Practice

Click here to print this! (Hi Mari!)

Homecoming

This is my first year acting as the adviser to Student Government. It's a much bigger job than I realized it would be. I just had no idea the kind of hours I would put in. I must admit that my regular classroom teaching has suffered a bit because of the demands from Student Government. I don't feel great about this, but something has to give somewhere. It won't always be like this... the next couple months should be much less stressful. Thank goodness I have a lot of support.

The Jensen's are a great help!

Julie is co-adviser and a fantastic partner!

The theme for the Homecoming Dance was 'Island Paradise.' The kids voted to have it be more casual and wanted to try some new things. They attempted to host a luau dinner complete with Polynesian dancers for entertainment. That ended up falling apart, but the dance itself was a great success.

The entrance to the building was flanked with lit tiki torches (one of which caught on fire and completely burned). Inside the building we had an arch, created a waterfall and pond, and made a false ceiling that looked something like clouds in the sky.

The pictures simply don't do it justice. We also ordered fresh flower leis from Hawaii, which was a great success. I wish I had been feeling better and would have taken better photos. I've just been running myself ragged and I am now quite ill. I must thank my excellent date for being extremely helpful and putting himself to work. He was wonderful and relieved a lot of my stress. It's rare to have someone take care of me and it felt nice. Thank you, Brian!

Triumph!!!

My school just won its first football game EVER! This is the 5th year the school has had a football team, and they had never won. Sad. This year they have a new coach and he has been working on the personal character of each player as well as creating a TEAM. Obviously his philosophy is working! The team totally kicked butt last night! I was so proud of my kids. They played really hard. After the game my student government hosted a stomp (what normal people call a stag dance) on the football field. It was also a roaring success, obviously helped drastically by the fact that the team won. I was really excited that our first activity went so well. This will really help set the tone for the rest of the year. Go Eagles! (ps. I don't know why the scoreboard picture shows 12 minutes left in this picture... I took it when the clock said 00:00. Regardless, that was the final score!)

Back to School!

Yesterday was the first day of the school year. I did a little song and dance. Literally. I don't know what came over me, but in one class I momentarily burst out in song whilst going over the rules and expectations of the class. In another class I did a little jig. Apparently I was happy to be back at work.

Being a teacher is sometimes a bit like being a stand-up comedian. The kids are staring at you with glassy eyes and look slightly better than zombies. You see their eyes roll back into their heads and you think, "Crap! What can I do to get their attention?" Sometimes you do crazy things. Mostly I crack a few jokes and we're back on track. Sometimes though, you come across a really tough audience. That happened today. After cracking some of my best jokes ever they were still staring at me like a herd of zombies. I looked at them and said, "Hello! You're supposed to be laughing. I'm funny!" I guess it's not very funny when you have to tell people you're funny. Luckily, I was sitting on a tall chair at the front of my room and suddenly slipped off. It was completely accidental (those of you who know me also know that I'm a bit klutzy), but the timing couldn't have been more perfect. I'm OK with making the occasional fool of myself if it gets the class to wake up. I'm pretty sure they think I'm crazy, but that's alright.

So, one song and dance and spill onto my backside later we're ready to go! The year is off to a running start and looks like it will be a good race if I can keep up my endurance.

Student Government Retreat

This year I am the adviser for the Student Body Government. I've always wanted to work with student government and am flattered they asked me. We had a retreat this weekend to bond and plan. It was an excellent experience! I'm so excited to work with these kids. They are really good kids- hard workers, thoughtful, compassionate, good communicators, and a lot of fun. We met at the school and worked on some welcome back gifts for the faculty. Then we went to a ropes course to learn how to communicate and work with each other. This was fantastic- despite my failure to succeed with the "leap of faith" exercise. I know I'll be really busy this year, but I'm finally excited about going back to work!

Project Completion!

Hallelujah! We are done with the project. What a relief! I am very proud of our group and what we accomplished. I am proud to have my name associated with this project. In fact, I think you should look at it!

The other group in our class also completed an awesome project that you should look at. It's about plants and is for younger children.

This semester has completely kicked my butt! However, I've learned a great deal. I'm really looking forward to the next semester, graduating in April, and starting work in a week.

Week 7

We are almost done with our project!!! It's been a tough experience, but I've definitely learned a lot. Our group has worked together very well. I think one reason we worked so well together is because we have known each other for almost a year now and done several projects in other courses. If we didn't have that previous experience with each other this project would have been so much more difficult because we would have been trying to figure out how to work with each other, learn the new technology, and complete the project. So, what have I learned from this project?

1. I was in charge of the web quest assignment and pretty much did that on my own, after a lengthy discussion with the group about the purpose and scope of the assignment. Once we were all in agreement about the project it went very smoothly. This experience made me realize how important it is to plan before executing. It also reiterated the point that goals and objectives are a must. If I would have just started on the web quest without the group discussion and without objectives... it would have been a mess. However, our discussion really helped clarify things for everyone and I was able to complete the assignment fairly quickly as a result. Also, I had my sister complete the web quest and give us feedback so we could improve it. The feedback she gave us was really helpful and I feel like the web quest works better because of it. This reminded me that I need to ask my students for feedback so I constantly improve assignments and assessments.
2. I have learned a lot of new technology tools that I am excited to use in my classroom.
3. I have learned a lot about communicating with team members. Sometimes there are misunderstandings or differing viewpoints. I learned how to better discuss and approach issues. I can use these skills in the classroom with my students as I teach and as they are doing group assignments.
4. I have learned a lot about problem solving and group dynamics. I already have some activities planned for the student government retreat where I will put these to use. I will be teaching a lesson about group dynamics and then we will engage in some role-playing about conflict resolution and problem solving.
5. I have learned a lot about planning a successful project. This will help me in my teaching, particularly with student government. We have to plan all the assemblies, dances, and other activities. I will use the ADDIE principles with my students as we plan these activities. I will also be able to use these skills as I plan and implement my master's project.