New year resolutions....old year reflections

Ahh, it is that time of year again, the time when, with the beginning of a new year, we make resolutions with the best of intentions. However, perhaps we need to take it on a day to day basis instead of planning out for the whole year. If we make unattainable resolutions, what is the use?
And maybe that is the thought that we (I) need to keep in mind. That if we keep a positive attitude and the thought that 'it will all work out', things usually do work out. I can remember my mother and I talking about the fact (and this is a fact!) if you start out the day thinking that it is going to be a bad day; things go wrong in the morning and we get the mind set that everything else is going to be bad... then YOU WILL HAVE A BAD DAY! Whereas, if you decide that you aren't let things get to you, your day will usually improve. If my students would keep that thought in mind I think they would enjoy their days more. I'm certainly not saying that they have to verbalize it to me or to others but just keep that positive thought that 'things will usually work out' in their own minds, then things will go better.

SO I close this post with the thought - What can you do to make your days and therefore your year go better?

Everyone Processes Things in Different Ways

Which are you, left brain or right brain dominate? Did you know that effects how you think, how you process information, how you even learn? GO to the following links and check out these online tests to see which side is more dominate for you and maybe learn why you do better in some subjects more than others.

http://similarminds.com/left-brain-brain-test.html Click on link at close to top that says personality test, click on right brain, left brain test

http://frank.mtsu.edu/~studskl/hd/learn.html click on left hand column where it says 'hemisphere dominance test'

Perhaps these will help you figure out how to do something better than you have before. When you have read through and completed these first three, go back to similarminds.com link and try some of the other tests to discover about yourself.

Hopes for this new school year

This year in Globaloria, I hope to be able to inspire my students to be as creative, motivated and socially aware as possible. I want to be able to lead the class in such a way that these young adults are really  into creating games that reflect their own learning about the topics of their own choosing. I do not want them to feel intimidated about the process but to look at this class as a journey of their own making. I hope that they will come to be the facilitators of the class, that as we travel on this learning path, that the students are the one doing the leading of THEIR OWN Learning.

I hope that the games that they are creating are completed, with good graphics, good information and unique. I want them to make games that are creative and fun to play and that show the talents of my students because I know that they can do this, they just seem to think that they can’t or don’t want to give the impression that they know how to do this.

I am really concerned that the students will not motivate themselves. I know that no matter what I SAY to them, it comes down to what they are willing to put into the process. I do plan to place my own incentives along the way so that students will feel that they are accomplishing for themselves as well as the class and their peers.

Isn't the Best Way to Teach Quite a Puzzle?

Doesn't that seem the question that is always passed around when teachers get together? Or at least the administrators and 'higher ups'? When I first began teaching it seemed that the biggest complaint among the veteran teachers was the practice of the administrators and educational theorists and experts to suddenly change how things are done in the education process. It wasn’t so much that new ideas were unappreciated but it seemed to these teachers that not enough time was given to new practices to actually see if they were effective and to also often “throw out the baby with the bath water”. Remember that expression, where we tend to get rid of everything when we really need to keep the good without getting rid of the ineffective?

Effective teachers look for those ways to teach that work the best way for them. Yes, we need to constantly be on the lookout for ways to improve our teaching, if we don’t then I think we will become stagnant and ineffective. However, if you are knowledgeable about works for you then hold on to those methods, just make sure that you are not fooling yourself in believing that your way is always the best way.

With the Internet at our fingertips, teachers should develop resources that can keep us updated about trends and effective practices. One of the most talked about subjects is about problem solving and group learning being the way to go for our teaching. In this article at the  EducationNext.org site, check out this posting about the Sage on the Stage: “Learning by problem-solving may be less efficient, as discovery and problem-solving often take more time than mastering information received from an authority figure. And incorrect or misleading information may be conveyed in conversations among students….”  is part of this posting. Check out the rest and see what you think.

The EducationNext.org site often has a plethora of thought-provoking articles, videos and postings. Perhaps you will and perhaps you won’t, who is to say that looking through the postings we won’t find something about Globaloria and the way we are updating and challenging our students’ learning.  That, I believe, is what we all should be doing, challenging our students with their learning and developing OUR OWN BEST WAY TO TEACH EFFECTIVELY. Isn't it a Puzzle!

End of year blahs

It is that time of the year again. The time where students, teachers, parents, and especially Seniors begin to look towards the end of the school year  and completion of their tasks. I know that it is a very stressful time for those Globaloria students doing their presentations and their teachers who are pushing and prodding them to do their best.
I am proud of how my students tried to do their best in their presentations. They worked very hard the last several weeks and tried as hard as they could to complete their games. For the most part anyway. Their were a few that could have done more but they will have to live with that and will always know that they could have done better. Since these will always be posted the students know that viewers will always be able to see what they have accomplished, be it great or just so-so.
I have learned a great deal this year in Globaloria and I have many ideas on how I will change up my teaching/facilitating of this course for next year. That is the goal, right? To be always striving to do better, or that is my thought anyway; if a teacher is not always trying to do better than it is time to call it a day.
So in closing, here are the video blogs from my 3 teams concerning their process on their game designs:

Making your education the highest priority

This post is a repeat of a former post. I believe it is worthy of another read:
Priorities, priorities, what do we do first? Quite often we neglect what needs to be done, like this blog.  I've noticed that students have a difficult time putting their education at the front of their own priority list. Why is that? Right now, especially for a high school student, their education should be at the top. Some high school students work, some are in sports or other extra-curricular activities and they forget that their Number 1 priority is their education. IF you don't have a good education it will be very difficult to be where you want to be later in life.

Scene 1: Teacher meets former student out in the community a couple of years after the student has graduated from high school. "Hey there 'former student' (names protected), how's it going?" Former student replies "Well Mrs. Neal, not so good, I really wish that I had not missed as much school as I did" or "I wish I had paid more attention in class"; I'm just not able to get a job like I want". Some will say that they just couldn't make it in college or they just don't understand why they can't keep a job or get a higher paying job.

Students need to learn how to process information, apply the knowledge they have gained to real world situations, critically problem solve ON THEIR OWN and to have long term goals and work towards them. Coming to school and wanting to learn as much as possible is the way to achieve their goals.

Scene 2: Teacher meets former student out in the community a couple of years after the student has graduated from high school. "Hey there 'former student' (names protected), how's it going?" "Well, Mrs. Neal, do you remember when I thought about getting a job after school so I could get a car? And we talked about it and I decided that maybe it was too much to do and still keep up with school stuff?" " I remember" "Well, it has paid off, I've made the Dean's list in College and I've earned another scholarship! I've even got a really good job lined up for when I graduate doing what I've always wanted to do!"



Too simplified? Obviously! But you should get the point, we all need to figure out what our top priorities should be FOR THAT MOMENT and act accordingly. We would all get much more accomplished and be more successful.

My Mother

My mother was born October 19, 1919. She died March 5, 2011.  My sisters and my brother and I were blessed with a wonderful evening with her the night before she died, we laughed, talked, reminisced about the wonderful times we had as a family. We were truly blessed with having that wonderful memory forever.

Mother was 91 years old. Think about that. Think about the changes that she saw during her lifetime. When she was born and was growing to young adulthood, she lived in what was considered a nice home. But they still had to haul water from down over the hill, good weather or bad, sometimes in snow over their knees. They had an outside toilet, everyone did at that time in Bellburn. They used oil lamps, there was no electricity yet. She knew the value of an education, she was salutatorian for her school. She was always quick to tell us that she would have been valedictorian if she hadn't left school one class period early her senior year so she could catch the bread truck up to Quinwood to work at the Krogers store there in the evening. Because she had one less credit she missed being valedictorian. But she knew that she could help her family more by working after school.
She grew up during the depression so she saved everything. She was thrifty but not cheap, she just knew how to get the value of every dollar. She was a volunteer all of her life. She was a marvelous lady, a wonderful wife and mother and we will miss her so much.

I remember sitting beside my mother in church, with her all dressed up in her good wool coat with the fur collar, feeling that all was right with the world.

I remember Mom and Dad having friends over, them rolling up the carpet in the living room and dancing to the sounds of Benny Goodman and other ‘Big Bands” while my sister and I went to sleep to the sounds of our parents and friends having a good time. All was well in our world.

I remember a mother who loved to cook. I also remembered being very surprised to find out that when she and our father married, he was the one that had to teach her the basics of cooking. I remember how she liked to share her recipes with others so she has left these behind in the local cookbooks.

I remember sitting in the floor of our living room and seeing Mom all dressed up ready to go to the Rupert Womans Club meeting. She loved being able to help with community projects. She was very proud of her role in founding our Rupert Community Building.

I remember Mother standing at the stove at camp, cooking for a crew of 20 or so, always going to the door if we heard a car going up or down the road to see who was arriving. I also remember our mother in her blaze orange hunting coat and hat with her shotgun, ready to go hunting. She especially loved to turkey hunt, and that was when there were hardly any turkeys. Some of our happiest times as a family took place at camp.

I remember Mom and her Avon. Oh, the Avon. We girls were so lucky. Every new product that came out we got to try. I don’t think Mom ever made that much being an Avon lady because every new product that came out she purchased so she could have to show her customers. This was the time that most women did not work outside the home. I know that part of her route was back through the country areas of Crawley and Keiffer. We’ll never know how many women’s lives were brightened when they saw that little blue Volkswagen beetle coming up the driveway.

I remember a mother who loved the fact that I could sew and make my own and others’ clothes. Oh, how many times did we would make the trip to Piece Goods in Beckley for new projects. Then she began quilting on pillows and wall hangings and other items. If I were to ask for a show of hands of those here today who have one of Mom’s reversible aprons, probably almost all would raise their hands.

I remember a mother who was loving but firm, if she told us something we had better listen. We were expected to help with the Friday ‘clean up the house for the weekend’ chores. I remember smarting her off when I was feeling my emerging teenager growing pains and her smacking me across the cheek. While the slap was not that hard, the humiliation was terrible. I did not do that again and my respect for her again grew.

I will always remember our last evening with our mother, Sandra, Sharon, Butch (ok, Bob), and I and her talking, laughing and joking, reminiscing times past in our family. We were truly blessed with her full presence on the last day of her life.

I wish for our children and their children the attributes of our mother, loving, community oriented, ready to volunteer whenever she could.

I wish for our children and their children and the children to come that they too are blessed with memories of a mother such as ours.

We, her family, remember so much and we are truly blessed with those memories. 

In memory of my mother, Beulah Vivian Flint Price
 

Resolve

My last post had my wishes for the upcoming weeks on what I hoped we could accomplish in our Globaloria class. Alas, too many snow days and a bout of the stomach virus that was going around cause too many absences from school to be very successful. When students were in class, they have been working very, very well. We are trying several different things with the mini game, trying to add drag and drop controls and random entries and speeds. I am bribing now though, if everyone gets their games done and uploaded by the end of the weeks I will bring in some food goodies for the class.
Students have indicated that they would prefer that I post a topic for them to blog about instead of them choosing for themselves so here goes:

Your topic for this week of February 7, 2011 - What is a Social Issue? Define it and post some links to social issue sites that you have found on the Internet. (Please make them appropriate for school; and you know what I mean) I am inserting one here that does not define it but does give you some topics. Happy Research!

a new year...

The days seem to fly by..before we know it the new year has arrived. I had hoped by now that we would almost  be completed with our games and here we are barely begun. My hope is that in the next two weeks (weather allowing of course!) we will complete our mini games, the students will feel much more comfortable with Flash and that their team game ideas are better developed with sufficient research completed to enable sophisticated, educational, socially relevant games. Optimistic, yes but if properly motivated I know these students are capable of doing it. What do you think?

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination.
Tommy Lasorda