We have a snow day today so my reading meeting is postponed until Wednesday. That leaves me with an unexpected “bonus” day to get some work done. I am spending the day researching grants. Not that I’m a grant writer. Not by any stretch. But I did attend a 1/2 day workshop and it is on my list of duties. I have no particular expertise, just this niggling reminder that’s constantly in the back of my brain that it’s the one thing on the list of duties in my assistant superintendent position to which I’ve not attended. I guess I put off that which least appeals to me?
I wade through pages and pages of possible grants only to find out we don’t qualify because we need a poverty rate of 20% and ours is only 16.95%. Or we need to fund 50% and I know we won’t make that commitment for that specific initiative. Or the grant application is so HUGE that I realize I’ll have to chuck all the things I’m most committed to in my work, just to work on a grant that I might not win anyway. I guess this is why people make a full time job out of grant writing, they’re qualified and expert in the job. Anyway, enough complaining, I’m writing this for a brief break from the grueling grant search, no sense talking about it the entire break.
This brings me to something that is really exciting. Check out the incredible questions our 6th grade Science students are asking on their teacher, Mrs. Phillip’s, new blog.
Is the balck hole another name for the galaxy? how many stars are in the galaxy?
do you know if there is globle warming on any other planet besides earth?
some people say that if you go in the black hole its like a time portal.If scientists find a nother planet or living organisms what will we do?
hello…….i wonder if there is any other planets we dont know about????
when they say planets have rings around them what are the ring made up of?
how come we dont have rings around are planet?
Mrs.Phillips are there any living organisms out in space like aliens or parasites or even protists,fungis,monerans,human,and animals?
are stars reproducible?
How do scientists kno so much about other plants wen they never been there?and becuz its so far away they cant send anythin in space!! its weird
when there are star clusters what is the reason for that to happen?Do they cluster at a sertain time?are we going to be talking about how star clusters form?I think it would be a very interesting thing to do?GTG bye
Tell me those questions aren’t the springboard for an entire unit?! Tell me that kids aren’t as inquisitive as they once were or that they’re only interested in XBOX and television. Hogwash! These kids are stoked about learning, they’re asking questions that show some deep thinking, and they have a teacher who shows enough innovation and initiative to let them ask the questions and direct the lesson flow. Very cool stuff indeed. Much cooler than grant writing.
Kudos to Mrs. Phillips’ blog. AMAZING!
One thing I need to blog about.. well, I have been teaching 3 classes and being the scheduler, transcript guy, exam coordinator, data guy, etc, for the last 4 years. This term a teacher moved away, and the best choice was for me to pick up some of her classes for a term.
So, here I am, 3 days in, and I boast proudly that I did great work out of the classroom, important work that helped my school function, hard work that took real talent and skill, but none of it is as hard as teaching.
It’s so easy to forget. That’s a big reason why I appreciated how much your old blog appreciated teachers and teaching. And I am delighted to see this new incarnation also generous with praise.
Good luck, and I look forward to seeing what directions G-town goes in…
Jonathan