2001-02
Read the diary entries by MiddleWeb's four middle grades diarists for the 2001-02 school year. Just click on the name of a diarist and go to the annotated index. If you'd like to peruse diary entries from earlier years, see our Middle School Diary Archive.
Our Diarists
Ellen
Berg, Six-Year Teacher
Joanne Payling, First-Year Teacher
Marsha Ratzel, Technology Coach
Chris Toy, Principal
Ellen
Berg (sixth grade teacher)
Turner Middle School, St. Louis MO
Background - Ellen Berg (teacher)
#01
- Some thoughts on race, prejudice and cultural relevance
#02 - New Personalities; New
Proficiencies
#03 - Goodbye to Mr. I
Can't
#04 - As the World Changes,
So Must We (Sept. 11)
#05 - The Wicked Witch
of Turner Middle School
#06 - 'We worked with glee
and gusto. What changed? I did.'
#07 - The 'Accidental Teacher'
Cooks Up a Rich Learning Soup
#08 - Pull-Out Creep
#09 - Activities vs. Strategies:
Instructions vs. Instruction
#10 - Question-Answer Strategies:
Making Cross-Curricular Connections
#11 - Is It Any Wonder They Are
Acting Out?
#12 - Long Live Harry Potter!
#13 - Now That's
Reader Response!
#14
- The Spirit of Teaching
#15 - Standing Up for What Is
Right
#16 - It's Time We All Stopped
Passing the Buck
#17 - "We the students of
Turner Middle School..."
#18 - Teaching Students How to
Give the Man What He Wants
#19 - Honoring Our Students'
Voice
#20 - Be Still, My Frantic Throbbing
Heart
#21 - If I'm Going to Grow, I
May Need to Move On
#22 - The Link Between Time and
Teacher Expectations
#23 - A Novel Confession
#24 - Acting Like Writers
#25 - I Got It and the Kids Got
It: Amazing Things Began to Happen!
#26 - Share the "Doggocks"
and "Ah-Ah's" While You Can, Teachers
#27 - "Sit! Read!"
My Students Get Serious About Ella
#28 - How Do I Keep Structure
and Avoid Boredom for My Students?
#29 - Struggling to Survive in
a Toxic School Environment
#30 - Changes, Small and Large,
Give Me Some Reason for Hope
#31 - A Successful 'Gallery Walk'
Draws My Students Deeper into Novel Study
#32 - Parents and the Proper
Application of Mulch
#33 - Dion Tests the Limits of
Caring
#34 - Helping My Students Make
Meaning Out of What They Read and Write
#35 - The Hidden Rules of Teaching
and Learning
#36 - The Power of Conferencing
with Students
#37 - Some Soul-Searching: How
Can I Be a Better Teacher Next Year?
#38 - FINAL ENTRY: Reflecting
on This Year and the Next
#39 - SPECIAL SUMMER DIARY: A
Summer of Delights as We Grew and Learned
Joanne
Payling (eighth grade teacher)
Pleasanton (CA) Middle School
Background - Joanne Payling (teacher)
#01
- 'Good Enough' is good enough for now
#02 - A Swirl of Names and
Faces
#03 - 'Buenos Dias,' Ms.
Payling Said
#04 - A Week with More Questions
Than Answers (Sept. 11)
#05 - Finding the Beginning
of the Path
#06 - Weighing Short-Term
and Long-Term Priorities
#07 - 'I actually found
myself shouting for their attention.'
#08 - The Booby Prize
#09 - Recovering the Sacred in
Teaching and Learning
#10 - The Lurking Mr. Hyde
#11 - A Small Request for Help;
an Important Step for Me
#12 - Teacher of the Year Now
a Five-Year Plan
#13 - Managing the Workload -
How to Veteran Teachers Do It?
#14 - Confessions of a Teaching
Perfectionist
#15 - Breaching the Cultural
Gates
#16 - Suffering through Charles
Dickens
#17 - What's More Important:
Learning the Material or Learning Responsibility?
#18 - What I Am Learning Is How
to Teach, as I Teach
#19 - From Panic to Perspective
#20 - Does This Teaching Thing
Ever Get Any Easier?
#21 - I Want Them to Learn We're
in This School Gig Together
#22 - Collegiality, or Just Cliques?
#23 - On the Edge of the Digital
Divide
#24 - Out of the Angst-Filled
Chaos, Some New Understandings Emerge
#25 - What Happened When I Took
the Writing Test Myself
#26 - Strolling the Boulevard
to Better Classroom Management
#27 - New Confidence and a New
Dedication to My Goal!
#28 - As Contract Time Approaches,
How Much Credit Can I Claim?
#29 - I Never Thought I Could
Truly Dislike a 13-Year-Old
#30 - They Are Demonstrating,
in the Best Possible Way, Their Understanding
#31 - Do I Really Want to Do
This?
#32 - FINAL ENTRY: I Walked Away
Marsha
Ratzel (technology coach)
Overland Park (KS) Public Schools
Background - Marsha Ratzel
#01
- Lots of Small Victories and the Planting of Seeds
#02 - A New Reality Sets In
#03 - The Fun of Thinking Outside
the Box
#04 - Even Assessment Has
Its 'A-Ha' Moments
#05 - The Good, the Bad, and
the Internet
#06 - An Awful Week Ends with
a Rare and Beautiful Sight (Sept. 11)
#07 - How Do We Help Teachers
to Take On New Tools?
#08 - 'It felt like we were
all in the Amazon!'
#09 - Teachers or Students
- It's All about Attitude
#10 - A Lesson in the Leaves:
It's the Content, Not the Technology
#11 - Leading
Leaders is Exciting, Rewarding, and Exhausting
#12 - Some Time to Rest, and
Puzzle Over the Future
#13 - Small Victories Pile Up!
#14 - Solomon's Wisdom at Internet
Speed
#15 - Anxiety - Then Relief.
National Board Certified!
#16 - Sometimes You're the Headlights.
Sometimes You're the Deer.
#17 - It's Not "All Greek"
to These Teachers
#18 - Becoming a Revolutionary
#19 - Why Do We Sound Retreat
When the Budget Is Slashed/
#20 - Why Does Some Staff Development
Stoke the Desire to Learn More?
#21 - More Success on Some Fronts
Than Others
#22 - More Proof That Students
Will Do What We Expect Them to Do
#23 - Teachers Are Still Thinking.
Students Are Still Learning.
#24 - Teacher Quality Is the
Responsibility of Teacher
#25 - Reflecting on High Standards
for Students -- and for Teachers
#26 - The Internet's Power to
Engage Overcomes Classroom Management Issues
#27 - Teaching with Technology
Requires Life-Long Learning
#28 - Un-Professional Development
#29 - Technology Integration
for Women's History Month
#30 - Chasing Our Tails Through
the Mile-Wide Curriculum
#31 - How Can Teachers Become
Partners in Bulding the Vision?
#32 - We're Learning to Use Technology
to Help Students Organize and Synthesize
#33 - Teacher Idea-Swapping and
the Potential of iMovies
#34 - Change Requires a Shared
Vision and Some Feeling of Control
#35 - Trying to Adapt to a New
Job and a New Scheme of Things
#36 - Worn Down - But Still Learning!
#37 - Working on Teacher Leadership
#38 - Summer Workshops That Really
Teach Technology IntegratioN
#39 - FINAL ENTRY: Have the Tradeoffs
Been Worth It?
Chris
Toy (principal)
Freeport (MA) Middle School
Background
- Chris Toy
(More about FMS)
#01
- Focus on Goals and Balance with One Week to Go
#02 - When's the Best Time
to Share Uncomfortable Information?
#03 - In the Middle of a Mess,
a Good First Day of School
#04 - Dealing with Tragedy
(Sept. 11)
#05 - New Teachers Making
Smooth Transition - with Plenty of Help
#06 - Sometimes Parents
Don't Want to Hear the Good News
#07 - What Do Parents
Value in a Middle School?
#08 - Hi-Tech, Low-Tech, It's
All in a Day's Work
#09 - When It Comes to Praise,
It's Best to Spread It Around
#10 - A Lesson in Bullying Well-Learned
#11 - Three Issues That Bear
on the Future of Middle Schools
#12 - All in a Day's Work!
#13 - A Bargain Basement for
Educators
#14 - Distributing Juice, Snacks,
and Inspiration
#15 - All Right, 8th Graders:
Compare Free Markets and Command Economies
#16 - Why Does Middle School
Seem to Be Under a Dark Cloud?
#17 - Teamwork Makes a Principal's
Life a Little Bit Easier
#18 - Teachers Like Sharing the
Big Picture at Faculty Meeting
#19 - Dog-Gone Dilemmas
#20 - The Coming of the Laptop
in Maine's Middle Schools (and Fab Friday!)
#21 - Thinking about Technology
and Leadership
#22 - Dead Tired
#23 - The Relaxed Glow Fades
and the Big Move Begins
#24 - The Hiring Season
#25 - Winter Survival: Testing
and Toting
#26 - Fitting Technology into
Our Vision of School Leadership
#27 - Thinking About Next Year
#28 - At the NELMS Annual Conference:
High Expectations for "Digital Natives"
#29 - Maine's Great Laptop Experiment
Begins - and the Early Indicators Are Good!
#30 - At the End of Day, By What
Standards Will We Be Measured?
#31 - Renovations and Innovations
#32 - Professional Recertification:
Growing "Above and Beyond"
#33 - Evaluation, New Hiring,
Scheduling, Renovation... Whew!
#34 - Questioning the Candidates
#35 - Questioning the Candidates,
Part 2
#36 - Managing a Bomb Threat
#37 - My New Life as a Mover
#38 - FINAL ENTRY: A Year of
Reflection and Enormous Change
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