Volleyball Stats

The volleyball coach asked if I would keep statistics during the volleyball games. I know nothing about volleyball, so this week I had a crash course in the fundamentals of volleyball. The first game was Friday. It was an away game. I left the stat clip board in my classroom by mistake. I had to quickly draw an impromptu stat sheet right before game time. I was a terrible stat keeper! I did not know the girls play 2 out of 3 games to win so when we switched sides of the court, I didn't realize we were starting a new game. I kept all the stats on the same game sheet. The assistant coach whispered to me that the coach probably wouldn't fire me. The match began at 4:30 and was to end around 6:00. After two false fire alarms and a bad referee, the games finally ended at 9:15. I enjoyed being with the students and look forward to honing my skills as a stat keeper, assuming I still have the job come Monday morning.

Please Do NOT Move Duriing the Anthem

I understand that it is a tradition and a great one at that that we are to stand respectful and still for the National Anthem. Me and a fellow teacher were at an away football game and two of our cheerleaders were slowly walking backwards still facing the flag to try to get back to their post on time. Apparently, there was only one bathroom on the home side at this stadium and they were trying to hurry to get back. My fellow teacher, which is my age and has never served in the military, began to ream them out for how disrespectful they were. He informed them he was going to turn them in to their coach. Ok, as I said at the top, we need to respect the flag and what it stands for, but I think this situation could have been turned into a teaching moment instead of a reprimand moment. These are not bad girls. I think they are both straight A students. They are never in trouble. If he had not spoke first, I would have called the girls over and explained to them how important it should be for them to show respect for our nation and the soldiers who died to make us free. You know, maybe some sappy story. Something to make them think. Again, I don't think they were trying to be disrespectful. We know those kind of kids. I would have probably lit into them myself if it was one of them. Again, I think as educators and leaders, we have to evaluate the students and the situation before we react. A lot of times that is easier said than done. In a couple of years when I am not so new to this, I may find myself in a situation where I am being the jerk and don't realize it. I hope this illustration comes to my mind and I put myself back in check.

Epiphany

This week I had the privilege of spending two days with other CTAE instructors from across the state at the New Teacher Workshop in Macon, GA. I had the opportunity to speak candidly with the Executive Director of HOSA, Allan Seigler as he shared his wealth of knowledge and support. Then it happened, everything that I have learned over the summer, the interactions with the students, and the classroom activities finally came together for me. I suddenly realized how to incorporate my class into HOSA and allow the class to run more fluently. I have the privilege of having Ms. E.C. Chillis as an evaluator and supporter in my class. After viewing my class she stated "you are working too hard". I pondered that and tried to figure out how to adjust the recommendations that she suggested. As a result, I made changes to incorporate her recommendations but it still didn't feel---just right. After the New Teacher Workshop it happened. I had an "Ah-hah" moment and I shared that with Ms. Chillis. This morning I spent approximately 20 minutes developing an email to select students that have exemplified leadership in the classroom and defined specific class activities that I would like for them to develop in class. The students have the tools required to develop the activities because we have spent a significant amount of time developing those skills. I am excited as I am sure that the students will be to undertake this new opportunity. I can't wait to share with all of you the energy and success that Allen spoke about when describing the HOSA classroom!

Weekend

I was so ready for the weekend.I had a great week with so many meetings student of the year paper work so much paper work it's all moving so fast. I'm not sure if that is good or bad so much work to do but so little time to do it in.

A Balanced Staff

This has been a great year. It is amazing how when all of the components of a team are in place what can be achieved. This year our administrative staff has a great balance. The discipline side of the equation is firm but fair and supports the teaching staff without any disrespect to the students and their feeling of being heard. The other side of the coin is an administrator that has a heart as big as Atlanta! The two of them make for a great balance and has made this year a great one so far!!

Looking forward to year 3, They say it only gets better!

open mic

This week was OK for the most part. Seemed to a little sick at times but made it Thur the week. Kids came back from fall break and seemed to be relaxed and ready to learn. Not by the end of the week. I did have one student come to me to help him with a problem with another student. I went and talked to the teacher and she said that he had changed his behavior the last couple of weeks. He is trying to play basketball this year. He was placed in my homeroom because he was having problems with his old homeroom teacher. He is a young black male who's father has not been in his life and by chance me and his father grew up together and played together as little kids. When he found that out he opened up to me and began to listen to me. We still have our days when we bump heads but at the end of the day i win. That makes me happy to be a teacher. I tell all my students that you will make mistakes and life but it is how you deal with them that defines you as a person at times.

Open mic

Wow, what a week! I honestly thought that it would never end. I'm not sure why, but I have been completely exhausted. Sometimes I get so worn out with my students when I try so hard to create "entertaining" lessons for them. I feel like I have to work so hard to keep them on track because they seem to think that lab time is play time. I also feel like I spend so much of my own money on supplies just to have the students waste them by being silly with their friends. I can honestly see why some teachers resort to using just lecture and worksheets. Boring, I know, but I get tired of feeling like I am wasting my time, energy, and money! I don't really want to resort to being that teacher, but right now I am soooo low energy. I'm sorry for the rant, I just felt like I needed to vent a little. Hopefully, I will feel better next week.

Re-design

My 4th block class is my upper level BVP Applications class. I tried to run the class like a workplace for the first nine weeks, and while several things were working....others were not. After attending a professional development meeting, I decided I would make some changes with BVP Apps. This is the first time the class has ever been taught, it has all new state standards, so the expectations are basically unknown because the standards are very generic. The class is setup to facilitate higher end production and professionalism. While my announcements show has been going well, other class productions have been bad. Students have abandoned the basics and want to procrastanate. It is a constant battle to keep everyone busy and producing good stuff all at once. So, in an effort to get things working for all of us, I organized a forum. My students and I all sat down, and in a very organized way began to work through our issues. I was so proud of them for taking the problems we were having seriously. We redesigned our production schedule and all agreed that I needed to revamp the weekly rubric (both the students and I want it to be more strict - WOW!). I got some great ideas from my students, but more importantly I have their support to make the class better - whether it's easy for them or not. This high level class should work together to create and broadcast a great product. Seeing them embrace their role as the leaders and trendsetters of the student body made me feel releived and excited about the future of our program.

Uneasy

This week has been a tedious one where the students have really been acting out negatively. It might be Halloween or because in the alternative school we used to have four exits per year for the students to leave and return to their respective schools, but it has been reduced to two. The new exit dates are May and December, also they used to have to pass 6 of 8 classes to exit, now its 8 of 8. These changes might be the reason for the uneasiness in the school among the students. Hopefully the kids will become acclimated to the new exit procedures that are now in place. STAY TUNED.

Down with a sickness

So my carefully constructed fool-proof plan for teaching my kids to use Final Cut Pro hit a major wall. This wall was in the form of flu. You got it, they got it, I got it...we all got it! My plan was to teach the very basics of Final Cut right before film festival. I had it all planned out. We work on editing up to the first day of Film Festival so it is all fresh in their minds. Now that I have missed two days of school, thank you flu, I find myself trying to make up for lost time. They seem to be enjoying this new found sprinting pace of ours, because they fully understand that without this knowledge their is no way they will be competitive in the festival. On a good note, when I showed back up to school their faces lit up like it was Christmas morning.

What a LONG week!

Is it just me or has this been an extra long week? I must say that I have been a little stressed over the past week... I decided to try some of the group activities in my classes. For the most part they have went ok, but have been extremely strenuous on me! The students have thoroughly enjoyed it though. I guess that's all that really matters huh?!?! I am being observed Monday for the second time, and I think I am more worried this time than last.... I received my grade for the video observation today and it didn't go exactly how I wanted. I guess I am just extremely overwhelmed right now. I think a lot of us are feeling this right now though. I know everything will come together in the end. It is really nice to be able to talk to my fellow classmates and be able to relate to each other so well. This class has been a Godsend for me! Thanks NTI!!

Anyway the wind blows

This week has been a pretty good one. The weather has been on my side and this has given my class an opportunity to get out and get some fresh air.Let me be the first to say that a change of scenery really does a class some good. We have entered into the unit on defensive tactics and arresting procedures, students are wearing their uniforms and things seem to be progressing accordingly. What more can I say? Well I am not going to say much. I am going to continue to go with the flow and take advantage of this opportunity and try to capitalize on it.

on old memory

My mom took me to the YMCA when I was a kid for swimming lessons. When we jumped into the shallow end my feet would not touch bottom. I had to bob in and out of the water to breathe. I could not hear the instructions, much less obey them within the building panic I felt. Then I recognized the strong grip on my shoulder that usually meant I was in trouble. This time it meant I was saved. Thanks mom.

Sometimes since I started this NTI program I have felt some of the same panic, but never more than this week when my financial aid fell apart and it looked as if I would drown before finding a way to recover. Dr. Burns, like my mom so long ago, did not hesitate to rescue me. She might have made calls, sent emails, perhaps more and straightened out the mess. Thanks Dr. Burns.

The HUGE PROBLEM.....

My week began well as I demonstrated the fresh salsa and cheese dip, the students that made a 100 on the sanitation and safety test would be making. I also came up with the solution that I was going to give a retake for the tests in class while the other students were cooking so that those students that could not make it after school would have an opportunity to cook next week. I did not have the budget to purchase enough food to do a repeat demo so I did a lot of repeat back and questioning while I did my demo. I then concluded with them repeating back the steps on what to do. They did fantastic and so I was so excited about today since it was the first day of producing the food.

My 1A is a fabulous class so I had high expectations but they were soon deflated when I had repeat questioning on what to do, what equipment they needed, and the lack of organization they had at their tables. Some students did not even finish their salsa (seriously it is just some basic ingredients done to a small dice or minced). I was so frustrated because they had taken the test, then I had done a practical run through of the kitchen twice before, and finally I had demonstrated exactly how to make everything and then they had repeated it back. Ugh!!! I know that everyone is not meant to be a chef but I feel like I am set up to fail sometimes because I do everything that I can think of to teach my students and then they do only half a job. I would love to do repeat demos with every student for activities like setting up the 3 compartment sink but that would become very boring very quickly and would waste the chemicals that I pay about $600 a year for. The problem is that I did demo it, I did do a repeat demo, and I put it on the test. What else can I do? I know you may be thinking - Ginger, they just don't care, but it was actually one of my students that is seriously considering this career that made the mistake of setting up the sinks improperly and then putting hot water with the sanitizer which makes it completely ineffective.

I will take any advice because I want to cook a lot more this year than I did last year but am going to be discouraged once again if it ends up being me doing most of the work. I will take any suggestions because you all have been so helpful in the past.

Open mic

Since beginning teaching at my school , I have had the opportunity to meet some very intertesting students and faculty members. The relationships that have developed since are nice. Although, many of the children do not have a positive male role model in their life. Many are troubled with the burdens of a single parent home. I would have to say the best part in coming to know some of the students in my classes. Some are very good at football etc. They love it when you see them in their element. It's feels good when they come to me for guidance. This part of the teacher/student relationship is new to me. Having taught adults up to this point has not had this effect. It 's kinda hartwarming.

Fantasia at Laney High School ?

Can a musical icon like Fantasia Barrino help the children of Lucy Craft Laney High School?
but of course !!! On Friday December 4th .... Fantasia Barrino with grace the city of Augusta Georgia with her presence for a star -stunning concert .... Well with my connections as a radio personality ,my quest for the spotlight was gleaming , not for myself ,but for the students of Laney !!! Wouldn't that be great for Fantasia to come to Laney to speak with the students to tell them of her trials and tribulations . Her educationally challenges have been on the hearts and minds of people young and old . The question that puzzled many; How could this young senational lady with only a 8th grade education make it ?..... Well she's currently being tutored according to her manger, and she has a voice ,which is to encourge young people all over the United States to " STAY IN SCHOOL" Well today I spoke ton the Augusta Promoter for her Augusta Concert .Bill McKennelly said "Soul I can work on that for you " He replied that is great pr for Laney and Fantasia Both !!!t All I can say is ...NTI pray that she will come to take to our students on Dec 4th . As a Teacher you can connect with all types of people. We have the power!

Selina

Helping the Drop Out Students!!!!!!

Today in our teachers meeting we talked about bringing 9th graders to our school these 9th graders are 16,17 years old and we don't want them to drop out of school we want to help them pick a career to work towards getting certification so they can go to work. I think this is a great idea because some people may not make it to college but they would have a better chance if they graduated from high school and had a trade so they could take care of themselves instead of robbing, killing people for their money.

Pass the mic...

"Open Mic" is a great topic for me this week, as I am going to reflect on a conversation my team teacher and I had the other day. That's right, my team teacher is back, which grants me a bit of a planning period - more to come once she is totally caught up with what is going on and takes over her class completely. So, back to Open Mic...my class is fun. My kids are fun. We laugh. My team teacher and I, along with some of our students, were talking about some old rap songs in preparation for a music video project. I mentioned how our class is the only classroom in the building where "Outkast" or "Slick Rick" could be the legitimate answer to a question. Haha! Today I will try and write some higher level questions to how the No Limit movement changed the music video scene.... :)

The worst day at school is never as bad as the TV station. I get paid more. I work less. I meet the most interesting students and teachers. I like, love, enjoy my job. Life is good.

Open Mic

The other day my principal asked me some questions about how to get other people on board with developing 21st century thinkers. I told her that is very difficult when you have a big majority of teachers that come from the era of worksheets and children should be seen not heard. I really don't think like that, especially in my classroom...and it is not just because of the subject that I teach. I happen to believe that we do have some intelligent students that come up with some of the most innovative and creative ways to enhance education. A big majority of the time we try to do it all and not realize that the answer is right within our reach. I know that developing 21st century thinkers cannot happen overnight but it starts with a mindset, and until that changes you will not get the results that you are seeking.

To my suprise

Well this week the students were unpredictable. On Friday the students had to do a group activity. The group activity required the students to choose a violent crime and create a skit demonstrating a crime in progress. At the end of the skit the student had to make sure the crime end positively. For example if the group decided the steal a T.V. from Walmart they had to return it after contemplating about the consequences. The students enjoyed exploring their hidden talents in acting. It took some time to group the student by (4) and making sure the group had a balance. I was hoping and praying this would not be a flop. All of the students participated whether their parts were big or small. I'm now a true believer in the grouping techniques and methods. To my surprise it works.