Semper Gumby

Once upon a time, when I was but a young Marine, we had a phrase would use whenever things would suddenly change without warning. We would shrug our shoulders and say "Semper Gumby". For those not in the know, "semper" is Latin for always. "Gumby" is slang for flexible.

As many other teachers can attest, Semper Gumby is a phrase that fits nicely into school life and is embodied in what happened today. In our weekly department meeting, we were informed that the library (and my classroom) will be shut down effective 11/12 and that I will need to find a new place for my classes until the new year. I also have to pack up all my crap.

This did not come as a complete surprise; we were told that there were plans to remodel the library some time ago. Apparently though, those plans were further along than we thought. Though I would have preferred for this to happen over the summer, the library does need to be remodeled. We need new books, better bookshelves, computer spaces, etc. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Found a grad school program

So after a bit of searching, I think I found a grad school program. While looking into distance learning options, I found the new "Global Campus" of the University of Illinois. It's part of their program to create high-quality online education opportunities. The program I am interested will be an M.Ed. program with a concentration in e-learning. All told, it will be an 18 month program where I take 1 or 2 classes every 8 weeks. The classes combine traditional education curriculum with classes in educational technology, designing learning systems, and managing online classes.

I'm really excited by the idea of learning more about education technology and I'm hoping to bring more technology into my classes in the coming years. Who knows, in the future I might be able to have a part-time gig as an online teacher somewhere. This is the type of program I have been looking for though. It's not another history degree, its not designed for administration, and it might make me a better teacher.

College questions Part II

So I started talking to some of my students about getting ready for college. We were discussing some of the questions my students asked me on the ISU trip. As we were talking, I was telling them about some of the things I was going to help them with such as filling out a college application, applying for financial aid, etc. One of my students asks "how do you apply for college?" Several of my students laughed. I asked the class how many had not applied to any colleges yet and most raised their hands. I then asked, "how many of you know how to apply for college?" Only three raised their hands then.

So it seems things are as bad as I thought. I think many of them believe that all they have to do is show up somewhere and register for classes. It's going to be an uphill fight but I'm going to start recruiting other teachers to my cause. I want to see if we can start doing more as teachers to prepare them socially as well as academically for college. I don't know how successful we'll be but something needs to be done. We've been so wrapped up in ACT scores for so long we've forgotted about the other things.

Student trip to ISU

Today, I took 38 of our students, mostly seniors, to Illinois State University. Overall, it was a great trip. Everyone was well behaved, no one got lost, and the students seemed to enjoy thelmselves. As for me though, I am astounded by how uninformed our students are about college.

When we arrived at ISU, we pulled in behind another bus of students from another school. As we were walking up to the student union building, one of my students said she was going to hang back. I asked why and she replied, "because it's going to take them a while to get through security." I had to explain to her that there were no metal detectors on college campuses, or security checkpoints. Several other students expressed surprise by that. They've never been to school where there weren't metal detectors and guards at the door checking backpacks.

Later, when looking over freshmen orientation material, students were having a difficult time grasping the concept that they won't have the same classes every day and that they might have several hours in between classes. They also didn't seem to get that no one was going to be taking attendance every day and that they would be responsible for themselves in every way.

Similarly, towards the end of the day when we were in one of the academic buildings, one of my students asked me, "how come there aren't any bells? How do they know when classes are over?"

So many of my kids are coming from so deep a deficit about college, that I wonder how we can adequately prepare them. These kids are seniors and many still haven't applied to any colleges. Few, if any, of their family have attended college. Its incredibly frustrating but also makes me want to do more to help them prepare. I'll have to see what other teachers I can recruit to try and help.

Formal observation over but afternoon going nuts

So my formal observation with my Principal went very well today. I haven't had the post conference yet but the kids were very engaged in the activity and its a great project so I don't forsee any major objections. It was a great activity.

So since Murphy is in school today, my good day is looking shaky. I received a phone call from After School Matters that Maggie Daley is coming to visit my debate program this afternoon. That's right boys and girls, the Mayor's wife and founder of After School Matters wants to come check out my debate team today. It's supposed to be a surpise visit but ASM gave me a little heads up.

Just my luck to have the Principal and the Mayor's wife on the same day.

I'll get this right one of these days

So... I had a blog on my web site for a while. I ended up deleting it after it kept getting spammed every day. I kept having to delete things so I just git rid of it. Now I'm going to try again here on Blogger to see if I can keep it up.

We're already in week seven of this school year and things are getting pretty busy. I have several debate tournaments coming up, escorting kids to the Navy Pier College Fair this Saturday, taking another group of kids to ISU next week, and I'm being observed by my Principal tomorrow. Oh... I've got 35 kids on the debate team also this year.

My Latin American Studies class is getting ready to start an oral history project. This week, I'm going to teach them some basic interview techniques and conduct mock interviews. Tomorrow is the first mock interview session and Ms. Plascencia, the Principal, is coming for my first formal observation of the year. It's actually a great class she's coming to observe; they're a great bunch of kids.

This Saturday is the Navy Pier College Fair and I'm taking about 35-40 kids with a couple of other teachers. Our college counselor is on maternity leave so it somehow fell on us to arrange this. Fortunately, our principal agreed to pay for a bus so we can take these kids. Otherwise, it would be pretty difficult for some of them to go.

So... let's see how long I can keep this going this time. I really like the idea of keeping a blog, even if it's just for me.