Evaluations

CMS's new system of evaluating teachers has gotten a lot of teachers in a panic. I look at is as an opportunity to improve my craft. The administration must now tell me specific things that will make me a better teacher. I look forward to the challenge of incorporating all of their suggestions into my daily routines. The two biggest areas I need to improve upon are using more modern technology in my lessons and transitioning to the new National Content Standards. Hopefully by the end of the school year I will be considered an "accomplished" teacher in all of the criteria.

A Great Week!

This has been a great week! We started by reading our first class novel, Scorpions by Walter Dean Myers. Class novels are fun to teach because there are so many ways to make the stories come alive for the students. Novels are a great way to teach students how to draw conclusions and make inferences. I always try to get them to "read between the lines" and tell me things about the story that aren't necessarily written on the pages.

On another note, our football team won again improving our season record to 3-0. We are currently on a 3-year, 17-game unbeaten streak. As the head coach, it is so rewarding to see how the players' hard work in practice pays off for them in the games. As I said, this has been a great week!

Observation Week

This week I am being observed by my administrator. For years now I've stayed with a philosophy to never change my lesson plans based on who may be visiting my room that day. At my school, administrators pop in and out on a regular basis, so I'm sure they already know who I am as a teacher. Whatever they see in the 40 or so minutes in my room cannot diminish the 13 years of experience I've accumulated. I am all for receiving critique and feedback. I welcome any suggestions that may help me raise my students' test scores. With all that being said, I hope everything goes well!