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**ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2016**
Bank products, bonds, stocks, retirement fund, investment funds, annuities, commodity futures etc... There are many types of investment options out there when looking to make a buck. So many, that most people hire someone to tell them how they should invest their money. Why is this so important? When I searched "investment" in google this result came up: "In an economic sense, an investment is the purchase of goods that are not consumed today but are used in the future to create wealth. In finance, an investment is a monetary asset purchased with the idea that the asset will provide income in the future or will be sold at a higher price for a profit." I think this clearly answers the question of why we pay other people to tell us how to spend our money. The goal of an investment is "that the asset will provide income in the future or will be sold at a higher price for a profit." When making an investment there is always a risk for a loss. You are probably familiar with the saying, "The greater the risk, the greater the reward." In the same way, the greater the risk, the greater the potential for loss. As educators we are always making investments. The question I want to pose is, what kind of investment are you making? This is my 7th year teaching and my first year (since my first year teaching) that I am not coaching any sport. I thought that I would have so much more free time, but it hasn't seemed to work out that way. First I was very frustrated by this. Then, I started to think about why this is the case. Here is what I found.
What I didn't mention is that I am still tired. I still feel discouraged at times. I still have moments when I fly by the seat of my pants and fail miserably. When my focus is on the negative, I start to question the investment I'm making. Is it really worth it? Am I investing wisely? Is the risk too big? Yes. Maybe. No. Yes, the investment is really worth it. I may be investing wisely. It is something I can continue to evaluate. No, the risk is not too big. We make investments in student lives. The potential return on investment is ALWAYS worth the potential loss.
I haven't often been able to see my return on investment. This summer though, I received an email that I will treasure forever. This email is from a student who was in my class my first year of teaching. He was a difficult student in class. He often showed up late, walked out of class and was off task too many times to count. I invested many hours in this student. I even created a behavior tracking sheet just for him. At the end of the year not much had changed. He emailed me this summer and I received it when I returned to work in August. I replied immediately and received this response: "I am so happy you answered, for some reason I thought you weren't going to. You still have a behavior system with me on it? Lord I don't know if that's good or bad, we both know I was a horrible student. I see you actually enjoy your career, I want to thank you for not giving up on kids like me. It is because of teachers like you that some people decide to change the course they're on. I know it was the reason why I did, and I thank you for that. I went to Sharpstown high school for all 4 years and graduated top 15% of my class with a 3.65 GPA. Became commander for my JROTC unit for 2 years and brought home three 3rd place trophies and a 1st place for my district. After high school I enlisted in the U.S. Army." You see, the investment is always worth it. In an educational sense, an investment is giving up something you value for the sake of another's success. An investment is made with the hope that the person you are investing in does not leave your class in just the same way they entered. I challenge you to consider what kind of investments you are making at work. I also would like to encourage you to continue to make those investments. You may be the only person that believes in "that" student. Keep believing. Keep investing.
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**POST ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN OCTOBER 2016**
It is finally feeling a little more like fall in Texas. Our first grading period ended Friday and Thanksgiving isn't too far away. While looking to the holiday's is always fun, it's important that we as educators stay in the moment while we have students in our classrooms. This of course, is not always easy. We are overwhelmed with meetings and deadlines and parent conferences all while trying to meet the various needs of our students. It's not for the faint of heart. But you my friend, are not the faint of heart. You are an educator. You make a difference. You have a direct impact on the future. You are a superhero. Believe that today. I wanted to provide some tools I use in order to have productive tutorial sessions. I have never particularly loved tutorials. It's more work for me and takes away from time that I could be planning or preparing for the next day or week. Despite my feelings, I have always offered tutorials. When I was also coaching tutorials were especially difficult. I couldn't have them very often and when I did have them they were very short. This year, I have found some ways to take some of the stress off me and put more responsibility on the student. First of all, I use google forms as a way to keep track of who is coming to tutorials. It is a simple sign in sheet that includes their name, class period and the reason they are in tutorials. I then have record of who has come tutorials and how often they have come. This is very helpful when I am contacting parents. The last question is an important piece because it helps the student identify why they are there. "Ms. Ray told me to come" is not an option they have so even if that is why they are there they must reflect on why I "invited" them to come. Secondly, I try to create an environment that provides for more freedom than the regular classroom setting. I usually have music playing and students are allowed to listen to their own music. As my data says, 40% of the students that have come to my tutorials this year have come to either correct or make-up a test that they failed. When they come I am able to provide them with a copy of the test with all of MY work shown. This is an easy way for me to clone myself. With my work already shown, the questions they have become more specific and take less time to answer. This allows me to give special attention to all students and not just one particular student who did very poorly. Once the students correct the test, they then come another time to take the make-up test. Just behind making up a test are the students that are there for basic practice (36%). For this I often use Khan Academy. I sometimes have the students do the problems from the videos and other times I provide the students with some practice problems and allow them to use the videos as a resource. I have also used Kahoot for students who are motivated by competition. Though they are competing, they are also often helping each other in the process. This frees me up to help someone else. I am very lucky to have 12 iPad's in my classroom at all times. It is because of these iPads that I am able to use all of the tools I have mentioned here. I would encourage you, if you are lacking resources (and the students don't have their own devices), to try to find a grant or use Donor's Choose to obtain these resources. Think about your students with me for a moment. Imagine, you have a student sitting in your classroom with no pencil. They have now been in class for 15 minutes and have yet to ask for a pencil. You notice this and ask them if they need a pencil. They say yes. You then go find a pencil for them to use all the while getting onto them about not asking sooner. They now have what they need to be successful but missed the first 15 minutes of class. (speaking from experience here) Moral of the story, don't miss out. Ask. If someone tells you no, go ask someone else. Don't sit there without a pencil. 2022 UPDATE: I now work in a school where each student has a Macbook and almost all of them have a phone. I still use google forms for my students to sign in so that I can keep track of who is coming in. This also helps when having conversations with parents. I do not do make up tests at my current school so most students are coming in to get help with practice or to prepare for a test. I love to use the whiteboards and I also love to have the students explain the problem to me or to someone else in the room. This helps me see where they are getting confused or what they are missing. We also have been known to make a TikTok in tutorials or take some ridiculous .5 selfies. Gotta keep 'em smiling!!! |
Regan RayI have a lot of thoughts so I decided to put them all here. Archives
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