Jumpin' Off the Edge

Let me introduce you to my soccer team. The most culturally diverse team that I have seen at Benson Middle School. Girls I am proud to have on my team. Girls that will make coaching something very different from what it was with the boys. Girls who have had difficulty getting along this year. Girls who are intelligent, beautiful and full of pizzazz. Girls who I am proud to have on my team. First, there are the girls that played last year. They were the first soccer team to win the conference championship. Five girls I hope will be leaders on the team. They are girls who do well in school – academically and behaviorally. As with many seasoned players with a new coach, they came to me with their ideas for how the team should operate. I listened and politely said, “No. People from last year’s team will not automatically be captains. As a team, you will choose your captain each game.” Even though they don’t quite see it as more than a popularity contest yet, I have no doubt that by

The face of education is changing. In many ways this is a good thing. However, for many of us, the process of getting where we want to be ultimately is frustrating, and at times, challenging. Eventually, it will work like a well-oiled machine with the teachers and students working together to raise learning to a new level. Leave No Child Behind made the country aware of the number of students slipping through the cracks. The law made a strong statement that all children were to be successful in school. While the high-stakes testing is a downside, it has made us sit up and take notice of   data and use it in our teaching. I am not just talking data from the tests, but other information as well. Africa had it right - “It takes a whole village to raise a child.” The mindset spreading across the country is that all the adults in the building are responsible for the success of each and every student. Regardless of position. Whether the staff member works with the student on a daily

From the poster I was awarded at the Leading with the Heart celebration:      When you think of someone Leading with the Heart , you might ask, “What does that mean?” and “What does that look like in the life of a person?” Our Mandie Victor, a seventh and eighth grade Language Arts teacher at Benson Middle School, lives her life with her heart as her guide. She loves our students, even those she doesn’t teach. She gives up her planning period every day to work with students who need academic as well as personal support.           There is no better way to describe her than through the heartfelt words of one of her students, written to her and about her. “You’re a powerful woman. With an open heart, you’re phenomenal at what you do. You’re beautiful inside and out. You’re a loving mother, a loving teacher, and a loving person. Everything you do helps lead people into doing good. You never have anything bad to say. You always have a big smile on your face. You’re very energetic wi

she missed most of the school year absent due to bullying feeling like she didn’t belong encouraged to write she put her feelings on paper and shared them with her teacher her teacher honored to be let into her world the teacher moved and the student stayed put doing what she could to survive to fit in occasionally crossing the mind of the teacher a few years later teacher and student reunited through the magic of facebook communication open once again the student asking for guidance while the teacher marvels at the young woman she has become only shadows of the 7 th grader she once knew remain teacher and student reunite in Orland for an afternoon of conversation catching up and pictures six months later echoes of the student          reverberating in the teacher’s heart as she reads the news memories of the student etched in her soul forever Thank you, Kymee, for all that you taught me.

I am often asked where do I get the books I give to my students to read. Sometimes they are given to me, but more often than not, I buy them. If I am lucky, I find good books at yard sales and secondhand stores. Book fairs are also another resource. My collection is quite extensive. Unfortunately, that collection is 1800 miles away. I couldn’t wait to figure out how to get them into the hands of my students. I had to find a way to pair them up with the perfect book. Amazon filled that need. Over $100 later, the box arrived. I brought the books into school today. Books bought with specific students in mind. Books on cutting, suicide, steroids, racial relationships, girl fights, and jail. Books written by Tupac, Alicia Keyes, Walter Dean Myers. Books that barely made it out of the box before students were asking for them. Students not mine approaching me asking to borrow a book. Before I knew it, all of the new books found themselves resting in the hands of students. My heart beg

TO DO LIST: (for week of Feb. 7 th ) ~ Monday - Write sub plans for Tuesday ~  Monday - Find home for stray dog ~ Tuesday - Take Patti to Early College meeting ~ Tuesday - Take car to garage ~ Thursday – Write sub plans for Friday ~ Every day - Write blog ~  Every day - Go to the gym at 5am THE REALITY Lesson plans took less time than expected on Sunday.  One would think that would leave me plenty of time during the week to read, hang out with family, run, whatever. That was my goal. I was looking forward to doing some writing about a myriad of topics – students moving in and out, family updates, and my attempt at a healthy life-style. Here it is Wednesday and it is my first night being home before 7pm. Between a stray dog landing on my doorstep on Monday and a car that wouldn’t start on Tuesday, not to mention the exhaustion that a 5am workout brings at 9pm at night, this is the first time I have had the opportunity to sit down and write this week. I AM A STUDENT Yesterday at

Remember in the beginning of the year when students were whining every time I asked them to read? Here it is five months later. Oh, how they have changed their tune. Listen in on what they were saying today. A FRIDAY! Dead silence for 45 minutes during first block. All heads were buried in a book. “Mrs. Victor do you ever picture what you are reading in your head?” ~ 8 th grade student “Can I take the book home?” ~ 8 th grade student (I have been trying every trick in the book to get him to read in class, let alone take a book home.) “We should read all class. It is a good thing to do on a rainy day.” ~7 th grade student Students laying under tables, sitting with feet on the desks, wrapped in their jackets, sitting in the hall…all reading a book. ~8 th grade student “We want to keep reading silently!” ~ my entire 3 rd block class when told to get to a stopping point in their books. “This is a great book!” an 8 th grade student. “I am going over to a girl’s house from

If you give an 8 th grader a book, they might read it. If they read it, chances are they find it interesting. If they find it interesting, most likely it has an “edgy” topic. If it has an edgy topic, it will make the adults in the room uncomfortable. If the adults in the room find it uncomfortable, they will talk to other adults. If they talk to other adults, the teacher is bound to find out. If the teacher finds out, chances are she will approach the uncomfortableness with the adult. If the teacher approaches the uncomfortableness, the adult will mention concern about exposing 14 and 15 year olds to teens making bad decisions. If the adult mentions reading about teens making bad decisions, the teacher will respond with research about discussing the issues before they are faced with them. If the teacher begins discussing the research, the adult will comment about parents not wanting their children to read these books. If the adult comments about the parents not wanting their

Four days after I originally intended to sit down and write, I am finally able to get my thoughts on paper. Days filled with shopping for a washer and dryer, rearranging furniture, traveling all over looking for a bunk bed (still no luck), lesson plans, and work have made it difficult for my day to end before 10pm. Unfortunately, it has also impacted my opportunity to get a workout in. If only I could figure out a way to actually get out of bed at 5am when my alarm goes off. I continue to be flattered by the number of people reading my blog. It is not evident looking at either the blog site or my facebook page; however, more people than I thought possible are emailing me about what I write. In one of my last entries, I wrote about going for my national certification. Shortly after, one of my readers sent me a check for a good chunk of the cost to get the process going. Needless to say, I am going for my national certification next year. Blows my mind! My students are talking ab