Here We Go Again...

Wow, it's been almost a month since my last post.  Definitely decided to take a break during my break.  Although, I have honestly thought about blogging several times over the break (crazy, I know).  Baby steps.

I enjoyed my break: I went on a personal reading tear.  Read 20+ books this month.  And, IT WAS GLORIOUS!  I need to somehow make the time for a bit of personal reading during the quarter.  It is one of my most favorite things to do.

As I think about the upcoming quarter, I am filled with excitement and anxiety.  I love my MT and class, but change is always challenging for me.  I do know that once I'm "back in the swing of things," it will be wonderful.

Also, as 2010 concludes, I've found myself reflecting on a quote offered at orientation for the teaching program.  Repeatedly, we were told that some of our best friends would be found in the program.  Most of us kinda looked around with deer-in-headlights eyes while smiling and nodding.  Low and behold, they were right.

I can honestly say that I have found some of my best friends in this program.  Making friends my age has been challenging for me since moving here a couple of years ago.  Since the program has started, I've found a group of girls that are my age, have similar interests, and are just good, kind people (they're also a lot of fun too!).  Last time we hung out I spent more time laughing and cutting up than I can remember doing in a looong time.  In fact, I may just be ringing in the new year with them tomorrow ;) 

Looking forward to 2011.  It's gonna be a big year.

Tech Reflection

Final blog post for this quarter - yay!

As I look back over my tech work this quarter, I am quite pleased with the progress I have made. I am now able to do much more sophisticated work on the computer than I was 10 weeks ago.

I looked back over my thoughts after reading Why Blog? and watching Web 2.0 at the beginning of the quarter. I appreciated the arguments raised in Why Blog?, but I wonder whether I will continue to blog when I am not held accountable for it (assignments/grade.) We shall see.

Web 2.0 was a fascinating clip, but honestly, it was a bit scary. A thought of mine from the beginning of the quarter, "I feel a little like the robots are taking over."

Still, with all the arguments for and against technology, technology is here to stay. Many of our students are more savvy and sophisticated in their technologial ability than we are. However, we need to be wary of the assumption that all students have this ability. Many others don't. As an educator, I feel even more of a responsibility toward those students and making sure that they do have exposure to tech and have a chance to cultivate the tech skills necessary to be competitive in the modern job market.

Ya know, it's all about a balance. It all boils down to the kids. They're our top priority. We have a duty to provide them with high quality education. Technology can greatly enhance our students learning, but it must not be used at the expense of good teaching. As my professors keep preaching, "It all comes down to knowing your students."

Digital Dinosaur? Not me!

What a day! It's 11:06 pm (quite late for this grandma), and I am still up working on homework. The end is in sight!

I created my digital story today using Photostory3. I admit, I experienced frustration with this PC-only project, especially after all my early attempts to complete the project failed. However, I created my video today and, I have to admit, I'm feeling pretty proud.

Now, I am not necessarily a digital dinosaur, but I am not what one might call "technologically savvy." As the program has gone on, however, my tech professor is slowly converting me. I have now gone completely online with my word processing; I create everything with Google Docs. I tend to spend a bit too much time playing around with my Weebly, and I honestly had a blast putting my digital story together. This digital story is a first creation of the sort for me, and while it may be simplistic, I left campus feeling accomplished in my new found skill. I eagerly rushed home to show my husband before e-mailing out the link to family and friends.

As I was driving home from campus tonight, my mind was churning with thoughts on how to utilize this program in a classroom. I think it would be wonderful to take pictures of your students and their work throughout the year, and then render a final video showing their progress to their parents in June. Granted, I mostly likely will not have the time to create one for each student, but I do think it could be done as a class. I also think that you could create a short story about yourself to send out to parents before the beginning of the year, or to post on your classroom website. It would be a brief introduction to who you are as a person and as teacher.

Still brainstorming and working things out. Just had a thought about creating one of these bad boys with the photos from my wedding...

Conferencing

As I read Routman's Chapter 9 yesterday, I was immediately reminded of both my mentor teachers. In my dyad, my teacher's last two periods of the day are a reading/writing block. The students have a task most nights that involve them writing in their writer's notebook (the task usually aligns with the novel they're reading at the time). For the first thirty minutes of class, the students work on MSP stems and complete AR reading while my teacher goes around the room and assesses their writer's notebooks. She often uses this time to talk with the students about their writing. Sometimes, a student is on the computers taking an AR test, and she will ask, "Suzy, when you finish up the test will you come back to your desk so that we can have a conference?" Conferencing about writing is a norm in this class, and I feel that many students look forward to the opportunity to work with her.

Conferencing is also done by my mentor teacher in my main placement. As she hands out the stories that the students are currently working on, she will talk with them about what they've written so far, what she is excited to read about, etc. The students recently began working on developing stories with beginning, middle, and endings. I was blown away by some of the work when I went back this week for conferences. First graders are completely capable of engaging in the writing process. If established norms are set in place, the students will live up to them.

It's been exciting for me to see some of the practices Routman describes in "real life," out in classrooms.

Help!

It's official.

I've reached the point in the quarter where I am furiously treading water and struggling to keep my head above water. Three more weeks. Deep breath.

During this period of assignment chaos, I've done some reflecting on my time management skills. While I was an undergrad, I was the queen of procrastination. As I've gotten older, I've gotten wiser (or so I like to think). I now start my projects early and constantly try to work ahead. Still, it's all catching up to me. As a teacher, time management skills are key! I believe these skills are one of the most important qualities a teacher can possess. Help me here - if you have an efficient trick to getting things done, please suggest! It'll be much appreciated.

In closing, I am going to keep my flares in my pocket (for now) and just know that there are 35 other people going through this with me. For that, I am grateful.

Looking Around

Reading Lamott again this week has been a treat. As usual, her wit and humor captivated me (this time on my four hour plane ride to Austin for a friend's wedding). I often find her advice on writing to be profound - easily applicable to life, not just writing. I was particularly struck by her chapter, Looking Around. Too often, we become caught up in our lives and the daily grind (myself included!), and fail to see and recognize the world going on around us. Lamott's point about not only seeing the world, but stepping outside of ourselves to view ourselves with "compassionate detachment" was particularly powerful. She goes on to state, "I honestly think in order to be a writer, you have to learn to be reverent. If not, why are you writing? Why are you here?"

What a great question. I want to work on reverence. Personal goal for the year.

Attitude Adjustment

The past few weeks have been challenging.  Assignments pile up, time ticks away, and I seem to get crankier with every lost minute of sleep.

On top of the typical grind of going back to school, I've been struggling with my current placement.  Professionally, it was not the right fit...BUT personally, I didn't have the best attitude.

I'm heading off to a new placement this week, leading me to much reflection about the previous one.  I've concluded that there is vast room for improvement.  While thinking through the experience and making sense of my feelings, I was reminded of an email I previously received from MT.  As I've mentioned before, MT is absolutely wonderful and seems to have a knack for saying profound things when I need to hear them most.  Her words of wisdom are often gems, and I've received her permission to share with others.  Here's a piece of the email I've been doing a lot of thinking about:

I talk to you about my struggles, not to scare you but to model for you the importance of reflection.  Good teachers are always rethinking what they have done in order to be more effective. That is the exciting part of teaching.  Doing it better and seeing kids succeed because of it.  

Also, the kids are NEVER to blame when things go south.  You will hear teachers that do that now and in the future, and they will not be ones you admire.  Kids may be difficult, but it is our responsibility to find a way to help them succeed.  We do not want to be the kind of teachers who can only be successful with well-behaved children who come to us at grade level.  So sometimes it is soul searching time.  Do we need more skills, more organization, or a new attitude?

Attitude adjustment: Check.  Excited for new opportunities this week!