First, I found that sharing my students allowed me to share their accomplishments and concerns with my colleagues and this was good. It gave us reasons to have meaningful conversations about how to help students. Second, I had the opportunity to teach 100 students instead of 25 students. This was both amazing and sobering. Every day I was reminded why I got into teaching. I wanted to make a difference in the lives of my students. Suddenly instead of making a difference in the lives of 25 students, I needed to make a difference in the lives of 100 students. It was a task I took seriously!
Some of the ways I hope I made a difference in the lives of my students was by teaching them about civic responsibility through our class election and class government. This responsibility spilled over into the care of the pets and of course the pets did their own thing to touch the lives of all of the kids.
In my role the areas I focused on were: creating a curriculum that was hands-on that met the old science standards while moving more toward the Next Generation Science Standards. I also wanted to continue expanding on our Maker’s Club and learn more about Maker’s Clubs and makerspaces in general. I was accepted to present at PETE & C which is our state’s educational technology conference and I created the following presentation: : https://www.slideshare.net/jabernethy/makers-club
Creative problem-solving. Over and over, employers tell us that the ideal characteristic they’d like to find in new hires is being a creative problem-solver. And, over and over, it seems to have been “schooled” out of fresh graduates, irrespective of their academic pedigree. For almost all schools we visit, the prevailing attitude among students is, “Just tell me what I need to know to get the right answer.” And too many faculty members unconsciously seek a specific answer. We need to teach kids to be innovative and creative problem-solvers.
· The goals that I focused on this year – The goal that I focused on this year was to create a science curriculum that instilled a love for science in the students. I wanted to create memories that made them look back on science as the most fun, coolest subject ever, and one they would want to continue to explore on their own. I hope you enjoy these pictures of some of our memories.
·
Looking
back on the school year I wish – This is a tough one, because I
really did have a great year. Probably the one place I felt I fell short was
putting in extra time with students after school and doing a community service
project and working on the soft skills employers look for in their employees. I
think this was the first year since I started teaching that I didn’t do some
kind of community service project, and I do feel bad. I will give a shout out,
however, to my homeroom class. I gave them a book called “Do Kind Things,” and
as part of our class government, they formed a kindness committee. One day one
of my students came to school with a laundry basket full of snacks and asked if
we could take them to our neighbors at the fire department. That was a really
proud moment for me and goes to show, if you hand some tasks over to the kids,
they will really surprise you!
· Planning for the 2017-2018 school year I will – have plenty of tissues on hand. I am going to try not to dwell on it, but it’s going to be hard not to say or at least think, “This is the last time…” every time we do anything next year. I am going to do my best to savor and enjoy every moment, and, of course, take lots and lots of pictures. The last few weeks of this year, the schoolyard habitat/vegetable garden was on my mind a lot. I thought back over the seventeen years I spent in that garden with hundreds and hundreds of students. In 2000, that plot of land was just a piece of grass like the rest of the schoolyard. Now sections of it are woods with path winding paths.
My biggest challenge next year will be to decide what to do with it. There are moveable raised beds for growing vegetables, thousands of fall bulbs, and thousands of perennials. What will I move? Will Hempfield be ready for any of it and if so when? Should I open the garden to the community to take some of the perennials? How will I move what needs to be moved? When will I move it?
Click this picture to learn the whole history of our schoolyard habitat
My biggest challenge next year will be to decide what to do with it. There are moveable raised beds for growing vegetables, thousands of fall bulbs, and thousands of perennials. What will I move? Will Hempfield be ready for any of it and if so when? Should I open the garden to the community to take some of the perennials? How will I move what needs to be moved? When will I move it?
Click this picture to learn the whole history of our schoolyard habitat
ADOPT A TREE PROJECT: Each student chose a tree in the
habitat to observe and research. Here are a few students with their trees
throughout the seasons. These pictures more than anything show the changes of
the habitat over the years.
·
JAN
ABERNETHY
P.S.
These pictures by no means tell the whole story of my fabulous year. Feel
free to check out my websites at:
Picture of the day: http://mightymoosepictureofday.blogspot.com/
Science Blog: http://mightymoosescience.blogspot.com/
Class Blog: http://mightymoose24.blogspot.com/
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD9H6SLOvjIRF2t5uAldKgQ
Class Website: http://jabernethy.com/
