Community Involvement

At the beginning of this school year, I applied for a position to mentor a student from a school in Chicago.  The program CONNECT is designed to target 7th/8th grade students who have the potential and want to learn about and attend college, but may not know about how to get there.  We traveled to Chicago and met with the students, it started with just sitting and talking about our families and what we like to do in our spare time.  Then each week we skype with students for 20 minutes and throughout that time we develop a deeper connection.  I watched others connect with their mentee and learn so much, while mine was so shy and I felt like I was not good enough, realizing she will only open up if I do.  Slowly we connected and built a great relationship. As she applied for high school, and she needed advice on what to do for her applications and she is worried about making bad choices in high school.  I told her that she has family and friends to help her make good choices, and that she is smart, and that started our bonding.  Ronnie Mackin states "The hard thing is building a place that engages the community and gets parents truly involved.  This work involves many complex systems that must work together in unison.  You have to hire talented and mission-driven staff who believe in the limitless potential of every kid".  I would completely agree with this, but would like to know how to get parents and the community involved.  What are ways to get them involved in the school and the students involved in the community?
This week we had our last visit to see the students, and we have been working up to our community involvement activity.  We talked with students, community, and teachers and decided that on our last trip we would bring Physical Education equipment for the students in the school as well as doing a few learn about bullying activities.  We got active with physical education equipment, and then spent time discussing how bullying, gang violence, etc. has effected everyone.  We completed a truth circle, labeling activity, and then created a wall mural.  The mural had quotes, sayings, and words to represent anti-bullying. What are things that you have done to discuss anti-bullying in your classroom or school? 

Kindergarten

Yesterday I helped in a Kindergarten classroom in the morning.  I will be working with one of the students throughout the the summer, and the teacher and I are working together now to get things ready for summer.  During my 3 hours in the classroom, I was able to see a few things I would love to do in my classroom.  She incorporated technology, movement activities, and discussions into her lessons keeping her students involved in lessons.  She used "feed the pig" as a behavioral tool, having student pay one of their coins when they were not following directions.  What have you used or seen used in classrooms?
Throughout the class, the students were using the interactive whiteboard, and were able to take turns doing each activity.  Personally my favorite activity was when the class completed the song "When You Subtract with a Pirate".  The students were singing along and answering the math problems.  It turned a lesson into a fun activity. What activities have you seen used to teach rather than just lecturing?
Students and teachers also provide positive support for each other, giving positive comments throughout the day.  These are called bucket fillers, and they write them on slips of paper and put them in a bucket, which the teacher then distributes to each of the students buckets at the end of the day. I personally thought that there would be days that some students would get none or very little while others got a lot, but she says that everyday everyone gets about the say amount.  Is this something you have used or would consider using in your class?
This experience has taught me a lot about setting up my future classroom and different techniques I can use in my room.  Any other tips or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Lying

Last night I attended a professional seminar about the lies in our society.  They talked about how athletes, actors, and other famous people all lie throughout life.  As the speakers were talking about the types of lies, I was curious, what makes a good lie versus a bad lie in the education world.  As a student I hear teachers consistently say "use citations" or "don't cheat" or some variation of not taking another persons work.  In my opinion this is a bad lie, and it is good to stop it, but what about the little lies that are what students want to hear or what we should say?  As a teacher, where does the lie begin and reality stop in situations where reality is not what should be told?  An example is anything in the personal life, do students need to know this, or do you bend the truth to fit what they can know?
What causes you to lie?  Dr. Julie Kardos and Dr. Naline Lai, talk about lying from the child/teen perspective and what to do about it.  I believe that they have a lot of good ideas behind what motivates lies. I believe the things that motivate children to lie also motivate adults.  The worry of letting someone down or trying to cover up a problem, is something we all do. How do you deal with lying at all ages?  Is there a way to stop it in society?  Also, where did the lies start; are they innate or learned?