Tag: education

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Time to look back at What I believe

LEADERSHIP CREED

 

I believe that character is more important than intelligence.

 

I believe the process of learning and growing is a development of integrity and beauty of character.

 

I believe in order to achieve success one must make mistakes along the journey.

 

I believe each individual has a star within which needs to be fostered.

 

I believe in high expectations for self and others, coupled with an appreciation for the diversity of strengths that individuals bring to a group.

 

I believe learning is a life long process and that one should be constantly renewing, refining and refreshing.

 

I believe in listening more than talking.

 

 

I believe greatness is achieved by gratitude, discipline, and choice;

not circumstance.

 

I believe life should be lived intentionally to find one’s gift, and helping others find their gift.

 

I believe in the empowerment of children to be independent, critical thinkers.

 

I believe life is 98% attitude and 2% circumstance.

 

 

MISSION STATEMENT

 

Encourage everyone I face daily

Endeavor to facilitate a lifelong love of learning

Enrich others’ lives through my inspiration and experiences

 

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Salt Preserves, Balances and Seasons

Recently, I attended a “thank you” luncheon at my church. They just wanted to honor the educators and pray over us for the coming school year. What!? Yep! Pretty darn cool.
They gave us a small bottle of salt as a reminder to what we can be in others’ lives. Salt has many functions, and moreover it is a necessity in all of our lives.

First, it is a PRESERVATIVE

 

As an educator, I can pour into my students’ lives positive messages. However, I exist for one reason only; to preserve the grace and faithfulness of God.

 

Next, I want to be used to SEASON my classroom with God’s love and His grace. Being an example, as Christ was for me, is what my walk on this earth signifies.

 

However, salt has to be used in proper BALANCE. Too much, it causes piety. Too little, it may be thought as weakness. I see SALT as a BALANCE of grace and truth.

 

So, being salt and working with ONE LIFE AT A TIME; this is what Jesus did. He didn’t try to change people. He just loved one at a time; one life at a time.

 

He was interruptible. Isn’t it so true that being available is what makes one so attractive? I take time and I don’t rush through tasks… Relationships over task.

 

Maybe I can create inspiration; I can create WONDER in a child. He/she may be better because I loved on him/her. A prayer for the year.

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Reflection on my 2010-2011 school year: New School

I love this quote by Theodore Roosevelt because it reminds me of my classroom. Parents have entrusted me with their children. May I always remember each one is SPECIAL.

If you poll the typical “teacher on the street,” this is what would he or she would say about why he/she entered education:

“I want to make a difference in children.”

“I want to ignite the spark of curiosity in children and help them discover their potential.”

“I want to share my passion for the love of learning.”

Obvious as these statements sound, most public school teachers would scoff at such statements after a year of “duty.” In fact, I used to be ridiculed for my idealist attitude when I entered the world of education eight years ago after many years in the corporate world. Sadly, I soon discovered that if I was going to make it in the system, I had to succumb to the checklist of standards which were to be tested biweekly to prepare for the Super Bowl of tests. School became a football season with the culminating AIMS event in April. Unfortunately the administration’s hands were tied because they answered to the state, and the government paid the bills.  Yes, it was the scores which kept the state happy; not whether children were learning, growing, or becoming responsible, kind, resourceful citizens. The system has sacrificed our artistic, unique, creative youths simultaneously zapping our passionate, innovative and learned teachers. We’ve morphed into a test-taking, dumbed-down culture, virtually ignoring the right brain of the child, and disregarding anything below the neck.

Enter Tesseract. I’ll never forget the first day I walked into this “fourth” dimension-Definitely a square (cubed) peg not WANTING to fit into the round hole of normal schooling. The posted mission statement was not just talk…it was the WALK!

1.     Fostering EACH student’s intellect, love of learning, and strength of character? What? I can form a RELATIONSHIP  with a child one at a time, finding something special about him/her, and foster it!? Unheard of in a class size of 40 students x 5 classes.

2.      An innovative and collaborative environment? What? I work closely with the educators during the day, and the  professional development is all about enhancing our connectedness in and out of the classroom? The WHOLE child is taught, and I am a COG in the wheel of learning vs a separate compartment. The students make connections with the curriculum so it makes SENSE to them.

3.     Prepare students to be REAL people; To lead a life of purpose and with character and to see the world as a whole? What? I can encourage, equip, and inspire children to TRULY make a difference in their world, as I make a difference in their lives? Who has time to invest this energy or time into the children in public school when the teachers are frantically trying to practice test and increase their scores? The pressure adds up, so this doesn’t happen in the public schools.

Proudly and with honor, now I can truly say, I’m walking the talk of what education should be about and my “idealism” is realized.

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Defending my Doctorate….I finished!

I made it!!

I defended on April 2nd and passed.

Graduation is May 12th, 2010. WOW, it’s finally here.

Here is my topic: Because Writing Counts! Discovering the Perceptions of Middle School Content Teachers About Writing in Their Classrooms

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this qualitative interview study was to examine the factors of teachers’ perceptions and choices about writing across all disciplines in an urban, highly ELL populated middle school more closely. Four teachers were studied in depth, and data collected included in-depth interviews. Findings indicated three main assertions related to the research questions which sought to understand if teachers see a link to writing and learning, how teachers perceive and utilize writing in their content area classroom, as well as what factors influenced their implementation practices. These assertions are that: (a) Writing is both process and product providing proper evidence to be a mode of learning. They claim that it is helpful for processing, clarifying, reflecting, and also can solidify what has been learned. In some cases, it also provides a record or product of what has been learned providing confidence in the learner, which is significant for the ELL student. The research has unquestionably proven that the cognitive operations that students utilize during the writing process have helped illuminate the real power of writing;  (b) Teachers usage of writing (for literacy for ELL and English fluent students) depends on the goal or purpose, the timing, and the audience; This included writing to learn strategies that draw on past knowledge, prepare for new learning, review and/or fuse relevant knowledge, and to then extend knowledge; (c) Teachers are influenced by both internal and external factors which affects their implementation efforts. I found that staff development classes had the biggest influence on these teachers, but there were many areas of writing in content areas, especially the junior high areas of math and science, in which teachers could use more writing to learn strategies, and how to couple their already practicing cooperative learning strategies with writing through a staff development class or modeling. This study is in preparation for designing an intervention for staff development on teaching writing to learn strategies in any middle school; especially one with a high ELL population.