"My Personal Interests" or "How I Waste More Time Than I Care to Admit"

Spending time doing things I enjoy, especially during the school year, is a rare occurrence.  With the birth of my second daughter in January of this year, and running my eight-year-old daughter to swim team, dance, gymnastics, school, and playdates, I actually feel guilty spending time doing things other than doting on them, if it's not correcting papers.  I do allow myself a few guilty pleasures, however, and in the summer, I do find time to indulge a bit in things other than 8th graders and changing diapers!

One of the things I have just recently discovered is digital scrapbooking.  When I had my first daughter, Sadie, eight years ago, I spent hundreds of dollars on paper, embellishments, and developing... and didn't ever finish her first baby book.  My friend and coworker, Emily, invited me to a digital scrapbooking tutorial at her home one evening, and I was hooked.  That weekend, Emily launched her own site, and I do check it frequently, to see her photo shoots, as well as get inspiration for my own digital layouts.  I also use her "links" page to view other digital scrapbooking sites and to purchase materials or classes.  Since using Photoshop was completely new to me, I have also viewed her tutorials several times to remind myself about certain concepts in using PSE.  With that as my springboard, I have also taken some online classes at Jessica Sprague's website to help grow my love of digital scrapbooking.  Of course, I need pictures to digitally lay out, so I have my best friend, Kelley Reiter, a teacher and photographer, to take gorgeous pictures of my family and my girls to do that work for me!    

I also enjoy going to movies and watching TV.  In fact, I think my parents were surprised when I told them I was going into teaching rather than moving to Hollywood to pursue my dream of becoming a famous actress.  A site that I can waste hours on is IMDB.  I love that I can see an actor who may look vaguely familiar to me on an episode of whatever it is I'm watching, and at my fingertips, I can find out who he or she is and how I recognize him or her.  It's addictive!

Lastly, I enjoy cooking for my family, and this blog, Six Sisters' Stuff, is one of my favorite places to find easy, delicious recipes.  The crockpot recipes here are some of my favorites, and there are also great ideas for parties and crafts that I've used.  I actually found this blog on Pinterest, and have followed it religiously since then.  

Of course, I check my Facebook page multiple times a day, too!  

My Life... A Portfolio

The biggest and most rewarding project my 8th grade students complete is their "My Life" writing portfolios. This is a project I created myself based on an assignment my husband completed when he was in junior high.  Fifteen years after 9th grade, he still has his writing assignments and loves to look back at it.  I know my kids will, too, and receive so many compliments and letters/emails of thanks from parents and students who have proudly completed the project.

The project has definitely evolved over the last six years, as I've collaborated with my teaching partner, taken advice from parents and students, and tweaked the assignments and procedures a bit.  There are 30 assignments total in the portfolio, and the students begin working on them almost immediately as they enter my classroom.  Each writing assignment fulfills a state standard in writing, or fits in with the 8th grade curriculum.  Some are poems, some are diaries, some are letters, some are essays, some are speeches, and some are pictures or artifacts from their time at Hidden Oaks Middle School.  The assignments all revolve around each student's life in middle school, his or her memories of the past, and hopes, dreams, and plans for the future.  Most students "beautify" their portfolios by adding some decorative elements, and some actually use scrapbooks to display their work! 

    
The project is divided up into 6 "checkpoints" throughout the year, at which point each student must have five assignments completed to be on track for the final "turn-in date."  This year, the My Life portfolios were due May 2nd, and the students were lined up at my door waiting to drop them off.  Then the anticipation begins as they wait for me to assess them!  

Olivia used duct tape to make her portfolio stand out!

Someone in this picture stayed up very late putting the finishing touches on his portfolio!

Pierce and Marshall were waiting at the door to turn in their portfolios.
 Can you feel their excitement?

  
















I then spend the month of May and a few weeks in June reading 165 portfolios (give or take a few) in order to hand them back on the last day of school.  It is hard work, for both the students and me, but it is well worth the hours we both spend outside of school working on it, as it is something they will enjoy for years.

  

How's It Been Goin'?

So far, I've enjoyed putting this blog together.  This assignment of adding gadgets took me a while.  I literally didn't know such a thing existed, so I spent a long time browsing through the myriad of options.  I actually don't necessarily like the way some of them look, and I think I'll probably remove a few eventually.  I like a more clean and precise look, and I would rather not confuse my students with too much "stuff."  The widget I'm really excited to use, however, is the "poll" at the bottom of the page.  I can see myself changing the questions frequently... and using a variety of questions from content-based to silly stuff!  I also added the "about this blog" widget, which I like as a little background information to the blog.

After I added the gadgets, I went back and changed my template and fonts again.  I swear, I can spend hours (I actually did) changing the fonts and trying out new ones!  I do it on my PowerPoints when I'm creating lessons, and now I'm doing it here, too!  (My daughter even got in on helping me choose the fonts tonight!)

I do like the way it looks, now, and I'm anxious to try it out with my students next year!

So Many Ways To Show You're Smart...

I always end the year with my favorite short story, Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes.  Because this fictional story deals with increasing the intelligence of an adult, Charly Gordon, who has a mental disability, I do a lot of "front-loading" with my students about their ideas and perceptions of intelligence.  We learn about IQ, standardized testing, personality testing, and what they think "normal" exactly is.  Because Charly is given several tests before, during, and after his operation, I give my students some of the tests that Charly is administered just for fun, and to get them involved in the story.

I found a fake Rorschach test ("Raw-shock"as Charly calls it), and give it to the students in one period.  There are 11 ink blots of various shapes and sizes and when I project them on the screen, the students all silently write about what they see in the blots.  After I administer the test, they love to talk with one another about what they've seen and then we talk about how a professional might interpret the test results, as well as talking about how Charly struggles with the test and only sees spilled ink.

The last test I give the students is a multiple intelligence test, based on Howard Gardner's theory that we are all smart, just in different ways!  This test is very interesting to the students, and after they have completed the inventory, they create a chart of their intelligences to find out where their intelligences lie.  Around the room, I tape up signs with the 9 intelligences the test identifies (interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist, bodily/kinesthetic, musical, verbal linguistic, spatial, logical/mathematical, existential) and allow the students to go and stand under the sign which identifies their highest intelligence,  They love to see who has the same affinities, and they all tell each other, "You're smart!" as they check out where others are around the room.  And the unit can't end without the YouTube sensation "The Multiple Intelligence Song" to remind the students of the intelligences before the final test.  It's so cheesy, my 8th graders actually love it, and are all singing the chorus by the end.  Everyone is smart, yes you are!  Enjoy!

My First Blog Entry

My name is Megan McDermott.  I've been teaching secondary English for 14 years.  My first six years of teaching took place in rural districts in outstate Minnesota.  I began teaching high school, and quickly learned that middle school was the place I wanted to be.  It was a great place to learn about my craft and get my feet wet.  For the last eight years, I've been teaching 8th grade at a middle school in the Prior Lake-Savage School district, which is a Southern suburb of the Twin Cities Metro Area.  I absolutely love my job, and have had many opportunities to learn and grow as a teacher.  

I've actually used blogging in the past for personal use- to chronicle my daughter's life for friends and family who were far away.  When Facebook became popular and life became busier, my blog use tapered off... actually, it stopped in 2008.  But I am interested in starting to write again, as Facebook certainly doesn't afford me the same space or format in which to write about, well, life! 

I'm very interested in integrating technology into my classes.  Our Minnesota State Standards were updated last year to include many media standards, including teaching students to comment in an online format, and to create a safe and effective online community.  I think blogging is a good start.  As for using it in my class, I'd like to post pictures of things going on in my classroom, like "students of the month", perhaps a homework calendar, and maybe even eventually lessons or extensions of lessons I've taught, including links or Web quests.  I'm excited to see what blogging can offer, and it seems like Blogger has changed since I last checked in several years ago, so it will be nice to have some guidance!

Megan McDermott