The Bow Tie Teacher

That kind of week

Every teacher can feel my when I say it was "that kind of week". Having a challenging time reaching my students. I just haven't found the combination to unlock an appreciation of learning for them. I have a list of things that worked pretty well. Some that surprised me and a lot that just about smashed me into the floor. Needless to say I'm clocking in tomorrow with nothing less than the high expectation that this day I will make it THAT kind of week! 

How are you doing? What's your first 8 weeks of school been like? 

 

A great week in review

This school year has been outstanding. I'm so glad to have this group of kids. They're teaching me just as much as I am teaching them. After 7 weeks I feel pretty confident that I'm not making the impact I'd like to be making. 

Thinking about the 7 Habits, I'm going to make some changes. I've been doing a habit every 2 weeks. So we'd almost go through every habit 5 times this year. My kids really don't embrace it. So we're going to start over from Habit #1 again from ground zero. 

Next week I'm going to do only one thing. I'm going to find a way to get every one of my students excited about learning. Right now I can't say they're inspired to change their lives. 

If you have any clues/ideas on how to spark interest please share you're ideas on getting kiddos excited about learning. 

This week's flip books

This week I rolled out flip books on my class. We're using them in different ways. The math place value book below is being used really for notes. The kids followed along with me as I created this book. 

This is an example of one of the inside pages. The kids enjoyed making it. One thing I'd change is next time I'll stick to the same number throughout the entire book. Thekids didn't stumble over my change. I just think that some of them might have grasped better if I used the same number. 

Should've kept the same number through the whole book. 

I made this huge flip book from some "ruined" poster boards. So each page I had the students follow along in their own smaller books. See the smaller book on the left. On the back of the whole book I had the students write the vocabulary words that they keep missing. Since we're focusing on the various kinds of conversions, this has come in handy.  

This is a fun book we made for show. We're discussing the various interesting things about this wonderful state. So I made these books to help the kids see how big/small our world really is.  We're going to display them when we're finished. 

Next week we're going to make a flip book on the regions of Georgia. We'll see how it goes.  How was your week? What worked well for you? 

Steal the bacon

Not even sure what I think about teaching kids to a. steal b. steal bacon c. run from justice
But it is bacon and all fair in love and bacon.
Have a great weekend.

An open letter to all "Bad Parents"

    Before I get to my letter. Have you seen the article over at Slate.  It contends that parents who send their children to private schools are bad. Wait...stop laughing. Wipe that coffee of your computer screen...she's serious.

 

    So a parent's desire (free will and choice, mind you) to offer their child an education that reflects their values shouldn't out weigh another parents desire for the same if money, ability are the only things that separate the two. Not sure where I've heard that needs of the many out weigh the needs of the few before. Let me check up on that. 

    I'm not writing this because I send my girls to a private school. As a public school teacher and a parent I find this article simply absurd. As a parent my primary concern is to provide my children with the best that I can. That may look different for every family and that's just fine with me. As a teacher I give my very best to my students and my school. However, at the end of the day my responsibility is to my kids. I have said it before and believe it in my deepest being; parents are the 1st teachers. I only strengthen what you value and teach at home. 

Here are just a few points the author is missing:

•  Parents are responsible for their kids not everyone else's child. In the same vain where I send my kids is my business not yours. 
•  She assumes that parents would be lined up at the local school board meeting advocating for better schools. That's not the case at all.  
• She mistakenly assumes that they only reason schools fail is because of the educators and admin of said school or school system. Nope. You can't get race horses from mules. 
•  Public schools get a great deal of money as it is right now. Most private schools run on a very tight budget. Yes, there is excess and over indulgence, but most are very modest. That being said why don't public school systems feel it necessary to court the private school parents who pay taxes and yet send their kids to a private school? Seems like the pressure would be on the government school rather than the parents.  
•  A parent's values aren't being considered at all. It's more than my child learning Bible verses or this being an extension of Sunday School. For many parents religious education is a strong point of their family tradition. That's their perogative. 
• Teachers on both sides of the argument generally want the same thing; a better future for our kids. Why not celebrate and collaborate with Private and Public schools rather than assume they're keeping all the good toys in their sand box? I'm actually trying to glean from all teachers just to get new ideas and insights. 
• Not all private school classes are smaller or have the latest and greatest. My classroom right now has fewer kids than either of my girl's private school classes. They also have less tech than I do in my public school. 
• I don't look sideways at my co-workers who send their children to private or to public school. I certainly don't call them noble for sending their kids to public or less noble for not. I don't ask why because it's none of my business. And I appreciate them respecting my decision the with the same care. 
• Competition causes everyone to step their game up. I feel the pressure everyday. If I don't give my all and do my best me and my bow ties might be on the outside looking in. Every teacher who wants the best for their students knows that they have to do their best with the cards their dealt. 

    I do wonder if the author would feel the same way if the argument was centered around say, cars? Would I be a bad person because I didn't buy an American made car? Or maybe a Foreign car built in America since it supports the local economy. Seems pretty silly to me. 

Dear Bad Parents, 

    You keep doing what you feel is in the best interest for your kids. I think you're pretty cool. I'm going to keep plugging away making a difference in the life of my students. No name calling or finger wagging. I'll keep doing my best to show you that we're all in this together.

Signed, 

    Public School Teacher

    Not to call the sincerity of the author in question, but I don't believe she believes we're bad parents. I mean why else would you resort to name calling? 

Related articles

You're A Bad Parent For Not Sending Your Kids To Public School

Even if Private Schools Didn't Exist, There Would Still Be Rich Suburbs

If You Send Your Kid to Private School, You Are a Bad Person

How private schools make public schools better

Unique facts about me and my 300th post

No school updates today. If you've endured this many posts by me this and hung in there this long, I might as well tell you somethings about me. Here we go.

• 1. I'm a marketers dream. I get stuck on a brand or product and never seem to change. There are certain brands/stores and products that I've only used my entire adult live. Which leads me to...
• 2. I only wear adidas. It's fair to say that just about EVERYDAY. I'm wearing something with the 3 stripes on it. Yeah, I mean everyday. I actually applied to work for them 3 different times. One time I went to a road race in Portland just to try to get a sales job. Needless to say I didn't get the job. It took me two years to decide to buy a pair of Inov8 to workout in. But...
• 3. I've awaken at about the same time everyday for years. Much to my wife's angst. I get up at 5 am, even on weekends and during the Summer. Now I might go back to sleep after getting up, but I have to get up and out of the bed. 
• 4. I read comic books on a regular. I used to be a HUGE Spiderman fan as a child. After the Death of Spiderman I pretty much became all DC all the time and more specifically, all day Batman. Speaking of that craziness...
• 5. I've memorized "The Cat in the Hat" and "Green Eggs and Ham". I still hold the book when I read it to my students, but I hold it upside down for laughs. 
• 6. I don't ever want to "retire". I want to be doing something when I'm 60+ that's so fulfilling that I'll just keep doing it until the end. 
• 7. I have a serious phobia about being late to things that are in my mind important. I've been known to be places an hour early so not to be late. If I'm late to something it's mainly because I don't think it's important. No offense to anyone leading a meeting I'm supposed to be in. 
• 8. As much as I joke about TV, I only watch 3 TV shows regularly. Suits, The Walking Dead and Law and Order:SVU
• 9. I read 10-12 books a year. Kind of slowed down this year, but I still can read 5 more. 
• 10. I really like small businesses. If I could I would start a think tank that churns out  turn key unique small businesses. 
• A few extra oddities
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• 10.1 I like coming up with ideas. I can do this all afternoon and not miss a beat. How to make something better, different or work. But...
• 10.2 I'm not super crafty. I don't get crafts so that's why my Cricut useage is kinda 2 dimensional.