Retired

Hi,
I retired in May of 2017 after 30 years as a full time teacher and I had a year as a full time sub before that.  It was not a decision that I took lightly.  I retired because I was tired.  Bone deep tired.  It took me till December of that year to stop feeling so tired.  Then I was ready to go back to teaching, but I couldn't.  That seems kind of silly to me.  There should be sabbaticals for teachers.  Then we wouldn't lose all that expertise and wisdom after 25 or 30 years.  Kids would really benefit from teachers who are still teaching and have all that expertise, but aren't so tired. 

Been Awhile

A few things that have been bugging me lately about teaching.

• Is it just me, or are kids getting lazier?
• Is standard based grading really the way to go?
• I truly believe that most kids want to do well.
• What are good ways of motivating slackers?

I do think that those few kids who are lazy, may be getting lazier.  I don't think schools are to blame; however, well maybe a little.  I think we have a lot of young, old, tired teachers who find it easier to tell kids answers rather than make them work for it.  It's easy to do.  We all have days where we just don't want to work. But I feel like our society with all its craziness, business, and mixed messages is encouraging students to not care about doing a good job.

Part of me is also thinking that standard based grading is not helping.  For some teachers you have to work really hard to get a 3.  But for others, you get a 3 for breathing or so it seems.  N'uf, said!

When I work with students, I truly get a sense that they want to do well.  And when they accomplish something BY THEMSELVES, the smiles and twinkles in their eyes tell me what it really means to them!  They don't need rewards!  In fact, perhaps all the rewarding has caused some of this.

Good ways to motivate kids?  Communicating with them is often the best way.  Not using false praise is another good way.  And, yea, some rewards of free time, a piece of candy, going to the front of the lunch line, and a few simple things like that work woth most kids.  The problem is the students who have had rough lives. Hmm...build a relationship with them.  Let them know you care. 

ECOMP 6016 Recording Voice and Music Video

So, I had big plans for this video. My problem ran into the fact that I couldn't find one program that would do everything I wanted without sacrificing something. Photostory wouldn't let me edit music or record across slides, and it was laborious trying to get one picture of each step I was discussing when SmartRecorder or Jing could do it so smoothly. But then we ran into the quality issue when putting video into a video editing program. I tried all sorts of programs: MovieMaker, Pinnacle, Jing, ScreenCorder, PhotoStory, etc. Trying to get good quality and still be able to make it a comprehensive instructional video without trimming the script down to almost nothing.

Yodio - Billy Goats Gruff Yodio by torrylynn

Task 052 Torry's Jing Tutorial Video

My tutorial is about how to create a button/logo in Cooltext.com. I use this site in class with my 8th Graders as we learn some html.
Click this link to view the tutorial.
In case the above link doesn't work the URL is: http://www.screencast.com/t/4X0uGB9gj00.

ECOMP 6016 Before & After Images

What do you see? Look again. What a little photoshopping can do for perception.
Original photo by Petr Kratochvil.

ECOMP 6016 Poster Task 017

Well, another class requesting I post to my blog. Ha! It seems like I only have time to post when I'm taking a class. I wonder if after I am done with my masters if I will find time to make any comments.
For this assignment, I chose to do a background washout picture of my daughter as they announced her name and she ran through a line up of her teammates at the beginning of her volleyball match. I wrote about teamwork because so many young people in our school system are dropping out of sports for various silly reasons like: it's too hard, the coach doesn't like me, or I won't get to play as much as "so and so". It's all about them! It seems like the concept of being part of a team has disappeared. My daughter got very disgusted with her very best friend because she quit the vb squad her senior year after starting for 3 consecutive years with out any thought to her team and the consequences of her actions. Then she spent the rest of the vb season watching and wishing she was playing! Argh!
I took the picture of my daughter's teammates lying on the ground with them forming a huddle over me. You can't see their faces for a reason. I hope everyone gets the symbolism there.
I thought it turned out very well. Enjoy.