Working together to transition freshmen & transform schools from the bottom up!

January 2009 Blog Posts (6)

Billy's Story - Sometimes You Just Have to Sing for What Is Possible

Billy grew up in the days of segregation, and he lived on the south side of Main Street. The big, white Baptist Church was on the north side. First Baptist, the black church, was much smaller and just down Broad Street about two blocks on the south side. He lived on south Market Street just a couple of blocks from the newly integrated high school and the intermediate school, which just a couple of years before had been the black high school in our town.

Some days, he was not in school or… Continue

Added by Ray Moore on January 31, 2009 at 12:24am — 2 Comments

Matt's Story - Turning Defeat Into Victory

On Friday, I introduced my students to Matt as a Do Now assignment. I related the following story and asked them to give at least a 10-word summary of each the two “chapters” involved in Matt’s story. As a homework assignment, they were to relate the story of someone they knew who had been knocked down, but who got back up.

Matt graduated a little over ten years ago from our school. He had academic struggles, but he was the best basketball player in his class. He also worked hard at… Continue

Added by Ray Moore on January 26, 2009 at 10:04pm — 2 Comments

Former Students Who Live Lives of Greatness

I am not sure if anyone is interested in hearing about some of the students that our school helped nurture, but I intend to post the stories of some of them. Some are recent graduates, but some graduated before I ever began teaching decades ago. One place that I intend to look for ideas is our alumni association Hall of Fame.

The one former student who is interesting me tremendously right now is 85 years old. He is fairly unknown to many who… Continue

Added by Ray Moore on January 24, 2009 at 11:30pm — 1 Comment

Teaching Students to Live Lives of Greatness

I am concerned about the belief systems that so many of my students have. The vast majority of them sell themselves short. They lack the concept that their life is a gift to the world. They think they are ordinary and that they do not make a big difference in the world.

The result is devastating. That is why many don't try. It is why they indulge in a whole spectrum of risky behaviors. They don't take the kind of risks that we would like them to take either. That is the kind of risk… Continue

Added by Ray Moore on January 15, 2009 at 4:47pm — 3 Comments

YOU can’t meet the needs of your freshmen or transition them into high school.

That’s right – YOU can’t meet the needs of your freshmen or transition them into high school; however, the needs of freshmen can be met and freshmen can be transitioned into high school.

The key word in those sentences above was YOU. In this case, the word YOU was being used in its singular form, and in a singular sense, no individual teacher can meet the needs of freshmen. The Freshman Problem is too big of a problem in today’s schools for an individual to tackle and conquer. If… Continue

Added by Scott Habeeb on January 11, 2009 at 7:25pm — No Comments

Your course content isn't that important!

Ok, so actually it is very important, but I thought the title might get your attention. So now that you're reading, let me explain what I mean.

Let's think about Freshman Transition. As educators of freshmen we have a mission and a purpose that goes beyond our classroom content. Classroom content is a part of it, but our mission and purpose is much bigger. We are foundation builders. We are laying the foundation for a student's academic career, and we are laying the foundation for… Continue

Added by Scott Habeeb on January 4, 2009 at 10:24pm — No Comments