Virtually in Qatar

All weekend I have been in Qatar, only virtually instead of in person. Ms. Cuellar and three of her students, Steve, Erika, and Karla finally made it to the Flat Classroom Conference 2009 after a whirlwind of fundraising and a 21 hour plane ride. I am the substitute "left behind" with the other 6 students. On Friday, we filmed a couple of videos. The first was a video asking questions that the students, most who have not travelled outside of the US, wanted to know about being in a foreign land. See it at http://flatclassroomconference.ning.com/video/questions-from-us The second was a funny video showing Ms. Cuellar all of the "forbidden" things her students were doing while she was gone, like texting, talking on the phone, and listening to music. Today we got our answers back from Steve, Erika, and Karla, see it at http://flatclassroomconference.ning.com/video/2410443:Video:5627. I am so proud to hear them speak about their experiences and talk about breaking down cultural stereotypes. They have made friends with students from all over the world and the girls were very surprised at the cultural norms regarding women in a Muslim country! I'm very excited to hear all the stories when they return on Wednesday.

Last minute fundraising pictch for Qatar Trip

Hey-my former students made the paper today! Please see this link and help if you can. I am so excited for Ms. Cuellar and the three students chosen to attend the conference. I will attend virtually! Here's a link to the story: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/memorial/news/6208820.html

Life as a Substitute-Why it is not all bad

I liken substituting to being a grandparent. You get them for a day, rotten them, and then you get to give them back!

Yesterday I was substituting at Spring Woods-not in the classroom I student taught in. I knew a few of the kids, but not most. I had been left a note about a kid in first period being "a challenge". Well, bless this teacher, because I don't know how she gets this kid to do any work. He likes to chat and bother everyone else. Well, so we chatted for awhile and then I told him he had to get to work. He started trying to bargain with me--I'll work for 5 minutes if you...etc. Was going to resort to bribing him with candy (a substitute's best friend, even though you are not supposed to do that--but it is a GRANDPARENT thing) until he mentioned that all of his regular teachers bribe him with candy. Scratch that.

On class period told me I was the meanest sub they had ever had. One told me I was the nicest. One was surprised I knew the trick of unplugging the mouse from the computer and pretending the computer doesn't work (first thing I always check now). At the end of the day..I got to give them all back! Not all bad.

Tomorrow I go to another high school. I have shamelessly marketed myself to all of the Business Computer Information Systems Teachers in the district as "a substitute who knows how to turn on the computers". Evidently, this is in high demand, so I am busy this month!

More later!

Maybe Doha is still alive...

Got a Tweet from my Teacher saying she only needed $3,000 more to get her students to Doha for the Flat Classroom Conference, follow the blog at http://springwoodsgoes2qatar.blogspot.com. I really hope she makes it! Running out of time, alas.

I miss my/Esties students. I miss Estie, too. My house is very quiet in comparison to the classroom! I went up to my son's school today and had a good conversation with one of the CATE teachers there about Junior Achievement Trade Fair (what an experience) and Flat Classroom. I also had a talk with the principal; he is trying to get me job there, but need someone certified in Tech Ed; that test looks like a bear.

Yeah! Just as I was typing Estie called and needs a sub for tomorrow--so I will get to see the kids. She also said she is definitely taking two students, and probably two more. Good news!
More sub work for me! No, that is not the good news--the fact that the kids will get to go to Qatar is!

What did she do wrong?

Just reading a blog from my cooperating teacher-she has given up on fundraising to get her students to the Flat Classroom Conference in Doha Qatar this month. Out of the $20,000 needed only $4300 came in. She tried; she really did.

She was optimisitic and idealistic; nothing wrong with either but it is a bad time of year to raise money and a bad economic environment to raise money. Also, I really think, and I could not tell her this because she was so passionate about it, that attending the conference was a luxury and the same experience could be had without spending $20,000 to fly overseas. I would have given up long before she did, actually. Will she use the $4300 and get herself to the conference? I really hope she will. She deserves it; she works very hard for her students and is very passionate about the Flat Classroom project. But the students will able to attend and participate virtually; indeed this is part of global collaoration that sometimes you may never meet your co-workers face to face.

Sorry for the lost opportunity, but a lesson learned.......

I never finished

It occurred to me today I never finished. Oh, I finished student teaching, I passed all my tests, I cleaned all my stuff out of my room (I think) but I didn't really finish.

I didn't say goodbye to the students. I couldn't. I don't know how teachers say goodbye at the end of every school year.

So two days after I left, I was back to substitute. It had been arranged ahead of time; my supervising teacher was taking a class on a field trip, so in a way I didn't feel bad about not telling the kids I was leaving, since I knew I would see them at least one more time anyway.

I had mixed reactions. 1st period acted like they didn't notice I had been gone. 3rd period was mad because I was the sub and I made them do actual work. 6th period acted like they had not seen me in a year and all hugged me. No class 7th period, but it was cold and I had stragglers who wanted to just sit around and chat with me show up for the period. So that day I really did tell them goodbye. I will miss all of them, but especially those problem kids that got under my skin. Will they graduate? Some yes, some no. Some I can't help but worry about.

So now I'm just the sub, waiting for my own class to worry about. I can't wait!

The Saga of the Lamps and the Air Conditioner

This is the story of my classroom. You see, my teacher has lamps. Not just A LAMP --LAMPS. Her Junior Achievement Company Program made them last year as their product to sell. What is left in the room are the remnants. Every morning, we have to turn on all the lamps. Currently, there are 10. My teacher likes to turn off the overhead flourescent lights and operate just in the lamplight.

I come from the corporate world. I like flourescent lights. I have a hard time staying awake in the lamplight, especially since my teacher is also fond of playing instrumental mood music while the students are working independently on their computers. I turn back on the flourescent lights under the guise of students not being able to see their work. My teacher turns them back off.

Also, we have an air conditioner unit operated within the room. Two, in fact. My teacher is always hot; she is always turning on the air conditioners. I am always cold--I am always turning them off when she is not looking.

There is a point here. Everyone is different. When I turn on the flourescent lights, half the class asks me to turn them back off, the other half is happy they are on. Half the class is hot; half is cold. We need to learn to teach this way too! Sometimes lamps on; sometimes lamps off. Sometimes quiet, sometimes loud. Sometimes lecture, sometimes individual work. All the same is just...all the same and doesn't satisfy everyone's individual differences. Change it up!

Easy to say, harder to put in practice.