Week 6

Week 6 has ended, and once again I saw some things, or was involved in some things, that I have never been a part of. This week we had our first faculty-senate meeting of the year. I didn't know what to expect of this because I have never been a part of one of these. Lisa, Ann, and myself were all asked to talk about the Benedum Collaborative Program, and what it has meant to us, and for Watson. The teachers were to take a vote on whether they wanted Watson to continue to be a PDS, or if they wanted to discontinue their collaboration with WVU. The teachers voted 28-2 in favor of continuing their collaboration. I thought this was a big step in the right direction for Watson, and for everyone at Watson. Some people may not realize the importance this collaboration brings with it for Watson. Personally, I would like to find out who the 2 people were who voted against us, and question them on their beliefs about this. Oh well, I will never know, and it is probably better for everyone that I do not any way.

Other than that, the faculty senate meeting was....interesting. I always heard that teaching was a little political at times, and I saw that first hand at this meeting. I never thought I would sit at a meeting in school and here the words, "All in favor say I." I felt like the things on the agenda were all rushed through, and there wasn't much that was actually accomplished. Then, we sat through a presentation in the afternoon, and all I got from it was that they wanted everyone to go out and vote yes for a bond that would enable the building of a new middle school in east fairmont. What that has to do with us at Watson is beyond me. Though I did not find much production in these meetings, it was nice to have the opportunity to talk with Mrs. Decker without the students there. We are all very busy people, and sometimes it is nice to kind of catch up on everything that has been going on.

The week in school was also a little different as it was the end of a unit in reading. The students took a bunch of unit tests, spelling being the one I was most interested in. I wanted to look closely at this one because my action research is based around spelling. After seeing the scores, most of the students performed how I thought they would, while others surprised me. Needless to say, I am excited to see how my action research impacts my students. I start action research tomorrow! See ya next week...