What a day! It was just as busy and hectic as it was wonderful. In the interest of writing in a different genre, this entry is going to be a review of my day…several reviews actually. Think of it as a small edition of Consumer Reports for Teachers. Consumers being the students, of course.
Grammar Concert
No one had ever heard of a Grammar Concert before. I went into this one with confidence that only a teacher who has been winging it the last 18 years can do. Immediately upon entering the theater, it was apparent something exciting was about to happen. Seventy-five 7th grade students gathered on the stage dressed in white tee-shirts decorated in a Grammar motif. (Whoever heard of such a thing?) The theater quickly filled up with parents, younger students, and 7th graders not currently enrolled in Grammar class. The concert began a few minutes late due to technical issues. Upon seeing a 7th grader at the computer to control the music, it was apparent that all students were involved whether they liked the stage or not. It was refreshing to see so many middle school students standing up on stage and having fun with songs that sounded like Barney on steroids. Some of the audience’s favorites included puppets singing about interjections and a couple of ‘cool cats.’ Even without the students singing all the songs as loud as they do in the classroom, the concert was a success. I give it four stars.
Serving up their research topic.
Researching a cold snack.
8th Grade Research Projects
The day the 8th grade students in the High School Prep: Research Class had been waiting for arrived. It was time to pass in the last little bit of their work and learn from each other.As with any 8th grade class, procrastination was evident. While some of the projects showed a lack of effort, many others displayed an over-the-top effort. This reviewer attended -who am I kidding? I facilitated both classes. The morning brought ice cream. Needless to say, we all learned a bit about this delicious treat. Wandering around the room, one could learn about the different types of music, Walt Disney, the history of Christian music, My Chemical Romance, snipers, and a myriad of other self-chosen topics. A note of interest: the student who researched Walt Disney had done it before in elementary school. He reflected on how much more he learned this year and how he would like to research the propaganda of Disney in college. Students wandered around discussing projects and topics until the end of class. This class was a great success.
Checking out a classmate's project.
Everything you ever wanted to know about music.
You will see him in the robotics industry someday.
Everything you ever wanted to know about Drew Barrymore.
You are reading correctly. That says snipers.
Learning from a peer.
The hit of the day - the robotic arm.
The afternoon class took a bit longer to get into presentation mode. It might have something to do with the fact that many of them were trying to hand in things an hour before report card grades were due. Finally, they were set up to go. Within no time, a group of students crowded around the robotic arm. After watching a demonstration of how it worked, they were entertained by the stop-animation commercial made as a result of the research. He was sure to tell them it took 1,002 pictures for an 82 second video. Would you believe it was all done on his iPod touch! Slowly, they began to trickle away and check out the other projects such as tennis, volleyball, Taylor Swift, monkeys, and ninjas to name a few. I was pleasantly surprised to hear them talking about their research and projects more than not. Students recognized their projects were not of the quality they could have been. However, many talked about the research process being a positive one. Students were animated when discussing what they learned. They recognized the areas they need improvement. No doubt, their teacher will bring that up to them for the next research project. I give the overall project 4 ½ stars.
Grades
One of the joys of teaching is grading. NOT. I used to enjoy it when I first started teaching. I am so over that. As a Language Arts teacher, I grade writing. I know that a student has to take risks to become a good writer. I know that a low grade can kill confidence in one’s writing ability, thus stifling possible growth. I know it is important for students to practice reading, writing, and whatever skill is being taught. I like to see proof of that practice. I try to assign projects in which students will have a real audience. Thus, the Grammar Concert and Research Projects. While end of the quarter was good for the Grammar Concert, that deadline was a bit more stressful for the Research Project. I am happy to say after working 13 hours at school yesterday (an of it hour cross country practice) and grading papers for an hour at home last night, MY GRADES WERE IN ON TIME!! It sure does feel good today not to have to worry about any of it. I have earned tomorrow’s parties as much as the students!
The first round of tears happened during the 8 th grade promotion. It has been such a wonderful year with all of them – 7 th and 8 th graders alike. The second round of tears came when I learned I do not have a contract for next year. I will not be returning to Benson Middle School unless the displaced teachers do not jump at the chance for my classroom. Right after she told me, I did my best to remain professional and keep the tears at bay. Unfortunately, they came anyway. About the time the tears hit my eyes, an email a dear friend sent me when I first wrote about the contract situation came to mind: “There is always a reason for things. Maybe God wants you to move on and inspire other students.” I love what she says. I feel that with my whole being. However, it did not make hearing that I have no job any easier. So now what? I am floating off the edge again. My family began the year in two different states. We are reunited again in North Carolina. Both Tony and I with
PREPARATIONS AND PACKING I know you are ready to hear about this epic adventure of ours. Believe me, I was ready to hop on my bike (I named her Hanaa, meaning “happiness, joy, and peace”) and go. But before one is ready to go into the Wild, preparations need to be made. Before I get into the preparations, let’s talk about the importance of naming your bike. My Shadow back home is named, Layla. I can hear you singing along to the song right now. That is exactly where her name came from, she eases my worried mind. Therefore, it was important for me to find the perfect name for the machine I would be spending the next couple of weeks with. Jennifer, my sister, had been calling it Lil Ripper. That name was not going to work for me. I saw the peace sign on the key chain and immediately started researching names meaning “peace, love, and happiness” - all necessary for life in my opinion. And I didn’t want to die on this trip. My thinking was a bit of peace, love and happiness would
From the time I began this blog, I made the conscious choice that I would be honest and open in the moment – whatever is going on. For the most part, I have done that. After struggling about whether to write about this particular challenge (let alone share it), I chose to do the uncomfortable and do both – write and share. “Your certification has not even been processed yet. Probably won’t happen until at least the middle of January.” I took a deep breath as I heard those words a couple weeks ago and I realized what that meant. Christmas would look very different than originally planned. The retroactive pay that Santa was counting on to make the holiday something special for our family would not be coming. I took a deep breath as I hung up the phone and walked out of my classroom, despair bombarding the hope and excitement of the upcoming holiday. A tornado of thoughts began whirling in my head as I walked to the guidance office. Playing with our budget in my head trying to
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