Hello Education Universe-
Today the 1st quarter of the school year ended. Wow. Went quick. I took a lot of leaps so far this year and not all of them panned out. Flipping my classroom is on official hold until after my son is born and I get back to equilibrium in my room.
I have been trying to find the answer for helping my struggling students. I know that I am still very much a novice teacher. However I find myself not catching a break. Classroom management, instruction, planning, and even grading have been one challenge after another this year.
So I had to put my creativity and aspirations aside in the interest of reaching my students in a way they could understand. So I went back to basics for the units I am currently teaching.
However right now I am in my classroom fighting a battle against a faceless, formless beast known as apathy. I have so many students who are not valuing education, not putting forth effort, and who just don't see any repercussions from not being successful in school.
It scares me. I knew that my perception of school would be different than many of my students. School was my job, the pathway to my future. I was told that from a young age. Grades were not negotiable with my parents. I too many times take for granted that my students feel the same.
It doesn't matter which way I flip my classroom, which of my many pirate hooks I use, or how much I gamily my curriculum if no one cares. So I'm going to war... a war on apathy.
I have been doing research into covert resistance and clandestine resistance cells. I want to start a grassroots movement, one child at a time. Starting with one cell of students who do care, I want to work one at a time, turning each child's work ethic into a battlefield.
I want to create a new majority. Very similar to Lincoln's beliefs on slavery, I want to stop apathy from expanding where it already is. I want an educational Anaconda Plan.
I want to surround apathy and destroy it, piece by piece, child by child. But how? Like I said, I have to start somewhere. I'm going to start to meet with students who are interested, in a pseudo veil of secrecy. I want them to feel like they belong to something new and exotic, filled with adventure and intrigue. We're going to liberate the school.
God help me for this one... so many ways for it to blow up in my face. Oh well, Edison had to take a few shots at the light bulb before he got it right.
Take Care,
Mr. J.
