The Distinct Sense of Accomplishment

Today I awoke feeling tired and grey. As summer slowly fades into fall, the sunshine fades to grey and gloom, morning comes later and later, and the routine starts to wear on the soul. Unfortunately I do not get to wake up later and later, and this sad reality makes it hard battle the dark cold morning.

When I got to work this morning I did not have any indicators that it was going to end in the way it did. I had one cup of coffee, which I only recently started drinking again, racing through my veins. I decided that it was the perfect time to begin working on some supports for my students in American Literature. They will be writing synthesis essays about the American Dream. They will use information from the novels they have been reading in class. They will also use first hand accounts from interviews they performed with immigrants, including myself, and compare what they know about the American Dream with the American Reality. Meaty stuff.

I have several students who will need a number of scaffolded supports in order to be successful, and I have one particular student who will need a completely modified assignment. Usually the process of creating these supports would take several days and involve a series of emails between myself and the teacher. 

In the past my search for graphic organizers has led me to a smattering of PDFs that are almost perfect if I could simply change the title and what is written in the boxes. Followed by the pleasure of being whisked away to another pages that offers me membership for a meager $29.95 a month. However, today was a new day. My distinct sense of accomplishment was birthed from the discovery of the most amazing teaching resource I have found this week.

In my search for Graphic Organizers I found the gold mine, the jackpot. With permission from Pomperaug Regional School District 15  you can download word.doc's that are a series of Graphic Organizers. They are all collated by themes or types and the icing on this cake is that they have Spanish versions as well. 

My distinct sense of accomplishment. In a few short hours I had compiled an entire educational experience, altered them to meet my needs, printed and bound them. Done and done. This happens rarely and must be celebrated when possible. In fact I am a lucky person because I am again overwhelmed by a distinct sense of accomplishment by simply passing this information on to you. It feels great.