Sunday, we went to the beach. Only, we didn't make it.
Scorching, muggy air greeted us as we began our pilgrimage to the beach; yet, after our hour bus ride to South Beach, the green-black ominous clouds started to dampen our spirits. Then, they began to dampen then drench us. Closed beach equals time for a meal. Sunday equals half-price menus. Score!
We went to a cool Italian cafe on the sidewalk and my $12 lasagna was good -- Mom's is better -- but certainly not worth the typical $23.99. Too bad for the stomache -- it made a nice dinner in my dorm room.
Dripping, we caught the bus back, bumping into our other half (the dormers who left before us also went to SB).
New distance on my run Sunday, and I'm nearly done with Harry Potter 6 - rereading it.
Countdown: school cleaning (COMPLETE). 1 of 13 student evals complete; 12 more to do, plus a "creative presentation of learning" for Thursday. Home in 5 days. Heck yah! (Now that the kids are gone, I'm so ready to be gone too. I understand how the week after students leave is a boring time for CA teachers. Hey, I'm spending my time in meetings and writing comments too...!)
I'll post about Monday when I get home today... sorry for the two-day absense!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Celebrate, Celebrate, Dance to the Music
Saturday was Celebration, the huge showcase of student work that we've been planning for at least 10 days. There are two parts: the performance and the academic expo. You've heard about the expo - that is what my poster board was for. Every class had a visual presentation of student work to demonstrate all the learning. After parents perused the expo, we corralled them into the auditorium -- this school's theater easily seats 1000 people, and with all the kids (180), Teachers (60), parents and families, we had at least 700 people in attendance. It lasted about 2.5 hours, and included poetry reading, dancing, skits from each department, and a cool set of "hosts".
After all that -- we had a parent-provided feast. Of course, all the families ate first, so by the time teachers got food, much was gone. But it was a nice gesture. And we did not expect to feed 700 people...!
I treasured the chance to meet kids' families. I hugged students, shook hands with many parents and grandparents, posed for photos with families. It was heartwarming to see the kids in the hybrid of "school" and "home". It was an ironic role reversal of all those award ceremony nights at CA when my teachers met my parents. I was teacher though. Many parents had beautifully kind things to say to me. One of my favorite students showed up sans family -- he took a city bus across town by himself to attend this 8th grade Celebration, but could not bring family with him. He'll go far in life.
We worked 15 hour days last week. We were snappy to each other. We were glitter-covered. We were sick of Breakthrough. And we were stressed.
The Celebration -- expo, performances, and meeting families -- made it more than worthwhile. With all my criticisms of the program and the people here, I found this one moment, a caccoon of pride, love, respect and confidence nearly enough to decide, on the spot, so return next summer. Yah, it was that intense.
Of course, now as I write this, the euphoria and joy are wearing off now, replaced by melancholy and angst that accompany evaluations, editing, cleaning, and close-out activities.
After all that -- we had a parent-provided feast. Of course, all the families ate first, so by the time teachers got food, much was gone. But it was a nice gesture. And we did not expect to feed 700 people...!
I treasured the chance to meet kids' families. I hugged students, shook hands with many parents and grandparents, posed for photos with families. It was heartwarming to see the kids in the hybrid of "school" and "home". It was an ironic role reversal of all those award ceremony nights at CA when my teachers met my parents. I was teacher though. Many parents had beautifully kind things to say to me. One of my favorite students showed up sans family -- he took a city bus across town by himself to attend this 8th grade Celebration, but could not bring family with him. He'll go far in life.
We worked 15 hour days last week. We were snappy to each other. We were glitter-covered. We were sick of Breakthrough. And we were stressed.
The Celebration -- expo, performances, and meeting families -- made it more than worthwhile. With all my criticisms of the program and the people here, I found this one moment, a caccoon of pride, love, respect and confidence nearly enough to decide, on the spot, so return next summer. Yah, it was that intense.
Of course, now as I write this, the euphoria and joy are wearing off now, replaced by melancholy and angst that accompany evaluations, editing, cleaning, and close-out activities.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Say "cheese!"
This is my second period - I love these kids! Roy - navy tshirt on the left - wrote me the most heart-warming note today in class.
Here is 4th period - more rowdy and sometimes, it was a challenge to not shout at them. They are all good kids -- my one problem child quit coming on the penultimate day of the program.
Here's what I spent the last several hours working on. It's my poster showcasing student work to present at the "Academic Expo" which is an exhibit of student work before families watch the performances on Saturday at Celebration. It takes a lot of time to set this all up - there are 60+ teachers from both sites all with these exhibits in one room. Like a college fair, only not.
Here is 4th period - more rowdy and sometimes, it was a challenge to not shout at them. They are all good kids -- my one problem child quit coming on the penultimate day of the program.
Here's what I spent the last several hours working on. It's my poster showcasing student work to present at the "Academic Expo" which is an exhibit of student work before families watch the performances on Saturday at Celebration. It takes a lot of time to set this all up - there are 60+ teachers from both sites all with these exhibits in one room. Like a college fair, only not.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Construction paper, glue, and twelve feet of butcher paper
Today brought out the artsy, glitter-covered side of me. I finished all my packages for students - I went for both the bribery (sweets) and for the sincere (personal letters). All in all, each student received a small pack of candies (I kept the leftovers of course) and I wrote a 1/2 page letter on nice water-marked paper to each kid commending them for spirited participation, diligent work ethic, inquisitiveness and more.
During class, I asked each kid to write a letter to a new student next year telling them a few things they liked and didn't like about the class. In reality, it was my sorta-deceptive way of getting an honest evaluation of the class. One of the top students in the class wrote a heart-warming letter that basically said I was his favorite and best teacher, I was fair, kind, and the material was exciting. What more could I want?! Another girl said I didn't give much homework but I send them to YO! (detention/homework make-up time).
After the typical day, we transitioned from our site at the Middle School to the Upper School (down the street) and we are setting up a series of exhibits to showcase top student work in each class. There are lots of tri-fold poster boards, lots of papers on the walls, and lots of middle school art projects. I came home (at the dorm!) to glitter, courtesy of my fellow Breakthrough Staff and basically, I'm sick of arts and crafts, yet I get to do my own now, for several hours. Hope I don't drown in paint... I'll post photos when I'm done.
During class, I asked each kid to write a letter to a new student next year telling them a few things they liked and didn't like about the class. In reality, it was my sorta-deceptive way of getting an honest evaluation of the class. One of the top students in the class wrote a heart-warming letter that basically said I was his favorite and best teacher, I was fair, kind, and the material was exciting. What more could I want?! Another girl said I didn't give much homework but I send them to YO! (detention/homework make-up time).
After the typical day, we transitioned from our site at the Middle School to the Upper School (down the street) and we are setting up a series of exhibits to showcase top student work in each class. There are lots of tri-fold poster boards, lots of papers on the walls, and lots of middle school art projects. I came home (at the dorm!) to glitter, courtesy of my fellow Breakthrough Staff and basically, I'm sick of arts and crafts, yet I get to do my own now, for several hours. Hope I don't drown in paint... I'll post photos when I'm done.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Showing the love...
Special thanks to my recent commenters! I don't know how many of you are actually reading this, but I think it's around 10 -- hearing from you gives me strength (almost like we're in it together!).
Hope your summers and your adventures are as rewarding (and more restful!) than mine!
Hope your summers and your adventures are as rewarding (and more restful!) than mine!
Charades, Art and Enthusiasm
Today we played brain charades, I had words including the brain lobes and actions like "walking" or "memory" or "posture" or "heart rate" and the kids in my second period had a blast! They were very competitive and had a great time. I was so thrilled to see how much they remembered! And I targeted different "intelligences" or learning styles than usual by letting them act it out.
Fourth period was an entirely different issue. How do you show up at school with no pencil, not paper, not even a purse or bookbag? She's been irritating me this summer, but all the rest of my kids are great. I think I got kids in the upper third of the cleverness spectrum, so it's been rewarding to see how a kid can drop "corpus callosum" or "reaction time" or "retina" in casual conversation at... age 12.
Today, after meetings, rehearsals, and art projects I left work around 7:15 and went supply shopping for my parting gifts for kids.
Tonight: I called all my students (which takes longer than you'd expect) to check in on their projects. About half have emailed final copies to me which is awesome. I have to make the little goody bags of sweets to say bye and also write 10 more letters (personalized for each kid with strengths and advice - I'm encouraging a few kids to consider running for student government because they are great leaders.) Oddly enough, I seem to remember someone doing that for me when I was in 9th grade... see how I turned out :-D.... And I have to format and create my newspaper template for the kids. It'll be a long night, but it's not about us. It's about the kids -- and they will appreciate the notes and tokens. Tomorrow is our last day in the classroom, which I didn't think I'd be sad about, but think I actually will be a bit.
Fourth period was an entirely different issue. How do you show up at school with no pencil, not paper, not even a purse or bookbag? She's been irritating me this summer, but all the rest of my kids are great. I think I got kids in the upper third of the cleverness spectrum, so it's been rewarding to see how a kid can drop "corpus callosum" or "reaction time" or "retina" in casual conversation at... age 12.
Today, after meetings, rehearsals, and art projects I left work around 7:15 and went supply shopping for my parting gifts for kids.
Tonight: I called all my students (which takes longer than you'd expect) to check in on their projects. About half have emailed final copies to me which is awesome. I have to make the little goody bags of sweets to say bye and also write 10 more letters (personalized for each kid with strengths and advice - I'm encouraging a few kids to consider running for student government because they are great leaders.) Oddly enough, I seem to remember someone doing that for me when I was in 9th grade... see how I turned out :-D.... And I have to format and create my newspaper template for the kids. It'll be a long night, but it's not about us. It's about the kids -- and they will appreciate the notes and tokens. Tomorrow is our last day in the classroom, which I didn't think I'd be sad about, but think I actually will be a bit.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Fun Classes, LONG day
I taught for half the class period, and I think it went really well. We started with a discussion of language in humans (sound-meaning connection) and compared it to animal communication (often a physical change). Then I discussed Broca's Area and Wernike's Area (parts of the temporal lobe that control speech production and comprehension). I barely skimmed the surface of the linguistics, psychology, and neurobiology involved. The lab I work in at Harvard researches the evolutionary aspects of animal communication, so I was excited to touch the topic with my kids.
I shared a bunch of awesome YouTube clips as a way to integrate technology. My projector didn't work, but I cannot complain. I had 6 and 4 kids, so my giant laptop screen was sufficient!
Here are links to the clips I used:
McGurk Effect (is speech JUST auditory or visual too?)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aFPtc8BVdJk
Lyre Bird imitating cameras and chainsaws
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y
Bee Waggle Dance
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-7ijI-g4jHg&mode=related&search=
The kids' projects are coming along well - ideally they will be done tomorrow, but that's quite possibly not going to happen. So, we can work tomorrow and turn in everything on Thursday, which is our last day of class. Estimating how long to spend on a project has been a challenge because with three grade levels and a varying levels of enthusiasm, some kids do a lot while others manage to spend a long time doing nothing.
The days are very long because with Celebration coming up on Saturday we have a lot of work to display, skits to rehearse, songs to learn, and all sorts of things. It's 3-4 hours long and includes an expo of all academic work (books written, collages created, posters, student essays all that jazz) as well as a recognition of every department and a 30-45 minute student-written play. It's a big deal, and the kids are psyched, but the Teachers are getting worn out.
"It's not about us. It's about the kids" is the motto continually chanted by our Admin team, but at the same time, we're just not used to this kind of demands on our time. We do it, almost always with a smile, but teaching alone is exhausting, and to add to that 3 hours of staff meeting, painting posters, training and professional development.... sigh. I got home before 6pm tonight, which was thrilling itself!!
I shared a bunch of awesome YouTube clips as a way to integrate technology. My projector didn't work, but I cannot complain. I had 6 and 4 kids, so my giant laptop screen was sufficient!
Here are links to the clips I used:
McGurk Effect (is speech JUST auditory or visual too?)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aFPtc8BVdJk
Lyre Bird imitating cameras and chainsaws
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y
Bee Waggle Dance
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-7ijI-g4jHg&mode=related&search=
The kids' projects are coming along well - ideally they will be done tomorrow, but that's quite possibly not going to happen. So, we can work tomorrow and turn in everything on Thursday, which is our last day of class. Estimating how long to spend on a project has been a challenge because with three grade levels and a varying levels of enthusiasm, some kids do a lot while others manage to spend a long time doing nothing.
The days are very long because with Celebration coming up on Saturday we have a lot of work to display, skits to rehearse, songs to learn, and all sorts of things. It's 3-4 hours long and includes an expo of all academic work (books written, collages created, posters, student essays all that jazz) as well as a recognition of every department and a 30-45 minute student-written play. It's a big deal, and the kids are psyched, but the Teachers are getting worn out.
"It's not about us. It's about the kids" is the motto continually chanted by our Admin team, but at the same time, we're just not used to this kind of demands on our time. We do it, almost always with a smile, but teaching alone is exhausting, and to add to that 3 hours of staff meeting, painting posters, training and professional development.... sigh. I got home before 6pm tonight, which was thrilling itself!!
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