STEM

I love my S.T.E.M. class. I wish I could enjoy it way more often. It is invigorating, inspiring, and fun. I come back with great ideas and strategies. If every professional development was as useful as this one we would all be happy teachers. Well most of us.. you have one Eeyore in every crowd.  Today we did a couple of experiments with greenhouse gases, we had planning time, and we looked at some new technology.

I have a lot going on. I realized that I am going to have to surrender my weekends to school. To reading, to planning, to researching. Until I finish a couple of the courses I am taking and get a better handle on the curriculum this is just the way it is going to be. I will have to find some balance between that and home. I mean after all laundry has to get done at some point!  I need some down time but in order to feel more prepared and ready to take on the next challenge this is what I need to do, spend more time at work.  Most school days I arrive by 6:30 and am lucky to leave by 5 p.m. I do this because I love it and care about the kids.

On Mondays after school we have Professional Development in writing across the curriculum. On  Monday Nights once a month I have a College Course I am taking in Vocabulary. On the Weekends I work on my Political Science Class for teacher licensure. Every other Friday I take a class on Balanced Literacy.  I am also taking this STEM Class. Next week I start a Singapore Math Course.  That is six classes in case you were not able to count. Granted some of these I signed up for and have over-extended myself but some are mandated by the district. The wonderful part is I bring great strategies back to my students and I extend my own learning. The not so great part is the time commitment. My online class ends in November which is quite exciting. I can't wait, especially after the latest message from my professor:

Good morning! You have completed 60% of the class. Party on
Wayne! Party on Garth! Excellent! Can you name the movie? I have
a few announcements.

First, grades from the last Discussion will be uploaded by
tomorrow afternoon. The lack of direct references to the AM GOV
text in all parts of the response where applicable continues to
result in a deduction of 2-3 points. Typos and improper
capitalization are also impacting some of your BBD grades.

Second, materials for Chapter 9 -- Parties and Political
Campaigns: Citizens and the Electoral Process have been posted
under Learning Modules. It's one of my FAVORITE parts of
political science. Check out the 50-minute PBS clip on Karl Rove:
The Architect under Web Links. You'll see the food and beer
preferences of Republicans and Democrats. Based on credit card
and debit purchases, political campaigns are able to profile
voters and their tendencies to vote for either conservative or
liberal candidates.

Third, Exam 2 will be posted next week. I'll be posting an
announcement with Exam 2 details very soon.

Fourth, an OPTIONAL bonus assignment worth 10-points regarding
interest groups will be posted after Exam 2. Stay tuned for
additional details.

Fifth, third political parties in general don't win presidential
elections but do make a difference. In The War Room, can anyone
name the last third political party and their candidate to win a
presidential election? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Wikipedia is not a reliable source.

Are there any questions?