Justin Tarte's Blog – October 2010 Archive (10)

The "real" stakeholders...students have voices too...

I experienced two very important things recently:

1) - If you ask, you shall receive...

Last week I asked 5 students to answer 5 questions related to

education. The questions have nothing to do with my class content, nor

will the students receive anything for completing the 5 questions. I

simply asked 5 of my students to give me their opinion and feedback on

certain education related issues. The… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on October 29, 2010 at 8:12pm — No Comments

Why Twitter should be a part of your PLN...

If somebody asked me about the last 6 months of my life, I would respond

by saying something like this; the past 6 months have been extremely

challenging, but yet at the same time I can say with little hesitation

that I have grown more as an educator in the last 6 months than in any

other time period in my life.

The world in which we live is changing faster than anyone could ever

imagine, and because of this the educational system must evolve and… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on October 29, 2010 at 8:10pm — No Comments

What island are you on?

I just finished reading The Learning Leader, by Douglas R. Reeves, as a part of my doctoral studies. I found the book to be

extremely well written, as well as extremely valuable for anyone looking

to gain a more in-depth understanding of school improvement.

As districts and schools look to both district and building leaders, it

is difficult not to notice the "Islands of Excellence," as well as the

islands of… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on October 22, 2010 at 3:43pm — No Comments

A small sign of success...celebrate the little victories

I entered the 2010/2011 school year with two goals:

Goal 1 - Try as many new and innovative ideas in my German classes as possible...

Goal 2 - As a Professional Development Representative at my high school, I want to share as many resources and ideas with other…

Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on October 19, 2010 at 6:50pm — No Comments

REBEL - Education Reform Blog - revisit...The factory model does not work for schools...

Tom Whitby has encouraged all education bloggers to write a positive blog on how we should reform the

educational setting. I have decided to revisit a previous post of

mine...

If you have ever walked into a factory that produces a finished good from raw materials, it is frankly an amazing process. Dating back to

the early 1900's, Henry Ford revolutionized…

Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on October 17, 2010 at 2:00pm — No Comments

Sometimes we all just need a little time...

This past week at school has been particularly busy, and unfortunately this means not getting to spend a lot of time with my two favorite

girls. Coming home from meetings, training sessions, and classes late

at night are all the perfect ingredients for an exhausted and mentally

drained educator. We all have experienced work weeks like this...work

weeks that never seem to end and never seem to give you a moments… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on October 17, 2010 at 1:58pm — No Comments

Criticism hurts...but how you deal with it is all that matters!

The path to growth and development can be ugly at times. Educators are part of a world that is continually changing and evolving, and as such

we are forced to take a leap, and at times take a leap when we are not

ready. Going through all my undergraduate classes at Mizzou we were

always told how rewarding and fantastic the field of education is, and

from where I sit right now I could not agree more. So...the big

question… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on October 10, 2010 at 8:05pm — No Comments

Flip Cam, blog, cell phone and projector all in one day - OMG!

In my German 3 class we recently finished a story we have been reading for the last three weeks. We have done several different types of

activities to facilitate the understanding of this story, and each

different activity has proven to have both its advantages, and

disadvantages. The unique thing about the activities I have done is

that each activity is something brand new that I have never tried

before. As any educator… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on October 10, 2010 at 7:57am — No Comments

5 things we can learn from our four-legged friends...

My wife and I have been married for a little under three years, and about a year ago we decided that we wanted

to grow our family. As we discussed the most typical way of growing a

family (a baby), we came to the conclusion that we should start small

before taking the big leap. Last summer we purchased an 8 pound, runt

of the litter, slightly discolored, adorable, and loving yellow lab

puppy.…

Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on October 4, 2010 at 3:18pm — No Comments

The power of "hello" and "goodbye"

Every Friday morning I have the opportunity to see and greet almost every single student at my high school. The high school at which I work

has a little more than 1,800 students, and as I stand their doing my

duty I can't help but think how amazing it is that this process goes as

smoothly as it does. It is my personal goal to say "good morning" to

every student I have, have had, and potentially expect to have. The

typical… Continue

Added by Justin Tarte on October 1, 2010 at 3:27pm — No Comments