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New Summer Challenges and Reflection

I have got to start doing more than one pos a year.  the last post I made was towards the end of summer school last years.  Well summer school just ended for me this year.  It has been a very strange year for all of us.  the district I work for offered free online summer school this year.  We used the online software package that had been adapted from our Credit Recovery program to fill the last grading period when all the schools closed for Covid-19.  Ideally a student would simply work their way through the first half of the online curriculum in the three weeks of summer school and the score would reflect their mastery of first semester skills.  I held two Zoom meetings a day to supplement instruction and offer specific tutoring. This was not exactly how it worked out. Makeup Credit English for freshmen is an interesting and challenging experience  face to face.  These are not the students who are self driven learners.  They are all coming to your class having met a major defeat in
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Recent posts

Victimized Thinking

I have said and I have heard countless other say things like, "I learn more from my students thanI can ever hope to teach them."  Today I had an experience that serves as and example of how students can become the instructor. Teaching summer school is rarely boring.  I teach makeup credit English and each time I have had some major revelations about all of  my students, past present and future.  This year has been no exception.  We had just finished reading an article about Anne Frank and our discussion  steered it's way into  a comparison of hardships today and back then.  Obviously  none of my students felt they had it worse than Anne Frank, but the conversation took an unexpected turn into a comparison of my generations's hardships  to the young people of today. A young lady emphatically stated that because of the internet, social media and personal electronic devices their life was much more complicated and difficult than mine or generations before me was.  in
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Behind The Scenes

5/29 I keep mentioning how life is unfolding in my videos that focus on my struggle with anxiety and depression.  I thought I would share with those who were curious what that phrase actually meant.  Just prior to videoing the last installment (number 7)  of My Struggle with Anxiety and Depression:  A Teachers Story I had a very difficult 72 hours.  My mother-in-law fell, who lives with us,  in the early morning hours. and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. A student who had become very much like family to me decided to keep a stash of weed in my classroom inside her purse.  On my way home I discovered my mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer.  A friend of my son's tried to commit suicide in my house, she is better now.  And in the evening my mother had a stroke and is in the hospital on the same floor with my mother-in-law.   Needless to say I am worn out.  My wife is exhausted and school just keeps moving forward  at a relentless pace.  When I talked about the ma
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The Class Size Debate Is WRONG

There’s a huge controversy boiling across The teaching and education landscape right now. Some people are saying Betsy DeVos has rekindled the flame of "Larger Class Sizes and Fewer Teachers." Others are saying That it flies in the face of common sense. Smaller classes and more teachers is the way to go. But you know what?  This is not a new debate!   "While DeVos is under siege for her comment, she’s not the first secretary of education to suggest schools might be wiser to invest in stronger teachers rather than smaller classes. Arne Duncan, secretary of education for most of Obama’s tenure, argued, “We spent billions of dollars to reduce class size when we could instead give teachers higher salaries in exchange for larger classrooms, thereby attracting much more talented teachers.”  https://www.ajc.com/blog/get-schooled/betsy-devos-reignites-debate-whether-class-size-matters/VDHjWAD0HvkusJ666SJNxM/ They’re all wrong. Every. Single. Person. That
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Dealing With Personal Crisis

Tomorrow is my first day back.  Anxiety is running high.  I have had some personal family drama that kept me up till 2:30 ish this morning, which has made it difficult to get into the right mindset for tomorrow. Crisis is a part of life.  We all face it, and if we want to be effective and successful with what we do we have to deal with the crises that come our way.  But what if the stress and anxiety build to the point you just cannot get your game on, you remain ineffective or slide into depression?  If you find yourself in this situation, go see a doctor.  Most likely your GP can help you out. Second, find someone to talk to.  do not slide into depression and then wallow in it alone.  That is simply a recipe for disaster.  It is also good to make a list of everything that is causing you stress, and then number them based on which is worse with number one being the worst.  this lets you see a visual representation of those challenges in your life that you are facing.  Take a good
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New year = New Beginnings

Yesterday I spent about 5 hours on my home campus working with new teachers.  It was an amazing day.  I love the energy at the beginning of the year.  Enthusiasm is high and it feels like I can do anything I put my mind to.  the awesome thing is that it is not just my enthusiasm.  It is almost 100% across all faculty and staff.  We are renewing work relationships and friendships, planning for classes and for the entire year, and the anticipation of the first day with students is firmly planted and growing. This is it.  It is GO time.  It is time to script the first day, readjust sleep schedules, and organize the classroom.  If you follow me on Google+   checkout the videos I will be highlighting over the next week or so.  They are specific to this time of year.  and may help you save some time and make some things a little easier for you. My anxiety level is high.  This year I plan on including you in my journey through anxiety and the menatlups ad downs that I usually try to mask
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Hello Friend

Hello friend! Back to school is getting closer every day.  I suggest you take a look at my back to school video  for teachers.   I have started waking up at night with a growing list of things I need to get done.  one of the top things on that list is purging my teacher stuff.  I will be making a video of the process starting Monday.  My goal is "...at least one box a day."  this will get me through most boxes before I go back on contract on August 13.  And since I wont be on my campus until August 20, I think I will be able to finish the task by then.  I will be sharing my "Purge rules".  I am looking forward to taking control of my stuff.  Also you can expect a video on dealing with power struggles, and a book review in the near future.  Thanks for staying with the project. chris
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