MCC Friday Reflections

The times are changing. The school year is more than half over.  Routines are established, schedules are memorized, and relationships are established.  Yet despite this seemingly stable environment there is a change brewing underneath the surface.  Change is good.  It is beneficial in that it fuels the desire to excel and proceed forward. The core of the classroom is the environment.  We all enter into this environment every day yet each day is different...not because the environment has changed but because those within it are changing.  My students are becoming more independent.  They are exercising their independence as they defend their answers, reason their way through a problem, and set goals for themselves.  My students are maturing in their relationships as they are seeking social acceptance among their peers; trying to find where they belong in the environment.  My students are experimenting with humor and sarcasm a...

Ella's Corner: Time for Ella...by Michael : Two hours she spent at the table. She didn't want company. She didn't want to interact. She didn't want help. She just wante...

Ella's Corner: Ella's Day...by Michael : The first hug that wrapped around each of us as we entered York High School on Feb. 19, 2012 brought with it tears. The last one as we left...

Ella's Corner: Saturday Update (by Lindsay) : Ella is continuing to improve. She's laughing and smiling and starting to get back to her old self (but she's still pretty weak). Ella's ri...

Ella's Corner: Ella Update...Friday (by Lindsay) : We've been at the hospital since Wednesday night. Ella has been having aggressive treatments to help her pneumonia and RSV symptoms, and she...

Ella's Corner: At Children's Memorial Hospital (by Lindsay) : We're here. In the hospital. With Ella. She has RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) which has led to pneumonia. It started as a simple coug...

When I was growing up my parents had some friends that had two children.  They would come over maybe 2-3 times per year.  The kids were two girls, about 3 years apart. Whenever we would start to play a game my sister, brother, and I would have to go over the rules.  For us, we knew the rules since most of the games we played were "our" games.  Of course, we would have to explain the rules to the two girls.  Each time we did so the older one would say, "Ok, let's play!".  The younger one, however, would always say, "I don't understand" in a kind of whiney voice.  The older sister would roll her eyes and sigh but before she could say anything one of us would explain the game again.  "I don't understand", the younger one would insist.  We then would show her how to play the game, trying our best to provide an example for her.  Often times the example was a bit confusing especially to someone who "didn't understand". In p...

The fourth grade began their "Type to Learn" program this week.  It's a five-week web-based typing program.  They love it. I watch them as they complete their 15 minute session every morning and it takes me back to my Junior High School days when I sat at a desk in Mrs. Lamplot's room with the old-school typewriter listening to her say, "a, a, a, space, l, l, l," and on and on she would go.  We would type everything she said and have to turn in the paper at the end of the lesson. Not these days.  These days the programs are rich with inviting graphics, delightful sounds, and exciting challenges.  The program keeps the students interested and engaged while teaching them the basics of typing.  They are practicing a skill that will serve them well in the future. Teaching is much different these days...even from when I started a mere 11 years ago.  Not only is teaching different but the way kids learn these days is different.  They are in tune with t...