Gimme Five Challenge: Accepted!

Gimme 5 Challenge

Last week a former student, turned colleague (how cool is that?) of mine tagged me in the Gimme Five Challenge.  I needed to finish grading my Honors Freshman English research papers before I could even begin to think about writing a blog post. This challenge originated from Dr. Todd Schmidt from Harbor View Elementary in California.

If you are an educator, I challenge you to reflect on your year, for it is only through reflection that we move forward and change our practices and beliefs.

What has been your ONE biggest struggle during this school year?

1. My biggest struggle this year has been finding a balance between school and home.  I tell my students that there is only one thing that comes before school, and that is my family.  I have two young boys, and some days those boys need their momma.  It is so different being a teacher with children.  I used to come home from school, eat dinner, and then dive right back into work.  These two boys of mine don't allow me to be "teacher" between the hours of 4:30 and 8:30.  So, what's that mean?  It means that sometimes my grades don't get put in as often as I'd like.  It means that sometimes I stay up late altering the next day's lesson plans to fit this specific class's needs.    It means that I have changed my beliefs on assignments; not everything needs a grade, but I can tell you that I know for a fact that the activities that we do in class each day are making my students better readers and writers. Just because I can't put in the kind of time that I used to does not mean that I am not doing my best, it means my best has to change the way it looks to work for myself, my husband, my kids, and my students.

Share TWO accomplishments that you are proud of from this school year.

1. I'm very proud of the S.E.E.D writing program my department and school has implemented in the past few years.  I am seeing some of the strongest writing from my student that I have ever seen.  I also enjoyed being able to share this writing strategy with another school this year with Jason Kohls.  

2. I am still coming down from cloud nine after attending ECET2 (Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teachers and Teaching) in San Diego.  This conference is the brain child of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  It brought over 400 educators together from all over the country to spend the weekend collaborating on how to improve education and celebrate learning.  It was life changing to see the passion that exists across the country to reform education. Too bad we don't see that on the 6 o'clock news.

What are THREE things you wish to accomplish before the end of the school year?

1. I have two former students who run a non-profit organization to help improve education for school children in Nepal; somehow I want to partner with them this year.  They do fantastic work - check it out! https://openworldcause.org

2. I want to collaborate with our libraries to make sure that students have the opportunities to get library cards, or at least the information they need to do so, before the end of the year.  Very few of them actually have a library card that is not connected to school. I am working with another former student to make this happen.

3. I want to finish grading research papers for my sophomores and revisions for my freshman.  I know this doesn't sound exciting, but it takes about 30 hours to grade 45 research papers and another 10 to grade revisions (multiply that by two for both of my preps).  It is a huge chunk of time, but this type of writing is important to prepare students for college writing/ academic research.

Give FOUR reasons why you remain in education in today's rough culture.

1. I love my school, my colleagues, and my kiddos - this is how I give back a community that gives so much to me.

2. Education is my family business - it's what I was born to do.

3. My children's futures.

4. My students' futures.

Which FIVE people do you hope will take the challenge of answering these questions?

1. Greg Froese, one of my outstanding colleagues who also blogs. (beat ya, Jason Kohls)

2. Cindy Couchman, our Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Learning at Buhler - she has been an amazing colleague, resource, and friend to me.

3. Ben Honeycutt, a future teacher who is already a world-changer.

4. Heather Fuller - a former student teacher of mine who is a fantastic teacher and coach!

5. Larissa Carter, our new debate teacher who has contemplated starting a blog - would be a great first post!