Friday, April 18, 2014

Wowed

Today I was wowed by one of my students.

It all started last Friday afternoon, when he approached me at the end of the day.  He wanted to do his speech as a senior for the Academic Celebration on"Choose Kind."  He asked me for some advice and/or examples on how to best deliver his message.

My heart swelled in pride for this amazing young man, who not only read RJ Palacio's book, but who I believe chooses kind on a daily basis and is one of the most outstanding student I've had the opportunity to teach.

But this swell was minor compared to the gut punching (in a good way) I felt Sunday as I sat on stage at the Academic Celebration.  I discreetly (I hope) wiped away tears as he talked about ways that he had been chosen kindness and how kindness could change the face of Western High School.

I was wowed.

Today, before the end of the day he walked into my room.  He gave me a copy of the speech he wrote and gave me a hug.  I told him how amazingly proud of him I was.  And then there was this:



I am humbled and touched by this and it just reinforces to me the power of the "Choose Kind" message.  The world needs to hear it and keep on hearing it.  And I need to live it.  I feel blessed for that affirmation today.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Things I learned at #MACUL14...so far

1) I need to start having my students blog in my classroom.  How?  I'm not sure yet.

2) I found some awesome resources for formative assessments:


  • www.plickers.com
  • www.getkahoot.com, kahoot.it


3) I am pretty good at using Nearpod and I should probably tell more people about it.  It's awesome.

4) I'm getting better at using twitter.

5) instaglok.com is an incredible resource for student research.

6) I need to use my own blog more regularly for reflection upon my experiences in the classroom, to tell my story, and to showcase my achievements as an e-portfolio.