Realistic Resolutions

I usually don't do resolutions, mainly because I used to make lists and lists of them when I was younger (be nicer to my father, get better grades, etc), and I'd never follow through on anything. But this year I'm trying something new - I'm being realistic about my resolutions. I have one resolution for my personal life and one resolution for my professional life. I posted a month ago about how my personal resolution is to spend more time with family (and now I've added friends) more often, so that Cole can have a rich well-rounded experience as a toddler. It's also just fun and more fulfilling to spend more time with those you love.  Can you tell I'm reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin? If I cited some happiness research, then you'd be able to tell for sure.

We've been Skyping with my father on a weekly basis, and hopefully once Keith gets his old computer to his mother (he just bought himself an iMac) and sets her up with a webcam, Cole can see her more often too. We have play dates lined up with Andreea and Lori in the coming month, and one with Allison in the works. This is a very good start, in my opinion.

As far as my professional life, over the Christmas vacation I realized the benefit of electronic grading. I realized this is the direction education is going. So, I've decided to make the plunge to go paperless.

My goal is to go from this...

Top Folder: Everything I graded last Friday afternoon  Bottom Folder: Everything I still need to grade

To this....

Our Macbook shows My Big Campus, an educational website that models Facebook

I am tired of lugging around the above folders. Since I am a traveler, I carry everything with me everywhere. It kills my back, literally. Since I've removed the folders (ha! what an idea!) my back has been thanking me. Also, every time I take my work out to grade, it's such a long process. It takes about 2 minutes to set up and another 2 to put away.  It may not sound like much, but when you've only got a certain amount of time to grade and a sleeping baby in the next room, it's a huge waste. And now thanks to a few cases of ringworm at one of the schools I teach in, I am paranoid I'm going to get the fungal infection from my student papers. If that's the case, why would I even want to take it out at home?

The second picture is a photo of my personal laptop that has My Big Campus, the website my district is now using to get students doing their work. It's like Facebook, so they can connect with each other (sort of - some of the cool features it offers have been turned off by the district because of misuse by students), and we can collect homework and assignments online in an organized fashion. The kids can have discussions similar to Facebook discussions. And most importantly, the kids get their grades the moment I finish grading an assignment they completed. No more waiting a month to get their essay back! And bonus- they can read my handwriting, because my comments are all typed! Some teachers are not into it because they think it's something extra they are now being asked to do, and because it makes them even more connected to students on their time off, which they are weary of. I hear this, but no one says you have to answer a kid's question late at night. No one says you even have to check!

My Big Campus is an awesome way for me to go paperless. I am making a huge effort in heading this way. Because when my students heard me say the words "eventually" some of them groaned, as if they've heard this - or a promise like it - before. Now I am determined to make it a reality by the time my student teacher comes in two weeks.

This is a picture of my grandfather, me when I was 4 or 5 and my aunt, who died in 1997.

Today would have been my Grandpa's 88th birthday. He died in 2003. He was a good man. May he continue to rest in peace.