Thanks for your replies!

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Thanks for your replies!
By Risa

tia,
Thanks for giving me your insights. I went back to searching the net after posting because I really kept wondering why my principal would be so eager just to get kids organized when it's already something I work
on. To be fair, she only had a few minutes to explain what she knew, but she kept emphasizing the part about how we get all the materials needed to teach students the organization skills.

It helps to know that AVID also involves much more than physical organization. I guess, from what you're saying, it also teaches students how to be more organized in their thinking and in how they

participate in group discussions (socratic discussions.) The note taking part that you mentioned sounds, to me, much like 'double entry journals' that we use. From what I remember, the information I found online, after more in-depth searching, says that AVID is a program that targets those students who do just enough to get by, but not much more. These would encompass the just-below-average to average students who might otherwise not push themselves to become 'college material'.

Therein lies my dilemna. I REALLY DO want to be the best teacher I can be to ALL of my students and the new added info about the program tugs at me even more... BUT...

n2n2n2n,
Thank you for seeing my point in having to give a whole week (more) of my personal time! What I didn't mention earlier, because I was already too 'wordy' is that I work at a year round school. In the summer we ONLY get 4 weeks off. The first week 'off' we are already signed up to go to a week-long reading institute, so I thought I'd have 3 weeks before the start of the next school year. (Figuring it your way with percentages, 1 week of training is already 25%, but it's paid. IF I decide to go for the AVID training,that only leaves me with 50% of my 'supposed' summer break.) Not to mention, we DON'T get paid for going in to set up our classrooms for the new school year, so there goes yet another week... *sigh*:confused:

Although it sounds like a great opportunity to learn more about teaching higher level thinking for our students I'm feeling like I should stand up for myself and give this ol' brain and this ol' body some 'breathing room' before I go back to face a whole new group of students. (I've already had a 'vent' :o about how much of our own time we have to give to all the mandated assessments and paper work just to monitor student achievement on another board, so I won't bore you with the details!);)

Thanks again for your replies, tia and n2n2n2n!!