I began my teaching career by accepting a position at a school where over a period of three months, in the sixth grade classroom I was assigned to, there been several substitute teachers. By the end of the week I had packed my belongings and decided to inform the principal I wasn't coming back. Well look at me now!!
I would not be here today if I had not been given support from not only my building mentor but also the mentoring program the district offers. The ability to make me laugh (even when I didn't want to) and to look at the big picture (I was in charge, not them) is what kept me from walking out that day. When I reflect back on how my mentor assisted me, I can clearly see that good mentoring is like good parenting. You have to help a baby learn how to walk before it can run.
One thing we are not taught in college is how many hats many of us have to wear during a school year. I think organizational skills are important to master because most of us agree life is just so much easier if you know where something is when you need it! A skill I need to further develop is to become a better listener. When I first began teaching sometimes I just needed to vent (still do from time to time) and didn't really want to be given any ideas or suggestions. I just wanted someone to hear how I was feeling and to release built up frustration. One of the most important things I want to discuss with my mentee is how important it is to take some ME time EACH day. They need to be aware that we are caregivers at home and also in this profession. We take care of so many, but if we don't take care of ourselves everyone loses out.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Summer
When did life get so busy? Everyday there seems to be a new list of chores to complete. Between cum folders and report cards it's hard to smile but we must keep going toward the prize! Before we know it summer will be here and we will wonder where did this year go? Keep on keeping on!!
School is not over!
Students seem to feel school is over. We all know better. This week I have had my students complete powerpoints and create menus for word problems. What a fun week! I don't think I have had a minute to stop until now. Whew! I know my students are feeling great about their third grade year. I can't wait until I get to show the students off at Awards day!
Post for Maria Holloway
May 20, 2010
Marcia Tate: Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites
What a privilege I had in attending this workshop. I longed to change who I was as a teacher and as a person almost immediately. Marcia reinforced what I already knew, that the whole child must be embraced and nurtured. Her passion and energy reignited the yearning within me to be beyond great. I have already begun implementing strategies in my classroom and have seen a drastic improvement in my students’ achievement and confidence. I allow my students to move every 20 minutes, create songs about facts they are learning, and laugh. I know that I am a better person because of the impact Marcia had on my heart, mind, and soul. Thanks Marcia!
Maria Holloway
Reese Road Leadership Academy
May 20, 2010
Differentiation
Yipee! Finally Implementation strategies for differentiation. I have been in many workshops where the idea/concept was introduced, but have never been given actual ideas for how to differentiate. I was very excited to hear the speaker speak to Howard Gardner’s 8 Smarts. Our school is a Conversion Charter and Howard Gardner’s 8 Smarts along with Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is our focus. I am thrilled that we all are being encouraged to teach to the multiple intelligences. After all, it’s not how smart we are, it is how we are smart!
Maria Holloway
Reese Road Leadership Academy
Marcia Tate: Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites
What a privilege I had in attending this workshop. I longed to change who I was as a teacher and as a person almost immediately. Marcia reinforced what I already knew, that the whole child must be embraced and nurtured. Her passion and energy reignited the yearning within me to be beyond great. I have already begun implementing strategies in my classroom and have seen a drastic improvement in my students’ achievement and confidence. I allow my students to move every 20 minutes, create songs about facts they are learning, and laugh. I know that I am a better person because of the impact Marcia had on my heart, mind, and soul. Thanks Marcia!
Maria Holloway
Reese Road Leadership Academy
May 20, 2010
Differentiation
Yipee! Finally Implementation strategies for differentiation. I have been in many workshops where the idea/concept was introduced, but have never been given actual ideas for how to differentiate. I was very excited to hear the speaker speak to Howard Gardner’s 8 Smarts. Our school is a Conversion Charter and Howard Gardner’s 8 Smarts along with Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is our focus. I am thrilled that we all are being encouraged to teach to the multiple intelligences. After all, it’s not how smart we are, it is how we are smart!
Maria Holloway
Reese Road Leadership Academy
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Post for Cherie Jones
I thoroughly enjoyed Marcia Tate. She kept my attention the
> whole time. I appreciated her humor. I have already heard of many of
> her strategies and perform them currently. Some strategies I use already are:
> I use a bell to get my class back to order and I repeat myself several times
> when I am telling them something extremely important. Ms. Tate is right,
> one of the ways we remember is through repetition of information. My
> students will laugh at me when I repeat myself over and over again. I
> explain to them the reason behind my repetition and they understand
> and seem to agree with me, because they do not forget when I do that.
> Another thing that I do is role play. They seem to retain the
> information that I am trying to get across when I do that. Especially when I provide them with
> some kind of visual that goes along with the text and lecture. I always
> make them draw a picture of the concept. I also use graphic organizers. My
> favorite is comparing and contrasting using a Venn Diagram. I also agree
> with her about keeping the children moving! That is what I try to do a lot.
> I use a lot of hands on activities for learning. I have also used the
> jigsaw method and let them teach a concept from the chapter to the class.
> They love to do that! It gives them a wonderful feeling of
> accomplishment and they feel they are part of the teaching process
> because they have gained enough knowledge over the concept in order to teach it.
>
> One thing I want to try that Ms. Tate recommended is the music in
> the classroom. I use acronyms to help the students remember things
> like the colors in the rainbow or the order of the planets from the
> Sun. However, I would like to come up with songs to help them
> remember. I also would like to try to let them listen to some
> classical music as they are working. I feel as though it will help
> them stay focused on their work and that it will provide a calming
> effect for them in the classroom. I plan on reading her book that she
> wrote and gave us a copy of in order to try and implement some more of her strategies in my classroom.
>
> Thanks! Cherie Jones
> whole time. I appreciated her humor. I have already heard of many of
> her strategies and perform them currently. Some strategies I use already are:
> I use a bell to get my class back to order and I repeat myself several times
> when I am telling them something extremely important. Ms. Tate is right,
> one of the ways we remember is through repetition of information. My
> students will laugh at me when I repeat myself over and over again. I
> explain to them the reason behind my repetition and they understand
> and seem to agree with me, because they do not forget when I do that.
> Another thing that I do is role play. They seem to retain the
> information that I am trying to get across when I do that. Especially when I provide them with
> some kind of visual that goes along with the text and lecture. I always
> make them draw a picture of the concept. I also use graphic organizers. My
> favorite is comparing and contrasting using a Venn Diagram. I also agree
> with her about keeping the children moving! That is what I try to do a lot.
> I use a lot of hands on activities for learning. I have also used the
> jigsaw method and let them teach a concept from the chapter to the class.
> They love to do that! It gives them a wonderful feeling of
> accomplishment and they feel they are part of the teaching process
> because they have gained enough knowledge over the concept in order to teach it.
>
> One thing I want to try that Ms. Tate recommended is the music in
> the classroom. I use acronyms to help the students remember things
> like the colors in the rainbow or the order of the planets from the
> Sun. However, I would like to come up with songs to help them
> remember. I also would like to try to let them listen to some
> classical music as they are working. I feel as though it will help
> them stay focused on their work and that it will provide a calming
> effect for them in the classroom. I plan on reading her book that she
> wrote and gave us a copy of in order to try and implement some more of her strategies in my classroom.
>
> Thanks! Cherie Jones
Post for Markeysha Kirksey
10/19/09
One thing to discuss with mentee.
One thing I can discuss with my mentee is how the school year has been so far. I would like to know of any struggles she is having and would like my assistance with. This is not her first year as a teacher but this is her first year as a kindergarten teacher. I wonder what challenges she expects to see when she returns from her maternity leave. I would like to offer her as much help as I can to help her adjust to being in kindergarten and having to be away for such a long period of time to share time with her new baby.
1/29/10
Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites
Marcia Tate was AWESOME. Some of the strategies she told us about, I am currently using in my classroom but I would like to use more. I am figuring out ways to use more visuals with my students. With us being a Cornerstone school I am already using music and movement a lot. I cannot express how much she has helped me become the teacher that I am today. My first time seeing her inspired me so much that I thought I wouldn’t gain much from this class. Little to say, I was very wrong. I was even able to use her book to inspire some of my classmates in my doctorial studies. I was amazed to find out that they had never even heard of her.
2/26/10
Idea Fair
The Idea Fair was very interesting. I was impressed to see the variety of booths that were there. I would have liked to walk around to see some of the exhibits. I think I am going to sign up next year to visit instead of have a booth. The atmosphere was filled with excitement. I know it is designed for new teachers but I think experienced teachers most definitely benefited from this fair.
One thing to discuss with mentee.
One thing I can discuss with my mentee is how the school year has been so far. I would like to know of any struggles she is having and would like my assistance with. This is not her first year as a teacher but this is her first year as a kindergarten teacher. I wonder what challenges she expects to see when she returns from her maternity leave. I would like to offer her as much help as I can to help her adjust to being in kindergarten and having to be away for such a long period of time to share time with her new baby.
1/29/10
Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites
Marcia Tate was AWESOME. Some of the strategies she told us about, I am currently using in my classroom but I would like to use more. I am figuring out ways to use more visuals with my students. With us being a Cornerstone school I am already using music and movement a lot. I cannot express how much she has helped me become the teacher that I am today. My first time seeing her inspired me so much that I thought I wouldn’t gain much from this class. Little to say, I was very wrong. I was even able to use her book to inspire some of my classmates in my doctorial studies. I was amazed to find out that they had never even heard of her.
2/26/10
Idea Fair
The Idea Fair was very interesting. I was impressed to see the variety of booths that were there. I would have liked to walk around to see some of the exhibits. I think I am going to sign up next year to visit instead of have a booth. The atmosphere was filled with excitement. I know it is designed for new teachers but I think experienced teachers most definitely benefited from this fair.
Post for Derick Pugh
Derick Pugh - Marcia Tate Post:
I enjoyed Marcia Tate's seminar. She had a way to keep me engaged by constantly changing what we were doing. She found ways to not only keep my attention, but inspire me to motivate my students in ways that I had not thought of before.
I think it was the perfect time for someone like Marcia to come in and speak. I personally was having a frustrating semester, so like I said, it could not have come at a better time. When we as "veteran teachers" have frustrating semesters, it is difficult (for me at least) to stay upbeat, movtivated, etc. about teaching (esp. to my mentee).
Marcia's workbook has really helped me this year, as I have used several of the strategies listed.
One that my students really liked was the music. I encouraged them to find new ways to learn our School Wide Vocabulary. Several of my students created rap songs (clean lyrics...don't worry) using all of the School Wide Vocabulary that we have covered thus far at HHS.
Again, I would like to reiterate that I truly enjoyed listening and adapting Marcia's strategies to my classroom.
Thanks,
Derick PUgh
I enjoyed Marcia Tate's seminar. She had a way to keep me engaged by constantly changing what we were doing. She found ways to not only keep my attention, but inspire me to motivate my students in ways that I had not thought of before.
I think it was the perfect time for someone like Marcia to come in and speak. I personally was having a frustrating semester, so like I said, it could not have come at a better time. When we as "veteran teachers" have frustrating semesters, it is difficult (for me at least) to stay upbeat, movtivated, etc. about teaching (esp. to my mentee).
Marcia's workbook has really helped me this year, as I have used several of the strategies listed.
One that my students really liked was the music. I encouraged them to find new ways to learn our School Wide Vocabulary. Several of my students created rap songs (clean lyrics...don't worry) using all of the School Wide Vocabulary that we have covered thus far at HHS.
Again, I would like to reiterate that I truly enjoyed listening and adapting Marcia's strategies to my classroom.
Thanks,
Derick PUgh
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