ImprovEducation
Posted on Jan 20, 2010 - 10:05 PM by Alison Bagg Brink
EEEK! Finals!
Finals…I type ‘em, they take ‘em. They stress, I correct.
No, it is much more than that. I sit down and try to create a test that is fair and relevant. I pull from the most important Spanish grammar concepts, the most used (or useful) vocabulary I have taught, and the most interesting stories we have read, and create questions that get to the heart of the matter.
I am required by my school to provide a culminating task that is relevant to the class. I am required by my department to provide a written test. I have nearly two hundred students. To maintain any sanity at all, I give a multiple guess final. Oh, make that multiple choice…
Supposedly, if students do well on this test they know the material, they know Spanish. Well, First Semester Spanish One, at my high...
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Quadrant SpellingPosted on Jan 19, 2010 - 08:00 PM by Tim Curley
In my last posting, I wrote about the day I taught my students about quadrant graphs. The fact that I did so while not talking, using only hand signals and finger pointing, is what I mentioned in the post. I neglected to mention why I chose to introduce the graphs. From what I can tell, the California State Standards first mention quadrant graphs in seventh grade. I choose to teach them now, in fourth grade, not as a math component, but as part of my spelling program. Rather than posting the spelling words on a chart, or writing them in a composition book, or simply reading them from their workbook, I place them on a quadrant graph that is superimposed over a pocket chart. The result is that this way, “through” is also the word that can be found at 3, -4.
I started with all words...
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WWMD? (What Would MacGyver Do?)Posted on Jan 05, 2010 - 10:19 PM by Alison Bagg Brink
It isn't easy to get up at 5:00 am. It is even harder when you have had two wonderful weeks to wake-up at your leisure, wander around the house in slippers with a cup of coffee in your hand, and snuggle your own children all day long.But... we are back. There is stuff to do, and we are the ones to do it.
I look at things differently coming back from Winter Break. I am somewhat renewed, a little less harried, more focused, and more realistic about what the school year will become. I know the kids and the different personalities that make up each class, and am finding ways to tailor my lessons to meet the needs of the individuals as well as the many. I am able to improvise when adjustments need to be made. It is easy to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
The kids come back...
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The Day I “Couldn’t Talk”Posted on Jan 02, 2010 - 02:15 PM by Tim Curley
One recent Monday, I did what I usually do before school. I stood outside the main entry, and greeted the kids as they were dropped off at the curb. I walked through the cafeteria and said hello to the older kids, the younger kids, and the few parents who eat breakfast at school. I do this because I see my role at school as being much more than a classroom teacher. El Verano School is a community, and I feel that we all need to share in that community.After the bell rang and I began to walk to class, I realized that I had not yet talked to any of my students. And I got an idea.
As I have mentioned in a previous blog entry, I don't do a lot of talking in the first few minutes of class. I have the kids read the cafeteria menu, the daily schedule, the daily objectives, etc. I do...
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Get ‘em Talking!Posted on Dec 23, 2009 - 03:55 PM by Tim Curley
The newspapers today have articles stating that research shows that teaching is the happiest career one can choose. My students this year certainly place me in that category. This year has been very enjoyable, indeed. I have a group of students who have a few social leaders, as all groups do, and this year, those social leaders are also academic leaders. This has allowed me to focus less on discipline, and more on creatively approaching their learning needs. They seem to truly enjoy learning, and that has given me the freedom to really have a good time teaching them.I teach fourth grade in a public elementary school that is about 85% Spanish speaking at home. Because of this, my focus for the students has been to get them talking. That sounds counter-intuitive -- who wants a bunch...
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Do The Wiggles Do High School Gigs?Posted on Dec 16, 2009 - 12:51 PM by Alison Bagg Brink
December drives me crazy.There is simply too much to do.
Too much to do at home, and too much to do at school.
December is a curriculum crunch time for me. I am always a few lessons behind where I have planned to be. I am always playing catch-up. I try to add just that much more into each lesson, and just when the kids have a bad case of the "I don't wanna."
The worst thing about December is the lack of focus. Mine, theirs, ours.
Despite my best intentions, and my jam packed lessons, we all get distracted. Unfortunately, when I get distracted, unfocused, hazy, and vague, the kids get wiggly. Is that a good way to say it? Yeah, wiggly. They wiggle in their seats, they wiggle out of work, and can you wiggle your mouth? If so, that is what they do.
December is when I start to see...
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Got goals?Posted on Nov 18, 2009 - 10:57 AM by Alison Bagg Brink
This is my thirteenth fall as a teacher. This year has been wonderful so far. I have great students, colleagues that I respect, and a curriculum for the majority of my classes that I agree with philosophically.But then ... (think the soundtrack to Jaws) it is time to set professional goals. There is nothing in the year that brings more discomfort than the goal-related meetings, and we have at least three each year. These meetings make me sweat and give me a horrible pain between my right shoulder and my neck, in fact, I am trying to stretch it out as I type.
Here is the issue: my goal needs to be in alignment with the school and district goals. In a nutshell, that means that my goal should have something to do with standardized testing. Our district has seen a dip in writing scores...
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