One Step Up

After years of stressing whether there would ever be any jobs out there I could apply for, and years of stressing over those "you did not advance to the next level in the application process" automated do-not-reply emails, I can finally stress over the very real possibility I may get an interview -- now what am I gonna do?!?!?

The Children's Book Review

...website can be found HERE

And finally, Summer.

Year-round schools make for tough Julys... it's sunny, too hot, and the entire neighborhood is out of school except me and the boys. Until today!

ReadWriteThink

great ideas and calendar of historical events at Read Write Think

Be A Heart Hero!

whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger...

So now I have to spend my Spring Break training so I can out-jump 2nd graders. I'm not working on any fancy tricks, just trying not to trip myself.

Help Me Be A Heart Hero!

and speaking of Math...

... I think I'll have some Pi!

"What Pi Sounds Like"

What Pi sounds like.

Math for Two Continents

...well, sort of.

Two sites to check out. One has me stressed out since I read that Math shortcuts are straight from the devil, but that's all I know and love about math -- shortcuts! tricks! ways to get out of actually doing the math!

Math for America

And the other is a great way to clear out extra books

Books For Africa

March Madness

By the time my SDSU Aztecs defeat those damn Dukies this weekend, I should have this figured out: a bracket/tournament of children's books to mirror the college basketball "March Madness" -- here are a few ideas so far...

• kick it off with Dr Seuss birthday celebration and students presenting and talking about favorite books
• need a simple, expedient voting process (higher grades could be online)
• each round (sweet 16, elite 8, etc) can focus on a specific aspect, such as characters or theme

any ideas? seen it done anywhere?

The Mouse Squad

Excellent idea, most middle schoolers probably have more experience and expertise than the entire  staff combined, plus the available time.  The next generation Auto Shop?


12 Year Old Tech Support

New Management

Went to a little seminar, an idea presentation I'd call it, by Rick Morris of  New Management .  Not a fan of the name, sounds too real estate or business, but definitely a fan of his philosophy and methods.  Maybe because mostly they fall right in line with how I want to run my classroom.  I remember one of my Master teachers used some of his ideas, but she ended up yelling often at her loud class, so I'm not sure...

I think a lot of my classroom management focus will fall under a few main tenets --

• Teachers* waste waaaaaay too much time dealing with classroom behavior, especially waiting for a class or specific students to quiet/settle down.
• A lot of time is wasted during every school day that could be better spent learning: too long to transition between subjects, classes, lunch & recess; behavior issues; Dairy Association** assemblies that last an hour attempting to teach 1st graders how a cow digests (4 chambered stomach!) when all they want to do is pet the calf and all they will remember is the cow pooping.  And the boy in the second row throwing up.
• Learning and Teaching are one and the same and everyone in the class is part of the process -- we will all learn together and from each other, and we will have fun doing it. It will be hard, it will be a challenge, it will be a lot of work... but it will be worth it.

I loved Rick's line "Teaching is like a crock pot" or something like that -- it builds, simmering and getting richer as the school year goes. Can't expect the perfect class by Sept 15th, right? And I firmly believe that we are not just teaching our students for our year but for the teacher next year (isn't it embarrassing to pass along poorly behaved students?) and for their future bosses, spouses, and children.

Now my challenge is to see how any of this stuff works out on a crowded noisy playground...

Anyway, check out the site, a bunch of instantly usable FREE stuff there, and the iPhone app is just plain cool -- get rid of those popsicle sticks!  I don't even have a class yet but I want one, I can instantly assess my sons for practice...


* I absolutely 100% include myself in this. Sigh...
** I love milk.

My student she wrote me a letter...

Great idea here -- Sup Teach? -- for getting to know students and their perception of your class/subject.  I strongly believe in a lot of student feedback, and parent input too, especially since what they say usually reveals more about the student then about the teacher, and can help tailor instruction and intervention.