Quick Writes and Positive Praise

“Thank you.” “You are doing a great job.” Words that teachers say quite often to their students, but words you don’t often hear from your principal.


Today was one of those days that I received quite a bit of positive praise. I have to admit, it was pretty awesome, and I am one that really does not take compliments well. I always try to deflect compliments with some sort of witty joke.


Last week, our school librarian approached me to demonstrate a quick write strategy for several of my co-workers. My initial reaction was no.


But, then I thought about it. I am teaching a new class in a new program—no one really knows what I do all day.


I don’t do a lot of direct teach. This week, however, I was teaching my kids about the engineering design process. I found a cool video clip about the yike bike. It is a really cool electric bicycle that is also extremely compact.


Check it out at www.yikebike.com.

(It is really neat and the kids were super psyched about it—along with my principal and my fellow co-workers.)
We watched the short clip and then I had the kids open up their portfolios for their quick writes.


They have been keeping a collection of their best work throughout the year and they have some great stuff already. (I figured we could show off a bit for our audience.)


The kids did a great job. In their quick writes, they used words like eco-friendly, green technology, and one even said that the yike bike was “astonishing.”


I had several kids share out their answers and then our guests left to debrief.


I was so nervous. I had to reapply my deodorant in between classes.

After school we had a staff meeting to discuss some quick write strategies and what people had seen throughout the day.


People liked what they saw in my classroom. They liked that the kids were engaged and the portfolios. My principal told me about five times what an awesome job I did. (I kept thinking how I didn’t teach!)


As I was leaving work, he told me again and that he was really glad he hired me.


I told him in my six years of teaching I had never had a real thank you/good job from a principal.


It sure was nice.

Back to School Night

Thursday night we had our back to school night. I was nervous, but, when I get nervous I tend to be overly enthusiastic. Not ditzy, but I go into saleswoman mode. (Perhaps it is a flashback from my Enterprise Rent-a-Car days.)

We were on a bell schedule and I had over 60 parents attend. Most of them were parents of 6th graders, but I was glad to see them nonetheless.

I had a PowerPoint looping in the background from a Lego League Presentation I attended the weekend prior. In the PowerPoint I included some very interesting findings from a study by the National Academy of Engineering. Aside from the fact that kids overwhelmingly know nothing about STEM education, this study further emphasized that we need to change the way we talk to our kids about engineering.


The NAE recommends that parents and teachers should:

•Stop reinforcing the images of “nerdy and boring”

•Stop focusing on math & science as the needed inputs and instead focus on:

•Outputs

•Career opportunities

•Making a difference in the world

•Use the word create, not build

I thought their findings were fascinating. Up until about three years ago, I always thought of engineers as nerds who sat behind a desk all day. I thought if you wanted to be an engineer you had to excel at math and science. I didn’t think I would ever be an engineer.

Now, I am the STEM/Technology lady. I have been able to go to some awesome STEM trainings and while I am nowhere near an expert, it is a new passion of mine.

The parents were excited about my presentation and I had several who came up to me afterwards and told me that my class is their child’s favorite.

I think the kids like learning about “stuff” they have always wondered about. They get to use computers and work on projects, they get to build...er, create "stuff", program robots, and learn about different STEM careers.

On Friday I had to smile when class was dismissed and I overheard one boy ask another boy, “so what are you going to do when you grow up?”

Weird Weekend

It was a weird weekend.

I loved the fact that I got an extra day off to sleep in. I used it to recover from some strange sickness I picked up. It figures, a long weekend and I am sick. I always get sick over holidays/spring break.

These wild fires are absolutely crazy. It seems like half of central Texas is on fire. We went to my husband’s school today and you could see the smoke in the distance—and it was almost 30 miles away. I cannot imagine looking out your window and seeing black smoke all around you. That must be horrifying.

The varsity football team that my “old man” works for won their home opener 40-0. Funny, the local news show somehow got the score wrong and for the longest time—people who weren’t at the game thought the team lost 40-0.

Another bit of oddness, one of my old students, who is now 15, is rumored to have slept with a 36 year old woman. Some say this woman was actually the mother of his girlfriend, and the woman’s husband walked in on them. Apparently this happened in April, but the parents are outraged because the woman keeps hanging around the football team. No charges have been filed as of yet.

Lastly, my mom and dad sold their house in Michigan. They will be moving to Texas after my mom completes this school year. This is great news, but that means my parents have to clean out 30 years of junk from their house. My mom called me today, and she mentioned we still had a lot of toys there. The barbies I can live without, but I really want to keep my old Cabbage Patch Kids. My sister thinks I am totally strange. It’s not like I think they will be collectibles, but I want my kids to be able to play with them one day.

I know, I don’t have kids—but if I did, I would want them to. That’s not weird? Right?

This week starts on a Tuesday, so my hope is all the weird sickness/fires/football drama/toys for unborn baby business will be over.