BIG ROCKS

I first heard of the BIG ROCK theme a few years back while I was reading through my daily devotional. The quote that followed after the reading was "The greatest possession you have is the 24 hours directly in front of you (...for He has appointed a time for every matter and for every work. Ecclesiastes 3:17). 

At that time, it struck me as something that made total sense. I mean, why shouldn't we look at our life's priorities and fit them into their places early, and build around them. This idea can be compared to its opposite, of becoming consumed with the small speed bumps that can take up our time fast. When it was reiterated during class,  it made me think about what "my" personal, work and life ROCKS truly are. 

As I identified them, I realized that my personality drives me to say "yes" very quickly, and to take various tasks on without truly thinking about how each task will affect my time in one shape or another. I've learned that it is difficult to re-tract a commitment after you've already committed. At times I find myself stretched out too wide and too thin. 

Another realization is that I don't really have a ROCK specifically set aside for me and my time. I guess it can come off as being selfish to want time for yourself to recoup and relax, but I'd like to give myself a break every once and a while. I need to take advantage of the time that I do get, in whatever shape or form it comes in. 

Another reading piece that has helped me to determine whether or not one of my ROCKS should be a priority is another entry from my devotional (God's Little Devotional Book, for Teachers, Honor Books 1999).

       "A speaker was once invited to address a community dinner in an effort to cheer up the people of the town as they faced difficult economic situations. As part of her presentation, she took a large piece of white paper and made a black dot in the center of it. Then she held up and asked the audience, "What do you see?"

One person quickly replied, "A black dot." Others nodded in agreement. 

"Don't you see anything besides the dot?" she asked. 

"No" came the resounding response from the audience. 

The speaker continued, "The most important thing has been overlooked! No one notices the sheet of paper!"

    She then said, "In our business, family, personal, and social lives, we are often distracted by small, dot-like failures and disappointments  There is a tendency to focus on them and to forget the wonderful things around us. The blessings, successes, and joys are far more important than the little black dots that monopolize our attention and energies. Focus on the potential and the goodness all around your problems, and you will become strong and grow."

     -From Glenn Van Ekeren (1998) Words for All Occasions, p. 60-61

By thinking in this way, I feel that I can better identify what I should truly be spending my time on. 

My Personal Reflection with my BD Unit Planning

My Personal Reflection with my BD Unit Planning:

One of the changes I have begun to feel while planning, is a much more consciousnesses effort to implement and focus my lessons around the essential questions and big ideas in my units. Before, my planning seemed to revolve only around the state and national objectives needed to be met. The objectives are part of the building process, but with BD, there are so many more avenues to link up multiple objectives. BD allows me to clearly push students to a broader understanding of how knowledge can mesh together in different areas. 

The Backwards Design planning process has allowed me the chance to broaden my scope and sequence while teaching as well. This process seems to allow the teacher or planner an opportunity to truly analyze on teaching the "whole" student through lessons that always come back to the essential understandings. To me, this can be compared to a less strategic way of planing where each lesson is interdependent and doesn't fluidly connect with past or present lessons. 

I continue to work at identifying and selecting what I feel to be "appropriate" essential questions and understandings, but I feel that with experience and exposure on this topic, I will grow in my planning. 

St. Mary's Spring Conference

This past weekend, we had the great opportunity to meet and converse with our fellow program members from around the area, at our Spring Masters Conference in Minneapolis. The weekend lent us the ability to sit in and listen to various second year learners (as we call them) discuss their action research projects and results. The amount of information presented and the vastness of topics covered were tremendous. Everything from technology in the classroom, to phonemic awareness and literacy in math, to formative assessment were discussed.
    A few presentations stood out to me personally because of my interest in the topics. The two that stood out the most were the formative assessment and the presentation on phonemic awareness strategies in a small group setting. The presenters in both of these settings, seemed polished, confident and knew their material.
          Another enjoyable part of each one of these presentations was the amount of material I felt like I took with me as I left. I enjoyed "getting" something from the meeting, and learning about what worked and what didn't work. Now, I have about 5 folders full of materials from the conference and a "prize" bag with different toys in it to represent some of the formative strategies to use in the classroom. (I can't wait to bring those to school.)

While observing at the conference, I was planning for my future presentation for next May and wrote down a few ideas that I would like to remember:

Do's

• Make a name card for each member of the meeting and jot down names, schools, grades,
• Bring with a list of the questions listed on the forum from attendees, answer questions and put them up on the board to read before hand, so that you can get to everyone, even if you don't have time.
• provide actual resources to use
• Talk about what worked and what didn't work
• Candy
• Food
• Water
• Introductions

DON'TS

• Force people into group work to answer questions
• Talk for too long about yourself
• Ask questions and then answer them before you give attendees a chance to answer
• Stay on topic

Overall, I feel very blessed to have taken part in this unique opportunity!