Steph's+Journal

=April 17th= A lot of information has come out this week regarding our budget and what programs and or teachers are going to be affected. It is so sad to see the fear and stress that comes from the possibility of job loss. In talking to friends and family from around the state, it is interesting to see how districts are choosing to cut differently. The variety always surprises me, when we are all striving to achieve what is best for kids. I am posting this question on my FB group to get some more specifics on what different districts are doing. =April 12th= Today we were sent a survey from the district office regarding our feelings about our school culture and climate. As I was reading the questions I started to reflect upon the anonymity in such activities and how this affects how people may respond. I have thought about this a lot when thinking about the internet and online activities. Anonymity provides a certain level of confidence to be truly honest, but is this always a good thing? It seems somewhat counterproductive to wait until such an occasion to try and deal with problems or conflict that might have easily been dealt with when they happened. Not many people feel comfortable approaching conflict in a productive manner, so this usually doesn't happen. I feel frustrated then when people "unleash" on such surveys and potentially create a different picture then might actually exist. This also makes me think about e-mails and text messages and how often "tone" can be read differently then what was intended. Something to ponder.... =April 7th= I have been asked to change grade levels next year, from kindergarten to first. I am sure some would giggle at the thought of the anxiety I have over the move seeing as how it is only one grade level and should not be that big of a deal. In my five years of teaching, all of them have been in kindergarten. Being a "kindergarten teacher" has become so much a part of my identity. Again, I feel very fortunate to have the teaching community, both her at my school, and within my other circles to talk about things like this. =April 4th= We had an interesting conversation in the staff lunch room today regarding who you should and shouldn't "friend" on facebook. Many teachers have had several parents, and even some students, request to be their friend which makes them feel very uncomfortable. It started a discussion regarding level of privacy and weather or not is should be ok that you might have things on your facebook profile that you wouldn't feel comfortable sharing with people in other realms of your life, particularly in your profession. Should it also matter more for teachers who are so influential over children? These are very interesting questions that I think I will present to my facebook club about. =March 30th= It is always a good sign that you look forward to going back to your job after a break! Not only was I excited to get back to my kiddos, but my colleagues as well. I feel very fortunate to be part of such a great teaching community. Watching all of the teachers come back together was so fun because everyone had so many fun stories they wanted to share. =March 21st= Still no such luck on leaving my phone behind...although I did have 2 hours at the pool without it today! I posed a question to my facebook group about what it is they are needing a break from the most. As educators, or members of any profession approaching a break, it seems to be all you can focus on. I can't even count how many times I heard "I can't wait for spring break" during the last few days before I left. I was curious if there was a specific aspect of teaching that others felt they wanted a break from. There was a lot of variety in the responses. For one it was testing, for some it was the constant neediness of the job, for others it was the long exhausting days. =March 19th= I am in Hawaii for spring break and it is amazing how much I can't seem to take a real "break" from it all. I told myself that I was going to try and at least give myself a few days where I was going to completely disconnect myself, but I haven't managed to do it yet. I will keep trying. Even if it is just for 24 hours. I tried the first day I arrive here. I decided I was going to go to the beach and leave my phone behind. My phone is usually attached to me in someway or another. It holds everything that is near and dear to me. Contact with all the important people in my life, e-mail, work (I took two personal days to come to Hawaii early, so work was still going on without me) I got as far as the elevator and decided I'm just not ready for that yet. What if someone needed me and couldn't get a hold of me? No one did need me and I felt silly for feeling so panicked not having my phone....but couldn't leave it the next day either. I will keep trying! :) =March 14th= I wanted to start tracking how often I use facebook and in what capacity. I tracked for one week, although it is so second nature that it wouldn't surprise me if I looked and didn't make note of it. I checked my facebook an average of 10 times a day. During that week, I "posted" 3 times. The majority of the time I just browse. I have an app on my iphone that takes me right to it which makes it very easy to check in. I don't know if it is mostly driven by boredom or curiosity, but since tracking it I know that I am much more thoughtful and reflective about my use. =**March 1st** = My facebook group is almost up and running. The feedback I received was it would be a hard time of year for anything "extra" due to report cards ad conferences, so I have spent most of my time figuring out how to guide discussion in an organized way. I am also getting familiar with the "group" option of facebook. I want it to be user friendly, and for that purpose I want to figure out how to have some guiding questions, or sections. Stay tuned! =February 14th= This weekend I had a bunch of friends over for a sushi party. I brought up my idea for my research project and everyone got really excited. The idea of using facebook (which we all shamelessly admit we are addicted to) as a resource for our jobs was a very exciting concept for many of my friends. The funny thing is that we get together all the time and can't seem to talk about anything but teaching, but this will allow us to pull in teacher friends from near and far. My sister's best friend teaches a spanish immersion kindergarten class in Michigan. We had so much fun catching up and sharing stories over Christmas, now I can't wait to do it on a more regular basis. She is probably one of the only people I know that can truly understand what I go through on a daily basis :) = = =__February 2nd__ = Days like today make me wish more teachers were able to experience life inside a five year olds brain! Its Groundhogs Day, and trying to explain what might happen if the groundhog sees his shadow or not is pretty entertaining. They tend to take life for what it is, so the idea that this groundhog can see or not see his shadow...thus deciding weather or not we will continue with winter was very exciting information. You would think I was explaining about Santa! A much different day then my last post!  It was also my turn to host BUNCO at my house. My group is entirely made up of teachers from around the district, and is something I look forward to every month. It is amazing what a powerful and amazing experience it can be to come together with a group of friends and talk about anything and everything. While the idea of it scares many a husband, we sure have a great time! :) =__January 31__ = Some days I wonder where all my adorable, well behaved, little five year olds are....and who are these identical looking impostors running amuck? :) It was cold today for the first time in a couple weeks, maybe it was a reaction to that, but today was just a cooky day in my classroom. I told my students as they were leaving they needed to find the kindergarten version of themselves that they left sleeping in bed and make sure they show up at school tomorrow! :) =__**January 29**__= I am very excited to finally feel like I am able to manage my way around this wiki (which is still my favorite new word) I have spent the last two days at a conference on teacher evaluation, and it was amazing how in just two short days I felt so sad to be away from the classroom. It is always a nice feeling to re-evaluate your focus on what you are doing. Another piece of exciting news, I felt warmth from the sun for the first time in months. We had the most beautiful week here in central Oregon. The skiers haven't been too happy about the lack of new snow, but I have enjoyed the short escape from the cold.