(If you read this there may be a video bonus at the end.)
A lot things on my mind about summer school so far:
- We don't have enough students, but that isn't the end of the world. We have one student in Mississippi Studies which is definitely better than none. One student is not ideal, but I turned out okay, right? ....Right?
- I am enjoying the schedule of a second-year. I haven’t taken advantage of using TWO planning periods, but it has given me time to observe other teachers and give feedback.
- Molly has turned me into a feedback crazy person. I know I can’t write nearly as much as she did on my evals, but I’ve come close a couple of times.
- I am impressed by the first years so far. Everyone I have seen so far has great potential. A big shout-out to my first years, John and Ashton, who have weathered the first week in great style. Also, props to Trevor for a very nice lesson today.
- I am pretty happy with my three lessons. The first two I had never taught before, but that will change this fall. My first formal eval went well. I feel like I have improved which is a good thing. Still a long ways to go though…
- I can’t wait for volleyball today.
And now for your reward:
This may help to explain why Sealand and I say strange things when we are messing with any golf clubs. The following clip is from Caddyshack. If you haven't seen it, then stop lesson planning and go rent it.
*Required
I’m going to keep this blog topic short and sweet—and not because it is due in less than an hour, but just because I expect only Molly, Ben, and maybe some interns to read it.
Things I want to work on this summer:
1. I would like to get better at sets. These really disappeared at times with the occasional exception (e.g., discussion over drug turf wars).
2. Less talking, more work for students. Now that I have taught my subjects twice and know my lessons pretty well, I need to make them more succinct. I noticed that second semester I became more to-the-point. I hope that trend continues.
3. Consistency. I think I will be working on this for a looooooong time.
Something I do well:
1. Other than party like it’s 1999? I’d like to think that I can break things down for students. This doesn’t happen all the time and I was actually not sure if I was doing a good job of this until I had students review my class. Generally, they thought I broke topics down so they could get it (even though everyone agrees “Mr. Lasseter you TOO MUCH”).
*Required
You can find my school district project HERE.
I can't say that this project is perfect. I can't say it is very original. I can't say that there is anything that is mindblowingly creative. Sorry.
My school district was modeled off of what I know and what I have seen in North Panola. I tried to address problems that I see here in Mississippi and to incorporate things that worked when I was in school. What I really thought long and hard about was improving community relations and getting information about the school district to parents in the county. By being active in the community, support will grow. My old high school had incredible community support it seemed which was boosted immensely by high school football. If that's why people care, then I don't have a problem with it. At least they are involved.
Also, I really had a hard time trying to find a way to spend that much money. I kept raising teacher salaries to use up my funds. I understand that, most likely, my school district would still have crazy problems. To those people I say, "Do better then."
