Showing posts with label reflective teacher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reflective teacher. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

SSSSSSSSllllllllllllooooooooowwwwwww

SSSSSSSSllllllllllllooooooooowwwwwww

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.

SSSSSSSSllllllllllllooooooooowwwwwww

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.

SSSSSSSSllllllllllllooooooooowwwwwww

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Nov 5: My Strength. My Kids.


I am a yeller. I get after kids daily. I tell them, "I treat each and every one of you like you are my own kids. It's when I stop yelling you have to worry."  

What do I "yell" about? Homework. Being mean to classmates. Not caring. Homework. Watching movies in class. Texting. No effort. Homework.  

And I yell at kids I really like. Like they were my own kids. 

Because they are. My. Kids.

And they know it. Because I also tell them that. "You. Are. My. Kid.

They call me mom. They tell me they are sorry when they screw up. They don't like it when I'm mad at them.

What they don't know is the nights I go home and cry because I think I've failed them. Or the days I say to my principal, "I've never had a kid I couldn't reach. I don't know what to do with this one." They don't know how I worry on Prom Night. They don't know that even after they leave me and go to college or go to work, they are still MY KID.

They don't think I mean You. Are. MY. KID.

They don't know that I never give up. I will always try to find a way to connect, to help, to love. 

My strength? MY KIDS.

“When you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they've given up on you.” 
― Randy Pausch

10/31 #solsc Just too Tired

 We’ve been gone from home for 20 days. We started home Friday and drove about 7 /2 hours. Another 6 hour Saturday, and finished up Sunday, ...