Many Points

It's hard to write.  Voices in my head (not the crazy ones) keep telling me to wait a day, who reads anyway.  And besides, you reflect just fine on your own .... humm. A few years ago, the great state of Texas decided that all students in alternative placements must keep their regular campus classes.  With that in mind, I added Spanish to my certifications.  When it all took effect it was hard to offer, let's say, all the math classes with a staff of 3 HS math teachers for about 16 different math classes in an alternative setting.  The Adaptive Behavior Center (ABC) housed with my campus also started to offer Spanish, and needed a Spanish teacher.  I started teaching a class period of Spanish to students with emotional/behavioral disorders 4 years ago along with middle and high school math classes AND Spanish at the alternative/discipline school.  Last year, my part of the DAEP was phased out, but I continued teaching Spanish to the students at the A...

It has been 11 months since my last post.  Last year I really wanted to blog weekly:  let other educators know that they are not alone, that others have the same frustrations, and the same joys.  Even more, that out of those frustrations may COME joy.  It did not happen. I don't know.  Maybe I felt intimidated when I started reading the blogs of others, good blogs, with important things to say, and started to tell myself, "You are not that good.  Your message is not that important." Maybe more than intimidated, I just wanted to be perfect, like others are perfect, and say the exact right thing in the exact right way to make ALL my readers go WOW! Maybe I was afraid no one would read, so why bother. Then I went to a great EdCamp, and a session about blogging and podcasts and I remembered my why! (Oh, if you get a chance, find an EdCamp!  It could change your Teacher life!)  I blog to reflect for myself on what is and is not working. ...

As a learner, learning in and of itself gave me joy.  I admit, I do not understand how it could not!  But, I do understand that, at least for the majority of the students that I see each year, it does not. Well, not at least the learning in the way it comes from the curriculum. SmartBoard presentations, Power Points or Slide presentations, even with bells and whistles, is just the same old same old, with noise. I know that challenge works, my students tell me.  But not the challenge of another long math problem out of context.  In some ways, my students are very savvy.  They want to know why, like we all do, and they want to SEE it, in action, in some real world application where they can work together to come up with an answer. And yes, they would LOVE for me to do the work, at the beginning. I taught a group of students how to juggle this year.  Some did not quite get it, and could only toss and catch two scarves.  Marvelous!  They did...

A STEM activity and student hands.  Ok, it may not be a TRUE STEM activity, but he is building a house that he is designing.  We get to talk about math concepts like balance, parallel and perpendicular lines, slope and intercepts.  We get to build a relationship and rapport.  He gets to ask for help and I get to give it.  It is fun and afer 15-20 minutes he is ready for Algebra 1.  A once reluctant learner, he is open to instruction and willing to try.   We may be behind the curriculum, but he is ahead of himself in new understandings! A game for brain breaks.  I pull a category card and give each student 2 cards.  They pick their best fit and present it and someone else has to explain WHY it is a good fit.  We think outside of the box.  We put ourselves in someone else's place.  Eventually, we may laugh.  We come back ready to work on a challenging topic again.  This time with more energy. This week I ex...

The end of summer vacation is here.  There are those of us teachers who are rested and ready to go.  There are those of us teachers who are not so rested, and ready to go.  Sadly, there are those of us teachers, rested or not, who are not ready to go.  In whichever group you find yourself, the year begins anyway, and I am going to begin it with a smile. Smiling is so important. I am, in general, a fairly happy person.  I think I smile, a lot.  I have, unfortunately, had a few students ask why I do NOT smile.  That always makes me take a step back and think.  It always makes me wonder what is going on in my head and heart that is begin reflected in my face.  And it always makes me a bit sad. I started this post in AUGUST, and never finished. Funny how time gets away from me like that. I do believe I started this year with a smile, and kept it going.  I made it a point to have fun at the beginning of every class and carry that fun thro...

As teachers, we are required to develop professionally.  Seems a bit funny, I would think that as a teacher one would want to keep learning, growing, developing.  I teach because I love to learn, anything. In 2010, I became a Quantum Learning facilitator in the school district where I work.  I love Quantum Learning, a system designed to help me as a teacher use what I know to be a more connected, more effective teacher.  I get to help other teachers become better teachers!  Not only do I get to model for other teachers, I get to embody more and more all that I love about teaching.  It is amazing!  And the more I learn, the more I want to learn! I just finished four amazing days presenting with four wonderful educators,  I just finished four amazing days with over 100 incredible classroom teachers who are dedicated to improving their teaching, their students' learning, and really, the world. In public education, we are charged with the educa...

I am a teacher by trade.  I love my job; I truly love teaching.  I love my students most of the time.  When I cannot, there is someone who can, and I love one of his/her hard to love students.  Teaching is sharing, a give and take of soul and ideas and time and knowledge and love. Teaching does not occur in isolation.  My classroom may be my refuge, but if I do not seek out others, there will be times when I will become overwhelmed, lost, and discouraged.  I cannot teach without students.  Even with students, I cannot teach without their permission!  Yes, I believe that my students give me permission to teach them, and that I gain that permission by respecting them as individuals, and by becoming interested in their worlds.  Much easier said than done, but when done, boy, do my students learn. So, I am a teacher by trade, and?  I am a poet at heart.  What does that have to do with a blog post?  EVERYTHING!  I am a poet...

"Be the change you wish to see in the world," is not exactly a Gandhi quote, although it is attributed to him.  Whether it is or it is not, I am here to suggest that we in education change it ... Be the change you wish to see in EDUCATION. or Be the change you wish to see in your CLASSROOM. I am a classroom teacher.  Most of the time I feel quite incapable of changing anything within my district, or my school, much less the state or the country.  But I can BE the change I desire,  It can start with me. For example, if I truly believe that students learn in relationships, then I will work hard to form educational relationships with my students.  Sometimes it may seem that there is too much curriculum, or too many worksheets, or too many absences to be able to ¨relate" to my students, too much other "stuff" to spend time on to get my students on my side.  And even though it seems that way, I can CHOOSE to build those relationships anyway! In my clas...