Interversity.Org

Since my initial studies in this topic... I have really sharpened my focus on this matter! THE MINDS OF BOYS has thusfar been the most incredible read... to the point where I have been buying copies for parents of my students!

Our school had an afterschool round table discussion for this book... and 1/3 of our staff attended! The increased attention is fabulous and my students will only benefit from this effort!

Been reading tons... creating mini-powerpoint reviews as I go along (still have some that I want to create, but currently reading books on the use of DATA)

I have NO idea what is going on with me... I am not usually this "tired" before March... next week only marks the end of 1st quarter!

Been taking care of myself...working out, watching what I eat, taking vitamins, etc... It still is not keeping my work from taxing my resources though. Two cups of coffee has absolutely no effect on my fatigue...

Is there anyone else fighting this so early on in the year? How do you combat it? Any advice would be welcome...

Anyway...
On the homefront, we are constantly striving to "hit" the mark and make it so all kids "get it"; I am currently working on conflict after working on foreshadowing... plot was easy enough, but 7th graders have difficulty locating foreshadowing clues... we reworked the lesson... and it was so much fun! Students had to act out the foreshadowing scenes from The Landlady; talk about enjoying a lesson! I have had so much fun with these kids... they are filled with energy and creative genius! Now to be able to reflect that back to them so they can all relish the learning experience...

Each year since getting NBs, I have been working to foster stronger parent-teacher relationships. The fall-out effect has been fabulous on what it does for my kids...each year, each set of parents proves that I am getting better at this.

I think the trick might be... put yourself into their shoes. Look at the school from their viewpoint, look at your student as they look at their child, work to meet their needs.

Thankfully, this year we had an Open House. This made my job that much easier. We went three years without a contract and did not have an Open House... creating the scenario where any communication had to be intiated by either party... and then, it was usually for a reason.

Sometimes I feel as though I am on top of the world...

Finally have the relationship I want with my students' parents...and found that is truly the key to success with these middle school darlings that I have come to know and love.

On the urging of my 8th graders last year (it was my second year with them after I followed them from the 7th grade); they thought it was a fabulous idea for me to repeat the process with a new group of students. So far, so good. We have been in school for a month now... and I am in contact with over 55% of my parents already. If I could stop being so darn tired, I would be able to reach out to more...

I believe that every English and Literacy teacher has an "I wish" list that goes on forever...

It has been some time since I have been able to sit and write here... my very first mistake was thinking that I need to have yet another blog. Well, that was simply out of admiration... not practicality. Obviously, I am not equipped to reach out in so many directions.... I have to be content for ONE art project and ONE computer project during the school year. The greenhouse is my salvation, but it cannot serve its purpose if I overextend my time online. (after all, there is only so much time in a day)

We can think of ourselves not as teachers but as gardeners. A gardener does not 'grow' flowers; he tries to give them what he thinks they need and they grow by themselves. (John Holt)

Every day is a new experience... for both them and for me. I tried to post a picture of our experiences with our SMARTBOARD yesterday, but was unable to do so here... so here is the link to our SMARTBOARD webpage... the pictures will be up on Monday, Tuesday the latest
SMARTBOARDS IN THE CLASSROOM

I think that the main thing that kept me from posting often last year was the fact that I always want to post the positive... not only to focus on the positive, but almost like glossing over the stressful parts of this job ~ wish not only that I could continue to do that, but that every teacher could!

Today had some stressful moments... from first thing in the morning with one of my favorite students coming in "hacking" all over everyone, then throwing a hissy fit because a couple of students started wiping down their things with Clorox wipes in response to it... ending up with the same kid in a mood writing an essay...

Started with livejournal on December 5th, 2005... just realized today that I still have nothing that I want to post there... well, nothing of consequence.

I put all of my teaching theories and notes here...so it seems pointlessly redundant to use that space for the same purpose... Really have nothing other than what I currently post on schoolnotes and homestead for my students (although I am beyond impressed with The Goddess of YA Literature's site @ http://www.livejournal.com/users/professornana/ !!!)

So that leaves me with my own personal interests of hybridizing daylilies and my art... but how and when to do it??? My life seems totally engaged with teaching at the moment. I spend at least 30 minutes to an hour running greenhouse chores (cannot very well use that time on the computer)... so the site simply sits there waiting at the moment...

Have you noticed that when you are at your most stressed, most tired, something always happens that takes your breath away???

Just received an email from a mom who was sooo shocked that she had to contact me :) Turns out that one of my students who NEVER reads borrowed one of my books yesterday... her mom caught her reading at 9:30am... was shocked by it...but by 2:30pm... and her daughter was STILL reading... she felt compelled to capture the moment and send it to me!

God...that was better than any Christmas present I could have received!

RTI... What does it really mean?

RTI equals "Response to Intervention"... I only knew of it as a vague term... been fighting for it for almost four years without really knowing what it was called until last week when I attended the RITAP conference up in Providence. The past two years I have finally relaxed a bit... prior to that I felt like I was fighting a one-person war.

Now I am trying to think about why it is we go to conferences... what we can really accomplish as individual teachers. RTI is supposed to be a school-wide intervention for students who are failing to learn... While I love (absolutely LOVE) the concept... I fail to see how it could ever be implemented in my building. Out of four people from my building scheduled to attend, one didn't go... The next day one of the teachers that went was speaking in the hallway about this session... "it was a waste of time... same old stuff"