Relyn over at Come Sit By My Fire sent me some questions to answer about myself. I have never done anything like this before and was a little nervous... but the questions were great! Here are my answers... hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed answering them.

1. You have a terrific playlist on your blog and obviously love music. Tell us a bit about your favorites. Favorite band? album? song? Give us a list.


I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE music. There are just too many bands, albums, songs to list!!! What I don't like is heavy metal and most rap and opera. I love everything else! My moods are very mercurial and so is my music taste, so it tends to vary from day to day. I love the playlist idea and have quite a few different ones. For my blog I have kept it kind of introspective and seasonal. For my Facebook playlist though I have close to 100 different songs- lots of Bon Jovi, Mellencamp, Van Halen, U2, INXS, Chicago, Bare Naked Ladies, REM, Jimmy Buffett, and showtunes. I also like Gwen Stefani, Sheryl Crowe, Pink, Coldplay. The Fray, Matchbox 20, and a lot of the bands my teenaged daughter listens to (The Killers, We the Kings, Bayside). I like to to just put on my playlists as background music as I work or clean or even at school. Like most people, I love that music can transport me to a particular memory. When I hear a particular song~ boom~ I'm back there!


2. You've been teaching for 25 years. Yikes!! 25 years teaching sounds so "school marmish". Yes, I have been teaching special ed for 25 years. I have taught all grades K-8 and currently teach 7th and 8th grade language arts classes- which I love. My classes can have and do have most disabilities in them from behavior to emotional to learning to physically handicapped kids. It can be a challenge.
What has changed the most about teaching in that time?

Interesting question, Relyn... (here comes the soapbox for me to stand on) I think the thing that has changed the most about teaching is that the No Child Left Behind has made teaching a data driven profession where test results are the "end all be all" instead of fostering the love of learning. For me personally, NCLB totally runs (or is that ruins) special ed. There is not much time anymore to do the "fun" yet educational creative activities the kids used to love. Starting about now is "test prep" season when we really have to step it up with the packets and vocab and questions and writing to make sure that the students are ready for The Test in March. Most of the kids, as well as the teachers, hate this! For special ed, even my instructional students who are nowhere near grade level HAVE to take their grade level test and pass it! No pressure there (said extremely sarcastically). Is that ludicrous or what??? They wouldn't need to be in my class if they were successful and at their grade level in the first place! Anyway- maybe (hopefully) with the new administration in Washington, maybe NCLB can be tweaked or re-written or something to make sure data takes more of a backseat to having the kids want to become lifetime learners (off the soapbox now).


The other thing that has changed the most is the number of inexperienced administrators that are out there. My dad was an elementary school principal and at the end of his career, an Assistant Superintendent. He is what I hold all administrators up against to compare. Hardly any administrators fare well in my estimation! My personal thoughts are that in order to become an administrator, like the government positions, there should be age and experience stipulations. To be principal you should be 35 and have 10 years in the classroom. For Superintendent, be 50 years old and have been a school principal for 10. Just my thoughts...

Of course, the other thing that has changed the most is technology. It is here to stay but can be overwhelming at times to keep up with. The younger teachers- no problem, but some of us "veterans" are having difficulty staying on top of it (even with my Computer Education Masters degree). I think you really have to want to embrace technology and also use the computer in your outside life as well for it to become an effective tool in the classroom.


What has changed the most about the students? I guess I would have to say the biggest change still is the outside peer pressure influences, what's on tv and technology. Society forces kids to grow up earlier and earlier and that effect is felt in the school system. The whole idea of dealing with cyberbullies and the lure of Internet are definitely real and not something we dealt with even as little as 5 years ago. I know that issue is NOT going away and schools are going to have to come up with policies that include cyberspace. (On the flipside, the Internet offers such a wide variety of incredible resources and information that the students can access as long as they are correctly taught and monitored.)


3. And, what hasn't changed at all?


The students themselves haven't changed too much. Being in a middle school and seeing what goes on- adolescence is still as awkward and hard as it was when we all were growing up- that part has not changed at all. I deal with lots of unmotivated kids- that has not changed- they would still rather be playing video games or watching tv; to be anywhere but school.

I think being a teacher is one of the most fun professions there is! I have been in 3 different districts in my career and each district has different ways of doing things and it's own set of issues, but what is the same across the board is the sense of fellowship from the staff. I love going into a school- it's like its own little community. There's usually such a feeling camaraderie in a school that you often don't find in other work places. There's a sense of fun and friendship that often comes with this job- a feeling of "we're all in this together." I have been fortunate because I have always loved who I have worked with. There's a lot of talented and dedicated educators out there (yourself included, Relyn).

I really enjoy doing what I do and being around middle schoolers (You couldn't be in education this long if you didn't enjoy it). I feel very energized being at school each day and I think working with kids has helped keep me feeling "young."




4. You love poetry and even write a little. What is your life poem? The one that you wish you had written? I do love poetry- I am not good at writing it, but I do love it. I would have to say my life poem, of course, is not finished yet...It would be rather long with lots of different stanzas; each stanza written in a different color. It would be totally written e.e. cummings style with no capital letters and punctuation marks. There would be many misspelled words in it- lots of imperfections... and it would be a combination of a Robert Frost poem and a Shel Silverstein poem all written in free verse.


5. I know you participate in swaps, and so many of us haven't. Tell us what you like about swaps. Also, if you will, please give us the scoop on the unwritten rules of swaps.


Well~ I have really only participated in 2 swaps, but have just signed up for a third; The Vintage Spring Sweetness one over at A Swap For All Seasons. The swaps are a lot of fun! For the Autumn Swap, the "hostess" paired us up with a partner. We got the partner's e-mail and spent some time getting to know the person through e-mails and a list of questions the hostess provided. The swap theme of course was autumn and we had to make some aspect of it. Creativity was encouraged! There was a price list of $20.00 before shipping and the boxes all needed to ship out on the same day. Posting pictures of the goodies were encouraged as well. The hostess also offered some contests and giveaways and had lots of seasonal inspirations that she posted as well. What's not to love about receiving a box of seasonal treasures? The other swap was a virtual Blogland swap of autumn table ideas and recipes. On a certain day we posted pictures and our recipes then took turns visiting each other's blogs and commenting. Both were very fun! A major "unwritten" rule is to follow through. If you sign up for something, make sure you do it! If not, some hostesses say they will publicly post your blog address and name as being a slacker. What I liked about the swaps was seeing all the ideas and creativity from so many different people and getting to know my swap partner through her blog and e-mails.

Thanks so much for the questions Relyn! They were extremely thought-provoking and I enjoyed answering them. If anyone wants to be" interviewed" as I was, the rules are below.
Please consider playing along!

Instructions
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.