They make me better

Six days since I have put anything in writing for posterity’s sake. In those six days, there have been many trainings and meetings. Most importantly, I have been preparing for tomorrow. The first day of school. Excitement came from brainstorming with other teachers about my subject matter. We speak the same language. As a result of these meetings and discussions around education, I am going to start my year stronger than ever. What was once a good lesson is now a great one. The energy in the room when we get together is enough to turn on the minds of all who enter our classroom.

As a result of all of the above along with my history of teaching, I have been contemplating many areas in the field of education.  Sitting in a training for a grammar program the other day, I started thinking about all the different approaches to teaching I have been involved in during my 18 years of teaching. Programs and curriculum are only a small part of it. I have taught in a variety of schools: small K-8 public schools, a private school, a larger (to me) 5-8 middle school, and now, a charter school. Until this year, my school year has been the traditional September to June calendar. Other variables I have experienced involved with education include the diversity of both the teachers and students along with socioeconomic levels.  My big question: What makes a school effective? Is it the type of school? The program? The teachers? The school calendar?  I am pretty sure many books have been written about this very thing. However, I would like to delve into this question through my eyes. Unfortunately, I don’t have the first idea how to go about researching it since I have not kept any data.

Instead I am going to focus on doing classroom-based research in the area of students being more involved in their learning. We will be keeping data and reflection notebooks. The goal is for the students to discuss how they are learning along with what they learned and not rely on me, the teacher, to tell them. This is not a new idea. Many teachers have done it successfully and have had wonderful results. I have always wanted to do try it in my classroom, but lacked something I could not identify. I have found it in two other teachers! One of these teachers will be team teaching with me in the classroom. The other teaches the same subject matter. When we get together, we are able to use what we all bring to the table and turn it into something useful and manageable. We will be keeping each other on track and motivated. Currently, we have the skeleton of what we want the notebook to look like. Throughout the year, my blog will document the ups and downs of how it is going with the notebooks.

I also teach a class that is new to the school this year. High School Prep – Research Skills. Seniors are required to complete a Senior Project. However, many of them are lacking in the area of research skills. Thus, the class. The exciting part of all of this? I am writing the curriculum with one of the teachers mentioned above. We share a passion for teaching. We share the philosophy of challenging all students while making it fun and manageable, regardless of their level. What began as a very structured class has blossomed into a final research project that will be open to the community when the students present. How it will all come together is a question mark in my mind. But I can see the end results and they are incredible. Our starting point? The music video, If Everyone Cared. The students will be conducting research in the same way Nickelback did to create their video. The hour commute has been worth every second of driving time. Although, I will not be heartbroken when our move to Wake Forest takes place. It looks like we found a house!! Now to get it all together.

On another note, Sean graduates from boot camp on Friday before being stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington. We will be driving. In case you don’t have MapQuest nearby to look it up, we have over a 16-hour drive. We will be leaving immediately after school on Wednesday and beginning the return trip after the graduation ceremony.  While it might not be the most responsible way to spend what little money we have until payday, it is the right thing to do. In all reality, it is Sean and Sana that are making this trip possible. Both of them have supplied more than a few tanks of gas for the trip. My children have such big hearts! Please keep Tony in your prayers and whatever else as he will be doing most of the driving. (I did offer, but he keeps turning me down for some reason. Must have something to do with the unintended roads I seem to end up on…)

I don’t know how often I will be writing. I know it has not been as much as I have wanted to. I will be reflecting more on what is happening in the classroom, albeit in a multi-genre type of way. I hope. Or maybe I will keep that writing in a different place. I really have no idea. At this point, it is all rolling around in my mind.