It's almost time to go back to school

The summer has cruised by for me. Seems like yesterday I just got out of school for the summer.

It's definitely been a restful yet productive summer. Since I didn't work this summer, I surprisingly kept pretty busy this summer with workshops, meetings with colleagues, a visit from my sister, and just hanging out with wonderful friends. It was a pleasant surprise to say the least since I'm so used to running around all the time. At first, I thought I would be bored. That SO didn't happen. I feel well rested and ready for a new school year. And, that is a good thing. :=)

The workshop at Harvard on Oil was great! So informative! The organizers brought in many lecturers and experts that were knowledgeable about the topic of Oil. During the morning sessions, we would have lectures. In the afternoon sessions, teachers would do workshops on how to implement the topic of oil and materials in the classroom. I also met some wonderful teachers from all over New England. The end of every day, I walked out feeling intellectually exhausted. Of course the best part was leaving with some wonderful resources to use in my classroom.

I had an inspiration during the workshop: I would like to propose to my transitional team that we do something around the topic of oil for 4th quarter this year. Our theme for 4th quarter is service. I thought that each content teacher could do the following: 1) History teacher - go over the role of Oil since 1900 in the world (History background), 2) English teacher - read current event articles about Oil and design informational posters about the pros and cons of oil usage in the United States and World to be hung up all over the building, 3) Science teacher - research the science about Oil, do a energy efficiency inventory of our high school, 4) Math teacher - research stats on oil usage, make charts and record the information they are learning. I also was thinking that the kids could have public service announcements read at the end of the day during announcements about various stats and trivia questions about the use of Oil. We could even have the students go to other schools in the district to educate the younger kids and even the community. The whole point of this project would be to educate students (both in our classes and around the district) and the community about energy efficiency and how we need to do something NOW to stop our addiction to Oil. Obviously, I'm just thinking and planning at the top of my head. My team was looking to do something for service learning and this topic might be a great way to tie all of our disciplines together and do a great thing for the environment at the same time.

Volleyball starts on Thursday so the life of M-Dawg gets turned upside down and crazy busy again. We will have double sessions (8:30-11:00 and 2:30-4:30) so in between practices, I will start getting my classroom ready. I've already been to Wal-Mart and Staples to load up on supplies. Going to be heading to my favorite teacher store on Monday to get some curriculum books and materials.

I don't go back until September 8th for a professional day and the students arrive on the 9th for their 1st full day of school (we end our school year the end of June). Some of you teacher folks are already in school. :=)

Wishing everyone a wonderful, productive, and drama free school year!! :=)

Busy trying to finish up the work for my Summer Institute and other "stuff" . . .

I know it's been a while since I've posted. Believe it or not, I guess I can remain busy even when I'm not at school. :+)

I was accepted into a Summer Institute through the Using Essex History grant. For followers of this blog, this is the same Institute that I did last summer. It's a wonderful professional development opportunity. When completed, I will get a $1,000 stipend, three graduate credits, 45 PDP's, and the textbooks for free.

Prior to the Institute, I had to read three books and a huge packet of readings. During the week of the seminar, each day you turn in work. I had to complete one book review paper and three "note papers" on the books. I completed all this work a few days prior to the start of the Seminar. I knew that everyday when I would come home that my brain would be fried! :=)

To finish up the Institute, I have to write a 10 page thematic essay and a five day lesson plan on the topics discussed during the Institute. This work is due on August 1st. I need to get the work completed earlier since my sister is coming out for a long weekend visit. The good news is that I email all my work to my professor.

And, I was accepted into a five day workshop at Harvard on Oil and the Contemporary World in August so I have work to do for that workshop as well.

So, this is what I've been working on since I got out of school.

On top of it, I've also been preparing and getting ready for the next school year. Sometimes I laugh when people tell me how great it is to be teacher since we "have our summers off." Yeah, right. Not this teacher.

This is what I've been working on for next school year:
1) I'm part of a transitional program in the Freshman House so the English teacher and I are working on doing interdisciplinary units with various themes. One unit we are working on is related to the Holocaust and the graphic novels Maus I and Maus II. I wrote a grant that enabled us to purchase the books for the students.
2) Since I'm on the transitional team, our team wants to incorporate a new grading policy called Success Orientated Classroom. Basically students will contract for their grade. It's a new way of thinking and planning so there is a lot to learn. Our team wants to be consistent with our students regarding grades and discipline as well.
3) There are three World History teachers in the Freshman House. We've made an executive decision to start our curriculum at the Renaissance this year. We can't continue to barely make it to World War II by the end of the school year. We need to get to the present day as much as possible. Since our state doesn't test on World History knowledge (I guess US History is more important), we can pretty much do what we want to some degree.
4) I'm always working on expanding and improving the local history class curriculum (which is where the Summer Institute comes in). The Summer Institute incorporates primary documents into local history so it's a win-win situation. I've also been working on "tweaking" the Honors credit option contract for next year. I felt that the Honors credit this school year so TOO easy for the kids.
5) One of my goals is to have most of the 1st quarter planned out by the end of August. We don't go back to school until September 8th.
6) I'm working on trying to get AP European History approved at my school for next school year. So, I need to submit a curriculum for approval. What does this mean? That hopefully my school will not only approve it but will pay for me next summer to get trained!

Why do I need to get all this stuff done? Volleyball season officially starts on August 27th so I need to have all my ducks in a row to be organized for the new school year. I hate being unorganized for a new school year. :=)

I have allowed myself some down time as well. I've been watching a lot of movies thanks to Netflix. I'm currently watching The Tudors - season 2. Highly recommend it!

So, that has been my summer thus far. Luckily the weather here hasn't been that great so it's allowed me to be more productive than in past summers. When it's raining outside, I get more work done.

How's your summer????

Make sure you recertify your teacher license(s)!

Over the weekend, I was working on my recertification paperwork for NH (I taught for four years in the "Live free or die" state).

Even though I've been teaching for six plus years in another state, I always like to maintain my license in NH. You never know what may bring down the road regarding jobs. And, I worked very hard to get the license.

The fee is $130 for three years of certification in NH. Seems like a lot of money. But, luckily, I'm able to "double dip" for the PDP's for the state I currently teach in and NH. So, it's not really that bad.

In three years, I accumulated 136 hours in my content (History/Social Studies) and 100.5 hours in methodology, curriculum, and "other" areas. I technically have more hours for this past school year but my current school won't give us our hours (certificates) until the new school year. And, knowing my luck, I would get audited by the state of NH to show all my paperwork over the summer. NH only requires 30 hours in content and 45 hours in methodology, curriculum, etc.

Some tricks for keeping track of all those hours:
*My school gave us a binder for professional development. I keep all certificates and paperwork in that binder. After I attend a seminar or workshop, that certificate goes straight into that binder so I can keep track of everything. I also keep all paperwork in chronological order since the states like to have everything listed that way.
*I also created a spreadsheet in Excel years ago to keep track of my hours. I set up different categories (each state varies on their requirements in hours). Every time I attend a seminar, workshop, or receive a certificate, I enter all my info into the spreadsheet.
*I archive (spoken like a Historian) past certificates and certifications in a file cabinet at home. You never know what the state may require of us as professionals. For example, my current school requires ELL (English Language Learner) training. They were going to have me complete 50 hours of it last school year but I already completed the training at my previous school. All I had to do was show them the paperwork and certificate of completion and a transcript (I took it for grad credit too) and I was good to go! Trust me . . . you don't want to have to repeat stuff if you don't have to repeat it.

If anyone else has any tricks, please feel free to share in the comment section.

Greetings from the depths of craziness . . . .

I know . . . I know. It's been forever since I've blogged anything of particularly interest.

This time of the school year is overwhelming. Trying to teach the rest of the World History curriculum by June. State Testing that messes up teaching all that curriculum since it means that we have three hour delays and students that really don't want to be doing anything after taking a three hour exam every day. SPED meetings to make sure our students are where they need to be for next school year. End of year stuff like proms, senior week activities, getting final exams ready, correcting and grading, etc. Parents and guidance counselors that are NOW all of a sudden concerned that their kid will not be passing my ELECTIVE to graduate from high school even though I had called home, sent emails, commented on progress and report cards, and met with the parents months ago. They all seem to think the "let's just hand over my kid a high school diploma" fairy will magically give them their high school diploma. It just doesn't work that way in my class. The funny part: at my school, students only need three credits of History (World history - 9th grade, US History Part I - 10th grade, and US History Part II - 11th grade). The fact that they need an elective to graduate is a little insulting to me. The kid NEEDS to do work to pass. End of story.

And, I have something going on every weekend from now until the end of June for my personal life stuff on top of it.

My head is spinning just thinking about all the craziness. I just need to remind myself that I can make it to June 22nd and life will slow down.

Good news for my summer plans. I was accepted into a five-day summer institute on local history again (I did the institute last summer). I will receive a $1000 stipend, free books, 3 graduate credits, and 30 PDP's (for free). There is a ton of reading and prep involved before and after the institute but it is so worth it. I had put my name in for teaching summer school but decided that I needed a break from teaching. The pay isn't that great compared to the Institute. I also signed up for a week long workshop at Harvard University on the Impact of Oil around the World through an Historical perspective. Should be interesting.

I know that I said I would post some pictures from my trip to North Carolina over April break. I had an amazing time! We (my colleague and I) checked out almost all of the UNC universities and even a few private colleges. The schools there are much cheaper than they are up here in New England so I don't know what decision my colleague and her daughter will make regarding the big college decision. I didn't take any photos of the schools. I guess I was having a duh moment. All of the campuses were beautiful! All the pictures below are of the historical places we checked out on our "Thelma and Louise" road trip (minus driving the rental car off a cliff and no Brad Pitt). :-)

Knock yourselves out! :=)

Alamance Battleground - outside of Burlington, NC.

Presidents of North Carolina - statue in front of Capital building in Raleigh, NC.

Fort Raleigh - England's first New World settlements from 1584 to 1590.

Replica of Wright Brothers first airplane - Wright Brothers Memorial.

Memorial at Wright Brothers National Historic Site.

Check off the list . . . . one paper and lesson plan DONE!

I did it!

The lesson plan for emailed on Friday and the 10 page thematic essay was emailed on Sunday evening.

Done.

FINALLY!

Now I wait for my grade.

My summer can officially begin . . . . . .

Pressure (to quote David Bowie and Queen)!

The pressure is on . . . . . . .

8-10 page thematic essay and 3-5 day lesson plan due on Sunday!

Ugh.

Blah!

(I know you have that song in your head now! Hah!) :-)

How did you spend your day off? Touching REALLY old letters!

Greetings!

Yesterday, I spent the day reading through old documents at a historical society. By old I mean like around 1775! I read letters from a soldier to his wife during the American Revolution! How cool is that????? I even got to wear the white "Mickey Mouse" gloves to read through all the letters . . . . in case you are not aware of it - our hands (skin) have oils on them that can destroy the letters so you have to wear the protective gloves to preserve the letters. The handwriting was difficult to read since the ink had faded over the years and the spelling was quite "unique" - for example, they spelled "which" this way: WITCH. Reminded me of my students and their spelling habits. :-)

I then went to a public library to research old newspaper articles from the time period as well. Everything is on microfilm and I could make copies of the articles.

So far, I've come up with some good material and primary source information for my lesson plan for the Using Essex History class. And, I'm pumped about using the materials in my local History class that I teach at my school.

That due date is coming quick! :-)

Finished up the Using Essex History class and now it's time to write a thematic essay and lesson plan!

The Using Essex History class that I took last week was great! I really enjoyed the various topics each day:
*Day 1 - American Revolution (The National Heritage Museum - Lexington)
*Day 2 - Civil War (Marblehead Historical Museum - Marblehead)
*Day 3 - Westward Expansion (St. Joseph's Hall - Salem)
*Day 4 - Civil Rights Movement (National Archives - Waltham)
*Day 5 - Nathaniel Hawthorne (The House of Seven Gables - Salem)

Each day was filled with lectures from professors on each topic, a field trip of the facility we were hanging out in, and time to look at primary sources and analyze them and brainstorm teaching ideas in groups with other teachers (there were 30 teachers that were chosen from Essex County). Our day started at 9:00 am and lasted until 4:00 pm. A long day but sooooo productive! My brain hurt at the end of the day! :-)

So, now the fun part begins! Prior to the class, I had to read four books and a packet of readings designed for each of the five days. We had to turn in one book review and three book note papers during the week. Due on August 3rd, I have to write a 8-10 page thematic essay and a 3-4 day lesson plan.

Between now and the due date - I have two days off from work and one of which I'm spending at the Beverly Historical Society to research letters from the American Revolution.

The bonus: I get 3 graduate credits (since it is a grant, I don't have to pay for the credits) and a $1,000 stipend. Yahoo! :-)

And, the race begins! I'll keep you posted. :-)