Sometimes, You Have to Go Old School

... A Story of BALANCE

Combine Creative Writing with

"Slacker" Students---

• It's easy to sit back and say, "I'll work on it tomorrow", and then sit back and watch videos on your computer. But you don't do it tomorrow either.

Prom---

• The millionth email from the principal about passing classes by Tuesday or you can't attend.

and Digital Storytelling---

• "Mrs. Day, I don't even know how to start"  "What do you mean we need an outline?" "How do I write an outline?"

When these three things converge, you have some panic setting in. Never mind that I have set up a day by day calendar for my class, so they all know what they should be working on. Never mind that we talk every day at the beginning of class what they should be working on. Never mind that I offer to sit and work with anyone having troubles every day. 

Never mind. Until the last day before a four day weekend. 

"Why can't we have until midterm? Passing by Tuesday is just stupid. I will be passing everything by midterm (the day before prom). I have a plan."

"Passing by Tuesday means your date still has almost two weeks to find a new date..."

He doesn't see much humor in my statement.

"Come over here and I will help you. I'm going to let you write on my desk."

"Cool."

He  drags himself from the comfort of the couch to the pod of desks where I am sitting. 

I know this student and I know where his passions lie. All the work I do at the beginning of classes to learn about students pays off in this conversation. He might be a slacker student, but he is a hard working farm kid, who wants nothing more than to be on the farm working all day.

So that's where we start.

"Why do you like to farm?  Explain it to me."

And I start writing what he says on the desks.

"Now you've got three main ideas. You sit here and explain these to me."

And he does

And before you know it, he has filled up the desk with his ideas. He has a plan. I email him this picture and he moves back to the spot on the couch and begins writing a script and thinking about his visuals. 

Because sometimes, even when you are 1 to 1, you have to go old school....

Wednesday Words.... Be Water

I have returned to these words over and over since I found them. I leave them up on my computer. I have them posted by my desk and the bulletin board at home. They speak to me of balance. They speak to me of the two sides of me. They calm and inspire me.

Be Water.

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That's how I'm trying to start second semester.

In looking back at last semester, I feel like I rushed many things in my classes. I ran lessons according to the calendar and not according to my kids. I was so worried about getting though each unit, units that I knew so well, that I forgot it was the first time students were going through them.

And, of course, because we are 1:1, I forgot that some of my kids still need me to walk them through setting up their digital portfolios. Some are unsure of themselves when it comes to new websites and software. Even though I assure them they won't break anything, they need reassurance that they are doing things correctly, at least for awhile.

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Last week's cold days helped me do that.

Before Christmas, I had two weeks to a month of lessons planned out for my kids. Some were tried and true. Some were tweaked. Some were brand-spanking new. And they were planned down to the minute (well, not really, but almost).

But you know what happens when you miss school. It messes up "the best laid plans".

And (thankfully) those cold days reminded me that just because I've got all these great lessons planned, I don't have to have this one done by Monday and the next one by the following Friday. And really. Does it matter if we do one less writing piece or one less speech?

Cold days also reminded me that I love time to sit and think about what I'm going to do next, and sometimes, my kids need that too.

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