Are you there, world? It’s me, Ashley.
I’m alive! And have decided to re-commit to blogging. I mean, Ash Wednesday is tomorrow, and I wouldn’t be true to myself if I “gave up” something for Lent. That ain’t how I roll. I don’t give up…I add more.
So instead, I’m re-committing to the blog. If you’re in this for the personal life updates, you should probably just unfollow the blog and follow my Twitter account instead. There, I’m promising updates on all things uninteresting to you (like corn dogs, basketball, and country music). Here, I’m looking to keep you updated on the exciting things that compose my work life.
The past two months have provided many a spark for blogging: new teacher evaluations, recruiting students to our neighborhood middle school, and my first student teacher. Oh, and then there’s the news that I’ve been charged with training our staff on iPad integration as I teach in a one-to-one iPad classroom!
In short: stay here for education updates, go to Twitter for life updates.
Love!
Responsibility
Fun fact: I like sports. Like a lot.
Tonight my Vanderbilt Commodores lost a real heartbreaker of a game in which many, many things could have gone better. Sitting in the grocery store parking lot (waiting to purchase some conciliatory ice cream), I listened to the coach’s post-game radio interview. He said that things really didn’t go the way he planned. He drew up plays that “the guys didn’t execute.” He explained they practiced these things dozens of times in practice, but “the guys couldn’t perform when it counted.” Coach also took the time to elaborate that his mid-game substitutions didn’t go well because the guys “didn’t play well when it mattered.” Never once did he take responsibility.
He may be older, wiser, richer, and more famous than me, but I know one thing: if our kids don’t do what we ask them to, it’s on us, not them. In our classrooms each day, we’re forced to take responsibility for setting our students up for success. If they don’t evaluate an algebraic expression using the order of operations, it’s because we haven’t taught them well enough. If the students get a little out of control in the hallway, we can recognize that we should set more clear expectations for hallway behavior.
The coach’s post-game interview could be likened to a teacher who explains that he did everything he needed to do for his students to succeed on that test…but they failed when it counted.
Sometimes students (or players) don’t listen to what you tell them, but I know, as the leader of that group, that it’s ultimately my job to make them listen. And when they don’t, it’s my responsibility to teach it again, this time making them want to listen. It’s our job as teachers and role models to exhibit this kind of personal responsibility. We can’t spend time laying the blame on students for not upholding their “end of the bargain.” In the end, nobody grows when blame is placed upon others. Let’s figure out why things aren’t working, admit wrongdoing, and move on to something better.
I’m using this as a method of operation in my classroom. I’m suggesting it would also be wise for a well-known basketball coach to do the same in his practices.
Tone Discussions
Over the past week, I have been conferencing with a group of students who received a nearly passing grade on their latest practice writing assessment. They come to me each morning and eagerly await their personal appointment to discuss their writing. The passion and excitement they exhibit around becoming better writers is refreshing.
This morning, I was talking with A, a bright young girl who happens to be in my class. A’s real strength is mathematics, but her creative mind carries her through many writing assignments. Her superhero story was no exception. The writing was borderline horrendous, but her ideas were incredible! We acknowledged her strengths and moved on to discuss what she wanted to improve next time.
Soon, we got to what I wanted to talk about: the conversational tone of her writing.
Her story included a litany of poorly-punctuated rhetorical questions. There were places in the writing in which it was difficult to determine whether she was writing to an adult assessment scorer or her BFF Jill. After a discussion about audience and appropriate tone, I began to write A’s third point to improve: ”Use a more formal tone.” The look of disdain and confusion on her face quickly indicated those words wouldn’t fly.
I asked A how she thought we should phrase her final point of improvement, and she hit me with a real humdinger. She said, “Ms. C, just put that I need to write like I’m talking to myself instead of someone else.”
Think about that one for a minute. When having internal dialogue, we rarely (if ever) use rhetorical questions. In fact, for A, she speaks more properly in her mind than she does aloud with her peers. I found this to be a particularly insightful thought. Next time I’m trying to convince a student to adopt a more formal tone, this is a phrase I will certainly keep in my back pocket.
I Love…..Math?
It’s no secret that I identify myself as a reading teacher. My interest level, knowledge base, and comfort zone with the teaching of reading make it a large part of my professional identity. At the same time, I love everything about teaching in a self-contained classroom that allows me the privileges of teaching every subject and working to integrate them. This opportunity has brought me to a new realization…I love teaching math, too.
We’ve been working on fractions since school started (more on that tomorrow), and it has been quite the eye-opening experience for me. The students are using fraction kits to make their own discoveries about fractions, their relationships, and how to manipulate them. They have gotten to make fraction equivalency posters and play all sorts of fraction games.
The best part of all this for me has been seeing the students’ understanding grow rapidly. They can add fractions, subtract them, and turn them into mixed numbers. And we haven’t even talked about the algorithms yet! With these fraction kits, I can see the students’ understanding grow unlike anything I’ve seen before. It’s a growth that is almost tangible. When it happens, I feel great. They feel great. It’s like one big party where we’re all smart!
Can I do that?
I want to go everywhere. Now.
LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.
Thanks to Liz Dwyer of GOOD Education and Alexander Russo of This Week in Education for the link.
Where my crazies at?
Though I’m still suffering through the foggy-brained Survival Mode we all experience at the beginning of the year, I have one piece of clarity about my students: they are awesome.
Each morning, each of them greets me at the door, walks to their seats, and silently (and correctly) completes their Bell Ringer assignment before begging me to allow them time to browse the classroom library.
And each morning, I ask myself: “Is this real life?”
Though I know it’s only week one and some of them will begin to show their true colors eventually, I don’t really see any potential crazies in this small group of 16 students.
I love the challenge that students with behavioral issues provide. Working with those children is one of the major reasons I chose to teach at an inner-city middle school. The excitement and chance to make a difference has kept me going for the past three years.
This year, my personal challenge will be to avoid boredom. My hope is to do that by providing exciting and enriching classroom experiences for my students. Only time will tell…
Happy Thoughts
The school year is about to begin, and I’ve never been so reluctant. Between my grandfather’s death and numerous trips around the country, my summer “break” has been nothing of the sort. It’s been a summer of mixed emotions, for sure.
One thing I have come to realize this summer, though, is how lucky I am to have this job.
When I say I love every second of teaching, I mean it. I love when a student hugs me and says, “Thank you”. I love it when I see their reading levels increase rapidly. Yes, I even love it when I get cussed at and when a lesson crashes.
I find it very easy to get caught up in the stress, gripes, and hardships. Each day is a challenge…so what? That’s what I signed up for, and that’s what I love.
My goal for this upcoming year it to shift my focus from those challenges and start really looking at the successes in my classroom. I love looking back at the times when something goes right. The problem for me is that I don’t focus on those times enough.
Want to know what shifted my thinking? Take a look at these two articles:
- Haunting Words to Inspire Every Teacher by Marilyn Rhames
- Save Our Schools March: Why I Won’t Be Marching by Monica Caldwell (though, let’s be clear: I don’t agree with everything she said here)
All the Single Ladies
It’s wedding season in my life, and I’ve been left standing at the station with a knot on my head.
Here’s the situation: I recieved no fewer than a half dozen wedding invites for this summer. I’m undecided as to whether this is more about my never-ending popularity or the entertainment I seem to provide at each celebration. Consider the following story a case-in-point.
It was once again time for the traditional bouquet toss, and I dutifully made my way to the dance floor as my mostly married/recently engaged friends watched. Not wanting to bring any attention to myself by catching said bouquet, I purposefully positioned other single ladies in something of a barricade in front of me. (Yes, I grabbed them by the shoulders and moved them like figurines. I’m not too proud.)
I then hoofed it to my position, a solid three to four feet behind the nearest girl. The bride peered back, looking to take aim at another friend who needs to get engaged sometime very, very soon. She then turned her back and let ‘er rip. (Little known fact: the bride could give Peyton Manning a run for his money. There’s no way he can throw this far and fast without looking.)
As I looked up, horror washed over my face and fear filled my heart, for the bouquet was headed in my direction. So I naturally did what any self-respecting single girl would do: I ducked.
It just so happens that there was an even more unfortunate occurrence that followed.
I was whomped upside the head by that bouquet.
Perhaps this was Cupid making his move. The verdict is still out on that, though, as it’s been a solid three weeks since this event, and Prince Charming has yet to ride in on his white horse. I may not have a gentleman to show for it, but I’ve got quite the knot on my forehead as proof that I provided another morsel of free entertainment at this friend’s wedding extravaganza.
Starting a Classroom Blog
Although I failed miserably at keeping up my weekly classroom blogging lessons here on You Make It Happen, I succeeded at developing and delivering a training with teachers in my district on this topic. The presentation walks you through many of the steps to create an Edublogs blog, including some tips and tricks to make it easier on the teacher (and who doesn’t love that?).
I’ve been through a year’s worth of trials, failures, mistakes, celebrations, and successes with classroom blogging. Despite all of the ups and downs, I can say it’s worth it! We saw a 40% increase in our students’ writing scores last year. Beat that, paper and pencil!
Play Ball
“Programs! Programs! Get ya programs!”
“Peanuts! Water! Ice cold, ice cold!”
Children’s squeals of delight cut through the advertisements hollered by vendors. Holding my ticket out to be scanned and walking through the turnstyle, I know I have arrived at my favorite place in the world.
We quickly make our way to our seats. There’s simply no time for us to make a concession stand pit stop. I’m leading the way, fearful of missing my favorite parts of the game.
Smiling at the strangers and saying our obligitory “excuse me” as we climb over them, we find our seats and settle into them. I take a moment to again revel in the surrounding sounds, similar to those that greeted us on the plaza. Now, you can smell the leather, grass, sweat, and BBQ. I think to myself, “Now THIS is how a ballpark should be.”
“Please rise and remove your caps. Join our organist Dave Ramsey as he plays our National Anthem.”
The players line the first and third base lines, caps held loosely over their hearts. My dad shows off his smooth tenor to the surrounding fans as he proudly sings along.
With the end of the National Anthem, my heart skips a beat, my patriotism fired up. I also know that my second favorite part of the game is only seconds away.
As the first pitch is unleashed and pops into the catcher’s mitt, I revel in the moment. There is simply nowhere I’d rather be.
Note: This is part of the Slice of Life Story challenge hosted by Two Writing Teachers. Head on over there to find other teachers writing to improve their craft, as well as great ideas about teaching writing.
