I have been on summer break for 2 weeks now, and without a post since February! What happened?
All I can say is, do not wait for the perfect time. My plan was to write again over our spring break in March, when our campus was devastated by the sudden death of one of our Assistant Principals. A coronary aneurysm burst the Friday we started spring break, and he died the next Friday. He put up a valiant fight. He surprised his doctors, his family, but in the end the damage was too great and he could not go on. I could not write, and it is still hard. I cannot imagine what it has been like for his family.
Once, year 2 in my career (over 30 years ago), a coworker told me to take time when I needed to take it, that I (nor anyone for that matter) was not that singularly important to the running of the school. She had me imagine a bucket of water, put my fist in, pull it out, and tell her about the hole that remained. Of course, there is none. The idea was to take time when needed, all would be ok.
I now beg to differ with that idea.
Yes, we need to take care of ourselves, and sometimes that means taking a day off to regroup. But we ARE important and we WILL BE MISSED. Our AP is missed. There was not a day that went by that I did not think about texting him about students, good and not so good. He had a saying, "Living the Dream" and many of my coworkers had shirts made with that. He often told me, "We are shaping young minds." I had a shirt made with that. It is probably the most important thing he would remind me of.
So, that is the pause, why now did I decide to write again?
It is summer, and I will have, again, a different teaching assignment: my most "impractical" assignment (staffing-wise) was removed from my schedule, while another, perhaps more intensive class, was added. There will still be classes that I will not be responsible for planning, where I will be implementing the plans of others, or at least the work sent by others. Now, however, I will again be teaching Math Models, a third year math class for students not quite ready for Algebra 2. I must start thinking, reflecting, deciding how on how I will change what I have always done in order to be the teacher I really want to be.
So, I am reading, and reading! I have about 10 weeks, I want to try to get a book read every 2 weeks. I am writing down what grabs my soul. I am asking questions of myself and asking for help from others. I do not just want to teach this year, I want to inspire. By the way, I have always wanted to inspire and I believe I have been inspiring. However, I think it has finally, after WAY too many years, dawned on me that there are specific things I can do to inspire, I do not have to just hope it happens.
So what do I know now? How can I be more inspiring?
*Share my Passions and discover the passions of my students!
*Bring all my passionate energy to class every day.
*Talk to my students.
*Play games and have fun.
*Tell my students they matter.
*Tie student interests and passions to curriculum as much as possible.
*Find inspiring projects to replace the same old worksheets.
*Learn along with my students and get/stay excited about what I learn!
This last one has profound implications. As a facilitator of work for upper level math classes, I often had NO IDEA of how to do what was given to students. We looked on line TOGETHER, not for answers, but for explanations, notes, videos, anything to provide instruction. Some students had notes, and we looked at them, and decided what would work and the students learned that their input mattered. I danced, we laughed, and I believe they learned.
In my process of personal professional development, there are many books I am reading, or rereading:
*Ditch that Textbook - Matt Miller
*Shift This - Joy Kirr
*Future Driven - David Geurin
*Teach Like a Pirate - Dave Burgess
*Lead Like a Pirate - Shelly Burgess and Beth Houf
*Be the One For Kids - Ryan Sheehy
*Closing the Attitude Gap - Baruti K. Kafele
*Explore Like a Pirate - Michael Matera
*Code Breaker - Brian Aspinall
MORE if I have time!
I am on Twitter, participating in # chats, answering and asking questions, creating, not just consuming. I am stretching my creative self and leading an #altedchat later this summer. I am super excited to learn from others.
I am facilitating workshops: Quantum Learning, Hyperdocs, Retrieval Practice. You see, I learn as much from presenting as the participants.
And I am open and looking, looking for any ideas to spice up my classes, the learning, the teaching, the assessment, the time. I have made a decision to be dedicated to be inspiring. I will do all I can to be just that!
All I can say is, do not wait for the perfect time. My plan was to write again over our spring break in March, when our campus was devastated by the sudden death of one of our Assistant Principals. A coronary aneurysm burst the Friday we started spring break, and he died the next Friday. He put up a valiant fight. He surprised his doctors, his family, but in the end the damage was too great and he could not go on. I could not write, and it is still hard. I cannot imagine what it has been like for his family.
Once, year 2 in my career (over 30 years ago), a coworker told me to take time when I needed to take it, that I (nor anyone for that matter) was not that singularly important to the running of the school. She had me imagine a bucket of water, put my fist in, pull it out, and tell her about the hole that remained. Of course, there is none. The idea was to take time when needed, all would be ok.
I now beg to differ with that idea.
Yes, we need to take care of ourselves, and sometimes that means taking a day off to regroup. But we ARE important and we WILL BE MISSED. Our AP is missed. There was not a day that went by that I did not think about texting him about students, good and not so good. He had a saying, "Living the Dream" and many of my coworkers had shirts made with that. He often told me, "We are shaping young minds." I had a shirt made with that. It is probably the most important thing he would remind me of.
So, that is the pause, why now did I decide to write again?
It is summer, and I will have, again, a different teaching assignment: my most "impractical" assignment (staffing-wise) was removed from my schedule, while another, perhaps more intensive class, was added. There will still be classes that I will not be responsible for planning, where I will be implementing the plans of others, or at least the work sent by others. Now, however, I will again be teaching Math Models, a third year math class for students not quite ready for Algebra 2. I must start thinking, reflecting, deciding how on how I will change what I have always done in order to be the teacher I really want to be.
So, I am reading, and reading! I have about 10 weeks, I want to try to get a book read every 2 weeks. I am writing down what grabs my soul. I am asking questions of myself and asking for help from others. I do not just want to teach this year, I want to inspire. By the way, I have always wanted to inspire and I believe I have been inspiring. However, I think it has finally, after WAY too many years, dawned on me that there are specific things I can do to inspire, I do not have to just hope it happens.
So what do I know now? How can I be more inspiring?
*Share my Passions and discover the passions of my students!
*Bring all my passionate energy to class every day.
*Talk to my students.
*Play games and have fun.
*Tell my students they matter.
*Tie student interests and passions to curriculum as much as possible.
*Find inspiring projects to replace the same old worksheets.
*Learn along with my students and get/stay excited about what I learn!
This last one has profound implications. As a facilitator of work for upper level math classes, I often had NO IDEA of how to do what was given to students. We looked on line TOGETHER, not for answers, but for explanations, notes, videos, anything to provide instruction. Some students had notes, and we looked at them, and decided what would work and the students learned that their input mattered. I danced, we laughed, and I believe they learned.
In my process of personal professional development, there are many books I am reading, or rereading:
*Ditch that Textbook - Matt Miller
*Shift This - Joy Kirr
*Future Driven - David Geurin
*Teach Like a Pirate - Dave Burgess
*Lead Like a Pirate - Shelly Burgess and Beth Houf
*Be the One For Kids - Ryan Sheehy
*Closing the Attitude Gap - Baruti K. Kafele
*Explore Like a Pirate - Michael Matera
*Code Breaker - Brian Aspinall
MORE if I have time!
I am on Twitter, participating in # chats, answering and asking questions, creating, not just consuming. I am stretching my creative self and leading an #altedchat later this summer. I am super excited to learn from others.
I am facilitating workshops: Quantum Learning, Hyperdocs, Retrieval Practice. You see, I learn as much from presenting as the participants.
And I am open and looking, looking for any ideas to spice up my classes, the learning, the teaching, the assessment, the time. I have made a decision to be dedicated to be inspiring. I will do all I can to be just that!
Michelle, I LOVE that you're being INTENTIONAL about being inspiring. I'm with you - usually I just HOPE it happens. I'll have to make a plan of my own. Thank you for taking the time to write and click "publish"!
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