Professional Development Day

So Arlene proposed a great idea to do poetry night at Bestseller. Unfortunately, it didn't go through and we were stuck today wondering how the heck we were going to get our project done on such short notice, since the activity is due tomorrow...YIKES! We therefore started calling a bunch of places to see if we could do poetry night with them. We contacted Infusion, Port of Mocha, and then finally The Tree. The Tree allowed us to do it in there little cafe and we were so happy. We rounded up a bunch of people: friend, co-workers, former students, family members and headed over to The Tree. Before Arlene and I got there, we went to Bestseller to find a good poetry book. There was a very minimal selection and we sat there wondering if they were going to have what we wanted. The whole idea of this professional development night was to get the crowd involved with Poem for 2 voices. Actually, the few poem books that they had were really awesome that now both Arlene and I are really interested in. I bought one named Crank (which I let my cousin-in-law borrow and I therefore don't remember the name of the author) and Arlene bought one named Identical. The authors first name is Ellen, but I am unfamiliar with her last name. These books are filled with different poems that can be read by 1-5 people. Therefore, we had a lot of fun with it. I was surprised that everyone wanted to join in and be a part of the poetry night. No one really came to stay while we were there (from 7-9 p.m.) and we took up at least half of the cafe so I was a little disappointed that no one else came to join us. But it was a really great experience.

Motheread with seven men

I did my professional development stint with Motheread at Ironwood estates with Jessica. We were a little bit early, and so we waited for a short while. As the students trickled in I noticed something odd. Out of eleven of us, seven were men. I found it amusing that the book that we were going to read that day was "Just Us Women". ( I hear you giggling out there. Jessica and I giggled too).

After we got over that, we had a productive three and a half hours. Nadine, the facilitator, read the book, then asked questions. The class took turns reading lines from it, and then we shared what we learned from it. After that, we had multiple writing exercises. It was a strange feeling because I have become so used to typing. Actual writing-writing, was uncomfortable, and my handwriting has become atrocious!

We had some discussions as well, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of the Chuukese men is a quarter Japanese. They got to practice their reading and English-speaking skills, and I got an impromptu Japanese refresher! Win-win!

This is an excellent program for the community, and I am glad it's available for all to join. Everyone should check it out. Free books!

OFFICIALLY DONE!!!

I am considering myself officially done with ED641 with the exception of the remaining blog posts. OMG! What an enduring experience. Just when I thought I could not reflect anymore on anything else, oopps, I forgot something... So tonight, I kicked it into gear, cut out the trips to the fridge, and whacked it like a cockaroach on my morning cup of coffee! 

Alleillujah! It's done... *Sigh*

Transactional Theory Paper

I missed the deadline by 3 minutes because my format for references was giving me a hard time.  I would press the hanging option but it would not work on two references.  I had to read and reread teh material to make sure I was interpreting it correctly. :-) But according to Transactional Theory of reading interpretation is between the reader and the text.  So, I think I will be okay. :-)  Good Night.

August- Back to School!

All I can remember about the month of August growing up was that it marked back to school elements, back to school shopping, getting school supplies, marking off the days of the calendar, looking for the perfect school bag. This August is VERY different. It still encompasses a lot of those elements but now it also evokes a sense of fear in me. As most of us will become teachers in a week, I am anxious about all that we have learned thus far. This will be my second full year of teaching and I am much more intimidated than when I first started. From day one I was thrown to the lions and had to learn to fend for myself. Luckily, I was surrounded by many supportive colleagues that guided me thru. Now, I have a personal standard that I want to fulfill and am anxious about how well I can apply the skills I have gained. In the beginning I had no pressure to excel because I had nothing to work from and I wasn't too sure what I was working toward. So my personal best was my only concern. Now, that I have completed 16 rigorous hours of educational and professional development courses, I feel I must meet the expectations of others. Others being administrators, students, parents, colleagues, and who knows who else. I know I will do well, I just need to get these jitters out of my system.   

First of the Month

I am sitting here thinking about how to construct my paper. I have read a few samples on Transactional Theory and I am extremely intrigued on the concepts. Other than this assignment, I have been working on my Assessment assignments and I am confident that I will complete everything that needs to be completed. I am very excited about this upcoming school year because I will be teaching at John F. Kennedy HS and although the school will be opening a week late, I am anticipating meeting my new students. Well, back to my paper, good luck to everyone.

It's AUGUST already!!

Here we are in the final week of this class. I thought it would go so smoothly and everything would be done, and yet this is becoming so stressful for me. Had always been a reader, absolutely love books, and thought when signing up for the class that it would be another 'easy' course.
There have been so many theories about reading that I had never considered, strategies to use (some of which I already did and didn't realize that's what it was), and so many ways to teach what I had always thought was a natural thing for everyone- - to READ!
My hope is that I can get it all completed and uploaded to Live Text by Sat. How about you?