Week One Accomplished!

The first full Monday through Friday of FA school year 2012-2013 has been accomplished! I cannot judge who is more exhausted - the students or the teachers, but it could be a tie. Moving from the relaxed pace and lazy days of summer into the hectic hours of the school days always brings tough adjustments for students and teachers and, I might add, families, too. Whew!

All of my classes made it through their first vocabulary quiz Thursday! Some did quite well, and some did not do so well, but I believe each will improve as the routine sinks in. Each English class will have a quiz every other Thursday(bi-weekly) over a lesson from its vocabulary workbook. Students have the vocabulary schedule in their notebooks. In addition to vocabulary, some questions could possibly relate to any grammar, usage, or mechanics that may have been part of the class activities over the last two weeks previous to the bi-weekly quiz. If your child/teen says he/she has no homework, watch them closely because their nose may begin to lengthen just as Pinnochio's did when he told an untruth. All students have a vocabulary lesson to study and/or vocabulary exercises each night. I give classes six opportunities every two weeks to work with and to use the assigned words in a variety of activities. Please encourage students to study vocabulary; the words in each lesson are an excellent opportunity for each student to prepare for the SAT and for college work.

I am excited to be back at Fullington after all these years, and I can truly appreciate your children. I know that this will be a wonderful and memorable year for each of my students. Please keep the school and staff and all students in your prayers. No sincere prayer is too small or to short. Spiritual support is vital to all faculty, staff, and students.

Ready or not, Here comes a New School Year!

Well, the beginning has come and gone. At Open House Wednesday night, I was so pleased to meet so many of you parents! Clearly, you are very interested in your children, and I fully intend to guide them in their education this year to the best of my ability. The good Lord gives different gifts to different folks, and He gave me a love of teaching and a desire to help teens. I remember how hard it was to be a teenager. Don't you?

The first day of school was a whirlwind of activity of saying hello to old friends and opportunities to make new ones. In assembly we were inspired to follow the right path and to do the things and make the decisions that will get us where we want to go. Teachers shared their rules and procedures for each class, and some gave books and assignments. Today, the second day, was much longer but provided me the opportunity to get a "feel" for the dynamics of each class. Students at FA impress me with their good manners, courtesy, descent clothing, and their constant pleasantness. What a breath of fresh air they are!  

Having come out of retirement, I must admit that by the end of seven periods, I am one tired "puppy." I had become used to doing things at my own pace instead of at the sound of bells, but I am sure that I will manage to transition back into allowing bells to dictate my every move each day.

Next week, novels will be assigned to different grade levels, so don't be surprised when you see your child with his or her "nose in a book" and taking notes on it. I have chosen novels that are classics from the past and modern novels that are pertinent to recent history and possibilities for the near future. I invite and encourage you to read along with them.

Over the next few weeks, the emphasis in all classes will be vocabulary study and composition of various types, in addition to the assigned novel. Please encourage your child to read everyday or he or she will not be able to keep up. I will give reading schedules with the novels so they can stay on pace. All graded and returned papers are supposed to be placed in a section of your childs notebook for your reference. I anticipate a very successful year for your child or children. I look forward to every day.

Thoughts on Education from the Past to Present Just to Think About

The mind is not a vessel to be filled,
but a fire to be ignited.-Plutarch

It must be remembered that the purpose of education
is not to fill the minds of students with facts...
it is to teach them to think, if that is possible,
and always to think for themselves.-Robert Hutchins

In education it isn't how much you have committed to memory
or even how much you know.
It's being able to differentiate
between what you do know and what you don't.
It's knowing where to go to find out what you need to know
and it's knowing how to use the information you get.-William Feather

The objective of education
is to prepare the young
to educate themselves throughout their lives.-Robert Maynard Hutchins

Information cannot replace education.-Earl Kiole

The kids in our classroom are infinitely more significant
than the subject matter we teach.-Meladee McCarty

Count Down

I am counting down the days before Wednesday night when I will have the opportunity to meet the parents of the students with whom I will be working side by side for the upcoming school year. I look forward to meeting them all. I must admit one of my greatest flaws is my inablility to remember names. It will surely take me some time to call each student by name; it will be nothing personal; I will remember each face, and eventually the name that belongs to it.

Thinking Out Loud

My last two weeks have been very full of trips from Reynolds to Pinehurst(FA) where I am getting my classroom ready for all my students. I feel like a wren making a nest. I have washed baseboards, scrubbed walls, boards, and desks, vacuumed, dusted, and found gum that my mother probably left behind in 1946. You see, I really like to start the year out with a clean, inviting, and comfortable room.

It is very exciting to return to the same school in which I taught back in the early 1970's. Like most of you, I have history here. My mother, Louise Edge Thompson, graduated from Pinehurst High School, so I am walking the same wooden floors and halls she walked. In fact, she was the captain of the Pinehurst High girls' basketball team her senior year.  My brother, Clint Thompson, graduated from FA in 1974; I was his junior year English teacher. Then in May of 1999, my daughter, Gracin Collins, graduated from FA. She still talks about all her wonderful friends and happy  experiences at FA.

Now some of you might be thinking I've been around so long that I need to be put out to pasture. It is true that the "old gray mare ain't(yes, ain't) what she used to be" physically; I do tire out more quickly than ever before. In fact, a few weeks ago while moving fifteen heavy boxes from one school to my car and then from my car into the chemistry lab at FA and then from the chemistry lab in the front hall to the English room in the back hall, I do believe I injured my rotator cuff - is that what it's called? Anyway, my left shoulder does not sit as high as it used to sit, and it aches like crazy. But I can certainly take a little teasing from students when I move a little slower than I once did. And I do not like to spend time in a doctor's office when I have students in my charge.

Those 15 boxes contain all I have saved from my accumulated inventory from years of teaching English. Even if I don't use any of the files, I like to know I have them if I should want to pull out an old lesson. Even though I am not young and highly energetic, I assure you parents(and students) that the quality of instruction and my heartfelt desire that each student not only succeeds but excells has and will never diminish. Fairness and consistency in all I do in the classroom are my ideals. I will always be willing to discuss any concerns you have about your child's English class and I welcome your input. You and I are partners in our desire for your child to receive the very best education he or she can possibly get. Looking forward to partnering with you and working with your child in learning.

July19 Update

I am in the infant stage of learning how to use this blog. Please be patient with my progress(~: