Digital Sea

Romeo (Yawn) and Juliet

One of the main reasons that I have little faith in my blog is becuase I read a lot of education blogs.  I always find myself thinking, "that's what I'm thinking! Why didn't I say it like that!"   And, of course, as soon as I get up the courage to blog again, Ewan McIntosh comments on my blog.  His blog is one of my favorites; he's up there with Will and David Warlick and them.  Thanks for the comment, it means a lot.

Anyway, I observed again this morning.  It was... interesting.  The students are listening to a scene of Romeo and Juliet, then they read a "dumbed down" version, and then they go over the study guide as a class. I know.  Fun, right.  On top of all this, they're really not doing any writing at all.  They're not doing anything that would matter to them, and I'm pretty sure they're all going to hate Romeo and Juliet.  Eh, it's not my favorite play either, but that's not the point.  During class today, I decided to make a list of everything I could think of that my host teacher could do to get the students writing and interested.

First off, the students' homework grade is 50% of their grade.  But, they do it together in class.  On top of that, they're allowed to hand it in late.  I would at least require them to write a one-pager on why I should accept their late homework.  It's meaningful and gets them writing.  Fundamentally, though, I would do things differently, and I'll keep it at that. 

The good news is that my host teacher is going to let me try any mini-lesson that I want, so I'm going to take advantage of that.  I also get to observe other teachers in the building in the off-periods, and there are some pretty neat things going on.  Alas, there is hope.

Also, a big "thank you" to Sarah for your comment on my previous post.  I'm no Erin Gruwell, but I would step out on a limb and hope that money won't be that big of an issue for me, personally.  I mean, I have a recent obsession of buying things on eBay.  I got a brand new copy of The Lord of the Rings, a complete collection of the trilogy, for 5 dollars yesterday.  I saw a copy of an Edgar Allan Poe collection for 99 cents too.  I guess I'm with you in saying that I would make it work; it would be nice, though, to have the school dish out the dough...

Time to head up to campus and work on The Big Read.  The kickoff is soon!

Ugh. I need to get a job.  I need to get a Mac.  My computer is killing me.

Dip Down or Face Facts

I just got back from a great weekend with my girlfriend's parents celebrating my birthday.  I realized something.  I've been neglecting my blog becuase I didn't think that I was truly writing  anything worthwhile.  My posts had become more of the this-is-what-I-did-today nature.

One of my fellow classmates noticed that I have not been posting, and I told her why.  She just replied by saying, "it's hard to write something 'worthwhile' isn't it." 

After this, I found myself sitting down, writing, and just pressing the delete key.  I couldn't convince myself that anything was relevant.

After speaking with my girlfriend's parents, I realized that I can't do that.  So, here's my feeble attempt to regain control of my blog life.  I'm still going to avoid writing about my life, because this is not the place for that; however, I am going to blog more regularly--not everyday, though. 

I'm at Cortland High School right now.  It's bigger and seems to have more money than Moravia.  One different experience that I am having is one which I am not used to.  I find myself, since I live in Cortland, seeing my students around town.  This is an awkward situation.  Maybe it shouldn't be, but I don't know whether I should tilt my head down and walk away or just say "hi." 

As you could probably guessed, I've chosen to dip my head down and keep on truckin'.  Just something for me to think about as I get closer to becoming certified.