You guys need to see this ....

This is a video recording of a presentation called: "From Smart Toilets to Smart Schools." It was given by a world class educational technologist named Alan November. He travels all over the world teaching teachers about powerful uses of technology for their classrooms. He's been talking about us all over the world. In the video he talks about our whole class, and Ara, he mentions you by name. (How cool is that?) This particular presentation was given in Ohio on February 14th. If you didn't really believe me when I said you had a world wide audience reading and learning from your work, well, ..... watch the video.

Start watching the video at the 38 minute mark. I think it will go offline on April 14th so don't put off watching it. You'll need to have realPlayer media player installed on your computer (it's free). Just click on the link to [RealPlayer - Free]. Here's the video! You should be very proud of yourselves ... I'm proud of you. ;-)

Urgent, Important? First things first!

I can certainly relate to Sarah’s feeling that there are too many big rocks for the bucket of our life, as she mentioned in a comment. In early 2003, my bucket seemed to overflow. I felt then that I had to find a way to make it all work. Achieving my goals was too important to me and my test (which if I passed would lead to a national teacher certification; only 40% of test takers passed) was only one of many goals. I was really trying to be superwoman—just as I imagine many of you work at being superteens. I thought I was prioritizing but ooohh---a to-do list with 20 items all the time!!!

What I struck me one day when I found myself in tears because I had not met a school deadline, was that I was not always prioritizing by what would help me meet my goals. Urgent “stuff” kept happening and I was always responding to that. Does that sound familiar?

That night I sat down and broke my test review into manageable chunks (I had 2 months until the test; I divided the topics into sessions for those two months) and put them into my planner. I did that first because the goal to pass the test was so important. And I planned to turn off instant message, not answer the phone, or have the TV on during the review sessions. I had tried to plan before but was always interrupted by the phone or my students on instant message with questions about our studies and I found that I didn’t accomplish half as much then.

Then I looked at my other rocks, and categorized them: vital, important, or nice. Then I took the vital rocks and categorized them again: vital, important, or nice. So my house wasn’t very clean during the process, and we didn’t have gourmet dinners. But the laundry was done and we had quickie suppers. My student’s work was graded but I didn’t plan any big field trips or projects during that time. I set aside a time every second night to evaluate their work. As I look back now, I prioritized, and then prioritized again. I did a mental daily check of my goals and made every effort not to be dragged down by urgent if it didn’t help me achieve my goals.

Of course, I had to be flexible at times. I couldn’t always follow the plan exactly. But since I knew where I was going and I had planned for time to get there, my review was accomplished by “the day”.

I truly believe, that with good preparation and putting first things first, you'll too feel that great rush of a job well done, and a goal achieved when you learn your scores. I share these experiences, knowing that you are planning and reviewing, but wondering is there one little piece here you could use to help you on your way? Or can you point us to some tips that are really helping you manage the rocks and put first things first?

Invading your space?

Greetings AP Calculus!
I do hope that you don’t feel that I’ve invaded your space! That certainly is not my intent! But after reading your blog, I felt that we might have something in common—facing a major testing challenge. I made it through my testing successfully, thanks to hard work, mentors, and lots of encouragement-- and I hoped I could help to “pass it forward” so to speak. Thinking we all might learn from each other if we had an opportunity for conversations about dealing with challenging and stressful testing (and mine was more than stressful!), I just jumped right in without asking your permission (I had Mr. K’s of course). Let me know if you’d rather I’d not post up front. However, I’m not sure you can get me to go away completely, because it’s my sense that such a talented group as you should have a good cheerleading section on your way to May 3!

I asked you a question in my last posting and since I’ve had no takers with an answer in the comments, I’m going to answer it myself, given the time to May 3 is steadily dwindling! If you haven’t read that posting yet, do it now before you read the answer!










The answer is “Habit”.

I know from lots of experience that habits can ensure that I reach my goals or hold me back. Given that, there have always been 7 habits that if I worked at them have helped me be effective! Have you seen these 3? Do you think these habits can be of value as you look to “the test”?

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I think this short autobiography is a good introduction to habit 1.

There's A Hole In My Sidewalk: AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN FIVE SHORT CHAPTERS

by Portia Nelson
Chapter 1
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost.... I am hopeless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
Chapter 2
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in the same place.
But, it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
Chapter 3
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in.... It's a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
Chapter 4
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
Chapter 5
I walk down another street.

Habit 1: Be Proactive®
Take responsibility for your life.

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Does this cartoon say it all for Habit 2?

Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind.®
Define your mission and goals in life..

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Finally, Habit 3: Rocks, Pebbles, Sand, Water—And Calculus is which?

A time management specialist was asked to give a presentation on her specialty. She decided to do a demonstration. First she asked her assistants to bring a big bucket and put it on the table in front of the audience. Then she asked for large, grapefruit-sized rocks and filled the bucket with them.
"Is the bucket full," she asked?
"Yes!" said the crowd, but she asked for more to put in anyway. This time her assistants brought in pebbles. She poured the pebbles in the bucket and it held a surprising number in the space between the big rocks.
"Now is the bucket full?" she asked.
"Yes!" "No!" "Yes!" "No!" said various persons in the crowd. Some people were uncertain; some were getting suspicious. The time management specialist asked for more. This time the assistants brought her sand. She poured sand in the bucket and it filled the spaces between the pebbles.
"Now is the bucket full?" she asked.
"No!" they answered. By now, everyone was suspicious. So she asked for water and poured in quite a lot. Now no one could think of anything else that could fit in that bucket.
"What does this process demonstrate?" asked the time management specialist.
One member of the audience spoke up: "No matter how busy you are, you can always fit in one more thing."
"I can see how you might think that was my point, but it is not," said the specialist. "I was trying to show you that if you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all!"

Habit 3: Put First Things First®
Prioritize and do the most important things first.

Best,
Lani

Who Am I ?

I am your constant companion. I am your greatest helper, or your heaviest burden. I will push you onward, or drag you down to failure. I am at your command. Half of the task you do, you may just as well turn over to me. I will do them quickly and correctly.

I am easily managed, but you must be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done. After a few lessons I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great people; of all great failures as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures.

I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine, plus the intelligence of a person. You may run me for profit, or run me for ruin--it makes no difference to me.

Take me -- train me -- be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me, and I will destroy you!

Who Am I ?
And what can this possibly have to do with calculus?

Box Up Sunday!

This is a clever little game. You've got to get the small blue box inside the large red box. You can only push a box from the inside. The black boxes, if used cleverly, can help you get the blue box inside the red one. But sometimes they're just in the way. I made it to level 4 pretty quickly, but then it starts getting tough. How far can you go? ;-)

Have fun with this!

Seek and ye shall find ...

The Coin Hunt has officially begun as of 12:30 this afternoon. The race is on! Who will be the first to find the coin? Will the students find their coin before the teachers find theirs? Who will win the pizza party? Which charity will benefit from this year's hunt?

Check the walls of the building as you walk into school in the morning for hints to figuring out the puzzles.

Happy π Day!!
Have fun with it. ;-)

Sunday Knight

How far can you go? Play here! ;-)

The Mystery Coin Hunt!

π Day is around the corner .. it's five days away! Soon, soon, the hunt will be on!

Somewhere on the property of DMCI a coin will be hidden. Hidden so carefully and cleverly that it cannot be discovered by chance or simply by looking for it. On March 14, π Day, the coin's location will be revealed buried in a series of riddles and puzzles. Until it is discovered the coin's location will remain a mystery....

Sunday Gridlock

In this game you have to move the blocks (vertical blocks move only vertically and horizontal blocks move only horizontally) out of the way so that the blue block can slide out the "door" on the right. Although this game can sometimes get frustrating there is always a way out. Remember Sisyphus!

So far I've made it to level 6, how far can you get?

It's Coming ...

π
Watch it grow.