Agenda: Week of Monday/Tuesday November 22/23, 2010

Quote of the Week:  "I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land." - Jon Stewart

Monday:
We'll check out the pictures we took from last Friday.  They were outstanding!

We'll also watch a TED Talk from J.J. Abrams called, "The Magic Box."
J.J. Abrams traces his love for the unseen mystery –- a passion that’s evident in his films and TV shows, including Cloverfield, Lost and Alias -- back to its magical beginnings.

As the Emmy-winning creator of the smart, addictive TV dramas Lost, Alias and Felicity, J.J. Abrams' name looms large on the small screen. As the writer/director behind the blockbuster explode-a-thon Mission: Impossible III, Cloverfield and the new Star Trek movie, these days Abrams also rules the big screen -- bringing his eye for telling detail and emotional connection to larger-than-life stories.

Abrams' enthusiasm -- for the construction of Kleenex boxes, for the quiet moments between shark attacks in Jaws, for today's filmmaking technologies, and above all for the potent mystery of an unopened package -- is incredibly infectious.

"As a boy, JJ Abrams was fascinated with magic. As a television writer, director, and producer, he has beguiled audiences with a masterful use of suspense, plot reversals, and special effects."

Wired
Tuesday:
Tutoring or - if there isn't much to do with tutoring, since we are heading towards a break -
We'll check out this 7 minute video:


We will have a socratic discussion about the video and the state of education/technology.

After watching it two things popped into my mind:

1) Moderation is very important.

2) Kids are losing the (already inhibited ability) to moderate.

 

What would our campus look like if cell phones were not banned?  I would think it would be a mess.  But, I don't know.

 

I know one thing for sure, kids know how to use technology to entertain themselves and communicate with friends.  But, do they know how to use it for their advantage to learn and do their school work (and later college work) in a more efficient way? 

 

Part of our job is going to be explaining how to balance life so that they get a boost from technology and not just have it sap their attention and ability.

HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING!

AVID Article in Local Paper

Today an article was published in the local paper about AVID and the upcoming AVID job fair.  


Mr. Duez and Ms. Tibbetts (seen in the picture to the right) were quoted a few times in the story.  I think the author Mike Morris did a GREAT job.  He captured AVID perfectly.  Thanks to him for helping us get the word out about the program and finding tutors to help our kids.


Here is a link and part of the story:  Ultimate Lake Houston - Humble ISD AVID Program Focuses on Potential

July 29, 2010 10:50 am

 

Mike Morris wrote:

The Humble Independent School District will hold a job fair on Aug. 12 for tutors interesting in assisting its AVID program, an effort aimed at helping students reach their full academic potential.

The program, Advancement Via Individual Determination, targets students who are capable of challenging themselves in school but may not be doing so. These kids are then enrolled in honors courses and supported with small-group tutoring and a study-skills curriculum. The ultimate goal is success at a four-year university.

AVID, starting its fourth year in Humble ISD, is now offered as an elective class in every middle and high school. Central to the effort are the college and some advanced high school students who visit AVID classes twice each week to tutor small groups of pupils as they transition to tougher coursework.

The job fair will be held 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the board room at the Administration Building, 20200 Eastway Village Drive. All tutors receive 16 hours of training in AVID techniques, and are paid for their time.

Returning tutor Raisa Byers, 21, a student at Houston Baptist University, said the work involves some social guidance as well as academic counseling.

“It’s so much more than you helping them with their homework,” she said. “To have someone besides their family to encourage them and be a positive influence in their life, it really does make a difference to see how much kids need that, how important it is to them.”

Byers and her 80 or so fellow tutors across the district work with four to seven kids in each AVID class. Their students must come to each session with at least two questions about their coursework.

“I’ve helped a student on their homework or review for a test and then they come back the next week with an A on their paper and say, ‘You helped me with this,’” Byers said. “To know that you’re helping a child succeed academically and personally and socially — it’s so rewarding.”

The tutoring is about collaboration, not giving hints, said Susan Tibbetts, who coordinates the AVID program throughout Humble ISD.

“It’s teaching them to think ahead about the questions that they have in their courses and then helping them figure out . . . how to find the answers on their own,” Tibbetts said. “The other members of the group will say, ‘Have you checked your notes? What about this?’ They question them to death and they eventually figure out the answer.”

This approach appears to be working. Sixty percent of AVID graduates enroll in four-year colleges, according to the Humble ISD figures. Another third initially enroll in community colleges; many later transition to four-year schools, Tibbetts said. Almost 90 percent of AVID graduates who enroll in college graduate.

“A lot of them, I would say almost without exception, didn’t realize they had the potential,” Tibbetts said. “They just didn’t realize that they needed to be in the advanced class.”

This success doesn’t happen magically, however. Supporting the students is a lot of work, said David Duez, an Atascocita High School history and AVID teacher.

Not only do AVID teachers work closely with the students for four years, counseling them through hard times personally and academically, Duez said, but AVID teachers also must monitor all of their 60 or more AVID students’ grades.

“Teachers come to me and they say, ‘What’s going on with Billy?’ or, ‘What’s going on with José?’ They want to know that from me before they even call home,” Duez said.

Despite the taxing transition to a more emotionally demanding role, Duez said the aim of the program and the success it fosters keep him motivated. He would have been an AVID kid growing up, he said.

“The biggest thing that has kept me going with AVID is the mission behind it and what it is that we’re trying to build, for not just each individual student but for our school and our community,” Duez said. “What AVID does is remind everyone we really should be asking more from these kids.”

It was very cool to be interviewed about AVID and I was honored to represent the program.  A couple of years ago I was interviewed by the local Kingwood cable channel about the program and tutoring as well.  You can see that interview here:  http://avidahs.blogspot.com/2008/09/tv-interview.html


Last year I was interviewed by another local paper because of our AVID program's involvement in Road Trip Nation.  You can see that article here:  http://avidahs.blogspot.com/2009/12/road-trip-nation-article-about-ahs-in.html 


Related articles by Zemanta

• Average students shine with help from AVID program (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Dewan Woods, Underprivileged Student, Gets Extra College Help From Teachers, Community (huffingtonpost.com)
• AVID is a proven education investment in helping students succeed (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

AVID Tutoring

This is a link to last summer's AVID Access newsletter about tutoring:
http://www.avid.org/dl/abo_access/access_15-2.pdf

Agenda: Tue, 27, Oct 2009

Quote of the Day: 

“Be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion be your tutor: suit the action to the word, the word to the action.” - William Shakespeare

Today we will be tutoring.

Bring a great question and be ready to help others.

Wed/Thu October 21/22, 2009

Quote of the Day: "A true friend is one soul in two bodies." - Aristotle

Sophomores on Wednesday
Agenda:
1.  Tutoring
2.  Road Trip Nation:  Lesson 2 ~ "Lesson 2 : Don't Fall Asleep at the Wheel"
We will watch the lesson on DVD and then write our answers to these two questions and discuss:

1. Imagine your life if you could follow your dreams.  What would it look like?  What would you be doing? How would you be contributing to the world?  In the space below, describe what your life would be like if you could do anything.
2. How have you actively engaged in your life today?  When have you felt most alive and in line with your true self?  Describe a time when it felt like you were living the dream. 

Remember Baron Wolman, the Rolling Stone Photographer?  He is a perfect example of "Don't Fall Asleep at the Wheel."  He has taken advantage of those moments in his life when he's had his chances.  Whether it was "being where the action was" in college with politics and being class president.  Or "being where the action was" by joining a special forces group to become a military spy.  Or "being where the action was" by taking photographs of the Berlin Wall.  Or taking advantage of his opportunities by becoming a Rolling Stone photographer.  Check out his story here (especially if you were absent and missed class):  Baron Wolman Interview from 2008 Road Trip Nation

Juniors on Thursday

Agenda:
1.  Tutoring.  
2.  "Watch "I have a dream" speech by Martin Luther King.  Follow along with the words of the speech.  Annotate & mark the text.  Write questions in the margin that you are needing answered.  Discuss after wards parts that you may not have understood or want to emphasize.
3.  Using the ACR Curriculum (AVID College Readiness Curriculum) we will do the first assignment that was given last period - the "Friendly Letter" assignment.  Instead of writing it out of class we will write it on Friday in class.  
Prompt: Your chosen leader (MLK) had major concerns about problems, issues, or events that occurred during the period in which he or she lived. After studying one of these and the leader’s life, prepare a friendly letter, written as if it were from the leader to a specific audience, in which he or she discusses the problem related to an issue or event and some of the possible causes and suggests a solution. Both the problem and the solution must be consistent with the leader’s views, actions, and goals—and the historical period.

Thoughts from Lauren @ A&M

I wrote to Lauren and wished her much success at Texas A&M this year. She wrote back and said this:

Thank you Mr. Duez I am so excited!! And I will give you a call when I come home. However I do have a friday afternoon class this semester so it will probably be close to Christmas break before I can come back and see yall at school. But tell all my AVID kids good luck this year and to stay focused :)

Can't wait to see her near Christmas and find out how everything went. We will miss her tutoring expertise!