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Mark McConnell was an unknown student at a few universities. I started at the Colorado School of Mines, where I failed abysmally. Seeing this as an opportunity to achieve my lifetime dream, he joined the U.S. Navy to "sea" the world. (read sarcasm into the preceding sentence) Eventually, I was stationed in Sicily. I hated being so far from home, not knowing the language, how dirty the place was. Still, it was true, I wanted to see the world. I had been on a class tour of England while still in High School and loved it. So, during my last year in Sicily, I took 3 months of leave (I had saved up that much) to tour Europe via Eurail Pass. I had a first class ticket, which my father had helped procure for me. I visited most of the western European nations, and a couple of the eastern nations, before the fall of the Berlin Wall. I really enjoyed that part of my tour in Sicily.
After three years, I moved back to the United States, where I was stationed on the Naval Air Test Center Patuxent River, MD. There, I attended the Charles County Community College and found out I really could do Calculus. I also found out I had no interest in doing business courses. Money did not make sense to me. So, I had to make up my mind before I completed my second tour of duty in the Navy what I would do.
I returned to Colorado and attended the Community College of Aurora, and received my Associates Degree with a 4.0 GPA., excelling in my favorite subjects, History and Geography. I was accepted in the University of Colorado, and majored in History while earning enough credits in Geography to get a minor (before the campus offered minor programs).
Next, I was accepted in the University of Colorado's Teachers Education Program, and trained to become an Elementary Education Teacher. Through a few pitfalls, I finally achieved the status of Colorado State Certified Elementary Teacher in 1994. After receiving my certificate, I substituted for a few months.
In 1994, I moved to Hotevilla, AZ, where I have taught for the last 7 years. Six years ago, one of my students published a poem in the Arizona Department of Education Poetry Anthology. Three of the last six years, I have sent students to the Arizona Geography Bee. This was quite an honor, since only 100 students in the state pass the test to go to the Bee.
During the years 1997-99, I was the Media and Technology Committee Chairman. The committee spearheaded technology coordination at HBCS. At the same time, I was honored with additional duties at my school as the school Network Administrator. This gave me a chance to help install the school's initial network backbone. We had 9 classrooms and the office area all set up for a local area network during the fall of 1997, and by the following spring, we had our first internet access via a permanent link 56k line connection. This was used mainly by the administration and teachers.
In my sixth year teaching, 1999-2000, I moved down to teach fifth graders. It has been a blast! They actually like to learn things. They were my hardest working group of students in 7 years so far. I wonder if this is just because they are a year younger, or just who they are? I was also named as the co-administrator for the Accelerated Reader program, which was in it's third year at that time. One of my main tasks were to lead the schoolwide assessment of students in reading and in math.
I found out in 2000-2001, it was because they were who they are. I taught them 6th grade Mathematics, along with the 7th graders. I also taught 5th through 7th Grade Science and 7th Grade Social Studies. Finally, I was the school's computer lab instructor. Another busy year on the Hopi reservation. =)
For the 2001-2002 school year, I have moved back to my hometown, and am teaching 6th Grade in Byers. We have at least 2 classes per grade level. I have a class of 21 students now, which is cool. It's my second largest class I've taught. This class is very bright, and picks up writing and reading things very well. I've met some new people here that make it enjoyable to teach in the vicinity.
In my second year at Byers Elementary School, I was moved to a larger classroom. I got a new 6th grade teaching partner who was an incredible teacher. Josiann really got what it took to teach adolescents. Understanding, knowledge, caring and perseverence. She was a great partner who had to leave so she could work near her husband. At the same time, I added a new activity into my life. I started back in college to work on my Master of Arts in Education. My focus was on Administration and Supervision. I immediately had some difficulties, since it was necessary for me to miss one of the sessions of my first class, and in that particular class, I wasn't supposed to miss anything. However, after that miscue, I got going, and my return to college in 2003 seemed pretty good.
During the 2003 - 2004 school year, I was fully into my masters program at the University of Phoenix. By the beginning of the school year, I was started on my action-research project, my principal's internship and my regular coursework. Meanwhile, for the third time in three years, I got a new teaching partner. Around mid-year, she had to leave for health reasons, and the school hired another young teacher who not only taught a strong English and Writing course, but also added French to many of the 6th graders options in language. While this year was difficult, it was somewhat satisfying by the successes we had in Math and Reading. Away from school, I developed cataracts this last year. I had to have surgery, but both of my eyes have been fixed, and now I can see clearly without my glasses! YAY!
I got to work with one of my best behaved classes in 2004 - 2005. Not only that, but since their behavior was so well controlled, we were able to put more effort into working on advanced academics, such as how to use notes you have taken to prepare for a social studies test, or how to use various aspects of algebra in Mathematics. That year, I got to work with my first ever student teacher, who was really awesome. She has since moved to a school in the town where she lives. I wish her the best. I also had the opportunity to assist the principal when she was absent by being her administrator in charge. I really enjoyed the opportunities it presented. Now if I could only win the Lotto or Powerball.
My last year in Byers, I worked with a class that was a bit more challenging. This class had many athletes in it, and it had some good students, but the student leadership in the class was nowhere near the height that I had year before. So, we spent much time working on helping build students' reading skills. I think they were pretty good in content area studies, such as Science and Social Studies, but they needed some work to be a top performing CSAP class. Hopefully they met those skills in seventh grade. I also was sent for training on Dibbles, which is a great reading fluency test, and I wish that more schools used it.
Due to financial concerns, I chose to teach in Aurora this year. I had 27 students at one point, and they were a challenging class. Some of them were used to running amok within the building. Fortunately, between the foundation that was set up by their previous teacher, Mike Warner, and my own experience, I think we were able to see some sufficient growth academically that many of those kids will do well as they get older. Still, I know I could have done more. My principal, Kaye Penn, sent me off to a Principals' conference so that I might become better prepared for principal interviews. It almost worked even. I came close to getting a job one place. Maybe in 2008.
This year, I am teaching a much smaller class. It has varied in size from 17 - 20, spending most of the time at 19. I really enjoy working with my lower ability students, because most of them are really hard workers that just need the proper facilitation to get them where they need to be. I have one or two students with difficult behavior, but even they are both working on improving. My new principal this year, Jan Lotter, seems ready to help us as needed, and yet seems confident enough to let us try our new teaching methods we have been getting through our professional development.
Written and maintained by Mark McConnell
Last modified on July 11, 2008