Controlled Chaos

Columbia Missourian - Teacher turns her passion for penguins into a day of learning

Incorporating penguins into the classroom…what a great idea!  I have a few penguins here and there (ok, more than 10), but have not been as forward in decorating my room as this teacher has…

Speaking of which, I rearranged my room.  I moved my desk to the back corner, thereby switching with Ms. DeVilio, whom I share a room with.  It will allow her to use the projector to have more of a seminar-style class, while I get my desk back.  Actually the benefits are myriad.

I just got back from Missouri, where Teach For America sent me to recruit.  I got to spend a day with each of my parents, which made the trip worth it.  Otherwise, I was busy because I overbooked myself.  But I think things went well.

We don’t have school until Thursday, and I’m utilizing the time to implement significant changes in my classroom.  Everyone will have a green notebook now.  We will spend 10 minutes a day reading or writing.  I will work more hand-in-hand with Ms. Gainey, the English teacher who doesn’t share a room with me.  I’m thankful for the extended break, looking forward to kicking off semester two, and not at all dismayed that we have another one-week break coming in only two weeks.  =)

back to work!

This was prompted by a message from a student sent to me on Myspace:

While I do think there is a measurable difference between smart and dumb people on the average, I think “smart” means too many things for most people to be differentiated by the term.  For example, you are probably much more smart on the concert scene here in NYC than I am, but I know more about the concept of Manufacturing Consent as professed by Noam Chomsky.  In other words, I think most people are smart in regards that I am not, and I thus have things to learn from them.  On the other hand, I do believe that there are some people whose knowledge banks could be completely stored within mine - in other words, I know everything they know that is important, and more.  Most of those people AREN’T children.  Children have access to information that a lot of people simply don’t.  They are a living definition of novelty.  It is only those who stop trying to learn as they get older who seem dumb to me.

But what do I know?