Amazing Technology

EVERY student should have one!

...or 2 or 10 or 1000 !

I'm So Out Of Shape...

that racing 1st graders every day exhausts me? That's lame, but the best excuse I can think of for not posting in... 6 months?

My Guinea Pigs

...have Homework in P.E. !  What kind of substitute P.E. Coach gives homework?!?!?

One that tells his students the first day he's going to be trying new things, experimenting on them (which did cause quite a few 7th grade eyebrows to rise, until I assured them I did not mean "experiment" in the mad scientist sense), honing his skills and trying to get better as a teacher/coach.  So yes, they have homework: find a quote connected to physical education* that will encourage/inspire/motivate them.  And no, "Just Do It" is not allowed.

*sports, fitness, nutrition, outdoors, health... 

My Theme Song

...or Fight Song? Rallying Cry?

I know this has been around before and in many different versions, but I'm man enough  teacher enough to admit it still chokes me up, convicts* me, and INSPIRES me!  Especially since one of the jokes running around my family and friends lately (and I confess I started it) is a variation of the old "Those who can, do..." ending with "...can't teach, coach P.E.!" har, har, har...

*future post on my failure as a teacher/coach/man on only the second day of the job... :(

with no further ado, Taylor Mali:

Day Two!

Which leads to the logical conclusion that yes, I did indeed survive Day One.

Aside from sending kids to the wrong place at the wrong time, and to the right place at the wrong time, and to the wrong... whatever, they all were accounted for at the end of the day.  No tears and no blood, no drama, and just a little whining....

Day 2 replaces the head-swimming confusion of schedules and syllabuses (syllabi?) with that of CELT scores and IEPs, plus I have to figure out how to play "Bowling Dodge Ball" for my 3rd graders tomorrow.  But Day 2 also brings my first ever prep period, so I have a student-free classroom, Pandora radio soothing my savage beast*, and not much else to do for the next hour ...?

*it's hard to separate P.E. coach from Football coach -- I am 95% very positive with my teams, but at a much higher, more insistent volume level than allowed on the school grounds.  And the other 5% is most definitely not allowed on campus.

My FIRST First Day

...and yes, I am a little on the terrified side. 

Part of me knows this will work out just fine: it's a long-term sub job coaching Middle School P.E., at my sons' school where I've subbed and done observations and taught Art and hung around asking questions, where I know the kids and the Staff...

And part of me knows this is an inevitable disaster of epic proportions: after all, I'm still a sub, it is (shudder) Middle School, and everyone who has known me all these years will see I'm a clueless fraud, and if I can't manage a P.E. class I will never, ever get a classroom... 

Not only that, but I can't decide on what to wear.

There Are No Shortcuts

page 51: Coach Wooden: "The four laws of learning are explanation, demonstration, imitation, and repetition... To make sure this goal was achieved I created eight laws of learning, namely: explanation, demonstration, imitation, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, and repetition."

pg 91: "It's not the job of the teacher to save a child's soul; it is the teacher's job to provide an opportunity for the child to save his own soul."

pg 156: Teacher Marva Collins: " 'I Will' is more important than IQ."

I didn't like this book as much as Teach ...on Fire, a little too whiny and bitter for my taste, but Esquith outlines some schedules and lesson ideas/plans, and there's always his high standards to inspire...

I Got a Desk!

...and keys to the restroom, and a mailbox, and even a cool laptop with the district logo on it!  Oh yeah, I also have several classes of 8th graders, a few of 7th graders, and one day of little 1st graders, all through the end of November.

I also have very little idea as to what I'm actually supposed to be doing once school starts, but I suppose I'll work some of that out tomorrow while blowing up 400 vinyl playground balls...

Why Does This Make Me Soooooo...

...ANGRY?!?!?

"Obviously what I need to do is to look at what I'm doing and take some steps to make sure something changes," he said.

Ok, I'm not a "real" teacher yet, so as I read this article I must attempt to compare it to what I do know, and I although I get emotionally charged regarding poor teachers/education systems/etc., I am hopefully able to maintain some sense, a bit of logic, an iota of let's give him the benefit of the doubt...

I get the sense the Education field generally, much like the all-powerful monopoly that is the NFL, chooses to see itself as special and unique, and considers itself incomparable to any other profession/vocation/entity. I get that teaching is not like the business world (except that it is) and that successful teachers cannot be measured like successful chefs, fire fighters, grocery clerks... (except that they can).

What I do know is that in the business world, I could never have 2, much less 10 plus, years of poor results without losing responsibilities, advancement opportunities, the support of my superiors, much less cold hard cash: no profit, no raise, and no excuses: can't blame failure on rude or non-existent customers (read "unsupportive parents"), or unmotivated, unwilling, dishonest employees (read "kids these days"), and certainly not on uncaring, egotistical, out of touch, money- and power-driven upper management (read "administration" -- unless you're thinking of offering me a job, then read "role models and heroes whom I worship above all else"). 

What I do know is most of us would not have anything to do with a business or a person or even a means of entertainment that failed to succeed, improve, or maintain an acceptable level of performance.  You don't shop at the same store that gives poor service or product, you don't have the same boyfriend that can't remember dates and hits on your sister, you don't still listen to Vanilla Ice, word to yo mutha.  In fact, we spend countless ways rating and measuring and comparing lovers, movies, restaurants, running backs, and every single little facet of the business world.

Why not teachers?

Ask These Questions!

Saw this blog post this morning, thought these points/questions were very insightful -- Haiku Education/L.A. Times articles -- why are teachers afraid (or is that the wrong word?) of accountability, of evaluation? I don't want to debate the questions themselves, I want to see answers.

Now I'd better go read the Times...

Deconstructing Penguins

by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone (2005)

As one who has loved books all my life (thank you, Mother!) I am regretfully weak in the whole theme/subtext/metaphor/etc. angle of reading.  I've always been more of an "enjoy the story" kind of guy, which led to much embarrassment in college courses when I repeatedly failed to catch important foreshadowing clues or understand what the author was really saying.

This book is one I will keep on my desk.  I suppose I can't only teach the books the Goldstones talk about, but they give clear, usable examples, especially of protagonist vs antagonist and the authors' reasons for writing what they do, which should help students (and me) build a critical eye.  Books they discuss include Charlotte's Web, Babe, Phantom Tollbooth, The View From Saturday, Animal Farm, and The Giver (most of which I've popped straight to the top of the Library Request list)...

Now if only someone could explain The Giving Tree to me...

Math may still suck a little?

...not that I would ever say that in front of students!

While I didn't read this, or it's sequel Kiss My Math, thoroughly, I certainly want them in my classroom -- lots of hands-on examples and methods, cute and clever wording to connect with students, even practice problems that don't feel like actual work (suggested by a cute TV personality has more weight than assigned by a teacher?).  The cover design that looks like an issue of Teen Vogue is apt, there are also a lot of girl-centric non-Math articles, advice, and encouraging quotes.

From a Math student viewpoint, it reminded me of my Math for Elementary Teachers course from just a few years back.  That class gave me such a headache, but the brain pain was from repeatedly slapping my forehead while exclaiming "No one ever taught me that!" and from the blinding flashes of lightbulbs going off above my head.  I remember Math as learn/memorize/practice doing it this way or you'll get it wrong -- which I usually did.  That Professor, and McKellar's book, teaches tricks, shortcuts, divisibility rules, dare we say "fun" Math stuff that will :

1. provide multiple methods of getting the right answer, so not every robot student has to do the work the same way.
2. teach cool patterns, easy to remember algorithms, even tricks that can help students feel smart and gain confidence when they start getting the answers correct.
3. engage students, getting them to invest in their own learn by presenting a 3-digit division problem as something more than one of 20 to solve -- it's the work place, it's marriage, it's a real-world problem that needs solving, and the student has been armed and trained in several tools and skills in order to reach the solution.

 Not only a great Math reference to keep and USE in the classroom, but a reason to show some old "The Wonder Years" scenes...