Monday, November 17, 2008

Keeping the distance

Although I try to keep my blogs and my assignments separate, they often seem to blend and merge. This may be in part due to the fact that I am supposed to "reflect" on what I learned or did in class. So I have decided to keep this distance with the blog.
I recently had my left knee arthroscopy, and although my doctor doesn't expect much improvement due to what he saw in the joint, I am happy to report that my pain (like that prior to surgery) is gone. My joint capsule is still a bit sore from being stretched, poked, prodded and cut into, but my level of pain is well within acceptable range for me. For that I am grateful.
I was also asked (for what seems like the 50th time, but is probably only the 5th) if I would consider presenting at a conference. My topic (chosen for me) would be classroom management. My first response to this is, "I have nothing special to offer." My colleague doesn't agree.
She was impressed when she walked into my class at the end of the school day on a Friday and discovered that all of my students were still there - silently waiting for me to dismiss them. (This was a consequence that they had earned.) When I did dismiss them 10 seconds later, many of them still wished me a good weekend.
I did agree to give the presentation on a few conditions, and now I am wondering - What could I possibly say? What would be interesting to other teachers? What would make a difference? What benefit would anyone attending MY presentation get? Could my methods (do I really have any?) help others or do they just work for me because of who I am and beleive myself to be? And still - What do I talk about?
I guess I could just explain how I do what I do, and then open the floor for questions, but is that cheating those who are attending and looking for answers? Do I have any answers to give? I really don't know.

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