Another week has passed and I'm starting to feel more comfortable in my new role. There is still a lot to do, but some things seem to be clicking. Last week was interesting. Mr. Pitts, my student teacher, started Monday, but I couldn't be there. I had to appear for jury service. I was eventually dismissed and back to school by Tuesday.
Mr. Pitts had Mr. Young to help with Monday and I was back on Tuesday to lead the class. We reflected on our experiences with the "Finding My Place race", the scavenger hunt that never seemed to end. We also filled out collaboration rubrics evaluating our performance and the performance of our teammates during the scavenger hunt. After that, Mr. Pitts had a chance to introduce himself and answer some questions. Off Campus Learning fee sheets and planners also went home. I postponed all presentations until the end of the week since I wasn't there on Monday.
The second part of the week started with Essential 55 presentations. Nearly every group had a chance to present a review of the Essential 55, some more creatively than others. Most groups just read the rules and then "acted' them out. I was a little disappointed especially since so many people had told me how good this group was at this type of creative presentation. After the groups were done presenting, we went through their planners some. We looked at different elements and how to use the planner effectively. We also added a bunch of Friday activities and other important dates.
Friday was a good day, though I did hear a game of witch hunt almost got out of hand. We started the day with a presentation to kick off our Magazine sell. It's a good opportunity for our students to help the school and help themselves. Students will receive $10 for every $50 worth of magazines sold for their end of the year Road Trip! After that, we spent the morning team building through game play. After lunch we watched Dead Poets Society. I asked students to view the film thinking about the 6 areas we will explore through our book, The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make.
I'm looking forward to this week and our first of three University visits!!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Crazy Weekend!
I completely forgot to write my blog yesterday! It was a crazy weekend. With my daughter's fourth birthday and then finding out I had jury service this Monday, I just completely forgot. So here goes...
We started the week with a journal reflecting on Friday's activities at Granite rec. We talked a little about the good and the bad from that experience to try and improve on future Friday activities. A lot of groups seemed upset that groups 8, 9, & 10 finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and the word "cheated" has been thrown around a lot. This Friday we heard more of it. It bothers me that so much energy seemed to be focused on cheating.
After discussing Friday, we went over my syllabus, website, and various links. We watched some of the videos from Friday. We also discussed my expectations a little more.
The second part of the week was spent preparing for the Graduation Project and reviewing The Essential 55. We wrote a journal about three things we liked, then we created a chart with at least three research ideas and products that could be done. We spent quite a bit of time answering questions and brainstorming research and product topics.
From there students were grouped by tables and assigned a group of rules from The Essential 55. They are preparing creative presentations to refresh our collective memories about what the Essential 55 are. I also pulled a few students to record video updates that talk about what's been going on in their classes and what's coming next.
Friday was an adventure to say the least. Students were split into 18 groups of 4. Each group was given an envelope with a picture in it. The pictures were taken in K building and Redwood Park as well as the path between the two. What should have happened was that groups would find their first picture and then find another envelope with a different picture. They would follow this trail collecting pictures as they went. At four places along the way they would run into their teachers who had challenge puzzles. Once they successfully completed the puzzle, the students were given another picture clue and a puzzle piece. At the end each group would collect 33 pictures and 4 puzzle pieces. When all 72 puzzle pieces were put back together, the students would "find their place" putting together a group picture of them.
Unfortunately, it didn't work so well. First when the teachers met and decided on how many pictures should be on the trail, we all thought that 33 could be found by lunch. We were wrong. We may have made the course too tricky. But that factor was the smallest. All teams were told to stay together and follow their own trail. Some chose to pick up any clue they saw rather than follow their own path. Some chose to leave group members behind. Some group members chose to wonder off from their group. Some even claimed to be ditched when really they had done the ditching. And the worst part was that someone chose to take envelopes with clues. By doing that, they left holes in the trail that made it near impossible for some groups to finish.
This was by far the biggest disappointment all day. I had made a point of explaining that the only way to win would be for all 18 teams to finish and bring back their puzzle pieces, and yet some people were so hung up on winning that they ruined the game for others. I hope we learned some valuable life lessons, but I fear that some people missed the point altogether.
As we journey this year to "Find My Place", I hope we can return to the memories of Friday and remember that we may face obstacles and we may indeed run into people who don't want us to be successful but at the end of the journey, it's really up to us to make the most of our journey!
We started the week with a journal reflecting on Friday's activities at Granite rec. We talked a little about the good and the bad from that experience to try and improve on future Friday activities. A lot of groups seemed upset that groups 8, 9, & 10 finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and the word "cheated" has been thrown around a lot. This Friday we heard more of it. It bothers me that so much energy seemed to be focused on cheating.
After discussing Friday, we went over my syllabus, website, and various links. We watched some of the videos from Friday. We also discussed my expectations a little more.
The second part of the week was spent preparing for the Graduation Project and reviewing The Essential 55. We wrote a journal about three things we liked, then we created a chart with at least three research ideas and products that could be done. We spent quite a bit of time answering questions and brainstorming research and product topics.
From there students were grouped by tables and assigned a group of rules from The Essential 55. They are preparing creative presentations to refresh our collective memories about what the Essential 55 are. I also pulled a few students to record video updates that talk about what's been going on in their classes and what's coming next.
Friday was an adventure to say the least. Students were split into 18 groups of 4. Each group was given an envelope with a picture in it. The pictures were taken in K building and Redwood Park as well as the path between the two. What should have happened was that groups would find their first picture and then find another envelope with a different picture. They would follow this trail collecting pictures as they went. At four places along the way they would run into their teachers who had challenge puzzles. Once they successfully completed the puzzle, the students were given another picture clue and a puzzle piece. At the end each group would collect 33 pictures and 4 puzzle pieces. When all 72 puzzle pieces were put back together, the students would "find their place" putting together a group picture of them.
Unfortunately, it didn't work so well. First when the teachers met and decided on how many pictures should be on the trail, we all thought that 33 could be found by lunch. We were wrong. We may have made the course too tricky. But that factor was the smallest. All teams were told to stay together and follow their own trail. Some chose to pick up any clue they saw rather than follow their own path. Some chose to leave group members behind. Some group members chose to wonder off from their group. Some even claimed to be ditched when really they had done the ditching. And the worst part was that someone chose to take envelopes with clues. By doing that, they left holes in the trail that made it near impossible for some groups to finish.
This was by far the biggest disappointment all day. I had made a point of explaining that the only way to win would be for all 18 teams to finish and bring back their puzzle pieces, and yet some people were so hung up on winning that they ruined the game for others. I hope we learned some valuable life lessons, but I fear that some people missed the point altogether.
As we journey this year to "Find My Place", I hope we can return to the memories of Friday and remember that we may face obstacles and we may indeed run into people who don't want us to be successful but at the end of the journey, it's really up to us to make the most of our journey!
We all journey towards the end; but in the end it is the journey that matters.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Week One!
Wow! What a week! I had a lot of fun during my first week as a seminar instructor. It seemed long, but an entire week on a blitz schedule always seems long. We started on Monday by talking about what seminar is and what they would like it to be. I went over schedules and a ton of forms.
Tuesday, we used sticky notes again this time we talked about each class. It worked out well and gave us time to talk about things we're looking forward to and the things that are making us anxious. The graduation project came up a lot, as did college biology. It was good to be able to have a candid conversation about some of these things.
Wednesday, we picked up college text books and tried to pay college fees. The vast majority of the juniors got both things taken care of, which was good. There are still a few who need to go and pay their $7 fee. Of course it was raining on Wednesday, which meant I got wet all day, but at least it wasn't 90 plus degrees!
Thursday, Mrs. Flowers our college liaison came in to help everyone with their student e-mail, blackboard, and webAdvisor. She helped make sure everyone could access their accounts and went over some of the features of each. I had everyone set up their accounts on or social network, http://cechsyear3.ning.com. It's a closed network just for us! I've been very pleased and excited about all the activity so far.
FRIDAY! was so much fun (sorry Brooke). We loaded buses and headed to the Granite Rec for team building, swim tests, and free play. You can see the videos to check out all the action!
We started with The Great Riddle Race! We split the students into teams of 7 and they had to run across the field to hear a riddle. then they ran back to their team to work out the riddle. They could earn clues by doing silly things. Again, check out the videos! Several student ran themselves ragged and a couple even got sick from the heat.
We moved from the heat to the pool. We got a large percentage of students swim certified, so that was good. Mrs. Grogan and myself also so offed some mad skills (not really) on the diving board.
After our time in the pool was over, we had lunch and then hung out and played. There was a football game going on, sword fighting, lounging, and scooter riding. it was a great day!
I'm looking forward to another AWESOME week!!!
Tuesday, we used sticky notes again this time we talked about each class. It worked out well and gave us time to talk about things we're looking forward to and the things that are making us anxious. The graduation project came up a lot, as did college biology. It was good to be able to have a candid conversation about some of these things.
Wednesday, we picked up college text books and tried to pay college fees. The vast majority of the juniors got both things taken care of, which was good. There are still a few who need to go and pay their $7 fee. Of course it was raining on Wednesday, which meant I got wet all day, but at least it wasn't 90 plus degrees!
Thursday, Mrs. Flowers our college liaison came in to help everyone with their student e-mail, blackboard, and webAdvisor. She helped make sure everyone could access their accounts and went over some of the features of each. I had everyone set up their accounts on or social network, http://cechsyear3.ning.com. It's a closed network just for us! I've been very pleased and excited about all the activity so far.
FRIDAY! was so much fun (sorry Brooke). We loaded buses and headed to the Granite Rec for team building, swim tests, and free play. You can see the videos to check out all the action!
We started with The Great Riddle Race! We split the students into teams of 7 and they had to run across the field to hear a riddle. then they ran back to their team to work out the riddle. They could earn clues by doing silly things. Again, check out the videos! Several student ran themselves ragged and a couple even got sick from the heat.
We moved from the heat to the pool. We got a large percentage of students swim certified, so that was good. Mrs. Grogan and myself also so offed some mad skills (not really) on the diving board.
After our time in the pool was over, we had lunch and then hung out and played. There was a football game going on, sword fighting, lounging, and scooter riding. it was a great day!
I'm looking forward to another AWESOME week!!!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
New Year!! New Class...for me...
Well, tomorrow will be the first day of my second year at CECHS. Last year was great, and I am eagerly awaiting the good things I know are to come this year. This year I am on to whole new adventures!
Juniors!!! Seminar!!! Student Teacher!!!
I'm excited about all of the possibilities that each of these new adventures present. It's a new curriculum and a different role really. I'm excited though. I'm easily bored, so all of the changes will keep me on my toes. I'm looking for new connections between the other disciplines. As a team, we're exploring new technologies and new uses of technology.
Since this year's college biology schedule is different, we'll have the whole day Friday for seminar and extension activities. That means we have more freedom, and it also means last year's plans won't work without adjustments. We'll be reading The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make by Sean Covey. We're also going to work with Mrs. Grogan on The Graduation Project.
I'll have a student teacher, Mr. Pitts, who will be with us from August 24 till December. Together we'll look at the world of seminar! I've not had a student teacher before, so that will be all new to me too. I'm sure Mr. Pitts will bring a new perspective to our seminar class. He's finishing up his degree at Appalachian State.
Here's to an awesome year with a new team, teaching a new subject, with new students!!!! Buckle up, 'cause here we go!!!
Juniors!!! Seminar!!! Student Teacher!!!
I'm excited about all of the possibilities that each of these new adventures present. It's a new curriculum and a different role really. I'm excited though. I'm easily bored, so all of the changes will keep me on my toes. I'm looking for new connections between the other disciplines. As a team, we're exploring new technologies and new uses of technology.
Since this year's college biology schedule is different, we'll have the whole day Friday for seminar and extension activities. That means we have more freedom, and it also means last year's plans won't work without adjustments. We'll be reading The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make by Sean Covey. We're also going to work with Mrs. Grogan on The Graduation Project.
I'll have a student teacher, Mr. Pitts, who will be with us from August 24 till December. Together we'll look at the world of seminar! I've not had a student teacher before, so that will be all new to me too. I'm sure Mr. Pitts will bring a new perspective to our seminar class. He's finishing up his degree at Appalachian State.
Here's to an awesome year with a new team, teaching a new subject, with new students!!!! Buckle up, 'cause here we go!!!
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