Are "polka" and "polka dots" connected? :-)
After fifteen hours of school work - a department meeting and heavy lifting of every student textbook you guys will use this year - a surprisingly upbeat line rang through my mind. "Apples, peaches, pumpkin pie/Who's not ready? Hollar 'I'...". But, I guess, even after moving into three classrooms this summer, I am ready :-) to learn the dance of a new school year. Showing signs of being refreshed and ready for critical thinking, I wonder...
Are "polka" and "polka dots" connected? :-)
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While prepping for the new school year, I tried to make the most of the remaining summertime with some constructive, leisure reading; I chose Tom Romano's article "Defining Fun and Seeking Flow in English Language Art," from the July edition of NCTE's English Journal. Part of my affinity for Tom Romano is due to the surname he shares with my freshmen composition instructor whose practices and expectations led to my recognition of rough drafts and revision as the extra effort between the last mile marker and the true finish line of a polished draft. As I read, the idea of digging a little deeper was reflected in a quote by Carol Jago. "When the bell rings, I want students to leave class tired, exhausted from how well they have exercised their minds, yet happy about all they have accomplished." From Jago's With Rigor for All: Teaching the Classics to Contemporary Students, the above sentiment radiated off the page, capturing in a sentence the "runner's high" of life-long learning, which I want ultimately for my students. Furthermore, my late-summer work of revising syllabi and charting curriculum smiles at Jago's wordchoice of "exercise". In agreement with Vygotsky's "zone proximal development," as an educator, I act as a "trainer" to help my students develop autonomy and find satisfaction in their new understanding. Like PhD John Maag's "Transforming Awfulizing" scale of task difficulty, discussed at ACSC's "Nurturing, Directing, and Redirecting Student Behavior" professional development program, "academic rigor" equates to a worthwhile and challenging effort, which, despite first impressions, is not impossibly daunting. In addition to the professional development series I participated in, another core experience of my summer was walking in the Chicago Breast Cancer 3-Day. In the post-walk 'Thank You' notes to donors and supporters, I've written "We had an exhausting and rewarding experience this weekend: 60 miles with 30 degree temperature swings through rain and scorching sun." On Day 1, it rained for fifteen of the twenty-one miles; so, by mile 20, I was moving like a weary, poncho-clad Frankenstein. On Day 2 and 3, despite rainshowers, sultry sun, and constant "ooooouuuuuchhhhh" in my right shin, I knew I had to walk again in the 3-Day! Home for less than forty-eight hours, I registered for the 2010 Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure - 356 days until the next year's walk :-). On the home stretch of this delightfully active summer, I acknowledge the logic, yet ingenuity, of another Maag concept: "I fully realize and accept the fact that I'm living proof that I've withstood everything that's ever happened to me." More than that, I am improved through each experience. I have been undoubtedly more productive and driven this summer because I have engaged in purposeful personal and professional opportunities.
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Ms. McCullough
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