2009-2010 TSS Blog: 2009-2010 TSS Blog: Marcia Tate--Wow!

2009-2010 TSS Blog: 2009-2010 TSS Blog: Marcia Tate--Wow!
Marcia Tate's workshop was an incredible learning experience! Her enthusiasm for teaching and learning certainly made a strong impact on me, as an educator. Maria Holloway and I were presented with the task of redelivering the workshop to our coworkers. Unfortunately, our redelivery date fell on the same day as our meeting when we were notified about the investigation of eraser marks on all student tests. While we sat and listened to the findings and then comments, we thought maybe we should postpone the redelivery because the mood did not seem right for an upbeat redelivery! Boy, was I wrong! The redelivery is exactly what the staff needed. We went through our presentation, including playing "Welcome Back," "The Hustle," and "Celebration." Midway through the redelivery, the whole atmosphere of the room had changed and we were laughing and having a good time. Several teachers stopped me that afternoon and the next day to express how much they enjoyed the redelivery. With regard to my class, in addition to the aforementioned songs I now have, I purchased several CDs of classical music. The first day I started playing it while students worked on writing, one of my students said, "Did you know this music makes you smarter?" I used "Welcome Back" in order to bring my class back together after meeting in groups. It was funny to see children in 5th grade singing along with the "Welcome Back" song. I have been using graphic organizers regularly in writing and reading. I need to use them more in other subjects. I am trying to help students make more "connections" using some of Marcia's association strategies. I have always tried to have some humor with the students and am trying to incorporate more. I will continue going through our book and try to implement more of the strategies as I grow as a teacher.