Considering it’s my first year, in a program I never imagined myself teaching in...I think I’m actually doing pretty well. Ready for break...but I want to come back in January. #WeirdEd
A1. Man, everything was going swimmingly but then I caught a deathly cold, got bad family health news, and possibly bad housing news all in about four days. So now everything seems upturned. But the kids are good. #WeirdEd
I'm... I dunno. I left the classroom ~6 weeks ago and yesterday I got an email from a student saying they miss me (which is nice) but half the class dropped it after a left (which is a bummer). So... yeah. #weirded
Every year I remind people how fast this month goes by (and that it’ll snow wherever I am on my birthday) and so often I’m not believed.....but I model calm wherever I am (mentally and physically) #weirded
#WeirdEd A1 Mid-December, I seem to have landed in a decent spot not far from home (I walked today, maybe shouldn't've).
I have seen *a lot* of the 6th graders though.
#WeirdEd A1. Exhausted, but even worse when I found out my fave twitch channel, @Hyper_RPG is undergoing really difficult troubles. They're wonderful folx who engage w/community and commit to diverse voices for their Roleplaying shows.
A2 I try to distract a class. Knew a guy who used to walk by classes this time of year and toss candy into classrooms. I don’t do that...just sharing a distraction strategy.... #weirded
#WeirdEd A2 Panic. I know things are going to totally blow up in my face so I want to be realistic on my pacing guides (and have my own double secret pacing guide).
A2. Ha! I take on different stuff that I want to do more, so I don't procrastinate that and then at least I feel successful. Plan a party! Throw an open mic! Write cards for old teachers! #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd A2 Maybe make a new comic. I can control that.
And I can do something in 10 minutes that will look like I spent an hour on it.
And then I'll spend 2+ hours touching it up to look "just right".
sigh.
A2. Ha! I take on different stuff that I want to do more, so I don't procrastinate that and then at least I feel successful. Plan a party! Throw an open mic! Write cards for old teachers! #WeirdEd
Thanks why the "Junior" part of this is totally key.
Simplified rules. Short running time.
Game ends when the first player is out. (Count your money to find the winner)
#WeirdEd
A3 When I was a kid, we'd have a Christmas assembly, and we had to sing religious songs as well as more secular ones. Made me feel really uncomfortable as one of the few Jewish kids. #weirded
A3: I had a lot of exposure to Christmas music during my formative years working in a toy store around Christmas. I'm not too proud to admit to a soft spot for Elton John's Step Into Christmas. #weirded
#WeirdEd Sounds like this could be a great opportunity for learning to happen. What if presentations were “open mic” opportunities? You could perform however you want, but you’re evaluated on your medium.
In reply to
@slwindisch, @TheWeirdTeacher, @janamaiuri
Important note: "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" has only ever been sung by Thurl Ravenscroft
Any abomination that you hear on the radio is your imagination #WeirdEd
The first time I heard that song I was half-sleeping on a mattress in the back of a Chevy Suburban full of high school friends on a road trip to Utah and they were hollering along and I swear I was transported to some kind of higher spiritual plane. #dontask#christmas#WeirdEd
#WeirdEd A3 also, I don't care what people say about getting over it, that It's cold outside continues to creep me out, mostly 'cause I was one of those losers who used "nice guy" as an excuse to get a GF, good thing I grew out of that. Sorry to swerve in this direction
#WeirdEd A2 I actually have a shoebox of Christmas CDs and a few cassettes. I don't listen as much before of the regular radio stations. And the CD player is in the basement.
#WeirdEd Was just talking to my wife tonight about why we don’t celebrate/talk about Yom Kippur which is WAAAAAAY more important/valuable teaching tool than Christmas.
A3 I try to wait till Remembrance/Veterans Day for Christmas songs, but love me some Bing and some parodies (12 pains of Christmas) I’m into it - esp a Trans Siberian #weirded
#WeirdEd But that's not what the song is about! In context of the time it was written it's about two people covering their asses so they can get busy while also looking proper.
Before anyone gets on my case about the Christmas cassettes, two of them are @SirPatStew performing his one-man "A Christmas Carol"
Required listening.
#WeirdEd
#WeirdEd A3 but, whenever I hear any of the Chipmunks Christmas songs, you bet I'll be singing along, fond memories of a kid listening during car rides. I'm sure my parents got irritated. LOL
Not sure about that. Different message. I believe we need both. But Christmas has been so commercialized that the spiritual lessons have been lost. #weirded
Nothing more to tell. it's a kids game. My five-year nephew beat out me and my adult daughter and her boyfriend. Luck of the dice and the Chance cards!
#WeirdEd
Well, who knows, really? The bizarro sexualization of Christmas (Santa Baby, Mama Kissing Santa Claus, even Last Christmas, ffs), is just part of the hedonistic merry-go-round of late stage capitalism blah blah blah I'm listening to The Bruenigs too much. #WeirdEd
But one thing that I do appreciate about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is the fact that the ten days of awe are a meditative time and focus is on Tikkun Olam. #weirded
#WeirdEd Christmas isn’t even Christianity’s number one holiday. The message of Yom Kippur is so universal that it should transcend faith. “Dude, own your mistakes and be authentically sorry for them” is a lesson humans NEED to learn
A3 *Takes deep breath* #WeirdEd
Christmas songs for the non-Christmas-music lovers
-Tim Minchin "White Wine in the Sun"
-"Scrooge" from the Muppet Christmas Carol
-the whole A Charlie Brown Christmas
Yeah - both wanted an excuse to stay ..... at least that’s how I always heard it...
#weirded
But maybe because there is cold and then there is c.o.l.d.
#WeirdEd It's all good, I can see it that way, just can't shake off how I acted in the past. XD
But, as someone once said, "If you're having fun, I'm having fun!"
One of my students told me this is their favorite band and that they were going to the concert... mom said she had no idea what he was talking about #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd A4 They are written by people who expect everyone to be on the same pace. They don’t account for schools with learners that struggle nor schools with a lot of gifted students. They fail our students.
Oh I understand that. It's originally pagan, and of course takes a back seat to Easter. But just like Chanukah, it's about light. And we need that in the world, too. #weirded
Karloff didn't sing. Most people think he did because Ravenscroft's name was (accidentally) left out of the credits.
Greaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat voice talent.
I think you can hear him at Disney World.
#WeirdEd
A4: I think they're super useful tools...but boy, do they stress people out. It's great to have a GUIDE, but not (have to) be held to it strictly. #WeirdEd
A4: Never been a pacing guide fan. Kids are different. Needs are different. Pace is different. Every year is different. I feel like teachers should have the professional sense to pace their classes based on needs. #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd A4 It’s asinine when admins default to “Well, the pacing guide says you should be done with long division” and you’re like “Yeah, but my STUDENTS still don’t grasp it.”
A4: Are we pacing lessons? learning? content? Make sure the Ts have a real voice in making these pacing guides & not something just pushed down from the ivory tower. #WeirdEd
Open mics are rad in middle school. They all like to write highly emotional and uber-woke slam poetry and they're pretty good at it. It's just fun to make it a big deal and have hot drinks and dress up and snap like the old Beats. Cigarettes discouraged. #WeirdEd
And see for me it's not about owning mistakes as it is about tikkun olam. Repairing the world. It's about community coming together. Not that one shouldn't own mistakes, but it's really bigger than that. #weirded
#WeirdEd I completely agree! And I also think districts need to put out pacing guides. But then work with teachers and not require strict sticking to it.
A4 hahahahaha not in this province! Teacher autonomy over pacing & order of topics. Big Questions guide the curriculum, how you do it is up to you and your learners....more of a loose-tight system! #weirded
#WeirdEd A4 This. As a new teacher, knowing where you need to be or how you can get up to be, is a blessing.... Especially for someone as disorganized as me. However, it is also distressing if we're expected to adhere too much, esp. considering different Ss
A4: I think they're super useful tools...but boy, do they stress people out. It's great to have a GUIDE, but not (have to) be held to it strictly. #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd Yes, being held to them as an end all, be all is insane. It’s like saying “I know you have no clue how to play the clarinet, but we’re moving you to the saxophone now."
#WeirdEd This is a good perspective. My teammate is a first year teacher and he's loving the textbooks and pacing guide bc at least that's one less thing to drown under.
For argument's sake though, I WOULD move a student from clarinet to saxophone if I thought they would succeed more and the band could be better. It's like having a spiral curriculum - we'd come back to the things that were so similar and have new schema. #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd I can see that to a point. But at the end of the day, if your kids aren’t learning anything because you’re moving too fast, you haven’t done your job as an educational system.
#WeirdEd OOH Yeah, one of the districts I student taught had a significant transient population, my mentor t told me how effective it is for ensuring that the transient Ss manage to at least get consistent learning.
#WeirdEd Other Christmas listens:
The music from Rankin-Bass (I have 2 of these, one issued by the Post Office)
Grinch CD, music and then the Karloff narration
Charlie Brown
TSO
probably one Mannhein-Steamroller
WCBS-FM vol 2 ...
Not enough time...
Even then the pacing guide is still really just a hope and prayer. If the kids weren’t on the pace, I’d slow down, which meant making the pacing guide was kinda pointless. Should be called a “I Hope We Get Through This Much Stuff By May Map.” #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd Oh, that’s sweet. I observed a 6th grade T who does that with her students. They even plan out a coffee shop for the event. Gonna try to team them up with my brother who owns a coffee shop with a stage.
Even then the pacing guide is still really just a hope and prayer. If the kids weren’t on the pace, I’d slow down, which meant making the pacing guide was kinda pointless. Should be called a “I Hope We Get Through This Much Stuff By May Map.” #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd yes! I mean, I know things change and doesn't remain uniform, but having that structure can be such a life saver. It's there, now there's a basis I can use to plan instruction, as well as compare to Ss understanding. Holy jeez, this is the most jargon I've done in awhile
A4 In the real world, they are crucial! Otherwise I likely wouldn't get to something important. In my idealist teacher world they are horribly restrictive and don't allow for Ss to learn to mastery at their own pace. School would need to be restructured to fit my ideal #WeirdEd
For argument's sake though, I WOULD move a student from clarinet to saxophone if I thought they would succeed more and the band could be better. It's like having a spiral curriculum - we'd come back to the things that were so similar and have new schema. #WeirdEd
It's weird, because actually the Peanuts comic is lovely- sweetly subversive and on point in so many ways, but the TV version is treacly and annoying. #WeirdEd
In reply to
@TeamBodi, @TheWeirdTeacher, @technolandy, @shadow_uzumaki
#WeirdEd But that’s only because you know how to reed your students. (Hehe. Pun intended.) You’re not doing it because a pacing guide mandates it; you’re doing it because it’s best for the learning.
Funny thing about that special, as someone on reddit recently pointed out, is that at the time it aired, those colored aluminum trees were actually A Thing.
They kinda went away not long after
#WeirdEd
In reply to
@TeamBodi, @TheWeirdTeacher, @technolandy, @janamaiuri, @shadow_uzumaki
Damn it @TheWeirdTeacher got my focus, through MLP and Christmas music. WTF. #WeirdEd
Looks like he was...bridging student knowledge to making it relevant with content......
Well, that could be about anything...
And, sadly, I had a friend who overheard 2 girls crying after the movie, and one said that she didn't really think in the end *that the boat would sink*!
#WeirdEd (I kid you not)
Okay, then take the example of when a student "should" combine solfege with rhythm syllables. A lot of the time, kids *aren't* ready, BUT I trust them to make their own connections. #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd Q5 Computer programs that pace students are not the same as differentiation, personalized learning, or students working at their own pace.
Whatcha say to that?
Oh absolutely...we humans catch on to things at weird (see what I did there) times...like when I realized what Sir-Mix-a-Lot meant by his "anaconda don't want none..." when I started to sing it looking at the movie display for Anaconda #WeirdEd
In reply to
@technolandy, @TheWeirdTeacher, @janamaiuri, @shadow_uzumaki
I only have vague memories, and I think some of those come from pictures. We never had one. (We had the same tree for, like, 30 years, starting many before I was born.) #WeirdEd
In reply to
@MissShuganah, @TeamBodi, @TheWeirdTeacher, @technolandy, @janamaiuri, @shadow_uzumaki
#WeirdEd That's a crazy factiod. It's the more extreme version of Dave Grohl knowing Foo Fighters is a stupid name for a band but getting stuck with it anyway
In reply to
@janamaiuri, @TeamBodi, @technolandy, @shadow_uzumaki
#WeirdEd Again, that’s on you though. That’s your decision and you reading the room. (That’s becoming a catchphrase for me here) That’s not a pacing guide saying “You do this right now.”
A5 #WeirdEd comp prog not the same bc they are static in presentation STYLE and format. Different material and questions maybe but possibly statically boring to a variety of Ss
It came from his editor. They stole it from Howdy Dowdy. (The Peanut Gallery.)
It actually confused readers early on because there was no character named "Peanuts".
(Read a biography a few years back.)
#WeirdEd
In reply to
@TheWeirdTeacher, @janamaiuri, @TeamBodi, @technolandy, @shadow_uzumaki
First time I ever had a Christmas tree in my apartment or house was when I celebrated my first Christmas as a newlywed with Mr. MIT. December 1993. We met the day after Christmas 1992. #weirded
In reply to
@mrburkemath, @TeamBodi, @TheWeirdTeacher, @technolandy, @janamaiuri, @shadow_uzumaki
#WeirdEd A5 Depends on how they pace students. Is it adjusted to a student’s actual needs. or is it a set pace they all follow. Does it leave room for authentic growth and not demoralize for failure? (Looking at you, IXL)
I always took the name to mean "little kids," I have heard kids called "peanuts" plenty of times and maybe it's a New England thing...but that's how I always interpreted it #WeirdEd
In reply to
@mrburkemath, @TheWeirdTeacher, @janamaiuri, @technolandy, @shadow_uzumaki
A5: Computer programs that pace students are purely busywork. Busywork is mildly useful when you want to address individual students and want the others occupied, like during an Advisory period. Computerized busywork is heaven-sent manageability, but use sparingly! #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd I think that has a lot to do with it. But who is to say that all students should master the same thing at the same time? Seems a bit silly. As a sports coach for 20 years, I would laugh someone out of the room for suggesting such a thing.
#WeirdEd A5 The day we have computers that can actually analyze and properly differentiate or personalize learning, is the day that we acknowledge robots and AI are sentient, caring individuals
Key word is Properly
#WeirdEd
Imma change up Q5. Moderator prerogative.
Q5- If Amazon came out with a Google-style education program, but you had to have and connect an amazon account to use it, and all that entails, teachers would make kids and families sign up for amazon. Y/N/Why?
#WeirdEd Q5 Computer programs that pace students are not the same as differentiation, personalized learning, or students working at their own pace.
Whatcha say to that?
are A5 Just got distracted. I blame @slwindisch & @annemdelgado as I was wondering what a school with both of them in the faculty would be like..... #weirded
In reply to
@TheWeirdTeacher, @slwindisch, @annemdelgado
a5.2: Hells yes let Amazon teach my kids all the dumb standardized crap and then can we just go camping or something and learn to build shelters and catch fish? SIGN ME THE F UP. #WeirdEd
And I think that's the fundamental misunderstanding of a pacing guide. Students need to master specific skills at specific times to build on them. It's not entrapment, it's structure. #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd A5 If Amazon's doing this, they better have affordable Teacher Prime, or no weird fine print about accidentally paying for Amazon Prime. Otherwise, there's probably similar stuff out there that's not an obvious attempt to get more Amazon accounts.
Can Amazon also make the test so Prime Lesson HAS to make them pass Prime Test or obviously their product has failed? Totally closed, corporate system. Leave us OUT OF IT. I'll buy an old school bus and we'll hit the road. Kids can learn themselves sick while I drive. #WeirdEd
That’s kinda where A5 was leading me - the need for “mastery” before leveling up? Sometimes the early stuff isn’t as engaging...and turns it into “have tos” rather than “get tos” #weirded
#WeirdEd Maybe pacing guides are used differently where you are. In concept, they’re wonderful. But government organizations rarely use things in concept.
#WeirdEd
Imma change up Q5. Moderator prerogative.
Q5- If Amazon came out with a Google-style education program, but you had to have and connect an amazon account to use it, and all that entails, teachers would make kids and families sign up for amazon. Y/N/Why?
#WeirdEd Q5 Computer programs that pace students are not the same as differentiation, personalized learning, or students working at their own pace.
Whatcha say to that?
I also like pacing guides if they've been created by (or with serious input from) someone who's been there before, regardless of the amount of wishful thinking.
It's a road map to get me there, too.
#WeirdEd
'Cause the dumbest thing in education HAS to be asking teachers to differentiate like humans so kids can pass an undifferentiated test like robots. I'm happy to bow out of that nonsensical loop. #WeirdEd
a5.2: Hells yes let Amazon teach my kids all the dumb standardized crap and then can we just go camping or something and learn to build shelters and catch fish? SIGN ME THE F UP. #WeirdEd
A5 No. Sounds like another way to commercialize education. If it was something my school or district asked for, I wouldn't choose that battle to fight. Ya know...you could probably pitch that idea to amazon and make bank, if it's not already in the works! lol...#WeirdEd
#WeirdEd Rethinking Q4. If it’s mandatory that you stick strictly to the guide, it’s a failure. If the guide is an actual GUIDE (open a dictionary, district leaders), then it’s awesome; it’s a tool, a roadmap.
