Homecoming

Well, we (I) have survived another homecoming week at RHS. There were no injuries (that I know of anyway) and most people had a lot of fun. The week flew by and I really don't know where it went. I spent today working at the library and played tour guide to a group who was having their 50+ class reunion. I was amazed at how many of their memories revolved around the library and the other buildings in Redfield. I guess most of my memories are tied to people and events. It was a nice visit with some alumni who truly appreciated Redfield and what they had here when they lived here. So what are memories made of- people, places, events? Where will this year's homecoming live in those memories?

Teasing

This topic really bothers me. I see students everyday who tease, gossip about and talk back to classmates. This then escalates into a verbal battle that I, often, must stop because it interferes with my ability to teach. Some days, I spend so much time refereeing the comments and comebacks that I get little teaching done. Why are some students so mean to their classmates? School is supposed to be a safe place where learning can happen, but is it really? What can I do as a teacher to end this or is it something that I have put up with?

failure

I read this and thought there was a grain of truth in his comments and examples. I have taken classes that were pass/fail- you did it and did it well or you failed. Any comment.

Credit for sports participation

I read an interesting article today. What do you think?

Six word memoir

This week at our staff meeting, Mr. Lewis gave us an article that describe the book Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure by Smith Magazine. The book is a collection of six word phrases that describe specific peoples' lives, jobs, beliefs, accomplishments, etc. He then asked us to come up with a six-word memoir for ourselves. It was difficult, but I did it, although I have to give some credit to a speaker I heard at a conference. Some of my memoir is his idea.

Laugh. Learn. Leave a Legacy. Teach.

Sound about right for me?? Give it a try and publish it on the blog for others to respond to.

Obama versus McCain

Take a look by clicking on them and then tell me what you think about their speeches.

Cool site- Wordle

Check this out-
I created it at a site called Wordle.
I copied and pasted the whole play- Romeo and Juliet into the box and then the program tabulates which words are the most repeated. The bigger the word the more times it is used in the text. It is really cool. You can change the layout, the color and the shape and save it to a gallery. Try it.

Cheating and how to stop it

Read this and tell me if you think it would work. Is what the article says about why kids cheat accurate? How do we show that learning is more important than grades in this society?

high school sports participation

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, participation in high school sports is at an all time high. Their survey results are astounding: over 7 million high school students participated in sports last year. Why is participation on the rise? Take a look at the results, which are national and state data, and tell me what you think.

Update on the goals

In my 8/23 post, I discussed goals and thought that I would update what is happening with mine. Here they are:
1. Use kinder words
2. Choose a positive attitude all day, every day.
3. Greet people at school 90% of the time
4. Praise the positive at least 10 times in a day; ignore or quickly deal with the negative
5. Better manage my time to take care of my priorities

Well, the first three are going well. I find that the day flies when I choose to have a good attitude. The students are also better behaved and we get a lot more done. Praise is hard to do without it sounding cheesy (as my students would say). I am reading some Boy'sTown materials that I found in my closet and am trying to incorporate some of those ideas into the praise project. Marzano's ideas also seem to help. Time management is hard. I spend more time with my family and try to get everything done at school, but it is impossible to finish everything here. I have to take some of it home, which cuts into family time. That will be the one to really work on.

This week's goal is to blog more often and clean up my wikispace.

Anyone else wish to share their goals and how they are doing on them?