Week Two

Seems like it's been more than two weeks, and yet it's really been only a few days. It's a weird balance to think about. Traditional time moves by, but because of our A/B type schedule, every week is really only two days of class. It's like a weird time warp!

Weird time warp or not, we seem to be making progress. We've finished reading Who Moved My Cheese and set up our Imbee accounts. About me projects will be coming in this week, and we'll be getting into poetry some.

The end of Who Moved My Cheese opened the door to some interesting ideas about what holds us back. We also explored what kinds of old cheese we've been holding on to even though we know better. We've started to think about ways we can embrace change and be better people.

Our Imbee accounts have opened doors of self expression! The first blog was about the first week of school or "cheese." Most of the students have finished that first blog, and a lot of them have gone beyond that to write several. We still need to discuss what exactly a blog is, but they're getting it. I've managed to read quite a few and leave comments.

One of the things I like about using Imbee is that it makes the blogs take on a greater importance. They become semi-public (only people on your friends list can read them). Having a bigger audience encourages students to take it more seriously. And It looks like some of the other freshmen teachers are going to set up accounts too! This will give even more of an audience to their voices!

Friday was the icing on an awesome cake of a week. Getting to spend the day with the kids out on the river was incredible, tiring but incredible. We went tubing down the New River. Due to the water and knowing that I was going to get wet, I didn't get any pictures or video, but Mr. and Mrs. Smith did!

The water was a little cold, but we had great weather overall. I finally got up the nerve to jump off the bank backwards. Which was a little more nerve wracking considering how many of the kids jumped from the bank and well didn't land so well.

I could have made it all the way down the river barely wet if it wasn't for a few things. I got out of my tube once to stop for a minute and move through the tubes. That couldn't be helped. The other thing came with different faces but all ended with wicked splash battles. Totally Not My Fault!

Looking forward to next week!