Shout Out to an AMAZING Special Education Teacher: Chris Ulmer

Just wanted to put this short video on my blog and to give a shout out to all Special Education teachers.  I have watched this video of Chris Ulmer several times and always get inspired by what he is doing.  I know that over 8.000 people have seen this video and thank ABC News for bringing teachers like Mr. Ulmer into the news.  I hope his message is contagious.  I also know that there are thousands of teachers who go above and beyond teaching their subjects to teach the child and I hope other news programs follow ABC and we see videos like this flooding facebook, twitter, and all other social media sites.  

What I love so much about this video clip is that while Mr. Ulmer is showing the video where he spends time in class complimenting each student, there is a story in text playing that has an undeniably powerful message.  While he is complimenting his students, one by one, the texts says, "Instead of talking about peace, love, and harmony, I display peace, love, and harmony."  The text goes on to remind us that, "hate is a learned behavior."   With all the tragedy we have been hearing in the news recently, this seems to be something we should be teaching and modeling even more than math, spelling, science, etc. 

Like I said, I hope that we keep seeing more and more stories like this. I know there are so many teachers like Mr. Ulmer out there.  Everyone needs to know how great he is at his job!  Here is another article about him:  http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/florida-teacher-starts-day-complimenting-students/story?id=35259600

 

Teaching is a Great Gig

Today, I want to express how much I love my job.  I really do.  I am being 100% sincere about this.  I have always been a reader and a writer, so now, being able to talk and teach all day about literature and how to express yourself through words is a pretty great gig.  I love my students.  Sometimes, it is weird being the only female in the room, but my students are respectful, diligent about their academics, athletics, activities, community service, and all other extra-curricular events.  And, they are really funny.  So, their attitudes and teenage personalities also make teaching a pretty great gig.  Then, there are my colleagues, who really do impress me every single day.  Teachers are a unique group to be around, and the bottom line is every single one of them has their priorities straight and has chosen this job in order to make a difference.  I can tell you that they are all “good people” and being around a group of educators constantly makes me want to up my game and be the best teacher I can be for my students.  And, they are also really funny.  Oh, and yeah, I love having my summers off – like I said, teaching is a pretty great gig.

However, there are things that could make my job even better.  I need more time.  In order to be that best teacher I can be for my students, I need more time.  I either need more time, or less students.  Currently, I have 112 students.  I am always grading essays, and when I am just about finished, another essays rolls in to be graded.  I need time because I want to make effective lessons for my students that will engage them and help them learn certain concepts.  I need to reread all the literature I am teaching so I can be prepared for all the questions my students might have.  I need some parents to back off and let their child figure things out for himself and I need other parents to be more involved in what is going on in their child’s life.   

Teaching really is a pretty great gig.  And if I could have less students or one more free period a day, I think it would be even greater. 

The Oxford Comma: It IS Important!

This week I was teaching Comma Rules to my Juniors and we were going over the “Commas in a Series” Rule, otherwise known as the Oxford Comma.   Just about all current grammar and style books, including the Modern Language Association (MLA) employ the rule that the comma is needed before the word “and” in a series to avoid confusion.  The only Style Guide that does not use the Oxford Comma is the Associated Press Stylebook.  Well, at my school, we do use MLA format for formal writing, so my students will learn and use this comma.

Also, there is a difference between: 

At the barbecue, I ate a hamburger, a hot dog, macaroni and cheese.

                                                                 And

At the barbeque, I ate a hamburger, a hot dog, macaroni, and cheese. 

 To bring this grammar point to the real world for my students, we talked about the dreaded, yet inevitable, Christmas card most families take.  We looked at some photo websites that make holiday cards to see examples of how families write their names to check for Oxford Comma usage.  We looked at Shutterfly.com.  To our surprise, almost all the model cards we looked at did not use the Oxford Comma.  This simply clumps the last two names together as if they were conjoined twins or macaroni and cheese, and not macaroni AND cheese. 

 

So, we sent a note to Shutterfly’s feedback department and received an extremely generic response from them.  We are hoping to hear a little bit more on this issue.  Quite simply, they can just tell us that they are abiding by the AP Stylebook, and then, well, okay Shutterfly can win that round.  But for now, my students are going to help mom and dad send out grammatically and stylistically correct Christmas cards to everyone, anyone, (Oxford Comma) and all.