Monday, August 16, 2010
Clock message and article feedback
Time is running out on summer vacation! As we prepare to start our first year as a turnaround what will be the clock message that you display in your class? It is obvious that the young man in the article used his time wisely. How can we use this article in our classes during Culture Week to inspire our students to excellence?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The clock message that I will be using in my classroom is, "No Time to Waste". I like this message because it is very short and to the point, letting students know that every minute counts.
ReplyDeleteThe article was very inspirational and uplifting. I think we can use this article in our classroom during Culture Week by immediately letting our kids know that no matter what has happened in the past or what kinds of backgrounds they come from, this is a new beginning for them and that every student will be successful in the end as long as they believe in themselves and put forth great effort. We can tell this story and have Corey Hardiman be a role model to all of our students. This article can lead into a great discussion we can have with our students by asking them what their goals are for this year and what they are going to do to help them get to where Corey is today and what it takes to be a successful leader.
When I was reading the article, Corey and his success in education inspired me. I noticed that he had a lot of internal drive to graduate and go to college and now I am wondering what can we do to start up our students' "internal drives" for success? I want to use Corey as an example in my classroom to show that no matter where you come from and what has happened, you’re education and what you do with it will be one of the most important things in your life.
ReplyDeleteMy clock message will be “I am learning all the time”. Hopefully this quote will remind students that they will always be learning- no matter what the time is.
The thing I found most amazing about this article is that Cory did not give up on his father! It would have been so easy to blame and resent his father, but instead, he chose to understand him and try to inspire him. His father must have done SOMETHING right! I think this is such an important message for us as teachers. All too often we blame parents instead of trying to understand them and listen to them.
ReplyDeleteMy quote will be "Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy." First grade is all about the social skills!!
Overcoming all the odds in life, and unleashing the desire and will for others to learn and want to do better in life is a very powerful gift, one which I think Cory has. I am always intrigued on how people are resilient against the destiny that SOCIETY has created for them. I didn't notice any quotes on the clocks in the counseling offices of the schools I visited, but if I have to create a quote it would be...
ReplyDelete"You Are One Second Away From Your Destiny, So Stay Focused, Inspire Others, and Step Into Your Royal Identity"
It was nice to see this positive light being shed on the Roseland community. The neighborhood has been cast very negatively in the news this summer but with all that is going on, there are still individuals like this man who know that we can learn from others mistakes and strive to make a difference in our own lives and that is huge.
ReplyDeleteAs far as my clock message, I plan to have it say "We are learning around the clock." Around the numbers of the clock there will be some mathematical connections. For example the square root of 36, pointing at the 6.
I think I'm going to use a carl sand burg quote for my clock message- "the time for action is now. It's never to late to do something." I hope it will help instill the sense of urgency in my classroom that we need to overcome our obstacles and create a sense of purpose about our time together.
ReplyDeleteI was really moved by Coryi's story. I was most impressed with how he seems to have internalized that life is about making choices. He worked hard to make decisions that got him closer lot his win goals and happiness, but also to understand the choices his father made. He chose to stay close to his father and help him learn to make better decisions in his life, too. That is the spirit of what I think we are trying to do at Bradwell, and I think it would send a powerful message to the students if the teachers made this a part of their curriculum during culture week. It would be a powerful way to create a common sense of purpose among all students and staff to have all read and discussed this compelling story. I plan on reading it with my class.
Cory would be an excellent individual to analyze as a class. I would like to use his story during culture week to help the students identify what made him so resilient. Their insights will tell me more about who they are, especially if they can compare Cory to someone that they know who illustrates similar strengths. This can help me identify who the strongest supporters are in their lives and why.
ReplyDeleteMy clock message will read-I am the captain of my ship. The students and I will be referring to a poem called Invictus that inspired Nelson Mandela while he was in prison. This line will relate to the poem and will serve as a reminder that the student creates their day, their progress, and their success.
I may use:
ReplyDelete"The time is always right to do what is right." -MLK jr
or
"Nothing is a waste of time if you use any minute wisely."
This article spoke to Cory’s ability to acknowledge the reality of his surroundings and to say "I am different, and I want more than what I see around me." When I worked abroad in communities devastated by extreme unemployment, economic and geographical apartheid, I was fascinated and inspired by the stories of those youths who had excelled in situations that had seemingly doomed them to fail. One of the commonalities of these stories was having ONE person, ONE adult, whether it be a parent, relative, neighbor, church member or teacher, who told them that they could be something more than what their societal or community norm expected from them. I think that we, as teachers in these communities, must keep in mind that we have the amazing opportunity to be that ONE person who believes in each and every one of our students. We have the opportunity to motivate our students to be more than perhaps what they think is possible. One of my favorite quotes is from Nelson Mandela. He says, “Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of a farmworker can become the president of a great nation. IT IS WHAT WE MAKE OUT OF WHAT WE HAVE, NOT WHAT WE ARE GIVEN, THAT SEPARATES ONE PERSON FROM ANOTHER.” We cannot change our students’ backgrounds, but we can change the now for our students, which hopefully can, in turn, shape their futures.
ReplyDeleteMy clock quote is another Mandela (similar to the MLK Jr.) “We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.”
Nice post! Inspirational!
ReplyDelete