Stuff That Has Happened Since The Last Time I Blogged

Alright, so it's been a while since I last got on here, so here goes a recap:

-There was a teacher strike in the Wayne-Westland School District, so me and my comrades had to find something else to do for a week. We had the pleasure of being guests at Western International High School on that Tuesday. Rena and her mentor were wonderful hosts and I was very impressed with their classroom, their students, and the way the class operated. For some reason, I kind of expected it to be a zoo in there, but the class ran very smoothly and there were some very sharp kids in there.

-That Thursday, as the Wayne-Westland strike continued, I was able to track down my friend Andrea and visit her second grade classroom in Farmington. Wow, this was a heck of an experience. Much different than high school, that's for sure. It seemed to me, because the kids were so innocent and young, they didn't have that "I'm too cool for this" attitude that plagues kids at the high school level. For the most part, these little tikes were attentive and engaged the whole time. Usually when a question was posed to the class, most kids raised their hands and were almost desperate to be called on. Oh yeah, and I also got to read "Charlotte's Web" to them....WITH voices! I did notice, however, that Andrea's job is not easy at all. She's got kids in there that really struggle with reading skills, and she's also got kids that are reading at advanced levels. So how to get the slower kids caught up while still challenging the gifted ones? Quite a balancing act.

-Let's see, what else, what else? Ben Goldberg has a strong hold on our chess rivalry at this point. He currently holds the championship belt as well as the lifetime series lead (I believe it currently stands at six games to three). I have also learned that I'm much more likely to make bonehead mistakes when we play chess at the bar. Gotta steer clear of that!

-I had a chance to sit down and "shoot the bull" with two former MACers on Friday (my brother and his buddy), and it was nice to get their perspective on things. Their advice: Stay positive, don't get bogged down by the BS, focus on aspects of the program that you enjoy, and above all else: Stay Positive!

-Mr. Galvin, OUT!

Random Thoughts in Early October

-Well, here we are, October 3rd. I'm sitting in the student lounge at the SOE waiting for Ed Tech, and I feel it's time to blog again.

-I've come to notice that there is not much going on in terms of technology in my classroom. Each day there is an assignment displayed on the projector, but that's about it. The rest is textbooks, discussions and lectures. I wanted to use a map of the world yesterday as I was lecturing, but all I could find in the room was US maps that never get used!

-Once I get to run my own show in January, I want to make a point to include visuals for my students as often as possible. Maps, powerpoints, outlines, all that kind of stuff. Nobody takes notes on lectures or anything, so I feel there is quite a bit my instruction that gets lost because students have a hard time paying attention to one person for too long. Visuals, man....visuals.

-There's a good chance the teachers at Wayne/Westland go on strike next week, so this may be a good opportunity to see some other schools and such...should be fun.

-To all who made it to Alli's debate party last night--Thank you. I needed that.