March 2012
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When life gives you lemons, make a battery
The entire class has their eyes glued on Karl as he proceeds to hook up an array of five lemons, all punctured with nails and pennies, wrapped with tangles of wire. Karl works in silence, connecting alligator clips to nails, feeling our eyes upon him. If he were a cartoon character, here is where the sweat would jump off his brow. He’s trying to use the lemon’s acid to create a low-powered...
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February 2012
60 posts
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Six ways to sustain your energy
I recently found this article online, and I realized that I’d somehow figured out these tips over the course of this year, and all of them DID help me sustain my energy (and keep me sane!).
By Kristi Johnson Smith (http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/firstyear/264)
Six ways to sustain your energy
During my first few years, I discovered several means of sustaining my energy level. Here are...
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I LOVE the public response!! →
My favorite part of all this is the collection of responses from the public at the bottom of this article! So much verve and eloquence. I love this idea of teachers, teacher sympathizers, and the general public getting worked up over this important issue. Viva la revolucion!
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from NYC Public School Parents blog
Below is a letter from eight esteemed Teachers of the Year, originally posted on theNY State Teachers website, sent to the NY State Board of Regents last spring, pointing out how the proposed APPR is likely to unfairly penalize many excellent professionals, especially those work with at-risk students. Nevertheless, on Monday, the Regents voted to go full speed ahead with its NCLB waiver...
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City Teacher Data Reports are Released
http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2012/02/24/teacher-data-reports-are-released/?ref=education
— There’s been a big outrage about the fact that online rankings of all NYC’s public school teachers is now accessible to the public. The reports include teachers’ names, schools and a ranking based on students’ gains in test scores. The United Federation of Teachers tried...
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Galaxy guides
I’ve started to realize that these sixth grade galaxy guides are VERY ambitious, if not outright overwhelming. I’m still glad we’re doing them — it’s a great way for the kids to build research and writing skills, and to challenge themselves as much as they feel up to. But it might take forever. I already turned three of the previously required categories into optional bonus ones.
At the end...
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For a Growing Number of College Students,... →
infoneer-pulse:
Wikipedia doesn’t have a stellar reputation for scholarly accuracy, but its staggering collection of 20 million articles in 283 languages has nonetheless made it the go-to reference for the world’s students—it’s even the most plagiarized source on college campuses. Now, a growing number of professors are bucking the anti-Wikipedia trend and assigning a new kind of homework:...
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Personal Bests
One of the quintessential questions in education is how to get students to do the best work they’re capable of. Apparently my school used to use the “personal best” terminology, until they realized that there were always some students that slid by doing shoddy work.
At a recent teacher meeting, the 4th grade teacher summed it up nicely: “Especially with creative work or writing — they...
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Trolly Potter comes calling
When I was at Goodwill, I bought a semi-scary troll puppet wearing wizard garb. I called him “Trolly Potter” and would bring him out sometimes to talk to the kids (“What age do you teach again?” a friend asked when I told her this. “Second?”). T.P. always caused much shrieking and chaos.
Sometimes Trolly Potter would come out to be stern with the students when they were being rapscallions. But...
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Banning chemicals
Certain chemical compounds out there are especially pernicious, and many deserve to be banned completely from public consumption. One such chemical is dihydrogen monoxide. Not only is it a major component in acid rain, but it can severely burn you in its gaseous state, and accidental inhalation can kill you!
Oddly enough, when I was home for Thanksgiving, I had randomly stumbled upon a joke...
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So you want to be an astronaut?
Somehow, space exploration has fallen out of favor with some of my 6th graders. I, and 17/21 of them, are rather fascinated with it, but there are about four hooligans who like to be negative and gripe about everything. Their word of the month is “nasty” and they use it gratuitously.
When I have the morning science starter as “What do you think the best thing about being an astronaut would be?...
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Increasingly dangerous cheeses →
Be scared. Be very scared.
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The Chocolate Confession
The day after Valentine’s Day, one 7th grader left a 5-lb, 200-piece box of chocolate in my class. Someone must be really into dramatic gestures for the holiday. When everyone was out of the class at the end of the day, box left behind midst a jumble of loose papers and sweatshirts , I tiptoed over and ate about 10. Then I felt sick.
The next day, the recipient of the box realized he still had...
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How Mrs. Grady Transformed Olly O'Neal →
On one hand, this article gives me chills — I’m a big sucker for these “transformational school stories.” I think every teacher has this desire to feel like she has had a significant, lasting impact on at least one student.
At the same time, this op-ed seems like somewhat of a fairy tale to me. The thievery-prompted turn-around happens in the short span of one paragraph...
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For Poorer Schools, an Attempt to Let New... →
I love this — very experiential education, expeditionary learning style. These community experiences make learning applicable to real life and not just to some classroom vacuum.
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The Thinkers
Lately, I’ve been feeling immensely proud every time I make my students really THINK, really struggle as they grapple with new information. When you can see the cogs turning and gears shifting — that’s what I really love.
I have some students who have “I don’t get it” programmed into their permanent system.
(Scene: I have just passed out a genetics lab sheet to my 7th graders)
Dara: I...
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“I don’t know anything with certainty, but seeing the stars makes me dream.”
– Vincent van Gogh (via misswallflower)
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Room Make-over
Teresa (a staff coordinator): So, I was going to organize your room today.
Me: Excuse me?
T: It’s just so cluttered there, I was planning to clean it up and rearrange a bit.
Me: Oh, ah. Were you planning to tell me about this?
T: Well, I’m asking you now…is this okay? [the funny thing is, when some other teachers hear about this later, they get really indignant on my behalf -- like someone is coming in and rearranging my personal castle. To be honest, I truly wasn’t bothered by it; sometimes it’s hard for me to clean my own space, but I like the idea of a willing volunteer to do a home makeover]
Me: Well, I’m not going to stop you from spending your time making my room look nicer…
T: Yeah, the room the kids like the most and learn the best in is Mary’s (the math teacher). [Note: Mary’s room is TOTALLY bare and sort of dark. Totally uncluttered, pretty empty walls. I’d always thought it to be a tad boring]
M: Uhhhhh….What are your sources and sampling size?
T: [offhandedly] Oh, they all say it.
Me: What are your criteria for “like most” and “learn best”?
T: It’s just so uncluttered there; they’re more at ease.
Me: This doesn’t sound that a scientifically valid study to me. [I sometimes get into these really ornery moods when I feel like people are making sweeping, unfounded claims]
T: Well, your room does go against a lot of Expeditionary Learning design principles.
Me: Darn, like what?
T: There’s not supposed to be clutter, only student work on the walls, there’s supposed to be a unifying theme for the year and a simple color scheme -- dark, no, not dark…subdued. But I’m not the one trained in this.
Me: Color theory?
T: Room design. Mary?
Mary: Well, I can’t summarize a 5-day conference for you in just a few minutes.
Me: You went to a 5-day conference on color theory?!?!
Mary: Room design and learning environment! But ‘no clutter’ was a huge, huge thing.
[Post-note: This convo makes me sound somewhat snarky. Really, this was a really courteous conversation, more like banter if anything. Teresa ended up coming in and actually really helping me choose some things to get rid of. After she left, I was bitten by an organization bug and spent an hour more rethinking and redesigning some of my box and label systems. When I came in this year, I inherited all of the organization systems from my predecessor; only now am I finally figuring out what works best for ME. So, that’s excited. And maybe someday, I, too, can be so lucky to attend a 5-day workshop on color theory -- sorry, room design. Heaven knows I need it.
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Literary nerds arise →
I stumbled upon this article right after seeing Midnight in Paris (part of Operation Watch-Best-Picture-Nominees-in-Advance-This-Year. They both remind me of each other in their nostalgia for literary hey-days of the past. I love this thought of all the great creative minds brushing shoulders at dinner parties and piano bars, sharing inspirations and ideas.
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Some of them are disappointed that it's a...
My 8th graders have plastic pumpkin trick-or-treat baskets, and they’re scrambling around the classroom like crazy people, searching for the Easter eggs I’ve hidden.
I tell them that if you average Halloween and Easter, you get around now. Also, these are the donated materials I happen to have on hand. Also, each egg has a little chemistry challenge problem inside — either an...
Teachers in Tiaras: 10 Ways to Be a Light-Hearted... →
“your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be...”
– Steve Jobs (via joshscherman)
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