January 2012
48 posts
Positively Persistent Teach: Remember Why You Are... →
drteach:
Today, in the field of education it is easy to get caught up in the hub-bub of negativity that surrounds the schools and educators within them. It appears that the profession, which should be held of the highest esteem, is constantly questioned by outsiders debating the worth of…
We are Just Getting Started...: In What Other... →
buntsfromaleftcoastgirl:
August 27th, 2010 by David Reber
I’m going to step out of my usual third-person writing voice for a moment. As a parent I received a letter last week from the Kansas State Board of Education, informing me that my children’s school district had been placed…
Thank you.
3 tags
Saturday Night Confession
I opted to not go to my husband’s band’s show tonight. Just didn’t feel up to being dressed up and social.
Am sitting with my dog watching the show online feeling both guilty for not being there and happy to be cuddling with my sweet dog on the couch.
The article I read in TIME Magazine today about introverts is also ringing in my ears. Hm.
5 tags
Student Motivation Update
After three weeks from the start of my Partner In Education “program” and a class rewards system with my four periods of freshmen, I feel comfortable sharing some results. Though for full disclosure, I need to point out that results may also be influenced by outside factors such as last semester’s grades (many were not good, and that has motivated a lot of my students to work...
3 tags
Saturday morning routine
Hubby: Supervising Saturday School
Me: In jammies on couch grading and watching Bath/Room/Yard Crashers on HGTV.
The GLAMOROUS life of teachers!
What teachers really want to tell parents -... →
incognerdo:
Pretty neat article.
Our school has notoriously low parental involvement, which sucks just as much as helicopter parents.
Calling home and getting the “they’re your problem until 3 PM” is a tough cookie to swallow. We give parents the tools to be involved. We call home with absences, give them access to student grades, and they still blame us for stuff that happens between 7 am...
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Free Speech
The hardest part of being a Journalism adviser is editing and approving opinion pieces I don’t agree with.
I just read a very well-written opinion about how the California DREAM Act (our state’s version of Obama’s DREAM Act) is unfair and how illegal immigrants shouldn’t get rewards that could take away from opportunities of legal citizens.
Difficult job is difficult.
Afterword: Pride in your community →
joserisms:
I SHOULD be working on my Spring Band Calendar but instead I’m watching my students practice in my band room. It amazes me how far these kids have come since the first day of school. They were a rag tag band with no real direction. I laid out my vision to them, then demonstrated my goals by taking…
Full of awesome.
3 tags
Genuine Question
Should the exposure of his knowledge (and lack of action taken) of child sexual abuse ruin his “legend” status?
To recap, this week Obama:
johiart:
mandigray:
-Made a decision that made it almost universally possible for women to get affordable birth control (Yay for women!)
-Rejected the Keystone XL Pipeline (Yay for the environment!)
-Denounced SOPA (Yay for the first amendment!)
-Sang Al Green (Yay for everyone)
Say what you want, I still believe in Hope.
Yuss.
Rad.
Miss B Stories: Some of my students are secretly... →
missbstories:
So today, my 7th-graders had to hand in their Shakespearean sonnets. Before I collected them, I let them share. The results were remarkable.
Basically, work ethic/brains and ability to write a sonnet seem to be inversely proportional.
My smart kids struggled. They either didn’t share, or their…
7th graders writing amazing sonnets?! Amazing!
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Both Encouraging and Depressing
Talking to an experienced teacher about the freshmen we share and knowing they are just as poorly behaved in her class as in mine.
At least they’re funny.
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Girl with a Lesson Plan: Today was the first day... →
none4gretchenweiners:
Before we could start though, she gave us a warning. She didn’t want to see Harry Potter because “it is for purely entertainment purposes only in getting younger children to enjoy reading and has no social impact or value.”
And she kept going. She was like, “I…
This makes me angry. The Harry Potter series is full of literary value and explores relevant themes. I...
4 tags
Dear sore throat,
I’m not sure what to do with you. Spending the day at home talking to no one but my dog has not helped. How am I supposed to teach for five periods tomorrow? How am I supposed to give a mini lecture about figurative language and explain to my students how AWESOME it is?!
Be prepared to be tamed by tea, Advil, and cepacol. Bitch.
Sincerely,
Me
“SHUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
– Me, at the top of my lungs, to my 7th grade English class.
Proof that I absolutely need to eat lunch in order to be an effective teacher. (via missbstories)
No joke, if I get annoyed quickly in my class before lunch, a student will say, as nicely as possible, “Ms. G, do you need to eat...
2 tags
“I think the universe is improbably biased toward consciousness, that it rewards...”
– John Green “The Fault in Our Stars” (via nerdfighter007)
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The New York F*^&ing Times Book Review
fishingboatproceeds:
I was so tempted to actually curse, tumblr! So tempted that I just split an infinitive talking about how tempted I was.
Anyway, the New York Times Book Review has reviewed The Fault in Our Stars, saying that it is a blend of melancholy, sweet, philosophical, and funny,” and that “[Green] shows us true love… and it is far more romantic than any sunset on the beach.”
Just...
6 tags
“The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for...”
– Maya Angelou
Miss B Stories: POETRY FUCK YEAH. →
missbstories:
Omigod omigod omigod I am SO PUMPED for the 7th-grade poetry unit I am planning. It is going to KICK ASS. I decided, you know what? FUCK kid poetry. We are going to do ADULT POETRY. Because it’s fucking AWESOME. (Also because they did poetry extensively last year and I have to take ‘em to the next…
Rock your fucking badass poetry unit, woman!
4 tags
“I’m in love with you, and I’m not in the business of denying myself the simple...”
– - Augustus Waters in The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.
Easily the best book I’ve read since the last John Green book I read.
“A good book is an education of the heart. It enlarges your sense of human...”
– Susan Sontag (via teachingliteracy)
4 tags
Starting the three-day weekend with a cold.
And football. I live in the Bay Area, but don’t give a crap about the 49ers. I think football is more fun to watch without team loyalties because it’s easier to appreciate both teams’ good plays and hits.
Also, I hate the commentators.
That said, instead of sleeping in, I read for three hours this morning and finished John...
3 tags
Eyelid-twitching is bad, right?
Left eyelid. All day.
Cathedral Building: I didn't realize that answers... →
shapefutures:
“for me transgender is an alien. sorry” I am sorry you feel this way, not only for yourself but for the people you’re hurting with views like this. It’s my hope that anyone following this blog, whether or not they are initially accepting of all people, would at least be open to learning more…
Love this.
3 tags
While grading Journalism finals I read
“Next semester, I plan to man up and grow a pair and not be afraid to interview the wrestling coach.”
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Oh, Sunday night, we meet again
I have way more to do than I thought to be prepared for tomorrow.
I am not prepared for tomorrow.
Usually, I wouldn’t stress, but tomorrow is the beginning of our second semester and I’m making changes and raising expectations, so it’s essential that I am in top of my game tomorrow.
Lots of little things that aren’t done. Blah.
But, some delicious Mac n cheese is in...
2 tags
“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the...”
– James Baldwin (via misswallflower)
This shows the mentality behind the YA Saves campaign. Love it.
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Non-education-related ranting
I can’t think of many things more frustrating than posting something on Facebook about my friend who died because he didn’t have health insurance and having two “family” members turn it into a political debate.
GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!
“Performing Shakespeare’s more than reading words from a script. It’s about...”
– Grace - Skins Series 5 (via youreyeslooklikeblueberries)
Oh my Science, yes!
If famous writers had written Twilight →
letgrillbegrill:
My personal favorite: Cormac McCarthy
In the opening scene, Edward dashes Bella’s head against a rock and rapes her corpse. Then he and Jacob take off on an unexplained rampage through the West.
(followed closely by)
Ernest Hemingway
Edward and Bella exchange terse dialogue alluding to Edward’s anatomical problem. Eventually, Bella leaves him for Jacob, a local bullfighter...
Ennui
Blah.
That is all.
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“Have you seen most of the plus-size sections out there? It’s horrifying....”
– Tim Gunn
(via Fashionista)
Tim Gunn is a national treasure.
(via oakcity)
It’s mortifying that a size 10 or 12 is too big for fashion designers. It makes me sick. I’m a size 10, and have been since high school. While I, like most women, have felt insecure about my size, I’ve...
5 tags
Step 1: First run of the year
While I’ve always thought it was silly for people to wait until a new year to make a change in their lives, I just did the same thing. Well, I waited because I wanted to start the painful thing when I was on break from school and not adding to the physical demands of teaching. Excuses, excuses.
That said, I went jogging today for the first time in … years. A few years. I used to run a...
3 tags
vwalker:
How do you teach 7th graders why it’s so rude/unacceptable/irritating when they talk to their neighbors or mess with other stuff when someone “has the floor”? Especially when it’s something they’ve gotten away with in elementary school and in other classes now?
I have the same problem in my classes! I just started reading Teach Like a Champion, and one of the techniques they suggest...
6 tags
Changes for second semester! MOTIVATION!
Since my school didn’t get out until the 22nd, we have this week off. The hubby goes back tomorrow though, and he’s feeling the I-didn’t-do-any-work-during-the-break anxiety.
That said, I did spend a few hours in my classroom today getting grades somewhat finalized and getting things ready for the second semester.
I set a bunch of goals for my classes for second semester, and...
2 tags
ChristinaMused: First-Year Teaching →
christinamused:
@adiemtocarpe posted about the anxiety of being uncertain whether teaching is the right field. I ran into a reblogging error, so I’m posting this separately…
Is there anything quite so humbling as a first year of teaching?
I moved my husband, a 1st grader, and a 2-year-old across the state to…
This is inspiring. I love this question: Is there anything quite so humbling...
Class Pager: New tool for SMS and polling in the... →
coolcatteacher:
Not just for polling, this free app will let you send notifications to students and parents and interject a poll as you need to. (i.e. how many of you are coming to open house tomorrow night.) Very cool. I’m doing this.
NEEEEEEEEEAT!
2 tags
We've Got A Diem to Carpe: This isn't for me. →
adiemtocarpe:
It’s the daunting thought that has been appearing in my mind frequently, especially now because I’ve been away from school for a few days.
I do love teaching with everything I have in me. I always have loved it. Honestly, and I hate, hate, hate saying this- but it’s the children. I still cannot…
My husband was in a similar situation a couple of years ago, except he was...
