Summer!!

So summer offically starts at 4 p.m. today! and until then I'm just sitting here watching the clock. I finished everything weeks ago, all I had to do today was clean up my room and pack anything that I wanted to have over the summer (which is everything since I paid for it all...)

This is probably the first time in my life I haven't had something to do. No wedding to plan. No classes to study for. No certification to complete. NOTHING! I should probably pick up my summer job search, but eh.

I finished reading Our School by Joanne Jacobs. This book has really opened my eyes to what it means to work in a charter school. This school in San Jose was opened to prepare D and F students who were in danger of dropping out, to be successful at a 4 year college. Many students had to take remedial math and reading, since many had less than sixth grade level skills. Many spoke little or no English. Two teachers opened this school. They enrolled about 100 ninth graders for the first year. Four years later they had a 9-12 high school with about 500 students. The first graduating class was 57 students, all were going to 4 year colleges.

It's an inspiring book and it's given me a lot of ideas for next year. I would like to incoporate study skills, character development, school pride, work ethic and the school's mission statement into the 6th grade curriculum next year.

Inspiring Books

I've spent the last 6 years reading Science textbooks or trying to get into science fiction/ fantasy. Matt likes these books and I think it would be fun for us to read the same thing and talk about it, but I cannot get into it. Aside from Harry Potter and Twlight, I've finished one fantasy book every two years.

So I just finish reading Smart Kids, Bad Schools: 38 Ways to Save America's Future by Brian Crosby. I found this at Half Price Books, looking for some inspiration and prevent end of the year burn out. I could not put the book down. The general idea is that America's public education system does not prepare students for jobs or college. Many of the ideas in this book are about budgets and calendars (like shorter summers and week long breaks every 9 weeks). Interesting ideas, but really not applicable to me.

Here are some of my favorite ideas:
- Don't make schools like prisons with gates, locks, metal detectors and bells. When we expect our students to act like criminal, they will.
- Eliminate middle school. Crosby argues that 11-14 year olds are struggling enough without the added stress of crowded hallways and 7 different teachers.
- No homework? - not sure I agree here but he says we expect too much from these kids, 8 hours of school work a day is enough. If could were actually working a school this would be fine, and in my class homework is usually just completed an assignment that you did not have time to finish (usually 2 or 3 will finish during class) or studying for a test or quiz.
- "Required community service", "Mandatory classes in the arts", and frequent field trips - my school does this already.
- Cut spending in Special Ed - controversial but these students are taking twice as much money as general education students. Some of the costs could go to health insurance companies. Advanced Placement classes and fine arts classes are the first to get cut when money is short.
- Raise the standards and do more for the advanced placement students, rather than assume they are smart enough, therefore don't need more help.

Treat teachers like professionals. Shocking?
- Pay them more, this would attract higher quality educators.
- Train teachers in public speaking and acting.
- Create leadership positions and opportunity for advancement. Does anyone besides teachers go to college to work the same position until retirement?
- Hire "Paraeducators" much like college professor's TAs to administer tests, cover classes for meetings and trainings and to give the teacher a bathroom break! Even teachers have to ask to go to the bathroom.
- Parents should questions teachers. They went to college to become teachers. "Would you question your childs pediatrician?"

Don't mean for this to sound like a book report, but I really enjoyed reading and reflecting on these ideas.

Now, I'm reading a new book about a charter school in San Jose, aimed at getting struggling, failing students prepared for college. Even more inspiring.

Side notes: 1) I read most of Smart Kids, Bad Schools while on the eliptical at the gym. I used to make fun of people for doing this, but if you can get into the book, its almost like not working out. 2) As a teacher, I feel a lot more pressure write good...

The Finish Line

So I was listening to a Lady Gaga interview on Kidd Kradick this morning. She said she really wanted to get all her ideas out before she died. This inspired me to pick up my blog again. I'm not really that creative but I have lots of ideas, mostly about teaching right now, and trying to remember them all is causing me to lose sleep.

The school year is over!! Here are some pictures of projects we did this year in 6th grade Science. The first one is the bulletin board outside my room with atom models, cell drawings and kingdom foldables. Then Earth travel brochures, to encourage aliens to come to our planet. We made these to finish our geology unit and in honor of Earth Day. Finally fingerprint analysis, during our short Forensic Science unit students learned about fingerprints (patterns, details, etc) and examined and drew their own fingerprint. It's been a good year. I survived with my sanity in tact and I have so many ideas for next year.

I used to blog about things too, before I started teaching...

I'm thinking of training for the White Rock Marathon in December, well probably the half marathon.

I'm looking for a summer job. Hopefully I can go back and wait tables somewhere I've already working. Asking a 16 year old hostess for a job application was quite strange... I also applied at a bakery that's opening in a few weeks, doubt that will happen though.

Married life is great : ) I'm still settling into being a wife, but Matt has been amazing. I'm very lucky to have a great husband.

I'm really into reading these non fiction books about education. So great ideas. I'm sure no one cares but I'll probably post about them anyway.