Wild and crazy weekend....well, not really

I spent this weekend working on curriculum planning and grading.  I will be the first to admit that I like lesson planning a whole lot more than I like grading, but then, everyone has parts of their job that they prefer to others. For me, the best part of my job is getting to work with young people and learn with them.  My love for that aspect of education even spills over into my choice of where to get my hair cut. I go to Aveda and let beauty students cut my hair...partly because it's a great deal monetarily, partly because I love having my scalp massaged while they wash my hair, but mostly because I love being part of helping someone master skills..if they make a mistake? It's just hair - it will grow back!

So, how does all of this relate to my weekend? I spent HOURS on both Saturday and Sunday working. Over the last week, I have developed a unit for my regular classes that I'm really excited about. I have researched a technique called the layered curriculum...once I knew there was a "term" for what I wanted to do, it made finding examples and research a lot easier!  We will start the unit on Tuesday and they will have two weeks to master the content related to federalism. Each student will have control over how they choose to learn the content and prove their learning from within a framework of choices.  The curriculum layers up from the bottom two levels of Blooms Taxonomy to the very top of the taxonomy. If students are content to stay at remembering and comprehending, their grade will reflect that they only have minimal mastery which translates to a C. If they want to master through application and analysis, they will earn a B. If they want to show mastery through evaluation and creation of new learning products, they can earn an A.  On Saturday, I finalized putting all of the assignments and links to resources in Moodle.  I then created several flipped lectures for the unit...watching lecture and taking notes is a choice in the bottom of the pyramid.  The most important part of this process is the face to face conversation that students will be required to have with me as they finish each lesson. It's going to be labor intensive, but also rewarding. I hope they like this unit as much as I do!

I spent the afternoon today catching up on reading my AP student blogs. It was really interesting to see what they chose to write about. I am gaining quite a few insights into their personalities through this assignment and I am watching them grow as political thinkers...it is quite fun.  The less fun part is assessing their writing. Oh, how I wish students could be motivated to work without grades!  Actually, some of them could be I think, but I'm not in a position to test that theory.

On a personal level, I am slowly making progress in physical therapy. They are bumping up the activities a little bit each time. As a result, I come home wiped out, and sometimes uncomfortable. I have a second epidural block scheduled for this Wednesday afternoon. I need to write out my questions about it before that appointment. After the first block, the pain eased quite a bit and my mobility and ability to proceed with therapy improved dramatically.  However, the sciatica on my right side returned. I need to ask whether we should direct the second shot to the right or elsewhere. I just want all of the pain to ease so I can get back to normal sooner. I'm thankful to have the insurance to do this....no complaints.

Progress Report

I really need to add "update blog" to my calendar. I'd add it to my to-do list, but that wouldn't necessarily get it done!

We are halfway through the first nine weeks of school now, which means 25% through the AP Government class...when I think of it that way, it is a bit stressful.  We are on track with last year though, so I feel o.k. about our pace.  We are acclimated to each other now and into the groove. I'm enjoying all of the students, and especially enjoying reading their blogs. A few of them have expressed to me that they are also enjoying this assignment...I'll take that as a win since many of them were really reluctant at first.  I'm getting some good ideas from them as well...maybe my own writing style will improve and my "voice" will get more engaging.

For now, a recap of my week:

It's homecoming week, and it's been fun seeing the kids dress up. The only day that appealed to me was Monday which was pajama day. As luck would have it, though, I was leaving campus for a professional meeting so I didn't get to dress in my comfy PJ's that day. Sad face!

The professional meeting was an opportunity to go and hear Jon Bergman, one of the authors of a flip classroom book and host of some flipped class websites/communities on the web. He was speaking at the University of Montevallo to education majors and the head of the department let our administrators know about it. I was lucky to be able to attend. He inspired me to push harder toward a mastery classroom in my regular classroom. I'm going to do some flipped elements with them, but plan to introduce a layered curriculum model with them. My goal is to have elements of that model prepared for every unit by next fall.

I have been to physical therapy twice so far this week, with another session planned for tomorrow afternoon.  As I grow a bit stronger, they are adding more exercises each time. This means I'm there longer and I'm tireder each time, but I'm so pleased to be improving that I have no complaints.  A bag of frozen popcorn as an ice pack before bed, and a pain pill at the end of a long day allow me to sleep and refresh for the next day.

Tuesday was Constitution Day and we had a birthday party for the Constitution in every class.  I offered a few bonus points if they could connect their edible contribution to the Constitution or the government. I look forward to reading those this weekend as well.  My favorite of the day had to be these from the first class period of the day.

We watched episodes of "Constitution USA with Peter Sagal" in my classes and then discussed it. Thank you PBS for streaming the series. It's got so many great current examples. The kids appreciated that too!

Today was a long day. Amelia wanted to go to dance, and Olivia had mock trial team practice.  Since the family is still driving me everywhere and Will was working, I just stayed at school for 13 hours. Yes, as I type this, I just took a pain pill and have that popcorn at my back!  It was a productive day. I knocked out a good rough draft of a layered curriculum unit for my regular classes on the next unit. I look forward to reviewing it with a colleague tomorrow. After work, we ran to Joann's to buy Amelia some fabric for her toga tomorrow...senior tradition. I got a good laugh when she described a project assignment she has due tomorrow. I applaud my colleague's attempt at creativity, but it it is hard to do a fake social media profile on an object rather than a person....I had a good belly laugh coming up with slightly ridiculous examples of status updates she could include! We were both crying...that's some good laughter!

Eleanor is coming home tomorrow for a long weekend...she's staying until Monday this time since she has a dentist appointment on Monday morning. I look forward to visiting with her. I'm hoping she hasn't been scheduled to work on Saturday. Amelia has the homecoming dance on Saturday night and Olivia wants to spend the night at a friend's house. That would let us have a little mother-daughter time.  We haven't had that in awhile.

My goals for this weekend include laundry and catching up all my grading...I'm terribly behind on assessing blogs and still need to grade the last test for AP... Grocery shopping would probably be good too, and it's time to pay bills this month. Oy vey!  It just never stops!

P.S.  Awesome feedback from former AP students this week...had tweets from two. One liked the candy bar above and wanted one...I managed to snag him one. Another said he used our supplemental reader for a public forum at his private college for Constitution Day--score one for me and Lanahan. Then, I got a news story tweeted to me telling me that perhaps I could use the story in AP...thanks, I think I will!  On a more humorous note, Amelia's boyfriend met one of my former regular students in a class. He moaned about how hard I was and asked how Conner knew me...she's my girlfriend's mother was probably a bit of a shocker for him! :)

Into the Swing of Things

The first two weeks of school are so important to get everyone acclimated and ready to work again.  I've had a great first two weeks this year!  My students are respectful and are working hard.  My AP class not only grew from 1 section to 2 sections, but the numbers exceed double last year's total enrollment.  While this does present the challenge of more to grade, it also gives the blessing of many more young minds who are engaged in the process of learning about civics and participation willingly!

Overall, all of my students are much more engaged than last year's classes and we are mostly acclimated to the procedures and platforms that I am using for their work.  I hope the experience is just as enjoyable for them as it is for me.

On a personal note, I had an epidural block last week and the pain has dissipated enough for me to move around more freely and have a hope that physical therapy will begin working more effectively for me.  One of these days, it is my hope that my family will allow me to drive again.  I did drive a little bit this weekend, and they are right about taking it easy while they are willing to chauffeur me around.  Driving does present stresses on the spine that you don't notice unless you hurt yourself.  I spent the long weekend catching up on my grading and I'm moving forward in a "caught up" position today.  That changes quickly though, so I better get back on it.

My next challenge is lesson planning for 9-11.  I have been perusing lessons plans and ideas on the web and I find myself tearing up as I preview videos, slideshows and interviews with survivors or the families of those who lost their lives that day.  I'm wondering how I will ever make it through a solid day of lessons - it's still a bit too close for me.  It's important though and we will mark the day with appropriate solemnity.