Here a goal, there a goal, everywhere a goal goal

Our school has gone to extended days this year, so it has been a shift to teach until 3:45 each day.  When my yearbook students walk out the door at the sound of that last late bell, the school is relatively quite.  There are a handful of classes during this block, but they are spread out, and the vast majority of students have already gone home.  I see a grade 9 student grabbing their backpack after the volleyball practice that was going on during 9th period.  I stop and say hello to my fellow block 5 comrades who are also adjusting to this new and still unfamiliar shift in the day.  I'm still feeling a little bad about the Physics students I had to turn away at 2:20 - they came for help at the end of "their" school day, not realizing it wasn't the end of mind.  I remind myself that they will adjust.  A few student council kids are waiting to ask questions by my door.  I'm impressed that their were willing to wait the 80 minutes through block 5 just to have a 30 second conversation.  The piles of papers on my desk are already growing, and I have to do's written on sticky notes and scrap papers, hand written in iPad apps, and typed into reminders.  iCal flashes me a notification that I have to pick up ribbon on the way home.  I hit ignore for the third day in a row - it can wait.  I drop a 20 pound stack of old yearbooks on my desk that I had carted downstairs.  There are sticky notes from my editors peaking out from a few of them.  This years book is already being conceptualized.  For a moment I get really excited.  If we can pull this off, we're going to raise the bar.  The challenge is both frightening and exhilarating.  I have a look at the Physics quizzes and decide that I'll mark them at home.  I pack up, dig out my sunglasses and chuck as much paper as I think I'll have time to deal with into my pack back along side the half eaten lunch I didn't have time to finish.  Seems that in light of this new schedule, the days have been getting away from me.  "Not enough time" is on repeat quietly in the back of my mind.  I find myself pausing from time to time, asking myself, "how can I do this more efficiently?"  But then I realize that I don't have time to figure out the answer, and continue working through my list.

As I'm walking out the door, I stop to say goodnight to my neighbour - one of the handful in the block 5 crew this semester.  We catch up briefly, share an anecdote from each of our classes that day, and confirm our progress on a field trip we are attempting to book - we're both in a holding pattern.  And in the midst of recapping our day she mentions goals.  "I'm really liking what the school is doing with staff goals and looking for connecting ideas with in them.  I think it's great that our department goals are going to reflect our personal goals."  To be honest, I hadn't really thought about it.  I mean, I did sit through a Pro-D workshop 2 weeks ago about personal goals.  And I filled out my personal goal sheet this past weekend.  Our science department met and set department goals.  And I attended an assembly with my grade 11s that talked about goal setting and the 10,000 hour rule.  Oh, and I planned a follow up lesson for my discovery class about goal setting.  but to be honest, I hadn't really thought about it. Until now.

At this exact moment, 4:09 on a Tuesday afternoon, it was like each one of those individual conversations found sitting in the recess of my mind had instant playback.  I had been processing them subconsciously, and had so many thoughts and ideas.  If my life were a movie, insert moving "AHA!" moment montage; the music crescendos, the camera moves in to my eyes and the light goes on.  Goals. THEY'RE EVERYWHERE.

"I have to go blog about this!" Is my first thought.  Which was also my goal I set last year.  and again this year.  In fact one of the first things I blogged about here was goal setting (almost 2 years ago) and I checked in on those goals again last year.  I wanted to blog about my goal epiphany on a blog which is a goal inself, on a blog which is, not purposefully, full of posts on goals.  It has an "only in the movies do things come this perfectly pull circle" quality to it, right?

Of course, now I've wasted all my time with this grand revelation and didn't get to say anything about my actual goals.  So I'll save that for another post.  Disappointed?  Don't be.  I'll be back.  That's my goal after all.  

Is the Yearbook Relevant?

In the Fall of 2009 I first attempted to under take the large and daunting task of teaching the yearbook.  On my first day, nervous and overwhelmed, I ran into a colleague in the hall who proceeded to question whether, in the world of social media, where pictures and information are accumulating daily, is the Yearbook necessary anymore?  Is it a dying art?  At the time I didn't know what to think - I hadn't even started the job, and there was a possibility that my job was already irrelevant.  And that question has stuck with me since that day.

Today someone posed the same question to me, but my reaction was very different.  Instead of confusion and contemplation, I knew my answer.  YES.  Yes it is.  The yearbook is relevant! The yearbook doesn't exist in competition with Facebook.  Via Facebook kids share their thoughts, ideas, feelings and actions momentarily.  Pictures are posted, people comment, and it is almost instantaneous.  But regardless of the "permanence" of facebook on the internet, none of these posts, thoughts or pictures are really permanent.  They are passing.  Online social media is about movement.  It shows change and allows us to interact second by second, wherever we are.  The Yearbook isn't that at all.  The Yearbook stands still.

The Yearbook says: I WAS HERE.  For this period of time, I was here.  I was part of this bigger body, this community.  I participated in the Halloween fashion show, and I made fun of Mr. Stroh's moustache.  I wore pink for anti bullying day, and sported that haircut that I'd rather forget.  I loved/hated Justin Bieber and remember Mr. Atwal dressing up as Santa Claus.  For this moment of time, I was HERE.  There is no question.

The Yearbook says:  I BELONG.  It isn't just facts and pictures.  It signifies a community to which everyone belonged.  A good yearbook is one that every student identifies with.  That there is a corner of it for each student to say, YES!  I was part of this community.  I was a member.  I  BELONGED.

The Yearbook says:  I AM PROUD.  To dance.  To sing.  To play the clarinet.  To sport pink hair.  To make up games in PE.  To be a member of a Co-op.  To learn to slam poetry.  To build a robot.  To be a Sullivan Star.  It represents the finest part of school spirit and has the power to remind us why it is we are proud to be one of the many.

The Yearbook says:  I MATTER.  Matter enough for a class of students and a dedicated teacher to show up to Basketball games, and witness drum circles.  Matter enough to stand in the cold watching Rugby, or in the rain watching soccer.  To include poems of our bravest writers and art of the creative.  When I enter a classroom or a gymnasium, students are excited.  To be included.  To matter enough that we are there, on the sidelines, wanted to capture their passions, efforts, joys, successes and failures.  We care.  Because our students matter.  Each one.

The Yearbook is a labour of love.  And for all the arguments I have heard to why Yearbook as a publication is on it's way out, I have heard more for why it is POWERFUL.  And I, for one, cannot wait to hold this one in my hands at the end of the year.  I know what went into it.  Every single ingredient.  And the hours and the props and photos and edits and spreads and manipulations and fonts and foils are all a small part of that.  And far FAR from the most important part.  This book is the spirit of our community.  And I could not be more proud to be a part of it.  I hope you all feel the same.

Goal Setting - 10 months past

10 months ago my sister-in-law encouraged me to think seriously about goal setting.  I was paging back through my blog recently, and found this list.  And while looking at it, I realized that I can accomplished most of my goals!  So it is time to review and set new ones!  I was so excited to see, that without thinking too much about it, just the process of taking time to set goals put me in the mindset to achieve it.

In the classroom, I am always vary of having students set goals - I mean - will they really achieve them?  Are they taking them seriously?  But the cognitive process of making yourself aware of your goals really is a meaningful part of being able to ACHIEVE them.  And let me tell you - it feels GOOD.  I think I'm going to start doing more goal setting with my students.  But in the meanwhile - my goals:

MY GOALS (Apri 2011) (Original Post)

Within One Year

• Obtain a permanent position in my school district - DONE
• Find 3 extra-curricular needs in the school community (one to meet the need of the students, one to meet the need of the staff, and one to meet my own personal passions) - STUDENT COUNCIL, GRADE 7 TRANSITION, TWITTER
• Begin my Masters in Education or (if necessary) Apply to a Masters of Education program to begin the following year - YUP.  IN SEMESTER 2, CREATIVE, CRITICAL and COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY
• Formally or informally mentor a student teacher in my school community - HAVE A STUDENT TEACHER RIGHT NOW
• Teach all my students how to use twitter for classroom learning - YES
• Try 3-4 new pieces of technology in the classroom (including Pasco products) - YES, minus the Pasco Products
• Help 3 teachers develop a PLN - YES YES YES and then some
• Get a class website up and running in a way that students will access - REPLACED THIS WITH TWITTER and GOOGLE DOCS - which ARE BEING ACCESSED DAILY!

MY NEW GOALS (February 2012)

Within One Year

• Take a group of Yearbook Students to NYC for training (scheduled for June 2012)
• Have students involved with developing their own assessment
• Teach critical thinking and scientific method in greater depth
• Have students complete scientific inquiry projects
• Learn how to use Pasco products
• Blog Weekly (Continued Goal)
• Teach a Senior Level Science Course
• Develop a Water/Geological Systems Field Trip for Grade 8's
• Develop Skills using Photography Lighting Systems and set up a temporary studio for Yearbook
• Take a professional photography class
• Develop 10 new demos to incorporate into lessons

I think it's important to note that these goals were set by me and for me.  This wasn't a task I was given by an administrator or professor.  I didn't create them to impress anyone else.  I created (and posted) them for accountability.  For my own growth.  They are not "done" and I have not moved on.

Quiet is Overrated

I teach two blocks of grade 8 science.  My first block works very quietly.  When I give them an assignment, the "work" quietly at their desks.  They do as I ask.  They don't talk out of turn.  They are easy to manage.  When I walk around the room, about 2/3 of them are working.  The other 1/3 are sitting there quietly, not disturbing anyone.  Today I gave them an assignment to write a story or comic that uses density to solve a mystery (murder mystery, is this a real diamond mystery, who stole the cake mystery etc).  At the end of 75 minutes, 1/2 of the students had started an idea.  1/2 of the student had, at most, one sentence, or a stick person drawn.  But they were quiet.  I had the chance to mark their quizzes, respond to a few emails, edit a few yearbook photos.

My second block is loud.  I mean LOUD.  I spend a lot of time reminding them of appropriate volumes and giving speeches on respecting our neighbours by keeping to a reasonable volume.  They are always interrupting me to share their ideas when we're learning new material, and asking questions.  They don't know how to turn away from their neighbours and focus on any given practice questions.  They HATE sitting in their seats.  I attributed this to the fact my class is 65% boys, or that most of the kids are enrolled in a drama class, but that cannot be proven.  Of course, the instinct is to control them.  This "chaos" is hard to handle sometimes.  I'm a little bit "type A" and working with this class, on days, has the potential to leave me frustrated.  Except that I'm not.

You see, when I told them about doing a mystery density assignment, they instantly rose to the challenge. The room gets loud.  Kids start coming up to me with new ideas.  BETTER ideas.  They are eager to demonstrate learning!  They just have ideas about how to do it in ways that work for them.  Two girls are shooting a video.  The room may be loud, but after 20 minutes the script is all written and they are making an equipment list for Monday.  1 student is making a rap video.  1 student designed a comic about a pirate searching for gold.  3 kids got out their iPhones and downloaded new apps to take photos and build a digital comic strip.  2 students asked to use a program called scratch, and one is making a storybook Prezi.  I can see scene rehearsals, and hear the faint beats of a rap in progress.  Kids are storyboarding their plans for the computer applications, and bouncing their ideas off their neighbours.  One student came to me so we could google the bone density of a triceratops.  Other kids are using using their iPhones/iPods to google densities of other substances not found in their textbooks.  My room is loud.  And this is GOOD.  Quiet is overrated.

Here We Go Again

During my water systems unit with my grade 8's this past January, I gave them a choice of activities to demonstrate their learning about the water cycle.  One of those options was to write a song about the water cycle.

One of my students really rose to the challenge.  She wrote an original song, recorded the guitar and the vocals using Garage Band on her iPad, and then emailed it in.  This project met all the criteria and demonstrated understanding.  It also exceeded expectations in every possible way.  She took ownership, she indulged her creativity, and she demonstrated her learning.  And it is amazing.

So I share this, with her permission, because it is too good not to share.  

Hazelle - Here we Go Again

HERE WE GO AGAIN

by Hazelle D.

As I go around the land

It gets hot like desert sand,

I look down and I see

I have lifted off the ground

While I'm floating in the sky,

As invisible little spices

I'm colliding in one big fluff

White as snow, here we go, come on keep floating now

As long as the sun keeps shining

The longer this will go

Land or ocean, I'll be there, waiting for this to start all over

Oh, here we go again

We wait and we wait until the time is right

We're ready to fall there's no time to put up a fight

And we fall, liquid, solid, rain or snow

When we'll hit the ground, neither of us will know

I feel myself reach the ground

We flow throughout and around

We're following the same old plan

We'll run-off into those water lands

As long as the sun keeps shining

The longer this will go

Land or ocean, I'll be there, waiting for this to start all over

Oh, here we go again

Can I have another go?

A grade 8 student asked me the following this afternoon:

"Can I have another go at the project I just handed in.  I know I can do much better and I don't think it represented how much I really know about safety.  I'd like a chance to do it again.  I will hand it in on Monday."

Yes.  Yes you can.  Thank you for asking.

I love it when students "get it."  I wish more of them understood that what I am asking for in projects is for them to demonstrate their learning.  "How much do you understand about lab safety?  Prove it to me." I just want their best.  It isn't about jumping through my hoops.  It isn't about due dates.

The assignment in question was a "What not to wear" safety poster.  They needed to draw 2 people, demonstrating 10 safe things to wear in the lab, and 10 not-so-safe things to wear in the lab.  One student asked me if she could dress up and model and take a picture instead of drawing.  Another 2 students asked if they could write what not to wear raps instead.  Moments like this make me extraordinarily happy.  There is so much talent trapped in our students, along side their ever increasing understanding of the "stuff" we are teaching.  If the way I have asked them to prove it doesn't "fit" with who they are - I encourage them to pitch me something different. Sometimes they do.  And sometimes it is AMAZING. 

It's only 5 days into the semester and my grade 8's already "get it."  I am very excited for what the next 5 months will bring.

The Need for a Twitter Timeout (aka the history of my internet according to me)

When I was 12, we got a new fancy PC.  We had window 95!  I could "journal" on my computer in a fancy handwriting font (ahh, Lucida Handwriting).  

At 13, it was the internet.  I was excited to feed my desire for knowledge.  I wanted to be an astronaut, so I spent hours behind the computer listening to the modem make it's musical sounds to connect me to a world where I could spend hours on the NASA website learning about the upcoming shuttle launch.  I could also send electronic mail to my one other friend with the internet at home who also had electronic mail (also, she lived next door).

At 14, the hormonally charged teenager in me discovered my first online chatroom.  It was on a website that allowed me to play chess online vs. other people who loved chess.  I thought this was amazing.  I met a guy at the University of Nebraska.  We spent a year as pen pals, emailing back at forth.  This seemed so extraordinary...I could talk to someone in NEBRASKA! I could tell him all those things I couldn't tell my parents and friends.  In fact, I would tell him things I probably wouldn't tell anyone, I mean, he didn't really "know" me after all, right?  After a year, I got bored of his stories of college life in Lincoln, and I'm sure he got bored of listening to me complain about how hard it was to be a 14-year-old girl. I mean, is there anything more difficult?

At 15, I discovered ICQ.  Before MSN messenger, there was ICQ.  I was in grade 10, but in Math 11 (a big deal in a small private school), and made all new grade 11 friends.  The circle of us would talk online at night.  We could have 3 conversations at the same time (UNBELIEVABLE!) and because we didn't have to say things to each other face we could be more honest, more cruel, and more intimate than any previous relationship I knew.  Something about being behind the screen made me feel safe.  It was a year of school night 4am ICQ chats when my parents were sleeping and I snuck into the computer room that led me to develop typing speeds in excess of 100 wpm.  Of course, from time to time this sense of security would backfire.  Someone might reference an online conversation at school, a friend found out her boyfriend was talking to someone else about their relationship drama, or someone would confess a secret that they would immediately regret the next day.  The use of ICQ caused our relationships to blossom quickly - at least online.  In class, it was like they didn't happen.  We talked about Math.  The Weather.  Maybe the upcoming dance.  For a year, I thought they were my best friends in the world.  But none of these relationships lasted.

At 16 MSN replaced ICQ. The number of people chatting online increased - and they were making many of the same mistakes I made the previous years.  People were divulging personal secrets left and right.  Many joined different discussion groups and chats, sharing with strangers online their innermost thoughts and feelings.  Being online magnified these feelings.  If you were depressed, the chat rooms became a spiral to feed your depression.  If you sought out advice on doing drugs or having sex, random strangers would tell you that you only live once, and then walk you through overly detailed or overly intimate experiences.  Knowledge was being acquired at an enormous rate, but we lacked the ability to process it.  We didn't know how to judge safe from unsafe situations or good from bad advice.  By now everyone had email, and the novelty of writing long and personal letters began.  It got worse when it was long and attacking emails to the friend you felt betrayed you.  It's amazing how mean you can get when given time to draft, edit and improve the quality of your cruelty.

At 17 I was getting ready to graduate.  We'd begun to settle into our world of email, online chatting and the information age.  I did a lot of research for class projects and applied to college online.  I started downloading music for the first time.  I spent a lot of time educating my parents and grandparents, friends and extended family on the uses of the internet.  I began to see the dangers in online conversations, and frequented MSN a little less.  By 18 I was in University.  It was only here that the internet because a source of email with professors, setting up group meetings, newsletters, online course registration and a slew of practical purposes.    By now almost everyone had a story of a chat room conversation gone weird, a MSN chat that was super intimate, or an email that was sent to the wrong person, or accidentally (or purposely read by their roommate).  It was at this point that we started to see that there may just be a problem with being online.

I could continue my story, into the world of IRC, personal websites, blogs, Facebook, twitter and into whatever comes next.  But that isn't the point.  The evolution of the online community started with an assumption that is was SAFE.  That is was the appropriate place to vent without consequence.  That it was a solution to our emotional strife.  That we could be anonymous.  That things could be private.  But it's never been true.  Through every phase of development we lost more and more of privacy and anonymity.  We continue to give up a little more with every email and every website that we sign into via Facebook (Pinterest, Kayak, Voting for Dancing with the Stars....)  And yet, I still watch teenagers and adults a like online venting about their friends, family, colleagues, boyfriend, girlfriend, coaches, teachers or mailman.  They are sharing personal information about themselves and their emotional states.  They get angry or hurt and act rashly, and need somewhere to do or say something.  It seems making an emotionally charged statement online is the modern day equivalent of punching a wall.  I need to do something permanent.  I'm hurt.  I'm angry.  And I want to do something so big and bold that if for only one moment, I will have made a statement, garnered some pity, or at least feel something other than the misery I am feeling right now.  We are all guilty of it.  It may be an email response written back too quickly.  A poorly decided tweet.  A Facebook status you shouldn't have shared.  A blog post written in haste.  [If you have never made an emotional e-mistake, please comment below].  But the internet is not a safe place for this.  Everyone is watching.

And the thing is that most of these moments will pass.  Going for a run, curling up with a cup of tea, a good nights sleep will all help.  Also healthy conversation with parties involved (if that is the nature) and seeking resolution with an open and fair mind is an appropriate set of actions.  Personal journal writing or face-to-face dialogue with a spouse or close friend may help give you perspective.  These are all good choices. But being emotionally charged, getting behind a keyboard, and typing is not going to help.

So here is my suggestion.  When you are having a bad day, when you are hurt, upset, angry, frustrated, lonely or furious; if you have an issue with a parent, teacher, friend or loved one; if you are looking to hit a preverbal wall.....

Take a Twitter Timeout.  Shut down the computer. Put away your phone.  Turn off the iPad.  Logout of Facebook.  And take a self-imposed break.  Cool down, reflect, run, sleep, eat, cry, work out, read a book, play with lego, take a photo, play with your sister, do your homework, bake some cookies or any other activity.  Seriously.