Motivation and Awesomeness.....

Well, I have just spent several hours over the past couple weeks updating our district's website. I wish I would've logged the hours. That would've been interesting to know.... Except that I'm not finished by any means.

The hardest part is ahead of me.....

See, there is this flash banner on the homepage. The pictures there are outdated and I desperately need to change them. Problem is....well, besides not having many pictures....figuring out how to put 3 together to make a collage then get them to the appropriate size. Uploading them and placing them on the site is no problem.....got that figured out. But this editing part is a bear. Sure wish I had some step-by-step directions on the Photoshop part. Perhaps this "Google Power Searcher" can just Google it and find out!

I've been trying. I have Photoshop Elements on my computer and it's kind of complicated. I attended a Photoshop workshop one time that a friend presented but that was 3 or 4 years ago and I've slept since then.

So, I will continue to plug away and see what I can come up with. I keep telling myself if I can get 1 figured out, I should be able to crank out 3 or 4 in no time. Problem is cranking out the first one!

It's coming to the end of July which means we start school in less than a month. It also means that all those things around our house that I wanted to do over the summer  -- that I put off -- are needing to be done.....QUICK!

We do have a few accomplishments under our belts though. We did get the flooring in the living room installed....and it looks great, I may add. Our bathroom project is coming to an end too. The ceiling is finished and it's painted. Now I need to get the new trim measured, cut, painted, and put up. Ugh. And this heat is not a motivating factor in the least.....

My attention has been turned to school. It's going to be an interesting year I think. Lots of changes have been made and people are starting to get settled in a bit. Most importantly, the changes that have been made are good for kids. Afterall, that's the bottom line. Over the past 25 years, I have seen teachers lose focus on what's good for kids and redirect it to what's best for them. If I ever start thinking that way, somebody tell me to retire. As I have grown and matured in my career, I have come to realize that we have to do whatever it takes to help kids. Even if it's breaking down our own beliefs about how a kids should act, what they should know, etc.

There's someone I follow on Twitter who every morning ends his post with "be awesome today". Isn't that cool? What if we said that to kids every morning before their day starts? What if we parents would say that to our kids before they walked out the door? How about bus drivers as the kids were getting off the bus? How about the cook as the kids go through the breakfast line to get their tray? Right before we release the students from the gym to go to their classrooms? What if we posted signs and banners all over our school as constant reminders for EVERYBODY in the building -- visitors included -- to BE AWESOME TODAY! I think I've just hit upon an idea! Alright, gotta remember that one! Excuse me, I have to go design a poster now......

This is the stuff I think about at 11 p.m. (now)....and in the shower......and at 3 o'clock in the morning.....

Up there in the beginning of this post, I mentioned something about Google Power Searcher.....well, here's the scoop on that.....

A couple weeks ago, Google advertised an online course that one could participate in to become a Google Power Searcher. Because I am all things Google, I signed up.....afterall, it was free and it was Google.....did I mention I love Google? Today I completed the course with flying colors. It was fun. There were six lessons that taught participants how to maximize their Google searches. I'm so glad I took it. Now I wish I was teaching computers this year. They gave a lot of great information.....enough for a couple weeks of instruction on a very important concept. I might have to come back and teach that to the computer classes anyway. I'm sure the teachers won't mind......

Thanks for joining me! And don't forget......

BE AWESOME TODAY!

Tech, Intervention, and My New "Office".....

This week has been a busy one. Sad thing is, it's only Tuesday.....boy, I'm sure hoping things slow down a bit....my laundry pile is getting higher and higher!

I've spent the last two days in both buildings working on tech projects. My oldest son and I have set up nearly every classroom computer and interactive whiteboard in both buildings and run a network cable through the wall to a copier (have to put a connector back on one end....darn thing wouldn't fit through the hole with the connector on). I'm thinking I'll lay off the tech for a week or so.....

I'll get started -- again -- on intervention projects. One of the cool things that one of the special education teachers and I did last year for the teachers was to put IEP and intervention information together in binders for the teachers. We did so well! We are quite a team! Let me explain more about these binders...

First, we chose orange. Why orange? Well, first it's one of our school colors and second, it stands out and besides that, I like that color. :)

Our district is still working through the RtI/Intervention process......we're getting there though....a little at a time. It's a big change for some people. It's easy to do what you've always done. I completely agree. It's comfortable....like my flannel lounge pants and old t-shirt. But we have to stop thinking about what's easy and start thinking about what's best for those kids that come to school to see us everyday.

Back to the orange binders.....we decided that every teacher needed easy access to RtI forms, lists of interventions, accommodations, and modifications, the classroom AIMSweb information, and copies of their students' IEP accommodations. So, we searched the internet, made copies, ran reports, labeled tabbed dividers, and put all of it in the orange binders.

After the binders were complete, we scheduled a full day of meetings with teachers. We met with each teacher during her planning time, along with at least one of the administrators (because they need to know too), and reviewed every piece of information in the binder.....we are so glad we did.....we were just sorry we didn't think of it at the beginning of the year.....so, we are going to do that this year.

I must say, they are beautiful binders. And right now, those beautiful binders are sitting on my shelf waiting for more information to be put in them......yikes! I see another day at school in my near future.....

The past school year was a learning experience for our 2-person team....we kind of felt our way through the year and we got better as the year progressed. We started writing different goals and did more periodic reviews on progress monitoring. We impressed our special education co-op supervisor so much that she recommended we present at the next regional teachers' conference in the fall! We'll see where that goes....

Next year we're going to tear-it-up! Look out!

Have I told you about my new "office"? I really like it. This story is quite interesting....well, to me anyway....

I teach in the same school district that I attended. When I started school in 1971, I attended kindergarten at Opdyke, in the room next to the room that is now my "office". My "home school district" (Belle Rive) did not have kindergarten, so I attended kindergarten in Opdyke. In first grade, I went to Belle Rive. First and second grades were in the same room with the same teacher. In 1973, the Belle Rive and Opdyke districts consolidated and became Opdyke-Belle Rive. Kindergarten through fourth grade was at Belle Rive and fifth through eighth grade was at Opdyke. It stayed this way until my oldest son entered the fifth grade. At that time, fourth grade was moved to Opdyke.

Anyway, back to my story.....while I was at Opdyke, the office was upstairs in the room that is now my office. Sometime during the 90's -- I think -- the office was moved downstairs and the "old office/my new office" became a storage room. I remember when I was there it was the only room with an air conditioner....funny what you remember.....

I'm just not sure how Mr. Lathrop, our principal,  and Dexter, our secretary, both fit in there. Of course, those were the days before computers and lots of the stuff that we need today.

I'm really liking my office though. Probably won't spend a lot of time there....but as a "home base" it's pretty comfortable....it will be a nice place to go at the end of the day.....