Giving students ownership of their learning

This list is from an ASCD article in November 2008.  I think it still works for this year:

What students want from teachers:

Take me seriously

Challenge me to think

Nurture by self-respect; teach me self-discipline

Show me I can make a difference

Let me do it my way

Point me toward my goals

I do a pretty good job with these.

I love a good conversation but I’m not sure Facebook is the place for that

I finally joined Facebook this summer.  I did it very surreptitiously, without telling anyone, and just sat back to see what happened.  Within a few days a friend or two had found me and “friended” me.  From there on it snowballed.  I have now been “friended” by coworkers, former students, my daughter, some of her friends, and friends from church.

I’m still waiting to see the purpose of the thing.  There are few real conversations. Most of it being what a person is doing right that minute. (I thought that was what Twitter was for.)  The best part has been seeing pictures of my granddaughter as Facebook is the only place our daughter puts those pictures.

I just read an article in More magazine about people my age using Facebook to reconnect to their friends from high school.  I haven’t heard from those people in almost 40 years so I doubt that any of them are suddenly going to show up.  Plus, my name is no longer the same as I had in high school.

Although I post some links that I have found interesting, I don’t get any comments so little to no conversation gets started.  I check other’s “walls” to see what they are linking to, but I don’t find much.

I can sit and talk for hours with friends in 3D, but the Facebook thing isn’t quite the same.  I’ll stick with it for awhile and see what happens.  Perhaps some of my dear Readers have a different take?

I just need more time (and money)

I am running as fast as I can without falling down.  The days are flying by. (I bet you are all saying this and thinking, “does this woman think she’s the only one who has more to do than time allows?”)    I know that many of you are up to your eyebrows (waxed or not) in work and wondering when you will get time to sit and think.

As I was running from office to classroom this morning, I hollered into our secretary’s office, “can you get me another hour?”

“Sure, when I go get another brain,” was her reply which I hardly heard because I was already around the corner.

My marketing students are good, but operating on their own agenda.  My word processing students are probably the best I have ever had.  The multimedia kids are beginning to realize that I move fast and we already have three assignments due by tomorrow.  ”But school just started.”

Then there are the yearbook students.  This class is breaking my heart.  We have sold a mere 52 books and four ads.  There is little hustle and bustle in the students except to tell me how big they want the book and they want a full color book.  We still owe money for last year’s book so this year will probably be smaller if we don’t get some money in the account pretty soon.  Twenty seven hundred students, and we sell 200 yearbooks.  What is up with that?

So, time and money…anyone know where I can get some more?

I’m not making this up

Every day, before  I leave the house, I put on my makeup.  Some days I do a quick job, just concealer, mascara, blush, and lipstick.  Yesterday, like my blogger friend, Kathy, who does something new every day, I went out of town without makeup.  This is a first for me.

I thought we were only going to my daughter’s home and spend the day with our granddaughter, but then we decided to take the baby and walk downtown.  A whole bunch of people got to see me without my makeup.  No one gasped, no one looked away; I guess it was ok.

Although I have pretty good skin, I have NO COLOR in my face, so I don’t look like I feel very well with just a bare face.  People often comment, if they see me without my full complement of colors, about my state of health.  No, I feel fine, I just haven’t reapplied my lipstick.  Maybe those who saw me yesterday just dismissed me as an ill woman!

Thank you, Lord, for my words

I use these books on a regular basis in yearbook.  We are always seeking a WORD or PHRASE.

Books of words

They weren’t on the shelf this morning when I was planning my yearbook lesson today.  Who would steal three books of words?  I knew that no student would have taken them, and then I could see myself loaning them to someone last year.

“Lord, I need help in finding these books.  Who has them? “

I emailed one teacher who I thought might have them.  Then I walked into another teacher’s classroom, actually to talk to our secretary, and there were the books on the other teacher’s shelf.  ”Thank you, Lord, for my words.”  Now I can teach my lesson.

I’m one of those grandmas

I carry a small photo album of pictures of my granddaughter with me everywhere I go.  All it takes is one mention of the new grand baby and I pull out the album.

I also have photos on my iPhone to show those who don’t mind handling a piece of technology.  Older people, though, seem to frown on my iPhone pics and want printed ones to look at so I keep the album updated.  However, some of the photos my daughter posts on her Facebook page are too small to send to the printer but do work in an electronic environment.  Here is one of those pictures:

Because I am one of those grandmas that brags on my grandkid (I only have one), I just had to post this picture of Leeya.  As you may have guessed, it is also the wallpaper picture on my iPhone right now.

Back to school SWAG

We all have them, those of us in education…those few days before the students return when we are held accountable in meeting after meeting, telling us how we did the year before and how we will do this next year.  They are called inservice days, institute days, buy-back days, prep days.  Ours began on Wednesday, but yesterday was the official day back.  After getting our photos taken, the next step was to sign in and pick up, no, not just our folder of information, but SWAG!

We were each given a t-shirt with our new slogan for the year, a planner, and a book about assessment.  This is the most I’ve ever gotten in my 21 back-to-school years.  I’m so easily pleased!

School preparations

Now I know I’m getting back into the swing of things:  this morning I printed out the syllabus for my four classes.  Fortunately, they are all on file so all I have to do is pull them up and tweak them a bit for this new year.  Word processing, which I’ve not taught in two years, is now called computer skills, so that one took a little more massaging.  Our principal requires two copies of each syllabus by the time school starts.  I can get these copied Monday and Tuesday while I am doing other sundry preparations to get back into the school year.

Monday and Tuesday are freshmen orientation days.  We call them Link Crew with the older kids showing the newbies around the campus and giving them (hopefully) good tips.  I will need to be set up in the cafeteria to push my yearbook sales when the kids pick up their schedules.  Hopefully they will show up with their checks and prefilled order blanks that were included in their back-to-school packets which were mailed home.

I can feel the pace quickening!

Can I still cook?

It’s been so long since I’ve done so, do I still know how to cook?

I make really good biscuits so that is what I fixed for dinner tonight:  biscuits and gravy.  Potato pancakes with applesauce and bacon rounded out the meal. Everything was very tasty so I guess I’ve still got the skill.

My biscuit recipe is really easy:  2 1/2 c Bisquick mixed with a spoonful of sugar; add 1 cup sparkling water; mix; lightly knead on floured board; cut into rounds and bake at 400 degrees for about 10 min.

Happy to be home with my own “stuff”

I am so glad to be back to our own little place, with all of our own “stuff.”   And, it is much bigger than the 160 square foot room we have been living in for two weeks.  After pulling into the garage this morning, and shutting off the engine, I raised my arms and gave a whoop of joy; got out and did a happy dance.

My front door looked so welcoming.

I can sit under my own tree

My own kitchen where I can fix our meals

I am so thankful for this little house to which we can come home after an amazing three weeks away.  God blessed us in a mighty way, putting the most wonderful people in our path.  We were powerfully impacted this summer in seeing all that God is doing in many places.  Here, now, in our little house, God will prepare us for the next adventure.