In my own time

My husband says I have to blog before I do any school work because I have not done so.  Here goes.

Yesterday, I  was browsing through my Twitter feeds and there was a post "Retweet if you think the Browns will beat the Ravens and be  2-1."  I retweeted.  Twenty minutes later, my husband, while browsing at his Twitter feeds questioned, "So,  you think the Browns will win?" (yeah! he follows me!)  I responded "Yes" and after some thought,  I stated, "I always believe they will win!"  In fact, as a Cleveland fan, I also always believe the Indians will win.  And if I were a basketball fan, I would believe the Cavs would win. ("King" or no king).  In the big picture, in their own time, they all will win.

The test of winning, is  practice and going the distance. Stretching your  skills and talents to their maximum.  When you are passionate about something, this all comes together and you conquer whatever it is that  you desire to do.  It may not be pretty but it can get better once you are there.  But it has to be something that you really want.

This week I had this talk with one of the Algebra classes I  co-teach.  I think the hardest thing about teaching is to get the students engaged in things that seem irrelevant.  We were talking about homework, which is practice of a skill.  I spoke to the class about Malcolm Gladwell's 10,0000 hours of practice. (Outliers) The idea that anyone who is good at something did not get that way without practice.  They may have had a  penchant for that thing but they put their all in all into it.   The other part of the practice is having someone there to  see it, analyze it, and  help you improve it.  That is the job of a teacher.  The part in the middle, is the part that, in my opinion, the critics of education fail to see.  Our school culture has become so focused on the "test".  Did students pass the test?

I work with a population of students who struggle to pass the test.  They have a disability that impairs their ability to  learn  in the same way that their peers do.  I take pride in the fact that most of these students pass the tests by the time they graduate but it is  "in their own time".  The frenzy of increased testing  that will be starting this year, and the increased graduation requirements take away that "in my own time" for students who struggle.  Does everyone have to be master of everything?

This "master of everything" also  takes away passion.  If there is somehting that I am passionate about that is outside of the  testing world, I probably lose out on that passion in order to be remediated to pass the test. How devalued I would feel.

I know the Indians and Browns will win, in their time.  I know my students will master skills, in their time. Our testing frenzy becomes a devaluing of the human spirit.

Woe or Whoa?

Well, the first week and a half of school is over and I am tired...mighty powerful tired.  But I am going to try to put some thoughts on the page that are a reflection of the last week and a half. ( We started on a Wednesday and then had Labor day...go figure).

• On the day before school starts, we have a staff event called "Convocation".  This is a combination event that starts with coffee ( I usually skip that) introductions (new staff and the members of the board of education) and a kind of pep talk for the new year.  I always  enjoy the Superintendent's message.  So far, no woe but here goes....I happened to sit near some teachers who had already printed off their class lists.  They all taught in the same department but different classes/levels.  They spent  some of the down time reviewing each others lists and  talking about their history with students.  "Oh (s)he is smart but he doesn't do his work"; "(S)he  doesn't' really do anything."  In my brain I was like "OMG! Really?"  These kids are going to walk into a room where someone has already decided who they are.  I like to think of each day as a new day...and sometimes that can mean each period is a new period.  Whoah! Let students prove who they are....

• I had to change classrooms.  I have to admit, the  previous classroom was palatial.  I had more space than  anyone could imagine and we used it all.  I'm in a room about 2/3 the size...maybe even 1/2 the size.  It is now the  mini version of the palatial room. And when you put 24 bodies in the room during 9th period (26 if you count me and the paraprofessional)....it is packed....like sardines.  In the old room I had  12 desk top computers for student use and a printer.  The new room came with 4.  The IT guys (who I  appreciate very, very much) were able to  move  6 computers from the palace to the   mini palace.  The printer finally got moved yesterday.  Call this one "Was a woe! Not a woe anymore!"

• Yeah...lets talk about moving. Last spring  I spent about  2 days packing.  This summer I came in and unpacked in half a day.   (This is my  3rd move in 5 years...I'm getting really good at downsizing) Today, I finally got all of the cabinets labeled.   Another "Not a woe anymore!"

• This week was our Open House.  It went from 6:30 pm until 8:53 (don't ask).  Yeah, lets just call it 9:00.  Needless to say...home by 9:30 (my usual bedtime) and what a day.  Our school is in the middle of the city.   Parking  is a premium and when you invite the parents of 1400+ students...well lets just say I don't leave the building.  I find some work to do and snack on something  to hold me over.  This one gets a "whoa" and a "woe".  I'm tired...mighty powerful tired.  TGIW...Thank God its the Weekend! (No Woe!)