Dedications

I thought I would dedicate my classroom to my favorite teachers, but then I found myself thinking that no students would really care about all that stuff and time spent making a cute little thing would be wasted. So, instead I would like to take a few minutes and tell the ways that my classroom has been shaped using ideas from my favorite teachers. Of course, this isn't a full list, as I am always adding more ideas.

I started off the year telling my kids I had one rule. "Be Considerate." This rule comes from Camp E (an academic camp for g/t kids that I had the pleasure of attending and working at for 12 years) and the lady who used to be the director there. Her name was B.K. If you are involved with TAGT Education in Texas, then you might recognize the name. She was an amazing lady who did so many things to inspire us kids. Every year that I attended, I learned something new. Sometimes it was a good lesson and sometimes it was a good lesson that left me feeling a little uncomfortable with my previous actions. Now, although she is an inspiration, I'm not sure if she ever really remembered my name... but the best moment I remember having with her is the last day of the last camp she attended when she put her arm around my shoulder and called me by name and told me how glad she was that I was able to come that year. 9 months later, she passed away. I will always use this as a rule of mine because not only does it encompass everything that matters in a classroom, but it also is a mini-tribute to her in a way. She will never know how much of an impact she has had on me and hopefully on the people I try to inspire.

Another teacher that I pay homage to is Mr. Adolph. He was my 5th grade teacher and I will never forget him. He used to make us "copy the poster" when we were in trouble. The poster changed every once in a while but usually consisted of something like the Preamble. Well, I was quite the loud mouth at the time and spent many a day copying that dang poster. It got to the point where I would sometimes copy it twice and then take it home and copy the second one a few more times so I was ready when he asked me to copy it. I would just take out my previously copied sheet and hand it to him. Well, after he figured out I was doing that, I had to stop. Meanwhile, since I did copy it so much, I basically had it memorized which was great for when we had to say the memorized poster in front of the class. Mr. Adolph also had a little basketball hoop that we could shoot at depending on how many points we had received. He then gave different prizes for shots made. I use this technique in my classroom. Students receive tickets that they can turn in to shoot baskets... also helps that I am a basketball coach. They get the tickets for being a leader, cleaning their area, coming in for tutorials, good answers and just about anything else I feel like deserves a ticket. I'm not fully sure what the prizes should be yet, but I plan on making free homework passes and maybe extra point tokens or something.

In college I had a graduate student for one of my favorite classes. The class was called Sociology of Death and Dying and it was amazing. We talked about death in ways that I'm pretty sure would make most people cringe in their skin, but it was fun. Weird to say, but it was. We used current events to explain and examine occurances. We also talked a lot about religion, which at the time wasn't that important to me, but probably set the groundwork for what was to come in the future. We had speakers such as morticians, cow farmers, and kill-shelter workers come in and explain what it is like to encounter death in everyday life. We also had a penpal who was fighting in Iraq and would send us the most grotesque pictures of bodies on the side of the road with letters that explained how it was to be impacted by death daily. Wjhat I am trying to say is that this man was amazing. He knew how to take a topic and not only apply it to your life but force you to think long and hard about why you believe what you do. In my class, I have a "Science in the Spotlight" bulletin board. I have made it an extra credit grade if you bring in a current event that is related to science and a 5-6 sentence paragraph about it. None of my kids did it this week.... I was very dissapointed. But, not to worry, I can find enough current events to fill the board myself if I have to... and believe me we will discuss allllll of them. Earlier this week we talked about how scientists are trying to invent a Harry Potter-type invisibility cloak and all the realities that force it to be different than it is in the book. I will continue to encourage students to bring these and perhaps I will give them time in class one day to find one.

Not for a teacher, but another thing I have done to include someone in my classroom is to have dinosaur bathroom passes. They are literally little rubber dinosaurs from the dollar store that hang on a piece of twine from hooks next to the door. This is for my boyfriend, Matt. He loves dinosaurs and we have an inside joke related to the TV show LOST about them. I have a t-rex and a triceratops who I have conveniently named Rex and Cera. If you are a boy, you carry Rex, and if you are a girl, Cera. The kids really get a kick out of it.

I also have animals in my class and I'm not sure who they can be attributed to. I know that a science teacher at my mom's old school had a zoo of them. It also can go back to Mr. Adolph because he loved to have that hands on learning. There was also another lady at Camp E that had 3 doctorate degrees and taught animal husbandry... so from her I always had ideas of having animals. Right now I just have hermit crabs and a rabbit. Perhaps I will get more, we will see. They add a great deal of fun to my class. The bunny is active and we are coming up with a name for him right now. My hermit crabs actually chirp or something so the kids who sit next to them always try to swear they hear them and I just tell them they are silly and that hermit crabs don't talk... its a fun little game we play.

I know I am leaving people out. For one, my mom, but who can really pinpoint all the things that can be dedicated to her. At the very least this is my dedication because she so desperately :P wanted me to write about this new experience, but in all honesty, I'm sure there are numerous things that I do and say that pay tribute to her all the time. When they said the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, they must have had us in mind.

Well, that's all for now. Its Friday and time to leave!

-coach b