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May 2009 - Posts

musings from the awards assembly

A student pulls me aside when the assembly ends and asks, "I got the social studies student of the year award and I got a piece of paper. Other kids pull a ball through a hoop and they get a trophy. Why does it work like that?" There's a reason she's Read More...
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2009 05 28

John Spencer

2 Comments

What-if Wednesday: What if schools learned from extra-curricular activities?

A group of nine students gather in my classroom after school to glue various hues of purple on the remaining sunset of our Paper Border project. We discuss the current controversy surrounding a child's decision not to opt for chemotherapy and the ethical Read More...
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2009 05 27

John Spencer

5 Comments

how the students have changed me

Every year, I get a little sad when it's about to end. In the last week, it goes by so quickly and there are so many sheets to fill out that I have learned to find closure in the second to last week. So, while sitting at home grading final papers, I look Read More...
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2009 05 26

John Spencer

3 Comments

the loneliness of blogging

poor guy just can't compete with a flat screen The hardest part of having a blog is that I never know how public it really is. Sometimes I feel like one of those crazy bullhorn preachers, yelling out gigantic curses at ongoing traffic. It's been a long Read More...
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2009 05 26

John Spencer

12 Comments

Metaphor Monday: Skillet

When I began teaching, I tried my best to be Teflon. Sensitivity would mean exploding anger or tears - both of which would backfire. If I could develop a thicker skin, students would behave and I wouldn't take it personally. The problem with Teflon is Read More...
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2009 05 25

John Spencer

1 Comments

Turning 1,000!

My class now has 1,000 posts on our Social Voice blog. We'll be higher than that soon! One of my favorite new posts was a comic book about immigration . I also really enjoyed "City of Walls" which is sort of poetry / video (similar to the Fahrenheit 451 Read More...

2009 05 24

John Spencer

0 Comments

Philosophical Friday: Rules vs. Procedures

Poor Chuck Norris would have a hell of a time in this class I think I'm going to enjoy the principal at my new school. He mentioned to the staff, "We have had only two big fights and two examples of graffiti. There was a consequence, but the relationship Read More...
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2009 05 22

John Spencer

1 Comments

What-if Wednesday: Standardized Tests

It's no secret that I hate standardized tests, but over the last year and a half, I've been wondering if they have a place. What if standardized tests are not inherently evil, but actually misused. Anything is right if done in the right context. If killing Read More...
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2009 05 20

John Spencer

0 Comments

What-if Wednesday: Integrating Science and Art

I wrote today's What-if Wednesday on my other blog: http://jtspencer.blogspot.com/2009/05/false-dichotomy.html It's a subject I've thought about a lot lately. Read More...
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2009 05 20

John Spencer

0 Comments

false dichotomy

Last night I watched a PBS documentary with Mark Oliver Everett, the lead singer of the Eels as he attempts to learn about his deceased father, Hugh Everett. His dad had been a proponent of the Parallel Worlds theory within Quantum Physics. As I watched Read More...
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2009 05 20

John Spencer

5 Comments

Techno-Tuesday: A Video

For this Techno-Tuesday, I'm going to embed a video that's also on my Musings from a Not-So-Master-Teacher Blog . I take no credit for this video, but I'll post it here anyway. One of my students (a member of our Legion of Pisspoor Scholars Who Nonetheless Read More...
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2009 05 19

John Spencer

6 Comments

Miracle Gro

I work with a science teacher who lives the organic life. I'm guessing the vast majority of his home decor is created from canvas or hemp. He has a slow, calm demeanor and Celtic tatoos and he rolls his own organic tobacco. He's one of those guys who Read More...
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2009 05 18

John Spencer

0 Comments

Video Reflection of Fahrenheit 451

I take no credit for this video, but I'll post it here anyway. One of my students (a member of our Legion of Pisspoor Scholars Who Nonetheless Think Well) created this in response to our reading of Fahrenheit 451. He asked to stay after school one day Read More...
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2009 05 18

John Spencer

1 Comments

slowing down

I spent three to four hours on Saturday morning digging a hole around concrete, in hopes that it will someday transform into a home for basil and marjarom and a bunch of spices that I know nothing about right now. Joel and I turned the hard earth into Read More...
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2009 05 18

John Spencer

4 Comments

bragging rites

It's a ritual that occurs in nearly every staff lounge at this time of year. (Sorry for the pun on the title) Teachers stand around and talk about how tired they are. "I'm so tired. I got only five hours of sleep last night," a person will ante up. "Yeah, Read More...
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2009 05 16

John Spencer

1 Comments

self-induced teacher guilt

Many of the teachers I know seem really focussed on summer plans. They bust out calendars and cross out big X's in red marker. I can't blame them entirely. Teachers are tired, kids are anxious we're in the beginning of another blazingly hot summer. I Read More...
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2009 05 15

John Spencer

5 Comments

a video created by my students

I've been posting a lot of videos lately on our class website and we've had a lot more freedom to do more multimedia things. . . which leads me to a little announcement. I'll be teaching computers next year. How cool is that to have a quasi-Luddite teaching Read More...
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2009 05 14

John Spencer

2 Comments

eight of the most underappreciated instruments

It's a secret to most people that I love Norteno music (and hate my computer for failing to understand tildes). I love the accordian and the tuba. I realize they'll never make it into the rotation of gringo radio, but I'm okay with that. So, on late afternoons, Read More...
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2009 05 13

John Spencer

3 Comments

heat advisory

Power structures melt in the heat; straight-up melt, like chocolate or compact disks. After twelve, when it's over one hundred outside, it turns into Lord of the Flies. Fights break out. Kids throw water. Half the students walk around with their undershirt Read More...
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2009 05 13

John Spencer

4 Comments

an e-mail I sent to the staff today

Yep, I'm pissed. This is the e-mail I sent to the whole staff. It's the electronic, slightly professional version of slamming doors. I checked my e-mail at 7:00 this morning and saw nothing. I got here at 8:20 and found that the social studies department Read More...

2009 05 12

John Spencer

6 Comments

Week Off from Blogging

I'll be taking this week off from blogging and by the end of the week, I'll hopefully add some videos and podcasts (to my jtspencer blog) and maybe add some top icons to this bad boy. See you in a week. Read More...

2009 05 11

John Spencer

0 Comments

Survey Saturday: New Teachers

I remember being in my first year and feeling lost. I wanted to have some advice, but I quickly found that there was too much advice and not enough of it fit my own personality. People would say things like, "Wear a shirt and tie everyday." One person Read More...
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2009 05 9

John Spencer

5 Comments

if only my mom would get on board

Rock Bottom sent me an e-mail about the Mother's Day Brunch Buffet. I love my mom, but I'm skeptical that she would go with this. She still has too many layers of Baptist legalism to shed and her arthritis medication won't allow her to have alcohol. I Read More...
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2009 05 9

John Spencer

1 Comments

great expectations?

I've been told before that I have low expectations for my students. Whenever I suggest that a standardized test is culturally biased or that the wording is deliberately deceptive, someone says, "You need to have high expectations. These kids can pass Read More...
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2009 05 8

John Spencer

1 Comments

Philisophical Friday: Ending Well

I used to sprint the finish every time, until a coach pulled me aside and said, "Don't sprint it. Go your hardest, yeah, but if you're running well you won't be able to sprint. You'll just finish and you'll be done and that will be it." Often, I sprint Read More...
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2009 05 8

John Spencer

2 Comments

Thursday Thoughts: Great is Over-Rated

In a well-intentioned gesture, someone once gave me this poem called “Pretty Good,” by Charles Osgood. The main premise was that America is falling behind as a superpower, because we let “pretty good” pass instead of striving for excellence. Ironically, Read More...
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2009 05 7

John Spencer

9 Comments

What-if Wednesday:Changing Honors

For the last year, I have taught a rotation of honors. People often have a few false assumptions about honor's students; namely, that they act and think like Martin on The Simpsons. People assume the honors group is smarter, better behaved and harder Read More...
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2009 05 6

John Spencer

9 Comments

Theology: Mullet Man vs. This Old House

Mullet Man preaches in a paisley tie at Yankee Stadium. A cyclical loop of a low-tuned base works the crowd into a frenzy. Since I don't get Comedy Central, I flip to TBN sometimes, with the hope that the pink- haird lady will start crying about satellites. Read More...
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2009 05 5

John Spencer

7 Comments

the game

I don't believe in living vicariously through sports. I don't believe that when "they" do well, "we" do well. I don't drink Miller Light and the word "fantasy" does not conjure up images of baseball in my mind. Still, I can't help but feel a little excited Read More...
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2009 05 5

John Spencer

1 Comments

the problem with being relevant

"Towns turn into motels, people into nomadic surges from place to place." "The bigger the market, the less you handle controversy." "It didn't come from the government down. There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship to start with, no! Technology, Read More...
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2009 05 5

John Spencer

4 Comments

I can't believe this matters

Apparently the changing one's hairstyle can be the most disruptive element to student learning. For two days now I have had no gel in my hair. It has garnered way too much attention and I'm already beginning to feel a little self-conscious. Who knew the Read More...
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2009 05 5

John Spencer

9 Comments

Techno-Tuesday: Why I Wouldn't Ban Cell Phones

I'm surprised how few students know that they can create podcasts on their own. For example, I asked them if they wanted to do a "Social Pulse" activity, where they asked a series of questions and allowed people to offer a quick answer. When they asked Read More...
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2009 05 5

John Spencer

2 Comments

Monday Metaphor: The Wizard of Oz

Sometimes I get into a habit of offering my half-baked ideas, telling stories of my classroom an even offering advice. I get into a habit of fashioning something new, attempting a thin veil of a new online identity. I enjoy the praise. I like to feel Read More...
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2009 05 4

John Spencer

7 Comments

a tour of my classroom

I recently read a blog post where a teacher showed her orderly, creative, well-run classroom configuration on The Cornerstone Blog . So, I thought I'd steal her idea and post a video of my classroom, "Cribs" style. Read More...
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2009 05 3

John Spencer

5 Comments

Survey Saturday: What teacher made a difference in your life?

I recently read a blog where the author promises a "total teacher transformation." While I'm a big, big fan of alliteration and I usually enjoy this particular blogger's posts, I'm not sure it ever really works like that. Maybe I'm an anomaly , but my Read More...
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2009 05 2

John Spencer

1 Comments

follow-up conversation

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned the story about defining love. So the story gets crazier. The girl who brought up the point at the end asked me (I'm paraphrasing), "Do trees feel? Can they communicate? I'm serious about this. What if their language Read More...
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2009 05 1

John Spencer

1 Comments

Philisophical Friday

Today's Philisophical Friday is available on my other blog: The Trouble with Defining Love Read More...
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2009 05 1

John Spencer

0 Comments

a paradox

It's harder to see through someone who is being transparent. Read More...

2009 05 1

John Spencer

2 Comments