Well, another spring break has come in gone. I cannot complain; I actually had a great time, spending time with wife, daughter, family and friends. The most was made of the time off, and now it is time to prepare for the many tasks that still stand between us and the long summer vacations. The year has been very eventful thus far. TCEA 2014 at Austin was a great experience. I was happy to attend and honored to have been chosen as a Classroom Teacher of the Year Finalists. The best part of the conference (aside from the neat Moby cap I received from Brain Pop) was the amount of ideas I gathered to implement in my classroom. There are so many new things I want to try, and so many things I want to modify. One of the things I would really love to implement is more independent writing projects for my students. We focus on independent reading, but what about writing? With the STAAR test upon us, I think it is important to remember that we are not just preparing students for a test, but also helping them prepare to become better writers all their lives. My approach to learning is one that exposes students to view material through the eyes of a practitioner. Thus, when studying history, we try to approach it as a historian would, asking the same types of questions and gathering the same type of data. This can also be implemented in writing. I want to establish a weekly (or monthly at first) newsletter that includes stories gathered and written BY students. They will be following the writing method, but doing so in a way that is more meaningful to them, and frankly.. more fun! We can even turn the newsletter into a newscast that can be broadcast via our website. Teachers can be encouraged to then show it to other students in our class. I realize that the year is quickly coming to an end, and the days after spring break flash by. But, I think this is indeed a project that is worth pursuing...
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AuthorPedro Delgado Archives
February 2015
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