Thursday, January 15, 2009
2.14 update
And it came to pass that there were to be no classes on Friday either, and it wasn't good.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
...Snow Days and Time
I enjoy snow days as much as the next teacher. They provide a sometimes much needed break for the student (and me) in the middle of what can be a long and cold winter's week. This week has been slightly ridiculous. Monday's early dismissal came two hours too late, and had we stayed until the normal end of the school day, the storm would have been nearly over. Tuesday's late start allowed me to get a bit of extra sleep, but forced me to revise project timelines for my students. Today's cancellation was appreciated what with eight inches of snow; however, a two hour delay would have sufficed. Tomorrow's cancellation might be needed (a high of -2 without wind chill), but I feel we might be jumping the gun on this a little. We are supposed to get another round of snow Thursday night into Friday morning, so that puts class on Friday securely in the "questionable" column. That leaves us with about a day and half of instructional time total this week. This raises a couple of questions for me:
1. Since the days we miss during the winter term are made up during the spring term, I lose days from my social psychology classes that are not made up. What aspects of the social psychology cirriculum do I deem as "not as important" to account for the 4 days of school we've missed? Right now, the answer is fairly easy-- I cut the analysis of groupthink and group mentality in Harry Potter. This four day activity can easily been done in one day by talking about The Bay of Pigs and the Iraq War.
It will really become a problem if we have many more snow days (which I fear we will since February has always brought ice storms to our little section of the state.) After I finish this unit, I move onto systems of oppression and discrimination. That will take me nearly to the end of the term. If we have more than two more cancellations, I will have to start thinking "what group of oppressed people do I not cover?" I suppose what I could do is not cover class discrimination in social psychology. Then, I could cover it during social stratification in sociology.
2. Is the trimester system really the most effective way of dealing with scheduling? It seems to me that if we were on the semester system, the snow days we missed would then be made up in the same term. Any thoughts on this?
1. Since the days we miss during the winter term are made up during the spring term, I lose days from my social psychology classes that are not made up. What aspects of the social psychology cirriculum do I deem as "not as important" to account for the 4 days of school we've missed? Right now, the answer is fairly easy-- I cut the analysis of groupthink and group mentality in Harry Potter. This four day activity can easily been done in one day by talking about The Bay of Pigs and the Iraq War.
It will really become a problem if we have many more snow days (which I fear we will since February has always brought ice storms to our little section of the state.) After I finish this unit, I move onto systems of oppression and discrimination. That will take me nearly to the end of the term. If we have more than two more cancellations, I will have to start thinking "what group of oppressed people do I not cover?" I suppose what I could do is not cover class discrimination in social psychology. Then, I could cover it during social stratification in sociology.
2. Is the trimester system really the most effective way of dealing with scheduling? It seems to me that if we were on the semester system, the snow days we missed would then be made up in the same term. Any thoughts on this?
Monday, January 12, 2009
...This Blog
Today I feel stagnant. I feel as if I've been in a rut as of late. Everyday is the same routine: I wake-up, go to school, teach language arts, teach social studies, teach debate, socialize with my friends and co-workers, grade and plan lessons, watch television, and go to sleep. While I generally enjoy each day, I have been wanting something new to break out of the same day-by-day plan a bit. Above all else, I hope this blog helps me be more engaged in my day.
Today I have ideas. I know we're told the benefit of being reflective practitioner, but sometimes I feel that I take this to an extreme. I am always thinking of new ways to engage my students in my classes. Be it through new texts, new technologies, or new experiences, I am regularly thinking of how I can change my approach to the classroom. This seems slightly odd to me, as I haven't even taught for three years yet.
Today I think of theory. From teaching bell hooks in debate, to teaching Freud in psychology, to teaching Marx in language arts, I am constantly grounded in the world of critical theory. I think it is time that education recognizes the postmodern and looks towards engaging students who are constantly interacting with themselves and the Other on a daily, albeit virtual, basis.
Today I am worried. I don't want this blog to be a reason to totally escape from my daily routine. I want this blog to add to it. I don't want to disengage from my friends at work. Hopefully, they will share in this experience with me.
Today I am perplexed. As my students are working on presentations about the Victorian Era, I am wondering how I will keep them interested in Great Expectations for the next six or so weeks. Every year I teach this novel I like it more and more. Conversely, every year I teach this novel the students seem to like it less and less. I'm trying to think of a way that I can make the novel more relevant to the students. Maybe I will have them keep reader-response blogs. Any thoughts on that? Maybe it could be acheived through a Google Group. Perhaps I could use Moodle again. Conceptually, I liked Moodle a lot last year when I used it; however, the administration became burdensome. I don't want to have to worry about students that don't log on frequently enough and have their accounts deactivated.
Today I am ready for tomorrow.
Today I have ideas. I know we're told the benefit of being reflective practitioner, but sometimes I feel that I take this to an extreme. I am always thinking of new ways to engage my students in my classes. Be it through new texts, new technologies, or new experiences, I am regularly thinking of how I can change my approach to the classroom. This seems slightly odd to me, as I haven't even taught for three years yet.
Today I think of theory. From teaching bell hooks in debate, to teaching Freud in psychology, to teaching Marx in language arts, I am constantly grounded in the world of critical theory. I think it is time that education recognizes the postmodern and looks towards engaging students who are constantly interacting with themselves and the Other on a daily, albeit virtual, basis.
Today I am worried. I don't want this blog to be a reason to totally escape from my daily routine. I want this blog to add to it. I don't want to disengage from my friends at work. Hopefully, they will share in this experience with me.
Today I am perplexed. As my students are working on presentations about the Victorian Era, I am wondering how I will keep them interested in Great Expectations for the next six or so weeks. Every year I teach this novel I like it more and more. Conversely, every year I teach this novel the students seem to like it less and less. I'm trying to think of a way that I can make the novel more relevant to the students. Maybe I will have them keep reader-response blogs. Any thoughts on that? Maybe it could be acheived through a Google Group. Perhaps I could use Moodle again. Conceptually, I liked Moodle a lot last year when I used it; however, the administration became burdensome. I don't want to have to worry about students that don't log on frequently enough and have their accounts deactivated.
Today I am ready for tomorrow.
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