If you are reading this, you survived Black Friday. This is the first year in a long time that I have worked retail the day after Thanksgiving. I'm taking a year off from teaching to get some perspective on things.
One of the reasons I became dissatisfied with teaching was the emphasis on test scores. Teaching had to be data-driven. We test what we teach and as a result we teach what we test.
What I'm finding out is that happens in the business world as well. I expected to have sales goals, but I didn't expect to have goals on signing people up for credit, issuing care plans, and remembering to ask people to take our survey at the end of each interaction. I'm not criticizing the company I work for, because I have learned that every business has these types of goals. Business is data-driven. Some much more than others.
I notice that I have a better attitude in both business and educational environments when I focus on the people. "Who did I help today?" The interactions I have in my store may not bring an immediate sale and all the other measurables. I'm looking long term. I want people to want to come back another day when they are ready to make a purchase.
How many times as a teacher have I had a student who struggled with me come back and tell me about their successes? It may not have shown up on my test scores, but it happened later in the important parts of their lives. And they came back to tell me because they knew I would want to know.
"Hope is the power that gives a person the confidence to step out and try."
~Zig Ziglar
Have a great week,
Georgia Khatchadorian wants to succeed in middle school, but she has one problem. Her brother Rafe has a reputation for being a big, fat liar. Can she establish her own reputation?
This was the first book of this series I read, because it was nominated for an award here in Washington State. I loved the book, but I recommend reading the series in order.
For an explanation of my rating scale, click here.
Find me at Goodreads.
I have been posting a book review every Wednesday for about three and a half years. I love reading and sharing my finds. Most of my reviews are positive meaning I don't bother to share the ones I don't like, so most of my reviews are blue or red ribbon books.
One day I received a comment on my blog asking me how the book ends. I wondered if it was a student who was asked to write a book report. I clicked on the Blogger Profile and found her name, her school, access to her classmates' blogs, and her teacher's name. I emailed him explaining who I was and what I suspected. He talked with her and the next day she deleted her comment and wrote a more open ended discussion type of question.
I share this story with my students because I want them to know that what they do on the internet is public and can be traced back to them.
I share this story with other teachers because I am concerned with the liability we place on ourselves. I was a concerned teacher who reached out to a student and her teacher about integrity and love of literature. What if my motives had been different?
Last year my district issued Google Accounts to every student in the district. It took one of my students about three hours from the time I introduced the account to start misusing her email. It was frustrating because I wanted to teach my students to use the platform, but I didn't want them to get into trouble with it.
I want my students to use technology as they learn. I'm just concerned that sometimes we give them more than they can handle all at once.
"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Have a great week,
This lesson started with a guest poet in my classroom and I have added a little bit to it each year. The original prompt was describing "My Unusual Thanksgiving." The visiting poet's family was a mix of cultures and she shared some of the traditions that her family celebrates this time of year.
We collected ideas in our writing notebooks and then wrote list poems. I also did the assignment and created the poem shown above. To download a printable copy of "My Unusual Thanksgiving" click here.
The next year I taught the lesson myself, but this time I used a simple graphic organizer to collect sensory details. To download the Five Senses graphic organizer shown below, click here.
Happy Friday!
