The decorations in our classroom are different from most elementary rooms, but that's another thing that sets us apart from the rest. It also gives students a feeling of spending their school days in a unique home. Some of the little things help reinforce our history theme.
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"If your uniform isn't dirty, you haven't been in the game."
(Ben Bernanke) When I started teaching at Cecil Floyd in 1995, things looked a lot different in my classroom - and in our school. Here is the first item on a short list that comes to mind.  Rewards
During my first year at Cecil Floyd, a local television channel sponsored a classroom video competition. Every week, a $100 prize winner would be selected, and eventually, a $1,000 prize was offered to the overall best video. Lo and behold, this guy who just showed up submitted the winning video (of the iconic Hoggatt Cave), and earned the big prize. I wanted to include my class in the reward, so I did something that wasn't heard of as a prize in Joplin at the time. I hired a limousine and took my class to McDonald's in style. Now, at least pre-COVID, the limo ride to get pizza is a standard prize for fundraiser sales, but my class was the first to pull up to a stop light and ask the car next to us for some Grey Poupon. Talk about a trend setter!
All entrants had to answer a simple essay question: Describe an example where you’ve encouraged your students to use their imaginations to creatively solve problems, including your own creativity in presenting curriculum in a new and inspiring way[.] Right now, I am considering the possibility of accepting should the offer be made, the awarding of which happens after the scheduled last day of school (unless we have to make up some days for weather or other reasons).
This history activity after the break was met with mixed results. I wanted students to work together and remember the things we've been over during this school year. For that, I made sets of hexagons with some vocabulary words and topics printed on them. Students were expected to make connections between the hexagons. This was a new method of review for students, so they needed more guidance than I expected. We will definitely revisit the material and the method soon.
Our second quarter Honor Roll earners are listed below. We worked really hard to balance ourselves amidst interruptions and holidays. It can be tough for everybody involved, but we're halfway through this fourth grade year.
One question from the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute application deals with how I can share the information from the institute upon return home. Without regular school involvement next year, I needed to revise my answer to this question since the last time I applied and was accepted.
More importantly is the reach of my professional website and blog at hoggatteer.weebly.com. I have maintained the extensive site for several years now, updating the blog daily with reports, reflections, interesting information, and lesson sets. I would invite your attention to the lessons I have developed for our history classes at https://hoggatteer.weebly.com/uniting-the-states.html. Additionally, please consider the reports I have kept for other teacher institute institutes I have been privileged to attend. For Mount Vernon, find https://hoggatteer.weebly.com/george-washington-and-mount-vernon.html, and for Fort Ticonderoga, go to https://hoggatteer.weebly.com/americas-fort.html. Since being accepted for the 2020 teacher institute at Colonial Williamsburg, I also created a page for it: https://hoggatteer.weebly.com/colonial-williamsburg-teacher-institute.html. Thousands of teachers, parents, students, and others peruse and use the site and the materials I openly and freely share. Previous teacher institutes were incredible - probably the most valuable of my career - and changed my teaching; I will definitely add to the Williamsburg page with my experiences there. I handed in my resignation The date was Friday, January 7, 2022 A single sheet of white paper printed on the copy machine in the teachers lounge A single piece of paper Simple questions Why are you resigning? Answer: retirement Not much more than that All I needed to do was hand it to my immediate supervisor So I did  It shouldn't have been difficult
Just extend a hand with the paper in it Extend it toward the principal Smile Release the page when the principal has it in his grasp Should be easy Should be easy Should be easy NOT that easy I guess I hadn't envisioned the simple event Thought it was simple enough The principal happens to enter the room for another reason, and I quickly decide to "rip off the bandaid" I matter-of-factly pick up the paper and hand it in his direction He says he doesn't want it I say I don't really want to give it to him Something crashes inside of me and rushes upwards into my eyes That lump suddenly appears in the throat The eyes expand The tear ducts threaten to open like a spillway He reacts as he should I shuffle him out of the room and continue teaching the class Slowly at first The lump is still there Slow to shrink A hitch is in the voice Keep teaching At lunch, someone asks how things are going I can't talk I don't want to talk about it I would, but I can't without breaking I force myself to tell others about it The more I talk, the better it will get Right? Right? Until I get home and tell my wife, "I handed him my retirement paper, today" And the emotion burns in my face Can't look her in the eyes I break Again We embrace She didn't expect that reaction from me Hadn't thought I would react that way Neither had I, I say It will not be the last time A 32-year career Ended with a single piece of white paper A single sheet of white paper printed on the copy machine in the teachers lounge The date was Friday, January 7, 2022 The day I handed in my resignation “We simply cannot expect to refine the substance of character from husks of pleasure.”
(Gordon B. Hinckley) It doesn't take much to update my application for the teacher institute at Colonial Williamsburg for 2022. As a matter of fact, the question about my educational philosophy hasn't really changed much through the years. A poem by Wendell Berry says, "The impeded stream is the one that sings." Much of my personal teaching philosophy is rooted in that thought - the belief that obstacles and struggles make us stronger people.
The history of our nation illustrates my teaching philosophy well. I use it to inspire a mindset that struggle begets reward, that freedom requires investment, that hard work and perseverance result in success, that giving up is a weak choice, and that mistakes are stepping stones to understanding. I lead my students to embrace the challenge and value the climb. In this, I have been successful with students from diverse backgrounds and those who come to me with a wide range of levels of achievement and motivation. My efforts to confront students with a unique experience are genuine, creative, and unique. I leave students with a mindset of continuous improvement and the mettle to learn more. I rest easier when they do, finishing the day with a satisfying fatigue and knowing I have made a positive difference that affects our community and our world. As I approach retirement, I look forward to having more time to perpetuate my teaching philosophy with new teachers and veteran teachers at multiple grade levels.  With all of the paperwork submitted, this thing called retirement is becoming more and more real. Admittedly, in addition, it's also a little daunting. Everything we do from here on out will be the last time. Last parties. Last standardized tests. Last parent conferences. Last report cards. The last last day of school. I really had not thought in those terms until the Christmas party.
But now that it's official with the state (and soon with the district), I've begun to look at everything in a new light. It has been a long time since I've had to apply for a job, and many things along those lines have changed. In fact, as the end of my chosen career comes closer, I find myself fondly looking forward to the change and back at many things: changes in technology, changes in culture, the events that have made history in the last 32 years, and all the opportunities of which I've been able to take advantage. A hearty welcome is extended to the newest members
of the Hoggatteer family: RAMONA and PAYTON. Our wish is for you to feel at home in our classroom, to feel at ease with making mistakes, and to desire to constantly improve on your abilities. Our fourth grade classroom is happier with you in it. Originally posted 7/7/2015  Our ultimate goal is for you to S.O.A.R. - Show respect, Observe safety, Accept responsibility, and Resolve conflict. Just as a real eagle stretches its wings and soars on air currents, we want you to reach new heights as you soar in the classroom. You have some responsibility in making that happen with maturity and pride:
 It's really not hard to figure this out.
When you put your lunch in a Thermos or one of those padded, insulated lunch bags, the intention is to keep that lunch at its original, intended temperature. If you put it in the bag cold, it should stay cold. If you put it in there warm, the idea is that the insulation will keep it warm. Simple. But if you put it in the insulated bag and then place it into the refrigerator in the faculty lounge, it's really taking up more space than necessary. In fact, if you're putting it into the refrigerator, the goal is to keep it safely cold until you need it for lunch...so why insulate the food from the cold temperature of the refrigerator? See what I mean? It doesn't make sense to put something into the cold compartment of the refrigerator and then insulate it from the cold! The bags in our faculty refrigerator end up taking up so much more space than is necessary, and that's just inconsiderate. But you haven't thought about it that way, have you? |
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History in ResidenceElementary Schools: Bring Mr. Hoggatt into your classroom for a week of engaging and rigorous history programming with your students. LEARN MORE BUILDING BETTER
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