a rude awakening

Today I went to Day 2 of a three day training for reading workshop. It's a statewide event, so there were TONS of teachers there.

I managed to find two other teachers from my school and we met up for lunch. On our way back to our afternoon sessions, I asked "Paula" how she liked being a teacher. Paula came to our school in January of last year to take over a Kindergarten class. She had been a banker for a number of years before her career change.

Here's what she had to say:

You know, it's funny. It seems like every time I turn around, another assessment is due. I feel like I'm always testing. I always thought that as a teacher, I would be doing more..... teaching.

So in honor of Paula, and all of the new teachers out there who may or may not have heard this from their training programs, I offer the following chart:

Does this ring true with you?

Seated and Sated

Yup, those two words just about sum up my two-day conference. We sat a lot. We ate constantly. It was as if they were trying to distract us from the fact that most of our breakout sessions weren't very worthwhile.... at every chance they got, they shoved food at us (not that I'm complaining about the yummy food!)

The highlight of the conference was listening to the very entertaining and slightly irreverent W. James Popham, who had intelligent and helpful things to say about formative assessment. His dry wit was so hilarious; I was disappointed that they didn't let him talk more than an hour and a half!

Now if only I didn't have three more days of school to get through before I can catch up on some rest!!

Monday and Tuesday

Upcoming:

A two-day conference with hundreds of other teachers
A four-hour bus ride
Two nights at a posh, four-star hotel
Several free meals
Twelve hours of meetings

My prediction is that I'll have a great time socializing with colleagues, eating, and hanging out in my luxury hotel room but that the meetings will sour the experience! It's at times like these that I wish I had an iPhone or an iPod Touch so that I could more easily tune out the irrelevant content of the meetings. Although I don't know if I would have the guts to blatantly surf the net during a conference. Would you?

I Heart Ice Cream

I've just completed day two of our three day training: Capturing Kids Hearts. I wasn't really sure what to expect. They say that by the end of it, we'll have a more safe and caring school atmosphere among staff and among students.

Day one was best summed up as: Dr. Phil meets Joel Osteen; or, in other words: preachy pop psychology. There were also some team-building exercises which, though corny, did make me appreciate my colleagues as people and not just teachers.

Day two was about teaching our students to treat each other with respect and kindness. It was about empowering them to self-manage instead of playing the policeman. A lot more people were more comfortable with today's agenda because it took the focus off of ourselves and onto our students.

Not sure what Day three will bring...

Even if this training had turned out to be completely horrible, we still would have had the excellent food. We've had breakfast, lunch, and two snacks catered to us daily. Yesterday, they put out a make-your-own-sundae bar that caused me to chuck my dinner plate into the trash and knock people down as I ran to get in line for ice cream! Well, not literally, but I did think about it...

Relational is Foundational

I go back to school on the 19th. The kids don't come back until after Labor Day, but we teachers have two weeks (seven days) of professional development beforehand. The first week, our district is shelling out 40 grand for us to attend Capturing Kids Hearts. At first, I (along with several others) balked at the idea. I mean, if you don't know how to care about kids, how did you get hired as a teacher in the first place? Isn't relating to children kind of foundational in your job as an elementary educator?

But then I thought about our staff and our decidedly negative school atmosphere, and I've come to the conclusion that the in-service may not be such a bad idea. If it helps just one teacher recognize that first graders do not understand biting sarcasm, then it might be worth the money.

I have already decided that this next year, my room (which is visited frequently by special education aides and other special ed. team members) will be a "no principal-bashing or others-bashing" zone. I mean, I realize that people need to vent when things are unfair or just plain ridiculous (myself included), but instead of focusing on what we cannot change, we need to focus on what we CAN do to make our school a less toxic environment, and to help each of our students succeed.

All Play, No Work

My conference in Chicago was surprisingly disappointing. I was hopeful about the sessions we (my colleague and I) had signed up for. But if the sessions weren't agonizingly basic, they were completely unnecessary. Did my school really need to pay 800 dollars for us to learn that the letter "B" has its sound in its name whereas "H" does not? Was it relevant when a two hour workshop on teaching students with Asperger's Syndrome spent the whole time talking about the history of the syndrome and how to diagnose it? That's not practical!!!

There was only one session that redeemed our conference. We high-tailed it out of there several hours/sessions early. (We were also trying to beat the freezing rain in the forecast on our drive home).

Despite all of that, my friend and I had a BLAST. We stayed at the Hilton and our room had TWO complete bathrooms! We breakfasted at the Cafe Baci, lunched at Eleven, and dined at Gino's East. We took taxis around the city (which are so much safer than the ones in downtown Cairo!!), and shopped with the best of them. I bought a quarter of a pound of handmade soap at Lush. Apparently Max thought this was unnecessary, but he forgets that hygiene is important to some of us!

Lucky Me

The school is sending me and the other resource room teacher to Chicago for a conference hosted by the Learning Disabilities Association of America. It's international. And in Chicago. And we're staying at the Hilton. On the "magnificent mile". On the school's dime!! We'll get to learn some (hopefully) useful strategies on helping our students succeed, and then we'll have some of the world's best shopping right at our doorstep for our free time during the evenings! Should be fun!

Put it on my 'Professional Development' tab

Registration fee for one day Autism conference:
$195

Gas to get there:
$8 ish

Parking:
$8.25

Lunch:
$9.49

Doing something different than the everyday hum-drum:
Priceless!

The school paid the registration fee. I paid for everything else.

I wonder what would happen if teachers had their own expense accounts?!

Fun-ference

Our two day conference ended up being a LOT of fun. There's just something about getting forty teachers together that makes everyone explode in conversation and laughter. I spent hours both nights getting to know these three Christian girls (all my age)--which was a lot of fun! Day one of the conference was useful and I got a lot out of it. Day two was boring as all get out--basic "intro to educational psychology stuff". Stuff that if your college didn't teach you in your teacher prep courses, they should have their accreditation revoked. Stuff so basic and instinctual, it was like being told how to breathe. People were dying of boredom. I made 99 different words out of the phrase "Merry Christmas" (I challenge you to do better!).

The value of the conference wasn't so much in what we learned, but it was in who I got to know better. I'm finding more and more that I can't be a resource room teacher without having a good relationship with the other teachers... and that has been difficult so far because I started here in October, right in the swing of things, and there hadn't been a whole lot of opportunities to get to know people! But I made a concerted effort to hang out with the teachers from the grade levels I didn't know well, and now I feel like I can do my job 100% better. Also, I really like the staff here!

The Mother of All Meetings

Tomorrow after school, I head out to the west of the state for a thrilling, two day professional development conference with the entire staff. They are even putting us up in a hotel, no less! A cheap hotel, but still. While I'm looking forward to getting to know the other teachers better, I'm not looking forward to spending two days discussing assessment. I feel good about what I know about assessments and how I use them. If I have to sit through two days of meetings, I'd rather it be on a more fascinating topic, but I was not consulted on the matter. My interests are just too specific. Or maybe it's because I teach special ed., and everyone else is general ed. I've never had to work through an entire pile of paperwork to grade. I don't own a red pen. I don't even have the "gradebook" system installed on my computer like every one else.

When I (tactfully) inquired about the relevance of these meetings for me and my special ed. colleague, I was assured by the people in charge that no special breakout sessions were needed for us--that the general topic would be appropriate for us as well. If I find out they're wrong, they'll be getting some pointed looks, and some pointed yawns...

We shall see, my friends, we shall see!

I'm Back!

I'm back from a very fun and a very enlightening two day conference in Palm Springs put on by the Alexander Graham Bell association. There was a lot that happened to make me think, and I don't think I have a nice and concise summary to give you all.

I was able to make two contacts that could potentially help me find a teaching position once we move back to Michigan. They were helpful, but at the same time, realistic. The southeast region of Michigan is over-saturated with teachers. Neither of them mentioned any openings in the oral deaf field. So, I'm faced with the very real possibility that I might not be able to do exactly what I want to do for a while. They were very nice in giving me all the contact information they had for oral-deaf programs in the region. I'll be getting in touch with those people this week, and continuing to pray that the Lord will provide.

Besides having a blast with my colleagues, this conference opened my eyes to the needs and issues within this growing field, and has sparked my imagination of what role I could play in the future. I've been inspired to move forward, and Michigan will provide more opportunities for me to pursue my passion!

This Deserves Exclamation Points!!

Well, this is it. In about six and a half hours, I'm going to wake up and drive to Palm Springs with six of my colleagues for a two day conference for oral-deaf teachers (put on by the California chapter of Alexander Graham Bell). I've been looking forward to this for months!! It's even doubly exciting because one of the speakers there could potentially help me find a new job in Michigan!! And all seven of us are going to stay overnight in a condo!! And we're going to learn some really cool things at the conference!! And we're going to go out to dinner!! And there's a pool at the condo!! And it's professional growth I actually care about!! And the district is paying for it!!

Yea!!

Training Day Tribute

Oh, district training day, how do I love thee?
Let me count the ways.

1. A break from my students.
2. Being dismissed over an hour early.
3. Eating out for lunch and then SHOE SHOPPING.
4. Talking to grown-ups.
5. Not hearing kids call/whine my name. Incessantly. All day.
6. Being dismissed over an hour early.
7. Free goodies.
8. Hearing about good ideas.
9. Eating out for lunch and then SHOE SHOPPING.

Too bad this was the last one for quite some time!

Trained....and Ready?

Today, I spent the day at the district office, learning all about this awesome program ("Reading Naturally") to build fluency and comprehension. The presenter was excellent and the information was relevant. In short, I can't wait to use it in my own classroom! As I was sitting in the training, however, it occurred to me that there's a lot of stuff that they DON'T tell you in any given in-service.

What they do tell you:

• "Here's how to implement the steps of this awesome program"
  

What they don't tell you:

• "Here's how to convince your site administrator to buy the program and the materials"
• "Here's how to get creative with your time management so that you can fit this program into your day"
• "Here's what to throw out in your day so you can make room for this program in your schedule"
• "Here's how to squeeze extra physical space and storage space into your already too-packed classroom so you can run the program"
  

In fact, as I sat there thinking, it also occurred to me that some people in the room might not go to all the trouble of running the program (even though it would be so beneficial), because it's just too much extra work. So our real choices were: 1) put up with the hassle for your students' sake, or 2) be a lousy teacher and don't sleep well at night. Hmmmmm. Guess which one I choose? Hooray!

Random news

Yesterday was a great day; I was at a full day math conference in Anaheim with three of my colleagues. The conference was excellent, the company was... interesting (I got an ear full of what is going on around campus--now I can say that I'm "in the loop"), and lunch at Red Robin was superb! The only thing I wish I could change was how awful half my kids were for the sub!! Oh well.

In other news, our chrysalides haven't hatched yet, and I 'm horrified to think they might emerge this weekend when no one is there to watch! I just pray that they can hang in there until Monday! Isn't it nice that God still cares about the little stuff?

I have a fun weekend to look forward to. Max and I are going to the movies (a seemingly bi-annual event!); I'm getting my hair cut; and tomorrow I'm going to the Scholastic Warehouse Sale to blow through the rest of my birthday money (thanks you guys!)

And then.... FIVE MORE WEEKS! FIVE MORE WEEKS! FIVE MORE WEEKS!