Then fourth block rolled around and the planets must have been in perfect alignment for everything to happen at once. A young lady cut her finger on her binder. This was not your normal paper cut. Another young lady with a low tolerance for this type issue was upset and got sick. While all this was going on, the class worked on their vocabulary so it wouldn’t be homework. The housekeepers came in to clean up. Mrs. Overby came in to help out as a first responder. And 30 minutes into the process we had just about gotten everything ready to move forward. Then we had a fire drill. So when we get back we have a couple of administrators stop in to check and make sure everything was ok and a phone call or two to make to keep the parents informed. Then as we began again to get underway several of the students left for an orientation at the Media Center. And then the sneezing started. Being a person who has some allergy issues I feel for the kids when they begin the sneezing. They can’t help it and some of us are louder than others in that department.

I can say for the most part the kids handled it all very well today. They were helpful and very kind to each other and along with their flexibility this attribute will serve them well in life.

The thing I still love most about my job besides watching the students grow up and become positive and enthusiastic individuals is that no day is ever just a routine. Tomorrow will present even greater opportunities...

We have discussed some of the issues the freshmen are having and they seem most bothered by the overcrowding they are experiencing in the hallways and across campus. The transition from an outdoor campus to interior hallways packs the students in tightly but as people get adjusted to the routine the paths will be more direct and the passageways will open up. The anxieties of the move to high school are slowly falling away as the students become more accustomed to the campus, their teachers, and the coursework.

I encourage you to check back often and see all the things going on in class and check out the homework on the classroom calendar. Being in the know is a sure way of ensuring success.

This school year has started off very well in my opinion. The enforcement of the student dress code was met by some trepidation by many of the students but it really has been a positive. The young gentlemen look different but gone are the super long t-shirts that looked a lot like dresses to me. It will take some getting used to for the students but all in all it has been a very positive change.

The students in my English 9 classes have been learning how I like things done in class. We have organized our notebooks and learned how to work our classroom server and computers. Tomorrow we will be taking some photographs for our autobiographical poems. These short poems should be completed this evening so that we can get them typed up and printed out before this week is over. This assignment allows me to better get to know the students and allows them to use the available classroom technology first hand.

We also began our Introduction of the Vocabulary we will be working on this semester. Being able to break down words into their individual pieces and parts as well as from the context of how they are written will serve the students well on standardized testing and with numerous informational reading challenges in life.

To say I am pleased with the beginning of the year is an understatement. Being out of the classroom last year makes returning to the “trenches” even more exciting. I look forward to a great year!

It is that time of year and everyone is excited. I do believe the parents are most happy for school to be beginning anew. :-) Ninth grade is a huge year for these aspiring young adults. They are no longer stuck “in the middle” but are not quite as independent and self sufficient as they would like to be – and for the most part, no where near as organized as their parents want them to be. One thing is true – they are exciting, energetic, and expensive!

I believe fully in the TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) Concept. Parents + Teachers + Community = Successful Students! I wanted to take just a minute to make you aware of some of the items that are available to make sure that communication is a constant two way process to ensure success. Over my years of teaching I have built this website, with the generous help of an outside sponsor, so that students can be more organized in their studies and parents are more aware of the goings on of class and at school. I often hear from parents who lament the fact that students never seem to keep them informed about what is going on at school. Our classroom website really can help if you take advantage of it!

In the Classroom Calendar section of the page, homework will be listed out everyday, upcoming school wide events will be posted, and important dates will be maintained. Everything will be posted from sporting events to school pictures and dances and club trips. This is an excellent way for students to make sure they are in step to achieve their maximum potential and for parents to make sure they stay informed and connected at school.

On the Classroom Calendar each of the underlined entries will open up to reveal more information. Be sure to explore the entries regularly to get the most up to date information.

In the Quick Links section I will be posting digital copies of the resources and activity sheets that go along with our class. This way, if a sheet is lost, misplaced, messed up, or a student is absent - the assignments are posted in the calendar and available online. You do need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the files. Acrobat is a free resource to download. Some of the files are large and dial up browsers might be a little slow.

I want to provide every available resource for the students to be successful and the parents to be kept informed. This site gives us a great start. With the energy of the students, the determination of the teacher, and the expectations of the parents, we cannot help but achieve our goals.

I look forward to an exceptional year!

To say I was a little hesitant to leave the classroom and move over to the Media Center is an understatement. I was unsure if I would enjoy not having the day to day interaction with students. I was moving to a new school in an entirely different area than I spent the last ten years. Two great friends from Norwayne moved over this summer with me – Temple Herring and Carol Frederick. They came by the Media Center during lunch today and we all agreed whole heartedly that CBA is a FANTASTIC place to work. We laugh out loud at our pseudo Norwayne Alumni meetings and think how “Everyone is Someone at CBA!” Mr. Radford is a true gentleman and great to work for. The same kids who were holy terrors in middle school grow up and change into young adults who carry on civil conversations. They run clubs, they organize events, and they really are a pleasure to work with.

I am assisting Mrs. Caplinger with the Key Club. We meet every Thursday morning at 7:15 AM. You know this is a special group for me to get up this early for a meeting. Carson is the President and runs the meetings. I sat in awe at the last meeting as the “Educational Cottage” held 75 young adults willing to get up early and interested in performing 50 hours of community service each. The Kiwanis Club deserves huge accolades for developing an organization that provides young people with an opportunity to learn by serving others. I am also lucky enough to be working with Mrs. Savage in starting a Falcon Photography Club. These kids are going to get to learn the basics of photography and be able to capture the special memories of their high school years. We plan to use these images in our “Do it Right!” video presentations in the cafeteria. They will be printed, matted, framed, and displayed around campus to showcase the kids in their daily endeavors. So much of societies attention is focused on the mistakes kids make. We want to accentuate the positive.

There are difficulties. The chaos of the Media Center is so unfamiliar to a classroom guy who is used to at least occasionally controlling or even directing the classroom chaos. Whereas my responsibilities included only 50 students a day in the classroom I am fortunate to have worked with over 150 young adults today alone. Yes I have an enormous amount to learn, and classes to take, and the roof is leaking all around me, but I sit here at 4:30 this afternoon with a smile on my face, content with the work I have accomplished today, knowing that I am appreciated and happy beyond belief with the decision I made.

We are three days into the school year and already things are getting hectic. I never understood exactly how busy the Media Center could be. This week I have learned. We are making some major changes – trying to open up the room and weed out some older material. There is a lot of organizing going on and I believe it will make it more convenient and functional for the students and staff.

I have heard for some time how crowded CBA was – but until I experienced it, I did not know exactly what that entailed. We have 14 “educational cottages” out back. My first teacher workday I got stuck in the middle of these trailer park and it literally took me a while to figure out I had to go back to the beginning, back into the building, through the hallway and back outside to another whole set of ramps to get into the other half of the units. Talk about confusing. The kids look like salmon fighting the current in the hallways but they grin and bear it. That is a testament to their maturity and perseverance.

Yesterday evening over 200 members of our community gathered to discuss the issues affecting the schools of northern Wayne County. Memebers of the Board of Education and County Commissioners as well as our own Advisory Council discussed the needs of our area schools. With all hope this will lead to a bond referendum being issued and passed that the taxpayers can afford that will benefit all the students of Wayne County.

Over the last month I have kept an extremely busy schedule. It’s not that I haven’t had time to blog, its just that I haven’t done it. Half of every day I have sat at a desk with three 19-inch flat panel monitors so I have had access. I have spend most of my mornings working on Senior portraits at Lifetouch. It’s been kind of funny because these same kids I use to teach as seventh graders come in with much larger bodies but the same devil-may-care behavior. One of the most humorous exchanges was watching Grant squeezed into Travis jeans walking around trying to get pictures taken. It is nice to know these kids did not grow out of their good humor.

Working with NCPics.com has also kept me relatively busy. We have added product photography to our rapidly expanding areas of service and finding and ordering the equipment has been a challenge and joy. I realized quickly this type of business could keep us as busy as we want to be and that is both a good thing and bad. The potential to be overwhelmed is right there lurking behind the schedule. We will have to make sure we do not over commit in this venture. Alex and I spent the better part of a day cleaning and converting the old campaign office into a small office area for photography. We set up our product photography area and workspaces as well as began organizing the already growing collection of videos from our weddings. This has the potential to be fun and profitable as long as we do not lose the fun part.

Yesterday I spent a good part of the day taking Smith into Snow Hill to pick up some big black leather chairs from my storage unit. He purchased four of them. Half the stuff in his classroom once resided in my classroom – it is nice to know that these items I labored to add to my classroom will continue to benefit kids.

I have written a couple of grants this summer. Pamela and I wrote a $60,000 grant to DPI for Wayne County for Service Learning. Since the two of us have been awarded almost $25,000 over the last 4 years we felt it was time to begin going a little bigger. We should know the first of September if we receive this grant. I also wrote a $5,000 grant to Dollar General for the Media Center at CBA. I have long been interested in audio books that students can listen to on their Ipods. (While they skim the Cliff's Notes for many of you) By September 22nd, we will know if we received the grant.

Tomorrow morning I begin my back to school routine with my first Media Coordinator’s meeting. It is in Jacksonville at a brand new high school. It should be nice to see new facilities and to begin this new journey of learning.

The 8U Babe Ruth North Carolina Tournament was going on and Alvin and I were responsible for photographing all the action. There were 26 teams present and each team played at least 5 games throughout the tournament. We set an ambitious goal of photographing each team at least 2 times and making sure that every player and family was able to have some memory to hold on to from this championship tournament. We were lucky to have Edmond come out most of the days to help take pictures and Annette worked the booth in the scorching heat.

I would have to admit it was a tall order. But if my humble opinion, we rose to and exceeded the original goals we set for ourselves. Check out the pictures at NCPics.com and see what you think.

The tournament ended Monday evening and first thing Tuesday morning I got up and headed into Raleigh for a two-day workshop I have been working on since before Spring Break. About 50 teachers attended and I believe they gathered a lot of information. Melissa presented on the Socratic Seminar and I discussed a couple of new tools available to educators for FREE. My discussion centered on all the tools that Google makes available to teachers like: Google Calendar, image search, and my personal favorite Google Earth. I also brought in a new site - Nation Master - that provides maps and statistical charts and graphs comparing countries around the world. I also highlighted the online bookmark site – delicious. From the comments we received the educators who took their summer break and worked to learn more about their curriculum really appreciated and enjoyed the workshop. I extend very special thanks to Lewis Nelson and Faye Gore for allowing me to be a part of this learning experience and especially to my new friend Melissa Hockaday for helping me along and being such a great partner and friend.

The end of the year is upon us and the kids are free for the summer. I rise to toast sleeping late, staying up to the wee hours of the morning, and lounging around as much as possible. I hope these kids enjoy the summer to its fullest potential. I also hope they take in a good movie and maybe even go see a historic site. This is something parents can do to keep the brain thinking and learning. Some of my fondest memories as a young man were the adventures my mom would plan for us. We never had enough money to do Disney World (I was teaching at NMS with Gail Elmore before that happened) or travel abroad (I am still waiting on this one) so we made due with touring historic battlegrounds and some of the great educational sites North Carolina operates. I suppose that is where I got my first addiction to history. I was there, where it all happened and my young mind was sent into frenzy with the stories and images I had experienced. I would hope that all our kids will make some memories of family, fantasy, and fun that will last them a lifetime. They are the really important things in life.

On a different note, I am happy to say I will be moving to CB Aycock in the fall. Mr. Radford offered me a position in the Media Center. I will be doing all the regular Media Specialist job responsibilities with a focus on technology improvements and integration. I plan to write a great deal of grants and hopefully we will be able to create an exciting and technology rich environment for the educators who are willing and the students who are eager. Any transition has pros and cons – the cons here are the leaving behind of great friends and coworkers at NMS. The pros are an opportunity to work in a new situation, expanding my skills and comfort zone. It will also be great to be in a place where hard work and enthusiasm is appreciated. This is not my first experience with high schoolers. I worked at EWHS for several years in the athletic department with football. But this will be my first dealings with high school age students in a classroom setting. It is an exciting transition and I look forward to working with young adults I have previously had the chance to teach and in a year I can not wait to see how all my kids from this year develop, grow and mature.

I will keep www.hlperson.com updated with my many goings on. I find being able to reflect back on things as they are happening helps to shape the future areas I need to focus. I do hope that many of my friends, colleagues, families, and especially young people I have the opportunity to grow to know and care about will continue to check in regularly and leave me comments as to how things are going with you. Always know there is an extra seat at TaTa’s and a special place in my heart for so many of you.

Tonight began with another terrific dinner in downtown Goldsboro with friends at Torero’s. While I was crossing the street afterwards, a young man came up to me and asked, “Do you remember me?” It is pretty common that the destitute come up to us asking for handouts after dinner so at first this one didn’t faze me, but he was different. Honestly the face and clothes looked too haggard, too dirty, too downtrodden for me to see the young boy who played football for us at Eastern Wayne High School only a few short years ago. The eyes didn’t shine with vigor, the energy level didn’t jump out, and the fire of life in its prime was waning. After he spoke the memories of an aggressive athlete who didn’t have an ounce of body fat returned. He was the kind of kid who would race headfirst into a brick wall if told to. I immediately made him aware that, “I have been seeing his name in the paper and that makes me very sad.” Some people feel I never really developed that whole tact thing really well. Fortunately the hardships he has faced have not caused him to forget that I always mean well. He confessed he had made some bad decisions. He suffered from addictions and was also HIV+. Literally I was frozen in my step. It stunned me. This kid is twenty maybe twenty-one. His bad decisions are going to end his life much sooner than it should be. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t have the words of wisdom that would guide him to a better life. All I could say is, “We all screw up, and all we can do is start getting better today.” I reached into my pocket and handed over the twenty-one dollars I had. I wish I had had more. I told him I would pray for him, and I really hoped he would start getting better. I don’t kid myself about where the money probably went. But it is not my job to judge, thank God! All I can do is hope and pray that the knowledge that there are people that care enough to offer a hand up is a motivating factor. He told me how much it meant to him, how much he had always appreciated me taking time with him in football, how "real" I was. That stung to my heart since I was trying to avoid eye contact with him when I was originally walking across the street.

I suppose we made such an odd pair standing on the side of the street that Mr. and Mrs. Lipcsak felt they should wait to make sure I was all right before driving off. I wasn’t all right, but good friends who are willing to look after you are a blessing. Pam said I was “being a preacher man again.” Far from it. I wish I were strong enough to build a shelter. I wish I were motivational enough that kids wouldn’t make bad decisions. I wish I were rich enough to pay for treatment for the many who are addicted. But alas, all I can do is make a small hand out, offer words of encouragement, remind him that people care, and pray. As we go through life, we never know what difficulties others around us are going through or how we touch their lives or just how they can touch our heart.

We are in our Greek Mythology unit and it really is great reading. These Greek myths compliment the Asian and African folk tales we read and draw natural comparisons with the gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt we studied in social studies. Don’t get me wrong, the material and the concepts are difficult but we discuss them and break them down as we go along so that no one gets confused in the material. We began Monday with Phaethon: Son of Apollo. This story has a strong message warning students to not be overly confident and take unnecessary risks. The students had an easy task of drawing modern day comparisons and seemed to internalize the lesson. We read Demeter and Persephone this morning and learned how the Greeks explained the drab and boring winter season. I believe the kids enjoyed this story and the transformation of Pluto from the dark and dreadful god of the Underworld into a love struck school boy.

CBA’s Jazz Band is performing for us this afternoon. These kids are truly amazing. Being a person with no musical talent what so ever (the water stops running if I sing in the shower) I appreciate people who have such skills. Ask the kids what they thought and hopefully some of them will plan to be involved in programs like the Jazz Band in high school.

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Another week has been wrapped up and we are chugging right along. This time of year is a mixed blessing as I am sooo ready for Summer Break but the kids finally understand the system, they are finally maturing into young adults, and are actually a whole lot more fun. So I guess that is the mixed part of it all.

We read a great story called “The Dog who thought he was a Cat and the Cat who thought she was a Dog,” by Isaac Bashevis Singer. He is one of those writers who puts his moral right in the story for all to see. The kids identified with this message about “not judging a book by its cover” and “beauty only being skin deep” and brought a lot into the discussion.

In Social Studies we have discussed America’s trade deficit with Asia. It is a difficult concept to understand for most politicians much less seventh graders. We looked at specific jobs and products which we wear and have in our homes. We traced where they came from and talked in great length about how many of these were once proudly “Made in the USA”. My own mother lost a seamstress position to an overseas factory when I was in college.

The whole idea of a deficit was another area where the kids had trouble understanding. More than once this week I heard the comment, “Just put it on the credit card.” I know now why the State Department has developed a much more effective fiscal literacy plan for social studies. We talked in depth about different kids of debt and especially interest. The idea of 22% interest scares the heck out of me and I hope I conveyed that real danger to the kids.

I know they would enjoy the chance to discuss any of the things we are learning about in school with you. They have a lot of ideas and comments on things they would enjoy sharing with you.

Today was a difficult day for me. It is so hard to sit back when young people make bad decisions. Somehow or another some kids miss the idea that the decisions they are making today will affect their future in bigger ways than they can believe. As a teacher, days like this are the most difficult.

Progress Reports go home Tuesday. Be looking to see what is good and what needs improvement. This nine weeks goes by so fast, waiting until the last minute is a terrible idea.

Today we played a couple of Review Games to get ready for the Vocabulary Test on Thursday. We played a Norwayne Stakes a horse race), What’s Behind the Box (guessing the image by removing pieces of the puzzle), and Wheel of Fortune (table versus table to accumulate the most points) and had a great time studying for the test..

Over Spring Break I had the opportunity to spend a day at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. I am teaming with another teacher from Wake County, some DPI staff members, and several professors from UNC, NCSU, and Fayetteville State to present a Social Studies Staff Development on Africa this summer at Exploris. It is a tremendous amount of work but I feel it will be a great learning opportunity for me. I hope that many of the teachers here in Wayne County will be able to participate and gain valuable materials from this two day collaboration. That way our students will benefit the most.

I also was invited to visit Washington DC, with Ms. Johnson’s 8th grade group from Eastern Wayne and with Mrs. Jones, Ms. Cox, and Mrs. Teel’s students here at Norwayne. It was a blast! I got to spend time in the Holocaust Museum, the Air and Space Museum, and lots of time on the Capitol Mall. One of the kids sat down on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on a beautiful sunny day with the sky that perfect color of Carolina Blue (Mrs. Purcell’s proof that God is a Tarheel fan) and looked down the Mall past the World War II memorial and the Washington Monument towards the Capital Building and remarked how he had “seen this on TV and had always wanted to do it.” I sat there and thought to myself that every time I have sat upon those same steps that have so impacted history, that I too felt that great satisfaction.

There is student dance this Friday evening from 7:00 to 9:00. The cost is $5.00. I am planning to be there taking some pictures and enjoying the fun!

This blog might be a wee bit too long, but I did not past last week. I should have – someone might have enjoyed hearing about my travels.

We finished up Unit 11 today in our Vocabulary. Our eInstruction test for this unit will be on Friday. We were a day late as I missed yesterday with a doctor’s appointment. Most of the student received a really positive note from the substitute which makes me extremely proud, as I know it does you. Mrs. Banks’ exact words were, “Great Class! Please don’t hesitate to call me again.” This is so refreshing as I often hear from subs in regards to other classes they would “never visit again.”

We have been reading folk tales and myths from around the world over the last week. I really enjoyed “Yeh Shen: The Chinese Cinderella” and the discussion we had on the ancient Chinese custom of binding a girls feet. Needless to say, our young ladies were not having any of that. But then they brainstormed a whole list of “tortures” that women of today go through for (perceived) beauty.

The Taj Mahal is without a doubt the most beautiful tribute to love any person has ever made. We visited the site in India today (digitally, but it still counts) and enjoyed some mini lessons on this fabulous structure with an incredible story. One day I hope that many of the kids will be able to visit this treasure and many others we have learned about this year in person.