Moving on Up
My preparation this year for starting school has been a little heavy on maximizing the aesthetic value of my classroom and a bit light on curriculum/lesson plan writing. Eh--it'll all balance out eventually. Quite honestly, I'm trying my best to make my classroom the coolest and most organized in the school. I would be completely successful if it weren't for the inconveniently placed power/internet hookups in my room. It means that my student computers are crammed into the seating/chalkboard/focus area of my room. Maybe eventually I can rig up a way to move them into the big open space that is currently kind of wasted. At any rate, I like the setup way more than last year, when the seats/risers were arranged such that the door to the classroom was the focus of attention.
In an attempt to brighten things up and make my classroom look more professional, I painted two sections of wall--one in a bold sky blue and the other "happy camper" green. I figure that if no one else appreciates it, at least it will improve my mood a bit each morning. I was at home depot this afternoon wandering around the garden section, dreaming of hanging some inexpensive hanging potted plants from the ceiling as well. Mmmm...green. Anyone have such hanging plants they'd like to donate?--you know, the real viney, easy-t0-care-for ones.
Speaking of improving my classroom (weak transition), all three of my funded proposals from DonorsChoose have been ordered and are on their way to my classroom. And I've started working on some new proposals as well--beginning with the lofty goal of a multimedia projector to display powerpoint presentations, internet media, pictures and movies up on a screen so everyone can see. It's not a huge priority, but it would take student engagement with technology in my classroom to a new level. You can read that proposal (and of course donate towards it...all you rich folk) here: Increasing Engagement with Multimedia Communication. I'm working on a few more proposals as well, including one for some recording software and also some microphones and such. (And check this out if you need to get caught up on my DonorsChoose saga.)
Another exciting thing this year is the fact that I no longer teach five classes of required general music. Now I teach four of those and have one class of students who signed up specifically (that's right they chose of their own will) to be in a choir. It won't all be smooth sailing as I'm pretty sure some of them signed up for it knowing that it won't require much academic work, but I'll show them. Bwa-hahaha (evil crazy teacher laugh).
I'm also glad to have been assigned a freshman division (homeroom). These kids are going to show up Tuesday morning in my room with fresh, unspoiled minds and I'm going to shape those minds if it's the last thing I do. Divisions are kind of cool (also terrible in many ways) in that these same students will now be in my division until they graduate, unless of course they aren't promoted each year, which won't be an issue for MY students. I and the other freshman division teachers are going to wallop them with some recently published statistics about Chicago Public Schools freshmen. Not surprisingly, having a GPA at the end of freshman year lower than a C drastically reduces one's statistical chances of graduating. The same goes for having failed a class or having poor attendance. Simply put, if we can get them to come to school, they'll have a pretty good chance of making. But that's a big challenge at our school where last year our average attendance rate was under 80%. Ouch.
And my final encouraging note on which I end this post: yesterday I happened to glance at a DVD player in the dumpster in our alley. Looks old but perfectly fine, I thought. Sure enough, it works. And it'll work real well in my classroom where I had to borrow one last year any time I wanted to show a movie or film clip. I programmed one of the universal remotes we've got lying around to operate it and I'm in business. I can't wait to tell my students that I found it in a dumpster. "Oohh..Mr. (me)...you's ghetto!" That's right--and proud of it.
In an attempt to brighten things up and make my classroom look more professional, I painted two sections of wall--one in a bold sky blue and the other "happy camper" green. I figure that if no one else appreciates it, at least it will improve my mood a bit each morning. I was at home depot this afternoon wandering around the garden section, dreaming of hanging some inexpensive hanging potted plants from the ceiling as well. Mmmm...green. Anyone have such hanging plants they'd like to donate?--you know, the real viney, easy-t0-care-for ones.
Speaking of improving my classroom (weak transition), all three of my funded proposals from DonorsChoose have been ordered and are on their way to my classroom. And I've started working on some new proposals as well--beginning with the lofty goal of a multimedia projector to display powerpoint presentations, internet media, pictures and movies up on a screen so everyone can see. It's not a huge priority, but it would take student engagement with technology in my classroom to a new level. You can read that proposal (and of course donate towards it...all you rich folk) here: Increasing Engagement with Multimedia Communication. I'm working on a few more proposals as well, including one for some recording software and also some microphones and such. (And check this out if you need to get caught up on my DonorsChoose saga.)
Another exciting thing this year is the fact that I no longer teach five classes of required general music. Now I teach four of those and have one class of students who signed up specifically (that's right they chose of their own will) to be in a choir. It won't all be smooth sailing as I'm pretty sure some of them signed up for it knowing that it won't require much academic work, but I'll show them. Bwa-hahaha (evil crazy teacher laugh).
I'm also glad to have been assigned a freshman division (homeroom). These kids are going to show up Tuesday morning in my room with fresh, unspoiled minds and I'm going to shape those minds if it's the last thing I do. Divisions are kind of cool (also terrible in many ways) in that these same students will now be in my division until they graduate, unless of course they aren't promoted each year, which won't be an issue for MY students. I and the other freshman division teachers are going to wallop them with some recently published statistics about Chicago Public Schools freshmen. Not surprisingly, having a GPA at the end of freshman year lower than a C drastically reduces one's statistical chances of graduating. The same goes for having failed a class or having poor attendance. Simply put, if we can get them to come to school, they'll have a pretty good chance of making. But that's a big challenge at our school where last year our average attendance rate was under 80%. Ouch.
And my final encouraging note on which I end this post: yesterday I happened to glance at a DVD player in the dumpster in our alley. Looks old but perfectly fine, I thought. Sure enough, it works. And it'll work real well in my classroom where I had to borrow one last year any time I wanted to show a movie or film clip. I programmed one of the universal remotes we've got lying around to operate it and I'm in business. I can't wait to tell my students that I found it in a dumpster. "Oohh..Mr. (me)...you's ghetto!" That's right--and proud of it.
Labels: donorschoose, teaching
posted by philidendron at 4:26 PM permalink |
1Comments:
Nice work with the DVD player! I just got some shelves out of the trash....and a file crate. Do you know where the statistic is on freshmen passing and their likelihood of graduating? Also:I'm writing this from my classroom--on Labour Day. Pathetic.
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