Welcome to Virginia

After four great years in Sarasota, Florida it was time for a change. I had a great time living in the Sunshine State, but it was about time for me to move closer to my family. I am now living in Arlington, Virginia which is a suburb of Washington, D.C.

I am still teaching and working with 8th grade students. The Civics curriculum that I am working with would have been exciting to teach anywhere in the country given that it is an election year. Working this close to the Nation's capital should make it particullary interesting.

I also have been given the opportunity to be a long distance running coach at a local high school. I will be working with the cross country team as well as the indoor and outdoor track team at McLean high school. I have been running with the team and am starting to get in shape again. Hopefully I will be able to post more advice on marathons as I have my eye on a few upcoming events.

I certainlly will miss Florida and all it had to offer. Virginia is looking like a pretty decent place to live and work and the fact that they have Wegmans certainlly ads to my enjoyment.

High Stakes Testing

My students are currently taking their first round of high stakes testing today. In this no child left behind environment that I teach in, we unfortunately do find ourselves focusing more on the test and less on letting the students enjoy the curriculum. The Florida Competency Achievement Test, or FCAT is not a particularly challenging state exam. The questions and responses can sometimes seem ambiguous, but for the most part it is a fair exam.

On of the great things about teaching in Florida, however, is that there currently is no Social Studies examination. I therefore have the freedom to teach my content in any way that I desire. Recently, however, I have been pressured by the county administration to give up some of my units so that I can help supplement the FCAT testing. I realize that any additional practice will be beneficial for my students, but I find that when we do prep for the test, the interest level in my class plummets. Suddenly every student needs to go to the bathroom or has a question on a current event. Even the eyes of my scholar students glaze over when I talk about "author's purpose" or "extended responses."

Overall, I do not believe that these tests should be done away with, as my of my fellow colleagues have expressed. I do not think that they should be used to the degree that they currently are for determining the pathways that a student may take in school. Assigning students into pre-defined tracks according to test scores does not produce positive results, and something should be done to remedy this practice.

Ithaca is Gorges

This weekend I returned to the town where I spent 4 of the best years of my life. My younger brother completed his undergraduate education from the same college that I attended. This meant i had the opportunity to see some old friends and professors and also to revisit a few of my old stomping grounds.

For those of you who have never been to upstate New York, you really are missing out. Ithaca is one of the most beautiful cities in the United States. It is located on the southern tip of Cayuga lake amidst rolling hills and breath-taking gorges.

I have enjoyed my time in Florida, however I know that some day I will return to a more northern location. While at times the cold weather can be brutal, I will gladly take a few months of snow over the chance of my house being flooded or blown over during the next big hurricane.

The pictures from this post come from Treman State Park. For more images, visit Joe Braun Photography.