Bragging (Just a Little)

I must say that one of the perks of working in education is the extended breaks!!! After a long overdue, two-week vacation, I was extremely reluctant to return to work on Monday, January 7th. Monday was a Teacher Workday. Those days were created to give teachers the advantage of organizing rooms, attending professional development trainings and meetings. On Tuesday, January 8th, the children returned, fully motivated, dressed in Jordans, new weaves and new attitudes!!!! I had prepared myself to reprogram students that had been deprogrammed by parents, grandparents, late night television and the lack of structure. I was expecting the worst outcome for my students. That is so unlike me. I teach excellence with no excuses. I give my best every day and I expect the same. I had to quickly reclaim my position and my thoughts.



In November, a veteran 4th grade teacher and I began a pilot project to integrate technology into the classroom through cross curricula studies. I designed a project for a fourth class to create a business. The students were required to create a business plan, a form of multi-media advertisement, salary comparison analysis, professional questionnaire, business model/replica and product samples. I began to teach the students about entrepreneurship, business plan development, web page design and business etiquette in November. The students were given a rubric for the project with a due date of January 8th. The students immediately became motivated and spent countless hours in the computer lab researching and working on their projects.



During the break, I wondered if the students would have the motivation and discipline to work on their projects. I thought that maybe it was a bad decision to give a due date that would require students to be prepared to present their first day back from their Holiday Break. The demographics of this 4th grade class is extremely diverse in race, economics and academic progress. To contrast, a factor remains constant amongst this group……the desire to learn and to see beyond Flat Shoals Elementary School. On January 8, 2007, to my surprise, a 4th grade class caught a glimpse of hope. I have proof that this group of students will be unstoppable. My once pessimistic spirit of the generations that will one day run this country in the future have been put to rest. Students came dressed and prepared to present there authentic business ideas with confidence!!! It was a moving experience. I have included pictures of the students business model replicas in this posting. Some of the students created web sites for their business! I will post the business plans at a later date. Enjoy!!!