First of all, let me say that I am having a hard time navigating through this new blog website. I guess change is difficult. There have been a few changes since I have visited this site. Let's see....
1. I'm the new Sponsor of Student Council
You would think that the "student council" would be inclusive to all students in the school- Wrong! Apparently, only a select group of students (class officers) are allowed to be on student council. First of all, these are already those students that are involved with any and every activity; therefore, their dedication to the council is limited. This is really the first year in a while that the student council has been active in anything. I'm trying to get the students motivated; however, I don't want to be the one giving orders. I want them to create ideas and come up with a plan. Let's just say the ending to this story is uncertain as of now.
On to another topic....
2. I have been much more productive with getting graded materials back to my students. This year has been a year of productivity. In addition to the mountains of additional work I have to do, I have surprisingly been more productive with handing back materials. I think this is due to quality of the assessments I have now. No longer is there just busy work for independent practice, but there is meaningful work that is designed to make them think. This only comes with more experience. **Disclaimer: I am not saying that everyday is like this. Overall, most of my work is graded in a timely fashion and my assessments are more valuable than they were last year.)
3. Positive Phone calls home make me happy! :)
I began making positive phone calls home yesterday and literally went through half of my students. I only go to speak with half of the half, which was essentially a quarter. :) Wrong numbers and disconnected phones was the main problem. However, that information was obtained from the office. Once word got out that I made positive calls home, students couldn't wait to give me their "real" numbers. This just goes to show that everyone likes a little praise sometimes. I know that my students are often ignored and only have teachers calling for negative purposes, but I will make an attempt to call ten parents daily. Not only does this reward the students but I get some personal satisfaction out of making students feel good about themselves.

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