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
