tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55296665011697168102024-03-04T23:48:33.568-05:00Eat. Pray. Teach.Live. Learn. Love.Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-42385383387299418792018-09-19T13:18:00.000-04:002018-09-19T14:49:39.304-04:00"Oh, we're not doing that here."<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSo5Pe73vOFdisOovCs3hvdjjeky0SHIE6dVVZwdlTRChZLcGei0g" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for #teachersofinstagram" border="0" height="200" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSo5Pe73vOFdisOovCs3hvdjjeky0SHIE6dVVZwdlTRChZLcGei0g" width="200" /></a>It’s no secret that I often feel like an outsider. At work. In life. My mom has always told me that my expectations for myself and others are unrealistic. I’ve always resented that. But my therapist thinks my mom might be right. I think. But maybe that’s just what I am expecting her to say. Anyways, I often feel like an outsider at work. Sometimes I am. Sometimes it’s just the story I tell myself. So I search online for communities of like-minded people. I am on twitter, Instagram, and facebook. I gave up on Snapchat. There are just no good educational uses for Snapchat. On twitter, I’ve found some friends. No, really, some people I would <i>actually</i> now called friends. It’s hard to meet other teachers in real life because you’re stuck in your building all day, but online, you <i>can</i> make teacher friends, even if they live a few suburbs over or across a state or across the country. On Instagram, I mostly just gawk at people. I gave up on the #teachersofinstagram tag because it was just making me feel bad. How can photos of teachers make you feel bad, you might ask? Well, I’m glad you did. On Instagram, there are teachers who have the perfect font. The perfect bulletin boards. The perfect background paper. The perfect matching neon rainbow-colored book bins with color-coded binders and ribbons to match. The perfect file cabinets painted in black chalk paint with turquoise blue washi tape around the edges. The perfect library. And even the perfect teacher clothes. Nope. No thank you. I can’t. I literally cannot. I can’t even. Where do I even start? With my color-clashing pilfered book bins and scraps of cardboard laying around, there isn’t much that looks “perfect,” I’m sure. But this is dangerous for a perfectionist like me. (I seriously WANT the perfect turquoise with white polka-dotted ribbon!) And I have to physically say OUT LOUD “It’s okay NOT to APPEAR perfect.” That is hard. But, I can do hard things.</div>
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So, I started joining teacher groups on Facebook. This can also become a slippery slope in the same capacity as “Teachers of Instagram” and you have to weed out some things. Groups where teachers sell things. No thanks. Groups where teachers post their TPT worksheets with cutesy little sketched children with chubby cheeks and swirly boarders. No thanks again. Don’t get me wrong. I like a good worksheet if it’s serving the purpose. But I don’t do worksheets regularly. And I don’t make stuff with cutesy kids. Give me a simple paper with a purpose. Or give me another way to learn it. <i>Tangent.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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But then I found some groups that I thought were going great. Assistive Technology group. Nice! STEM Teacher Tribe. Good good. Teachers Using Google Classroom. I like it. Teach with Tech. Good. I can’t say I have found my people, but at least I have a community where I can go to ask and answer questions and feel like I am actively getting better at this thing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Until last week. Last week, a first-year teacher in one of these groups posted a question. The post started with “Help with STEM Classroom Management!” Now, I’ll stop. When someone posts that they need help, I’m on it. I like to be helpful. I also have a certificate in behavior intervention so I’m thinking, “Yes! I can help.” </div>
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Now, I read on… “ I gave out a class syllabus and safety paper that needed to be signed by guardians and the student and returned. I have only gotten a handful back from each class. I have added it as a grade to try to motivate the students who did not turn it in to get it in. What do I do for the students who challenge me and refuse to turn it in? I really want to hold them accountable.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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MmmmmK. So, my irritation levels start mildly rising, but sure. Someone told her (or showed her in the past) that assigning a grade to something useless is a good motivator. Errrgh. The kids who are motivated by points and grades have already returned the paper. The kids who care to return the paper have already returned the paper and the parents who care, yep, those kids have returned the paper already too. But, you can’t just say that on the internet, can you?<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, I read on in her post and she goes on to say that they are about to complete an activity with marshmallows involved and wants to know what to do with kids who eat the marshmallows when she told them not to. She told these kids she would send them to the office and they ate the marshmallows anyway.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Listen, these are not hard concepts, <i>are they?</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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When I got this post, there were already dozens of comments from other “experienced” teachers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“ Follow through and send them to the office.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Give them worksheets while they watch other kids do fun activities until they return the paper.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Take away all the tools.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Make them sit and watch.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Worksheet them to death.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Well, now my irritation levels have risen significantly.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, I start my reply with “Wow, I’m shocked by the responses to this…”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>First, grades should be reserved for the assessment and reporting of learning, no? NO LEARNING occurs by having a paper signed. Sure, maybe you want that paper signed. <i>But for a grade?</i> No.</div>
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Second, classroom management does not occur just because you think it should. You have to take some time to form relationships. And if you aren’t letting kids eat marshmallows during the marshmallow activity, they sure as heck aren’t going to do much for you. <i>Just sayin'.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Third, “worksheet them to death?” My God! No wonder kids hate school and start to hate teachers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Having said that, I tried to <i>diplomatically</i> say such things in the Facebook group. <o:p></o:p></div>
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To which I got responses such as “I’m offended.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Okay,</i> I thought. <i>We’re not doing<b> that</b> here.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://momastery.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/survivor-about.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for glennon" border="0" height="200" src="https://momastery.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/survivor-about.jpg" width="145" /></a>Who remembers <a href="https://momastery.com/blog/2013/02/13/begin-again/" target="_blank">that story by Glennon Doyle, </a>one of my most favorite authors? She started out on Facebook by filling out one of those age-old questionnaires asking “personal” questions. And after she pressed post, walked away, and then returned, she realized “<i>Oh, we’re not doing <b>that</b> here.”</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“That” </b>= being honest.<o:p></o:p></div>
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People are so uncomfortable with honesty.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But shouldn’t we be happy that someone is questioning our practices and making us better teachers?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Shouldn’t we welcome another teacher asking about our motives and checking us on the things we do out of habit or convenience?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Shouldn’t we be begging for other teachers to just engage with us about our teaching practice and making us better?<o:p></o:p></div>
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But no. Apparently, <i>we aren’t doing that here.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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So, where<i> are </i>we doing that?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://momastery.com/blog/" target="_blank">Glennon</a> does it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/" target="_blank">Liz</a> does it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://brenebrown.com/" target="_blank">Brene</a> does it too.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/shondarhimes/?hl=en" target="_blank">Shonda</a> does it and <a href="https://luvvie.org/" target="_blank">Luvvie</a> too.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.oprah.com/index.html" target="_blank">Oprah</a> seems like she does it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><b>So TEACHERS, where ARE we doing that?</b></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-15517951420326883722018-04-06T15:04:00.000-04:002018-04-06T15:29:56.464-04:00This is not that post.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZXTVLk5Pr-3wlQVNz0etkZaDlEy3FIPxY7DZ3bxrwDZJvTcIMZLkEI-IGdndvWfngi4ECq0EggPbDV1BPWI8IIAB5ChfphlYjCWDmKpgxfq5Q7g_5AXAcL38mgh6N0YviKzokigpu7lM/s1600/mybesthearts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="481" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZXTVLk5Pr-3wlQVNz0etkZaDlEy3FIPxY7DZ3bxrwDZJvTcIMZLkEI-IGdndvWfngi4ECq0EggPbDV1BPWI8IIAB5ChfphlYjCWDmKpgxfq5Q7g_5AXAcL38mgh6N0YviKzokigpu7lM/s320/mybesthearts.JPG" width="244" /></a></div>
My co-teacher and very dear friend died on March 9th, 2018. It's been almost a month. It doesn't feel like it's been almost a month. Her name was Sharon. And she was my very dear friend. She called us "soul sisters" to anyone who would hear it at the hospital and once at the hospice place. She was pretty amazing and although she annoyed me every once in awhile with her "Technosaurus Rex" joke and corresponding technology skills, I miss her immensely. While I intend to write a longer post about her (it's already written in my head), this is not that post...<br />
One thing Sharon always encouraged me to do (that I never did) was to share my artwork with the world. She actually wanted me to try to sell my artwork, but I'm a long way from that. While I am not so sure about this, I trust that Sharon knew what she was talking about.<br />
Here it goes... <a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/zIJbZIE7scYNLYWw2" target="_blank">You can click here to see my most recent artwork, mostly from 2016 and 2017. </a></div>
Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-42850836788891487272016-12-01T14:08:00.001-05:002017-06-09T14:06:09.010-04:00Be a DOer, Not a Dreamer... Or Be Both<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYGXmwJRWE9VPwWkhQxG1_WMdKlU7p4K9gmM3ndiWD1giOXsrEpTkxtbXm_PqW0BGx8H3Sfr9SBQhEh8cHu7sJseRrLSFoAedw2JSF7PP2ocsIEvqpcCpLx7qUcWhFcVNGQl-VHvP6go/s1600/1make.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYGXmwJRWE9VPwWkhQxG1_WMdKlU7p4K9gmM3ndiWD1giOXsrEpTkxtbXm_PqW0BGx8H3Sfr9SBQhEh8cHu7sJseRrLSFoAedw2JSF7PP2ocsIEvqpcCpLx7qUcWhFcVNGQl-VHvP6go/s200/1make.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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As award-winning writer and tv producer Shonda Rimes said to the 2014 graduating class of Dartmouth College, “Be a doer, not a dreamer,” I’m a doer. I like solutions. I like decisions. I like to make decisions and try solutions and if they don’t work, I like to try a new solution. I like to help other people make decisions and find solutions, and when I found myself “taking a break” from the only career I had ever known (teaching students with mild, moderate, and intensive disabilities), I had to DO something. I found myself in a job that I found lackluster; something about doing the same reading interventions over and over with little technology integration didn’t thrill me. While I have found ways to make it more entertaining for students, I still find the process a little dry. I needed to DO something else. I needed to DO something else that could integrate all students, all types of learners and DOers into the school community.</div>
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What I started DOING with my professional (and personal) learning network blossomed into a movement at Highland Drive Elementary School (grades K-3) in Brecksville, Ohio that I had never planned for or imagined. Six to ten educators hanging out on the weekend at a community woodworking shop in the city moved to a “club” during lunch and recess time which then transformed into the Highland Drive makerspace (aka “the STEAM room”); an entire classroom space complete with a mini library of “makers” books like Ish by Peter H. Reynolds, <u>The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes</u> by Gary Rubinstein, <u>Ada Twist, Scientist </u>by Andrea Beaty, and the<u> Smithsonian Maker Lab</u> by Jack Challoner. </div>
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Thanks to donations from parents and staff, a grant from the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Schools Foundation, and an additional grant from a group called the GPD Employee’s Foundation (an organization that provides grant money to Northeast and Central Ohio as well as Atlanta, Indianapolis, Louisville, Phoenix, and Seattle), our makerspace boasts three desktop computers, access to 14 iPads (shared with the Reading Intervention program), 15 LEGO Education WeDo Kits and accompanying software, scrapbook paper, pipe cleaners, scissors, glue, googly eyes, a LEGO wall, and more! </div>
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The makerspace is used for every Thursday and Friday at lunch and recess for “Makers’ Club.” With help from my reading co-teacher Sharon Wiesler, second and third grade students are invited to the makerspace to work on a “challenge” or “project” each week during their lunch and recess times. They follow the design process and start by identifying a problem. They then take time to brainstorm and plan, create, and then evaluate what they’ve created. The room is also open for teachers to sign up to bring their Kindergarten, first, second, or third grade classes in to complete science experiments or complete the “Project of the Week” on a daily basis. With every project, we try to make sure that students are engaging in the design process while also learning how to share, collaborate, and solve problems with other students.</div>
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Projects have varied so far, in length and intensity, but have been largely successful. Problems we have worked to solve and projects we’ve done this year have included:</div>
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Using marshmallows and toothpicks, design and build a phone stand for the teacher’s cell phone that is at least 6 inches tall and will hold it up off the table for at least 10 seconds.</div>
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The weather is changing (discussion on seasons). What happens to the animals when the weather gets colder in Northeast Ohio? What can we do to help? (Bird feeders and houses were created and placed in our “Highland Island,” an animal and plant sanctuary at our school.)</div>
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Plan for and create LEGO “robots” using the WeDo kits and software</div>
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Using the available materials (cups, cotton balls, straws, pipe cleaners, string, tape, glue, and a few other items), create a carrier for a ping pong ball that will carry it down the zip line (fishing line) in 4 seconds or less.</div>
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Learn to use hammers and screwdrivers along with other basic tools.</div>
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Create “Sticky Slime” that hardens quickly, but softens again based on heat from your hands.</div>
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Using ten straws and ten inches of plastic wrap, can you build a boat that can hold 25 pennies without sinking for X number of seconds?</div>
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In the fall, the makerspace teamed with the Kindergarten teachers at our school to plan “pumpkin investigations” that were then modified for each grade level to complete during the week before Halloween. Students were able to describe the pumpkins, use synonyms, measure the pumpkins using standard and nonstandard measures, determine if the pumpkins would sink or float, estimate the weight and then weigh the pumpkins, touch the insides of the pumpkins and count seeds, sketch different kinds of pumpkins, smell the pumpkins AND even taste the roasted seeds of the pumpkins. There were lots of sensory opportunities built in and even the students with moderate-intensive special needs took a trip to the makerspace for this adventure; exactly the purpose of this “multi-purpose” space. Just as Lisha Kraft states in her article “The Way We Talk About Education Today Reflects Growth of the Maker Mindset” in Make Magazine on Oct. 17th, 2016, “As more and more educators see the limitations often set by a typical worksheet, and they utilize such strategies as, project-based learning, differentiated instruction, inquiry-based instruction, collaborative learning, and student-centered instruction, educational barriers will continue to crumble and disappear.”</div>
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While I continue to take a break from teaching students with mild, moderate, and intensive special needs, Mrs. Wiesler and I encourage ALL students to both read and DO something every day. Using the mindset “Create more than you consume,” we encourage students to use simple and recyclable materials to create while finding their own passions for learning.</div>
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-49940242179235684302016-04-20T15:36:00.000-04:002016-04-20T15:36:02.307-04:00I failed.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So, failure is supposed to be an okay thing, right? Well, I failed.<br />
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And it's taken me months to actually sit down and type this blog post that I've been ruminating on since November of 2015.<br />
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I'm embarrassed. I failed.<br />
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And in my childhood AND my adult life, I don't typically do activities or engage in subjects in which I'll fail.<br />
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Again, embarrassment. Horror. Oh, the horror!<br />
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But...<br />
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In the last two years, I've tried to immerse myself in things in which I'm not going to be the best. I have tried to remind myself that the process of learning is about the PROCESS not the DESTINATION. I've been trying to practice throwing myself into learning whether I am going to rock it or not.<br />
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And so I took up woodworking. I was NOT good, but I learned. (I wrote lots of posts about this experience at the <a href="http://soulcraftwoodshop.com/" target="_blank">Soulcraft Woodshop</a> previously.) This has permeated into the rest of my life as I am less afraid to take apart machines at our house, more willing to use tools and fix things, and even more willing to talk to the people at Home Depot and Lowe's when I need something.<br />
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Another thing I decided to do was exercise more. In the past, this was a major priority in my life, but in the last five years, I gave up. <br />
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So, off I went to a <a href="http://psycletherapy.com/?gclid=Cj0KEQjw0dy4BRCuuL_e5MeqmNABEiQAq8iNI-N4quELvzG8H7bk3ZErPwMonnWtsZEitaM-BaUcwwoaAvU-8P8HAQ" target="_blank">spinning class</a>.<br />
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Not JUST a spinning class, but a spinning class IN THE DARK.<br />
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At the first class, my only goal was "do not throw up."<br />
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At my second class, I expanded my goals to include "do not throw up" and "do not stop pedaling."<br />
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Over a year and 30 pounds have gone by, and now I am able to get through an entire class following all of the directions. Sure, I can't typically walk very well the next day, but I can do it. I learned.<br />
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With these two experiences, I started slowly. I muddled through the skills. But, I made it out on the other side.<br />
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With this other thing... I failed...<br />
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<i>Look, I'm even stalling here by NOT getting to the point, right?</i><br />
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Okay, here's the story.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaU9OXiZA9x4V3S8Eu-0fTDewhn-VTKHYI-s-MgtWGoIlWKD9cAjdMlFftwQ5a-JgQgRFr25QkZkYID_Z3qUrF3LeLyMDNokhhHaMmiddWmTfx5avD80dOdPo9MaUGWaCYbPo9oEAcqN0/s1600/2MC265.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaU9OXiZA9x4V3S8Eu-0fTDewhn-VTKHYI-s-MgtWGoIlWKD9cAjdMlFftwQ5a-JgQgRFr25QkZkYID_Z3qUrF3LeLyMDNokhhHaMmiddWmTfx5avD80dOdPo9MaUGWaCYbPo9oEAcqN0/s200/2MC265.jpg" width="200" /></a>I started a <a href="http://www.titleonehighland.weebly.com/" target="_blank">Makers' Club</a> at my school which has been (dare I say) WILDLY successful. And I wanted to tell other people about it. So, I applied to present about it in several places. Sure, some places turned me down, but I don't consider that a failure. I just wasn't what they were looking for.<br />
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But then, <a href="http://wviz.ideastream.org/education/call-for-presenters-share-your-expertise-and-attend-for-free" target="_blank">I applied to give an "IDEA Talk" at the WVIZ Ideastream Technology and Learning Conference</a>. Educators from all over North East Ohio often flock to this conference and network with each other and I had yet to attend.<br />
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But, in previous years, I had given several of my male teacher friends a hard time about this conference. Where are the women presenters? What's the deal with the all male panel discussions? Why aren't the ladies ever included in these events?<br />
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After saying all that, I HAD to apply, right? <br />
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So, I did. And I was accepted. Three people were chosen to give these "<a href="http://wviz.ideastream.org/education/idea-talks" target="_blank">IDEA Talks</a>" at the conference and they would be posted online afterwards.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy1meOWmG7wRUqUR4v-mtZ-Icw88AwjgvyVVsL65LvPc2q1HccGIQUuPghh2qS6ObLknbKFvGlCabdunLBHGjV8VUHilgqriM9OJg_W-p3xEoYgOAmfPwCoIx3CXtv6tPxe58nUDaQyd0/s1600/2MC266.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy1meOWmG7wRUqUR4v-mtZ-Icw88AwjgvyVVsL65LvPc2q1HccGIQUuPghh2qS6ObLknbKFvGlCabdunLBHGjV8VUHilgqriM9OJg_W-p3xEoYgOAmfPwCoIx3CXtv6tPxe58nUDaQyd0/s200/2MC266.jpg" width="200" /></a>I waited a ridiculously lengthy amount of time to write down what I was planning to say, even though I had been chewing on it for quite some time. I knew I wanted to talk about the Makers' Club and I wanted to discuss how to include and attract both girls and those with disabilities. I wanted to integrate my passion for working with those with special needs with the technology and "making" that we were experiencing every week in our Makers' Club. I wanted to convey the passion I felt about integrating and including ALL kids while still being relevant to my topic.<br />
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And I failed.<br />
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Well wait. First, I wrote a great <a href="http://mlkolis.blogspot.com/2015/11/how-to-start-makers-club-in-ten-days.html" target="_blank">blog post</a>. I call it a "blog post" and NOT a speech because, as it turns out, it was a WAY better piece of writing than a speech.<br />
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Maybe I didn't understand the time constraints.<br />
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Maybe I thought they would let me keep talking until I was done.<br />
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Maybe I didn't understand that I was modeling this after the "TED Talks" that I love and admire so much.<br />
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Maybe I'm just NOT a great speaker.<br />
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Anyways, once it was over, I was reflecting. I didn't get to finish because I was getting the "wrap it up" signal for at least 5 minutes and I still had at least 6 more minutes worth of things to say. <br />
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I also felt like I was trying to have a discussion with people who were there to hear a lecture.<br />
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Did I convey my passion? I had no idea.<br />
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Did I inspire <i>ANY</i>one? I had no idea.<br />
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But then, when colleagues from my own school did not stop to talk to me after the conference was over, I thought, "I must've really stunk. Really, really stunk."<br />
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I reflected on it more and decided that I am just a better writer than a speaker.<br />
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I'm sure no one would be surprised by this.<br />
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But here's how I really knew I failed.<br />
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I had been waiting for the "talks" to be posted online on the <a href="http://wviz.ideastream.org/education" target="_blank">WVIZ Ideastream page</a>. I checked it often.<br />
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Then, as I saw the other talks were posted, I scrolled down the page. <br />
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"Where's mine?" I thought to myself.<br />
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And then I remembered. <br />
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Before the "talks" started, I had said to the person in charge, "If mine is really bad, can you NOT post it online?"<br />
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And mine was not (and is not) posted online.<br />
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I failed.<br />
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I've been embarrassed about it since November....<br />
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But here's the good news.<br />
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Since then, I've given the same presentation again, ONLY it was a one HOUR time slot AND it was a discussion, a conversation, NOT a lecture. (It was better.)<br />
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Then I gave it again, in a 90 minute window. And embedded some of the "makers" activities. (And it was even better.)<br />
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And so I failed.<br />
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But I also learned.<br />
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And I'm done being embarrassed.<br />
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So now, go to the <a href="http://wviz.ideastream.org/education" target="_blank">WVIZ Ideastream page</a>. And see how my talk is not posted. And don't wonder about it. Know that I failed. <br />
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And then, know that I learned.<br />
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-53967768668759022872015-11-17T16:11:00.001-05:002015-11-18T16:04:33.897-05:00How To Start a Makers' Club in Ten Days<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBVOErWhAn3hMDaNQs1d9xGjwR1AbjBfGJD-yjDTbvID2Q6g94awUpo1pJi2d-0HUfazK8KRtTSxr6TvDFQhyphenhyphen1aEWJFao_FyzT7fxNb2DVpvIHgvixLciZGLZhE2sMuZzbGDtgM2czKU/s1600/CUCdsxYXAAA7nuJ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBVOErWhAn3hMDaNQs1d9xGjwR1AbjBfGJD-yjDTbvID2Q6g94awUpo1pJi2d-0HUfazK8KRtTSxr6TvDFQhyphenhyphen1aEWJFao_FyzT7fxNb2DVpvIHgvixLciZGLZhE2sMuZzbGDtgM2czKU/s200/CUCdsxYXAAA7nuJ.jpg" width="200" /></a>Today I gave an "idea talk" at the WVIZ Ideastream conference. Unfortunately, I got the "wrap it up" signal long before I was close to done... Here's my speech with all "ten days." Not great writing, but I wrote as though I was speaking...</div>
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Hellooooooo. My name is Morgan Kolis and I am a special education teacher, intervention specialist, behavior intervention specialist, reading specialist…Though, I am currently being disguised by my district as a reading intervention teacher. This is my 13th year of teaching in Ohio and, I am also currently studying to take the Board exam to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. My real passions, however, are special education and inclusive environments.</div>
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So, like I said, my district is currently utilizing me as a reading intervention teacher. Reading intervention is important and crucial to students in elementary school and is… just not my dream job. Again, there is nothing wrong with reading intervention. It’s just not what I believe I was made to be doing.</div>
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So, it was in this job as a reading intervention teacher that I have found my own need for more creativity and more fun in school. You see, reading intervention is… well, a little dry. Again, I truly believe that this is an important job and I’m sure there are people out there who love it. That’s just not, well, me. By nature, doing interventions with kids is rote and repetitive and as engaging as we try to make it, it’s … a little lacking in creativity.</div>
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This is where the story really starts.</div>
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I started searching for something. I wasn’t sure what that something was, but I knew something in my life was missing that used to be filled by my job as a special education teacher. And now it was gone. </div>
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And in the way my life often works, there was some divine intervention and…I got an email.</div>
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I got an email from this guy named Sean Wheeler. Some of you might know him. He was the keynote here last year and he writes this great blog called Teaching Humans; and he’s now doing some incredible work at the Design Lab in Cleveland that everyone should be checking out immediately. I mean, after this talk, of course.</div>
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But I got this email from Sean. At that time, Sean was working on starting a entire Makers’ School and got a grant to support that mission. And Sean decided to ask a few educators he knew if we’d want to participate in a teacher makerspace to put ourselves in the place of our students, in order to remember what it feels like to be in a space where you’re not sure what you’re doing and you’re not quite sure what might come out of it. He said “Let’s do a six week class where you learn to make some things and get to talk with other educators.”</div>
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Okay, I’ll bite.</div>
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Then he wrote “it’ll be a woodworking class at a woodshop.”</div>
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Huh.</div>
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Okay, I don’t know about you, but wood has not really ever been my preferred medium. I’m more of a canvas, clay, scrapbooking, really great creative lesson planning kind of person. But wood?</div>
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This was NOT my comfort zone. I really do not engage in stuff I am not going to be great at.</div>
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I was really not sure about this, but, here I was, searching for something. And maybe this could help me find it. </div>
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So, about ten people said they would join the six week class and we all met at this amazing community woodshop right outside of Tremont called Soulcraft. It’s in this old, creepy, factory like building where they used to do meat -packing called the Hildebrandt Building. REALLY out of my comfort zone. And these two guys, the owners of this “community woodshop” offered to be our “teachers.”</div>
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So, we met there. Some of us knew each other from twitter but had never actually spoken and some of us were total strangers. Even more awkward and somewhat uncomfortable.</div>
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And there we sat on that first day at Soulcraft with all of these exhausted and inspiring and excited and terrified educators from all different districts and walks of life… educators like Tom Grodek and Julie Rea and Karen Wheeler and Jeremy Shorr and Vicki Turner, some of whom are even here today.</div>
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And then Peter and Jim, the owners of Soulcraft, started talking about the properties of wood.</div>
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And all I could think was “What in the hell am I doing here?”</div>
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So, long story short, it’s now been about 57 weeks since we started this six week course and about 5 of us make it back to the shop a few Saturdays a month to continue this experiment with “making” and talking. Lots of talking.</div>
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And I’ve gotten so much out of this experience that I was thinking, how can I bring this back to my own school?</div>
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And it was through this inspiration that I was able to start a “Makers’ Club” at our school where I currently teach… reading intervention.</div>
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So, during lunch time every Thursday and Friday, we host a Makers’ Club for the students at our school in second and third grade. And when I say “we,” I mean my awesome co-reading intervention teacher, Sharon Wiesler, who has graciously also given up her time to help me with this and has dealt with the great amount of “treasures” that we have collected for the club. She really jumped in with both feet and I couldn’t possibly thank her enough for going with this...</div>
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And now I’d like to share with you How to Start a Makers’ Club in 10 days.</div>
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Day one. Think. What do you want your makerspace to be?</div>
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I knew immediately that I wanted our space to have very little structure. Reading Intervention and special ed are VERY structured and I wanted a place that would be 100% opposite.</div>
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I also knew that I wanted to incorporate STEM activities, but I didn’t want the club to be solely based on STEM activities. I wanted this space to be a place where kids make their own rules about what they create.</div>
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We have very few rules but we did need to set up a little bit of structure for second and third graders so they know what to expect.</div>
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First rule, you must share. Second rule, be respectful. Third rule, if you make a mess, you clean it up before you leave. Last rule, be safe. As the club has gone on, we’ve also made the rule that you may not create a weapon and if you do, it may not leave the room.</div>
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Day Two, get rid of your crap. By crap, I don’t mean your physical crap. I mean your own personal crap. </div>
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Here’s an example of my crap: I was great at playing the game of school. I could rock a test and loved to read. But the other day, I was telling my friend about this “talk.” And he says “Why are you worried? Have you ever failed at anything in your life?” Okay, that’s exactly my “crap.” I don’t typically put myself in situations in which I COULD fail, so NO, I DO NOT fail, I am actually TERRIFIED of failing. </div>
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And I have to let that go for our club. Because how dare I pass that on to our students? Why would I give them my crap? </div>
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Days Three and Four, start collecting crap. Now you need actual junk. Junk that people are about to toss away is perfect. We collect popsicle sticks, toilet paper rolls, cardboard of every kind, leftover pieces from crafts that the class has done, scrap paper, plastic containers, straws, plastic forks and spoons, styrofoam… if you can think of it, we probably have it. Ask for donations, It’s amazing the things that parents will dig out from their basements to bring for you.</div>
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But PLEASE learn from my mistake here. Know where you will STORE these items BEFORE you start collecting them! Currently, we have crap spilling from the reading intervention room out into the hall and down half the hallway...</div>
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Day Five. Find a funding source. There will be stuff you can’t get donated. Next week, we’re going to make “electric dough” also known as “squishy circuits.” I needed to buy the items for this one. At first, I didn’t mind just buying the stuff myself, but then I realized that between 40 and 60 students go through our room every single week, so I needed some funding source so that I didn’t end up broke.</div>
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Our funding source has mainly been our PSO and now our STEM department in the district. I believe our principal also kicked in money from her principal’s fund as well. </div>
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And just last week, we received a grant from our Schools Foundation for almost $2500 to buy items from LEGO education to introduce some LEGO Robotics. Grants are all over the place, if only you can find them and write up a blurb about what you need and how it connects to learning.</div>
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Day Six. Decide on some challenges. You don’t need a hundred ideas, just two or three to get started. There will ALWAYS be more ideas. Someone will always share their thoughts with you, you’ll always have the internet, and you can always ask the kids, and I really don’t think Pinterest is going anywhere.</div>
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Day Seven. Decide on how you’ll share what the kids are doing. This is crucial. If you are doing great work in the classroom, that’s awesome. But if you’re sharing what your kids are doing with the world, that’s even better. This is tough for second and third graders to do on their own.</div>
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One thing I try to do every week is remind the kids to keep “making” at home. I let them take materials with them if they haven’t finished their project to be able to continue at home. I ask them to take pictures at home and even send them to me.</div>
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I also take a million photos during the club and post them on our website and on our PSO Facebook page. It seems like the parents really like this and parents comment that their children have already told them all about the project we did that day.</div>
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I’ve started to use my twitter page to share out actual quotes and thoughts from the kids. This is almost more important to me because then I can reflect on what the students are telling me they need or want each week.</div>
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Days 8, 9, and 10.</div>
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Figure out how to INCLUDE ALL KIDS.</div>
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One of the main reasons I wanted to give this talk today was to talk about including girls in technology education. Last year, during THIS conference, did you realize that every single speaker was male? Include girls in making. Include girls in technology. Include girls in robotics and coding and in EVERYTHING that boys are doing. </div>
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And just buying pink duct tape is NOT what I mean. </div>
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We had the high school robotics team visit and there was ONE girl. Where are we losing them?</div>
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Surprisingly right now, girls are the majority in our Makers’ Club each week.</div>
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So PLEASE INCLUDE THE GIRLS! Make an extra effort to get them in. If one girl comes, tell her to bring two friends the next week.</div>
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But also, INCLUDE YOUR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS!</div>
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INCLUDE them. </div>
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PLEASE include them!</div>
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You will find out so many things about so many kids through this process. </div>
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You’ll find your makers. You’ll find the problem solvers. </div>
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You’ll find the leaders and the followers and the kids who HATE doing projects like this, but HATE going out to recess even more. </div>
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You’ll find the gifted kids who can’t problem solve but rock the “game of school.” You’ll find the students who naturally help the kids with special needs. </div>
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You’ll find the kids with special needs who stink at the “game of school” but who ROCK at making and problem solving.</div>
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But, realistically, how can you include ALL of these kids? Well, some kids will need to come with their aides. </div>
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And some of these kids will need a visual schedule.</div>
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And some will need to know about the project ahead of time.</div>
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You may have to put in a few extra minutes, but including ALL kids will make all the difference.</div>
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I’d like to end with MY OWN PERSONAL SUCCESS STORY:</div>
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I’ll tell you a short story about one of my favorite kids on the planet. His name is Luke. He is funny and playful and smart and curious and empathetic (always saying “Miss Kolis, don’t be sad.” if he notices I am not over the top happy). He’s brave and he’s amazing.</div>
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He’s in third grade, and he also happens to have autism. He was my student for Kindergarten, first, and second grade and since then I’ve been tutoring him privately. </div>
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He comes to Makers’ Club every. single. week. His amazing parents talk about it with him at home the night before. I tell him, during our Thursday night tutoring sessions, what the project is that we are making. And one week, I needed to give him a visual timer so that he would know how many minutes were left in the club.</div>
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But, here’s the great thing about Luke. Until he started coming to Makers’ Club, even after knowing him for 5 years now, I didn’t know that Luke cared much for other kids. He never seemed to notice them and he certainly did not appear to care who was around. He’s always been verbal, but he’s never necessarily been conversational about other kids without some kind of prompting.</div>
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Now? Luke joins me for lunch before the club so we can chat about school and prep for the project. Luke repeats “Hello everyone. I’m waiting for the kids to come” over and over throughout the lunch. He LOVES the other kids! He can’t wait til they all get there! </div>
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Every week, on Thursday, Luke asks “Makers’ Club on Friday?” And my heart is broken if we ever have to cancel a session and I have to say no.</div>
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Luke is my proof that Makers’ Club is working. He is the reason that I believe this club is successful. Because every kid can get what they need from coming to our club.</div>
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Some kids need some freedom.</div>
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Some kids need to have an outlet during their week.</div>
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Some kids need to engage in the creative and problem solving process.</div>
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But some kids, like Luke, just need to be around the other kids.</div>
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And there it is, How to Start a Makers’ Club in 10 days! You can do it too!</div>
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Please tweet me or email me if you do!</div>
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-44040875429688865872015-10-20T19:34:00.001-04:002015-10-20T19:34:53.677-04:00Are You "My People?"I'm frustrated. That's nothing new. I'm typically frustrated when I feel that others are not doing what's right for kids.<div><br></div><div>And when I hear the following statement, I know that there's people who aren't doing what's right for kids.</div><div><br></div><div>I also know that if you say the following, you are not "my people."</div><div><br></div><div>The statement is this:</div><div><br></div><div>"We are only responsible for providing the Chevy, not the Cadillac."</div><div><br></div><div>Regardless of your actual car manufacturer preference, this crap is just NOT RIGHT.</div><div><br></div><div>This is NOT what I believe about public schools. This NOT what I know about public schools.</div><div><br></div><div>And now I'm angry.</div><div><br></div><div>You're telling me that you don't have the time to differentiate because we only need to provide the Chevy. That's not right.</div><div><br></div><div>Students with special needs, students who are gifted, And students somewhere in between should be served together in elementary school. The kids are five. Six. Seven. Eight. And nine. If not now, when?</div><div><br></div><div>I know how to differentiate for different levels. It takes work. It might even take the Cadillac of your work. It might take more than the Chevy. No, it SHOULD take more than the Chevy (or Ford or VW or Chrysler). </div><div><br></div><div>Because I'm better than average. I am better than the Ford model. I am a Cadillac of a teacher. </div><div><br></div><div>And I believe that public school kids should get the Cadillac. The Ferrari. The Beamer. The Jag.</div><div><br></div><div>I'm not the freakin' Chevy. </div><div><br></div><div>And neither are my services.</div><div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDp7IEzOZlLRlvQIyp9n9ghLxGa7VWG9CVDspVk2epvs59kM_dIllIK4WUruvMkvwQgeAvIE4YMX3ZjTQjluYXhop-iZRQOWGotd6jSn4JmHGvB-mMb3PYgWmTwFTO5dRpRRZkBP8XYE/s640/blogger-image--174775976.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDp7IEzOZlLRlvQIyp9n9ghLxGa7VWG9CVDspVk2epvs59kM_dIllIK4WUruvMkvwQgeAvIE4YMX3ZjTQjluYXhop-iZRQOWGotd6jSn4JmHGvB-mMb3PYgWmTwFTO5dRpRRZkBP8XYE/s640/blogger-image--174775976.jpg"></a></div>Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-7195593704868119782015-04-12T12:02:00.000-04:002015-04-12T12:07:28.836-04:00Being Schooled at Soulcraft by B. Stupp<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The post seen below was written by my colleague, art educator extraordinaire! Enjoy!<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Being Schooled at Soulcraft</span></b><br />
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<span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E12" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E12" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I entered </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E13" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E13" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">the S</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E14" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E14" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">oul</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E15" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E15" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">craft </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E16" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E16" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">educator</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E17" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E17" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E18" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E18" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">cohort </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E19" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E19" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">this past</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E20" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E20" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> January </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E21" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E21" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">encouraged by a </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E22" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E22" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">colleague</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E23" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E23" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> who expressed her overwhelming</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E24" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E24" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">ly</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E25" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E25" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> positive experience. </span></div>
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<div id="E27" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E27" style="display: block; font-family: Calibri, Carlito, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.2; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0pt;">
<span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E28" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E28" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am an art educator, </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E29" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E29" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">have been for 25 ye</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E30" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E30" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">ars. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E31" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E31" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am retiring at the end of this year</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E32" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E32" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">. My selfish interest in S</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E33" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E33" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">oul</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E34" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E34" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">craft was to learn for myself</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E35" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E35" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E36" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E36" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">as an artist, </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E37" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E37" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">how to make things out of wood. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E38" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E38" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am a painter and a fiber art</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E39" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E39" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">ist and am interested in how to tie </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E40" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E40" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">my work with fiber into wood working…but</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E41" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E41" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E42" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E42" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I am not a sculptor, an</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E43" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E43" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">d</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E44" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E44" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E45" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E45" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know nothing </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E46" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E46" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">about wood work</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E47" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E47" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">ing. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E48" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E48" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also am lame </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E49" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E49" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">at constructing and making </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E50" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E50" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">something structurally sound</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E51" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E51" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E52" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E52" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am all about the form but not so great at the function. </span></div>
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<span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E55" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E55" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am already a maker. I understand the intellectual rigor that goes into making something…how in the process of making one must construct content and knowledge, solve probl</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E56" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E56" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">ems, and persist</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E57" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E57" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to make meaning</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E58" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E58" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">-the</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E59" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E59" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> creative thinking process.</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E60" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E60" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I love working </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E61" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E61" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">through this process with my</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E62" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E62" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> student</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E63" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E63" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">s</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E64" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E64" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">. A</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E65" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E65" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">t the level I teach, K-3 grade, </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E66" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E66" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">the kids</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E67" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E67" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> are </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E68" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E68" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">wildly </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E69" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E69" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">creative.</span></div>
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<div id="E71" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E71" style="display: block; font-family: Calibri, Carlito, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.2; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0pt;">
<span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E72" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E72" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I teach, however, in an environment of non-</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E73" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E73" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">makers. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E74" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E74" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Making is not valued and</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E75" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E75" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> domains of learning are compartmentalized to the point that </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E76" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E76" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">art teaching i</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E77" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E77" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">s marginaliz</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E78" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E78" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">ed. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E79" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E79" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In this environment, art class is: </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E80" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E80" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">for students who can</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E81" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E81" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">not succeed academically, </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E82" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E82" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">a plan</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E83" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E83" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">ning time for real teachers, </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E84" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E84" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">not </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E85" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E85" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">measured with big data </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E86" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E86" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">so </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E87" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E87" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">really has no </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E88" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E88" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">relevance</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E89" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E89" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E90" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E90" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">pretty pictures hung in the halls</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E91" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E91" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to make administrators lo</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E92" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E92" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">ok good to parents. </span></div>
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<div id="E94" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E94" style="display: block; font-family: Calibri, Carlito, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.2; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0pt;">
<span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E95" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E95" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In this environment, a</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E96" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E96" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">rt class </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E97" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E97" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">is never thought o</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E98" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E98" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">f as a space where students </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E99" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E99" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">actually learn.</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E100" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E100" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Art teachers have some responsibility </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E101" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E101" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">for this</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E102" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E102" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">, always scrambling</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E103" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E103" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to meet mandates that see</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E104" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E104" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">m to require art to be measured, </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E105" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E105" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">like….</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E106" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E106" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">jeez, </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E107" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E107" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t even know.</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E108" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E108" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It’s never about innovative ideas to further art education. </span></div>
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<div id="E110" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E110" style="display: block; font-family: Calibri, Carlito, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.2; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0pt;">
<span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E111" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E111" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E112" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E112" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am done as a</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E113" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E113" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">n art</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E114" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E114" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> teacher. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E115" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E115" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am retiring partly because of this frozen state of art education. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E116" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E116" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was not sure if this experience</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E117" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E117" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> at Soulcraft</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E118" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E118" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E119" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E119" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">would influence me as a teacher. </span></div>
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<div id="E121" is="qowt-para" qowt-eid="E121" style="display: block; font-family: Calibri, Carlito, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.2; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0pt;">
<span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E122" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E122" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a tough and chilly January for me and my attendance </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E123" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E123" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">at Soulcraft </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E124" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E124" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">was </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E125" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E125" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">erratic</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E126" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E126" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E127" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E127" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each Saturday </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E128" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E128" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was there, </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E129" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E129" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Peter and Jim took the time to support my formal ideas and teach me the to</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E130" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E130" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">ols </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E131" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E131" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">and provide the materials that </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E132" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E132" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I needed to realize them</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E133" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E133" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E134" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E134" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each educator in the cohort was working on their own project. Each brought their level of skill and knowledge to the studio. I needed a lot of help…but </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E135" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E135" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">every time I met a block</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E136" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E136" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E137" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E137" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> community at Soulcraft was always t</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E138" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E138" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">here for help</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E139" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E139" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E140" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E140" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each person was working </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E141" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E141" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">autonomously </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E142" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E142" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">on their own unique idea. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E143" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E143" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Observing all these</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E144" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E144" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> idea</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E145" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E145" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">s</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E146" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E146" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E147" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E147" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">their process</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E148" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E148" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">es</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E149" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E149" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E150" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E150" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> truly inspirational</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E151" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E151" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E152" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E152" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E153" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E153" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">taught me even more. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E154" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E154" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sean, Dave, Morgan, Karen, Julie and other</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E155" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E155" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">s</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E156" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E156" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I can’t name…were</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E157" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E157" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> always willing to answer a question, help find a tool, help me put together my shelves…</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E158" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E158" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">unbelievable genero</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E159" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E159" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">sity and kindness</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E160" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E160" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E161" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E161" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E162" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E162" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">enlightened </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E163" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E163" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">conversations I </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E164" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E164" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">have </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E165" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E165" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">had with this community </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E166" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E166" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">have been </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E167" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E167" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">so</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E168" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E168" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> different from those I have</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E169" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E169" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in my work environment and </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E170" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E170" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">reaffirmed </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E171" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E171" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">the value of </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E172" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E172" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">my job as an art educator and maker. </span></div>
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<div id="E174" is="qowt-para" named-flow="FLOW-3" qowt-eid="E174" style="display: block; font-family: Calibri, Carlito, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.2; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0pt;">
<span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E175" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E175" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have taken away much from this experience. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E176" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E176" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E177" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E177" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">as an artist, </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E178" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E178" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have a lot more to learn about making things out of wood, a lot more mistakes to make and a lot more questions</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E179" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E179" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to ask</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E180" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E180" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E181" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E181" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I made a simple set of shelves that I installed in my kitchen and they actually function. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E182" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E182" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I crave the ability </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E183" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E183" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">to make freely at </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E184" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E184" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Soulcraft, to </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E185" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E185" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">use the tools and methods a</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E186" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E186" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">s needed to create. Second, as an art educator, I want to explore the idea of projects that that open out to unexpected possibilities instead of pre-determined </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E187" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E187" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">channels. I </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E189" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E189" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">tried this for our art show </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E190" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E190" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">in March. I</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E191" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E191" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> had 200 second and third grade students create a project of their choice based on a theme. 200 students working with</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E192" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E192" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> unique and</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E193" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E193" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> different ideas and mediums…it was crazy and messy, and so excitin</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E194" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E194" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">g and meaningful. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E195" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E195" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">They envisioned their ideas, they explored and stretched mediums, they made mistakes and problem solved….</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E196" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E196" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E197" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E197" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">results were outstanding</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E198" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E198" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (I could go on about this, </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E199" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E199" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">but…time and space</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E200" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E200" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E201" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E201" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E202" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E202" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Third is </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E203" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E203" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">the idea of creating within a community.</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E204" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E204" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I owe so much to </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E205" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E205" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">the </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E206" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E206" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">community at Soulcraft for my learning. When my students were creating their projects for the art show, they were so engaged with each other’s ideas and processes. They critiqued each </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E207" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E207" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">other, </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E208" is="qowt-run" named-flow="FLOW-4" qowt-eid="E208" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">they </span></div>
<div is="qowt-para" named-flow="FLOW-3" qowt-eid="E174" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: block; font-family: Calibri, Carlito, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.2; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px 0px 0pt; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" is="qowt-run" named-flow="FLOW-4" qowt-eid="E208" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">helped each </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E209" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E209" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">other. </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E210" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E210" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">They </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E211" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E211" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">communicated their assessments and meanings w</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E212" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E212" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">ith me and their fellow artists (all quite informally.)</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E213" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E213" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It was amazing, a real open studio, artistic, aesthetic </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E214" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E214" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">experience</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E215" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E215" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in the classroom</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E216" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E216" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">…but no one in this environment noticed…the projects were hung, the students artists’ statements were attached, </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E217" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E217" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">the halls looked pretty for the administrators and parents, but </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E218" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E218" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">no one took the time to look and read the </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E219" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E219" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">individualized</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E220" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E220" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E221" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E221" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">ideas of the students…so how do I communicate? This is my soul </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E222" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E222" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">dilemma </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E223" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E223" style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">in my work environment. </span></div>
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<span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E226" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E226" style="display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have been </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E227" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E227" style="display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">so </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E228" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E228" style="display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">schooled </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E229" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E229" style="display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">at </span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E231" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E231" style="display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sou</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E232" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E232" style="display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">lcraft</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E234" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E234" style="display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span class="qowt-font3-Cambria" id="E235" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E235" style="display: inline; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif !important; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-66857643456618004972015-03-29T09:11:00.000-04:002015-04-12T10:45:23.139-04:00Week 75- What IS this thing?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A six week Saturday morning class. Is that what I agreed to?<br />
<br />
It's now week... I don't know what number... and I am still going back. <br />
<br />
Soulcraft Woodshop.<br />
<br />
How has this journey changed me?<br />
<br />
Well, it's hard to say. <br />
<br />
In September of 2014, I was working a job at school that I didn't want. I was told I needed "a break" and basically put into time out. I was searching for life outside of my career. I was going home at a normal hour each day and truly only working the 8 hour day. That was brand new to me after 11 years of working 11-12 hour days. I was unhappy. I missed my team. I missed my students. I was getting to know new students, but it wasn't enough. I was searching for something.<br />
<br />
Fast forward to March 2015. I am begging for spring break to get here. I am still not totally happy in my job, mostly because it just doesn't feel like enough. I could do more. I give a lot of assessments. I follow intervention scripts. But, I do feel like I am making a difference. The kids are growing and changing and that's success. It feels good. But I am not defined by my career anymore. I am not defined by my school district.<br />
<br />
Being part of Soulcraft has given me some courage. It's given me even more voice than I had before. It's helped me hone some of those communication skills that were still less than "diplomatic." I've met great people, formed some incredible relationships, grown professionally and personally. I found the thing I was searching for, though I'm still not really sure what that is.<br />
<br />
Conversations with Pete, Jim, and Sean are sometimes above me. I shake my head and hear their words and most days I go back to my car and Google something they were talking about. I don't always understand their political references or even their references to literature that I have not yet read yet. The cool thing is, if they know that I am clueless (sometimes), they don't show it. OR, if I'm particularly brave that day, I ask or say "I don't know what that means." And they explain it to me. Hopefully without judgement. Or it seems like without judgement...<br />
<br />
Conversations with Julie and Karen... Ahhhhh... I wish we could all work in the same building. Strong women. Empowered women who know who they are and what they stand for. They don't let others get in the way, and if they do, they reflect and go back. They put kids first. They vent. And then they move forward. WE move forward. They help me to move forward.<br />
<br />
And there's Tom. Tom and I see eye to eye. And it's just comfortable to be there with Tom. With all the men who don't appear to be judging my skills as a woodworker or furniture designer or artist at all. They are there learning too. "Who knows how to use this machine thingy over here?" Yeah, I might, and I can show you.<br />
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One realization that I have almost weekly is that I don't like to do stuff that I am not good at. And for my first few projects, I was great. Realizing now that Pete and Jim had a LOT to do with that skill, I am a little humbled at the fact that in the past three weeks, I have screwed up at least 100 times. I really messed up those dados. And I typically would trash them, never speak of them again, start over, and excel at it the next time. But WOW, I REALLY screwed up those dados. And I can talk about it. And even laugh. <br />
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I'm not good at the measuring. I'm not good when something needs to be perfectly measured or perfectly symmetrical. I stand in awe when Jim says something like "well, it's just about 7/16ths." Again, I was great at math, but in regards to the tape measure, I have no idea what this means. I smile and nod. And I don't think he judges the fact that I have no idea what this means. He probably does realize it though. I'm not so good at the hiding of facial expressions. <br />
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So, I've had some time now to really get to know what I'm good at and what I'm not. And for some reason, I keep coming back to this thing that I am not particularly great at. I wonder why.<br />
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I told someone yesterday, "I'm not sure if I actually like making things out of wood, or if I just like the people here enough to keep coming back, or both."<br />
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Courage to be honest.<br />
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So this adventure has also given me courage in my own school building. Last year, I couldn't say or do the right thing to save my life. This year, I decided that I needed to still stay true to myself and maybe it would work out. It has. I had the courage to ask if I could start a Makers' Club.<br />
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Makers' Club has taken off like I never knew it would. As I felt like my job as a reading interventionist was lacking creativity, and I knew that what I was doing on Saturday mornings was meaningful, I wanted to incorporate the two. On Thursdays, second graders (any who want to on any week) come to my room and make stuff. Usually I give them a challenge. Sometimes I give them prizes for fulfilling the challenge. Second graders are really working on how to share, how to ask for someone to share, how to put their ideas together. On Fridays, third graders come. They get a slightly more detailed challenge, and typically blow my mind with what they create. They are better at sharing, better at working together, and need little assistance in their "design thinking."<br />
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After 4 weeks of Makers' Club and close to 75 kids a week going through our room, I've only seen 3 kids cry. Two cried because their project did not work and they did not have time, before going back to their homeroom class, to fix it. One cried because no one would share. I've gotten to use my powers of conversation and behavior skills (ha!) to talk through situations with these 7 and 8 year olds and somehow all three came back the next week. <br />
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The principal and other teachers are on board with the Makers' Club AND the PSO even sends volunteers and gave me a budget. <br />
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So, how has Soulcraft changed me? <br />
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It's given me more courage.<br />
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It's broken down on typical gender biases (or barriers) for me.<br />
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It's given me a group of friends that I can't wait to see on Saturday mornings.<br />
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It's helped my communication skills.<br />
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It's opened my eyes to learning again. To starting over. To failing. To doing stuff you aren't good at.<br />
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It's.... well.... stay tuned. Because I am sure there will be more.<br />
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P.S. I am purposely not proofreading this and just pressing publish. I want this to be honest and open and not rethink everything I just typed. Please forgive any typos. Yikes... Here goes... </div>
Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-39241942959665095922015-02-21T14:49:00.001-05:002015-02-21T15:12:08.809-05:00More on OETC15...OETC15.<div><br></div><div>I am so happy that my district was generous enough to send me this year, along with several of my colleagues to OETC. As usual, I had a fantastic time and learned a ton.</div><div><br></div><div>What's interesting to me, however, as I reflect on my time in Columbus last week, is the difference in my own learning style and learning needs since the last time I was there.</div><div><br></div><div>In the past, I came away with tools and tools and more new tools to use at school and with kids. Tools for efficiency, tools for creativity, tools for "drill and kill..." </div><div><br></div><div>This time, it was more about what to do with the tools AND what to do with education.</div><div><br></div><div>I learned more about the Google Apps for Educators, tips I didn't know after using it for over 2 years (or has it been longer?). I learned how to find more fonts in a Google Doc which will truly help some elementary teachers to finally make the switch from Word.</div><div><br></div><div>I also had time to play around with "add-ons." Typically in a school day, this doesn't take priority but it was nice to know some extended features like EasyBib and the highlighting tools. I realize this is easy and I could've figured it out in time, but I wasn't spending the time to do so. It was nice to have that time. </div><div><br></div><div>We heard a keynote speaker, a woman coder for Pixar. Danielle Feinberg (@dafeinberg) spoke about giving opportunities to everyone, regardless of gender. Of course this keynote felt like it was written for me because of my recent realization of and struggle with these gender inequalities.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYiIMAQfpqk3YFyCc4y4qtK9NIo2PDwKiYsbyw_53UyruU5zfRXaZsgVt2WZIzZOmCD3y70ELFF3urO4k5SPrCNpmoWtwFtog6nshF60aPhIQCBNL5bgIHNd_z1mPZIwJOsuOPqUD6kjc/s640/blogger-image--158786678.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYiIMAQfpqk3YFyCc4y4qtK9NIo2PDwKiYsbyw_53UyruU5zfRXaZsgVt2WZIzZOmCD3y70ELFF3urO4k5SPrCNpmoWtwFtog6nshF60aPhIQCBNL5bgIHNd_z1mPZIwJOsuOPqUD6kjc/s640/blogger-image--158786678.jpg"></a></div></div><div><br></div><div>I spent more time with my friends Sean Wheeler and Peter Debelak (@peterdebelak) discussing these same gender issues and feeling empowered because they often help me to realize that we can change these inequalities, one by one, slowly but surely. They are big time dreamers and doers. This is why I like them.</div><div><br></div><div>I spent time with folks from our district that I normally don't have time to chat with- Jacqui Berchtold (berchtoldj), Kim Taylor (@taylortchr), Scott Kinkoph (@scottkinkoph), and John Schinker (@schinker). We spent time talking about limitations and expectations in our own district while also having fun and gaining new rapport with each other.</div><div><br></div><div>Another keynote speaker, Yong Zhao (@yongzhaoUO) kept us laughing for over an hour. Nothing new but wonderfully fulfilling ideas about what's wrong with education and how we should change it. We ordered his book 5 minutes after he was done talking.</div><div><br></div><div>Spending time with so many like minded people was refreshing. So good to see Bob (@bob05), Ryan (@mr_collins), Toby (@tobyfischer), TJ (@tjhouston), Nevin (@mathremix), and Stacy (@stacyhaw) again! </div><div><br></div><div>On Wednesday, I spent a lot of times in the "unconference" aka OETCx. The day was filled with conversations, not presentations, about education. I engaged in one convo about "adult issues vs. student ones" where we discussed how adults should get out of the way already. Our own insecurities and fears are holding kids back.</div><div><br></div><div>I also stayed to talk about the Soulcraft Cohort with Sean and Pete. If you've been following this blog, you already know about it, but we all (along with Vicki Turner @Vturner8 and Jeremy Schorr @jeremyschorr) got to talk about our very authentic learning experiences thus far. By the way, we still go there every Saturday morning for our "six week class." I wish Tom Grodek (@mrgrodek), Jim McNaughton, Karen Wheeler (@mathcoachlkwd), Julie Rea (@juliesrea), and Christy Neider (@christyneider) could've been there too. Words don't do justice for what we've done with #soulco.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcalm0fGHGALTY2OzSAMvYn-DU1i4kOjzYEI7nJCBPNHLYh6t2S2_HSBHu3sQH1IqHw8Lb-_kWcediQD1W1ahHKWcH8APstLPU671srDYvaePGOmPfZgmhGhGTgoqZPoNCMQ6R-KgX1S4/s640/blogger-image--1605049296.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcalm0fGHGALTY2OzSAMvYn-DU1i4kOjzYEI7nJCBPNHLYh6t2S2_HSBHu3sQH1IqHw8Lb-_kWcediQD1W1ahHKWcH8APstLPU671srDYvaePGOmPfZgmhGhGTgoqZPoNCMQ6R-KgX1S4/s640/blogger-image--1605049296.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><br></div><div>After that. A conversation about motivation and behavior... Since I am studying ABA currently, this was a major topic for me, and as I started the conversation, I realized its still a bit foggy for me, what I believe about intrinsic vs extrinsic rewards and motivation...</div><div><br></div><div>Then onto the FRED (Finding Real Education) talks where presenters had 15 slides at 30 sec per slide (or something like this) and shared short bursts of info with us. Jon Smith (@theipodteacher) inspired me to start using iBooks and Michael Rousch (@mdrousch) had me in tears as he spoke about his daughter with ASD. I cried, not because I pity him (I don't), or because his life is sad (it's not), or even because his story is particularly unique, but rather, because I felt proud. He was showing that we can do it. We can integrate that little bit of "oh hey, remember 'those kids' too when you develop tech and curriculum and school" into a day with folks who are generally apathetic to the topic of special education. He is a great model for me to say "look, it can be done." His preso is here-<a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xg-WFENxgsFd1DLhRkmY4qc1nrkIlL2GLL0LQNmeefg/edit?usp=sharing&pref=2&pli=1" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xg-WFENxgsFd1DLhRkmY4qc1nrkIlL2GLL0LQNmeefg/edit?usp=sharing&pref=2&pli=1</a></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEloRZ3KoHXBPcuyiJbO1vMQlIqVLx0fpfkQq8GaPDj6CGFUoL1LrcvmQEz0Y80WaIqxolnkx8J7Ld0R5Bp9_QoWss8QVqvZHMQDNOhk3-Rsa492CKWhBlm7W0Wli8ek9Hk871UBZDCyo/s640/blogger-image-56967682.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEloRZ3KoHXBPcuyiJbO1vMQlIqVLx0fpfkQq8GaPDj6CGFUoL1LrcvmQEz0Y80WaIqxolnkx8J7Ld0R5Bp9_QoWss8QVqvZHMQDNOhk3-Rsa492CKWhBlm7W0Wli8ek9Hk871UBZDCyo/s640/blogger-image-56967682.jpg"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEloRZ3KoHXBPcuyiJbO1vMQlIqVLx0fpfkQq8GaPDj6CGFUoL1LrcvmQEz0Y80WaIqxolnkx8J7Ld0R5Bp9_QoWss8QVqvZHMQDNOhk3-Rsa492CKWhBlm7W0Wli8ek9Hk871UBZDCyo/s640/blogger-image-56967682.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmimr06t3iB1TPmEU7jnqm9jfhOE0IHri0iHfM5bR-AL4F2SapVi0-iHb9VCmcNcchkyBcQxUxadvi6JBKQEjUqRAEQbHih8oaoz7yCRNi6Hs7RSgouWVqmLN1bB42xGCaJyvRqFw7cQc/s640/blogger-image--1035014694.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmimr06t3iB1TPmEU7jnqm9jfhOE0IHri0iHfM5bR-AL4F2SapVi0-iHb9VCmcNcchkyBcQxUxadvi6JBKQEjUqRAEQbHih8oaoz7yCRNi6Hs7RSgouWVqmLN1bB42xGCaJyvRqFw7cQc/s640/blogger-image--1035014694.jpg"></a></div></div><br></div><div><br></div><div>One thing that annoyed me was that there was not one female FRED Talker. I found out later that the document, which I never saw, was open for anyone yet "Why didn't any females sign up?" I believe I would've, yet after over a week pondering it, I'm still not sure what I would've talked about...</div><div><br></div><div>The tools I learned are important but the connections and conversations are priceless...</div><div><br></div><div>My friend Sean Wheeler (@mrwheeler or @teachinghumans on twitter) says "I became a teacher because I hated school." </div><div><br></div><div>For me, it's the opposite. I loved school and I played the game. I was great at the game of school. It's only now that I see that our kids today shouldn't be playing that game. They don't have the time. They are getting ready for jobs that haven't even been created yet. So why teach them with points and grades and worksheets and tests that make them cry?</div><div><br></div><div>More of these authentic experiences please!!!</div>Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-41015627364714464652015-02-10T16:14:00.000-05:002015-02-10T16:14:35.747-05:00#OETC15 Day 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
#OETC15. Here we are. I'm looking forward to some awesome learning and some engaging conversations.<br />
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So far, I've been near some like minded colleagues which always helps make a conference (or any day) better.<br />
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Today, there are the pre-conference workshops.<br />
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Currently, I'm hanging out in "Google Power Users." It's a little dry, BUT I've learned some things so far. I don't typically have time to check out all of the "add-ons" and extensions, but this workshop is show casing these things. It's nice to have time to sit and look around.<br />
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I already found an awesome Google Add-On called Easy Bib. I'm sure you know this, but, I can get a source cited in APA style right within the document! This thrills me because Citation Machine has changed and I'm not a fan. (Remember when we actually wrote out our own citations? Me neither.)<br />
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Who knew that I could make my own memes in Google Draw?<br />
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And now it's so cold... I can't think.<br />
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-83037111281150889732015-02-08T18:48:00.001-05:002015-02-08T18:49:41.585-05:00Sanding.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Sanding.</span></div><div><br></div><div>It's the running joke at the woodshop now, that you can always find me sanding.</div><div><br></div><div>I'm the master sander.</div><div><br></div><div>Okay, not really the master, but I do enjoy the sanding. I even asked for (and received) a circular sander for Christmas. </div><div><br></div><div>What is it about sanding wood at Soulcraft that I love, I wonder?</div><div><br></div><div>Well, first, it's my new comfort zone. While I know how to use other machines there, I can use a sander without any help, not even reminders or prompts. :) I love the comfort zone. I could go back to it every time. Every piece can be sanded. And sanded again. And maybe a little more...</div><div><br></div><div>Next, although it's cliche for a special ed teacher, of course I LOVE to take a piece of rough wood and turn it into something smooth and beautiful.</div><div><br></div><div>Making something beautiful with your hands is such an experience... </div><div><br></div><div>And the vibrations... I feel calm. And zen... If zen is something you can feel...</div><div><br></div><div>And if I want to learn and work this way, why wouldn't a student at school want this? Would this motivate more students? It motivates me. Would more students want to come to school? Would more students succeed?</div><div><br></div><div>What motivates your students to come to class? </div><div><br></div><div>Can you provide them with a comfort zone? </div><div><br></div><div>Can you push them outside of their comfort zone?</div><div><br></div><div>Or enjoy their zen state?</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdgduP8djH9-m7RJiy4uvQW1J_mTt7XIWK2VXuUesGrroZTtfO1G3jgykZByWO4hKjMb6liAnzrBitG3lJg7SVxdABSJ2H8Ie-5crFSIIPoDuWC4IzWH0XjW9JlaS8xZtZZcpYgHZDL4/s640/blogger-image--1822522840.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdgduP8djH9-m7RJiy4uvQW1J_mTt7XIWK2VXuUesGrroZTtfO1G3jgykZByWO4hKjMb6liAnzrBitG3lJg7SVxdABSJ2H8Ie-5crFSIIPoDuWC4IzWH0XjW9JlaS8xZtZZcpYgHZDL4/s640/blogger-image--1822522840.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-54012545807044587402014-12-30T20:31:00.001-05:002014-12-30T20:34:16.648-05:00Top Success of 2014!Almost the last day of 2014, trying to spend a little time reflecting. <div><br></div><div>As they would say on the RHOBH, I'm "in a good space right now" and want to focus on the positive.</div><div><br></div><div>Thus, my #1 most successful moment of the school year:</div><div><br></div><div>It has to do with a student very near and dear to my heart (as if all my stories couldn't say that)...</div><div><br></div><div>This student was in my class for three years and at his IEP meeting last May, it was up to his IEP team to determine if he was to take the Alternate Assessment (AASWD) or the Ohio Achievement Assessment (OAA) as a third grade student. Based on the scores from his IQ testing, he could've taken the AASWD, however, as we often know, IQ tests are not always so accurate for those with autism spectrum disorders.</div><div><br></div><div>The team used the flow chart from the state and determined that he should take the OAA. I was pleased with this because I believed he could. He was not two grade levels below, he was not working on an alternate curriculum... His parents agreed.</div><div><br></div><div>Towards the end of the meeting, we returned to the testing page and had another conversation about the tests. It was up to me to again convince the team that he could do the OAA with the allowable accommodations. I was sure he could do it. We signed off and that was that. </div><div><br></div><div>Fast forward to his third grade year. I am no longer his case manager nor do I work with him at school. I do work with him privately and worked on simulating the testing conditions to complete practice tests so this was not a new experience for him. We practiced one passage and the questions 2 or 3 times each week from August through October...</div><div><br></div><div>...The test was coming up in two days and his teacher had an unforeseen absence the entire week of the test. Who is going to administer his OAA? I was feeling panicked. </div><div><br></div><div>The day before, his teacher and I spoke on the phone and determined that I would administer his assessment. Uh oh. How will this go? What if it's too hard? Why did we do this? </div><div><br></div><div>The day of the test, as I was driving into school, I had another moment of panic. What if this goes all wrong? What if this is just torture for him for three hours? What if I was wrong?</div><div><br></div><div>I set up our testing room with snacks I knew he would like, a visual timer, some reinforcers (M&Ms that we often use at home), pencils, erasers, water, and a white board so that I could make him a visual schedule (1. Read story. 2. Answer questions. 3. Take a break.) I had already taught him to read the questions for each story before reading the passage. I knew he was ready. He could do this! "We got this," I thought to myself.</div><div><br></div><div>As the busses started rolling in that morning, I got nervous once again. Why is he taking this test? What will it tell us about him? What if I was wrong?</div><div><br></div><div>Too late now.</div><div><br></div><div>I got his testing booklet and picked him up after the morning announcements. We read a social story about doing your best and continuing to work until the test was done. We read the visual schedule to show that he would do one passage and the questions then take a break. Then he was ready.</div><div><br></div><div>As he opened the booklet and saw the story, he said "read the questions to me first," just like we had practiced. I read the questions and answer choices aloud to him and then he proceeded to read the passage.</div><div><br></div><div>Throughout the next hour and a half, he was rewarded with M&Ms, break time, theraputty, and a short walk to the water fountain. He read every passage out loud without assistance. He answered every question in the booklet with prompts only to "color the circle darker." </div><div><br></div><div>As he colored in the last circle in the booklet, I could feel my tears... </div><div><br></div><div>We closed the book, I shouted, "You did it! You really did it." I gave him a small round of applause as he said "no please" and pushed my hands down. </div><div><br></div><div>I took him back to his resource room and walked his test booklet back to his home room. I was crying. He did it. He really did it.</div><div><br></div><div>And it was better than my Super Bowl. He did it.</div><div><br></div><div>And I didn't know what score he would earn. The written expression questions were tough. Answering questions with whole sentences was tough. </div><div><br></div><div>His score didn't matter. His score does NOT matter.</div><div><br></div><div>I could have never seen his score and it would've still been one of the proudest moments of my 12 year career.</div><div><br></div><div>He did it.</div><div><br></div><div>He proved he could do it.</div><div><br></div><div>No "meltdowns," no "behaviors."</div><div><br></div><div>He did it.</div><div><br></div><div>I could not have been more proud.</div><div><br></div><div>He did it.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-4713929623853740822014-12-29T20:10:00.001-05:002014-12-29T21:02:45.696-05:00Success!!! Top 2 of the year...Because lots of people are probably making lists or countdowns this week, I've been attempting to reflect on my ten most successful moments in the year 2014...<div><br></div><div>Truthfully, I try not to think of the school year before July and so I've settled on my two (yes two) most successful classroom moments of 2014.</div><div><br></div><div>Here's the big reveal:</div><div><br></div><div>The #2 most awesome classroom moment of 2014.... Wait for it...</div><div><br></div><div>This year I teach reading intervention. I do interventions with students in grades k-3 who have shown consistent difficulty on reading assessments like the DIBELS, the DRA, the STAR Enterprise, and the Wonders Reading Assessments... I give at least one "test" every other week to check on our progress. Luckily, some of the assessments only take about three minutes but the STAR Reading test is 34 long questions. I give this only once a month and we get ready for this assessment by talking about our past scores (the color band the score falls in, not the actual number) and trying to figure out how to get a better score. (By the way, YES, I HATE that this story revolves around a test. But it gets better.)</div><div><br></div><div>I discovered at the beginning of the school year that the majority of my students were getting terribly low scores, not because they couldn't read the test, but because they were choosing not to read the test questions. They didn't believe they could do it, so... Why try? THIS HAD TO CHANGE!</div><div><br></div><div>So.. I use the behavior plan that we have set up in class and give out "tokens" throughout the test when I see that the students are ACTUALLY READING THE QUESTIONS! They also get tokens for correct answers when I catch them while I am monitoring all 4 students. (Students later use the tokens to buy extra time on the iPads, computers, and prizes from the prize box.) </div><div><br></div><div>(You're welcome for the background.)</div><div><br></div><div>Now, onto the success!</div><div><br></div><div>I have a seven year old second grader who told me at the beginning of the year, "I'm lazy, that's why I can't read." At the time, I made a mental note to address this and moved on. Throughout the year, I have not allowed her to use this excuse throughout her thirty minute sessions with me, but she liked to employ this belief on the.... Surprise, surprise... STAR Reading test.</div><div><br></div><div>By November, we mostly had this thing down. You move up a color band, you get tokens, candy, and some major praise. She still didn't care much and moved up only 3-5 points each month. By November, she'd had enough. She whizzed through the test and answered all 34 questions in less than 15 minutes while I was attending to another student. "No way," I said. "You didn't read it. You are so smart and you aren't even trying. You have to show people you're smart. You are taking this again during recess tomorrow." (Now, I do NOT believe in taking recess away from kids, and so I found a time with her home room teacher to take the test the next day that did not include recess.) </div><div><br></div><div>The next day, she showed up. "I'm going to sit next to you and listen to you read the whole test," I said.</div><div><br></div><div>She began. First question timed out while she read it. Second question timed out while she read it. Third question, she just looked at me. "Try this," I said. "Remember when I said READ THE QUESTION FIRST? Let's try it." She read the question out loud. Then she started reading the paragraph and the answer was in the first sentence. She looked at me and smiled and I could actually see the light bulb go on. Got the answer. Next question, "Read the question first." She did it again. Got it. By the sixth question, she was starting to feel successful. By the eighth question, I didn't need to prompt her to read the question first. By the 34th question after over 40 minutes, she had done it. She finished the questions, read every last one, and she had really tried. </div><div><br></div><div>Success!!!</div><div><br></div><div>But the story doesn't end there. </div><div><br></div><div>We decided to look up the score (with my fingers and toes crossed that I would be able to show her what happens when you try).</div><div><br></div><div>And then I almost fell out of my chair. She went from the second lowest score in second grade, in the red (red, yellow, blue and green are the color bands that show the national percentiles) to the top of the BLUE!!! </div><div><br></div><div>My co-teacher and I started yelling and jumping up and down and said "Look! Look what happens you try! You tried, you tried! We're so happy you tried!" </div><div><br></div><div>"Doesn't it feel good? Doesn't it feel good that you tried?"</div><div><br></div><div>I printed out her score in a graph so that she could see how high her score went when she just tried. We highlighted it and passed it around and went to the office to show the ladies there. I said "Tell them what you did." ( I thought she would say something about improving her test score. ) </div><div><br></div><div>She said...</div><div><br></div><div>"I tried!"</div><div><br></div><div>Her smile was so big. And she was so proud.</div><div><br></div><div>There it is! Success!</div><div><br></div><div>She has not missed one "optional" homework assignment since that day. </div><div><br></div><div>Her score skyrocketed into the GREEN in December.</div><div><br></div><div>SUCCESS!</div><div><br></div><div>It wasn't about the test. It wasn't about the color band or the national percentile score.</div><div><br></div><div>SHE TRIED! </div><div><br></div><div>She really tried.</div><div><br></div><div>And she's still trying.</div><div><br></div><div>And I'm praying that she keeps it up when we get back after break. </div><div><br></div><div>She tried!</div><div><br></div><div>She tried!</div><div><br></div><div>Whoooo hooooo!</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-30076219297230451742014-11-28T21:17:00.001-05:002014-11-28T21:20:33.960-05:00I'm done!!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've been holding off on this post for almost a week because... well, because I don't actually <i>want</i> to be done. I don't want our journey to be over and I don't want to be done with the shelves. But I wanted to hang the shelves, and since this class has now extended from 6 weeks to 10 weeks (with continuous weeks coming up), I guess it was time to pull the plug on the fireplace shelves.<br />
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Here are some photos, in all their glory, followed by just a few of the things I've learned... <br />
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I'm sure I'll add more posts reveling in the things I've learned and reflecting on the time I've had in this "class" or "cohort" at the Soulcraft Woodshop....but... <br />
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First, I've made some great friends. I hope their friendships will extend longer than just through this experience. If they don't, I have learned a great deal from each of these people and I will FOREVER be grateful for a group of people that came into my life at a time when I really needed to learn and grow, but also be true to myself.<br />
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Second, communication is awesome. Some of our best (or my favorite) conversations came after the "class" while exploring truths and beliefs.<br />
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Next, I was reinforced in my belief in being genuine. And I appreciate the people in this experience because each of them is genuine. Genuine people 24/7. How often do you find an entire group of people like this?<br />
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I've also been reminded of the need to learn something new and be open enough to make mistakes. I love that I can use this lesson to help students. "Oh. My student is looking at me like I am speaking a different language." "Oh yeah, that was how I felt on the second day when Peter told us about all the "machines" in the shop."<br />
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Reflection is necessary. For me, I need to constantly be reflecting. How did this experience go? What did I learn? What would I do differently? What can I do next time? And writing these thoughts down helps me to reflect. Good reminder.<br />
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Next, learning styles vary. It has never been more clear to me than through this experience. The experts can help the beginners and those who have experience can provide insight along the way. Some people could help with the math while the others look at the aesthetics. Every single one of us had a different strength.<br />
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"Create more than you consume." I first heard this from Sean and have thought of this every week. The need to create is real. <br />
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I believe I could go on and on AND ON about the many skills and lessons I've learned along this journey...<br />
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I plan to keep writing about them as we all continue to go to the shop... even though our class is over.<br />
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See you Saturday, my friends, at the #soulco.<br />
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Coming soon: videos of the experience.<br />
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-40900233535838023572014-11-20T18:50:00.001-05:002014-11-28T20:10:01.993-05:00Uneven Playing Field<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This topic comes up in my life regularly. This topic is discussed at least weekly in our Soulcraft Cohort, as well as at school, and on twitter. And as I continue to grow older, I see it more and more.<br />
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Our culture simply does not "allow" women to hold the same stature or status as men. </div>
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I'm not talking about the paycheck. We all know that women make less than men for the same jobs, right? I see the headlines and I shake my head. "Not in my world," I usually mumble to myself. I would never put up with that.</div>
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But isn't that exactly what we put up with?</div>
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You speak up too much as a woman and you're labeled. Bossy. Pushy. Not flexible enough. Can't work with others. Bitch.<br />
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So, because I advocate for what I believe is right, I suddenly don't play well with others? I know a few people who would disagree. </div>
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Because I advocate and get what my students need, I'm pushy. I'm bossy. I've overstepped. I know a few parents of kids with special needs who would disagree.</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But, the boys can fix the computers. The men can do the tech job. The new man in the corner office who has never even been to my school can now block my access to the iTunes Store even though I will use my own money on my own account. </span></div>
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A #soulco friend told me that she was approached by a male colleague after speaking up at a staff meeting. Isn't she worried how she'll be viewed in the district? Isn't she concerned about her reputation? What about her credibility? he implied through his callous comments. </div>
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This past week, there was a technology conference run through WVIZ. I looked through the pictures because some of my friends and members of my PLN would be there. Sean, our soulco co-founder did the keynote and I heard he killed it. Check him out at @mrwheeler and @teachinghumans. Did he deserve to be the keynote speaker? Hell yes. </div>
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Could his wife and her co-teacher also have rocked as presenters? Yep.</div>
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I noticed some of my other colleagues then, both as presenters and as attendees. All men. Did they deserve to be there? Are they hard working and ambitious? Hell yes.</div>
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But aren't there also some hard working and ambitious females in the field of ed tech, progressive learning and teaching, in education?!?!</div>
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The truth is, there are. But some have been silenced. Some have to jump through too many hoops. Some are so concerned about making sure that that kid in their class gets to eat breakfast when he gets there that they don't have the time or energy to be a leader in the field. Some are focused on school, work, AND their own kids. Some simply don't want to...</div>
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But shouldn't we at least have an equal opportunity? </div>
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My work at Soulcraft these past 10 weeks has been consistently eye opening. I'm learning about myself, my perceptions, my learning style, and the Maker movement while applying all of it to what I can do better for kids.</div>
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Why is that marginalized?</div>
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Why is it not enough?</div>
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Since when is it wrong to do what's right and speak up? </div>
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In my world, it's not.</div>
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"You appear to be more of an advocate for the parents than for the district," I heard loudly last school year. "No," I thought, "I'm an advocate for kids."</div>
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I'm not bossy. Or pushy. Or loud mouthed. Or difficult. Or a bitch.</div>
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Because if a man did the same things, he be lauded and applauded. </div>
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In fact, he is. Daily. </div>
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While I continue to search for those like me... </div>
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At places like Soulcraft... </div>
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Where it's okay to be a woman in a "traditionally male" universe.</div>
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Did you hear that Barbie can't even restart her own computer now? </div>
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As my friend @stacyhaw said "Women aren't big in the education field... Oh wait."</div>
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Who can you name that could become a teacher leader or education leader? Go.</div>
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Here's the start of my list:</div>
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Cathy Roderick</div>
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Caryn Cody</div>
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Karen Wheeler</div>
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Julie Rhea</div>
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Stacy Hawthorne</div>
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Christy Neider</div>
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Vicki Turner</div>
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Lee McClain</div>
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Melanie Broxterman</div>
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Kim Taylor</div>
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Jacqui Berchtold</div>
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-68649291799307932452014-10-28T20:10:00.001-04:002014-11-28T20:11:10.332-05:00Chopping Up Stereotypes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've been mulling over this one since last Saturday because I'm not sure how to even approach the topics I want to communicate. The woodshop, for me, this week, was more about communicating and relationships. I guess that's not that much different than usual, but I found those things in a different way this time...<br />
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But how do I write about these things without offending someone? How do I make sure this is appropriate for my audience? How do I manage this "bull in a china shop" topic? Let's just do it. I'll try to be nimble.</div>
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I've been thinking about stereotypes. Perceptions. Breaking stereotypes. Changing perceptions.<br />
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So, I'm doing this wood shop thing. I'm hanging out with dudes who build stuff. I'm a 33 year old single girl. I love sports and can talk about the Browns and Cavs and hold my own. I'm now building stuff out of wood. I asked for an electric sander for Christmas. What's the common stereotype here? I know you're thinking it. Or maybe you're not but I had to be sure I made it clear. "So, I like guys." I'm not sure if the woodshop guys were surprised or not. Why did I even feel like I needed to tell them that? </div>
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Next, <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I'm white and have always lived in the suburbs. I went to a private grade school and now work in the district where I lived and attended high school. I never left the 'burbs. My parents paid for my undergrad degree. I wear a NorthFace fleece and own a Coach purse. What's your perception now? If you don't know my whole story or my parents' whole story, you might assume you know me now. You know this stereotype.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">How about when I spend my money to go to the Cavs home opener? Browns season ticket holder? Special education teacher? Elementary school teacher? Any common stereotypes here? How about the guy spitting chew into a bottle that sat near me on the bus yesterday? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Now the stereotypes that I often think of when I see other people who...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">...wear stilleto heels to a sporting event?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">...have dirt under their finger nails?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">...don't read with their kids?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">...smoke?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">...don't show up for parent-teacher conferences?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">...don't speak English?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">...use poor grammar?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">...are stay at home moms or dads?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">...ride the bus?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">...pay someone to do their yard work?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">...have cats? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">...don't give 200% at work?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">...don't read for fun?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">...don't go to college?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">...use android devices?</span></div>
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The theme of stereotypes continued through my extended conversations last week at Soulcraft when we ventured into the topic of the use of the "r word." I choose not to use that word because I believe that there's a negative connotation and it's hurtful to both people with special needs and their families. I often believe people who use that word are ignorant, thoughtless, careless, unkind...</div>
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The conversation was extensive and Peter and Jim helped me to realize that it's not about the word, it's about the stereotypes and perceptions behind the word; that it appears to me that using the "r word" is synonymous with the de-valuation of life if your IQ is lower than 72 or if you are not considered "neuro -typical." There's the perception that, if you are "retarded," in the DSM IV definition of the word, your life is somehow less meaningful than mine. </div>
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Jim was surprised to know that 80% of babies conceived with Down syndrome are aborted. How about the woman who killed her child with autism and the people who justify it?</div>
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And who owns the "r word" anyways. People with an IQ below 72? Their family members? Their teachers and aides and tutors? Can anyone actually own a word? </div>
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Do the words matter?</div>
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If the words don't matter, what's the first step in changing the perception? </div>
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-72485391967943458302014-10-20T19:06:00.001-04:002014-11-28T20:13:09.380-05:00Week 5 of This Adventure<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well... This is supposed to be a six week adventure/ experience in wood working and education, but let's be honest. We are not even close to being done, right Pete?<br />
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I could write for days on what I gained this week at Soulcraft. I'm spending time with interesting, brave, cool people and hearing their stories while telling mine... We're all on a journey, aren't we? And I should be learning about others' journeys too, shouldn't I?</div>
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But, the really cool thing I think I'm gaining here is confidence to try new things. </div>
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After all, the more stuff you try, the more stuff you can do, right? (Not so profound or Emerson- like, but still, true.)</div>
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Today, I found myself stuck in my driveway. Alone. And about to be late for work with a car that wouldn't start... Again.</div>
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<i>I've watched this three times before today, I can do this. </i></div>
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So I did. I jumped my own car today. </div>
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<i>I jumped my own car without any help?</i></div>
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I did! I jumped my own car. I did it! I did it myself!</div>
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And without this class/experience/cohort/thing, I'm not sure I would've ever even tried.</div>
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I could hear my dad doing a cheer up in heaven (likely because I didn't set my car or myself on fire). </div>
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-76941210727846478082014-10-14T20:01:00.001-04:002014-11-28T20:13:32.225-05:00Soulcraft Week 4<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm not even close to being done, mostly because I don't want this experience to end. I'm hoping everyone wants to continue making a weekly trip to Soulcraft even if it's just to high five between machines and drink way too much coffee.<br />
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I was struck this week by so many profound conversations, I hope I can capture it all... </div>
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First, I had a great conversation with Karen about immigrants who are brand new to the district AND to the country. I have several students this year who've just come to the United States weeks ago. I want to know how to teach them but I don't yet. I'm not sure they need to score higher on First Sound Fluency, but rather to follow the rules of this game we call school. When to sit on the carpet, when to line up, when to speak and when to be quiet... Lakewood appears to have a much larger population of immigrants, of course, but the words that struck me from Karen were "language acquisition." I know plenty about language acquisition for students who have autism or Down syndrome. I know what the next steps are with a child who can't speak or doesn't speak at all. But, I have no idea what to do for these kids who have language, just not the English language.</div>
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This one 5 minute conversation about language acquisition led to my search over the weekend for ESL podcasts and research. I'm hoping I'm now on my way to helping our new friends...</div>
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Next, as we were planning to meet up before the Browns game, I was surprised at the comraderie we've already formed. These are the easiest friendships I've ever forged, maybe because we are having a shared experience, or maybe because it's just great to be around like- minded people like Tom and the friend he brought along. Each of these professionals truly know who they are and continues to evolve as that person day in and day out. </div>
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Jim's kids joined us for a bit to talk about school, homework, Minecraft, technology, group projects, teachers, and more. I was moved by the depth of their responses and their honesty. They don't know us, they didn't need to impress, they were simply genuine and true. Kids are amazing, I realized again. </div>
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I stayed after a bit and engaged in even more amazing conversation with Sean, Jim, and Pete. I lost all track of time until I realized that I was expected in Toledo in a little under 15 minutes from that time... As I ran out of Soulcraft and jumped in my car, I was struck by two words Peter shared when supporting Sean, and all educators who feel discouraged. Viscerally involved. </div>
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Viscerally involved.</div>
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"At least you are... viscerally involved," he said with a hand outstretched to prove his point. </div>
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I can only hope to be so viscerally involved in every one of my life experiences. </div>
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-623076086739738692014-10-05T09:49:00.001-04:002014-10-06T19:08:43.697-04:00The Dichotomy Between my Fixed and Growth Mindsets<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> Saturday was a busy day. I went to my woodshop "class" and then met with my supervisor as a BCBA candidate. It strikes me that these are two very different worlds. And somehow I am immersed in both. But one familiar note strikes me- I need other people to help me with both.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">At Soulcraft, we're pushing each other outside of our boundaries. This week, I learned how to use the jointer ("with a T"), the planer, and the table saw to mill the wood AND I actually used them! Five different people helped me to mill the wood for the sides of my shoe rack and none of this would've gotten done without each of them. Karen and Julie helped me with the math. Peter and Jim helped me use the machines for the first time (and not be afraid), and Sean and Julie helped me with the planer. I couldn't have done any of it without them. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">At 12:15 as I was speeding to meet my BFF (and supportive BCBA candidate in crime) and my supervisor at Starbucks, I thought, "I sure needed a lot of help today. This makes me uncomfortable, I'm used to being the "helper," not the "helpee!" I promised myself that next week, I would help someone else instead of only work on my own project.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">And then in our conversations at the coffee shop, I certainly needed my people. Group contingencies and the pros and cons of them do not just discuss themselves...</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">So, it strikes me that I needed people. I need people! I need people? I guess I do need people.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">You see, I pride myself on being really self-sufficient. Typically I do not ask for help and try to get lots of things done efficiently and effectively on my own. I like being the helper and the expert. I like knowing what I'm doing and doing what I know. I even shy away from asking people for help in stores because I should be able to figure things out on my own. But then I get stuck. "I am independent female, hear me roar!" I don't need your help... Until I do.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I need to get rid of my fixed mindset that leads to thinking that needing help is showing weakness. Isn't it actually being human? And isn't that actually okay???</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">It has to be. I needed help. Now I'm better for accepting it. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJoWE7SaluI2COu8oJdSTEO0Xtn0nPht8BrZohF1XlaszdoPKbcqsBLFhRVVUCkbFpeZ_I349QCZzkaeGA8Nbar2ItK6mBtFLKsUV__xZVKycBxYVF9RivWko91xeKE4drt3LB4kG2138/s640/blogger-image-1602978491.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJoWE7SaluI2COu8oJdSTEO0Xtn0nPht8BrZohF1XlaszdoPKbcqsBLFhRVVUCkbFpeZ_I349QCZzkaeGA8Nbar2ItK6mBtFLKsUV__xZVKycBxYVF9RivWko91xeKE4drt3LB4kG2138/s640/blogger-image-1602978491.jpg"></a></div></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br></div>
Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-1252415757986708822014-10-01T13:38:00.000-04:002014-10-01T13:39:39.752-04:00Growing Into My Growth Mindset<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Oh no! I almost cried again. But I didn't! <i>I will NOT cry in this wood shop.</i><br />
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This week, we spent the first hour talking. Unfortunately, <i>or maybe fortunately</i>, someone asked me this week why I wasn't teaching special ed. this year. I gave a short version of the story. <i>I will NOT cry in this wood shop. </i>For the first time telling this story, I didn't cry.<i> I DID NOT CRY IN THIS WOOD SHOP!</i><br />
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And then we moved on to learning about the machines in the wood shop. <i>THANK GOD.</i><br />
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<i>Whoa.</i><br />
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<i>Wait Peter! PETER!</i><br />
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<i>WAAAAIT.</i><br />
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I got the jointer.<i> Joiner? Jointer?</i><br />
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I got the planer. <i>Planer? Planar?</i><br />
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<i>Hmmm...</i> I think I got the table saw. <i>Maybe.</i><br />
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And then it was over. My head was done. Peter had 6 more machines, but my brain was done.<br />
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<i>Wait, is this how people feel when I try to teach them how to make a website? </i><br />
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<i>Is this how my students feel when I ask them to write a sentence? </i><br />
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Well, it's a good thing Peter said we won't be having a test on these, <i>although won't USING them be the ultimate test?</i><br />
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Oh well. The machines are long gone in my brain because then we started "sketching." <i>Cool. I can draw well enough PLUS Jim is helping me.</i><br />
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And then we're figuring out how to calculate how much wood we need. <i>Cool. I am sweet at math.</i><br />
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And then...<br />
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Then...<br />
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And then I COULDN'T DO THE MATH!!!!!!!!!!<br />
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No, really. I couldn't do the math to figure out how much wood I would need. I couldn't visualize the cuts in the wood and I couldn't even problem solve to figure out the math to help me figure out the other math!<br />
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<i>OMG.</i><br />
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Thank goodness there's a former math teacher around and also a math intervention specialist and also some really awesome furniture makers because they helped me with the math.<br />
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But they also helped me realize that this is what's wrong with school. I did learn this math. I could ROCK THIS MATH on a standardized test. But now, using this math in context, WHEN I ACTUALLY NEED IT and I can't do it. <i> I am horrified to admit and totally embarrassed. I have a Masters' degree PLUS 29 credits AND I COULDN'T DO THE MATH.</i><br />
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And then I thanked God for putting me in this situation where I don't need to be embarrassed because I am learning with these people who are also learning. AND FAILING IS OKAY.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">This is exactly the message I need to take back to my students who HATE to read out loud in front of their peers:</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Let's let it be okay to mess up. Let's laugh when we make a mistake and try again the next time. Let's use our peers for their talents and then shine in another area. Let's make it okay to do stuff you're not good at it, solely for the purpose of getting better at it. Let's take it easy and learn for fun, rather than learn for a test or a score. Let's CHILL OUT and stop worrying.</span></b><br />
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-35278341997396428592014-09-21T09:33:00.001-04:002014-09-21T09:33:09.739-04:00Soulcraft Woodshop Cohort and my Fixed Mindset<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In light of the interesting years I've been having (couldn't we all say that about every year??), I've been searching for something.<br />
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Yesterday, I may have found it.<br />
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But I could hear this come out of my mouth, "I'm a special ed teacher. Wait, I'm a special ed teacher who is currently being disguised by my district as a reading specialist." And I may or may not have started to tear up a little. (<i>Please, please self, do not cry in this wood shop.</i>) <br />
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So, I joined this thing. And as we all sat around, we pondered what to call this thing...<br />
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I think we settled on the <a href="http://soulcraftwoodshop.com/">Soulcraft Woodshop</a> Cohort.<br />
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<i>I joined a wood shop class? Wood? Shop? Me?</i><br />
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In an attempt to push myself outside of my comfort zone, I have joined a wood shop class. <br />
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The great part is, it's a wood shop class, with a twist. I'm hanging with other educators who believe that the education system is screwed up and want to find a way to fix it. And the first step is to join up and collaborate, right? So, while we're building stuff and learning new skills, we're going to talk education.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmoSxqRFWouA-xTTQ6dpcUJevhsBbwAp6QZHOm5Brs6xP6A_X86qI9gCHxs6ZHF_ijwP89Wtvuu3OAQzIVXHvcWNN2EiBjww3AhTQVlobEyHX24gUPbT8rjAvhxtDfAofRQSJ-MuvwzQ/s1600/sccabinet2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmoSxqRFWouA-xTTQ6dpcUJevhsBbwAp6QZHOm5Brs6xP6A_X86qI9gCHxs6ZHF_ijwP89Wtvuu3OAQzIVXHvcWNN2EiBjww3AhTQVlobEyHX24gUPbT8rjAvhxtDfAofRQSJ-MuvwzQ/s1600/sccabinet2.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0AeWXZ22Vw2upZmBP_LwSYpxK6xmNAggKHDyRoqW72sfKQyO1024YEOMoYpJ6zIpeunrYu6ryp0nLOUwQaKsw3oWw8bJ3JrvIK_A06XCVV3TE2gNBVx86uer_zWC_ID0LIVZaQIBNOM/s1600/scbench.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0AeWXZ22Vw2upZmBP_LwSYpxK6xmNAggKHDyRoqW72sfKQyO1024YEOMoYpJ6zIpeunrYu6ryp0nLOUwQaKsw3oWw8bJ3JrvIK_A06XCVV3TE2gNBVx86uer_zWC_ID0LIVZaQIBNOM/s1600/scbench.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
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Now, the people in this room appeared to be slightly more "meta" than me. But I could see it. Everything in this wood shop was a metaphor for education. Everything we are going to do resembles building, molding, shaping young minds. And at the same time, our instructors, the <a href="http://soulcraftwoodshop.com/" target="_blank">Soulcraft</a> guys (Peter and Jim) will be modeling how to work with 10 different people with 10 different ideas in a setting that resembles a Maker Space. 10 totally different people... A superintendent, some principals and assistant principals, a PhD candidate, a math teacher, a high school intervention specialist... <i>and me?</i><br />
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Whew. By the time I got home yesterday, I was exhausted. That's a lot of thinking. That's a lot of thinking about thinking. This is not what I do in my free time with my friends...<br />
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... but maybe I will now.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijW37o6arFPcrFTW9FpmCzvrVQ0JwrBI1C31s1wgtGoXt2gNZL9u6n6iLoPtuRCBhOpn3dqrVyCHKPZFR_YrDCw12IrMMN-T2drmDAHLardEfe0W9Gguizc0lGyIYbcf1Fljn524LYHmI/s1600/sccabinet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijW37o6arFPcrFTW9FpmCzvrVQ0JwrBI1C31s1wgtGoXt2gNZL9u6n6iLoPtuRCBhOpn3dqrVyCHKPZFR_YrDCw12IrMMN-T2drmDAHLardEfe0W9Gguizc0lGyIYbcf1Fljn524LYHmI/s1600/sccabinet.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a>We talked a little about fixed vs. growth mindset and I realized, oh crap, I'm working with a fixed mindset. <i>Sometimes</i>. When it came to this wood shop, I was surely in a fixed mindset thinking "there is no way I am going to be able to do this." I even admitted "I really usually only do things I know I am going to be good at."<i> I really just told strangers that?</i><br />
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Lastly, Peter was telling us about the cuts and grades of wood. He was talking about joinery and wow, I was getting a little overwhelmed until he started talking about the natural "defects" of the wood and how we can use the defects to make beautiful design elements. <br />
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Done. I'm sold. I take my students who have these atypicalities and help them grow into something beautiful.<br />
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Metaphors complete.<br />
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What will the next six weeks bring?<br />
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Here's my first sketch. Guess what it is!<br />
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P.S. First round of thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/teachinghumans" target="_blank">Sean Wheeler</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/PeterDebelak" target="_blank">Peter D.</a>, and all the people who got this thing going!</div>
Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-65463048985544324112014-02-18T19:24:00.000-05:002014-09-21T08:16:10.356-04:00A Tough Year... <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Alright, so, I already broke my own promise to blog on Monday mornings. My plan was to use my new found planning time each week to blog about something meaningful. I forgot that we were off of school for Presidents' Day on Monday, so I pushed it to Tuesday. Then, we got a snow day! A wondrous, glorious snow day! Our 5th so far this year... but thankfully we aren't to "blizzard bags" or make up days yet. If all goes correctly in Ohio, we'll just progress with the year as planned. But I am really hoping the snow is done.<br />
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I have a strange feeling inside that God gave me these snow days for a great reason. I'm having a tough year and try to go with the motto of "just get through it and make next year better." Before I get the whole "pick your head up, do it for your students, be the change" argument, you don't know what kind of year I've had.<br />
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And unless I want to make the year worse, I'm not going to be necessarily blog about the details.<br />
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What I'm interested in is this:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">How do <i>you</i> get through a tough year?</span><br />
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I've been trying to decrease my work load, focus on the good things in my life, meditate, become more mindful, celebrate small successes, remember I'm there for the kids, eat healthier, go to bed earlier, stress less over the work, etc., etc., etc.<br />
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It's helping, it is.<br />
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But I'm still struggling.<br />
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I need to find some inspiration, some way to make it through the days, a way to want to get out of bed in the morning...<br />
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I started looking around my house, my bedroom, my photo albums. I tried remembering the years that were great, the great students we turned out, the wonderful parents who supported the program.<br />
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I couldn't seem to turn away from this picture.<br />
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I remember back then, I thought it was a challenging year. I thought I was trying my best, I was stressed, but feeling successful. If I had known then what I know now...<br />
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The day that is captured in the pictures is the day that the Cleveland Plain Dealer came to announce to my whole school that I was going to win a Crystal Apple.<br />
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I know what you're thinking... it's about the award. It's all about ME. But it wasn't. It was the fact that my students were there, even though it was an "after school staff meeting." Their parents were there. My family was there. And I learned that not just one parent nominated me, BUT THREE. We called them "the big 3" back then, and I never imagined that I would learn so much from those three kids, and their parents.<br />
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It was a good day and a good year.<br />
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I was challenging kids. My boss believed in what I was doing. My team was behind me every single day. The aides were like family to me. The kids? They were amazing.<br />
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We had finally gotten the program under our belts. It was the third year in Room 5, our room for students with moderate-intensive special needs. We were making new materials, assessing, working together. The kids were incredible.<br />
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I had figured out what I believed in and it was to include our kids as much as possible. Our team had the same philosophy, we had grown together... I knew that it would be my uphill battle, but I was willing and happy to advocate for every program, material, field trip, and minute spent in an inclusive setting.<br />
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I told my principal that it was "my most difficult year" so far. He told me that I said that every year...<br />
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In 2014, the kids are still amazing. And that's what I need to focus on. The kids. The kids are incredible, they are making progress, they are learning to read, count coins, write complete sentences. They are growing.<br />
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But still, I wonder how many years I can do this job...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">How do you handle a tough year?</span><br />
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-31775329436802519502014-02-10T10:20:00.000-05:002014-02-18T19:25:38.604-05:00Teaching Written Expression to Students with Mod-Intensive Special Needs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In an effort to examine the way that I approach the instruction of written expression to my students with moderate-intensive special needs, I have had a chance to speak with others who teach students with special needs. Several have shared the ways that they go about teaching written expression to our students without the help of a "program" or specific curriculum. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the past 6 years, I have tried to stream line the way I teach writing and use a task analysis approach to my instruction. Using principles of ABA, I often use more of a discrete trial method, continuously practicing and reinforcing a concept at one to one teacher table until it is mastered.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I've heard from other colleagues around the country (via twitter and email) about their similar approaches. Because our students differ, we have varying methods. But, one thing is the same. Written Expression Instruction for our students is complicated. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Below, I outline the way that I instruct written expression for my K-3 students with moderate to intensive special needs:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Only after learning letters and letter sounds and working on basic handwriting skills with pre-writing strokes, I start with writing capital and lowercase letters that represent a sound. I say "write the letter that says /b/." My student should write a "B" or a "b."</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Once we have mastered writing (with some sort of accuracy so I can tell what letter I am looking at), I move on to writing three letter words in the cvc (consonant-vowel-consonant) pattern to label a picture. We see a picture of a hat and we should write h-a-t. I help sound out the word by tapping out the sounds on my arm (beginning sound at the wrist, medial sound at the elbow, and ending sound at the shoulder). While learning to do this, we are also practicing receptively choosing beginning, medial, and final sounds in cvc words.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Below is a page we might use to label items with cvc names like pen, hen, can, hot, pot, and ten. We would typically work on this together once we have already made words with letter cards or on the iPad app called ABC Magnetic Alphabet.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Once we've mastered labeling pictures, we move to making sentences using picture cards and word cards. I show a picture of a simple object like a dog. Then I say "What is this?" and the student constructs the sentence "This is a dog." We work on varying the start of the sentence with "It" or "I see" to make sentences like "I see a dog." or "It is a dog." During this time, I reinforce capital letters and periods to make complete sentences. We watch a Brain Pop Jr. video and practice, practice, practice.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Then we move to pictures of people or fictional characters doing something so that we can make sentences with a verb + ing. Using picture cards and word cards, I ask "What is he doing?" The student will then make a sentence like "He is walking." I change my question to use "she" and "they" as well.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt8nBRXGHONW6P69AMxD-M59EV6B1E3sPoOyFyi-A-Ib5IUrt49mPm2yKzIUw75jpkjYZ8Wgen2nVGVlos_6S9w0t2pcKmoZdw3s2MGaG4YMmYgU02ZvaKSU_DGNY21IeaQdVuiOhT16g/s1600/writing8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt8nBRXGHONW6P69AMxD-M59EV6B1E3sPoOyFyi-A-Ib5IUrt49mPm2yKzIUw75jpkjYZ8Wgen2nVGVlos_6S9w0t2pcKmoZdw3s2MGaG4YMmYgU02ZvaKSU_DGNY21IeaQdVuiOhT16g/s1600/writing8.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">We work then on writing the sentence we've formed with the word cards. Then writing the sentence without the word cards.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIIyeaNo5dC75so5NdjqCRu58xi_mLeIPNhH4Tb7S1f96HQmGza7Dsrsa586gTa42j5w5lJ51TZAllPY0iV-p90jkwdpNMcSnL2MlcB-ZU1kVQNoLLj0US5cd3swzR9KZp2qkykpqi90g/s1600/writing10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIIyeaNo5dC75so5NdjqCRu58xi_mLeIPNhH4Tb7S1f96HQmGza7Dsrsa586gTa42j5w5lJ51TZAllPY0iV-p90jkwdpNMcSnL2MlcB-ZU1kVQNoLLj0US5cd3swzR9KZp2qkykpqi90g/s1600/writing10.jpg" height="400" width="348" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Once we can write one sentence about a picture, I move to two sentences. Using the same method as above, I show a picture and say "What is this?" The student should write "This is a dog." Then I ask "What color is it?" or "Is it big or little?" The student can then write a sentence with a defining characteristic like "It is brown." We then point out that we have two capital letters and two periods and that means we have written two sentences.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Once we can master that, I show the picture and say "Write two sentences." </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In addition, I plan to start adding in more "errorless" writing in which I can give a sentence with a blank space and several correct choices for a response like this (Thanks to Jennifer Waer aka <a href="https://twitter.com/spoowriter">@spoowriter</a> for this awesome example): </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsPDBohKyyMBJ-FcmVIdsawnOEeVph5X9BvXGJVkY2egkF4sh5rWNMgRAsjJESqUSX9lg-wbnWPvNIa-sTje_mU8BXDWSr6NgtyYFYIbwy6B8gC7Z1ZEAqdlbzNmGMRq4zUFStFF2VZQU/s1600/writing11.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsPDBohKyyMBJ-FcmVIdsawnOEeVph5X9BvXGJVkY2egkF4sh5rWNMgRAsjJESqUSX9lg-wbnWPvNIa-sTje_mU8BXDWSr6NgtyYFYIbwy6B8gC7Z1ZEAqdlbzNmGMRq4zUFStFF2VZQU/s1600/writing11.png" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm am incredibly interested in discussing this topic with other teachers who work with students with moderate-intensive disabilities and hope that I'll hear from some. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thanks to some members of my PLN, <a href="https://twitter.com/teachwtechbrox">@teachwtechbrox</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/specialteachk">@specialteachk</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/tperran">@tperran</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/spoowriter">@spoowriter</a>, for your support and help. :)</span><br />
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-56836479869570724632013-06-20T23:07:00.001-04:002013-06-20T23:07:49.353-04:00My Goals, in Retrospect...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is the first time I am revisiting these goals and reflecting on them specifically since the school year ended...<br />
<br />
So much has happened, and I haven't had much time to think about these specifics.<br />
<br />
I never imagined that, at the end of this, my 10th year as a teacher, I would be packing up and shipping out.<br />
<br />
After having been in the same building for the last 9 years, I am getting moved over to another elementary school in our district. It's still bittersweet and I am still trying to reflect on the week I found out, and the events following it.<br />
<br />
Instead, I should take some time to reflect on our school year and the learning of my students...<br />
<br />
In the 2012-2013 school year, a relatively "easy" school year with only 4 students with moderate to intensive special needs turned into another tough year with 6 students with moderate to intensive special needs. In November, a new third grader joined us, and in March, a new second grader.<br />
<br />
We also added 1.5 additional special ed. aides to make our little family just that much larger- 6 students, 6 special ed. aides, and me. :)<br />
<br />
Here were the goals I originally set for myself along with my progress and commentary in red. :)<br />
<br />
<b>Goal 1:</b> By the end of the year, first and second graders will have created an e-portfolio in Weebly.com.<br />
<span style="color: red;">2 of 3 second graders completed this task and 2 of 2 first graders. Unfortunately I did not get to this with one third grader and one second grader as they had other needs that took priority.</span><br />
A. Second graders will create e-portfolios in the first week of September. <span style="color: red;">Done.</span><br />
B. First graders will create e-portfolios in the 2-3 week of September. <span style="color: red;">Done.</span><br />
C. Second graders will add to their e-portfolio weekly. <span style="color: red;">We did this, yes. The weekly entry was a spelling test. However, more meaningful writing did not take place weekly as I had hoped. Our writing progress was good, but slower than anticipated this year.</span><br />
D. First graders will add to their e-portfolio every other week. <span style="color: red;">This was tough. One student added weekly with a spelling test, but the other was more sporadic. Again, not as much writing progress as I would have liked, slow but steady.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">Goal 1: Moderate Success. :) </span><br />
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<b>Goal 2:</b> During the school year, students will use iPads for a creation tasks at least 3 times each. <span style="color: red;">Yes! I believe I accomplished this with my students. One student used I Can Animate to make stop-motion videos with our Legos. Next, we used the Felt Board app to create characters from the book Freckle Juice by Judy Blume. Lastly, we worked on using the App Toontastic Jr. Shrek. This was very cool.</span><br />
A. Try out Puppet Pals. <span style="color: red;">We did not try Puppet Pals.</span><br />
B. Try out I Can Animate. <span style="color: red;">Yes!</span><br />
C. Find another great App for Creation for my students (Garage Band? Poplet? Type Drawing?<br />
Toontastic?) <span style="color: red;">Yes! Toontastic Jr. Shrek and Felt Board.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Goal 2: Success!!</span><br />
<br />
<b>Goal 3:</b> During the school year, participate on school teams, as a valuable team member. <span style="color: red;">Instead of being the leader of many teams, I got back this year to find several of "my committees" had been cut from the committee list anyway. Somehow, I ended up on the Field Day committee and I surely think this was a success in 2013! I also worked on the planning team for EdCampCLE 2013 and didn't take over. :)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Goal 3: Success!</span><br />
<br />
<b>Goal 4:</b> Participate in the Global Read Aloud with Charlotte's Web. <span style="color: red;">Yes! We loved it although we are hoping for a shorter book in Fall of 2013. There was A LOT of work to do to make additional visual cues for every chapter, every setting, and every character. We also used the cartoon movie version after every reading each chapter to make sure we understood the plot.</span><br />
A. Complete at least 3 Skype or Facetime sessions. <span style="color: red;">Rats! We Skyped only once this year during the Global Read Aloud, but also Skyped one time during Right to Read Week.</span><br />
B. Collaborate in at least 2 other ways with other classes. <span style="color: red;">Because the book was so long, we struggled to collaborate with other students during this time. The focus was on OUR comprehension....</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Goal 4: Still a success in my book!</span><br />
<br />
<b>Goal 5:</b> In any one day, leave the building after NO MORE than 10 hours of work. <span style="color: red;">Success! in 177ish student school days, I was successful at this in at least 75% of trials. :) </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Wait, does leaving work and going to a 3 hour class on Applied Behavior Analysis once a week count as "leaving?" </span><br />
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Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5529666501169716810.post-11897667553462079082013-02-10T18:09:00.000-05:002013-02-10T18:09:12.833-05:00Twas the Night Before eTech...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Twas the night before eTech<br />
And all through the room<br />
All the devices were charging<br />
To avoid pending doom…<br />
<br />
Okay, I’m no poet. It took me far too long to write that one stanza
with two dogs trying to climb onto my lap as I sit on the floor in front
of my laptop trying to be witty.<br />
<br />
Witty? That’s not really how anyone would describe me, is it?<br />
<br />
Interested in learning? That’s more like it.<br />
<br />
In going through the schedules on the Guidebook app, I have picked
out several really exciting sessions to attend while also knowing I will
participate in the “unconference” portion of the conference. You can
follow all of our tweets by going to twitter and following #OETC13. <strong>
At this conference, I’m really looking forward to making f2f
connections with my twitter friends, learning something way out of the
box, and learning to use our iPads with even more effectiveness and
efficiency.</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Monday, Feb. 11th (Happy Birthday mom!)</strong><br />
<br />
On Monday morning, we’ll likely miss the 8am sessions, but really,
who could leave Cleveland much earlier than 5:45am? It’s just not going
to happen. We’ll get there and go see the first Key Note speaker
Heather Clayton Staker, who will speak on “Facing a Future of K-12
Blended Learning.”<br />
<br />
On Monday at 10:45, I have picked out 5 sessions go to:<br />
1. 21st Century Information Literacy and Common Core Standards: Professional Development for Teachers<br />
2. AT, Math and the Common Core Standards<br />
3. Ohio’s Next Generation of Assessments<br />
4. Pairing Evernote and iPods to Benefit Diverse Learners<br />
5. You Will Rise Art Project<br />
<br />
On Monday at 12pm, I have picked 2:<br />
1. Getting Boys to Read with Technology<br />
2. Unleashing the iPad’s Creativity by Looking Beyond Content-Specific Apps<br />
<br />
On Monday at 1pm, I might go to Using Digital Images as Writing Prompts.<br />
<br />
On Monday at 1:15pm, I picked 2:<br />
1. Flocabulary: Hip-Hop in the Classroom<br />
2. Teaching Simple Machines and Force and Motion using LEGO<br />
<br />
On Monday at 2:30pm, I want to go to:<br />
1. Adaptive Diagnostic and Differentiated Instruction Based on Common Core<br />
2. “Show Me What You Know”: How Games- Based Thinking Shaped my Classroom<br />
And on Monday at 3:45pm, I want to go see “Web Apps and iPad Apps for Struggling Readers and Writers.”<br />
<em>Wheeeeeew! And that’s just Monday! And that doesn’t include any evening activities. <img alt=":)" class="wp-smiley" src="http://staff.bbhcsd.org/kolism/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" /> </em><br />
<br />
<strong>Tuesday, Feb. 12th</strong><br />
I’m doing slightly better in choosing sessions on Tuesday…<br />
<br />
Tuesday at 8am, I have picked 3 sessions:<br />
1. Google Tools for Students with Disabilities<br />
2. High Heels and High Tech: 10 Essentials for Women in Leadership<br />
3. iPads and IEPs Apps that Transform Learning for All Learners<br />
<br />
There’s a Key Note speaker at 9:30, Max Brooks, speaking on “Show & Tell: It’s Not Just for 2nd Grade.”<br />
<br />
At 10:45am on Tuesday, I would go to these:<br />
1. Bloomin’ iPads (Bloom’s Taxonomy)<br />
2. Student Created Multimedia eBooks on the iPad in Grades K-3<br />
3. O.D.O.T Distracted Driving Simulator<br />
<br />
At 11:45-2pm, I will be helping out with the “unconference” in C224
and 225. I hope to see you there at some point! You can follow the
“unconference” at #OETCx on twitter.<br />
<br />
At 2:30, I’d like to go see “Grant Writing Made Easy: Novice Grant
Writers, Funding Sources and Writing Tips using GRANT SUCCESS.”<br />
<br />
And at 3:45, I’ll go to “Technology Tools to Support and Engage All Learners.”<br />
<em>I haven’t heard much about Tuesday evening activities, so maybe this is when I will take a nap and process all this!</em><br />
<br />
<strong>Wednesday, Feb. 13th</strong><br />
On Wednesday, I plan to pack in as much as possible before we hit the road…<br />
<br />
On Wednesday at 8am, I’d like to see:<br />
1. iBooks Author and The Power of Writing eBooks<br />
2. Incorporating iPad Apps to Demonstrate Core Standards<br />
<br />
At 9:30, there’s a Key Note speaker, Andrew Ng, on “The Online Revolution: Education for Everyone.”<br />
<br />
At 10:45 on Wednesday, I’d like to see:<br />
1. Digital Portfolios to Spotlight Student Accomplishments<br />
2. Scaffolding iPad Apps to Support 2nd Grade Student Language Arts Learning: Toontastic!<br />
<br />
At noon:<br />
1. Differentiating for All Learners using Technology<br />
2. iPads, iPod Touches and the Common Core<br />
<br />
And at 1:15pm, “Uncommon Projects for the Common Core.”<br />
<br />
I’d also like to visit the Scholastic table, OCALI, Brain Pop, and Learning A-Z! Any free stuff for kids accepted here!<br />
<br />
<strong>A huge THANK YOU to Carla Calevich and her office for sending
me, along with my colleagues Todd Wasil (@wasilt1), Joe Butler
(@jfbutler) and Cathy Roderick (@CathyBees10), to eTech Ohio 2013!</strong><br />
</div>
Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08347476640230086170noreply@blogger.com4