I was going to get this done early and not have to worry about the 12:00 PM deadline on Saturday. However Saturday came and when I went to blog, it came back and said my invitation to the blog had expired. Thanks Jessie for getting it straightened out. Anyways, last week was a nice short week, too bad they all can't be that way. My students on Thursday were wound up and ready to be left out. They had no intentions of being students with cravings for learning. I was glad when the day was over. Classes are going better but I am still very short on time to keep up with everything. I am looking forward to spring break and the summer to have some time to get caught up lesson plans, rubrics, projects, etc.. I'm looking forward to this coming week and what it brings.
mikem
I'd like to offer some unbidden support by way of analogy. As you know, I've been riding horses and working with a riding instructor for about 6 years now. I often get frustrated with what I perceive as the slow progression of my riding skills.
ReplyDeleteThere are days when I have it together, and my horse, Charm, doesn't. Then, there are days when Charm has it together, and I'm a complete spaz. Finally, there are those lovely days when we move as one like a pair of elegant dancers floating across a ballroom floor. When I get really frustrated, my trainer reminds me that horses aren't machines. I think the same could be said of our students. They aren't machines either. We have to earn their trust, and they have to earn ours. It's a sort of dance, and it is very much a partnership. I think our teaching, our students' motivation to learn, and their learning happen by degrees. It's a process. Sometimes we have to look for those degrees of "successive approximation", to borrow Rick Lavoie's term. Change comes in small bytes. Hang in there. You're doing more than you know.