Do goosebumps and chills answer life's questions?

As my FP colleagues can attest to, this last week has been nothing short of brutal and sweltering (oh and the building is pretty hot and humid as well).  Despite the intense temperatures, I've been noticing that I have been getting goosebumps and chills at defining moments within the last week that prompted my mind to question exactly why that could be...

The first time was standing in a very humid room 101 telling a friend about an amazing book that was passed along during the summer.  This book, Many Lives, Many Masters, profoundly affected me as I read it.  The messages and story of real life lessons learned really struck an intense chord with me.  It reaffirmed my beliefs of rising above all else to always put love and goodness out into the world because that is our challenge in life.  As I described this book quite ineptly, I felt my heart surge because I knew that I had begun to internalize the lessons from it, which have been instilled in me in my childhood.  In a 90 something degree classroom, both my friend and I looked down at my arms to realize that I was covered in goosebumps.

As I was talking to my first period yesterday, I looked around the room to see 11 faces of students sitting in desks.  Though I entered this year with enormous doubts as to my effectiveness as a teacher, I could once again feel a type of affirmation welling up inside of me.  From within my core, I felt so natural speaking to these kids who had known me for no more than a day.  Though the classroom thermometer could easily read over 100 degrees in room 202, I actually got a chill while teaching my class.  I now know this year is going to be more than okay.  I felt it.

This evening I drove home on a balmy night coming from my mother's house.  I did my laundry and ate dinner with my mom and brother for the first time in awhile.  It was fantastically wonderful.  It felt like real family.  Though I was sweating in the car from the miserable humidity of Cleveland, I once again glanced down during my evening reflection and realized that goosebumps once again inhabited my appendages.

I don't really know nor care what goosebumps and chills really are.  I don't want a physiological explanation as to why my body may react in that manner. 

As far as I'm concerned, it's my soul's way of exuding itself to me and the world:  a manifestation that whispers to me that maybe, just maybe, I really am going in the right direction.

True greatness is truly achieved that when everything is through a person still remains true

Even though this blog started off as a school project, I have decided to transform this space into a journal where I can attempt to process events in my life and pull some sort of lesson from them.  Let's see how this goes...

I swear that every day I write a journal entry.  The thing is that it never usually gets out of my head and onto paper or a computer screen.  And every day, I say the same thing:  I am just waiting for the right event to inspire me to finally write this stuff down.  I wait for the right time, so that I can create that magical chapter one in my life for everybody (or nobody) to read.  Well, I guess the truth is that there is never going to be a clear jump off point.  So you just have to stop one day and create one.  Today is that day for me.  Now I'm not going to pretend that I am profound and wise, but I am attempting to honestly sort through my muddled thoughts, semi-deep one liners, and inability to put life lessons into daily practice.

This week, reality decided to stomp my foot, sucker punch me in the kidneys, and bitch-slap me upside my peanut head.  Going back to work has been hard.  I feel that I am unmotivated, set up for failure, and surrounded by people and situations who are ready to kick my rear end.  Case and point:  visitors at FP today.

Now I refuse to go into any detail (for fear of any readers who may snitch), but I felt beyond disrespected from this afternoon's charades.  Anyone who knows my last relationship knows that I was unfairly taken advantage of and tossed aside.  Fine.  It sucked, but I try to get over it.  So why does that same pathetic individual feel the need to continue to kick dirt into my face?  Listen, buddy, get over your insecurities and leave me the hell alone.  You've already unjustly hurt me, but why continue to belittle my dignity and try to show me up?  Seriously, effe you.

So, here's what I am trying to remind myself.  Every up and down is a teachable moment.  God gives us hard times to teach us discipline.  Parents only discipline their children out of love.  Teach me humility.  When we are grounded, we are a lot safer when we fall because we didn't set our pedestal high enough to do irreparable damage.  I have to remind myself that I don't have all the answers, and I especially don't know what's in store for me in the future.  Certain events in the past few years may seem like tragedies, but I truly believe that we go through things for a purpose.  I do not yet know what's in store for me, but if it's greatness, I most certainly need to experience my bumps in the road to build strength.  Because in the end, only the tough survive.  And damn it, I may need a helmet for my tiny head, but I am ready for the ride.

Analysis of Data Collection

4. Euclid uses too many databases to store data that are not compatible at all. To find correlations, information must be printed off and consolidated and analyzed by the interested parties. Often, the appropriate reports cannot even be accessed by the individuals who should be able to see the data. For example, if a teacher is interested in which students are receiving the most referrals to the office, he or she must survey the other teachers to get their paper copies of referrals. There is a database that stores referral information; however, this database can only be accessed by administrators and secretaries, who often cannot look up information on repeat offenders because there is no report in that information system to provide that data.
5. Data is collected constantly; however, it is difficult to perceive which data is most important. Data collection is becoming more useless as teachers are inundated with information that has little effect on their current situation. For example, we have spent several staff meetings looking at behavioral referrals from 2005-06, but we cannot look at the behavior referrals from this year because that data is not accessible to us. If the current building climate is a priority, then statistics from students who are currently seniors at the high school is completely void. Therefore, data must be pertinent to a current situation in order to have relevance to decision making.
6. I can access student grades that I have assigned from the past two years. Also, I can access achievement test scores for my current students from all previous years. Finally, I can see student records for all Forest Park students by accessing the paper files. The past achievement test scores are extremely helpful as I prepare my students for the current year's test. I can see which students need more targeted instruction and which ones need more challenges. It would be helpful to access behavioral data in order to understand which students need more behavioral interventions. I can only go by word of mouth to access prior history of students. Often this way of getting background information is subjective because it comes from teachers who may not like the student.
7. The MIS is called InfoWeb. I am able to access certain important information and databases from this system, such as students' grades and test scores, district news, seniority lists, phone extensions, and faculty manuals. This system is okay, but not the most convenient. We are able to access it from home which is convenient. However, as I stated earlier, this system lacks access to databases such as professional development hours, IPDP's, and student behavior statistics. If these systems could be added, the databases would be more compatible and convenient.

http://infoweb.euclid.k12.oh.us/

Data and Information Systems

1. At my school, there is a large amount of data collected on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. Here are some of the examples of data collected by teachers, principals, and other staff members: achievement test scores for each student and each test taken in each grade level, quarterly grades, attendance, tardies, number of behavioral referrals, number of in-school suspensions, number of out of school suspensions, number of expulsions, parent contact logs, parent meeting logs, teacher attendance, teacher professional development hours, student educational records including histories of abuse, testing, counseling, repeating grades, etc, book assignments, teacher evaluations, etc.
2. Much of the important data such as grades and OAT scores are kept in the district's WebSys database, which is accessible from home or school with the proper log-in information. Behavioral referrals and other data are kept in both paper form and are input into a separate database which is not accessible to teachers. Student records, book assignments, and teacher evaluations are only in paper form and are locked in the office. Parent contact logs are kept in electronic or paper form by each teacher. Professional development information is kept in a database by the district.
3. The data is managed by many individuals dependent on the category. Teachers record grades and parent contact logs and can access grade and test score databases. Secretaries and principals can access behavior related data. Any certified staff member can access the paper records of students' histories. Administrators in the school and in the central office are in charge of data regarding teachers' development and evaluations, and teacher/student attendance.

Effective PD and Effective Administrators

According to the articles that I read, there are several factors that influence effective professional development that lead to teacher growth and sustainability in technology. These factors enable professional development that guides teachers to successfully integrate technology to enhance student learning. They are the following:

1. Experiences that are not random and isolated, but rather put in a "situated context". Instead of just showing teachers a certain program or tool, they must be instructed on ideas of where these technologies can be integrated into the curriculum. Teachers can then extend these tools past the initial contexts once proficient in their usage.
2. Ongoing development is important. One session in training is not enough to sustain and impact growth for teachers. Usage of these technologies must be reinforced and coached over time.
3. Availability of tools and support are pertinent. Teachers need to feel comfortable with technology and require support to do so. Technology can often fail; teachers need a resource to call on for trouble shooting. Otherwise, growth and sustainability in professional development will be hindered.
4. Finally, teachers need collegial support groups to truly develop professionally. These professional learning communities can help teachers develop their changing beliefs about technology and provide forums for support and brainstorming. These PLC's can help teachers increase their Content Knowledge, Pedagogical Knowledge, and Pedagogical Content Knowledge.

Effective administrators are those that can create, support, and encourage the above factors. They can provide the physical resources of technology and the personnel to teach teachers how to use them. They set up ongoing professional development opportunities through in-service days and after school sessions. Finally, they facilitate Professional Learning Communities by helping to organize them and creating time in the schedule for them to meet.

District wide Inservice Day on Technology

http://euclidschools.org/staff/PresentationProposals.cfm

Above is the link to the Professional Development day based in technology. Teachers can send proposals to present at this district wide conference.