Subverting the dominant paradigm…Week in a paragraph
Sorry Kevin, I can’t play by the rules. I know, I know it’s supposed to be “A Day in a Sentence”, but let’s face it, it’s been subverted and bastardized from the beginning. It’s done weekly, and so has been more of a reflection on a week, than a single day. It’s also been a haiku, which is short, but not a sentence.
I think we’ve all grown, and developed enough that we are ready to move on to the next level, the paragraph, and to move up to the next date increment, a week. So, without further ado, here is Week 16 in a Paragraph (the meme formerly known as Day in a Sentence). I’m asking for 3 to 5 sentences about how your week went. Submissions will be due on Saturday at 8 a.m. PDT, and posted here Sunday at 6 p.m. PDT.
It’s just for one week, and if you can’t manage more than a sentence, call it a microparagraph. Sorry, Kevin, [some] rules were meant to be broken.
It is spring and many a fifth grader’s fancy turns to love and they act the way we see on tv. And, that is a joy — isn’t it? Having to speak to fifth grades about not having public displays of affection. Well, at least it points out why we need to get our collective fifth grade teacher act together and plan out our unit on “Health.” If you don’t mind, Alice, I don’t think I”ll share with them your thoughts on how rules were meant to be broken.
I woke up sick this weekend and my daughter, running nose and hacking cough, looked at me and said, “Oh, probably because I drank out of your glass all day yesterday.” This came just after her proclamation that she wants to be a doctor. Oh my! In a meeting yesterday, my Dean just shook his head and said, “I had that–lasted two weeks. Good luck!” The only good thing about being sick is that fabulous feeling the morning you wake up and you are no longer sick and you feel like you have a new lease on life. I’ll hold onto that thought for now.
Here ya go:
“I introduced the concept of hyperlinks this week to my students as we moved into creating short hyper-linked poetry projects in PowerPoint (Can you tell that I still have alliteration on my brain?). They got it. Immediately. It was great. I remember once trying to teach teachers about hyperlinks and what I mostly got from them were just blank stares. One teacher even stormed out of the workshop. I’m not buying into the entire digital native-digital immigrant analogy that so neatly divides us into groups, but I do think kids are more apt to explore, experiment and invent. They just need a supportive space to do it.”
The podcast: http://www.box.net/shared/static/cncvrn8ggk.mp3
— Kevin
I stumbled upon the Reflective Teacher today and was bummed to see it gone, but happy to see the Day in a Sentence carried on. I hope it continues because I think it’s a great concept (would steal it for my blog if I thought I wouldn’t get caught! LOL)
Good Luck!
Hey! You CAN steal it! This baby gets around, if you know what I mean. Chat with Kevin, and take over hosting duties for a week. I did and I haven’t regretted it–yet.–Miz Mercer
It’s been a mixed week. My body aches badly after getting back into my three-night-a-week basketball regimen, but that’s moderated slightly after scoring the winning three-point basket. The day after writing a lengthy well-received post on how I got my “good class that went bad back to good again” they, of course, had a meltdown; but they bounced-back well. I’m way behind on some writing deadlines, but my wife bought me a box of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. So, it could be worse.
Is this where the paragraph goes? Well, all I can say is this week is better behind me than before me. I didn’t know that before the week started, but it turned out to be just kind of demeaning, which lead to depressing. The good news is that it is gloriously warm and Springlike here. The lupine and California Poppies are blooming rampantly. A trip to Table Mountain to hike among the wildflowers is in order, it looks like. Speaking of changing the paradigm.
The week began at the end of a trip to Washington, DC, so I started tired and stressed and then things got worse. By Wednesday, I was in the middle of a major meltdown, a rare event for me these days, and careened through the rest of the week trying to regain my balance. When I interviewed for my doctoral program, one of the major sources of my stress, one of my professors asked me if I was prepared to make sacrifices. I was, I confidently told him. I just didn’t know that I would sacrifice my dignity with a semi-public meltdown. Fortunately, the meltdown is what I did, not who I am. I’m home now, for the weekend, enjoying the cocoon of my own house and my own routine. Breathing deeply, trying to relax.
Elaine
I hope you do keep joining us for Day in a Sentence, in all of its mutations. We have about 65 teachers who periodically join in and we would love to have you, too.
You can either leave a message at my blog or email me at dogtrax(at)gmail(dot)com
Kevin
I have had the most amazing week, that started off with a high degree of nervousness as I had a class of 110 students sitting in their school theatre waiting to hear my lesson. Hmm…I hear you say! Well, that class was over in Canada, and I was sitting in my home in Australia, teaching them about our culture, school, town and our farm as they were studying Oceana. Images were shared via slideshare presentations embedded on a wiki and skype allowed me to talk to them and speak to each of the images. Such powerful learning!! ….plus, I got great feedback from the students, which I rarely get from my classes.
This week, while waiting impatiently for spring, I eased back into my life flow, thinking deeply about the tech strand of our upcoming Summer Institute. It helped to be able to get a lot of help from the techies I know at the NWP TL network! The conversation with my leadership team was messy as usual, but smoother than I expected. There’s still nothing like collaboration.
I’m enjoying this visit to you blog home, Alice.
Bonnie
On Monday I met students for one-on-one, what’s going on with your inquiry project meetings. One student, Jen, a teacher in her third year of high school teaching reported that she’s hooked on studying her teaching as she teaches. She takes notes as her students discuss history and make connections between historical events in the past and current events that are unfolding. She scribes and paraphrases their words. And they know it. “Cognitive networking” is her term for what happens when kids make sense and build ideas through classroom talk. I don’t really care what she calls it. I’m so pleased that she’s moved from asking questions that she knows the answers to and has gotten excited about her students’ thinking. That was my teaching highlight for the week – especially when considering where Jen started last September.
What started as a rough week of trying to make a grant proposal deadline is ending in Philadelphia for a Writing Project meeting – in excellent company; eating, eating, and more eating!
Sneezing and coughing my way through the week, I reveled in the quiet brought about by the early departures of several students. Some were voluntary (the band went to DC, and a lot of kids left early for vacation). Some were not (suspensions galore this week–there’s something in the water, I suppose). Coughed all Friday night and hopefully have expelled whatever demon’s been in my upper respiratory system. Just in time for spring break…
The week started full steam and quickly slowed to a snails pace. We are anxious for vacation to begin as well as winter to end. Shorts, tank tops and flip-flops topped the hit list this week. The dress code seems to be a hot topic as the weather warms. After all, students can’t learn if they are comfortable. I’m being a bit sarcastic here. I think we should pick our battles. If we want to demand a certain dress, then we should have uniforms. Enough said, as I don my shorts and sandals for a weekend of relaxation. Here’s hoping my student prudently come to school next week with appropriate clothing so that I will not have to watch them reprimanded for being 11. It’s time again for the annual letters to the principal on the merits of comfortable clothing. Ah, another writing opportunity! I feel a poem coming on too.
I don’t have the energy to write a paragraph after this busy week of visiting friends, playing at the playground and cleaning house.
This was the week of bus riding! One fieldtrip to the coast to see the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Steinbeck Center, another to the local college for a stint on the ropes course. We finished the week with Clinique makeovers from our local department store and a pizza lunch as a reward for perfect attendance for the CaHSEE. All this amidst a huge cutback for our department and refiguring what we will all teach next year. It’s never dull where I work and live.
Spring moved from a slow creep to all out daffodil war – they were gathering in hushed bunches on the roadside, on street corners, and by the basement windows of local houses. Who knows what they’re capable of, with their shrugging foliage and agreeably bobbing heads!
This was our first week back after a 2 week break. We spent the week giving standardized test practice (boring) to our 3rd grade class. They will do the testing next week. This week has been a little frustrating on a professional level. Some colleagues are choosing to compete instead of collaborate. I will be looking for some more positive partnerships for upcoming projects.
Seniors and sophomores react similarly to the spring. It makes them crazy and lazy. Ugh.