Friday, May 31, 2013

What Great Teachers Do Differently

Seventeen Things That Matter Most


1.    Great teachers never forget that it is people, not programs, that determine the quality of a school. 

2.    Great teachers establish clear expectations at the start of the year and follow them consistently as the year progresses.

3.    Great teachers manage their classrooms thoughtfully. When they say something, they mean it.

4.    When a student misbehaves, great teachers have one goal: to keep that behavior from happening again.

5.    Great teachers have high expectations for students but have even higher expectations for themselves.

6.    Great teachers know that they are the variable in the classroom. Good teachers consistently strive to improve, and they focus on something they can control: their own performance. 

7.    Great teachers focus on students first, with a broad vision that keeps everything in perspective. 

8.    Great teachers create a positive atmosphere in their classrooms and schools. They treat every person with respect. In particular, they understand the power of praise. 

9.    Great teachers consistently filter out the negatives that don’t matter and share a positive attitude. 

10.   Great teachers work hard to keep their relationships in good repair to avoid personal hurt and to repair any possible damage. 

11.   Great teachers have the ability to ignore trivial disturbances and the ability to respond to inappropriate behavior without escalating the situation. 

12.   Great teachers have a plan and purpose for everything they do. If plans don’t work out the way they had envisioned, they reflect on what they could have done differently and adjust accordingly.

13.   Before making any decision or attempting to bring about any change, great teachers ask themselves one central question: What will the best people think? 


14.   Great teachers continually ask themselves who is most comfortable and who is least comfortable with each decision they make. They treat everyone as if they were good. 

15.   Great teachers have empathy for students and clarity about how others see them. 

16.   Great teachers keep standardized testing in perspective. They focus on the real issue of student learning. 

17.   Great teachers care about their students. They understand that behaviors and beliefs are tied to emotion, and they understand the power of emotion to jump start change.

from What Great Teachers Do Differently by Todd Whitaker
 

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Evacuation...



 

 
On Sunday at the Phoenix Comic Con with only about an hour left to go before the exhibit hall was due to close the fire alarm started going off. Volunteers and security for the event announced that this was not a drill and everyone needed to leave the building. I was ushered out a side emergency exit that lead up a stairway up stairs and out of the convention center. As I walked up the stairs that were shaking with the weight of so many people going up at one time I over heard people talking about the possibility of a bomb threat.  


People left in a very orderly fashion. Due to the heat outside there were a couple of people that were in costumes that came close to passing out due to the heat out on the side walks in the sun.


Once outside I called a friend that I was with at the con to see where she was located at since we were not together when the alarm went off. We meet up at the Hyatt to get out of the heat and find out more about what had happened. It was there that we heard that there had been a problem in one of the mens bathrooms on the upper floor, which cause the alarm to go off. 


They extended the exhibit hall hours once they let everyone back into the convention center. However due to the late hour we choose to just have dinner and head out to the hotel for the evening.





Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Babylon 5 Reunion and Convention Evacuation...






One of the  highlights of the Phoenix Comic Con was the Babylon 5 20th Reunion. A number of the original cast was present at the convention. There were a number of panels devoted to Babylon 5 over the weekend with the highlight being the cast reunion Saturday afternoon. There was hardly a dry eye on the stage as a special Memorial Video was played to honor cast and crew that have past in the last 20 years.

Babylon 5 Cast Reunion
Mira Furlan and Jerry Doyle
Jason Carter and Julie Caitlin Brown

Walter Keonig, Mira Furlan and Jerry Doyle

Andrea Thompson and Peter Jurasik

Peter Jurasik and Claudia Christian

Bill Mumy

Tracy Scoggins
Julie Caitlin Brown, Robin Atkin Downes, and Walter Koenig

Mira Furlan
J. Michael Straczynski
Line waiting to get in to see John Barrowman

K9

John Barrowman

Kristin Bauer
Amanda Tapping








I was taking a picture of the guy to the right when the fire alarm went off on Sunday evening. The convention had to be evacuated at that point.

Side not the costume this guy is wearing is made of CD's.

More on the evacuation in the next post......

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Phoenix Comic Con

Phoenix Comic Con in Pictures

 

Cool Stargate Costume
Time to enter the exhibit hall



Crowds every where


There is a person inside this costume



On the way out for a break he slipped and fell







Iron Man and Old Space