this story doesn't bring up, is that having bilingual pre-k centers does help build the learners into developing their primary language, which, as they grow older, will help them ease into the english language. You can not simply put a native speaker into an esl program, unless they have developed a strong foundation to build on. Which is exactly what this district is doing. Hmmm....What are your thoughts on this story?

Are you a Great Teacher?

This was post was inspired by Patrick Higgins who earlier wrote about Ben Wilkoff’s Academy of Discovery Wiki, and he attributes it to the folks as Science Leadership Academy, and he belives it is something everyone involved in education should examine.

Let’s take a look at some of the words that are used to describe an “Educational Hero” in this picture:

Provocative: the first on the list, and for good reason. What is someone in education if not provocative. By nature, information is meant to incite in us something that lay dormant or underutilized. Giving our students access to such provocation is an act that we need to do often.

Risk-Takers: We teach our students to take compositional risks, to make cognitive leaps, and to attempt to connect several disparate ideas into one usable and coherent whole. Why should we as teachers not be doing the same? By nature, our approach should be daring, and variable based on “teachable moments.”

Balance-Freedom-Guidance: I like the inclusion of these words, and of “nurturing,” because if nothing else, our students need to feel valuable and safe before they can take the risks that they need to. These words, these actions are what makes it easier for learners to reach from the solid ground of what they know towards that which is shaky, unknown, yet incredibly valuable.

Humble: When I work with teachers who are trying to shift away from being the sole arbiters of information in the classroom, I always stress humility over the stress of trying to know everything. Being grounded, centered and comfortable with the idea that you do not have all the answers, and that these students can help you continue to learn, makes it all beautiful, doesn’t it?
Want to be like them: Perhaps the highest compliment anyone in education can receive. With the omnipresent stream of role models of ill-repute, being someone that learners want to be “when they grow up” is no small feat. I remember the moments that some of my past teachers did something amazing, showed us a door that we didn’t know existed, and then thinking back to it years later as I was doing the same thing to a group of students. It is high praise indeed.

As we are all going through our first part of school, I ask each and every one of you.....Do you see youself acting on all of these traits on a daily basis? School life is not easy, and anyone who says it is, is probably not doing it right. However, I challenge you to try to take this task on for one day a week. Then when you can, take it a step further and do 2 days a weeks. The goal ofcourse is being actively involved in each of these components on a daily basis. If you notice that you are simply "going through the motions" try to do your best to come up with a new way of getting your activity done that you haven't tried before. Let me know what your thoughts are on this topic......

To give or not to give.....

I know it's the timeless question. How much homework should be given out? As it stands, I do believe that homework should not be anything new, or difficult. It should be something that the student can do independently without taking up too much time. Yet I fear that there are teachers out there who feel uncomfortable in not giving loads of work to be done home. Old habits are hard to kill, and I do believe that with good first teaching, homework shouldn't be so taxing.

As a former second grade teacher, I used to make sure that one thing that they would always have to do is read and have their parents sign their reading log. As the year went on, I had them summarize and infer on what they were reading. Spelling and math worksheets were sent home every once in awhile. I made to sure to focus on getting what I wanted the students to learn in class which I saw made a huge improvement on their reading scores later on.

For anyone else out there who has been having similar problems with this dilema, here's a story from the houston chronicle telling how one school district is handling it. How much homework do you give your students? Do you feel that you are giving too much?