LitBlog
Just a LIT-tle bit about everything... education, travel, books... and whatever else strikes my interests.
Why Tweet?Have you ever had a killer idea for your classroom, or your school, but had no idea how to go about implementing said idea? Do you need an idea to freshen up a lesson you're trying to revamp? Want to increase your technology use in your classroom, or are you looking for a way to up your tech game? You could ask a colleague or mentor, but what if they have no idea either? What if you're the only one in your school or district that teaches a specific course? What if you don't know who to ask, or no one has any suggestions for you? The solution is Twitter.
Connecting on Twitter can help you build a professional network that will provide you with support, resources, & ideas, help keep you sane, and keep you learning. Your PLN will be at your fingertips whenever you need them. Need a book suggestion, DONE! Need inspiration for a new strategy to keep you kids engaged, Check! Have questions about yet another new evaluation system being rolled out, Never Fear - Twitter is Here!
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This week I spent at least 7 hours a day in my classroom, unpacking, organizing, creating lessons, recording videos, creating pacing guides. Two of my colleagues came to meet me for a few hours so we could collaborate and get a game plan for the upcoming school year. I talked with full year staff including custodians, admins, & our Ag. Science teacher working more leisurely than usual, in summer work mode. And then there was me, showing up with my teacher bag full of ideas I've been curating over the summer, and a new laptop complete with fresh software I plan to wear out trying to flip my classroom in the upcoming semester. Everyone asks me why I would drive the hour commute I make all school year, just to come up to the school and work. Everyone wants to know why I would give up my precious summer days to think about slides and lessons and what new edtech I am going to try.
"Don't stress yourself out" I was told by my friend. "We'll be back in the swing of things in a few week. Why don't you just relax?" The Hate U Give is a young adult novel written by Mississippian Angie Thomas. As a young white female teaching students that look, act, and live like the main character in this novel, this book hit me hard. I grew up in a middle class suburban New York home with parents that stressed the importance of education, it is hard for me to identify with my students who don't have families that force them to sit and do their homework after school. My students go home and take care of their siblings, work to help pay the bills, & had to grow up faster than I did. Last year, we lost a student who was gunned down in a drug deal gone bad. This shook me to the core, and I couldn't fathom how in the following weeks students were getting caught with weed. Ms. Thomas' novel opens the eyes of all who didn't grow up in the "ghetto" and helps solidify the struggle of the teens who live in that environment. The loss of life, the struggle of the children and families in this novel, and desire to break from the system which isn't designed to pull families out of the state they're in are all things my students face on a daily basis. As I read, I felt as if I was seeing the world through the eyes of my students. Questions I didn't know I had were asked and answered. A Name Has Power...
Are you tired? Do you feel burnout coming on strong. Do you wake up in the morning thinking its Friday, only to realize it's only Tuesday? I do. It's ok, lots of teachers do. I want to share with you the way I recharge. It's called Edcamp, and it's the best professional development I've ever attended. Edcamp is not a sit and get conference. This is the most unconference-y conference you've ever been to! What's an Unconference? Edcamp is an unconference, but what is an unconference? The sessions of this conference are held by the teachers who are attending. The Edcamps I've attended are put on by Palmetto State Teachers Association (PSTA) and Mr. Jed Dearybury, the director of professional development for PSTA. These conferences allow teachers to use their own expertise to help those around them and everyone learns from one another. If you want to learn more about what to expect at Edcamps, check out Edcamp.org/Attend.
Here are some things to expect at Edcamps
Here are a few things you won't get at Edcamp
Education today is like a 3 ring circus and the teachers are the main event. We're jumping through hoops of fire while people are shooting paint balls at us and we're trying to perform a perfect technique ballet routine and balance a glass of water on our nose all at the same time. That glass of water is our students. We're trying to fill them with knowledge and every time the glass gets knocked by a paint ball or we falter in our ballet routine, some of the water splashes out. So rather than filling them up, were just trying not to lose what they already know. All the "responsibilities and duties" of teachers beyond planning engaging, student-centered lessons, takes time away from what really matters; student growth. Yes, some of these duties and responsibilities are necessary, but education as a whole throughout the nation has done a great job of pushing the responsibility of student learning and growth onto the shoulders of teachers while removing it from the students. Teachers are pushing students to pass tests for the sake of demonstrating that the teacher has taught what the state wants students to know, but those students don't retain much of that information.
#NationalLazyDay Today is #NationalLazyDay and also the first day back for all teachers and staff! How ironic! 😂 We started our day with a great session led by out administration and Teacher leaders. There were so many new faces at Crestwood and I look forward to meeting everyone and working with them. Our breakout sessions went over lots of policies and procedures. Next week is going to give us lots of time to knuckle down and collaborate with the new teachers. Classroom Transformations I moved into a new classroom this year. All the Social Studies teachers are now on the same hallway; for the first time since I've been at Crestwood. This should be helpful for collaboration, among other things. After working for days in my room, it is finally looking the way I had envisioned. Sadly, I am going to have more students per class than I had hoped/planned originally so the desk layout will have to change a little bit.
Tell me, teacher friends, do you feel like you've been stuck in a rut, doing the same old lessons and activities. Are you tired of hearing the same school or district professional development sessions pushing you to use collaborative grouping or transitioning your classroom from the "sage on the stage" to the "guide on the side." Do you find yourself wondering if you can make it through the year, month, week, or day? Have you wondered where the sparkle you had when you started teaching has gone? If you can identify with any of this, Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller is for you. Ditch That Textbook is a quick and easy read. It has tons of suggestions about how to revamp your teaching that will be sure to inspire even your most boring lesson. The best part, use what you like and forget the rest. This book has inspired so many ideas for the upcoming school year, I can hardly imagine doing them all. A teacher affects eternity, he can never tell where his influence stops. - Henry Adams Teach the standards, but don't teach to the test. Differentiate based on learning styles, and students abilities, and don't forget to serve your IEP, 504, and TAG students. Make sure your students demonstrate growth, don't forget about your SLO. Make sure you have enough grades before the interim, you've got lunch duty this week, we've scheduled a faculty meeting today immediately after school so cancel your student's tutoring session, oh, and by the way that child's parent called again wanting you to explain why you haven't graded the presnetations from last week and how exactly do your grades work again? Lesson plans were submitted late and we've decided to hold a PLC during your planning period, so make sure you bring your fully charged laptop and your class roster.
Teachers hear these statements on a daily basis. All the while they are supposed to spend as many hours planning their lessons as they do teaching them. They are held to sometimes unattainable expectations set by people who have no idea what goes on in a classroom and haven't sat in one in decades, with less than adequate resources, too many students, and required to make magic happen. With everything stacked against them, miracles happen. Teachers develop relationships with students whose parents aren't around to teach them the values of education. Teachers help children who read multiple grades below grade-level successful complete their grade-level book reports and create mobiles and conduct rigorous science experiments. Girls and boys are working together to create interactive digital creations, robots, and all manner of other things. Spring Break is here and I finally have some time to work on this web resource for all of you! I was hoping to have this website up and running for the 2017-2018 school year, but alas, that didn't happen. I will try to update and modify the website as needed until we find the best functional layout. Until then, bear with me and let's try to make what we've already got here work.
Please leave me suggestions on how I can improve this website for you! Mrs. Lit 🔥 |
AuthorJust a nerdy history teacher trying to share history and education with the world. #historynerd #edutechnerd #iloveSumterSCschools #ChangingLivesOneStudentAtATime Archives
July 2019
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