I went to a training in Dallas over the weekend for Pre-AP and AP English teachers. I know it probably sounds boring, but it was actually very good information. And I stayed at a nice hotel with another young English teacher that went to Abilene High. We did some shopping in the North Park mall (mostly just looking; it was all pretty expensive), and we ate dinner one night at P.F. Changs.
I left the conference feeling like I just received a wealth of valuable information and sat at the feet of some very experienced teachers trying to soak in what it is that makes them so good. I came back with some ideas of things I want to implement into my classroom. Today I tried a new kind of class discussion in my Pre-AP class over the story Flowers for Algernon. I think it went pretty well. I had them come up with the questions, and several of them were better than any I could think of. It's hard to give everyone a chance to talk in that class, though, because there are 33 of them. But at least they all listened and took notes when they weren't talking.
Last night Brandon and I went to the ACU Athletics Christmas party. We always do a white elephant gift exchange. Last year I took some fairly good gifts for $10 each, and we left with a toy camera and a jock that had "ACU Wildcat Supporter" painted on it. This year, however, we came out on top. The jock was regifted, of course, and Brandon and I got the DVD The Italian Job and a fleece Christmas blanket. To celebrate our winnings, we wrapped up in the blanket and watched our new movie last night. I love Christmas time!
