Stuffy Head

I have a stuffy head today. That is a bad sign. I'm hoping I can eat a burrito and get a good night's sleep, and I'll feel fine in the morning.

On Friday, I had another opportunity to be observed by the principal and receive feedback. I love feedback. It's helpful, and it makes me feel like I'm on the right track.

I met with my IL today, and received more feedback. Part of that feedback was complimenting my ability to take feedback. I'm okay with that. In addition, I realized how well we get along and work well together. She asked me if I got a chance to take care of something that came up in terms of rescheduling the practical, and I started explaining how I rearranged the lesson, planned time for review, and created a different homework assignment for the extra day. Before I was even done explaining, she was cracking up about how on top of things I was. Cool, I can handle that. She also assured me that I'm doing a good job, but that she definitely won't let me get complacent. I expressed my concern that I would become complacent, because last year I became complacent, and ended up miserable.

In addition to not letting me become complacent, my IL will keep me accountable for my crazy ideas. Today, I brought up the idea of having kids reading (as a class) a short journal article when we get to glaciers, and then maybe having them read and write newspaper articles relating classroom content to current events. Rather than just smiling and nodding, she wrote it down and is prepared to ask me about it in a couple of weeks. This is part of our plans to push our students, even if they exceed the rigor of the NSA.

What is the end goal of this? I want to build informed people. I want teenagers who read newspaper articles about science and question the reasoning and validity behind claims. I want teenagers who question every claim they hear on TV. I want teenagers who can approach any situation from a skeptical, scientific viewpoint. Fortunately, they're not teenagers yet, but when they are, watch out! They'll be well-informed and critical, rather than just critical (like most teenagers) (except me) (when I was a teenager, I knew everything) (no, seriously).

Now, I'll take my stuffy head home and decide whether a two mile run will help or hurt.