Making room in our lives

Guy Kawasaki posted a great article about Arianna Huffington's new book, Thrive. See it here: https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140324113914-2484700-let-s-stop-the-glorification-of-busy?trk=mp-author-card

Guy points out some of the highlights of the book, and I acknowledge that these people are probably the biggest hypocrites of all time. They have worked 80 hours a day to get where they are now making hundreds of thousands of dollars so that they can now live the life they want. I know that most Americans would rather sit back and enjoy life than sit at a cubicle writing up TPS forms and answering emails. With the cost of groceries, electricity, gas, and healthcare skyrocketing, how can we do this? It doesn't seem like an easy task to me after spending the last three years near poverty. We are finally digging our way out, but not without a lot of sacrifice and a lot of challenge.

All that being said, I admit that I glorify busy. I have to get this done or I have to get that done, and I'm always on a time limit. My house needs to be cleaned, dishes need to be washed, clothes need to be laundered, and the countless hours of computer work that I do on top of it all leaves little time for actually enjoying my life. If I regret anything, that would be it.

I love my life, my daughter, my husband, my garden, and my home. We aren't perfect, and we've said many times before that we don't have a lot, but we have each other. This means more to me than anything in the world. This may mean that I have to cut some things out of my life in order to fit the big ones in. I'm okay with that. I don't want to be too tired when I get home that I can't sit down with my daughter and draw a picture or read her a story. I don't want to be too busy when I get home that I can't give my daughter a bath and put her to bed.

As the world gets busier and busier and we go along with that trend in keeping our phones anchored to our side checking everyone else's lives instead of our own, we lose sight of what is really important in our lives. This summer I have connected with new people and reconnected with old friends. I have taken my daughter to the park and to the Farmer's Market. There are still things that I want to do with her. I still want to do yoga with her out on the front lawn, swim in the pool at City Park, go to the zoo, hike a local trail, walk the dogs, go fishing in the lake, and pick raspberries in the mountains.

All this being said, I can also relate this back to teaching, too. An article that I found on LinkedIn also mentions how we must teach our kids about how to wonder and see the world in a different way. As a teacher, I have a great opportunity to be able to do this.

Annie Murphy-Paul writes, "Focus and concentration are essential, of course. But so are introspection and reflection, and Immordino-Yang and her colleagues recommend that adults help children find a balance between the two modes: by regularly unplugging our kids’ blinking, buzzing devices, and by providing time and space for a quieter, more inward kind of entertainment. By making room for wonder in our children's lives, we'll help them develop a more genuine and gratifying definition of success." Read full article here: https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140324115341-84796303-making-room-for-wonder-in-children-s-lives

This sort of contradicts what I'm teaching, which is computers; however, there are ways to stop the class and the students and have them introspect and reflect on what they have done or what they are going to do. I've even done this with my daughter when she gets frustrated with a toy. Stop, put it down, and come back to it later. We all need to step away from time to time, and while this may not provide a deep, wondrous experience every time, we often are able to come back to our work with a new sense of experience and perspective. Throughout my career in learning software development, web development, and social media, I have often taken a break and come back to projects with a greater depth of understanding and renewed wonder in the project.

I learned a great deal about education through my studies at Colorado State University, but I've learned even more about education through my own life. I've learned that it takes time to learn a new skill. It takes time to connect and create valuable relationships. It takes time to create. We have to take time for ourselves so that we can bring our best selves to our students, our relationships and our lessons. In my efforts to be optimistic, I believe that this is achievable, and we can change and grow from our experiences.

One tip for today that I hope will make your life easier! I found Canva.com as an alternative to Photoshop. It costs to publish your designs, but it is easier to use and can provide professional graphics at a much lower cost. It's been out for a while, but if you've overlooked it before, you might want to go back and take another look.

19th Week: Goodbyes...

Well, this is my last week at Poudre High School. It's been so nice. I've only come in to teach my Entrepreneurship class in the afternoons. I've spent a little more time here and there trying to get caught up on my grading and making sure that Mr. Long is in the loop on the students in my class.

I had one student this week who was in danger of not graduating because she was failing my class and several others. She turned in a lot of work, and completed her final business plan and turned it in. She passed, but she is still failing some of her other classes. She's a sweet kid, but she has missed a lot of class. She was gone at least half the time. She is smart, and she does good work when she is in class. I hope that she turns things around for herself.

I have a couple of other students in my class who are failing as well. They just don't seem to care. One is sleeping in my class, and the other is playing games. This has been ongoing throughout the semester. Their attitudes have been less than stellar. I've talked with them and told them the consequences of not getting their work in to me by the end of the week, and neither of them seemed to care much. There is one more student who is failing, and the same thing is happening with her at the end of the semester as was happening throughout the semester. She is apathetic and doesn't really care about the class or about learning. Now, all this being said, I've connected with these kids in different ways throughout the semester, but now that the end of the semester is over, it seems as though they have given up. I still have one more day with them next week for finals week.

We took finals this week. Our final was at the beginning of the week with the seniors. Seniors are gone. It seems awfully quiet around here without them. I wish them the best of luck in college and beyond. Graduating high school is such a huge stepping stone, from childhood to adulthood in a matter of weeks it seems. I only hope that as a teacher, I have helped to prepare them for what awaits them in the future.

As I move into this summer and the fall, I plan on continuing this blog, but I'm going to change it a bit. I may post weekly updates, but I will mainly post "lessons learned" and "successes" and "failures" from my lessons. These are the big takeaways that I want to continue to reflect on throughout my career, and the things that I want to share with others. Education is so much about experiences. We learn from each other, and we learn from the world around us. I want to bring that into my classroom as much as possible. I look forward to Rocky Mountain High School being my home even for a little while. Saying goodbye to Poudre High School is bittersweet. I really enjoyed the people that I worked with - especially Mr. Long, but I'm also ready to move on and begin this career that I've been working for the past year.

18th Week: Whew! I made it!

It's not over yet, but I'm feeling the pressure lifted and excited to be almost finished! I have one more week at Poudre High School, and then I start teaching summer school at Front Range Community College. Then, I have Summer Institute for Poudre School District for the job at Rocky Mountain High School. Then, I get to take a break for a while and just teach summer school. I'm so excited about having my summer (life) back. I'm looking forward to spending time with my family and working out and working in the garden. I don't think I'm going to have time to do everything I want to do, but I hope to make a good dent in it all.

Focusing more on the present, though, I had really great classes this week. Everyone worked on their final business plans, and we reviewed for the Final Exam, which will happen on Monday and Tuesday of next week. The final business plans are looking good, and I'm all caught up on my grading. (Grades are turned in at FRCC, by the way.) The Jeopardy game in Entrepreneurship 5th Hour for the review went over very well. I was excited to see so many people engaged.

15th Week - Last Observations and Goodbyes

This week was a week of goodbyes. We had our last Student Teaching Seminar on Monday, so I will probably not see many of the student teachers in there again. I did discover that one of the student teachers in my group may be moving to Houston, Texas, which is also a possibility for me and my family. I also said goodbye to Mr. Maxwell, who will be missed by me and by his students. I stopped by his office several times to talk about problem students and ways of getting through to them, and we collaborated on some lesson ideas as well. He really did build relationships with his students, and because of his youth, it seems he has a bit less at stake in his experience, which provided him with a true learning experience. That brings up an interesting point, which I will delve into deeper as I continue my career in education, but does stress and pressure play a relevant role in how we learn? The obvious answer is yes, but exploration into that question will be regarded in the future.

Wednesday was the ACT test for the Juniors, so the schedule was a little different. We had the morning to take care of planning, grading, or, in my case, applications. I have put out five applications for actual job postings. It is a tedious and arduous task to put out applications. It was more difficult than my applications at NASA, but hopefully, something will come of these opportunities. I'm still teaching at Front Range Community College in the fall if a full time position doesn't present itself.

www.berea.edu

I had my last observation on Thursday in the 4th Hour Economics class from my mentor teacher and from my CSU Supervisor. I planned a Play-Doh activity for learning about the GDP in the Macroeconomics section. I was actually a little nervous, and I haven't really been too nervous in my observations until now. However, the students did terrific, and we had a lot of fun learning about the GDP and how some less-developed countries really struggle to change their situation. Using cooperative, direct, and inquiry methods, the students were able to determine how the GDP connected to the activity, and learn from their experience. This was a fantastic segue into Poverty, which I linked to the lesson.

The entrepreneurship classes are going well. The students are still working diligently to get their projects completed. We are down to the last two projects, and we will be putting our business plans together and reviewing for the final. Seniors will be leaving a week or so earlier than the rest of the grades, so final exams will be given as a class. I am going to have the rest of the class present their business plans to the class, so I need to put that lesson together to present to the students after May 16th.

While I am one of the last remaining student teachers, I also have an opportunity in my last few weeks to observe some of the other teachers in the building and how they teach. This is the part that I'm looking forward to in my last days at Poudre High School.

An Inspiring Video About WHY?

My seminar teacher showed the following video in our final seminar last night. It really hit home for me in finding purpose with what I'm doing. One of the popular interview questions is, "Why do you want to be a teacher?" So, I sat back and asked myself, "Why do I want to be a teacher?" My answer, while simple, is always the same: I want to help people to find their best self. Really, this has been my purpose for a long time now, but teaching has been the most direct method of reaching this purpose or intention. As a teacher, I have an opportunity to help students to learn about business, economics, computers, and marketing. These subjects can help students to discover a clear path for themselves and their future. Whether they go on to get jobs or careers just out of high school or if they go on to college, it is my intention to help these students find their best self through discovery and inquiry and education.

The original Lorax in Economics

In Economics this week, we showed the original Lorax movie! It's very different from the newer, more flashy Lorax movie, but still has the same messages and has the benefit of being shorter. Take a look, and maybe you could even see the connection to Economics or use it in your own lessons!

11th Week: TCAPs Testing Week

This week was a testing week for the 9th and 10th graders at Poudre High School and the last year ever that the TCAPs (Transitional Colorado Assessment Program) will be given. The TCAPs provide the state with assessment data from each school district to determine how well a school is doing based on those scores. The unfortunate part of the testing is that TCAPs don't provide the student with any incentives to do well or to even show up. The TCAPs are solely for statistics purposes; they do not go on the student's transcripts or help the student in their grades in any way. Students are asked to do well as a reflection of the school, but in this narcissistic world, there needs to be more.

commons.wikimedia.org

The TCAPs took up three days: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The tests were given in the mornings, and the schedule for the week was changed to accommodate the tests. It was the week after Spring Break, so the staff and the students were feeling a bit ragged trying to get into the swing of things. Upper class students (juniors and seniors) weren't required to be at school in the mornings because of the testing, so they often didn't make it to class at all. Many of our classes had half the students there.

For me personally, the week was long. Proctoring a test is not fun, and we had more free time than usual built into the schedule. It was great to get caught up on planning and grading. I also provided Mr. Long with an observation opportunity, so I only have one more observation to complete for both Mr. Long and Mrs. Hixon. Whew. The semester is flying by. My teacher work sample is about finished, I only have two more seminars, and two more observations. I need to be finished by May 1st with everything, so I'll start reviewing everything this week and next week and finish a week early.

It's also job hunting time. I've been looking at school districts in the area as well as school districts in Texas. As of now, there are no business teaching positions in any of the districts that I have seen. Disappointed and overwhelmed, I'm going to keep searching and stay positive that something will come up.

Because I said I would...

On Wednesday, we had a guest speaker at Poudre High School. Alex Sheen, the founder of "Because I said I would," was brought to campus by the AVID group. They raised money through grants and other fundraising to make his visit possible.

Alex Sheen is 28 years old, and he speaks around the country and raises money for people with special needs. He seems to be an ordinary guy, but he has made some amazing dreams come true. His "TedTalk" was both sad and inspiring all at the same time. His message was born from the death of his father. He wanted to remember his father for who he was and not for who he was not, and he was a person of his word who always kept his promises.

This message is so important because our society is suffering from "disposable-itis". We dispose of almost anything that doesn't suit us anymore, including friends. Outdated phones and computers are one thing, but people are not disposable. Just because someone does something that you don't like, doesn't mean that you can't be friends with them anymore. We are all different and have different needs, and we all must live together in this world. Learning to communicate and keep promises is paramount to our making it in this small world.

Social Media has played a role in this "disposable-itis", but we all have the opportunity to change that around. Even though social media gives us the opportunity to be "flaky", we don't have to give into this. As we make dates with friends or promises to family, we must keep them whether we feel like it or not. Just because you had a long day at work, doesn't excuse you from being a good friend, mother, daughter, or husband. You must follow through and be the person you said you would be.

Alex touched on much bigger issues than I am in my blog, but I really believe that it is the small things that make us who we are. It is about getting up from your comfy chair and consoling your friend going through a divorce. It is about putting off an hour of your television time to call your mother. It is also about putting down the cell phone and being present with a friend or family member who needs you.

Teaching high schoolers the importance of making a decision or a promise and sticking to it is probably one of the most valuable things that we can do. I'm not sure that one assembly and a guest speaker can do it, but Alex definitely inspired me to join his cause in my own classrooms and get my own students to make commitments to their studies and even take that out into their lives. When you tell someone you are going to do something, it is important for your character to follow through. After high school, it will be even more important to learn these lessons in order to get along in the world.

4th Week: Comfort Zone

My fourth week student teaching has been much more comfortable. I am feeling more settled, and I'm beginning to find a rhythm with my classes and my students. I still have my challenges with classroom management, but it is getting easier as I try new things and stay consistent.

I have been forced to get out of my comfort zone this week. Monday was a full day. Carol Ann, my CSU Supervisor, came to my 5th Hour Entrepreneurship class to observe my SWOT Analysis lesson, which went delightfully well. The students participated and kept their phones put away. It was a pleasurable class, and I would do it all over again. I used the same class to practice the Market Research Lesson that would be observed on Wednesday in 6th Hour, and it also went well. Students were receptive to the lesson and worked diligently on their projects. I had a few chatty students, but with high school students, I think that is to be expected. One thing that I did differently that worked really well was to ensure that the students weren't logged on to the computers during class. Because they weren't logged in to the computers, there was less distraction.

The 6th Hour Entrepreneurship class, however, has been more of a challenge. There are very strong personalities in this class, so that's the first struggle. I find myself trying to find new ways to communicate with students and find new activities that may help them to engage and learn. Many are distracted by their cell phones and by the computers, so I'm constantly trying to keep them focused and on task. This was the class that was difficult during my observation. Most were unresponsive to my lecture and didn't participate when called upon during discussion. Again, I'm looking for new strategies to reach these students so that they will learn.

Monday was also our first Colorado State University Seminar. Marc Buffington, a Poudre High School Social Studies teacher, is the leader of the seminar. There are fourteen university students in the group. We all introduced ourselves and then talked a little about Response to Intervention (RTI) from an educational perspective. This service allows teachers to report a student that is failing or may not be doing as well as he/she thinks that they should. In reporting these students, educators and counselors can intervene if necessary and put the students on a comprehensive schedule to help them reach their goals. We went through real-life scenarios in groups. Our group read about a girl who had failed the 10th grade. She was missing a lot of class and had some pressure from gangs, but she did want to finish high school. The RTI team put her on an attendance contract and had her favorite teacher mentor her through the rest of high school, and she was able to graduate with A's and B's. In this case, RTI really helped a student to accomplish her goals. While this process doesn't always work, it does give teachers and counselors insight into a students' life and how to help ease some of their frustration along the way.

Mr. Long, my mentor teacher, has been giving lessons all week based on activities that relate to the objectives for the class. One of the activities was a paper airplane making activity in Economics. There were required to create paper airplanes as a group that would fly through a hula hoop. There were three or four rounds. Another activity was a Play-Doh activity in International Business. The students were divided into four or five groups, where some of the groups were Less Developed Countries and others were in Industrialized Countries. They were given specific products to make with prices on them. There were three rounds and some of the groups were able to change into an Developing Country or even an Industrialized Country. These products were made with Play-Doh. The final activity was the Pizza Productivity lesson in Economics. There were four or five rounds; the students were divided into groups of five. Each round was a little different in the way that they made the pizzas. Each round was judged by the teachers for quality, so pizzas were thrown out for not being perfect. There were some formulas that they had to calculate in order to determine the cost of each pizza and how much profit was earned. It was fun and inspiring to see all of the students participating and excited to work on these activities.

Mental Illness Stigma in High School

I wasn't planning on having any side posts from the ones that I post at the end of each week, but this is something that has been bothering me. I met with a student this week, and he wrote in his description that one of his weaknesses was that he worries a lot. So, I asked him if he has any anxiety about certain situations, and he was very reluctant to use the word anxiety. He doesn't have anxiety; he just worries a lot.

This bothered me because while his worrying or anxiety may not necessarily be a problem, how many other students are not coming forward with mental illness because of the stigma that we have created around it? A student would rather classify him or herself as sad or worrying too much to avoid being labeled, but essentially, not allowing them to get help that they may need to learn to cope with these emotions in a positive way.

As a teacher, it is my responsibility to look after the students and to report any behavior or conduct that is of concern; however, what about the students that are just on the fringe? The students that may not seem to have any problems, but don't feel like they can talk about them because being perfect is also part of the game. As high school students, they have to be perfect in order to get in the right college, play sports, learn a foreign language, play the piano, make their parents proud, and the long list of responsibilities that they have on their plates as they get to their last year of high school.

As I continue through my semester of student teaching, I want to continue to learn about how I can help these kids. While I do have high expectations for students in my class, I do give them plenty of time in class to complete their assignments. This will be something I will continue to look out for and find resources that can help me and the students to learn to deal with their problems in a healthy way.

3rd Week: Managing It All

This was a short week at Poudre High School because of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday. With a four day week, there is a four day schedule, which is always different from the regular five day schedule, so there was some adjustment.

This was also a busy week because I also started teaching at Front Range Community College two evenings a week. So, Tuesdays and Thursdays, I get up at 5:00 am and go to the gym, then I head to Poudre High School for a full day of working with students, teaching, planning, and grading, and finally, end up at Front Range Community College teaching two classes before ending my day and heading home for bed. This week I was able to go home and see my daughter after Poudre High School and before Front Range Community College, but I imagine that as the semester goes on, I will not be able to do this. On top of everything this week, my daughter has been sick. Luckily, I have a wonderful husband who has stayed home with her. An upper respiratory infection doesn't get down a 2.5 year old for long. She was bouncing and playing when I saw her this morning.

I digress, sort of. This week has been a week of managing. I say managing because I have been learning to manage my classroom better and learning to manage my lessons better. I also say managing because my schedule (as seen above) also requires this kind of management. In the Entrepreneurship classes I am teaching, the students have finally turned in a completed project. Having graded this project, I have now been able to determine how much of the information that I am teaching them is being understood and learned.  I have been managing those submissions and meeting with students to ensure that they know what is expected of them on these projects. In my meetings with students, I review how to improve those submissions and their grade on the assignment. I find myself repeating what I say and how I say it so that all the students understand in their own way.

I continued to struggle this week with cell phones, computer usage, and general rude behavior. In the 5th hour Entrepreneurship class, I wasn't restrictive enough; however, I corrected this in the 6th hour Entrepreneurship class by making the students keep their hands off the keyboards and pay attention. I also enforced the headphones and cell phones rule that I put in place on the first day.

It has also been interesting in some of Mr. Long's other classes with respect to classroom management. International Business has been going through presentations given by the students on their Country Project, but there are students in the class that are texting and talking during other students' presentations. Mr. Long has given warnings to students, and the next step will be a seating chart.

The 3rd Hour Economics class doesn't have as much of a classroom management issue because it is such a small class; however, the 4th Hour Economics class has 26 students, and they are chatty. They are all great kids, but they enjoy speaking up and having side conversations in class even when the teacher is talking. I have sat in the back of the room to try to keep the talking to a minimum, but they finally did require a seating chart, which was implemented today. After implementing the seating chart, the students paid better attention and there was less side conversation.

I do feel that I have succeeded in the 6th Hour of Entrepreneurship in getting the students to understand the expectations and turn in completed, professional work. This has been accomplished by sitting individually with many of the students to go over their work and get them on the right track. The 5th Hour has been more of a challenge. While some of the students are responding to the lessons, there are quite a few of the students who have not turned in work and are behind on their projects. They also show a slower rate of learning than the 6th Hour class. Today, the 6th Hour class had completed their second projects, while the 5th Hour class is behind and will need time next week to finish their projects.

This week has been another opportunity for me to try new techniques and improve my communication skills with the students. I look forward to next week, when my supervisor, Carol Ann Hixon, and my mentor, Mr. Long, will observe my lessons and provide feedback for improvements. It is also my first seminar meeting with Mr. Buffington at Poudre High School. Looking ahead, it will be another busy week.

2nd Week: Better than the First

It was a full week at Poudre High School, so I was able to experience the complete five day week schedule. It was challenging trying to determine what classes I would be teaching on the appropriate days. Next week is another short week because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so the schedule changes to a four day week schedule.

This week went better than the first as I expected it would. I finished the Power Point slides in Entrepreneurship and had students work on the project for this section during class time. The project required the students to describe their business in terms of image, ownership type, and types of products and services their business will provide. Part of the assignment had the students make a logo that was placed onto business cards and letterhead. This worked out well and most of the students worked at the same pace. I had a few that completed the project early and a few that straggled behind, but overall, it turned out to be a good lesson. After completing the assignment, he students are beginning to get excited about their businesses and want to complete the assignment. Next week we will work on the Personal Development part of the business plan. I had thought about including a section on resume writing, but Mr. Long and I discussed it and decided that it would be too much additional work with all of the projects that are already required as part of this class. The following week, I will begin the lesson from my Teacher Work Sample, which is the Market Research section. I have included some of my own plans for this lesson. We will begin by talking about SWOT Analysis and then moving on to Marketing.

Mr. Long's Economics class participated in several activities over the past week including discussions, group discussions, and a special activity that he and Mr. Johner both used in order to show what utility and value meant. The special activity was a trade game where each of the students is given a brown paper bag at random and asked to sit with their bag without opening it. The instructions are given, and then the students can look inside their respective bags only. After looking in their bags, they rate their happiness level of the gift they were given on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the happiest. Now, they are able to show a neighbor and trade only with a neighbor without alerting the entire class. At this point, they also rate their happiness level of the gift they were given. Finally, they are able to trade with anyone in the class. They walk around, bargain, and trade for something they want. At the end of this trade, the happiness levels were then rated again on the board for everyone to see. From the beginning of the lesson, the students' happiness rating improved as they were able to trade for what they wanted. It was a fun activity, and the students did learn and understand the concepts of utility and value.

The Opportunity Cost discussion was also interesting. Mr. Long used time as the measurement where each student was required to rank a list of activities as to what they wanted to do most. It was important to show that by doing one activity, you are giving up doing another. The choices we make are always at some cost. The discussion about college was interesting, too. There were questions that Mr. Long had the students answer true or false and decide why they are true or false. The question about the most expensive part of college is tuition, room, and board allowed Mr. Long to show what students give up in order to receive a higher education. Once again, the opportunity cost of going to college is that you don't make money for those four years, and you will likely be in debt at the end with no guarantee of a job.

In International Business, Mr. Long was really just introducing some key concepts on what it takes to open and operate a business in a foreign country. The largest part of this week in this class was the project the students were assigned. Each student or group of students is assigned a country to research. Students were in the computer lab putting together their country's information about language, exports, imports, religion, etc... The students will give presentations at the beginning of next week that will include all this information.

Finally, there was a Promotional Night this week on Wednesday when all of the teachers were required to be at school to talk to prospective parents about Poudre High School. I attended the event, which had a good turn out of parents. Students guided prospective parents through the halls of the high school to talk to teachers and coaches about programs and activities that their students would be able to participate. The majority of the parents were interested in the International Baccalaureate program, Advanced Placement programs, and sports. We did have a few parents stop by the business department to see what kind of classes were offered and how they might help their student to get into college or narrow down their fields of interest to decide on a major in college. I was able to get a bit of PHS Schwag to wear on Spirit Days (Fridays).

Overall, the week went well. I observed how to incorporate activities into lessons effectively, I was more comfortable and confident in interacting with the students, and I got a good start on my Teacher Work Sample. I worked with Mr. Long in reviewing and planning future lessons, and I even did a little bit of housekeeping in the classroom. With the three day weekend, I plan on relaxing before I go back to school at both Poudre High School and Front Range Community College next week.

1st Week: Lessons Learned

As I document my semester of student teaching at Poudre High School in Fort Collins, Colorado, I am reminded how difficult teaching high school is compared to teaching at the adult education level. I'm convinced that planning is key. You have to fill each moment that they are in class, so I can't just let them go after I'm finished talking and they've completed all their work. There's the bell system that keeps them in my classroom for approximately 82 minutes for each period. I've run short in each meeting of my 6th hour Entrepreneurship class. While the same class, I seem to be doing better in the 5th hour Entrepreneurship class.

I've gone a little different route with the Entrepreneurship classes than my mentor teacher did. He provided some fun activities for the first couple of days of class, while I jumped into the lessons anxious to get started. The benefit of the fun lessons was to build those all-important relationships and give the students a sense of creativity and openness in the class. They enjoyed the artwork that they created and talked openly to their peers and even displayed their work on the wall proudly.

Because I thought that introducing the topic of Entrepreneurship was fun, I started in with the lessons. They worked out okay because the first lesson is really about what it takes to be an entrepreneur and putting names and faces to some successful entrepreneurs. However, let's call a dog a dog and be done with it. It was still an assignment, and while the students didn't squawk and carry on about having to do it, they did it, but I didn't get the opportunity to get to know the students better except by walking around and making them nervous by looking over their shoulders. Lesson learned.

Finally, the cell phone debate. It seems that I lost a student yesterday because I asked her to put her cell phone away during a pre-assessment test. My mentor teacher isn't convinced that it was because of me (maybe I'm being a little narcissistic here); however, as soon as the pre-assessment was over, she asked to go to her counselor and switched out of the class. Her reason was that the class would be too much work. So, with no official school policy on cell phones, and my own dismal outlook on them, how do we navigate these touchy waters with attendance waning and interest lacking? My approach for now will be with expectations and confidence. I have to stand behind my classroom policies and expect that students will put away their cell phones while I am talking and be confident moving forward.

It's been an exhausting first week, but overall, I think that it is going well. Every day is a new day when you're teaching.