Whew!  It’s been quite a week.  One in which I have not had time to blog, but also one in which all sorts of interesting things have happened.

What I taught this week

Each of my classes had less than 5 meetings remaining at the beginning of the week, which my students had 5 chances to earn credit.  Roughly 50% of all conversations I had with students included some form of the phrase “I need this to graduate!”  At a transfer school where kids graduate when they finish and not necessarily with their grade at the end of the year, it is easy for teachers to forget how important June graduation is to students and their families.  The importance of finishing “with my right grade,” drives a lot of decisions for students, including some poor ones.  Certainly next week students, who realize they are not going to finish one thing, will throw up their hands and give up on everything.  We have some students who were so upset last June, that they don’t really get back on track until January, April, or this June.

At this time of year, my class time is mainly spent working on projects, so the biggest thing I “taught” this week was how important it is for students to persevere.  Most of what I did was sit next to kids, listen to their frustrations, and remind them how far they’ve come.  Sometimes I think these are the most important lessons I “teach” all year.

What I blogged this week

Nothing, unfortunately.

Ok, maybe I did more than that.  I got to meet up with @trianglemancsd and @j_lanier.  I took them on a brief after hours tour of my school and talked about the life at our school.  We went across the street to eat a couple pizza’s at Spunto, including one with ‘Millionaire Bacon’.  I’m not sure how this bacon is different than regular bacon, but we certainly didn’t start shopping for monocles or demanding Grey Poupon afterwards.  Instead we had nice conversation about the different places we’ve worked, the different things we have on tap, and Justin’s idea for a math terminology machine that can allow students to create their own math terminology.  After that we walked down the street a little ways and took a picture.

What I thought this week

It’s been hard to think about anything other than the San Antonio Spurs turning the NBA finals into a masterclass on teamwork, preparation, and execution in basketball.  As the school year slowly draws to a close, it makes me think about how we as a teachers, departments, and as a school should think about planning for next year.  Last night at Happy Hour with my colleagues we decided we were going to start a round of “Lunch Time Conversations” about the school in hopes to hear ideas around key areas, get everyone on the same page, and foster some of this San Antonio-esque teamwork.

 

As this school year comes to an end, what things do you do to prepare for the next school year?