Syllabus

Greetings!

My name is Mrs. Gray, and I occupy Room 321. This is my third year teaching, and I can't imagine doing anything else.

I have blogged for YEARS. Seriously, I was blogging loooong before it was the cool thing to do; doing things before they're the cool thing to do? Yup...story of my life! It's how I roll.

No?

Okay.

Anyway, I was Serious Shopaholic in my former life.

My former life before kids.

My former life where I was able to spend money on myself.

J.Crew, Banana Republic, and Anthro filled my closets.

Then, I realized that I was a professional college student with aspirations of being deep in the trenches of the educational system.

Seventh grade.

No?

Hmm...

It must be me, then; I am quite an odd bird.

I once read a conversation about middle school. It went like this:

Person A: How do you teach middle school kids? Don't they drive you insane?
Person B: Nope. I love them.
Person A: Really? How?
Person B: Well, you either love them right now, or you learn to give them 15 minutes.
Person A: 15 minutes?
Person B: Yea. That's approximately how long it takes for them to shift gears and pull a 180. So, if you hate their guts, give it 15 minutes, and you'll love them!

It's so true, too.

All kidding aside, I do LOVE my students.  Previously, I taught 7th and 8th grade.
This year, I only have 7th. Do I miss teaching 8th grade? Sure. But, only because I was fortunate enough to be at a school where I taught both grades, so I could see their growth. Also, I knew that they knew the stuff they claimed they didn't (only a teacher will understand that) because I had taught it to them. I could randomly pull out a paper from their file and say, "Look, Student! Here's your John Handcock on the top of this page. And here's the 93% you scored on this assignment." Do I miss On-Demand? Sometimes. But not enough to ever volunteer to teach 8th grade again!

There's something so special about 7th graders. They are independent enough that, for the most part, you can leave them alone for lots of "self-discovery" and "independent learning." But, they are still sweet and innocent enough that they WANT to impress you. They WANT you to like them.

They also want you to take an interest in their lives. They need you to find a way to present the curriculum to them so that they are emotionally invested in it.

Remember the days when we spent an entire hour taking notes from an overhead? Those days should be long gone; kids should be engaged. Students should leave just as exhausted, if not more so, than their teachers each day. Teachers should stand at the front of the classroom only when giving directions; the rest of the time, the teachers should be circulating the room as students investigate, develop, explore, and create.

That's sort of the point of this blog. I'm taking an educational technology class for my masters degree, and I have to document my discoveries. Beyond that, I am hoping that this blog will jump-start my creativity and encourage more writing. So, this post will serve as a "Syllabus" of sorts for my blog.

You can expect to find links and reviews of technology that should/could be used in the classroom.

You will also find stories from my own teaching experience as I strive to become a tech-savvy teacher.  They won't always be pretty, but they will always be real.

Join me as I share with you my journey to become the best teacher I can be, all while in Room Three Twenty One.