The 2011-12 school year is off to a great start.
I'm happy to report that my nearly 150 students have started the year well, and their teacher is fired up and ready to go. Likewise, I've started yet another chapter as a coach, having resigned from 8th Grade Football I am joining Coach Mike Sheil and the Indianola Boys Golf Team. We have played five meets and the challenges are numerous, but upside can be seen. It's been fun to work with the team and I've been thoroughly impressed with their willingness to listen and their knowledge of the game's etiquette. Now it's just a matter of honing their on course skills.
With that, I must also add, that the Jorth Family is gearing up for it's first educational experience - Lilly is heading to Preschool Tuesday. Amanda is currently attending open house at Seeds of Faith Preschool at Faith Lutheran Church in Clive. As I'm sure you can image, Lil is "pumped." She's got all she needs to be successful - from her embroidered backpack, to pile of school supplies, to first day of school "dress." Hard to believe that our little lady is headed off to school already, they don't lie when they say "they grow up fast."
So to all of you in cyber-space, happy "back to school!" Good luck with yet another school year and may this one be the best one yet!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
New Scene, New Challenges, Renewed Passion
Nearly a month ago I started my newest chapter as an educator, High School Social Science Teacher at Indianola High School. The change of scenery has been a good one for me, but one that has had its own set of stressors. Entering a 4A school (largest classification in the state of Iowa - Indy has approximately 1000 9-12 graders) was a change for me, having worked in two smaller districts (Van Meter & Baxter), and one that was intimidating. But, as I've quickly surmised Kids are Kids and the students at Indianola have done nothing but reaffirm my belief that young people thirst to learn.
In addition to adapting to the students at Indianola, perhaps the bigger challenge has been adapting to the bureaucracy of a larger district. Don't get me wrong, I have come to appreciate the processes and protocols that IHS has in place, but I can already see road blocks to the change process. I found this quite evident at the District Leadership Team meeting I attended on Tuesday in which there were nearly 25 administrators and teachers present; a far cry from the same such meetings at VM and Baxter. Yet I take comfort in the depth of discussions held at the DLT meeting, and I am excited about the number of quality colleagues who are members of this team. I now appreciate Dr. Bill Wright's (Drake University) quote: "The strength of any organization is in its people, and the strength of any team is in the diversity of its members." I look forward to working with this team as we endeavor to "lead" Indianola Community Schools towards the "Unlimited Possibilities" available to students, teachers, and community members apart of our learning community.
Yet, more than anything else, I've felt that pep in my step again - indeed, a renewed passion for teaching and learning. Maybe it's the challenge of teaching that one section of AP Psych, or the opportunity to get to know new students and teachers, but one thing is for sure, 5:00 AM isn't as hard to face as it once was.
Please share your thoughts about the beginning of your school year and the challenges and renewed passions that you have noticed as the year has kicked-off.
In addition to adapting to the students at Indianola, perhaps the bigger challenge has been adapting to the bureaucracy of a larger district. Don't get me wrong, I have come to appreciate the processes and protocols that IHS has in place, but I can already see road blocks to the change process. I found this quite evident at the District Leadership Team meeting I attended on Tuesday in which there were nearly 25 administrators and teachers present; a far cry from the same such meetings at VM and Baxter. Yet I take comfort in the depth of discussions held at the DLT meeting, and I am excited about the number of quality colleagues who are members of this team. I now appreciate Dr. Bill Wright's (Drake University) quote: "The strength of any organization is in its people, and the strength of any team is in the diversity of its members." I look forward to working with this team as we endeavor to "lead" Indianola Community Schools towards the "Unlimited Possibilities" available to students, teachers, and community members apart of our learning community.
Yet, more than anything else, I've felt that pep in my step again - indeed, a renewed passion for teaching and learning. Maybe it's the challenge of teaching that one section of AP Psych, or the opportunity to get to know new students and teachers, but one thing is for sure, 5:00 AM isn't as hard to face as it once was.
Please share your thoughts about the beginning of your school year and the challenges and renewed passions that you have noticed as the year has kicked-off.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Education: A Flattener?
Currently, my 9th grade Geography students are reading Thomas L. Friedman's The World is Flat, and their first assignment in conjunction with reading the first chapter is to blog about whether they believe "Education is a Flattener." For the past month they have been introduced to terms such as outsourcing, insourcing, offshoring, and uploading; but now they have been tasked to connect these terms to their education and determine (for themselves) whether or not their education is preparing them for their life outside of school. I'm very intrigued to learn more about their opinions and get them to think deeper about their school experience.
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