Winter Break. Christmas time. Just past Hanukah. Kwanzaa.
Yes, we have arrived. It is only a matter of hours now: 5 to be precise.
A small, and I do mean small, sheaf of papers is in my bag to travel home with me to Kentucky.
A little work over a long break usually helps smooth over any of the anxiety which invariably hangs just before the return. In this case the return means Thursday, January 2nd.
Meanwhile, a couple anecdotes from this week...
Wilis may not hate me anymore. This week my U.S. History classes began working in responsibility team formations. Wilis was paired as a team leader with Mahmudul, one of our most ambitious students (among many).
It was fascinating to watch the two of them truly working as a team, for 20-25 minutes at a time. With an atlas and review books before them, they discussed constitutional matters. At the end of class on Monday, Wilis came up to me:
"Mister, this (the team system) was much better. Everyone was working."
On Wednesday, Wilis shared his work time stories with the class after he and I conferenced.
Brayan, an evangelical Christian not shy about his proselytizing, wrote on a white board in class two days ago: "Go to hell."
I have no idea who that was directed toward but I told Brayan that is a horrible thing to say to someone. He seemed surprised. His English skills are still lacking but he has been known to tell his science teacher fairly recently, "Miss, Jesus doesn't like you."
But he then pulled out a Bible tract from his backpack and there was a graphic depiction of a soul caught between heaven and hell. A statement to the effect of don't go to hell was written.
Perhaps a "don't" was simply omitted from Brayan's white board message.
That would seem to soften the blow.
__________________________________________________________________
"Happy holidays," from HSLI!
Friday, December 20, 2013
Saturday, December 7, 2013
We should be like the whales
It is sad, this recent story in the news regarding a pod of pilot whales in Florida. Some inadvertently beached themselves, dying as humans we're trying to steer them back out to sea. But it seems that they did not want to leave their companions who were not able to move.
"Rescuers had difficulty on Wednesday trying to persuade the surviving whales to leave their dead podmates and head out to sea. In most cases, highly cohesive species such as pilot whales refuse to leave their kind, no matter the risk to themselves."
Lori Marino, a professor of neuroscience and behavioral biology at Emory University states: "They seem to feel for each other. Their whole sense of self is distributed across the group. They take social bonding to a new level. They don't abandon each other."
We need to learn to be more like these whales...
"Rescuers had difficulty on Wednesday trying to persuade the surviving whales to leave their dead podmates and head out to sea. In most cases, highly cohesive species such as pilot whales refuse to leave their kind, no matter the risk to themselves."
Lori Marino, a professor of neuroscience and behavioral biology at Emory University states: "They seem to feel for each other. Their whole sense of self is distributed across the group. They take social bonding to a new level. They don't abandon each other."
We need to learn to be more like these whales...
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Student Anecdotes
A few things overheard or seen in the past few days...
1. Enroute to school yesterday morning, I passed two elementary school students. I overheard one telling the other in a very serious manner: "Even if I was dying, I'd still have to go to school."
2. Yesterday was my colleague Mr. Berk's birthday. He did not want people to know this. Everyone found out. He walked through my class to grab a folder and a student immediately began singing "happy birthday." I stopped her as we were all in our Unison Reading groups. I wanted all students to remain on task within their groups.
I told her: "Let's stay in Unison," meaning in the groups.
Instead, she then led the entire class in singing "happy birthday--" in complete and perfect unison.
3. An endearing thing: I checked my mailbox for work turned in this past Friday. We were out of the required checklists that day, which students staple to work that is handed in. Two Bengali girls, Naz. and Sum., had taken it upon themselves to create very nicely handwritten checklists in lieu of the printed ones. They modeled it after the ones we usually have available.
I told them later that I appreciated the extra effort.
1. Enroute to school yesterday morning, I passed two elementary school students. I overheard one telling the other in a very serious manner: "Even if I was dying, I'd still have to go to school."
2. Yesterday was my colleague Mr. Berk's birthday. He did not want people to know this. Everyone found out. He walked through my class to grab a folder and a student immediately began singing "happy birthday." I stopped her as we were all in our Unison Reading groups. I wanted all students to remain on task within their groups.
I told her: "Let's stay in Unison," meaning in the groups.
Instead, she then led the entire class in singing "happy birthday--" in complete and perfect unison.
3. An endearing thing: I checked my mailbox for work turned in this past Friday. We were out of the required checklists that day, which students staple to work that is handed in. Two Bengali girls, Naz. and Sum., had taken it upon themselves to create very nicely handwritten checklists in lieu of the printed ones. They modeled it after the ones we usually have available.
I told them later that I appreciated the extra effort.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Just a few recent highlights
The High School of Language & Innovation has been up to a lot lately. Here are just a few highlights:
~A couple weeks ago, 51 juniors spent the school day at Columbia University's Lerner Hall at a college and jobs expo. Students learned about important things such as resume writing, interview skills, workplace attire, and questions to consider when choosing the right college or university.
~Students attended an in-school information session with folks from the Fire Department of New York (FDNY).
~About thirty students attended an after school information session with John Jay College.
Many more exciting opportunities are being planned for the coming weeks. Stay tuned for more!
~A couple weeks ago, 51 juniors spent the school day at Columbia University's Lerner Hall at a college and jobs expo. Students learned about important things such as resume writing, interview skills, workplace attire, and questions to consider when choosing the right college or university.
~Students attended an in-school information session with folks from the Fire Department of New York (FDNY).
~About thirty students attended an after school information session with John Jay College.
Many more exciting opportunities are being planned for the coming weeks. Stay tuned for more!
Monday, November 18, 2013
For the over 900 who perished...
In remembrance of the over 900 people, among them many children, who perished on this day--November 18, 1978--in the massacre in Jonestown, Guyana.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/jonestown/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/jonestown/
Friday, November 1, 2013
Teamwork is Paramount
Just before our staff team comes together for this Friday afternoon Common Planning, I have a bit of breathing room to send this dispatch. The key word on my mind now is one that is paramount to our school culture: Teamwork.
This is a cliche word in many places. Here it is lived to its fullest extent each day. It is an expectation for all of us here, students, teachers, and staff alike.
Unison Reading is well documented on our HSLI school website (languagehs.schoolwires.net). Another new team activity we began recently in social studies is Topic Teams. Students cooperate and learn interdependently as they complete curriculum-related tasks in historical studies.
Our staff personifies our message of teamwork by attending Common Planning meetings together daily--as an entire teaching staff. Additional school support staff join us occasionally in larger meetings. This has helped us build a strong foundation in which we all strive to remain on the same page. It is remarkable how much we achieve when we work together. For example, we have been having Barn Raising activities lately.
With a nod to our Amish brethern, we join together to raise the barn of classroom spaces. Rather than working individually, we join together in teams to ensure that each classroom is fully stocked and loaded with pre-determined supplies, "ladder of consequences" posters, work habits rubrics, etc.
This is a cliche word in many places. Here it is lived to its fullest extent each day. It is an expectation for all of us here, students, teachers, and staff alike.
Unison Reading is well documented on our HSLI school website (languagehs.schoolwires.net). Another new team activity we began recently in social studies is Topic Teams. Students cooperate and learn interdependently as they complete curriculum-related tasks in historical studies.
Our staff personifies our message of teamwork by attending Common Planning meetings together daily--as an entire teaching staff. Additional school support staff join us occasionally in larger meetings. This has helped us build a strong foundation in which we all strive to remain on the same page. It is remarkable how much we achieve when we work together. For example, we have been having Barn Raising activities lately.
With a nod to our Amish brethern, we join together to raise the barn of classroom spaces. Rather than working individually, we join together in teams to ensure that each classroom is fully stocked and loaded with pre-determined supplies, "ladder of consequences" posters, work habits rubrics, etc.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Meeting with an Executive at General Motors
Wednesday afternoon, October 23rd. 54th St. & 6th Avenue.
Six young men--all juniors with high grade point averages--traveled with me, their U.S. History & Government teacher, to the twentieth floor of one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in Manhattan. Our destination: a private, one-on-one meeting with Mr. Jim Davlin, Vice President of Finance & Treasurer for the General Motors Company.
Mr. Davlin is a Wabash College alumnus, as I am. We found a connection to him via Mr. Steve Klein, Dean of Admissions at Wabash College. Mr. Klein has visited with two groups of students in the past at my previous school. We decided the quarters at General Motors' New York City nerve center were a step up from meeting in our school building.
The young men involved were enthralled by the confluence of unique events they found themselves within: first time in Midtown for most of these young men, new to the United States; first time meeting directly with a corporate executive and the dean of admissions of a college; first time in a major corporate office building. I hope the young men from HSLI were most captivated by thoughts of Wabash College. But it is possible that their favorite memory may be of the elaborately concocted pastries and counter of sodas that was at their disposal.
Sitting with Mr. Davlin for about forty minutes, students asked an array of questions regarding scholarships, financial aid options, sports, and activities. Students were then able to speak directly with the dean of admissions for another forty-five minutes. The young men were offered an opportunity to visit Wabash in the fall of senior year with all expenses paid if they are in the top ten percent of their class.
Most if not all of the students involved expressed interest in visiting Wabash at a later date.
On our way out into the marbled corridor, Cadillac commercials played on a flat screen tv mounted on the wall. A blazing blue GM sign behind the receptionist served as a backdrop for a group photo.
Reentering the mad rush at the end of a Manhattan workday, we headed past the Plaza Hotel along the southern rim of Central Park and back to the train station on Lexington Avenue. It was another quintessentially unique afternoon in New York City.
Six young men--all juniors with high grade point averages--traveled with me, their U.S. History & Government teacher, to the twentieth floor of one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in Manhattan. Our destination: a private, one-on-one meeting with Mr. Jim Davlin, Vice President of Finance & Treasurer for the General Motors Company.
Mr. Davlin is a Wabash College alumnus, as I am. We found a connection to him via Mr. Steve Klein, Dean of Admissions at Wabash College. Mr. Klein has visited with two groups of students in the past at my previous school. We decided the quarters at General Motors' New York City nerve center were a step up from meeting in our school building.
The young men involved were enthralled by the confluence of unique events they found themselves within: first time in Midtown for most of these young men, new to the United States; first time meeting directly with a corporate executive and the dean of admissions of a college; first time in a major corporate office building. I hope the young men from HSLI were most captivated by thoughts of Wabash College. But it is possible that their favorite memory may be of the elaborately concocted pastries and counter of sodas that was at their disposal.
Sitting with Mr. Davlin for about forty minutes, students asked an array of questions regarding scholarships, financial aid options, sports, and activities. Students were then able to speak directly with the dean of admissions for another forty-five minutes. The young men were offered an opportunity to visit Wabash in the fall of senior year with all expenses paid if they are in the top ten percent of their class.
Most if not all of the students involved expressed interest in visiting Wabash at a later date.
On our way out into the marbled corridor, Cadillac commercials played on a flat screen tv mounted on the wall. A blazing blue GM sign behind the receptionist served as a backdrop for a group photo.
Reentering the mad rush at the end of a Manhattan workday, we headed past the Plaza Hotel along the southern rim of Central Park and back to the train station on Lexington Avenue. It was another quintessentially unique afternoon in New York City.
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