Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Track Santa with NORAD and google Earth

Hello all,

I hope that you are doing other things tonight, but just in case you hadn't heard, it is possible to track Santa tonight. NORAD satellites are following him and using google Earth to map out his last seen location. For techie geeks like me this is just too cool not to share.

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.html

You can click on his current location and see video of all kinds of locations he has already visited.

My kids just saw him visit Monaco and hustled it off to bed. I'm off to read "The Night Before Christmas " and "The Christmas Orange."

My very best to you all, and may the season bring you joy and laughter!

Kathy Napier

Monday, December 1, 2008

Ouf! Some day!

Anyone will tell you that it is harder to teach in December, but it is only the first and it is hard to keep the students on-task. This afternoon was not our best.

There is a disjunct right now between what the students need to learn and their perceptions of how they are doing. I am having a hard time convincing some students to take ownership of their learning, and to see that there is progress that has to be made. Many seem to believe they are already fine, and there is no reason to improve their work. In some cases, they are actually arguing with me about the content, insisting that they already understand concepts they are simply fouling up.

In all this, the student who wants to learn has a hard time being heard.

Report cards go home this week, and I will be meeting with many of you Thursday night. I hope that you will have had a chance to read thorugh the comments and discuss them with your child. I know that some of the comments will be unexpected.

It would be easier to stick my head in the sand and overlook what is hard to address, but it would do the students an injustice. I have a professional responsibility to call them as I see them, as unpleasant as that is right now. And although it will be unpleasant to hear, the students have to meet me half-way.

So, the question to ask your child - are they putting in their best, or just putting in their time?

See you soon,
Kathy Napier