I scanned down and didn't see that I had mentioned that I'm training for a half marathon, but I am. So, if you wonder where I've been, chances are I'm either at work, school, the gym, or in bed.
Yesterday my long run was 11 miles. I'm still to the point where I'm walking and running, but I had a pretty good time. I did the first 4.4 miles at a local park. I've been trying to start transitioning to running outdoors, but yesterday was the first time I'd ever run at that park before (never mind that trail) and I kept being afraid I'd get lost. I made it just fine (walked more than usual), but my handy dandy Nike+ Sportband was 1 mile off of the distance I went. Rather than finishing outside (and running longer than 11 miles), I decided to finish up in the gym.
The last 7 seemed to go by almost faster than the first 4. I tried multi-tasking, and listening to Lear while I was running so I could finish my homework, but I ended up finishing the Arden edition later at home.
My next long run is isn't until the end of the month, but I have to say--12 miles makes me nervous. The actual 1/2 marathon isn't until December 5th, but I still have a while to go.
Just as an update, school has been rather crazy. Despite feeling like I'm working all the time, I'm still behind on grading and planning. Overall, though, I have high hopes for this year, so we'll see how things go.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Monday, September 07, 2009
Mistakes
School has started again and I'm teaching all levels of English II (sophomores) this year (Regular, Honors, and Concepts). I really love it so far. I've got a great group of kids this year.
On Friday of this week my honors class had their first paper due. One boy had made a mistake and had marks on his final draft. He came over to discuss it with me and I could tell he was quite upset about it.
"You don't understand," he explained again, "I have marks on my final draft."
I said, "No, I really do understand. It's okay. I'm going to add some of my own. They'll fit right in."
"But . . ."
I cut in. "It really is okay. It's okay to make mistakes."
"When?"
"Well, now for one, this is your first paper. Don't worry about it. Mistakes are one way that we learn."
And even if that didn't sink in for him, it totally sunk in for me. Sometimes I am so hard on myself and it's absolutely ridiculous. Mistakes really are one way that we learn. If we keep ourselves from doing something out of the fear that we might possibly do it wrong, how are we ever going to get better at anything? Especially when it comes to grad school I need to keep this in mind. Great lesson for a great Friday. At least a great start to the year.
PS. So, I know it's been a long time since I've posted. I'm hoping to get back to a more regular schedule so that I'll post at least once a week--probably on Sundays.
On Friday of this week my honors class had their first paper due. One boy had made a mistake and had marks on his final draft. He came over to discuss it with me and I could tell he was quite upset about it.
"You don't understand," he explained again, "I have marks on my final draft."
I said, "No, I really do understand. It's okay. I'm going to add some of my own. They'll fit right in."
"But . . ."
I cut in. "It really is okay. It's okay to make mistakes."
"When?"
"Well, now for one, this is your first paper. Don't worry about it. Mistakes are one way that we learn."
And even if that didn't sink in for him, it totally sunk in for me. Sometimes I am so hard on myself and it's absolutely ridiculous. Mistakes really are one way that we learn. If we keep ourselves from doing something out of the fear that we might possibly do it wrong, how are we ever going to get better at anything? Especially when it comes to grad school I need to keep this in mind. Great lesson for a great Friday. At least a great start to the year.
PS. So, I know it's been a long time since I've posted. I'm hoping to get back to a more regular schedule so that I'll post at least once a week--probably on Sundays.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Writing Project Summer Institute
At BYU my favorite classes usually had to do with reading. It was something that I'd always loved and felt comfortable with. I could get lost in the plot, fall in love with the characters, and totally escape off to a new world. In teaching kids reading I got to help them experience the same thing.
For some reason writing hasn't been the same for me. I loved to write in elementary school--especially fiction and poetry. Somewhere, however, in high school I started to feel more self-conscious about it. In college it only got worse, especially since I was an English major and an editor so I put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect. What I've learned since is that you go to class to learn more than to show off what you've already learned (although I guess there's an element of that as well). I just didn't feel as comfortable with my writing or writing instruction as I wanted to.
That's why I applied for the local Writing Project Summer Institute. After this past year I was afraid that I'd burned myself out of teaching. I'd said yes to too many things and hadn't really taken time for myself. I didn't feel like I was being very effective and I just wanted for someone to tell me "the right way" to teach writing.
Turns out there isn't one. Or at least not just one. What I loved about this class (beyond the six grad credit hours) was that they had us write. Fiction, poetry, personal narrative, etc. They had us go through our own writing process and trusted that we would be able to relate it back to our teaching. Yes, we researched article after article on writing. We did group presentations on feedback and teaching 21st century learners. We did teacher demonstrations. We heard from experts. All in all, it helped to show me that I'm already doing a lot right and giving me a ton of ideas of other things to try.
Lessons Learned:
1. The writing process really isn't linear. I know in certain ways that this seems obvious. It's not always Prewrite, Draft, Revise, Edit, etc. I know that they sell big giant signs that say that in teacher supply stores, but the process really is messy (and not the same for every student). Although I've thought about this a lot before, this really showed me how true it is. In assigning writing and holding students accountable, I've always tried to keep "the process" in mind. Having students do drafts, conferencing with them, etc. What I thought was the process is and what it looks like in action, though, are two different things.
2. Writing groups can be uber-powerful and helpful. I've always been afraid of showing my writing to others, however, having a writing group that looked at my work helped me to improve it significantly. I think that there's something to be said for having to articulate your ideas to someone else who wasn't there while you were thinking it up. I think too that it was a great community and that we learned together. I'm not sure how I'm going to set this up in my classroom, but this is something I definitely want to remember.
3. I'm on the right track as far as teaching students to keep considering the audience and purpose behind each writing task that they get. My goal is for students to be able to solve problems they encounter in writing, no matter what the situation or context they find themselves in. If they can adjust their writing to fit their audience and purpose, they're well on their way. I've been trying to give more authentic assignments and give students writing opportunities and this just reinforces that.
4. Have students write more. I think this goes right along with "You don't have to grade everything." Yes, I know that it's important for students to get feedback, but I also think it's important for them to write for different reasons--to think, to inform, to entertain, to persuade. Sometimes the purpose in writing may just to be see what they think about something. I always have a reason behind every assignment I give, but sometimes my grading doesn't fit my objective. So, just a note to self.
5. The person doing the most work is doing the most learning. I think that this goes back to inductive teaching. Having students draw conclusions from information rather than telling them straight out what they should know. Yes, it's a lot faster and sometimes a bit easier to tell students something and have them apply it. If you look at how students learn best, though, it involves engagement--whether it's being emotionally engaged, having to teach something to a classmate--whatever. If students interact with the information in some way it just makes more sense that they'll process it and be able to recall and apply it better.
I learned a ton more than that, but here's a start. My other lesson was that I should write more. Yes, I try to write what I assign my students (okay, besides the literary analysis papers), but I also need to write to keep in the forefront of my mind what writing really looks and feels like. Plus, my goal has always been to be a writer, so really, it just makes sense.
For some reason writing hasn't been the same for me. I loved to write in elementary school--especially fiction and poetry. Somewhere, however, in high school I started to feel more self-conscious about it. In college it only got worse, especially since I was an English major and an editor so I put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect. What I've learned since is that you go to class to learn more than to show off what you've already learned (although I guess there's an element of that as well). I just didn't feel as comfortable with my writing or writing instruction as I wanted to.
That's why I applied for the local Writing Project Summer Institute. After this past year I was afraid that I'd burned myself out of teaching. I'd said yes to too many things and hadn't really taken time for myself. I didn't feel like I was being very effective and I just wanted for someone to tell me "the right way" to teach writing.
Turns out there isn't one. Or at least not just one. What I loved about this class (beyond the six grad credit hours) was that they had us write. Fiction, poetry, personal narrative, etc. They had us go through our own writing process and trusted that we would be able to relate it back to our teaching. Yes, we researched article after article on writing. We did group presentations on feedback and teaching 21st century learners. We did teacher demonstrations. We heard from experts. All in all, it helped to show me that I'm already doing a lot right and giving me a ton of ideas of other things to try.
Lessons Learned:
1. The writing process really isn't linear. I know in certain ways that this seems obvious. It's not always Prewrite, Draft, Revise, Edit, etc. I know that they sell big giant signs that say that in teacher supply stores, but the process really is messy (and not the same for every student). Although I've thought about this a lot before, this really showed me how true it is. In assigning writing and holding students accountable, I've always tried to keep "the process" in mind. Having students do drafts, conferencing with them, etc. What I thought was the process is and what it looks like in action, though, are two different things.
2. Writing groups can be uber-powerful and helpful. I've always been afraid of showing my writing to others, however, having a writing group that looked at my work helped me to improve it significantly. I think that there's something to be said for having to articulate your ideas to someone else who wasn't there while you were thinking it up. I think too that it was a great community and that we learned together. I'm not sure how I'm going to set this up in my classroom, but this is something I definitely want to remember.
3. I'm on the right track as far as teaching students to keep considering the audience and purpose behind each writing task that they get. My goal is for students to be able to solve problems they encounter in writing, no matter what the situation or context they find themselves in. If they can adjust their writing to fit their audience and purpose, they're well on their way. I've been trying to give more authentic assignments and give students writing opportunities and this just reinforces that.
4. Have students write more. I think this goes right along with "You don't have to grade everything." Yes, I know that it's important for students to get feedback, but I also think it's important for them to write for different reasons--to think, to inform, to entertain, to persuade. Sometimes the purpose in writing may just to be see what they think about something. I always have a reason behind every assignment I give, but sometimes my grading doesn't fit my objective. So, just a note to self.
5. The person doing the most work is doing the most learning. I think that this goes back to inductive teaching. Having students draw conclusions from information rather than telling them straight out what they should know. Yes, it's a lot faster and sometimes a bit easier to tell students something and have them apply it. If you look at how students learn best, though, it involves engagement--whether it's being emotionally engaged, having to teach something to a classmate--whatever. If students interact with the information in some way it just makes more sense that they'll process it and be able to recall and apply it better.
I learned a ton more than that, but here's a start. My other lesson was that I should write more. Yes, I try to write what I assign my students (okay, besides the literary analysis papers), but I also need to write to keep in the forefront of my mind what writing really looks and feels like. Plus, my goal has always been to be a writer, so really, it just makes sense.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Spinning
I wish I could say that it was my first spinning class, but I took one about four years ago and nearly died. And you think I'm exaggerating. This one went so much better.
I got the to gym about 5:20, put my stuff in my locker and went to the spinning room. I didn't expect so many people to be there so early, but a little under two-thirds of the bikes were occupied. I picked one that thought it might work, jiggled the seat around a bit, and then started my warm-up.
I can't remember enough about it last time to say what the hardest part was, but this time the hardest part was trying to gauge the difficulty level of each turn of the knob. They have you monitor and change up your perceived exertion, and that's what took a little bit of getting used to. If I had realized what my 9 and 10 were (highest on the scale) earlier, I would have been a bit sweatier at the end. As it was I was pretty sweaty, but not as much when I go for an out and out run.
What I loved about it was the instructor and the music. I was not too happy about being up so early, but by the time I got started I was having a grand old time. The instructor was very clear and very good and I felt like I was definitely pushed. It also feels good that it's about 7:15 as I'm writing this and I can already check off exercise on my to-do list. Right on.
If only my bum wasn't a bit saddle sore it would be a perfect morning.
Also, weight update: Down 20 lbs. Here's a new pic.
I got the to gym about 5:20, put my stuff in my locker and went to the spinning room. I didn't expect so many people to be there so early, but a little under two-thirds of the bikes were occupied. I picked one that thought it might work, jiggled the seat around a bit, and then started my warm-up.
I can't remember enough about it last time to say what the hardest part was, but this time the hardest part was trying to gauge the difficulty level of each turn of the knob. They have you monitor and change up your perceived exertion, and that's what took a little bit of getting used to. If I had realized what my 9 and 10 were (highest on the scale) earlier, I would have been a bit sweatier at the end. As it was I was pretty sweaty, but not as much when I go for an out and out run.
What I loved about it was the instructor and the music. I was not too happy about being up so early, but by the time I got started I was having a grand old time. The instructor was very clear and very good and I felt like I was definitely pushed. It also feels good that it's about 7:15 as I'm writing this and I can already check off exercise on my to-do list. Right on.
If only my bum wasn't a bit saddle sore it would be a perfect morning.
Also, weight update: Down 20 lbs. Here's a new pic.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Summer Lovin'--Actually, Just Lovin' Summer
I'm doing so much this summer, but I'm actually feeling pretty good right now. (Especially since I just jogged two and a half miles for the second time this week.)
This summer has been really amazing even though I've still been busy. I finished school two weeks ago tomorrow. That Friday I had a great time taking three of my nieces and nephews to the park. Last week I had a five-day workshop working on creating standards that students can be guaranteed to be taught at each grade level. On Saturday I went to see The Merry Wives of Windsor with Lilbit and C and just had a blast.
I made it to FHE on Monday for the first time in a long time. Monday I caught up on some sleep and then on Tuesday I cleaned my room up some and finished my homework. It was just good to be able to breathe.
Today I started a five-week intensive Summer Writing Institute that focuses on teaching writing, a large part of which is participating in the writing process yourself. I'm so excited so far. I feel like I already have a couple of strategies to work on with my kids and I have ideas for a story I can develop. This could actually be an amazing summer.
This summer has been really amazing even though I've still been busy. I finished school two weeks ago tomorrow. That Friday I had a great time taking three of my nieces and nephews to the park. Last week I had a five-day workshop working on creating standards that students can be guaranteed to be taught at each grade level. On Saturday I went to see The Merry Wives of Windsor with Lilbit and C and just had a blast.
I made it to FHE on Monday for the first time in a long time. Monday I caught up on some sleep and then on Tuesday I cleaned my room up some and finished my homework. It was just good to be able to breathe.
Today I started a five-week intensive Summer Writing Institute that focuses on teaching writing, a large part of which is participating in the writing process yourself. I'm so excited so far. I feel like I already have a couple of strategies to work on with my kids and I have ideas for a story I can develop. This could actually be an amazing summer.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Good News/Bad News
So, I'm here to update you very quickly on what's up. I only have 5 more days of school. That's the good and bad. I have so much grading to do that I don't know how I'm going to get it all done. I also have to admit that I'm way burnt out. Usually by this point in the year I'm excited and planning for next year, looking at what I can do better, etc. Right now I just can't even think about it. I really want to, but i just don't know how. The good news is, though, that I bought my plan book for next year last night, so maybe I'm better off than I thought.
I have more good news. I have managed to make it to the gym 5 days a week and the best thing is that I have now run (well, jogged, really) an entire mile 3 times. Last night I managed a mile and a half before I had to walk. Wahoo!
I have more good news. I have managed to make it to the gym 5 days a week and the best thing is that I have now run (well, jogged, really) an entire mile 3 times. Last night I managed a mile and a half before I had to walk. Wahoo!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
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