The Story of WE
As I read this chapter, I was reminded of my first teaching job. I started teaching at a charter school. It was the first year of the school, and we were all working hard to get the school open. All of the materials and curriculum were ordered by the company managing the school, so we just had to wait for it to come in. As the days got closer, we became more and more concerned that we were not going to receive everything by the time the first day of school came around. We were all new to the curriculum, new to the building, and a good number of us were new to teaching. When I think back about the beginning of that year, I am still amazed by how we banded together to get the school open. We all worked together to get our classrooms ready. When some of the curriculum and supplies did come in, we all helped distribute them. No art supplies arrived for the art teacher, and many teachers went through their supplies and gave her what they did not need so she could start her first project of the year with the kids. It was a wonderful atmosphere where everyone worked hard and worked together to achieve a common goal. I have never worked in an environment where everyone was so committed to the good of the whole as opposed to the good of the individual. Unfortunately, things did not stay this way at that school. Once the school was open and running, things broke down in the moral area for a variety of reasons. Those of use that were there for that opening, still remember how we all came together to open a school. I think all schools would run better if they had that same attitude.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Week 4- Post 4- Reponse to Therese Josephson
Week 4 Free Post: My many marathons
This weekend I am embarking on a new adventure. I will be running a half marathon. That’s 13.1 miles. (My students asked, “You’ll run the whole time? Without stopping? You don’t walk AT ALL?”)
I’m excited. And a little nervous. I’ve been training, and I think I’m ready, but it’s still a little scary. What if the weather is too hot? Or too cold? What if the hills are steeper than what I trained with? What if the craziness of this week (more on that in a moment) affects my fitness?
But, you know, as I was thinking about this, I was realizing how many other kinds of marathons I’ve done. Isn’t every school year a marathon? Certainly, we must be at mile 25 or 26 by now! And, really, I feel like this week has been a marathon in itself. I attended the Wimba on Monday to present my Publishing/Leadership project. When that was done, I went back to school to set up for Tuesday morning’s rehearsal. (The auditorium was in use until then.) I got home around 10:45. Tuesday morning, I rehearsed for 2 hours with 80 middle schoolers. By myself. Then, we had a concert that night. Today was a bit of a reprieve, but I have a concert at my other school tomorrow.
I’m exhausted. But I also know that I’ll make it to the finish line. Of this week and this school year. And I will feel very good about what we have accomplished in the middle school orchestras this year.
This year at Full Sail has felt like a marathon at times, too. For all the good and the bad, and there certainly have been both, I feel like the finish line is within sight. I know that I’m going to make it, and that I will have done it “without stopping to walk” even once. And that is going to feel great!
Ali Baxendale
Therese,
First of all, good luck on your half marathon! There is no way that I could do that! I also completely agree with you about this program and this time of year being their own marathons. I am lucky that I do not have concerts to worry about at the end of the school year, but I do have mountains of grading to contend with. I think all teachers feel the stress of this time of year. All of us in this program are also feeling the stress of finishing everything up before month 12. When I started this program, I thought it would be great to start in the summer and then finish at the beginning of summer the following year. It never dawned on me at the time, that I would be finishing the school year and my master's program at the same time. We will all make it to the end, and we will feel great when we achieve those goals.
This weekend I am embarking on a new adventure. I will be running a half marathon. That’s 13.1 miles. (My students asked, “You’ll run the whole time? Without stopping? You don’t walk AT ALL?”)
I’m excited. And a little nervous. I’ve been training, and I think I’m ready, but it’s still a little scary. What if the weather is too hot? Or too cold? What if the hills are steeper than what I trained with? What if the craziness of this week (more on that in a moment) affects my fitness?
But, you know, as I was thinking about this, I was realizing how many other kinds of marathons I’ve done. Isn’t every school year a marathon? Certainly, we must be at mile 25 or 26 by now! And, really, I feel like this week has been a marathon in itself. I attended the Wimba on Monday to present my Publishing/Leadership project. When that was done, I went back to school to set up for Tuesday morning’s rehearsal. (The auditorium was in use until then.) I got home around 10:45. Tuesday morning, I rehearsed for 2 hours with 80 middle schoolers. By myself. Then, we had a concert that night. Today was a bit of a reprieve, but I have a concert at my other school tomorrow.
I’m exhausted. But I also know that I’ll make it to the finish line. Of this week and this school year. And I will feel very good about what we have accomplished in the middle school orchestras this year.
This year at Full Sail has felt like a marathon at times, too. For all the good and the bad, and there certainly have been both, I feel like the finish line is within sight. I know that I’m going to make it, and that I will have done it “without stopping to walk” even once. And that is going to feel great!
Ali Baxendale
Therese,
First of all, good luck on your half marathon! There is no way that I could do that! I also completely agree with you about this program and this time of year being their own marathons. I am lucky that I do not have concerts to worry about at the end of the school year, but I do have mountains of grading to contend with. I think all teachers feel the stress of this time of year. All of us in this program are also feeling the stress of finishing everything up before month 12. When I started this program, I thought it would be great to start in the summer and then finish at the beginning of summer the following year. It never dawned on me at the time, that I would be finishing the school year and my master's program at the same time. We will all make it to the end, and we will feel great when we achieve those goals.
Week 4- Post 3- Response to Kelly McKinley
wk 4 Getting a new principal!!!!
Sadly, due to the failure of the levy and the impending state takeover, we have been losing some very good people to other districts. Two of our principals found jobs elsewhere. We just got the news this week that our principal will be moving to the Jr. High and we will be getting a new principal next year. After much speculation, we finally found out who our new principal will be and we are all very excited. I had worked with her for several years when I taught at the elementary school and she was a great teacher. They then promoted her to the position of assistant principal and then, after two years in that position, she was promoted to principal of one of the other elementary buildings. She is a fabulous principal.
Ali Baxendale said...
Kelly,
I am so glad to hear that you are getting a new principal that you are excited about! It is about time that you and your school got some good news! My school is also getting a new principal next year. It is going to be an assistant principal from one of the other high schools in the district. I know he is very well liked, and I am interested to see what he will bring to our school. We will have to compare notes throughout this next year to see how everything goes. I know that no matter what, you will continue to be an amazing teacher!
Sadly, due to the failure of the levy and the impending state takeover, we have been losing some very good people to other districts. Two of our principals found jobs elsewhere. We just got the news this week that our principal will be moving to the Jr. High and we will be getting a new principal next year. After much speculation, we finally found out who our new principal will be and we are all very excited. I had worked with her for several years when I taught at the elementary school and she was a great teacher. They then promoted her to the position of assistant principal and then, after two years in that position, she was promoted to principal of one of the other elementary buildings. She is a fabulous principal.
Ali Baxendale said...
Kelly,
I am so glad to hear that you are getting a new principal that you are excited about! It is about time that you and your school got some good news! My school is also getting a new principal next year. It is going to be an assistant principal from one of the other high schools in the district. I know he is very well liked, and I am interested to see what he will bring to our school. We will have to compare notes throughout this next year to see how everything goes. I know that no matter what, you will continue to be an amazing teacher!
Week 4- Post 2- Response to Eric Anderson
Week 4: Project - Publishing-Leadership 3 of 3
What a relief! I’ve spoken to some contacts with the Wisconsin CMP Project (CMP = Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance) and they’re interested in possibly having me present my work at a summer workshop. I’ve attended the CMP workshop several times as a participant, and it would be an honor to be able to present my action research project there.
The 2010 summer workshop is the last week of Month 12 of the EMDT program, so it’s not the best timing as far as this year is concerned. However, the 2011 workshop would give me enough time to continue working on a Cycle 3 for my project to include in my presentation. I think this would be a valuable addition to my project, since my Cycle 2 involved using Ning as a central component to a blended mode of content delivery in my AP Music Theory class. Since Ning will no longer be available in its current form after this July, I would like to look into and experiment with alternatives to Ning that would provide similar functionality, including, discussions, events, and chat.
On a somewhat related note, my department will be presenting a session this October at the WMEA State Music Convention on the topic of general music courses at the high school level. Since my AR project was conducted in two of these classes, I hope to be able to incorporate some components of my project into this presentation.
Ali Baxendale
Eric,
I am so excited that you are going to be presenting your project! I know it will be an excellent presentation from everything I have seen you do in this program! I think it is great that you are going to wait to do another cycle to make your research and project more useful and relevant to the teachers you present to. It would be frustrating to see a wonderful presentation and be unable to use the ideas because the sites used were no longer available. I know you will find a great new site to use! I can't wait to hear how it all turns out!
What a relief! I’ve spoken to some contacts with the Wisconsin CMP Project (CMP = Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance) and they’re interested in possibly having me present my work at a summer workshop. I’ve attended the CMP workshop several times as a participant, and it would be an honor to be able to present my action research project there.
The 2010 summer workshop is the last week of Month 12 of the EMDT program, so it’s not the best timing as far as this year is concerned. However, the 2011 workshop would give me enough time to continue working on a Cycle 3 for my project to include in my presentation. I think this would be a valuable addition to my project, since my Cycle 2 involved using Ning as a central component to a blended mode of content delivery in my AP Music Theory class. Since Ning will no longer be available in its current form after this July, I would like to look into and experiment with alternatives to Ning that would provide similar functionality, including, discussions, events, and chat.
On a somewhat related note, my department will be presenting a session this October at the WMEA State Music Convention on the topic of general music courses at the high school level. Since my AR project was conducted in two of these classes, I hope to be able to incorporate some components of my project into this presentation.
Ali Baxendale
Eric,
I am so excited that you are going to be presenting your project! I know it will be an excellent presentation from everything I have seen you do in this program! I think it is great that you are going to wait to do another cycle to make your research and project more useful and relevant to the teachers you present to. It would be frustrating to see a wonderful presentation and be unable to use the ideas because the sites used were no longer available. I know you will find a great new site to use! I can't wait to hear how it all turns out!
Week 4- Post 1- Publishing/ Leadership Project Part 3 of 3
Last week, I decided that I should focus on finding a place to publish my AR project as opposed to presenting. The first place I looked was the Ohio Foreign Language Association publication The Cardinal. Unfortunately, the entries should be no more than 500 words. The I continued on to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. I decided to submit to their publication, The Language Editor. I am so glad that I have found a place to submit my paper to. The deadline for submission is June 1st, so I am going to have to work hard to make sure it is ready to submit. I am going to have to tweak my citations to match what the publication requires.
Week 3- Post 5- Response to Alicia Kalb
I’m a firm believer in using pop culture in education. I know many teachers frown upon it, but I think that it helps to be able to relate to students. This week I found a correlation between the reading and the newest episode of Glee. This week’s Glee episode was entitled “Dream On” and it was all about making dreams come true. For those of you who don’t watch Glee, you really should check it out by the way, the show revolves around a teacher who brings back the Glee Club and tries to make it great again. He works with the kids who don’t fit in and tries to get them to realize their true potential. He is the kind of teacher who goes outside the box and is working for the kids. Of course there is the cheerleading coach who is everything education shouldn’t be, but is hysterically funny. This week’s episode really spoke to me. When you look at your students they all have a dream, something that they want to achieve and we as teachers need to help them succeed. Especially since there are so many people who try to bring them down. Without dreams, we’re lost. You can check out full episodes of Glee at Fox or Hulu.shapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1
Ali Baxendale
Alicia,
First of all, I also LOVE Glee! I feel a connection to the show because I grew up in choirs all throughout high school, and I am now a high school Spanish teacher (just like Will). I really like the point you make here. I saw the "Dream On" episode. I think it is very important for teachers to help support their students' dreams. I think it is also equally important to make sure students have the facts about their dreams. I have seen many students graduate from high school ready to pursue a degree or career in a very competitive field without realizing the competition. I do not think we should discourage our students' dreams; I just think we should make sure our students pursue those dreams while being educated about them.
Ali Baxendale
Alicia,
First of all, I also LOVE Glee! I feel a connection to the show because I grew up in choirs all throughout high school, and I am now a high school Spanish teacher (just like Will). I really like the point you make here. I saw the "Dream On" episode. I think it is very important for teachers to help support their students' dreams. I think it is also equally important to make sure students have the facts about their dreams. I have seen many students graduate from high school ready to pursue a degree or career in a very competitive field without realizing the competition. I do not think we should discourage our students' dreams; I just think we should make sure our students pursue those dreams while being educated about them.
Week 3- Post 4- Response to Elizabeth Bennert
wk 3 topic: Resistance to change
Personally I think the biggest deterrent from technology in school is time and training. I know many who would not mind adding more, but where is the time, and how do they learn. In my old school there was volunteer training, after school and unpaid… Teachers are resistant to spending what little “free” time they have on volunteer learning, there is already too much going on.
In other fields, there is onsite and paid for training. My sister works in the IT field and whenever they want her to master something new, they send her on trainings, pay for the training and the room and board.
Schools do not have that kind of money, so the stubborn employees who want money if they “have to ” learn something new, will fight and fight because they see it as one more thing added to the list, without extra pay!
Ali Baxendale said...
Liz,
I agree that it would be wonderful to be paid for all of our extra training and work, but I do not foresee there ever being enough money in education for that to happen. I think my school district has taken a smart approach to teachers getting smart boards. Before a teacher can get a smart board in their room, they must go through the district's training on smart boards. Unfortunately, this does not mean that every teacher that goes through the training will receive a smart board. I do think this is a good way to motivate the teachers who do want to stay up on technology.
Personally I think the biggest deterrent from technology in school is time and training. I know many who would not mind adding more, but where is the time, and how do they learn. In my old school there was volunteer training, after school and unpaid… Teachers are resistant to spending what little “free” time they have on volunteer learning, there is already too much going on.
In other fields, there is onsite and paid for training. My sister works in the IT field and whenever they want her to master something new, they send her on trainings, pay for the training and the room and board.
Schools do not have that kind of money, so the stubborn employees who want money if they “have to ” learn something new, will fight and fight because they see it as one more thing added to the list, without extra pay!
Ali Baxendale said...
Liz,
I agree that it would be wonderful to be paid for all of our extra training and work, but I do not foresee there ever being enough money in education for that to happen. I think my school district has taken a smart approach to teachers getting smart boards. Before a teacher can get a smart board in their room, they must go through the district's training on smart boards. Unfortunately, this does not mean that every teacher that goes through the training will receive a smart board. I do think this is a good way to motivate the teachers who do want to stay up on technology.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)