February 16th, 2010 | Mollie Dickson

Team Pencil Pushers: Building community, purpose, and spirit

“When I say pencil, you say pushers. Pencil.”
“Pushers.”
“Pencil.”
“Pushers.”

And with 32 voices booming our chant, class begins.

You see, I began last week with an inspirational “pump-up” speech as a way to introduce the upcoming state writing assessment—a weeklong test that is often an exhausting effort with little incentive to perform to one’s potential. Yet the stakes are high, so I needed something to strike their spirit, to beckon their best, to bring this “test” to life, to awaken a purpose beyond a numerical score that’s to be filed away for the school’s statistics. That something leaped out of my mouth Monday morning, unplanned and uninhibited. I looked my students in the eyes, as I described our present circumstance in a language they could grasp: sports. (more…)

Category: teaching strategies | No Comments »
Tags: classroom tactics, student engagement, test prep

February 8th, 2010 | Mollie Dickson

Can I really do this all over again next year?

Okay, I hit it. That breaking point I keep hearing teachers talk about. The questions—What was I thinking? Am I really going to do this all over again next year? What other options do I have?—streaming on repeat through my mind. Panicked. Desperate for a way out. Because it’s just too much. Too high stress, too little support, too many grades, too long planning, too many classes, too many “shhhs”, and far too few hours to sleep each night. I thought I wouldn’t catch this bug, but here it is: just 5 months in, and I’m ready to run! (more…)

Category: teaching strategies | No Comments »
Tags: inspiration, teacher career paths, teacher frustration