Monday, March 15, 2004
Just when you think it is spring!
It is pouring outside this morning. It is quite lovely, actually. It's interesting how, when I have a good lesson plan and work for my kids that seems meaningful, I am so much more positive about my day and my life.
I am starting a college/career project with my little monsters. Some state standards that they still have to accomplish are writing a research paper and an essay. So I am going to have them research careers they might be interested in and then choose a college, fill out financial aid paper, etc. That way, when they get to a place where they might think of college they will have some experience with the process. I just remember how long it took me to get up the nerve to fill out that college paper work and think it will be good for them to have seen it before. They are also going to write a college entrance essay. Oh, lofty, yes. But we have time.
I am also going to be holding afterschool workshops on the end of grade test concepts. I am a little less hopeful about that idea. I doubt that very many of them will come. But I am going to try to make it seem exciting. I am considering holding some of them at McDonalds.
Spring break is three weeks away! ¶ 4:03 AM
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Friday, March 12, 2004
I had a really good day today.
It was one of those days where I am reminded that Teach for America is right on a lot of what they say about how to teach. It is hard to be a good TFA teacher in your first year, but now that I have my kids solidly under control, I have started using some of their tactics and it seems to be working...much to my delight.
I implemented a process for them to be able to pass their end of grade tests. I have been serious stress case about these tests. But the process is really working! They are taking these small testlets and they get to chart their progress on a graph in their notebook. I also chart the class average on a big chart in the classroom. They are ranked against the other periods I teach. So it is now competitive. I also today added a bonus of the first class to get to 100% on all of their objectives gets a pizza party. I thought that was too contrived for them and expected them to say "Whatever. I can just buy pizza." But they went nuts and now they are asking to take even more of these testlets and begging me to hold afterschool help sessions. Wow.
So I feel good about that. I also feel like the weather is changing and it seems to be bringing with it more thoughts of the fact that this time in North Carolina is ending. I definately feel like I have started the process of disconnecting from here. I am talking a little more with friends in the Bay, trying to get job leads, etc. I still don't know about my transfer, but I guess I am just going to go with the flow. It is a sad time, in a way, but exciting, too. There is always that mixture when leaving one place and the people there to head to another. ¶ 1:59 PM
I had a really good day today.
It was one of those days where I am reminded that Teach for America is right on a lot of what they say about how to teach. It is hard to be a good TFA teacher in your first year, but now that I have my kids solidly under control, I have started using some of their tactics and it seems to be working...much to my delight.
I implemented a process for them to be able to pass their end of grade tests. I have been serious stress case about these tests. But the process is really working! They are taking these small testlets and they get to chart their progress on a graph in their notebook. I also chart the class average on a big chart in the classroom. They are ranked against the other periods I teach. So it is now competitive. I also today added a bonus of the first class to get to 100% on all of their objectives gets a pizza party. I thought that was too contrived for them and expected them to say "Whatever. I can just buy pizza." But they went nuts and now they are asking to take even more of these testlets and begging me to hold afterschool help sessions. Wow.
So I feel good about that. I also feel like the weather is changing and it seems to be bringing with it more thoughts of the fact that this time in North Carolina is ending. I definately feel like I have started the process of disconnecting from here. I am talking a little more with friends in the Bay, trying to get job leads, etc. I still don't know about my transfer, but I guess I am just going to go with the flow. It is a sad time, in a way, but exciting, too. There is always that mixture when leaving one place and the people there to head to another. ¶ 1:59 PM
Thursday, March 11, 2004
Okay. The car is safetly running (knocking on wood so hard it hurts) and I am home. Broke, broke, broke but here. And I got to have a really fantastic and nostalgic trip on the mighty Greyhound Bus Line! I saw a woman vomit out the side of her car as I was waiting at a stop in Raleigh. The man that was in the driver's side was yelling, "That is so nasty! That is SO nasty! Oh my God! That is SO NASTY!" I got a very clear impression that whatever it was that was making her vomit somehow had something to do with him.
At this pukey destination, I also got to fight with AT&T about my new wireless service. Apparently, because I upgraded my phone, my own house is now roaming. I found this out when I got my near $300.00 bill. While I was talking to the woman on the phone, I thought about how frustrated I usually am when I deal with business', so I decided to try a new tactic. I lied, lied, lied. The woman told me that she had kids in school in North Carolina, so I decided a teacher wasn't impressive enough and told her that I was an "educational consultant" and that the reason that I had a Bay Area number, but my bill goes to Oregon, and most of my calls come from North Carolina is that I travel all the time looking at schools and making recommendations.
She seemed very impressed and I sounded so much older and more professional than I really am. For the first time ever, I didn't get any hassle and the charges were taken away and everything! I got nothing but deference. It was amazing.
I have now decided to lie every minute. What could go wrong? ¶ 11:58 AM
Okay. The car is safetly running (knocking on wood so hard it hurts) and I am home. Broke, broke, broke but here. And I got to have a really fantastic and nostalgic trip on the mighty Greyhound Bus Line! I saw a woman vomit out the side of her car as I was waiting at a stop in Raleigh. The man that was in the driver's side was yelling, "That is so nasty! That is SO nasty! Oh my God! That is SO NASTY!" I got a very clear impression that whatever it was that was making her vomit somehow had something to do with him.
At this pukey destination, I also got to fight with AT&T about my new wireless service. Apparently, because I upgraded my phone, my own house is now roaming. I found this out when I got my near $300.00 bill. While I was talking to the woman on the phone, I thought about how frustrated I usually am when I deal with business', so I decided to try a new tactic. I lied, lied, lied. The woman told me that she had kids in school in North Carolina, so I decided a teacher wasn't impressive enough and told her that I was an "educational consultant" and that the reason that I had a Bay Area number, but my bill goes to Oregon, and most of my calls come from North Carolina is that I travel all the time looking at schools and making recommendations.
She seemed very impressed and I sounded so much older and more professional than I really am. For the first time ever, I didn't get any hassle and the charges were taken away and everything! I got nothing but deference. It was amazing.
I have now decided to lie every minute. What could go wrong? ¶ 11:58 AM
Monday, March 08, 2004
My car died.
Yes, blog fans, it is true. The drama of my bad car luck continues.
This story would have been much more interesting if I had written of it when it was at the height of the drama. But I was crying too much, then, and couldn't write.
So, now, I will tell you that the timing belt broke. So the last of the pre-buy inspection repairs have been completed. This is a very expensive car and I haven't come close to paying it off, yet. Ummm.
There has been much Michele-Break-Down-Drama about the dying of the car. Though many of you know that I rarely cry unless punched right in the face, the waterworks have come to town. I believe that age is making me soft. All the crying over Baby Story was, perhaps, practice. Cause I have no qualms, apparently, about boo-hooing to whomever is near me, lately. Not the worst thing that could have happened to me, I know.
So tomorrow I am off to pick up little Goldie from her doctor. I do get to miss school for the occasion. That pleases me greatly. ¶ 2:46 PM
My car died.
Yes, blog fans, it is true. The drama of my bad car luck continues.
This story would have been much more interesting if I had written of it when it was at the height of the drama. But I was crying too much, then, and couldn't write.
So, now, I will tell you that the timing belt broke. So the last of the pre-buy inspection repairs have been completed. This is a very expensive car and I haven't come close to paying it off, yet. Ummm.
There has been much Michele-Break-Down-Drama about the dying of the car. Though many of you know that I rarely cry unless punched right in the face, the waterworks have come to town. I believe that age is making me soft. All the crying over Baby Story was, perhaps, practice. Cause I have no qualms, apparently, about boo-hooing to whomever is near me, lately. Not the worst thing that could have happened to me, I know.
So tomorrow I am off to pick up little Goldie from her doctor. I do get to miss school for the occasion. That pleases me greatly. ¶ 2:46 PM
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Two extremely important events occured today.
1. The students practice End of Grade (high-stakes monster test) test scores came in and were very low.
2. The microwave was taken out of the cafeteria.
One event completely overshadowed the other. Can you guess which one was talked about the most?
During the very long and depressing meeting where we were told how much work we had to do in order to get our kids to pass these tests, I could barely hear the testing specialist due to all of the teachers around me angrily whispering about the absent microwave.
I had been hearing tales of this microwave all day. I received three phone calls (during class, I might add) about it. I had heard no fewer than five versions of the incident. In one version, the vice-principal, in a fit of neat-freak madness, ripped the microwave out of the wall, proclaiming, "If you won't clean it-- you can't have it!" as she stormed away with it. In another version, the aforementioned vice-pricipal had to muscle her way through a throng of children illicitly using the "adults only" microwave to heat up her Budget Gourmet dinner and decided if the students were using it, it had to go.
I don't know what the truth is. What I do know is that none of the teachers around me seemed very concerned at all with the scores from this test. What I can also gather is that the ability to heat one's lunch is considered a right-- not a priviledge-- at my middle-school.
As for me, the fact that we even had a microwave in the cafeteria had escaped me, so I didn't feel its loss. And secondly, I am completely freaked out by the daunting task of getting my kids ready for this test. ¶ 1:06 PM
Two extremely important events occured today.
1. The students practice End of Grade (high-stakes monster test) test scores came in and were very low.
2. The microwave was taken out of the cafeteria.
One event completely overshadowed the other. Can you guess which one was talked about the most?
During the very long and depressing meeting where we were told how much work we had to do in order to get our kids to pass these tests, I could barely hear the testing specialist due to all of the teachers around me angrily whispering about the absent microwave.
I had been hearing tales of this microwave all day. I received three phone calls (during class, I might add) about it. I had heard no fewer than five versions of the incident. In one version, the vice-principal, in a fit of neat-freak madness, ripped the microwave out of the wall, proclaiming, "If you won't clean it-- you can't have it!" as she stormed away with it. In another version, the aforementioned vice-pricipal had to muscle her way through a throng of children illicitly using the "adults only" microwave to heat up her Budget Gourmet dinner and decided if the students were using it, it had to go.
I don't know what the truth is. What I do know is that none of the teachers around me seemed very concerned at all with the scores from this test. What I can also gather is that the ability to heat one's lunch is considered a right-- not a priviledge-- at my middle-school.
As for me, the fact that we even had a microwave in the cafeteria had escaped me, so I didn't feel its loss. And secondly, I am completely freaked out by the daunting task of getting my kids ready for this test. ¶ 1:06 PM
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Sunday, February 29, 2004
Is it just me or did Annie Lennox look completely possessed by the Devil on the Oscars last night? Seriously, I got the chills. And what the hell was up with Liv Tyler? It looked like a joke, but she wasn't laughing.
Sorry to blog about the Oscars...but I watched them alone and I just had to share.
Is it just me or did Annie Lennox look completely possessed by the Devil on the Oscars last night? Seriously, I got the chills. And what the hell was up with Liv Tyler? It looked like a joke, but she wasn't laughing.
Sorry to blog about the Oscars...but I watched them alone and I just had to share.
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