Last night there was a vote on the new boundaries.
The plan that creates the most economic disparity between the school was approved.
For a school that has already been looked down upon... this is just another kick in the teeth... and one that will go on for decades because this was the chance for them to "make things equitable"... and they didn't take that opportunity.
I'm having a hard time seeing it in the extremely positive light that one other person is.
I feel like we are consistently being told to "buck up" and "be proud"... but when you know that they are telling you that in one breath, you also know that in the very next breath they will be berating you for the situation they put you in.
It's like a lose-lose situation... when clearly all we wanted was win-win-win (thank you michael scott).
Friday, April 25, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Moodle: A step in the "right" direction?
Reading today from "THE Journal", an article about Moodle. I already use Moodle in my classes and I agree that the ease of use is fantastic. Another benefit is that Moodle has that "heavenly ceiling" that keeps me interested... always knowing that there is (and always will be) more that I can understand, learn and use.
However there is a quote that struck me. A teacher is discussing the benefits of Moodle and the ease of use... as well as the fact that it often makes one's job easier. "Moodle scores the quizzes, which I can enter into my gradebook without having to deal with mounds of paperwork." Sounds fantastic, doesn't it?? A self-scoring quiz that gives students immediate feedback and gives you the ability to just enter that number in the gradebook.
It is glorious.
But how does that affect formative assessment? Is this really a step in the right direction? Making those quizzes (that aren't really best practice in the first place) easier?
Don't get me wrong. Use Moodle. Definitely. It definitely makes life easier. Take it from me.
But as a challenge for myself with the lens of formative assessment, I will just be looking into other uses of the software for my purposes.
However there is a quote that struck me. A teacher is discussing the benefits of Moodle and the ease of use... as well as the fact that it often makes one's job easier. "Moodle scores the quizzes, which I can enter into my gradebook without having to deal with mounds of paperwork." Sounds fantastic, doesn't it?? A self-scoring quiz that gives students immediate feedback and gives you the ability to just enter that number in the gradebook.
It is glorious.
But how does that affect formative assessment? Is this really a step in the right direction? Making those quizzes (that aren't really best practice in the first place) easier?
Don't get me wrong. Use Moodle. Definitely. It definitely makes life easier. Take it from me.
But as a challenge for myself with the lens of formative assessment, I will just be looking into other uses of the software for my purposes.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Relationships
On my birthday I got to turn someone in who I thought was drinking.
It broke my heart.
I hate seeing kids turn to a place where they need alcohol to even get through a day (whether they think it's fun or cool or whatever is irrelevant). It hurts me to see them there, so I turn them in with the hope that they can get help.
The SRO came to his teacher's door, had him take a breathalyzer and he tested negative.
It was kind of a relief... but then immediately followed by a tinge of guilt for thinking that it might be true (even though I know it could have been true). So I went to his room so we could chat after lunch. I wanted him to know that it was me who had put the process in motion. I think that open-communication relationships are the way to go... and most often I have had the courage to keep it that way. (It's not always easy... but it's healthier...)
I told him it was because of me and that I did it out of a concern place. He was cool and almost cold at the same time. I guess I didn't expect much different. But I was concerned that this would be the end of that connection. Ah well, I knew that, in the end, I did what I needed to for his benefit... and maybe someday he would see that, but I was willing to lose a connection to get him help.
I got a supportive e-mail from his mother that day. I wrote back saying that it was hard because I do think he's so fantastic, but I (like she) want what is best for him.
Then, hurray... the next day he stopped by! The connection isn't lost... and I was still able to show him that I am concerned and do what I think is right.
Kids need connections and it's terrible when their actions that prove that they need those connections even more (i.e. drinking in school) are ones that can (in their perception anyway) burn those connections for good. And then they fall into that vicious cycle.
I'm glad that, thus far, this one isn't lost that way.
It broke my heart.
I hate seeing kids turn to a place where they need alcohol to even get through a day (whether they think it's fun or cool or whatever is irrelevant). It hurts me to see them there, so I turn them in with the hope that they can get help.
The SRO came to his teacher's door, had him take a breathalyzer and he tested negative.
It was kind of a relief... but then immediately followed by a tinge of guilt for thinking that it might be true (even though I know it could have been true). So I went to his room so we could chat after lunch. I wanted him to know that it was me who had put the process in motion. I think that open-communication relationships are the way to go... and most often I have had the courage to keep it that way. (It's not always easy... but it's healthier...)
I told him it was because of me and that I did it out of a concern place. He was cool and almost cold at the same time. I guess I didn't expect much different. But I was concerned that this would be the end of that connection. Ah well, I knew that, in the end, I did what I needed to for his benefit... and maybe someday he would see that, but I was willing to lose a connection to get him help.
I got a supportive e-mail from his mother that day. I wrote back saying that it was hard because I do think he's so fantastic, but I (like she) want what is best for him.
Then, hurray... the next day he stopped by! The connection isn't lost... and I was still able to show him that I am concerned and do what I think is right.
Kids need connections and it's terrible when their actions that prove that they need those connections even more (i.e. drinking in school) are ones that can (in their perception anyway) burn those connections for good. And then they fall into that vicious cycle.
I'm glad that, thus far, this one isn't lost that way.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Showcase et. al.
Last night we had our speech showcase. Students were put into different "rounds" (with verschiedene types in every round so parents could "taste" a bit of everything). It was great. The kids did a fantastic job and the parents were, #1: proud and #2: thankful to be able to see the great talent that our kids have.
Our principal was even there and ended up staying past just the introduction because a student asked her to watch. She liked it so much that she stayed for the second round! She thought our kids did such fantastic work and really was impressed. That is awesome. Of course they dofantastic work and everyone should be impressed, but it's great to have people notice. I'm so proud... and so glad we did it.
We did it!
On another quick note, today I got a little verklempt as I looked up at the kids in my room after school and realized it would be the last Wednesday I get to spend with them "talking politics" and really just enjoying that thing we call speech. They are such fantastic kids and I am really, really going to miss them. Really.
Our principal was even there and ended up staying past just the introduction because a student asked her to watch. She liked it so much that she stayed for the second round! She thought our kids did such fantastic work and really was impressed. That is awesome. Of course they dofantastic work and everyone should be impressed, but it's great to have people notice. I'm so proud... and so glad we did it.
We did it!
On another quick note, today I got a little verklempt as I looked up at the kids in my room after school and realized it would be the last Wednesday I get to spend with them "talking politics" and really just enjoying that thing we call speech. They are such fantastic kids and I am really, really going to miss them. Really.
Directions
Today in German 2 the directions lesson went really well. Yesterday we started the vocabulary from the chapter (using photos with the German words so there is less translation happening) and I had signs that I kept the translation of the sign in original German (not L2 learning German). I was surprised today at how many students remembered some of the words that I didn't even go over with them... for instance, I had spoken about the bike paths in Germany and how some are separated and some are together. Then after speaking about it, I quickly went past the slides that said how to say that in German (not having the students do the normal "repeat after me" thing). Today they even remembered that it was a "getrennter Rad- und Fussweg"... wow.
The second "wow" from this class (perhaps an "a ha"?) was when I (instead of going through a bunch of easy left-right sort of things) put the "nach links" and "nach rechts" on the board and then started giving directions. Students followed and then after three times, they tried it with their partner! Some students tried it for me in front of the class and they did a great job! They needed a bit more practice using the words that were there for them, but they had no practiceup until that point and had felt wonderful enough to give it a shot and really do it! Very cool.
So my question is this: is it because the directions are easy? (once you know about 4-5 words you can do so much) Is it because the directions are obviously useful? (but that's the thing about language... it all is used and is useful...) Or is there something else?
The second "wow" from this class (perhaps an "a ha"?) was when I (instead of going through a bunch of easy left-right sort of things) put the "nach links" and "nach rechts" on the board and then started giving directions. Students followed and then after three times, they tried it with their partner! Some students tried it for me in front of the class and they did a great job! They needed a bit more practice using the words that were there for them, but they had no practiceup until that point and had felt wonderful enough to give it a shot and really do it! Very cool.
So my question is this: is it because the directions are easy? (once you know about 4-5 words you can do so much) Is it because the directions are obviously useful? (but that's the thing about language... it all is used and is useful...) Or is there something else?
Monday, March 31, 2008
Knock on Wood...
But Shawn gave me some great insight into something that he is doing to help work on procrastination. It has helped give me some peace and get a few things done (but today is only day two).
Shawn had heard the story about Ivy Lee.
Ivy Lee went into the Charles Schwab corporation and told them,
"If I can make your employees more productive in three months, pay me what you think it's worth."
He introduced every employee to the 6-thing list...
Three months later he came back and they paid him $35,000 for the improvement. What? $35,000 doesn't seem like much for one day of talking with the employees?
They paid him $35,000 almost 100 years ago when the average worker was earning $2 PER DAY.
Wow. Even with my poor math skills knowing that people today earn a minimum of $5.85 per hour... so for an 8 hour day that's around $45 per day... over 22 times what the average worker earned back then... so $35,000 would be $770,000. Wow.
So here's how it goes:
The following day, Ivy Lee met with Charles Schwab's management executives, spending only ten minutes with each in order to tell them:
Ivy Lee: "I want you to promise me that for the next ninety days, before leaving your office at the end of the day, you will make a list of the six most important things you have to do the next day and number them in their order of importance."
Astonished Executives: "That it?"
Ivy Lee: "That's it. Scratch off each item after finishing it, and go on to the next one on your list. If something doesn't get done, put it on the following day's list."
And that...
Is the rest of the story.
Shawn had heard the story about Ivy Lee.
Ivy Lee went into the Charles Schwab corporation and told them,
"If I can make your employees more productive in three months, pay me what you think it's worth."
He introduced every employee to the 6-thing list...
Three months later he came back and they paid him $35,000 for the improvement. What? $35,000 doesn't seem like much for one day of talking with the employees?
They paid him $35,000 almost 100 years ago when the average worker was earning $2 PER DAY.
Wow. Even with my poor math skills knowing that people today earn a minimum of $5.85 per hour... so for an 8 hour day that's around $45 per day... over 22 times what the average worker earned back then... so $35,000 would be $770,000. Wow.
So here's how it goes:
The following day, Ivy Lee met with Charles Schwab's management executives, spending only ten minutes with each in order to tell them:
Ivy Lee: "I want you to promise me that for the next ninety days, before leaving your office at the end of the day, you will make a list of the six most important things you have to do the next day and number them in their order of importance."
Astonished Executives: "That it?"
Ivy Lee: "That's it. Scratch off each item after finishing it, and go on to the next one on your list. If something doesn't get done, put it on the following day's list."
And that...
Is the rest of the story.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Variances in Perception
Today is the end of the quarter and I had the students fill out a "Grade you, Grade me" sort of end-of-term survey in my 3/4/5 class. This class I chose specifically because I have been using a number of different things in class for learning (authentic texts, news, writing, etc.).
I am finding the results of this survey very interesting.
Questions 2 and 3:
2- Grade the Deutschklasse (not fellow classmates). What activities have you liked that we have done in class? What things have you not liked? What things would you like to see more of? What things could you do without for the rest of the year?
3- Grade Frau Tol as a teacher. What things do you like about Frau Tol? What things do you dislike? How can Frau be a better teacher (no homework is not an option)? Add any other appropriate comments you wish.
If I were filling out the survey, my answers would include some of the following things:
2- Good: Children's book, news, often answering and speaking in German, dialogue journals, specific grammar work and time to improve it, a general theme of stronger focus on the authentic use of the language instead of just memorizing vocabulary
"Bad": I would like more vocabulary interspersed throughout and perhaps more "flow" to the class... a better flowing plan
3- Nice job increasing authentic materials and use. Improve on the flow of the curriculum and more things to get done. Still have fun and keep it (mostly) relaxed... in fact, go back a bit to what it used to be. Perhaps reintegrate more community building things.
In general, these kids have been working harder than any kids in these levels have before. There has been more work and more higher-level thinking and more authentic use than I think I've ever done in the past.
So it was surprising for me to see some kids saying we need to work harder and do more. (And it even came from surprising sources sometimes) "...we could maybe do a little more learning..." (nestled in between two cheesy compliments).
A couple students couldn't have stated my opinion better:
"Frau, your teaching is more hard core this year. Maybe that's why its harder for me to learn...""
or
"I personally like the way the class is run right now. It's not all busy work, like German 1 and 2."
or
"I can confidently say though that I have learned a lot, and it has been challenging."
or
"I like how it is structured to actually learn how to speak in sentences and interpret real German instead of just memorizing vocab out of a book."
So when I am reading comments like the one previously stated about learning or some of the following, I think it's interesting to see the different perceptions... and I'm enjoying considering where some of these perceptions stem from:
"I was disappointed we didn't get to do, or use more German."
"We need more things to keep us busy."
Okay, so maybe it was just three that mentioned that they didn't think we were learning much (my skew of their answer)... but I find it interesting that the perceptions can be so vastly different.
Just a few other things:
I am finding the results of this survey very interesting.
Questions 2 and 3:
2- Grade the Deutschklasse (not fellow classmates). What activities have you liked that we have done in class? What things have you not liked? What things would you like to see more of? What things could you do without for the rest of the year?
3- Grade Frau Tol as a teacher. What things do you like about Frau Tol? What things do you dislike? How can Frau be a better teacher (no homework is not an option)? Add any other appropriate comments you wish.
If I were filling out the survey, my answers would include some of the following things:
2- Good: Children's book, news, often answering and speaking in German, dialogue journals, specific grammar work and time to improve it, a general theme of stronger focus on the authentic use of the language instead of just memorizing vocabulary
"Bad": I would like more vocabulary interspersed throughout and perhaps more "flow" to the class... a better flowing plan
3- Nice job increasing authentic materials and use. Improve on the flow of the curriculum and more things to get done. Still have fun and keep it (mostly) relaxed... in fact, go back a bit to what it used to be. Perhaps reintegrate more community building things.
In general, these kids have been working harder than any kids in these levels have before. There has been more work and more higher-level thinking and more authentic use than I think I've ever done in the past.
So it was surprising for me to see some kids saying we need to work harder and do more. (And it even came from surprising sources sometimes) "...we could maybe do a little more learning..." (nestled in between two cheesy compliments).
A couple students couldn't have stated my opinion better:
"Frau, your teaching is more hard core this year. Maybe that's why its harder for me to learn...""
or
"I personally like the way the class is run right now. It's not all busy work, like German 1 and 2."
or
"I can confidently say though that I have learned a lot, and it has been challenging."
or
"I like how it is structured to actually learn how to speak in sentences and interpret real German instead of just memorizing vocab out of a book."
So when I am reading comments like the one previously stated about learning or some of the following, I think it's interesting to see the different perceptions... and I'm enjoying considering where some of these perceptions stem from:
"I was disappointed we didn't get to do, or use more German."
"We need more things to keep us busy."
Okay, so maybe it was just three that mentioned that they didn't think we were learning much (my skew of their answer)... but I find it interesting that the perceptions can be so vastly different.
Just a few other things:
- A number of kids said they missed the games.
- A few said that although they liked and appreciated the story, it took too long (great feedback!). So that needs to happen in a shorter amount of time instead of a little every day.
- Many others agreed with my perception that we should not forget to learn vocabulary (I have a plan for that).
- Some others commented on the general attitude of the class (some saying I should be more mean to get things done, others saying that they are frustrated with their classmates not being industrious or not participating enough, one other saying that he doesn't like his classmates at all.) I think that this is going to be easily changed with two things: a purposefully happy attitude from me (with fidelity) and more community building... once kids get along with each other, I feel like they are able to enjoy some of the antics that happen in the classroom... and that is often what makes the class. Also, next semester we are going to spend more time in purposeful partnerships/seats. I let that slide this entire term (in many of my classes) and I definitely see the downfall in all of my classes.
I look forward to having a fantastic plan for the entirety of next quarter. I would really like to get it all planned out so that it's finished and I can finetune from there instead of planning unit by unit. That's what UbD would tell me to do (plan with the end in mind) and I might as well do it grand scale!!
So definitely some rest over spring break, but some fantastic work as well!
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