Political Thoughs

I am having a hard time understanding why Democrats and Republicans are making this debt ceiling issue so difficult. Why is no one looking to the deals that were put in place when Clinton was in office? These deals lead to economic vitality for the nation and a budget surplus! But, I suppose Republicans just want to sieze power by any means necessary and Democrats just don't seem to be standing up to the party of No. Where does that leave the rest of the country?

New Places, New State of Mind

I am starting at new school in Baltimore City. My first two years of teaching was at an elementary/middle school that lacked leadership and consequently support. That's a nice way of putting it. I'll touch on that from time to time, but being a great teacher is all about growth, so as I start fresh, it is with the hope of mastering unit planning this summer. After a really awesome PD where we discussed differentiation strategies and how to approach life with a growh mindset, I am so ready to be the kind of teacher that I loved learning from.

The kinds of teachers I loved were so enthralled with their subjects that they had no opportunity to be boring. They loved exploring and expanding and encouraging us to look at something new from a variety of vantage points. My best teachers gave us the tools to step outside of ourselves whether or not we were in school. My best teachers were unafraid to be themselves in all their quirkiness--even the mean teachers knew their stuff so well, we couldn't help but respect them. I even learned about the change of life firsthand from my openly menopausal social studies teacher

I was not that kind of teacher my first two years. I was too busy trying to stay afloat. But, I have no regrets because it was a learning experience and I am super excited about my new school. The first day we did an activity where they broke us up into two groups wrapped each group in saran wrap and made us race each other. I didn't know anyone yet within an hour of starting, we were butt-rubbing and smelling each others hair on the first day. Totally crazy!

Aside from the very intimant start, I loved how open, honest and playful everyone was with each other. The three speakers were all teachers at the school and as they taught us about how to do differentiation, they discussed their own trials and failures with differentiation. Then one teacher discussed the concept of mindset and how it affects your achievement of a goal. As her resource, she used the Carol Dweck book Mindset: The New Psyhology. Basically, the idea is that if you have a fixed mindset, it doesn't matter how talented you are, you will not reach your full potential, because you will always be hindered by the fear of not being good enough. Whereas with a growth mindset, you work towards your goal, no matter the roadblock or the difficulties. In moving forward in spite of the problems in your way, you will become better and better at what you do. I know plenty of people with growth mindsets and they always amaze me!

I came home this evening and read a portion of the book on Google Books, so click here to take a look.

So, today, I am taking a few steps to get myself in order. I made a three month plan for my goals and unit planning checklist to get me started.

Epiphany