The First Week of School

There is something exhilarating about the first week of school.  I get to meet a whole new group of students and help them figure out this thing we call high school.  The kids were great this week.  I'm always happy when school starts no matter how tired I am at the end of the week; it is like starting a new mission (not impossible) with a whole new team.

The Beginning of a New School Year

So, I am thinking I want to try to blog more as a new school year resolution....

School ended on  June 9.  I have  been in the building about  1/2 a day a week except for the  3 weeks I was out of state (vacationing).  And, this past week, THE WEEK BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS,  I have been there everyday except  one.  As dept. facilitator for  the special education department, I have been making preparations for the new school year since  the end of  the last school year.  That's right I have been preparing all summer...That is how I feel about my classroom AND my students...I have been getting ready for this Monday, the first day of the new school year, since June 10th.  I am so excited  to try to implement  some new tactics to help my students.  I am so excited to meet the  4 new teachers in my department.  And, although the beginning is always hectic and stressful, I am so looking forward  to a new beginning. Here's to the  2011-2012 school year!

Preparing for a Conference

I am in the midst of preparing for a conference where I am presenting with a team of teachers I have worked with this past school year.  The whole presentation thing is very stressful....I am glad we are presenting in the afternoon...enough time for the morning coffee to kick in...but I fear, being that we are right after lunch (on both days) people will be in food coma, the team included....

We have spent a school year changing the way we do business in school.  It has been very rewarding to see students look a the world in a different way.  Some were very resistant to a non-traditional classroom...some came around....some fought it all the way to the end.  We functioned much more like the real world.  I have a new ...mantra...paradigm....frame of reference....not sure what it is, but it  should focus what teachers do....

Where in the real world, does the boss give you a worksheet to complete that he already knows the answers to?

We do this everyday in the classroom....I call it search and destroy learning....there is no (new) thought in this process........The "boss" asks us to solve problems....sometimes we present the problem to the boss and the solution.....Aside from my  high school job asking me  to memorize the composition of the vast and numerous sandwiches of a fast food menu,  I have had to do very little memorizing of facts since high school graduation...(and it was oh so long ago)....In every job I have had  since my fast food era, I have been asked to solve problems...so we should be practicing in classrooms....