 Me with Mr. Smith on a band trip to Virginia Beach in April, 2000. |
Leaving things better than you find them is not always easy. Sometimes, you have to make a conscious effort to find a way to make a difference in your interactions at work, school, or home. A great teacher and band director of mine instilled in his 160 + marching band of teenagers (all of whom, by the way, were convinced that marching band was cool, simply because we got to know him) that even if you left a hotel room in the morning, you made the bed first, because that is one of the only ways you can leave something like a hotel room, better. We traveled from our hometown in Massillon, Ohio to myriad places, played great music and understood its significance, all while consistently seeking out ways to make him proud by "leaving things--leaving the world--better than we found it". The purpose of this blog is to show how--through my years as an educator, I am determined to instill the same ideas in the students I am privileged enough to be assigned to. Improving teaching and learning is a passion of mine which blends into many areas. Technology as a tool for improving teaching and learning has been a daily necessity in my professional development and in improving the skills of my students of all ages. I actively seek out opportunities to use my technology skills to communicate, interact, and teach a variety of content in meaningful ways. This blog will house examples of the ways I show my students connections between the world we live in and the work they need to complete in school. Because, ultimately when we take the time to connect, we make things better.
|
At this point I believe most classroom teachers, Title I teams, Special Education Teams, etc. have all finally got on board and send home either a weekly newsletter as individuals or as a team. We know the forms this can take such as email, website, blog, or paper. We know the benefits of such communication, like more parent participation, less phone calls, and an overall understanding of the roles your class or team or room is fulfilling in the school building as a whole. I'd like you to consider how you create the newsletter though...is it at 9pm on Sunday night? Is it about last week? The upcoming week? A mixture of both? Here is how I do it, and how I hope you will try to implement newsletters into your school day/writing/ELA block at any age level K-6: 1. Monday- Thursday: experience learning standards that are focused and meaningful, with students as active participants in the lessons through movement, conversation, modeling, manipulative a, and/ or play. ...
Comments
Post a Comment