Back to School Round 9

While I wouldn't ever call my class 'super cute' under any stretch of imagination, there is something to be said about the value of that last little bit of preparation before students come barrelling through my door.  I've been getting into my classroom fairly regularly for the last few weeks but it really hits you in that last day.

A couple of things that I have enjoyed the past few days include:

• visiting and joking around with colleagues that I haven't seen since June
• seeing some of my former students pop in to say hi after getting their ID Cards and textbooks
• having a few of my upcoming students introduce themselves and talk about how excited they are to come into my class
• quietly celebrating the painting over of the wall mentioned before; there's already some talk about how we can use the space in our Middle School
• adding a few more books to my growing library; I now have 106 books in my class!

The big unknown many of my colleagues are focusing on is the introduction of a new teacher-advisor period known as CHAT (Crescent Heights Advisory Time).  This will be a school-wide program that is being implemented to help teachers build more meaningful relationships with students over the course of the year.  I'll see my CHAT group (and Homeroom) every day for 40 minutes.  There won't be content to teach but students are being given some new options that they hadn't been given before. 

In our Middle School, student will have a 5-day schedule that will include:

• Two days to focus on Numeracy and Literacy.  Students will have time to work on their assignments and ask for help from other teachers as needed.  
• One day will be dedicated to building our classroom community.  I imagine that I will be looking for activities and games to play that will help each of us to get to know one another just a little bit better and enjoy ourselves a bit.  
• One day will be spent in intramurals, where students will be divided into 8 teams across both Grade 7 and 8.  Our Phys Ed department will have competitions and challenges throughout the entire year.  
• One day spent in FLEX Learning.  While we don't yet know what options will be provided here, the plan is to provide students with some additional learning opportunities that they might not otherwise have in the course of a 'normal' school day.  This will be based primarily on student interest and will hopefully allow us to explore some exciting things.

I'm looking forward to reporting on our successes (and failures) over the coming days, weeks, and months.  

An Old Habit Returns...

I have been known to dabble with a little game called World of Warcraft over the past decade, give or take a year.  Some of my friends and I recently thought about getting back into things with the release of a new expansion today.  Suffice it to say that I may have given into the temptation once again.

I won't go into detail here, but I do have two quick thoughts that have crossed my mind in the past week or so as I've found those moments to play in between my preparations for the year.

First.  I have been impressed with some of the game mechanics that have been introduced in this release.  World of Warcraft is, in a nutshell, about making a character and questing, raiding, and otherwise developing them over a plethora of adventures in Azeroth.  Players in the game recently got to participate in 'Invasions' where forces of demons would show up and people could join in the efforts to defeat them.  The neat part about this is that this content wasn't limited to the best, high-level characters: almost everyone could participate regardless of what their level was.  The content of these objectives was scaled to each individual player at the same time as everyone was working together.  

Maybe it's a stretch, but there's probably a message in that.  Regardless of where students might be, we can scale and adjust content and expectations to their level while still moving forward as a group.

Second.  I was reminded once again of how much I enjoy the music in this game.  While I'm still very early into the new content, there are a few pieces that I have absolutely loved.  In fact, I've been listening to it while completing some of my work, including this blog post.

Here are a few variations on a theme that I have particularly enjoyed thus far.

One More Cool Thing...

My wife and I recently watch the move 'Chef'... an enjoyable story about self-discovery and one man's attempts to reconnect with the things that matter most.  It's definitely worth checking out if you don't mind a little language.  Anyways, I particularly enjoyed the parts of the film where the main character's son uses social media.  At one point in the film, the son makes a One-Second Video... a collection of one-second clips over a period of time that are stitched together.  

I decided that I wanted to do that.  So, I found an app and put it on my S6.  The app in question is "One Second Everyday" and you can find more information about it right here.  

In discussing the idea with some family and colleagues, I made the point that since using the app I have been more aware of the need to see the positive in my day.  I find myself looking for more of the kinds of little moments that make my life more enjoyable and worthwhile.  I don't think this is a bad thing.

Time for some rest.  I have a big day tomorrow.

~Mr.T

Back-To-School Blogging, Summer Recap, and "The Book Whisperer"

The return to classes can be an exciting and overwhelming time.  I imagine that like many other teachers I have spent a good deal of time thinking about the new things that I can bring to my classroom.  I'll get to some of those things in a minute, but I must, once again, acknowledge my failures to be a regular blogger.  It seems that in addition to the new, I must continue to work on some of my previous commitments.

Here we go...


How I Spent My Summer

I'll keep this brief, but I can't help but take a moment and reminisce about the exciting adventure that I was able to embark on with my family.  It was something that my wife and I had been planning and looking forward to for years and I was so grateful to be able to share so many memorable experiences with my children.

Without going into too many details, here are a couple of highlights:

• Driving around 6000 kms through the western United States
• Spending a week on the beautiful Oregon coast
• Enjoying 5 glorious albeit exhausting days at Disneyland
• Travelling to Calgary for a family wedding; we will be travelling to Edmonton for a second wedding in a week
• Other trips back and forth to Calgary to spend time with family, enjoy the zoo, and a day at Calaway Park

Much has been said about how good teachers have it when it comes to summer.  All I can really do is express my gratitude for having a career that allows me the freedom to spend this time with my wife and children.  I'm no busier or more special than a lot of other people, but it feels really good to unplug after what has often been a very busy school year.

Here are a few pics for good measure...

Liam exploring the trails near our condo in Oregon.

The tidal pools along the beach were always neat to see.

Our second go on what became our favourite ride at Disneyland.

Hard to beat a picture with Oswald.

"The Book Whisperer"

My wife has been encouraging me for years to read "The Book Whisperer" by Donalyn Miller.  She kept telling me for years that it might give me some ideas about how I could help give reading a jump start in my classroom.  I was genuinely interested in the concept, but often told myself that I was too busy during the school year to really have a look at it and I could maybe check it out in the summer.  I finally caved... and I'm glad that I did.

I won't give a detailed review or breakdown of the main points now, although I will likely touch on them over the course of the year.  Suffice it to say that my perspective on the value of reading was given a good wake-up call.  I was reminded of what reading is intended to be: something of interest that will draw you in.

I was so excited about some of the ideas that I even took one in particular and started running with it.  Donalyn Miller strongly advocates for the need for students to see constant reminders about the value of reading in the classroom.  This doesn't necessarily mean a dedicated reading area, although that would be great.  She does stress, though, that there is need for kids to be around good books.  In previous years, I have relied too heavily on whatever happened to be left in my classroom.  That wasn't going to cut it anymore.

With my wife's blessing (and eager offers to help, I might add) I began putting together my own library.

I will be giving myself a monthly budget to work with so that I can be constantly adding to the collection.  My hope is that I can create a library with something for every Developing, Reluctant, and Underground reader that enters my classroom.  I'll be reporting on my progress throughout the year.

Much more to come...

~Mr.T