How long does it take until you have a full year of lessons? Gosh.

So, I didn't go to school today. Russ let me stay home, which was nice of him. I have been chipping away at my TWS. In theory, a digital TWS sounds good, even a digital portfolio, but I think they they are boring either way they're presented.

Friday was an interesting day. Thursday was slow going in period 5. The students were not excited about what we were doing. I got a little frustrated. So, yesterday, I wasn't sure what to do in class. The kids in every other class I had were bored and unmotivated and even a little cranky. I decided to have a talk day. Every student sat at the table with me. I gave them each a postit, where they wrote down at least one thing they wanted to talk about. And we talked. Overall, it was really nice. I've had problems in class with students talking over other students and several students just don't say anything at all. I did it the day after the safety survey, to really drive home the point that I care about them and I'm interested in their lives. In general, they were very respectful of others. Every student talked. One student talked about a show him and his friend have in a few weeks. He got a lot of support and encouragement for that. Another student talked about how her landlord is being a real ass and her family is looking for a new apartment. It was really good, I think.

Being able to have a conversation (respectfully) with more than one person is a huge skill for these kids. I think. I want to be able to incorporate discussion more in class. Next time will probably be more focused though.

I am headed towards an open-ended book unit. I have a high-interest young adult book in audio version. I'm sure the students are going to love it, and I've read a lot of research that says reading for fun is an important part of school and leads to lifelong readers.

I am taking over Monday meeting next week. I am probably going to throw up. Haha. I get really nervous when I'm doing any sort of public speaking. I sound like a fool. So..............I need to figure something out this weekend for it. Bribery of some sort.

Megan (my girlfriend) is helping me finish my TWS this weekend. I'm excited for it, I just keep putting it off.

I keep trying to put Franklin into some frame as far as public education, but I can't. I'm still not sure if the school's purpose is to educate at risk students or to rehabilitate them to a mainstream community. Some of these kids are violent. They hurt themselves, they hurt others. Who cares about class? Who cares about persuasive essays?

My units are very unorganized still. I have a hard time thinking big picture when I'm planning lessons. Everyone keeps saying "you don't have to reinvent the wheel". That's funny. The units I find online would never fly in class.