What I’ve been reading

The list you most assuredly care deeply about.

John Sullivan… this kid makes Genarlow Wilson look like justice at the highest level.

http://www.slate.com/id/2234594/

 

Race: it’s still a fun topic.

http://www.theroot.com/views/10-books-didnt-get-treatment

 

The HIV in DC.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/health/27hiv.html?_r=3&sq=HIV&st=cse&scp=4&pagewanted=all

Somewhat busted

It would seem that the presenters know we aren’t listening. Fortunately, we’re teachers instead of students so they have to respect us. Tomorrow, we’ll be in the more spacious cafeteria. I don’t know why we don’t move now. Probably because the idea of setting up a projector and screen again is so crazy that no one can handle it.

Now we’re talking about power standards vs. prioritized standards. I’m somewhat shocked that DCPS isn’t just sending us their choice for prioritized standards. Of course then they’d just be power standards. This is a distinction we just learned.

The DCPS lady is doing a much better job presenting this. I suspect she may have written it or at least read it previously. I’m a bit scared of her but I’d like her to deliver the rest of the presentation.

Elvis has left the building

And so have I. Mentally at least. One of my tablemates has created a mini origami swan. It’s probably only an inch at its largest dimension. Apparently it has a child that is smaller. Another tablemate is drawing. One guy is staring blankly and the new teacher is fighting to still participate. Obviously, I’m blogging.

We have two more days of this. Let’s keep that in mind. I don’t have keys to my classroom. I have no idea where any of the administrators are. They’re at least high enough up the totem pole to dodge this.

Definitionally Challenged

We’re defining unit plans. I think we’ve been doing this for 10 minutes at least. There are some things that are valuable learning activities but using a term jumble to definite unit plans and their rationale seems excessive.

I want to go back to the Tech Committee meeting. Also, new teachers are welcome to join the Tech Committee if they have ideas or resources that might improve collaboration and efficiency at our beloved institution.

I wish I had more reliable internet access right now. The delay is killing me. However, I have a completely desperate and possibly awesome idea. Let’s see if it works.

Teach a man to fish

And they might be able to finally use powerpoint. Why is it that I always have to offer up instructions for how to click the powerpoint then use the arrow keys to move the slides forward. This is somewhat insane to me. Definitely diminishes my confidence in the value of the presentation. That reaction is slightly wrong-headed on my part of is a very common one for a lot of people I suspect.

Reviewing the review

In case you weren’t bored the first time, here is an overview of what you didn’t listen to the first time.

Okay we’re moving past that and it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Mostly because I didn’t listen.

Something to include in all future powerpoint presentations: what page we’re on in the binder.

Standards-Based Instruction apparently looks like a trippy version of Shoots and Ladders. It’s unfortunate that I can’t post the graphic right now.

My neighbor says the school in the picture just vomited. So true.

We’re now doing activities that look exactly like TFA Institute. To describe it, we just led the children on a standards based instructional path that leads them to the vomiting school.

What might we do next?

Mostly sit around and talk about whatever each department wants to talk about. Undoubtedly everyone is discussing the standards. We are talking about how Korean Pizza applies to standards-based instructions. True Fact.

Judging by the number of pages we still have in the Day 1 tab. I am truly frightened.

On the project, the schoolhouse looks even more like it is vomiting. Terrifying.

The Equity Sticks are still in play. Terrifying.

Everything anyone says is followed by, “What? Huh? We can’t hear you.” This training is awesome. Good thing we’re still tied to the Equity Sticks that mean we call on people who aren’t here.

In response to our dominant Vomit-School matching game victory, one of the teachers at my table put out her fist and said “Pound me hard” (from an earlier joke) and another teacher replied “I’m married.” Focus is high.

No one understands what the presenter is talking about. She either blows out the mic or speaks too softly. There is no middle ground. There is no learning. With that said, this is great for departmental collaboration. We all like each other way better than listening to this. Peace and harmony abound.

And at 1:30pm, presenter #1 is finished. Good times.

Let the rambling being anew.

It’s important to note that I, along with many teachers, need this training. I think I’m blogging it, in part, because I’d sort of like to listen.

Lunch recap

Live blogging behind the other Great Firewall

If there weren’t a bunch of other teachers with laptops out, I doubt I could pull this off. Fortunately, many other teachers know this is ridiculous. One teacher is coloring. I can see another with her cell phone under the table. I doubt she’s the only one. We’re sharing strategies that we like. Most people are just picking out random pages from the Resources book and saying they like them. Are teachers the best fake students? Quite possibly.

This is painfully surface level. If I ruled the school, I would’ve had good teachers review this early to create anecdotes ahead of time that they could use to introduce the different instructional strategies.

Thank you for the moment of levity goes to the teacher who offered up the strategy “Life line.”

We are only paying attention insofar as we are called on. The presenter is using “Equity Sticks” which is a strategy I might like to implement but she makes it seem arbitrary.

Also we have largely shared the major instructional strategies and we are starting to repeat how we like graphic organizers. Everyone likes graphic organizers.

Lunch time.

News and Notes

http://www.thebigmoney.com/slideshow/have-mercy#

Nothing says interesting to the urban teaching crowd like 70′s advertising tailored to African-Americans.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/07/AR2009080702046.html?nav=hcmodule

The many mercenary teachers of Washington DC.

Summer Hibernation

All summer I told myself I’d write again here. Judging solely by the date, we know that was a wasted effort. Despite the failures of yesterday, we’re going to try and emerge from hibernation and start thinking/writing/doing again.

Summer has been adventurous, expansive, expensive, boring, unnecessary, long sought-after and a whole slew of other, often, contradictory things. I’m sort of glad I did virtually nothing the whole time. If nothing else, I’ll be ready for the change of pace. Ready for all the ridiculous notions I had about lessons or students or whatever can be put to the test.

This is year two and people keep telling me that means something. I would say I and the rest of us have no more excuses (“I’m just a first-year teacher” etc.), but I doubt that’s true. Excuses abound in the world of education (see previous riffs on teacher specialness) and I promise I’ll find plenty during the upcoming school year. That said, I’m more than ready to meet a new group of students that will teach me far more than I teach them.