TEACHING 101: August 2008

Saturday, August 30, 2008

And so it begins...

We are now done with the first 2 weeks of school and so far so good. I have a new group of kids and totally different personalities than last year. We are all still learning how to mesh together but it seems to be working. This year is different for me in that I'm coaching 7th grade girls basketball as well as teaching math. I've always wanted to coach as well as teach and now that's happening. I'm trying to get used to the time demands but I can already tell it is going to be a rewarding experience :-)

Making a Difference

Once upon a time there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing.He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.One day he was walking along the shore.As he looked down the beach,he saw a human figure moving like a dancer.He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day.So he began to walk faster to catch up.As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing,but instead he was reaching down to the shore,picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.As he got closer he called out,"Good morning! What are you doing?"The young man paused,looked up and replied,"Throwing starfish in the ocean.""I guess I should have asked,why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?""The sun is up and the tide is going out.And if I don't throw them in they'll die.""But, young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it.You can't possibly make a difference!"The young man listened politely.Then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea,past the waves and said-"It made a difference to that one."

The Secret Life of Bees

What a great book! I told myself I wouldn't go see the movie until I finished the book. After seeing some of the trailers for the movie, I found myself visualizing those actors as the characters in the book. This book is about a young girl named Lily who lives with her father and their made Rosaleen. She is a white girl living in the south in the 1960s with a black maid. After the maid is put in jail for insulting a white man, Lily breaks her out and off they go! They run away looking for Tiburon, South Carolina, to which the only tie they have is the city's name on the back of a picture that belonged to Lily's mother. What they find are three bee keeping sisters and a wonderful experience. This is book is an easy read that you won't be able to put down until you've finished the very last page.

Raise the Roof

This book is a must read for any real lover but especially sports fans. This book tells the story of Pat Summitt and the 1997-98 Lady Volunteers undefeated basketball season. This was the third straight national championship for Pat and her volunteers. This was an inspirational book because although Pat has been coaching over thirty years now, she admits that she had to change her approach with these girls because they were more sensitive than any other group she ever coached. Pat talks about winning the national championship the previous year but not engraving the team's record on the ring because being 29-10 was her worst coaching record to date, even though they still won the championship year. I really enjoyed this book, especially because this is my first year to coach and it really hits home with a lot of issues that I have already faced. Raise the Roof is more than a basketball book but really shows how a team came together with their coach to reach a common goal and shock the college basketball world.

Intervention????

These students were given a chance to memorize numbers of Pi, in order to throw an actual pie in my face. I found that extra tasks like these really help inclusion kids feel apart of something. These students include special education and other learning disabilities but I have found that hands on activities work really well for them. The great thing about these kinds of activities is the fact that they work for almost all of my 7th graders. Anything I can do to get them up and moving around and have them involved in their own education, the better and harder they work!!

TEACHING 101

Saturday, August 30, 2008

And so it begins...

Making a Difference

Favorite Movies

Favorite Books

My Blog List

"the learning environment"