Students, click the link below to let us know what you want to get from PCHS. How can we help you be more prepared for the future you envision for yourself? Parents, we want to hear from you, too. You entrust us with your most valuable possession under the understanding that we will do what is best for them. Tell us what you want.
www.wallwisher.com/wall/mrogle
I look forward to hearing from you. With your help, we can make PCHS successful beyond our wildest dreams.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
What do I have to do?
We discussed a story in my English 10L class yesterday that really started me thinking about the mistakes that I see so many students make in regards to how they view their goals in life. In the story, a young boy wishes to win a game of hide-and-seek with a group of older kids so that he would be accepted as one of them. He knew that he was always regarded as being "lesser" by the older children because he was not able to compete and win the way they did. In order to accomplish his goal, he showed great determination and personal courage (two traits I admire greatly) by hiding in a extremely hot, uncomfortable shed in spite of his fear of the dark and anything that could be lurking nearby. The mistake this character made, however, is that he was so focused on his greater goal of "winning" that he never took the time to formulate a step-by-step plan of what he needed to do to win. He hid in the shed so long that the game ended, and his playmates moved on to other activities. In fact, he hid in there for so long that they completely forgot about him. It wasn't until he emerged from the shed that he realized he had missed his opportunity to win by being too far-sighted. I was happy to get the chance to have this discussion with my students because I know they all have great dreams for what life will be like when they are adults (nice house, nice car, fun vacations, etc.), but many of them fail to see all of the steps they need to take to get there.
I would like to hear what some of you have planned for yourself in the future and what steps do you see yourself needing to take to get there.
I would like to hear what some of you have planned for yourself in the future and what steps do you see yourself needing to take to get there.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Lean on Me
I just finished watching the movie Lean on Me, starring Morgan Freeman. The movie is about an inner-city high school plagued with gangs, drugs, and violence. Their test scores are dreadfully low, and the school faces being shutdown by the state. Morgan Freeman's character is recruited by the superintendent to come in as principal and turn things around. The movie was made in 1989, but I think the challenges Freeman's character faces, while far more extreme, are very similar to the ones we face today.
It was interesting for me to watch in light of all the discussions I have been having lately with Mr. Meister and other teachers in the building about how to improve our school. Some of the biggest things that we have talked about is community involvement, parental support, and student buy-in. In the movie, those are exactly the areas that Freeman's character focuses on, as well. He goes to extraordinary lengths to show the students that he cares about their future. He visits the home of a student whose mother says she can't take care of her anymore and offers to help the mother find a better job and a better place to live so that she could provide a better life for her daughter. He is a tough, demanding, unwavering disciplinarian, and at one point, almost his entire staff is on the verge of walking out on him because of his harsh approach towards motivating them to do better for their students, but he gets results.
I guess the biggest thing I got from the movie was a sense of motivation to try harder to reach my students, to impress upon them the importance of education, to continue to hold them to a higher standard, and to continue to push them until they meet that standard. Everyone in the movie thought he was the meanest, most selfish scoundrel imagineable to begin with, but when the school went from being a battlefield where no learning took place to one where students were excited to learn, it was all worth it.
It was interesting for me to watch in light of all the discussions I have been having lately with Mr. Meister and other teachers in the building about how to improve our school. Some of the biggest things that we have talked about is community involvement, parental support, and student buy-in. In the movie, those are exactly the areas that Freeman's character focuses on, as well. He goes to extraordinary lengths to show the students that he cares about their future. He visits the home of a student whose mother says she can't take care of her anymore and offers to help the mother find a better job and a better place to live so that she could provide a better life for her daughter. He is a tough, demanding, unwavering disciplinarian, and at one point, almost his entire staff is on the verge of walking out on him because of his harsh approach towards motivating them to do better for their students, but he gets results.
I guess the biggest thing I got from the movie was a sense of motivation to try harder to reach my students, to impress upon them the importance of education, to continue to hold them to a higher standard, and to continue to push them until they meet that standard. Everyone in the movie thought he was the meanest, most selfish scoundrel imagineable to begin with, but when the school went from being a battlefield where no learning took place to one where students were excited to learn, it was all worth it.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Your Ideas
Usually, my posts on here are my own thoughts and observations about life, love, and the plight of the duck-billed platapus, but today I want to ask you about a topic that has been at the center of some great conversations among members of the faculty here at PCHS recently. We have been spending a lot of time discussing the ways in which the current way of delivering instruction to students may or may not be the best, most effective, way of doing it. I'm not talking about, "Oh man, my English teacher is sooooo booooooring! All he does is talk about pronouns." I am talking about the kinds of classes we offer and the context in which those pesky pronouns are presented to you. Now, we have had one student join our discussion (this all takes place on Mr. Meister's blog, which you can link to through the high school's website), and I would encourage more of you to join in if you would like, but it occured to me that since I offer extra credit for responses on my blog, I might get a little more feedback. So, this is your opportunity to sound off and let us know what kinds of learning opportunities you would like to see in a perfect world.
I would remind you that chances to voice your opinions should be treated with ultimate responsibility. I often hear students complain about one thing or another in regards to how the school operates, but I must remind you that if you really do want your voice to be heard, you need to make sure you are speaking out as a young adult if you want to be taken seriously.
I would remind you that chances to voice your opinions should be treated with ultimate responsibility. I often hear students complain about one thing or another in regards to how the school operates, but I must remind you that if you really do want your voice to be heard, you need to make sure you are speaking out as a young adult if you want to be taken seriously.
Punctuating Dialogue
Creative Writing- Here is the link for the easy guide to punctuating dialogue that I talked about in class. I hope it helps with your revisions.
http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/writingexercises/qt/punctuation.htm
http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/writingexercises/qt/punctuation.htm
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Buzzer Beaters
"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once."
-Albert Einstein
I know Einstein was a genius and everything, but I think he missed on this one. It is a fact that time exists, but this year it feels like everything is happening at once. I feel like we just went over syllabi yesterday, yet here we are in the closing seconds of the first quarter. It seems like I am assigning work and then collecting it three weeks later with the feeling that no time had even passed since I assigned it. If that is how I feel, I can only imagine how you all must feel.
I see the look on students' faces when they realize that the mad dash we have all just survived has left them with grades they simply don't want to take home to mom and dad. For these students, I have a couple of pieces of advice.
The first is to let this be a lesson. In the fast-paced world of high school, and even moreso in the faster-paced world of the workplace, allowing yourself to get off-track or behind by losing track of your goals and priorities can have far-reaching effects. Sure, we all want to take time now and again to just relax and not worry about the things in our life that bring us stress, but the difference between those who succeed and those who just show up is that successful people put that relaxation time after their work. They realize that doing what you want to do is far more enjoyable and, frankly, possible once you have done what you need to do.
I hear a lot of people say, "You are only young once, so you might as well enjoy it." They use this as an excuse to blow off school work and other responsibilities, choosing instead to spend time pursuing unproductive leisure activities. These people rarely become successful because their way of prioritizing and viewing the world doesn't match up with what it takes to be successful. I think a better motto would be, "You are only young once, so make the most of it." Whether people realize it or not, what we do and who we decide to be when we are young sets the tone for our entire life. Sure, there are people who make big changes and turn their lives around, but many times those changes are cosmetic. Who they really are, the things that drive them, change very little. I'm not saying that you shouldn't have any fun while you are young, but if you have too much fun when you are young, you might squander away your chance at a fun and fulfilling adult life, which is a much larger portion of your life.
The other advice I would give to those who find themselves with grades below what they would want: Fight like heck until the final buzzer. You still have a couple of days before grades are final. Make sure you earn every point possible. Your teachers don't accept late work? Fine. You can't change the past, so just make sure tomorrow's assignment is done, and done right. If teachers offer extra credit, make sure you get it. Disclaimer: Most teachers hate it when students who have slacked all quarter come to them in the last few days begging for extra credit, so this only works when teachers (like me) have already stated that extra credit is available. If there is nothing you can do to salvage this grade, start concentrating on second quarter. Remember, semester grades are a combination of your quarter grades and your exam grade, so if you can excel over the next couple of months, this quarter's letter grade will never really matter.
The clock is running out. How bad do you want it?
-Albert Einstein
I know Einstein was a genius and everything, but I think he missed on this one. It is a fact that time exists, but this year it feels like everything is happening at once. I feel like we just went over syllabi yesterday, yet here we are in the closing seconds of the first quarter. It seems like I am assigning work and then collecting it three weeks later with the feeling that no time had even passed since I assigned it. If that is how I feel, I can only imagine how you all must feel.
I see the look on students' faces when they realize that the mad dash we have all just survived has left them with grades they simply don't want to take home to mom and dad. For these students, I have a couple of pieces of advice.
The first is to let this be a lesson. In the fast-paced world of high school, and even moreso in the faster-paced world of the workplace, allowing yourself to get off-track or behind by losing track of your goals and priorities can have far-reaching effects. Sure, we all want to take time now and again to just relax and not worry about the things in our life that bring us stress, but the difference between those who succeed and those who just show up is that successful people put that relaxation time after their work. They realize that doing what you want to do is far more enjoyable and, frankly, possible once you have done what you need to do.
I hear a lot of people say, "You are only young once, so you might as well enjoy it." They use this as an excuse to blow off school work and other responsibilities, choosing instead to spend time pursuing unproductive leisure activities. These people rarely become successful because their way of prioritizing and viewing the world doesn't match up with what it takes to be successful. I think a better motto would be, "You are only young once, so make the most of it." Whether people realize it or not, what we do and who we decide to be when we are young sets the tone for our entire life. Sure, there are people who make big changes and turn their lives around, but many times those changes are cosmetic. Who they really are, the things that drive them, change very little. I'm not saying that you shouldn't have any fun while you are young, but if you have too much fun when you are young, you might squander away your chance at a fun and fulfilling adult life, which is a much larger portion of your life.
The other advice I would give to those who find themselves with grades below what they would want: Fight like heck until the final buzzer. You still have a couple of days before grades are final. Make sure you earn every point possible. Your teachers don't accept late work? Fine. You can't change the past, so just make sure tomorrow's assignment is done, and done right. If teachers offer extra credit, make sure you get it. Disclaimer: Most teachers hate it when students who have slacked all quarter come to them in the last few days begging for extra credit, so this only works when teachers (like me) have already stated that extra credit is available. If there is nothing you can do to salvage this grade, start concentrating on second quarter. Remember, semester grades are a combination of your quarter grades and your exam grade, so if you can excel over the next couple of months, this quarter's letter grade will never really matter.
The clock is running out. How bad do you want it?
Friday, September 25, 2009
Homecoming
I know who I am and who I may be, if I choose.
~Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Homecoming week is always a fun time. I remember looking forward to it when I was in school, and even now, as a teacher, I look forward to a week with a little different atmosphere. We are not that far into the year (well, actually, I guess we are over 1/8th of the way to the end already), but it is already refreshing to have something just a little different to look foward to.
What many of us don't take the time to reflect on is the reason for Homecoming. The tradition was started as a way of welcoming alumni back to visit their school and promote a sense of tradition. This Homecoming, I would challenge you all to spend a few minutes to think about what PHS alumni think when they come back to visit. Are they proud of what they see? What traditions do we emphasize? Are they as important as we make them out to be? Are there traditions we could start while we are here that might be more worthwhile?
I am not asking these questions because I think I know all of the answers. These are not questions for me to answer. These are questions that we must ALL answer, and I think that now is a great time to do it. This is the first Homecoming for PCHS. This is a chance for a new start if we want it. The important thing to remember, though, is that it can't just be the responsibility of a select few. We can't always say "Well, that's the way it has always been, so what can I do about it?" We must ALL continually look at who we are and who we want to be. We are ALL PCHS.
~Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Homecoming week is always a fun time. I remember looking forward to it when I was in school, and even now, as a teacher, I look forward to a week with a little different atmosphere. We are not that far into the year (well, actually, I guess we are over 1/8th of the way to the end already), but it is already refreshing to have something just a little different to look foward to.
What many of us don't take the time to reflect on is the reason for Homecoming. The tradition was started as a way of welcoming alumni back to visit their school and promote a sense of tradition. This Homecoming, I would challenge you all to spend a few minutes to think about what PHS alumni think when they come back to visit. Are they proud of what they see? What traditions do we emphasize? Are they as important as we make them out to be? Are there traditions we could start while we are here that might be more worthwhile?
I am not asking these questions because I think I know all of the answers. These are not questions for me to answer. These are questions that we must ALL answer, and I think that now is a great time to do it. This is the first Homecoming for PCHS. This is a chance for a new start if we want it. The important thing to remember, though, is that it can't just be the responsibility of a select few. We can't always say "Well, that's the way it has always been, so what can I do about it?" We must ALL continually look at who we are and who we want to be. We are ALL PCHS.
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