Teaching
I love teaching. At least, I love teaching theater. I love the kids and I completely get off on sharing some amazing new skill or idea about theater with them. I'm engaged. I care so much. I'm exhausted.
I love our school. It is the most unique, exciting school I've heard of. It's a free charter school that focuses on innovation. We do backwards design from a PBL model. The kids are presented with a problem that they can engage in and work through their skills by solving the problem. This way they are invested and take ownership of their learning. Homework is not busy work, but an extension of skills. We are on block scheduling and this gives us huge chunks of time to teach and explore and reflect.
Davis and Samuel respond well to this school. Samuel loves it because there is very, very little teach from the front of the classroom. He is on his feet, or working in small groups or creating almost all the time. He also loves the technology as he struggles with the physical act of writing and typing has been a godsend. The school runs a grade ahead and still Sam is flourishing this year. Davis loves it because he is encouraged to follow his own ideas. Recently he studied (on his own) angular momentum and moved on to perpetual momentum. He designed and created a machine on the 3D printer and even though he found that his concept didn't work, he found it out himself and proved and it that was encouraged by his teachers. Davis is carrying all honors classes and is still struggling with the work load, but he is learning so much.
I am learning too. I get up in the morning and drop the kids off at school by 7:30. Then I drive home and quickly do 30 minutes of weight lifting and then take the dog out for 30 minutes of cardio. Then I shower, do some household chores and get on the computer to pay bills and or make appointments, but mostly to work on my daily lesson plans. I head off to school by 10:30AM and teach from 11-4. Then I grab the kids from after care, drive home, clean lunch kits and supervise homework, drive kids to lessons, prep dinner, eat dinner, and finally sit down to answer all the emails and work on my shows.
I'm directing and producing two different shows right now. I initiated and cultivated two local community partnerships for our school. Littleton Town Hall Arts Center and Vintage Youth are both now STEM's partners. With those community partners, we are putting on MTI's Into the Woods Jr. I ran audition workshops and then had casting last week after school. This week I held our first read through. The cast is immensely talented and I am so excited about the show. I'm producing and the music director of the show. It will be performed at the end of February.
When I was hired for this job, it was to create a brand new theater program as there has never been one at the school before. This means that I am writing ALL the curriculum as well. I teach both high school and middle school, so I am creating two different curriculum. I wrote them both this summer, but after teaching them for a month, I decided to re-write the high school one.
I've decided to create an immersive theater experience for the whole school. I'll have my high school kids create and write it and perform in it and I've recruited various teachers to help. I have HS history doing dramaturgy, video production filming scenes, HS business helping us with marketing, HS music department writing music and performing. I'm trying to get other teachers involved too. We are setting our show at a World's Fair and hoping that other classes might use that theme to show off developments their student's have created. It's a big project and I'm scared, but I'm also so excited about it.
So is the administration and I'm getting lots of support which is really nice. But. I'm writing new curriculum based on this project for my HS and trying it out and refining it every day. It's exhausting and exciting and uses almost every bit of free time I have. If I can get through this year though and write all this as lesson plans and refine it, I will have created something I can use again.
I'm also applying for alternative licensure through Colorado so I will have my teacher's license. I qualify, but I have a lot of legal hoops to jump through, plus I have to participate in induction through my school and meet with my innovation coach and my mentor regularly. It's a lot.
So that's what is going on with me. I feel like I'm behind on real life and that I'm missing all those small gestures of friendship and thoughtfulness I used to pride myself in. I'm missing birthdays and not sending cards and not preparing home made bread and thoughtfully prepared meals. I'm not writing long missives to friends or even calling on the phone. I'm sorry. I can only say that I think I will have time for all of that again. Next year. Or next semester even. Or during fall break?
In the meantime, our school is doing a fundraiser and if you feel inclined, though I know everyone is already donating for Harvey and Irma and all the other important needs around us, please donate to help support this amazing school that I am lucky enough to be a part of.
Colorado Gives
I love our school. It is the most unique, exciting school I've heard of. It's a free charter school that focuses on innovation. We do backwards design from a PBL model. The kids are presented with a problem that they can engage in and work through their skills by solving the problem. This way they are invested and take ownership of their learning. Homework is not busy work, but an extension of skills. We are on block scheduling and this gives us huge chunks of time to teach and explore and reflect.
Davis and Samuel respond well to this school. Samuel loves it because there is very, very little teach from the front of the classroom. He is on his feet, or working in small groups or creating almost all the time. He also loves the technology as he struggles with the physical act of writing and typing has been a godsend. The school runs a grade ahead and still Sam is flourishing this year. Davis loves it because he is encouraged to follow his own ideas. Recently he studied (on his own) angular momentum and moved on to perpetual momentum. He designed and created a machine on the 3D printer and even though he found that his concept didn't work, he found it out himself and proved and it that was encouraged by his teachers. Davis is carrying all honors classes and is still struggling with the work load, but he is learning so much.
I am learning too. I get up in the morning and drop the kids off at school by 7:30. Then I drive home and quickly do 30 minutes of weight lifting and then take the dog out for 30 minutes of cardio. Then I shower, do some household chores and get on the computer to pay bills and or make appointments, but mostly to work on my daily lesson plans. I head off to school by 10:30AM and teach from 11-4. Then I grab the kids from after care, drive home, clean lunch kits and supervise homework, drive kids to lessons, prep dinner, eat dinner, and finally sit down to answer all the emails and work on my shows.
I'm directing and producing two different shows right now. I initiated and cultivated two local community partnerships for our school. Littleton Town Hall Arts Center and Vintage Youth are both now STEM's partners. With those community partners, we are putting on MTI's Into the Woods Jr. I ran audition workshops and then had casting last week after school. This week I held our first read through. The cast is immensely talented and I am so excited about the show. I'm producing and the music director of the show. It will be performed at the end of February.
When I was hired for this job, it was to create a brand new theater program as there has never been one at the school before. This means that I am writing ALL the curriculum as well. I teach both high school and middle school, so I am creating two different curriculum. I wrote them both this summer, but after teaching them for a month, I decided to re-write the high school one.
I've decided to create an immersive theater experience for the whole school. I'll have my high school kids create and write it and perform in it and I've recruited various teachers to help. I have HS history doing dramaturgy, video production filming scenes, HS business helping us with marketing, HS music department writing music and performing. I'm trying to get other teachers involved too. We are setting our show at a World's Fair and hoping that other classes might use that theme to show off developments their student's have created. It's a big project and I'm scared, but I'm also so excited about it.
So is the administration and I'm getting lots of support which is really nice. But. I'm writing new curriculum based on this project for my HS and trying it out and refining it every day. It's exhausting and exciting and uses almost every bit of free time I have. If I can get through this year though and write all this as lesson plans and refine it, I will have created something I can use again.
I'm also applying for alternative licensure through Colorado so I will have my teacher's license. I qualify, but I have a lot of legal hoops to jump through, plus I have to participate in induction through my school and meet with my innovation coach and my mentor regularly. It's a lot.
So that's what is going on with me. I feel like I'm behind on real life and that I'm missing all those small gestures of friendship and thoughtfulness I used to pride myself in. I'm missing birthdays and not sending cards and not preparing home made bread and thoughtfully prepared meals. I'm not writing long missives to friends or even calling on the phone. I'm sorry. I can only say that I think I will have time for all of that again. Next year. Or next semester even. Or during fall break?
In the meantime, our school is doing a fundraiser and if you feel inclined, though I know everyone is already donating for Harvey and Irma and all the other important needs around us, please donate to help support this amazing school that I am lucky enough to be a part of.
Colorado Gives
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