Book Review

For our reading assignment I chose to read a book that I have started several times but never had the opportunity to get completely through it. This is an autobiography entitled Wins, Losses, and Lessons by Lou Holtz. This book, written by Coach Holtz, is one that I believe should be read by anyone, not just sports enthusiasts. Holtz talks about his humble beginnings, his stint as an assistant at Connecticut, and then head coaching jobs at William & Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame, and South Carolina. I think the best message in this book that a reader would get is that whatever his/her profession, we all strive to be two things, successful and significant. A successful person, a winning coach for example, is only successful while he/she is around. A significant person, whether it is a coach or a teacher, is successful long after they are gone, because these are the people who are able to touch the lives of others. Coach Holtz personifies this idea in that while he wasn’t the winningest coach of all time, he still touched the lives of many people, enough that he will be a successful person long after he is gone.

Hum-drum of the year...

I think we've reached the point in the school year where the new has worn off and it's a challenge to find ways to make the school day interesting. The kids have finally begun to get used to me, and get used to what I expect of them. I still have my one class of talkers, but every thing else seems to be the same ol' hum-drum stuff. I'm going to try to spruce up my powerpoints a little bit, maybe add more pictures and some sound to them to try to "wake" everyone up a little bit.

First 9 Weeks...

So I've completed the first nine weeks as a school teacher...I thought it would never get here. I must say it's been pretty good so far, definitely had it's ups and downs. I know when it came time for nine weeks tests I started sweating a little bit. I found out that we were going to have to turn in grade analysis sheets, which basically said how many A's, B's, C's, etc. we had. I started asking my self, have I been too easy? Or too hard on the kids? Then our senior high football team had an away game during the nine weeks test week, and because of a shortage of buses, the test schedule was split over a weekend. After the tests though the results showed that I've done OK so far. Only a few A's, and fewer F's, everyone else seemed to fall in the B and C range. Sure I wish that the majority of students were in the A and B range, but it seems like all the grade proportion bell curves that you see fit my class. I must admit, I've learned a lot in the first nine weeks, and I can say most of the things I have learned have been for the better.

Diversity in the classroom

This photo shows an example of diversity in my seventh grade world history class. Since Kingsland consolidated with Rison a few years ago, diversity at Rison has taken a new form. On the row of four students, the first student is a mix of African-American / White, and is from Rison. The second student is African-American, and is from Kingsland. The third student is Hispanic, and comes from Mexico. The last student striking a little pose, is White, and is from Rison. Not only do these students differ from race and gender, they come from different towns.

Wake up......

Ok, so it just dawned on me today that it's been over a month since I've posted on here, so let me try to catch things up....

Let's see, life is still pretty hectic, but all the "hecticness" is turning into a little routine. Football is going good, we're undefeated in both senior high and junior high. It's almost time for 9 weeks tests, so things at school have picked up a little more. I looked at all my students' grades the other day, I couldn't believe it. No matter what you do, you have some students that excel at everything you give them, and others who don't seem to even try. I guess I'm learning how to challenge students at every level. I could see a huge change after grade reports were sent home though, some of those "non-tryers" picked it up somewhat. Overall the whole first year has gone pretty good. It's surely had it's ups and downs. Probably seemed like more downs than ups, but we're still plugging.....

The First Two Weeks.....

Ok, so I finally got this blog going two weeks into the school year and I must say it's been pretty hectic. Teaching has already opened my eyes to a lot of things I've never thought of, especially teaching 7th graders. So far there have been no problems. The kids seem to enjoy my classes and (most of the time) I enjoy teaching them. Now, add football in the mix and it starts getting busy. We're gearing up for our game with Fordyce this Friday. This is the game we've been waiting on for months and it's finally here. With the first week of football, world history, and MAT classes all going on at the same time, this week is a big one...