Back

Ok, so the year has been a rough one, but I'm back, I think. I tried some really new things so far this year and really feel that I did a much better job the way I did them last year......so I'm going back to what has worked in the past. This year my room has been sooo much less fun for my students and not nearly as beneficial (as far as my students' grades go). Something is lost when you force yourself to be some one you're not and all suffer. Before our Christmas break, I'll start a new unit that will go back to the idea that learning happens in many different ways and of course depart from the worksheet frenzy I've been in since adapting to the methods of a much more experienced teacher. There are benefits to this, but the downfalls seem so much greater with it than the rewards.
So, other than a little issue with a Jehovah’s Witness who thinks that the geologic timeline sounds like evolution, and another student who claims the entire textbook is a lie(I'm still awaiting his list of lies so we can discuss them) all is pretty good right now. I'm always amazed at how close-minded certain people are. I'd really like to get deeper into this, but really don't have the energy. It's impossible to convince these sorts that there are other books out there, and that it wasn't that long ago that their faith accepted much of what I'm teaching now... so the nasty "E" word really isn't bad (I've done a bit of research to see what I'm dealing with). I wonder what will happen when we start looking to the universe to see stars being formed and explain their evolution. Fortunately there doesn’t seem to be much written that contrasts this aspect, but I’ll see what happens.
We have about 18 inches of snow in the area, most of which fell last night and it really feels like winter now. The first hunting season will close tomorrow so I can start feeding the wildlife again and look forward to the second season after Christmas. All is right with the world here for at least a little while.

I’ll try to do better at keeping up with the posts.

A Cold Shoulder

Since leaving the AE program, I've been getting the cold shoulder from some involved in the program. It's really quite interesting to see that I'm looked at in a negative light over this. "I knew you wouldn't last." was the first thing I heard from a co-worker. I asked her how long she's been in AE...knowing full well that she's been in since the start of this school year and is only interested in the pay. I reminded her that I did a 7 year stint working with the most troubled students in the tri county area, then did 3 more in AE day and night, spending 12 hours a day in the very building that she is working in(only a few hours here and there) and that I know a good deal more than she does. I also let her know that bringing expelled drug kids together spells trouble when there are no steadfast rules. All has gone well so far, but she should not call me when something goes wrong...no one listened to me and it will not be any doing of mine when someone is seriously hurt over this lousy program.
At least I feel much better about my decision to leave. Those who have the most to say are the ones that I had the least respect for in the first place, so nothing really changed in my book. I just have more time to hunt and have completely winterized the 'Cuda for the LONG snowy season. I got out with my pride and my standards in tact. I am looking for another position in which I can make a difference, but really don't mind a little extra time for fun either. Two jobs aren’t too bad really and with friends coming in for the second muzzle loader season this new time will be taken advantage of.
Overall though, I have been keeping pretty quiet about the reasons for my departure, generally stating "philosophical differences" as the main reason. I just hope some one wakes up before it's really too late and our little school makes the national news! Blind trust is a scary thing, as are people that just don't understand that all people aren't naturally good at heart with the warm fuzzies and caring every day. A few are snowed very easily and think they are really connecting when they are really just being manipulated and taken advantage of...sad but real. Blinders: good for race horses, bad for AE educators.
At any rate, I vow to post a positive note next time, no matter what it is. This little AE issue is really the only negative I have right now...all things are well and the classes are good, kids are working well overall and are really doing what they need to. I guess I killed the only real negative in my life lately! That does feel good. :)

A Truly Sad Day(sorry, it's a bit long)

This week I made one of the hardest decisions I've made in my teaching career. I quit the alternative education program that I was so enthused about not too long ago. I feel like a total pile crap. I left the program, found my own replacement and will teach this replacement a few things before being done this week. Sadly, the program was set up by a rookie principal who was more interested in ensuring that the students liked him and a substitute teacher with no classroom experience (let alone any dealings with AE kids or students with problems). I spent all of last year arguing for things to change and also gave it the first quarter of this year while under the guise that things were changing. Nothing changed. I refuse to put name in with anything that is SOOOOOO poorly thought out. Last year, on the night when the parents and students were introduced to the program, there were no rules set. Nothing had been set at all. After a brief introduction students were permitted to ask questions. The first one was about permission to have drinks and food in class (evening program). The principal said that it was fine. I chimed in that the drinks need to come into the building (one room school) in sealed containers. That was over ruled and at that point I knew that it was an uphill battle.
Fast-forward a year. Nothing has changed. Students come in to school toting containers of "Coke" (what could be mixed with that anyway?), apple cider (I'm sure it was fresh from the press and not yet turned), tropical punch (ya, nothing goes well in that either) and drank throughout the evening. Now, think that these are the kids who are expelled from school for drug related problems and then think about this little issue of drinks. Ya, not a great thing. I have absolutely no faith in any of them to be trusted. Add on to this "little" issue the fact that while I'm in the building there are no privileges at all, but I find out that my 3 esteemed colleagues allow the students to listen to music online during their stints in AE. Even teachers are barred from this practice in this district, but these AE kids are permitted? “It keeps them quiet” was the response I received when I questioned the practice. This sent the message that it’s great in AE…why not get expelled? Put in 4 hours a day and get to eat drink and listen to online music while at school? Something is definitely wrong here. Add to that the fact that I was busy over the summer and could not make a meeting about this year’s “new” program. Two others could and took the Tues/Wed/Thurs/ days and all of the "down" time, leaving me and another teacher with Mon and Fri evenings. It’s tough to see kids on Mon/Fri and keep any sort of flow in what they do. All of this added up to a program that truly wasn't worth the effort. Despite my experience in AE and the suggestions I brought up, nothing changed in over a year. My warnings went unheeded and were dismissed.
When my departure from the program became known, some asked how I could give up the money. MONEY? That was never part of the issue for me. I can make the same money watching detention and having no responsibility/planning/preparation. In fact this weekend, at my third job I made more than double the AE pay per hour while having fun and being relaxed, joking with customers. I was truly insulted by this comment, but I guess that's how some people see things. The all-mighty dollar rules.
I have been pretty quiet about my concerns in my district, making comments to those who need to know and could help, but made it known that things were not right. For nearly half of a school year I've been told that changes are coming. Enough time has passed that I've just given up. When people with no experience who are more interested in keeping the kids happy than they are in running a quality, successful program are in charge, no amount of common sense can over ride their decisions. Sadly, I feel that someone will have serious consequences if there is no resolve to the current issues and truly feel that I've done all I can to improve things. I'm not going down with a sinking ship when I'm not permitted help right the boat or fix a leak.

The issues I have mentioned are just a few of those that need tending to. This is one program that had a great purpose, could have been a great success and one that had the potential to really helped some students that made questionable decisions, but the ones in charge failed to see past their rose colored glasses long enough to see reality. Imagine students expelled for drug offenses being in your classroom when you have no set policy for checking book bags, or any method of verifying that they are drinking cool-aid with no additional libation or even any method of recourse if the fail to keep from cruising the net while in online school while you are helping another student….that’s not something that I’m willing to risk my certificate for. I enjoy this end of the student population and see what a difference I can make, but am not interested in being an enabler. That’s what you are when you fail to face reality, and blindly trust students because they are essentially bribed to like you. Tell them what they want to hear and cave in on anything you have to. That’s not the way I operate and never intend to. I’ll find another program that fits my beliefs and standards. Then and only then will I attempt to be involved in another program. At the start of this one, I was under the impression that I would have input and be able to help set up a quality program. I was totally wrong.

What sticks in my mind is that the wishy-washy-stars-in-the-eyes-kiss-ass educators fail to face the reality that some kids will lie to their faces and stab them in the back as soon as it’s beneficial or convenient. This is a tough lesson that some in this program will have learn on their own I guess. I only hope that the lesson is learned before some one looses a certificate or gets seriously hurt. These kids aren’t here for being good, honest citizens. They are there because they have been deemed to endanger the entire school population while in school.

This is the first job I have ever just quit. I have left other positions for better positions, but have never left a job like this before no matter how bad the job. I stuck with them until I could be promoted or improve my status in other employment. Whether it was digging ditches in high school, parking golf carts after college or working with the roughest kids in the tri-county area I stuck with it. This time I leave to maintain my self-image and to maintain my beliefs and philosophy. Even so I still feel terrible about leaving no matter how poorly thought out things were. I guess in time I’ll get over it and move on, but right now it really feels like a punch in the gut. Who knows, maybe something good will come from this, other than additional hunting time after school for me and a lot less stress…I guess time will tell.

Stay true to your beliefs and all will be well right?

All is well

After the camp stuff (which was pretty darn fun really) all has been OK. Nothing really big, some good, some bad. I guess it's what you'd call fair to midland. My kids are OK overall, alternative ed has finally started to go the direction that I believe it should and I'm getting used to my new curriculum. That's about it really on the education front.
I'm having fun overall, but still feel that I'm way short on time this year. I'm not doing nearly as much outside of my normal teaching as I did last year. Each day is just so packed full any more. I haven't even picked up a guitar at home since school started. I put the Barracuda away for the winter (after a couple of last runs) and covered it up until some time in the future.
I do have a brother that is preparing to move to the west coast. He's been in town for a couple of days before taking off for a new job. His job requires regular small arms tests so we went to my gun club to be sure he'd qualify. He shoots well enough, but he hasn't been shooting anything at long ranges lately. We took one of my varmint rifles to see what would happen. The smile on his face when he heard the pronounced crack of a small piece of lead being propelled at nearly 4,000 feet per second was well worth the rounds wasted. He seemed to really enjoy hearing the shots hit the metal targets at about 300 yards. Just think about your football field, and multiply that by 3 and you'll have some idea of the distance. Hitting the targets, which are slightly larger than the average smoke detector in your home is pretty amazing. At that distance, you can clearly see the target move and the bullet shatter (through decent optics) long before the sound gets to you. I guess you get used to the things that you do in your area. That's just one of the benefits of me living where I do. It costs 15 bucks a year to be a member at that club and in less than 10 minutes I can be launching lead down range. Just another thing that helps with the stress and keeps me interested in this place.
As winter begins to exert its imminent strangle hold on the landscape, I think of the possibilities this brings. From the start of our small game season, to the big game season and ending with the final blowout of flint lock muzzle loaders after Christmas, I have a pretty good set of options. Not to mention the winter hiking, maybe camping this year and unfortunately the seemingly endless shoveling. Life doesn't end with the cold weather, you just have to adjust a bit. So, as many of our older folks, those with money and families on vacation head toward you in the south, just remember that no matter where you are, life is what you make of it. It can really suck if you let it. The daily grind gets pretty old. I choose to keep myself happy and enjoy what I have in what ever season it may be here. I know that I've been pretty negative in the past, but figure that I'll do what I can to control what I can and put up with the rest. After all, it could be a lot worse. I think I'll pick up my guitar and just play for while, get the fingers moving and just enjoy the sounds. Tomorrow brings yet another day of work. Three jobs, seven days a week gets old, but I like most parts of all of them so for now I'll just keep going and trying to get ahead.
Good luck and stop long enough to find something good with your current situation, try something new or get back to something you've neglected. Just enjoy.
mark

First night of camp

Last night was my first presentation at camp this year. All went pretty well. Minor issues with equipment of course, but nothing really major. My first two sessions were really good, with kids asking good questions, answering questions and taking part in my program. Only one student asked "How big is your anus?" Of course I answered with some tact and turned his little attempt at a joke around on him :) That was the only issue until the third group. I don't know why, but this group was just way to hyper. After talking to the others who managed the two other space science stations, it turns out that it wasn't just me. This group had prolems throughout the night. My copresenters and I planned changes and ways to deal with these kids and made some changes to the program. It was nearly 11 when I left that session last night.
The look of amazement, the oohs and ahhs make the extra time and the little frustrations worth it...space is good stuff!
I'll write about some other camp stuff another time...you guys won't believe some of the stuff we do! Some might have some interesting reactions ...

A bit tired

At the close of this week, I feel more than a little bit tired. It's nothing in particular, just the accumulation of so many things. More programs have been instituted to better our school, more paperwork is required to document what's happening and more time is required to complete these. It seems that this may be the way things will continue for the foreseeable future. For the first time, I'm seriously wondering whether this is what I want to spend the rest of my working life doing. Don't get me wrong I really like teaching. It's the other stuff that I don't care for and the same stuff that I seem to be required to spend more and more time taking care of. At this point, I've decided that I'll take care of the teaching and my kids before even attempting the other stuff. I put in plenty of time on my own at home to get things done, but this year it doesn't seem like enough: Just not enough time in the day to get it all done. I don't eat lunch, opting instead to either do paperwork or roam the cafe to talk to my kids in a slightly less structured environment. I'm not going to list the new programs, or complain about their implementation, or limitations. I'm just tired today. After finishing an 11-hour day of work, I've just had enough.
On top of the teaching, I'm scheduled to volunteer at our 6th grade camping experience this weekend and next week. It's a great experience for our youngest middle schoolers: a once in lifetime chance for many of our disadvantaged youths. I have no problem being a volunteer there. I think it's a great thing. Some of our sixth grade teachers however believe that their day, by contract, is from 7:30AM to 3:30 PM and that they can't be asked to do any more during this camp experience. That's just sad. I guess even more depressing is that the person in charge of this entire thing is a volunteer who spends countless hours arranging, booking, training and at times begging for help and flexibility. This person is the reason camp is going on this year. If left up to the others, there would be no camp, yet some complain and expect to do nothing that requires extra effort. I suggested that the supervisor just leave it up to the others to do and see what happens next year.
In my opinion, our district spends a fortune on coaches, equipment and facilities that aren't for every kid. This camp is for every child that comes through the district, but relies on volunteers. I feel sorry for the coordinator who tries to keep everyone happy, deal with last minute changes and cancellations while trying not to ask anyone to do anything extra all the while putting in near full 12 months of work to achieve the goal.
Because of these attitudes, I'll be getting to work next Friday at my usual 7-7:15 AM, teaching until 3 or so, going to alternative ed until 6 and then going to camp to help supervise the evening activities and camp fire until 11 or so then driving about 30 minutes or so back home. There just aren’t enough people this year. After that I'll get up and be at my weekend job before 9....I wonder how many of my counterparts, who "can't" work Friday will be working a similar schedule. It is worth it though to keep this program running and showing the kids that there are things to do and simple joys in life.

I feel better just getting that out. Look for more positive things in the near future…this can’t last forever!
I'm going to try and get a good night sleep and see how the world looks tomorrow. I may even take the day off from the weekend work....

New things

Once again this year I'm involved with our alternative education program. It's quite a bit different and, of course, there are some things that bother me about it. I'll not expand upon those issues and try to resolve them ASAP. What I'd like to look at are the good things. We will be nearly totally online for the student learning. A company, who will not be mentioned by name just yet (I've only used the system for a little over a week and would like to see more about it before I give a good/bad word for them) , sells seats in a program of study. Administrators can choose from lists of classes, levels and designs to put the students in. It really is a pretty simple process and straight forward. The lessons that I have previewed are well thought out and relate well to our standards. So far, the students that try are doing well, and those that click and hope are failing. Just like regular school, there has to be desire for success to occur.
Outside of this small segment of our school population, I see this program being used as a summer school/remediation system, which will greatly ease trying to teach earth/space sciences, biology, chemistry, horticulture, health, physics, physical sciences etc in one program. One teacher can manage multiple classes and levels without too much trouble. More importantly, for our seniors that really need to graduate, there are types of classes where they take a pre-assessment and test out of any part of a given class, speeding up their attainment of the needed credits. There are control and flexibility built in. For example, my current chemistry classes have built in labs. My students are not yet doing the labs, which I have turned off. The program supplier states that these labs are designed for the students to do at home with "ordinary household items". Then, the first item in the first lab is a beam balance that measures milligrams. I'm still looking for one in my science department! My department chair is really helpful and sending me one, but to expect "normal" students to own such a thing is a bit unrealistic. When I jokingly asked if anyone had one, I suddenly thought of what purpose this type of scale might have in this population...oops :) Oh well.
I am happy with the program so far and think that my district will see other uses. Right now we have students who choose not to be in school and are 'cyberschooled'. Our district pays for them to get a computer sent to the home and ( I think) pay for internet service. Then the students are left to themselves to complete the program on their own schedule. Last year a cyberschool student was thrown out of the program at the end of the 3rd quarter for not attempting any assignments. What happened to the computer? What was the net service used for?? How could a student be ‘in school’ for 270 school days without working not be reported for that long??? No matter what the answers, it was expected that this student be taught and try to get him passed on the next grade...in 1 quarter?!? Rough huh? By using this program and a team of core subject teachers in a structured setting with set times, at least we can be sure that something is being attempted and that the computers our tax payers pay for are being used appropriately. There are other options and possibilities that will surely be a cost savings over some existing programs. This company claims somewhere in the neighborhood of 150,000 current students. Maybe they're on to something. I'll keep you up on this as I get deeper into the series, but definitely see something with potential.

First Week

This is the end or our first week of school. All in all, things went very smoothly. No real issues. The students have a broad range of personalities. Some are testing the limits, others are doing all that they are asked to do, still others are trying to go unnoticed, quietly sitting through classes. I'm having a little trouble matching my counterpart's speed of teaching this year. In years past, we taught the units at different times. This year, I'm changing to his schedule and using his worksheets, handouts, quizzes, tests and labs. This is a huge change for me: Trying to keep up the pace, while still getting in the note taking, reading, testing and thinking skills. I spend extra time at the beginning, which pays off and I catch up quickly. Using the same materials makes it a bit scary to be behind. My homework may already be done in the other class and handed back, making cheating a big potential issue. The same goes for the tests etc.
These little inconveniences are taking much time and thought to overcome. They are however relatively minor, although it would be nice if some of my ideas and practices would be considered...I guess it's difficult to change after teaching for so many years. I'll still work my methods in and do the best I can with what I've learned. Sometimes the tried and true methods may be better, but education is in a state of constant change. That makes the teachers’ changing and trying new things a prerequisite in my opinion. I can't imagine having all of tests, quizzes, worksheets, handouts and assignments set for the entire first half of the year copied and planned out before school starts...what about what the kids are weak on this year? What about the classes that have lower reading levels than the previous year? What about the disabilities? What about the newest things that are happening?
As you do your plans, don't forget to think about being flexible enough to get to know what your students need and how you can best help them with their education.

Back to Education: Teaching Rabbits to Fly

This school year began for me with a training session on the UbD concept. For the most part this was a review of my class from UFL recently. This half day in-service was OK, but did have its issues. We started by hearing about the school for animals, where a fish excelled in swimming, but had to stay after school to improve on its climbing and running, which made the fish loose interest in school. The rabbit, who happened to top its classing in running, had to work hard just to be proficient in swimming...and so on through the animal world. I like the concept of UbD, but really don't like the examples used here. They are so extreme and designed to scare, I think, people into seeing something.
Another part of this training was dividing up into groups by our teaching styles. Being pigeon-holed into one is really unnerving to me. I looked at the choices and saw myself fitting into any of them, so I asked a co-teacher of my learning support classes what she thought. Her choice put me into a group that I fit into OK and that I did learn from. After that portion was over, other teachers approached me wondering why I was in that particular group and suggested that I would fit better in another, from what they know of me. I would have fit in with the other suggested groups too. It's just interesting that being labeled an in a group is so important to some. I agree with the idea of the exercise, looking at our individual teaching styles to improve our classes. I just don't like the method. I'm different(OK, those who really know me can stop nodding and laughing now) and really don't want to fit into just one category.
We ended our training with a reading of the children’s book, Giraffes Can’t(or Don’t, I can’t remember) Dance. There’s something to be said for our elementary education teachers. Our presenter was one. I’m just glad that none of our taxpayers saw that many teachers, sitting and having someone read to us in a very childish voice, about a dance for animals!

With that I close my Labor Day writing and complete the last half hour of getting my room ready for tomorrow's first day back with students. Yes, we did start pretty late this year. I'll most likely be explaining that soon. Today is also the first day of the long weekend that it hasn't rained here...lousy hurricane remnants! I'll keep you all posted on the events that ensue in the coming weeks...good luck and take a good look at yourself this week.

An Explanation

I have recieved a few complaints about my last post...some people email me instead of posting a comment, which is OK, but I've had a few complaints about that last one. I explained that I write what I think, and other than using spell check occasionally, I really don't edit my thoughts. Those were my thoughts that day. That's all there is to it. I see this informal medium as a place that I don't need to critically consider each comment and verb choice. I write about what's on my mind that moment. Other than a few required posts for classes, I really haven't planned out an entry, I just type. I hope that explains some of things that may get into these postings and why there may be some wandering thoughts that could be stated more clearly and in fewer words.
I will try to keep them MUCH shorter though...that one was a bit too long. It's a good thing I don't teach english I guess :)

Finally +a soapbox moment...

Lately, I've been pretty busy, but happy too. I've had a few problems with UFL. I've taken 3 classes, passed them all, but only show 2 in my grade history. I paid a bill, that doesn't agree with the fee schedule and don't understand a few things, but figure that it will work out. Everyone has been very helpful so far and feedback has made sense and been appropriate. No real complaints at all :). To this point my professors have done very well and helped so much.
This week has been the first week that I've FINALLY been confident that I could travel in the 'Cuda. Still working the bugs out, I guess. Now all is well, but there's a strong possibility that it will be gone soon. The guy I bought it from ( in New Mexico) was in PA last week and went for a little ride. He sold me the car with a poor paint job and no engine/trans. Most of the other parts were there, but they were in boxes. Now that the body has been straightened, the door handles shaved, the antenna removed and a large new engine installed, he wants it back. At first I thought that there's no way I'm going to sell now. I've put countless hours into it, spent nights and weekends part searching, fixing etc. Then I started to think that, other than the seats, it's pretty well done (They need new covers). Maybe it's time for a new project? I did enjoy the process and would do some things a bit differently. I would like to do it again, but can't afford to keep two of these things at once. In fact, I checked my accounts and I have just about enough money to pay the bills before I get paid again and nothing to spare. (Here we get paid a lump sum for the summer and have to budget from there....I didn't do so well there this year....no surprise there) That's a pretty minor problem I guess: keep it, drive it and enjoy it OR take the money and another project in trade to start all over again. Summer is nearing the end here and driving season on a car like this is nearly over...it will just sit in the garage for the winter with little to be done to it...maybe I need another project to help keep me from going stir crazy during the long winter months here. Maybe I should keep what I've done and enjoy it for another season and enjoy a winter without feeling the need to complete a project to drive the following year. Between the trial fittings of the engine, painting, body work, seemingly endless sanding, engine removal (because my 'machinist' didn't replace 37 year old soft plugs in the heads and chose to paint over the old ones without telling me), electrical demons, fuel pump deaths etc., I've put a lot of time into this. Most of the work was darn cheap because I don't pay myself much. The only real expense was the engine and machine work...everything else was done by me and another teacher here in the area. He teaches math and has been a friend since I can remember...thanks to Misfit Toys!!! That's his small car oriented company. If you ever saw his garage, you'd understand where the name comes from. This has been a fun journey, but maybe it's time to embark on a new one. I have to admit that I do enjoy talking to the younger kids about the car. I get comments from them the most and encourage them to continue the hobby. So many kids are interested in their little 4 banger "sports" cars and the fart cans on the back today, I like to see the all American tradition of the muscle car living on. Really, there's nothing like the sound of a huge V-8 humming with the four barrels sucking air as fast as they can, mated to a well tuned exhaust while gaining speed rapidly.
Now, I know that today is a time when miles per gallon is a selling point and the larger displacements are frowned upon, but I really don't care right now. This little rocket gets the same MPG as my truck does, if not a couple better and does so while looking soooo much better.
That brings me to my gripe of the week: the EPA. Their job is to keep the environment safe for generations to come. During my senior year of college, I had to do a debate. I chose fuel efficiency and pollution from vehicles. During my research, I found some interesting stuff that's pretty obvious now. The first year for EPA regulations on cars was 1971. That was the worst year for pollutants released and for MPG. It was also the end of high revving, high compression engines that used high octane fuels. Today, the high compression, high revving engines are the “efficient” ones and making a come back…HMMM, could they have been wrong 35 years ago? Why hasn’t fuel economy come up? My friend has a ’68 Dart with a pretty stock engine that gets about 25-26 MPG with no computer controls, fuel injection or any of the new “advances” that make today’s cars run. After 38 years, there are few cars with this performance, size and comfort(I’m 6’3) that can compare without spending some cash. What happened? How can an econobox, that is a death trap in an accident get about the same mileage? When one of our old beasts makes contact with another vehicle, the differences are really clear. Were these cars from long ago that far advanced? Are today’s vehicles really that much better? My ’69 had the door locks that keep you from locking yourself out (Toyota did this in the early ‘80’s and made quite a splash with their advertising), fold down rear seats were in the 66 Charger(also later touted by Toyota as an “advancement” many years later), 6 way adjustable power seats in a 65 Sport Furry convertible(with a power top by the way), thermostatic radiator fans go back into the late 40’s, fuel injection back to theWWII aircraft, disk brakes back to WWII too and cruise control from who knows when. The cyclic nature of the automobile is phenomenal and the advancements that aren’t appreciated until someone comes up with a good ad campaign for it, sad.

OK, here’s where I just can’t help myself and skirt the world of politics, science, environment, the future etc….feel free to just stop here, avoid my soapbox moment and say OK…

With that in mind, I get to my big point. Currently our country is heavily dependant upon foreign interests to feed our need for oil. At the same time thousands of acres of prime farmland lay fallow because our ever brilliant politicians choose to pay farmers NOT to grow corn and grains to keep prices at a “fair” level. Why not supplement them to help with the ethanol? Why not cover large portions of these fields with switch grass (twice as many gallons per acre as corn and soybeans and this stuff comes back every year without replanting!) in order help? Even my 69 will run on a percentage of this stuff and I’m sure could be adapted to run on nearly pure ethanol(at least the 85% that the newer GM vehicles do) and be quite happy. Other sources are “in the works” but have been for a LOOOOONG time. To this point, nothing has really changed. The internal combustion engines rule the world and have been around longer than most people think. Generally speaking, these engines are about the most ancient piece of “technology” that we use on a daily basis. Sure the fuel delivery systems and computer controlled spark, multiple cams, multiple valves etc, are improvements, but the same thing happens: a volatile liquid is vaporized, forced into a small container where compression is added and an explosion occurs, leading the same thing happen in another cylinder…not that much different than what those crazy brothers developed to help the first airplane get off the ground and countless tinkerers and inventers before them to drive machines of the future. Until we really start letting our greatest minds free, we’ll be stuck where we are and dependent upon others that may or may not like us. I remember a Popular Science article from when I was really young that dealt with nuclear powered cars…a tiny radioactive pellet providing years of driving for a car, Chrysler had a turbine powered car in the ‘60’s that would run on just about anything from kerosene to gasoline to corn oil to the alcohol in your liquor cabinet. These ideas didn’t last for one reason or another. Today, the idea of hydrogen fuels is pretty interesting, but the easiest and currently the most efficient method for procuring the H needed comes from natural gas, which is a hydrogen-carbon (can you say hydrocarbon?) chain. The big problem is that it releases all of the C into the atmosphere, which is a greenhouse gas that we’re worried about (Global Warming, real or imagined)…so that’s not really the answer. The oceans are full of H, but this requires so much energy to isolate that it’s currently not feasible, unless the atomic capabilities are embraced to generate the electricity for this process in a RELATIVELY “clean” and efficient manner. As soon as the word nuclear comes up, people tend to freak. Wow, I guess that there really isn’t current and truly good replacement for the tried and true black gold. It’s easy to manipulate into whatever we need and we have the infrastructure to send it globally. What would happen to the economy if something were to crop up (haha, that was a pun :)) to change this dominance? Are we ready for that? Imagine the consequences…what could happen, both good and bad. How would that huge transition occur? How many years would it take to ease into a new world of non-petroleum based motivation of our goods? Oh, the problems that arise! This is a complicated arena and one that so many people seem to have the answer to. My oil patch friends (yes there is still oil coming from NW PA) say that they could produce so much more if the DCNR(Department of Conservation of Natural Resources) the DEP(Department of Environmental Protection) here in PA would let them, and of course the ever present EPA regulates too. One says that the DEP won’t be happy until we’re all riding bicycles. The nuke people see it as the solution, the Hydrogen fans see that as the answer and the LNG(Liquefied Natural Gas) fans see it as the future. Electrical vehicle fans say that’s the way to go, but seem to have no good way of generating the electricity without damming a river, burning coal, oil or natural gas. Ya, there’s solar, and wind but they really aren’t showing that well yet…plus here in PA, you’d have a rough time with our weather and lack of sunny days….what a mess…I guess I’ll just continue to place my two cents where I can and continue to enjoy the benefits that the oil based economy brings.

I have to end with saying that I REALLY REALLY appreciate all of those who are in the military doing what they are told, whether or not they believe in what they are doing, and see them as so much more than protecting our oil supply. Keep up the good work and stay safe! THANK YOU for your contributions!!!! I’ll leave a nice long, smoky patch of rubber, like a pair of dancing snakes, on some back road for you :)

mark

More possitve thinking

OK, the last post sat on the computer for a day, was read and reread by me before being put out there for all to see. That one may not be posted later on, if I decide that it doesn't belong in the public domain, but we'll have to see how I feel.

I'd like to take a more positive outlook today. I'm learning many things that will improve the lives of my students, am relatively healthy, have gainful employment, supportive and helpful friends and relatively minor problems. I may complain a bit, but I'm really pretty darn happy. I chose my lot in life. I chose to do what I do. I chose to work 2-3 jobs, mostly 7 days a week. I chose to do 5, 12 hour days and keep the second job on the weekends. I left this to teach. I still choose to have a 2nd and a 3rd job while taking classes. These choices make me who I am. I'm confident that very few can truly call me lazy. I'm proud of what I do and most of the things I've done. I've made mistakes and a few enemies. That's part of life. When I'm perfect I'll let everyone know :) and will expect full acknowledgement for it. Until then, I'll continue to do the best that I can with what I have.
I see good things in the future moderated by the common setbacks and challenges. Life wouldn't really be fun without the challenges and the lunatics that we sometimes have to deal with. At least I can say that I'm not perfect, but I'm not as bad as (put name here). The irrational people really make me appreciate where I came from and where I'm going. Maybe they weren't taught any better or have lost sight of what's really important.
Today, I look at all of the good things in my life and think that I'm darn lucky. Today I choose to be positive and see the funnier side of my problems, no matter what they are, they'll be taken care of in due time. Some will be worse than others, but as long as I have my word and my character I'm me.
In time, some of my current problems may become the subject matter of my blogs, others may become gripes and yet others funny anecdotes on life. No matter what happens or how much my mistakes may cost me, I’ll continue to learn from them and become better at what I do and a better person for my trials. One really good way of looking at is that errors only happen when someone is trying and that mistakes are the results of unfixed errors. When you fix an error, it doesn’t become a mistake.

No matter how rough the hand you’re dealt looks, try to find something that is good in it and work to improve it.

Good luck :)

Another day

Today, I see that too much preparation can be a problem. I've been looking forward to our school's new all encompassing software. I've been devising methods to really take advantage of the possibilities offered to me. Today, by chance, I found out that we'll not be instituting this change, will be using the same system this year and possibly the year after change to a third set of programs. I do appreciate that it was decided that we shouldn't make wholesale changes on a system that will not be in existence the following year. I just wish I'd known about it earlier, or at least be alerted to the change. Ah, well I'll get over that and look for other ways to implement my ideas. I'm looking forward to some new things in the coming year. Some of my changes may have been tabled for another day, but others will pop up like weeds elsewhere; killed for the time being only to reappear another day. This is an interesting world we attempt to teach in.
Today I read a journal from 2000 discussing the state of technology in the UK and new objectives toward a better education. It was interesting to see that they were really into "informal communication". Today, those are the things many of our kids do on their own. It's the formal confab that isn't really happening that easily. The money put into their programs since the 80's was impressive, and their lack of direction interesting. At least there were dollars allotted to carry out their dreams. Today, we still have the vague notions of a constantly changing "proficiency" and multiple standards. We just don't see the money needed to implement some changes that need to happen. This, to me, seems like yet another case of learn from history, or be doomed to repeat it. If we don't have a well-defined direction with attainable goals that are well defined and assessable, we're looking at more time wasted and yet another globalized attempt at making the country's education system competitive which will be followed by another program another day.

Today, I have one final thought I could solve all the ills of today’s education systems, but am not in the position of power to attain this fete. Just remember that there will always be about 5% unemployment. Study your kids, their efforts, their desires, their goals and their dreams. Most likely after a statistical analysis you’ll see that about 5% are not willing to do anything for themselves: Some people just don’t want to do anything and expect to be taken care of. This could be a product of the times. Just compare the footage of San Francisco’s “Great Quake”, where soldiers were handing out necessities for life and tools for people to rebuild their own homes and communities: shovels, hammers, and saws (THANKS HISTORY CHANNEL!) with the footage of people infuriated that they were inconvenienced because not enough was done for them in New Orleans. OK, before the hatemail starts, I know that our media is extremely proficient in finding the saddest stories to report and have a way of attempting to affect their viewers in an attempt to gain/keep viewership I fully acknowledge that both plights REALLY suck, but at some point we all have to be responsible for our choices and our futures. To all of those that took their destiny, moved on and did SOMETHING: a huge congratulations!! For those who are still awaiting more handouts while doing nothing for yourself….well, that too is a topic for another day.

It's Been A While

OK, so it's been a long time since I've updated anything or even checked on the posts of others. That just part of summer I guess. I’m working in my third UFL course and learning more things to put to use next year. So far each class has had things to offer, and some things that may not find their ways into my routines. At least I’m getting new stuff to try though. When I started, I decided that I wouldn’t be one of those who does the same things year after year without change. I decided if that occurred it would time to move on to another career. The other reason for me stop will be when it stops being an enjoyable job. If I’m not having fun, it’s really tough for those who count most to have a good experience.

To me that’s one of the main things summer accomplishes. Recharge, learn and get little relaxing in. My family was in before the 4^th and we had a great time. It’s just too bad that the economy in this area is a bit depressed so the family is pretty spread out to keep working.

After the week of family, I spent most of the week of the 4^th at our little cottage(with working restroomJ). I actually did literally nothing for nearly an entire day. Woke up, went for a walk on the lakeshore, took a short trip in the boat around the lake and then just sat on the dock….that was the entire day, other than lunch and dinner. That felt really good, but I doubt that I could do it often, but one day was enough.

With about half of the summer in the bag, it’s time for me to get more serious about preparing for the coming year.

I’m looking forward to using the new CenterPoint system and implementing what I’ve learned over the summer, but need to get moving a bit faster on this. This year will be entirely new, which keeps things interesting. I just never intended to change so much all at once. That’s a bit of a stressor. I’ll work through it and will hopefully have a stronger course for the change. I’ll have better teaming potentials, room for changing rooms with the other teacher in the science lab etc. The possibilities are endless…should make for an interesting year!

I hope the summer has been good for all of you and that you have the opportunity to do something you’ve always meant to do, but haven’t yet. Last year it was wakeboarding for me…this year it was walking to Canada(OK, don’t be too impressed, it was just walking across the bridge and it costs 50 cents to get back into the country hmm free to leave but pay to get back interesting) and seeing the falls from places I hadn’t been…thanks to a brother living in the area and knowing more than me. There might be other things, but we’ll see.

I’ll try to keep up a bit more frequently!

Good luck.

Good timing

EME 5403 comes at a good time for me. I'm behind in the class, but am finding things that will be useful in the coming year. Our district is changing to a network based series of programs for the attendance, grade books and student management portions of the day to day operations of the school. The features are impressive so far, but we haven't had any hands on trials yet. One of the features that will incorporate well will be the ability to import our grade books and students lists into Excel. The form letters and notes home will be even more simplified through this interaction of programs.
The Inspiration software also brought many ideas to me, which I've put on paper so I can remember them as I'm building my plans for the following year. Couple these with the lesson plan ideas and I'm looking at a much more involved team of students next year. I'm prepared for the failures and tweaking that will most likely occur when trying new things, but that's part of it. Change is the only true constant. I intend to keep improving my lessons and trying new things. If I'm not excited about what I do, how can expect the kids to be?
Well, back to the back work to get caught up in class...I'm getting there! :)

Summer fun

This weekend marks the first of the official car shows for me this summer. It's a moderate sized event, drawing decent numbers and good quality vehicles. Mine really isn't there for the competition, just to see friends and get ideas for the next project. The show is one of two that I REALLY try not to miss and the only one that my car actually gets the full cleaning treatment for. That process will start Friday after work and will end when my car is parked in its space on Sunday. Usually the car just gets a quick cleaning and appears for a show. I drive it nearly every day in the summer. It even sees the rain, so it's just not worth detailing everything for other people to look at it. I enjoy the driving part too much to make it a trailer/show queen.
The first show will take me about 60 miles each way. I've been out making short trips checking everything and all seems OK. A few electrical demons to exorcise this year and just one little mechanical issue have surfaced so far. It should be a fun time reuniting with people that I haven't seen in person since the show last year.
The second show is much easier and closer. It's less than 1/2 a mile from my house. Friends use my driveway as a staging point, meeting in the early AM to do the last minute cleanings and watch the other cars drive in. I'm on the only entry road to the show. We like to see and hear the others as they go in in the AM and exit the show at the end of the day. Simple things make me pretty happy. The gathering of friends is not always simple with jobs, families etc. These few days a year are set aside for this reason. Getting together, telling stories and lighting the hides is just good entertainment and a great distraction from the responsibilities of life. How the vehicles place, if we even have them judged, really has no meaning to us. Fun is the key. We all have too many serious things in everyday life to make a hobby something that also has to competitive and serious.

Enjoy life.

mark

Summer

Today was the second to last day of the school year. The temperatures have risen and the room temps are in the upper 80's to low 90's. This makes things a little bit tough, but this year we were lucky to have only one week of heat. We aren't equipped with AC here, but would realy only need it for a couple of weeks at the start, and usually a couple at the end. To me, even though I'm uncomfortable, it's not worth the expense to have. I won't put it in my house either. But I'm getting off track.
Tomorrow we will celebrate the moving on of our oldest middle school students and send them to the high school. For the 8th graders, it's good half day of school. It's low stress, awards cermony, Medieval Faire video, followed by yearbook signing in the gym. During this time we generally have some tunes and this year will have my young virtuosos entertaining with their guitar wizardry. It should be a good final day.
My room is nearly bare. It's gnerally full of positive sayings and encouraging words, but due to the cleaning procedures, must come down each year. What a dull drab and uninviting place it turns into. I'll be working in there throughout much of the summer. My first project is to take out everything from my cabinets, storage closet, corners, shelves, desk and filing cabinets to see what I have. SOme of the stuff has been unopened since I moved in. Other things were moved from from my AE building in boxes that have yet to see the light of day. I intend to get things organized first this year( which has been on my to-do list since my first year). I just have too much stuff and need to get all of my units together in one place. Right now I have rocks, maps and space mixed together. I think this will make my life better and make my room look a little less chaotic...which was one of my principal's suggestions at my end of the year interview.
The organization will followed by starting my lesson plans and timings for the following year. This should be simplified by new organization(I hope).
During this time, I'll still be taking classes and also serving on jury duty. Luckily, they were flexible enough to change my dates of service so I can visit with my family, which will be traveling in for a week. This doesn't happen too often, so I'd really have been upset to be sittting on a jury during that time. I'm 30 miles from the court house which doesn't help, but I guess it's something I have to do. Just a week of summer when other things are less important. "The price of democracy", I'm told. With my history of working with the rougher end of the area's population, I just hope that I don't know too many of the accused :).

Busy few weeks

Today, Sunday May 21st, I finally have the chance to sit and think for a few minutes. It has been a busy few weeks. My text for my class has yet to show up, the bathroom fell off (literally), the basement was a swimming pool and it rained most every day. Just another time when living in PA can be interesting. As far as the text goes, there's really nothing more to do other than wait and hope that I can catch up. The bathroom is another story. My family has had a small place on a little lake since 1906. Of course, when it was built, there was no indoor plumbing. Years later, someone put up walls and a roof over a back porch, converting it into a powder room. A few weeks ago this "room" finally gave in to the steady cycle of flooding and freezing. The pylons that used to keep the place up crumbled. This place has been around so long, something had to be done. My father has spent evenings rebuilding what was lost. My part has been as involved as I can be. Today, we finished the roof, despite winds and rain. Of all the times to try and get this done...it's rained just about everyday since the first supports were drilled into the ground! At least now, most of the work will be done under the new roof. Yes we could survive without a restroom, but with the long weekend and the start of summer approaching (at least I think summer will start, it was 37 this morning when I left to work on the facilities), this place has been a gathering place for family and friends.
In the middle of all this, my sump pump gave up the ghost. I didn't realize that until I went to the basement, which is poorly lit, and stepped into the water. That was quite a surprise! That was followed by working in the water to find the pump, remove it and rewire the new one. Ah, there's nothing quite like a little voltage and water to make you think about things. :) Despite all the fun, I still found time to get my Barracuda inspected for the year. That was a bit depressing too. It turns out that I only put 855 miles on it since the last inspection. Not nearly enough driving for the amount of work I have in it. I guess I'll have to make the goal of turning the key more often.

With only 9 days left with my students, my to do list for the summer is growing. At least there isn' t too much time to be bored. I've even been too busy to get my fishing license. Trout season started in mid April and have yet to wet a line. I guess that just means that I have another goal...The never-ending cycle. At least I can still laugh about things and have the humor to see that it's all just normal, even though a few of my friends think I'm a bit to cozy with this Murphy guy and his little law.
I guess the point is that no matter what happens, do what you have to and keep laughing when you can. I'm looking forward to a few days without rain and the end of the school year so I can gear up for the next one. Good luck to all and may the powers that be smile upon you and keep and help you see the humor in things.
mark

Thought for the day

As I work through the tech in ed classes, I'm learning many things. Today, I learned something that came from an unexpected source. My tech guy, who has not always been as supportive or helpful as he could be, gave me some insight while doing some needed work on my computer. Our building is relatively new (at least in my area). It began in 1998 and was completed a while later. The community was in an uproar over the "extravagance” of such a new building. Anyway, my point is that education here isn't always at the top of the financial food chain.
Looking at tech and its return/dollar spent. I'm really questioning some things. One example, which was the tidbit picked up from the tech department, involved switches. These are the unsung heroes of your access to the world. When they go down, your computer is a stand-alone item. The life expectancy is about five years. Those in our middle and high schools are going into their seventh year with few problems. At any moment, all or part of my building could be without access to the grading program (based in another state), attendance program (same), emails (wouldn't that hurt?) and various other things used in the classroom. What it amounts to is about a $70,000 investment. This put me to thinking about what other things could be done with that money. That lead to thinking about how much more we spend on new computers, that age so quickly and all the things needed to keep up to date technologically. Is this the best bang for the buck? I don't really have the answer to that one yet. Maybe we’re just under using it? Ahhh to know it all....
Thanks to these classes I'm thinking differently, but am still a tech person. I like the stuff and use it as much as possible. As long as there are funding streams (the light bulb for my projector costs about $399) and functioning switches, I'll use the stuff, but don't want it to be all that I do just want it to help me do what I do. :)
mark

A full week

This past week was a full week. So many things going on, and not enough time for the full completion of each. From a teaching standpoint, I'm relatively well caught up for this year. From the next year perspective, I'm already feeling behind. I just came though a professional day where I worked with the science teacher from the other team (we have two 8th grade teams of students, designed to help bridge the gap from the elementary system to the high school system). There has been a large push for making both teams congruent in all subject areas. I am looking at a huge change in the coming year. I'm expected to change many things. I'm the newer teacher in this team, so my say is a bit limited. I'm having a difficult time working out some bugs and am really trying to keep up the things that I've done in the past while trying to be as similar as possible. I openly admit that my class has a limited connection to the following years, as far as content goes. Students won't see this stuff again until college! With this in mind, I spend a lot of time teaching the note taking skills, testing skills, reading skills, skimming, context clues etc. I use my content to do so. This practice will become more difficult next year. The grading policy with be different as well...I guess I'm just like a starting teacher next year, with more questions than I had when I started teaching.
All in all, it should be an interesting year. I'm relatively new, and my counterpart has been in the business for 28 years (I asked him on Friday). Combining the new technology (me) and the established worksheets (him) ought to make for an interesting year. I hope that we can both benefit from this attempt at amalgamation and homogenization…only more days of work and discussion will tell.

A Thank you

Thanks to all that helped me get started in the blogs, figure out these new things and those who commented on my unit. Thanks to all of you, this will be a stronger unit next year when I use it and most of the weaknesses should be sorted out. Good luck...I imaginge that I'll be "seeing" some of you in other classes.
mark

More thinking

Today, as the gray clouds part and the sun pokes through, I think about the course and what has been learned. I think about my unit, and what it was intended to accomplish. I think about the many times that I use technology to convey a point or demonstrate something new that relates to what we're doing in the classroom. It is truly amazing how far technology has come in the last few years. I see a new use for this boon in ideas and abilities. Integrating this capability is the issue for me. I like the idea of having a blog for my students to comment in and to ask questions, have assignments posted, interact with the parents and students and the like, but getting that kind of access to students in school is my issue. I have had a whale of a time getting access to these things at school myself. The negative outlook and potential for misuse seem to pervade and counteract the useful aspects, at least where I am. I am very interested in applying my newfound knowledge to my chosen profession. The uses and conveniences show the worth of such a use of newer technology. This class has shown some of the uses to me. Even though my unit did not fully explore this potential, I intend to integrate more of this in the weeks that follow the original few days that next year will bring. Thanks to all that have helped me learn how to work some of this stuff! You were very helpful! Hope all goes well for each of you and good luck in whatever you do.

mark

A Nice Day In PA

Today, as I sit and work on lesson plans for my UbD unit, I look out the window and see it's a beautiful day in PA. Those of you in the more southerly parts might not understand the importance of these days. After a long cold winter, warm cloud-free days during daylight savings time bring so many things. We've had enough rain to wash all of the salt, spread to make travel possible in the winter months, from the roads. It's nearing 65 degrees (warm for us), and it's time to take a break from work for a little while. Today is my last day of Easter break and it's time to work on a hobby. As I like to say, it's time to stretch the legs of my fish and burn some dead dinosaurs...or in regular speak, take a classic muscle car out and burn some gas! WAHOOOOOOOOO
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Impressed

Today, I am impressed. Three years ago I went offline. This was in response to that fact that I spent far too many hours researching for my lessons, at dial up speed. I decided not to let this time interfere with the rest of what I like to do and decided to use the school, staying later, but still not spending as many hours doing the same things. My computer sat for those years, collecting dust, being moved from one house to another and generally being neglected. Despite needing a good file cleaning and MS Internet Explorer being outdated, it has operated flawlessly. DSL is now available to me making my research a much more efficient process. Today I attempted my first printing on an old cheap Canon printer. To my surprise, the ink cartridges worked! I'd never have guessed that these would sit for soooo long and not dry up. I have color and good draft quality which is nice because I'm still the type that likes to have a hard copy to carry around with me, and use a writing stick to make comments and changes.
Some things never cease to amaze me.
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Thoughts and a Plan

Thoughts and a Plan

This week, as a work on the unit plan, some things came together; others became a bit more fuzzy. The idea of thinking through what I'm doing in a logical order showed me some weak points in my current lessons. When I think about it, most of the teachers I know have complained about testing taking time away from their lessons, or grade level field trips, or in my 8th grade case transition activities that are intended to getting the kids more prepared for life in the high school. I doubt that most have looked at how they can streamline what they do to assist this. I see now that this can be a huge time saver!
As I worked with my unit, I saw some real weak points which will have been addressed before posting. I'm also working on getting the state standards from other disciplines mapped into my overall plan. While my selected unit will be barely begun by the time the requirements for this class have been fulfilled, I feel that the start will be much more solid. I guess my idea of unit was quite a bit bigger than the 3 lessons required. I'm looking at doing the first 5 days of my unit. This will occur after all the introductory, text handout and syllabus/rules review is taken care of.
I look into the requirements and become a bit nervous. I'm seeing many things that will need to be set out for all to see. The methods behind doing this are currently beyond my knowledge. I have a set template for my lesson plans in my district(Word) (which works pretty well). I'm looking at using this template along with the template for the UbD (6 page template)(Word) to convey my intentions. How the next challenge is getting this out there. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thank you all. :)

mark

Sequencing

Sequencing (Attempt 3)

In the process of trying this, I have done 2 drafts…neither of which made me happy. This is lucky number 3. This will begin the year for science. This is a starting point, using some previously used ideas and some new ones for me. I’m sure it will change as I get into more things…but here goes.

This will occur after the all of the introductory, syllabus referral, expectations, rules and text dispersion.

Day 1

1. Students will create a brainstorm list for anything that they can think of about minerals, their uses etc.
1. Students will be able to write their answers on the whiteboard, using the “magic pen”. At the end of the activity, this will be saved and printed for later referral. (students respond very well to getting to write on the whiteboard)
2. After the initial class brainstorm, students are introduced to skimming (Extremely useful in taking the PSSA tests). Students will begin by looking for BOLD and italic terms from CH 9 in their texts. This is done for several reasons: 1. Teach the students a useful skill and 2. Students begin to learn some of the useful things their textbook does to help them.
1. “Know/Familiar/DUH?” lists: Students will classify the bold and italic terms into one of 3 columns. The first is for terms that the students think they know. They are warned that entering a term here will necessitate a student explanation of the term. The “familiar” column will contain terms that they have seen before, and sort of explain, they know something about, but can’t put a definitive definition or explanation on. My favorite, The “DUH” list will encompass all the terms that the students have absolutely no clue on. The combinations of letters that do not register any previous knowledge, spark any thought of its meaning or words that they can’t even pretend to guess a definition for will fill this column. (this is generally a huge column when compared with the others.)
2. Assessment for today will be purely participation and effort.

Day 2

3. Third, students will read and discuss the “Section objectives” for CH9.1. These are the topics/ideas that they will be expected to comprehend.
4. Next students will be introduced to pulling information from their text. Students will help construct a class set of notes for the introductory paragraphs of CH9.1, using the laptop and projector to display notes.
5. The fifth step involves getting a baseline for students’ ability to pull information from the text. Students are assigned a short section from the book, CH9.1, first section. Students are to take the notes that they feel they will need to know. Students will be given class time to get started and will be observed during the process. This gives me a baseline to use. Individual note taking skills have been requested from our HS counterparts.
1. Assessment today will be based on the effort made on the homework assignment.

Day 3

6. This day will begin with 3 voluntary students displaying their notes, each on a different blackboard. Student notes will be consolidated into class set, with input from the class.
7. Now is a good time to develop a basic set of requirements for student-generated notes. They have had the opportunity to make an attempt at notes and have been shown a class set of notes. Students will contribute to list of things that a “good” set of notes should include. These will be written on a note card for later reference.
8. Students will be assigned the next set of paragraphs for notes. Students are to use their lists of requirements as a guide when taking the notes. Part of class time will be used to start these. Students will have the opportunity for clarifications and for assistance.

Day 4

9. Student work will be evaluated. A student volunteer is requested to have their notes scanned and displayed for the class to edit and put a score on. An “official” set of notes will be displayed on the projector/laptop. . Students are asked to compare theirs, check the table partner’s notes and edit their notes. Students are also free to ask questions about their reading.
10. Students will view a laser disk with pictures of minerals. The ones chosen will be a combination of commonly seen and rare, odd samples. The internet will also be used to search for some student selected minerals using a mineral web page.
11. Homework will be the next set of paragraphs.

Day 5

This will begin similar to day 4, with notes being checked/edited and compared. “Mineral ad” introduction. Students will be introduced to their long-term project, the requirements and deadlines. More on this later.

I know that this seems a bit slow, taking up more time than it should, but I feel that spending the time early will save far more later.
What do you think? Ideas? Suggestions?
mark

Recent Read

I was just checking some news a little while ago, when a title caught my attention. It was titled "What's Wrong With America's High Schools". I'm not a memeber of Time's club, so I could only read the first page. http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/09/time.cover/index.html
It was interesting to see that dropping out of school is common and the school's fault. The title suggests this. Maybe the rest of the article would go on to other things, like parenting, drugs etc. If anyone is a member, I'd like to read the remainder of the article...or I'll try my school library and see if this is available.
mark

A Change and a Thaught

A Change and a Thought

This week was a good week for figuring some things out. First of all, I see now that my UbD unit is quite a bit too large to complete right now. I understand that I need to break it down into more manageable chunks. I will now concentrate on the first week of teaching for my next school year. I’ll bypass some of the introductory stuff and just start the unit for this class.

An idea that I’ve found works very well at the start of the year, and saves me many questions later in the year, involves the new students getting to know me and their classmates. I work with 8^th graders now. They are quite interested in what their teachers do outside of school, and ask lots of personal questions throughout the year. I tell them what I want them to know about me on the first day of school, which really decreased the number of these questions I have to answer later.

I start with 5x8 note cards and ask the students to fill out the answers on themselves. I do the same thing. The questions involve things like favorite things in the world, fav foods, hobbies, dislikes, siblings, trips, birthday etc. Students are given the opportunity to introduce themselves to the class, using only what they feel comfortable telling the others. I usually have at least a few extroverts who like to do this. I also read through the student responses, which gives me something to talk to the kids about in the hall, before class, or when I’m cruising through the cafeteria visiting with the students. It’s also useful when we get new students in the district. I have them fill out the same thing and I can get them introduced to others with the same interests.

I follow that with my answers to the same questions. Some years I also show a short “about me” power point. This introduces the whiteboard, laptop and projector to the kids in an environment that allows me to answer questions about it before I try to use it for a science topic. I find that these introductions ease the students into my room, seriously cutting down on personal questions and kicks off my school year in a positive manner.

mark

Tech to Use

Tech to Use

This week as I work through the links and lists, I see that there are many creative souls out there. I also get the feeling that I'm more behind than I thought in this area. I was very impressed with some of the webquests, and could implement at least one into what I do already. My bigger concern is that I would like to be able to create these wonders for my own students specifically for what I do.
Another thing that caught me was the virtual field trip section. We live in a small, rural area(about 30 minutes to the nearest movie/mall), which makes the virtual field trip a good idea. We have some history(as most towns do). I am thinking that I could work with our technology education department to create something relating to our "birthplace of the oil industry" heritage, couple that with the geology and local fossil finds, access through hiking and biking trails and canoe views...OK it gets big pretty fast, but the tech ed guys started doing our announcements with recorded video already. Each year more kids know how to edit and create animations here. If we start small, I think it can become quite the project. These other teachers are open to trying just about anything, and I'm pretty sure that I can get my Language Arts teacher on board. Math and Global Awareness are cooperative too. This then leads to the Art department, Music department and so on… Whatever happens from this point on in this class, I have something to "run with"!
Thanks for the links and ideas!
mark

UbD Unit start

Here is the unit plan for my first attempt at using UbD. With a little help, I now have a template for this! I now realize that I need to make my units a bit smaller or more specific. I'm attempting to do my entire first unit for next school year in this format. I have been told where I'm starting, so all will be different to me any way...seems like a good time for a complete overaul and re-evaluation of what I do.
It doesn't look nearly as good posted as it did in the template! Any suggestions for attaching a file here?
mark



6-Page Template, Page 1


Unit Cover Page

Unit Title:
Rocks, Minerals and Ore
Grade Level:
8 and 8 Learning Support
Subject/Topic Areas:
Cooling rates, rock vs mineral, practical uses, physical properties, environmental effects
Key Words:
CH 8, 9, 10 vocabulary lists
Designed by:
M Hiokins
Time Frame:
3/22/06 (for use at start of 06-07 school year
School District:
Titusville Area
School:
Titusville Middle


Brief Summary of Unit (including curricular context and unit goals):
- Students will be working with rocks, minerals and ore samples, determine origins and methods of formation.
- Students will perform tests on rock and mineral samples, which will be used to complete a Rock Collection, which will contain descriptions of samples, ID tags and a method for organization.
- Students will research an ore/natural resource, determine its uses, how it is obtained and potential environmental hazards that accompany the procurement of the resource.

Unit design status:
In progress

Completed template pages – Stages 1, 2, and 3

Completed blueprint for each performance task


Completed rubrics

Directions to students and teachers

Materials and resources listed

Suggested accommodations

Suggested extensions
Status:

Initial draft
(date

)


Revised draft
(draft

)

Peer reviewed

Content reviewed

Field tested

Validated

Anchored


6-Page Template, Page 2


Stage 1 – Identify Desired Results

Established Goals:
Use the skills gained in a controlled lab environment to create a collection of locally available rocks.
Identify method of formation, physical properties, and identity of samples found.
Determine uses for rocks, minerals and ore.
Research

G

What understandings are desired?
Students will understand that. . .
- the rock cycle is used to determine the numerous possibilities for a rock during its lifetime
- cooling rates affect texture
- magma is the parent material of all rock
- the importance of RMO in daily life
- there are potential risk to life and the environment in obtaining RMO

U

What essential questions will be considered?
How/where do rocks form?
How do I tell one RMO from the other?
What processes are at work forming RMO?
What are RMO good for?
What makes RMO valuable?
What do I use that comes from RMO?
Q

What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this unit?
Students will know. . . K Students will be able to. . .*
- how to organize, describe and categorize RMO found locally
- the processes that form the 3 main rock types
- the difference between R and M
- how to perform physical tests and ID RMO
· explain the formation of 3 rock types
· create and use identification keys
· describe RMO features
S

6-Page Template, Page 3


Stage 2 – Determine Acceptable Evidence

What evidence will show that students understand?
Performance Tasks* (summary in GRASPS form):
Rock Collection Final
Mineral Lab 1
Rock Lab 2
Quizzes
Section reviews
Chapter test

T
*Complete a Performance Task Blueprint for each task (next page)



Other Evidence (quizzes, tests, prompts, observations, dialogues, work samples):
Section quizzes
CH test
Rock collection(tests acquired skills)
Daily observations

OE


Student Self-Assessment and Reflection:
Journals
Surveys
Essay
Self-grade for Rock collection
Exit requests (what could be done to make the unit more useful etc.)
SA




GRASPS Task Design
MINLAB 1

Goal
- Your task is to identify the physical properties of a selected group of mineral samples
- The goal is to become proficient in assessing these characteristics.
- The problem or challenge is no single characteristic will determine what a sample is.
- The obstacles to overcome are deviations in hardness readings, determining what part of the sample to test, coming to a consensus with the group.

Role
- You are a scientist whose job is to identify minerals recently found.
- You have been asked to develop and use a system for categorizing your test results.
- Your job is test these samples, create a chart of physical properties and report back.

Audience
- Your clients are fellow scientists.
- The target audience is a group of mineralogists studying possible uses of these minerals.

Situation
- The challenge involves dealing with one or two other scientists that may or may not support your findings, which means that you will have to work closely and explain what you’ve done, and listen to what others think.

Product, Performance, and Purpose
- You will create a neat, organized chart of the physical properties you observed with your team,
in order to develop the needed skills for your final project(Rock collection).
- You need to develop these skills
so that you can accurately present your collection of local samples
Standards and Criteria for Success
- Your work will be judged by the given rubric.

Eye Opening Assessment
I have made some changes in my plans for this year, in direct response to the UbD concepts. One of them was a result of the ideas on assessments. I used an activity related to a "key idea". This year I used it as more of an assessment of understanding. The students had to fully understand the idea of superposition. Definition knowledge was also useful for unconformity, geologic column and rock formation. A combination of these was necessary to create the geologic history of a given area. This year, I did not lead them through step by step. I allowed them to struggle and asked them think. I answered no "what do I do" questions with direct answers. I told them to read the directions out loud to me (which resulted in many saying "never mind, I get it"), and then asked questions about their questions. Students seemed to get the idea that they were to use their heads to figure out the problems.
I was surprised at the number that did not understand, and could not explain what they were doing. When a group was going down the wrong path, they had no explanation for what they were doing. This was an eye opener for me. I thought that the majority understood the basic concepts. I was surprised that many of my students seemed totally lost, even though they had been doing well on the regular tests and homework. I was also surprised at the number “AHA” and “I GET IT” comments that arose and who these comments came from. Students seemed very proud of themselves when they were explaining their actions to the other members of their group. I saw students being very helpful and refraining from making fun of each other for lack of understanding. Even when students were totally off base, the others were supportive. This was no easy task. What I usually do in a single 43 minute period, took just over 2 full periods, but seemed much more useful.
The idea using multiple assessment types is something that I seem to have lost since coming from alternative education where we did many different large projects and presentations that replaced standard testing methods. When dealing with a class of about 15 which remained in one room all day (similar to an elementary school), it was pretty easy to set time aside for a cross–curricular assessments. Most of mine lately have been leaning toward the standardized test types for a variety of reasons. I see there is a need for more self reflection on my part. Each day, each lesson, each activity and each assessment needs to have more purpose and thought than they currently do. After looking at what I do in curriculum, I see that I haven’t looked as closely at the “big pictures” I’m trying to help the students to create. I have some work to do over the next several months before I start my new curriculum next school year. mark

An Apology

An Apology
Hello all,
I have to start out this week with an apology. I was unable to access any of the blogs for the majority of last week. Today (Monday 4-3-06), I was able to get in for a short time. I was welcomed by 86 postings to catch up on. I intend to read these postings and get caught back up…but it will take a little time. This is what can happen when technology isn’t accepted in schools. I’m having a difficult time with getting the privilege of accessing the needed web pages. I can only imagine the fight that will ensue with our tech coordinator when I begin to request student access. In my district, the tech coordinator does not seem to take the “facilitate, spread and encourage” approach to technology throughout the schools. It appears to be more of a “hamper, thwart and frustrate” method. It’s really a long story, but not one worth spouting off about at this time.
I will be responding to the blogs as I get through them.
On a better note, Verizon should have my access for home on Tuesday :)
Look forward to reading your ideas!
mark

A Bet Lost and A Lesson Learned

A Bet Lost and A Lesson Learned
With the standardized testing being so important and attendance being a large part, I bet my small group of testers (19) that someone would miss one of the three days set aside for testing. Well, I had all present the first two days. The third day there was one that was conspicuously absent. He’s one of our more “boisterous” young lads. When it was determined that he was not in school today, no one saw (or heard) him today, it was almost like and English football game. The mob was forming! The others were ready to inflict various forms of punishment upon the individual who was missing. “I talked to him last night and he was fine!”, “He’s not sick!”, “I know he’s skipping!” were a few of the comments. I was amazed at the fury and how fast it grew! ( A good lesson for me too.)
It was a really nice lesson in jumping to conclusions. It turned out that the guidance office had kept him for testing in their office because he was a few minutes late getting to school. He arrived for the second test and was met with the unhappy bunch. (I knew where he was, and didn't say anything.)
I now must go and live up to my end of the bet since I “lost”…orange juice, milk and doughnuts for all. We’ll use our usual Fitness Friday time as a “Fatness Friday” and enjoy the fruits of their labors. I just hope our PE department is understanding!!
mark

Standardized Testing in PA

Here in PA, we are in the midst of our standardized testing. All districts are out to show AYP, or adequate yearly progress. Our district has developed and implemented quite a plan for getting students to attend these days, which resulted in 6 of 500 absent, two’s whereabouts and reasons were legitimate and were known. That's quite an accomplishment for standardized testing days! The students take tests, eat lunch and go home; no attempt is made to push them any further, which makes their lives easier. It is also hoped that it will encourage students to do their best, since they must only work for about 2.5 hours. Another reason is to show the students how important these tests are. We’ll see sometime within the next 12 months, whether it was successful or not.
The price for not meeting AYP can be quite high! Currently the Philadelphia schools are under government “supervision”. Our federal government has employees in charge of bringing the schools “up to par”. If my information is correct, somewhere around 95 superintendents have been replaced with one fed. School boards are gone. If tests don’t improve this year, more union employees will be replaced. In a district this large and with such a high transient population, it will be difficult to improve all schools enough to stop the increasing federal presence.
After thinking about what has happened, I began to wonder how long it would be before it was mathematically impossible or at least highly improbable to stay out of “school improvement”, which is the kinder gentler form of saying, “do better or we’re taking over”. Fortunately, my school is beating the odds for a district with our size and income levels (from Standard and Poor). Our plaque that states that we made AYP two years in row just arrived. Not a very high percentage are said to accomplish this (I’m currently looking for statistics on this and for school score numbers). As requirements go up, it becomes more difficult. In the murky and foggy distance it begins to become clearer that this could be the union breaker of all union breakers? I might be a bit pessimistic and at times look at things more negatively than I should, but I’m pretty good at recognizing stink coming down the pipe. I’m sensing something now. I’m not about to get into the politics of it all, or even my views of such, but it is something to think about for all educators. This backward design seems like something that will be very beneficial to continue improving.

Technology in My Classroom

Technology in My Classroom

I’m pretty tech oriented, but I have to admit that its use in my classroom is sadly limited. Through a little “wiggling” and finagling, I currently house one of the smart boards and all that goes with it, in my classroom. I arranged my entire room to make this thing fit where all could see it, yet I don’t feel that I’m getting all out of this extraordinary unit that I might. That’s one of the reasons that I’m in this program.
I make use of the internet, taking my students deep into space using Hubble Space Telescope, and various NASA pages, spend time looking at the rovers on Mars and the vehicles probing the depths of the universe. We journey through our solar system with the author of “The New Solar System”, using his “nineplanets” page. We venture into Earth’s interior, figuring out why we have plates, earthquakes etc.
Students are amazed by the images, events and the functions of this board. Most have never seen the views they are witnessing. Many repeatedly ask, “Is that real or made up?”, when dealing with the views of space. Students that are generally non-participants request to write one of their answers to a brainstorming activity on the smart board or use the mouse to point to a constellation, but there has to be more.
At this point, most of my use of technology is for teacher centered lessons. While this is of great use, enabling the introduction of the latest news/events and giving our little school access to hugely expensive equipment from around the world and beyond, it isn’t allowing the students much room to explore or dictate what they’d like to know more about.
Students use the internet to research several topics throughout the year and can get emailed copies of notes, reviews, study guides etc. The topographic map unit uses an internal network based course that leads students through the techniques and “how to” before it is introduced in the class, making this a quicker unit than possible in the past.
On the general daily function end of technology, I use a network based grading and attendance program. I email student progress, print out student grades weekly for inspection by students, interact with parents through the email. I keep my lesson plans digitally and send them electronically to my principals. I develop PowerPoints that illustrate my topics and display some amazing views and have fonts that are much neater than my board writing for definitions and notes. My tests and assignments are digital, frequently changing and have different versions for my learning support class. Most work is “re-invented” or altered for each year. Nothing earth shattering here.
My uses of technology are basic, its potential great and my ability currently limited. I’m hoping that through my chosen course of study, I can develop the structure to fully incorporate technology into this Earth and Space Science experience and that I have the will power to fight the powers that control technology in my school for the permission to utilize what I’m learning. I also intend to continue modifying my teaching practices with my given curriculum to take advantage of new and powerful technologies as I learn of them.

Mark Hopkins