BARBER BULLETIN
May 22-26
Winding Down the School Year......
Think of a school year as a human life. It has a birth, messy and hopeful and new. It has a death, too. That last day will soon come when the individual personalities who make up our class will never be together as a class again. In between, a lot happens: new abilities acquired in fits and starts, a midlife crisis or two when it all feels hard and hopeless, and some peace near the end with all that was accomplished and all that wasn’t.
When the school year is suddenly counted in days rather than months, we begin to take stock of our triumphs and failures. These precious few weeks, close enough to the end to feel a sense of urgency and introspection, but with enough time to act on any epiphanies that come, are a perfect time for reflection.
Teaching is so intense that it can be hard to carve out that reflection time. When it's a challenge to find time to run down the hall to the bathroom, we can't exactly sit down and journal for a few hours. When we gobble down our food, still scalding from the microwave, during a half-hour lunch period that ends up being more like 12 minutes, how exactly are we supposed to find time to reflect?
Shanna Peeples, the 2015 National Teacher of the Year, recommends that everyone in our profession find 10 minutes a night to jot down a few thoughts on these questions: What do I do well in my classroom? What do I need to work on? What do I want to do next?
We have to make time for that kind of reflection. Most of us have paperwork to complete for our state evaluation system, full of numbers, letters, and the familiar abstract language: "student engagement," "creating a culture of learning," "using assessment to inform instruction," and so on.
There's nothing wrong with all those numbered domains and rubrics in eight-point font. But for me, the real reflection on what kind of teacher I have been this year is deeply personal and very specific. It has to do with my own test of conscience about how closely my actions have aligned with my beliefs about children and teaching. Evidence of the gap between philosophy and reality in my classroom tends to come "from the mouths of babes"—from what my students tell and show me every day.
The month of May sometimes feels like a stumbling stagger toward the finish line. It can also be a time to reflect. Before the rush of the school year recedes into a hazy memory, give yourself 15 minutes to ponder these five questions. Grab your computer, or scrounge up a pen and notebook, and jot down your responses. Talk about them with a friend, family member, or colleague you trust. Or take a long walk, some evening when you’re not too worn out, and give yourself a little time to ponder.
1. What have you taught? This means a lot more than the bulleted content outlined in the standards. What have you taught the children in your care this year, by your words or example, about how to be a human being in the world?
2. What have you learned? What do you know now that you didn't in August about children, teaching, and yourself?
3. What have you done well? Teachers tend to be hard on ourselves. Don't gloss over your strengths and successes, large or small.
4. What do you need to work on? Not a single teacher in the entire world has had a flawless school year, so don't beat yourself up for the ways you may have fallen short. But think about what you can change or learn to better meet your students' many needs. Seek out resources on teaching English-language learners. Resolve to speak more kindly to the children in your class, even when you're frustrated. We still have a little time left to make those changes.
5. What impact did you have beyond your own classroom? Teacher leadership doesn't have to happen on a grand scale to be significant. If you led a professional development session at your school, gave your grade-level team an idea for a project, or gave a new teacher a little reassurance and wisdom right when she needed it most, your influence extended beyond your own students.
We live our lives in a straight line. The years accumulate one by one; each new school year begins and ends. Time keeps flowing in its single direction, carrying us onward. But for those of us who teach, time is also circular. We end the ritual of another school year, reach the summer and rest our spirits, then begin the cycle again.
Whether we stagnate or become better every year has everything to do with taking the time to reflect, then finding the courage and tenacity to change. The mercy of the annual cycle built into teaching is that we get another chance each year to do right by our students, with the benefit of an additional year's expertise and wisdom under our belt.
In the poem "The Caterpillar" by Miller Williams, the poet describes a caterpillar he and his daughter find circling the rim of a birdbath in the backyard. Later that night, they discover the caterpillar has died. The poem ends with these lines:
In bed again
re-covered and re-kissed
she locked her arms and mumbling love to mine
until yawning she slipped
into the deep bone-bottomed dish of sleep
Stumbling drunk around the rim
I hold
the words she said to me across the dark
I think he thought he was
going in a straight line.
For me, those final words capture the circle that shapes a life devoted to this exhausting, renewing profession.
Awesome opportunity for you!
Richland Two is sponsoring a Read to Succeed Master's degree - Literacy Teacher certification AND the 4-course Read to Succeed Literacy endorsement beginning Fall 2017.
Alice Shawen is hosting an information session Thursday, May 25th at 4:00 at R2i2 on the second floor in the Low Country Room. The details for both programs will be shared at that time..
If you are interested in taking advantage of graduate level classes at a significant reduction in cost, please plan to attend.
Alice will teach the first 4 courses in Richland Two at a 40% reduction in tuition. The remaining courses are offered online by Coastal Carolina at a 30% reduction in cost. Financial aid is available for the graduate program but you must enroll at Coastal Carolina as soon as possible for the assistance.
If you are interested in becoming a part of the Master's Degree Literacy Teacher cohort, please plan to attend the meeting.
If you are interested and unable to attend, please email Alice Shawen at ashawen@richland2.org
VEHICLE CAREER DAY
Please bring your class to the bus ramp by your scheduled start time. The vehicles will be parked around the bus loop. We will ask that all students remain on the paved loop during the event.
Vehicle Day Schedule 2017
8:45-9:30 K, 4th, S. Brown, Sanders
9:40-10:25 2nd, 3rd, Grady, Charbeneau
10:35-11:15 PM, 5th
11:25-12:10 Jewell, LM, UM
Yarbro - attend any session that fits your schedulE
We want this to be a meaningful career day for our students, so any follow up activities you want to do in the classroom that day would be great.
HIGHLIGHTS OF SUMMER PD TO CONSIDER ATTENDING! SIGN UP IN SCHED
Summer Institute
When is it? June 5-6 or June 12-15 or July 24-27
What is it? Variety of PD sessions for all elementary
Where is it? Various locations in district - Check SCHED for details
Project Based Learning 101 at the Summer Institute
When is it? June 12-13-14
What is it? Get training in PBL 101
Where is it? Westwood - Check SCHED
Midlands Technology Summit
When is it? June 7-8
What is it? Technology PD
Where is it? R2i2
The Artisan Teacher
When is it? June 26-27
What is it? PD with Mike Rutherford
Where is it? R2i2
Lucy Calkins training
When is it? July 13 or July 26
What is it? Writing PD
Where is it? Westwood HS
A LOOK AT OUR WEEK AHEAD
5th grade FIELD TEST (Global schedule will resume with 5th and 3rd switching times)
ESOL District Audit
Military Monday - wear your red, white, and blue!
10am K-2 Author Visit (DR. BARBER'S 3rd grade teacher!)
5pm Tim's Celebration off campus
Tuesday:
7:30am Tech Team meeting
8:30am 5th grade field study to R2I2
11:30am Restructuring dismissal using DESIGN THINKING (Interested?Let K.Barber know!)
6:30PM 5th grade recognition
Wednesday:
Vehicle Career Day
6pm Montessori Bridging Ceremony
Thursday:
3RD-5TH grade Field Test (Modified Global Schedule)
1:30pm Birthday Book Club
6:30pm Kindergarten Recognition
Friday:
College Colors Day! Wear your favorite college team shirt
SRO HI FIVE event-car rider line! Welcome SROs from Richland County Sherriffs office!
1:45pm TA meeting in cafeteria
Last Day of ASAP
Understanding Others Day hosted by our Special Education team