Tired Teacher

  Okay so I admit I lost it this week! If you read my previous blog, you know what I'm talking about, if you didn't you should check it out (warning there is cursing and stupidity involved). It's a good read. Really Okay so I have been watching the news to see what other counties are going to do. Mostly I have been watching to see what OCPS is going to do. I want to see if I am going to have to run screaming from the building because I have gone completely mad. But anyway, no word on OCPS but I really like what two counties have decided to do.  The premise of this whole idea of parental rights in school involves parents wanting to control what their student learns. If I am being honest, that doesn't really bother me. I think parents should be involved. My issue is when the will of the few gets imposed on the many. That isn't fair. Two counties in Florida have found a creative way to stop this from happening. Polk county has six books that have been challenged. Paren...

  Please excuse my thinly veiled attempt to cover my cursing. I realize that I should use my words better, but to be honest in this case the word is the most appropriate one I could think of this morning. This morning I woke up to this article. https://bookriot.com/florida-teachers-remove-classroom-libraries/ The article discusses how teachers in Brevard Public Schools have been told that they cannot use their classroom libraries this year until they have been vetted by an expert.  I thought teachers were the experts! I mean we did go to school for just such an occasion, but I digress. Let's get back to the real issue.  I would be remiss if I just read one article, so I went a googling. Here are the other headlines that popped up.  https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2022/05/12/florida-schools-stirred-up-over-library-books-textbooks/ https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/15/brevard-schools-discuss-district-wide-library-book-policy-prepare-for-review-pro...

  Full transparency I thought this produsage assignment would be a piece of cake. After all this is what I do. I have written thousands of lesson plans over the past 27 years. What actually happened, I got a really good wake up call about how teaching and instructional design are not the same. Let me explain. Good teachers think small. They write lessons that are tailor made for the students who are sitting in front of them that year (or class period). The idea of knowing your kids and creating an assignment that is tailor made for them is the goal. The ideal.  When I started the produsage assignment I approached it from this direction. What will the sixth graders that I have in my class this year be able to do? What do I want to accomplish with them? What I have come to realize that instructional designers think BIG ! It's not about what you need for just a few kids who you see everyday. Instructional designers create lessons on a much larger scale. The lessons you create nee...

  Online bullying and harassment is a very real problem, especially for young people. According to the United States government almost twenty percent of teens report being the target of some sort of online harassment or bullying. The graphic below outlines some of the issues that can result from online harassment. These issues have prompted law enforcement agencies, educational policymakers and parents to explore avenues that will help to prevent cyberbullying. Here are a few ways that adults help to ensure that cyberbullying doesn't happen. Raise Awareness One way to prevent cyberbullying amongst young people is by simply raising awareness about the issue. We often assume that students already have the tools that the need to successfully navigate online spaces. This is often a fallacy. Students need to be explicitly taught about online bullying and harassment. Educators and parents need to work together to ensure that students understand what is considered online bullying. Care sh...

  I decided to post my example for my produsage assignment on Facebook. I made the post in my ELA Middle School Facebook Group. I posted it in several other spaces, but here it is in case you missed it.  I wanted some feedback and to see if anyone had suggestions or thoughts. Now I know we know that crowdsourcing is hit or miss. There's always that person. But I was surprised by the really strong adverse reactions that a few people had it terms of this assignment. Their issue was that students would be teased or stereotyped based on their song choices.  I have to be honest, I am a music chameleon. I like all kinds of music and I don't pay much attention to genre (my real spotify playlist is a hot mess of awesome.) Also, I am also a firm believer in providing a safe space in the classroom. We don't tease each other or make fun of one another for our choices. Now I wonder if I need to reevaluate.  The suggestion was made to come up with an alternative assignment for th...

 This week has been interesting. I have been feeling a little under the weather (little kid germs are the worst). I completed the readings, and I have been working on my upcoming assignments. That being said I think I have a little writer's block in terms of blogs. I have a million thoughts but none of them have congealed into a coherent 3rd blog post (post 2 is also kind of thin to be honest). So here is blog number three about not being able to think about something to blog about. Here are some questions that come to mind. If you don't feel well then does that affect your academics? If so how? How do I make sure that when my students hit a wall they have the opportunity to bounce back? Take away, sometimes it's okay to not be okay. Sometimes you have to take the time to take care of yourself. That's it for now folks, I'm off to reenter my Nyquil induced coma in an attempt to shake this illness. Hopefully I will see you guys next week and be back to my sarcastic te...