Whew! \u00a0It’s been quite a week. \u00a0One in which I have not had time to blog, but also one in which all sorts of interesting things have happened.<\/p>\n
What I taught this week<\/p>\n
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. \u00a0Roughly 50% of all conversations I had with students included some form of the\u00a0phrase “I need this to graduate!” \u00a0At 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. \u00a0The importance of finishing “with my right grade,” drives a lot of decisions for students, including some poor ones. \u00a0Certainly next week students, who realize they are not going to finish one thing, will throw up their hands and give up on everything. \u00a0We have some students who were so upset last June, that they don’t really get back on track until January, April, or this June.<\/p>\n
At this time of year,\u00a0my 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. \u00a0Most of what I did was sit next to kids, listen to their frustrations, and remind them how far they’ve come. \u00a0Sometimes I think these are the most important lessons I “teach” all year.<\/p>\n
What I blogged this week<\/p>\n
Nothing, unfortunately.<\/p>\n
Ok, maybe I did more than that. \u00a0I got to meet up with @trianglemancsd and @j_lanier. \u00a0I took them on a brief after hours tour of my school and talked about the life at our school. \u00a0We went across the street to eat a couple pizza’s at Spunto<\/a>, including one with\u00a0‘Millionaire Bacon’. \u00a0I’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. \u00a0Instead 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. \u00a0After that we walked down the street a little ways and took a picture.<\/p>\n @Trianglemancsd<\/a> @j_lanier<\/a>, the Empire State Building and I after dinner in NYC! http:\/\/t.co\/IJqa2mq4yk<\/a><\/p>\n — Carl Oliver (@carloliwitter) June 12, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n