A High Day

I'm getting high. NO, I don't do any type of drugs or stuff like that. I even hate taking over the counter medicine for headaches or a runny nose. Sometimes, my students and colleagues wonder if I do drink caffeinated drinks because I can be so hyperactive at times. (BTW, I can't, because they give me BAD headaches)

Let me explain. I and my students had a great day. (Not as great as @zbpipe's class, but great to us.) We first discussed some questions that led into the President's speech to students on 9-8-09. We didn't have a whole lot of ideas because they hadn't heard of it. Many don't watch the news, listen to the radio, or surf the Internet, like I do. So, many were lost as to what to expect what the President had to say. (I had a running script of the speech in my head because I read it the day before.) It was very hard not to give away any content to them.

The speech went as expected. (You can find it here.) The streaming was hit and miss. The video was not great. It was very jumpy and distracting. The audio was perfect after a minute into the introduction. Students were engaged for the most part. I watched several write notes as he was speaking! (Be still my fluttering heart) Others were making faces that told me they had no idea of what he was talking about. But that was okay, we would debrief after he was done.

After the speech, the fireworks began. We had a question: "What is he asking you to do?" Those of you familiar with SMART Notebook, we FILLED a whole page with notes of what THEY thought he was asking them to do. IT WAS AWE INSPIRING! I was in hog heaven, on cloud nine, and whatever other cliques there are that simply say, "I was really enjoying the discussion."

Afterwards, we wrapped up by writing a personal individual goal. These goals will be displayed outside our room and looked at periodically to help us keep our focus on this year.

I have really enjoyed connecting with other classrooms and giving my students a look into other worlds that they have never seen before. I will be planning to collaborate with all 6 classrooms that have requested us to share with them. I just need to figure out how and what we will be doing to work with them. Since I haven't done this before, I know I can rely on my PLN to help me through it.

One more time!
If you'd like to collaborate, present, and/or share with us, drop me a comment and I'll be glad to set up times and dates to network with you this school year.

What are you waiting for?