Instructional Design Thoughts...

So after sitting in class working, or maybe better described as fighting, for three hours with four other girls to finish our Instructional Design project, I've come to appreciate the riggors of an Instructional Designer. Tuesday working on this project was an ease, we got the plan together for our project and thought that putting it together would be a breeze...but reality bites! Day two of putting it together, we realized it is hard to work with very strong willed girls who have different ideas. We all have our own ideas, and after finally getting our ideas on the same page we started to progress. This work is much more complicated and requires more dedication than previous thought. I have a strong appreciation for anyone in this field. Coming into this project I thought it would be an assignment that I would never look at again. After almost finishing our game, it has come together and has developed into something of real substance that can be a real aid in my classroom. I really do appreciate this assignment, even with all of the estrogen in our group!

What's so bad about extracurricular activities?

I know I'm a math teacher, but I am very sad about the state of schools these days. Thinking back on this past year of teaching in Inglewood, the students at my school had no extracurricular activities available. There was no art class, there was no drama, there was no wood shop, there was no student council, and the list goes on. One of the reasons why I didn't mind, or dare say, loved, school was because of all of the other fun things that school offered. Our state needs to get their act together and bring back funds for these extracurricular activities. Who knows what geniuses are out there? Some of them might fall through the cracks because they weren't given the opportunities to enjoy school and find their good subjects. I understand the importance of math and science in curriculum, but we cannot ignore the importance of the arts and other venues for students to express themselves.