I'm really growing to love my students more and more each day. Today I walked into my classroom for afternoon homeroom and the last period teacher was gushing about how well behaved they had been. I beamed like a proud parent and told them how proud I was of them.
This afternoon I attended a union meeting. I'm happy to show support to my colleagues, but sometimes I feel like I'm caught in between TFA and my colleagues. Connecticut is working on an education reform bill ( I suggest googling it if you're interested) that TFA loves and veteran teachers detest. Suffice it to say that halfway thriugh the meeting, i started thinking about the Pajama Game, abd found it hard to keep from gighling after that That's all I'll say on the matter.
Today was a well-deserved rest from running, which meant I got to get ahead (!) on my work at school. As of 6:30 pm today, I am actually ahead on planning. Now to catch up on grading...
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Jeopardy!
It's still frustrating when other teachers blame me for my homeroom class's behavior, but I guess I'm proud to be the first-year scapegoat. My kids were great during morning homeroom, and a mess during afternoon homeroom. They were actually pretty good during class time -- they really, more than any other class I think, respond well to the basic classroom management skills, clear expectations and behavior narration.
Today I tried something new and it worked really well. I had difficulty in the past getting all of my students engaged in review games. I tried a couple of things, including Powerpoint Jeopardy. I had difficulty deciding which team "buzzed" in first, either by shouting, raising their hand, or hitting the table. I tried a couple of other review activities, but they weren't fun. Today, I found one that worked. I even had a student ask if we can play it more often.
I used an old TFA standby, mini-whiteboards. I finally stopped being cheap/lazy and bought a pack of sheet protectors and dry-erase markers. I put a plain white sheet in each protector, and each team of students got a "whiteboard" and a marker. After each question was posted, EVERY team got to answer. After 20 seconds, they all held up their whiteboards and every team with a correct answer got a point. The winning team got Tootsie Rolls. I had almost everyone engaged, and the few troublemakers were distracted with some dry-erase doodling.
I just went running with a friend, and nothing is better than running with a friend. I got a chance to unwind from the day and I ran faster than yesterday. I did 2 miles in 21 minutes. The weather was even more beautiful.
Tuesday is one of my longest days of teaching (5 full classes plus lunch duty), so it is my afternoon off. I got a lot of planning done during lunch, so I can relax this afternoon. I have a few phone calls to make, and I'll be home before 5.
Today I tried something new and it worked really well. I had difficulty in the past getting all of my students engaged in review games. I tried a couple of things, including Powerpoint Jeopardy. I had difficulty deciding which team "buzzed" in first, either by shouting, raising their hand, or hitting the table. I tried a couple of other review activities, but they weren't fun. Today, I found one that worked. I even had a student ask if we can play it more often.
I used an old TFA standby, mini-whiteboards. I finally stopped being cheap/lazy and bought a pack of sheet protectors and dry-erase markers. I put a plain white sheet in each protector, and each team of students got a "whiteboard" and a marker. After each question was posted, EVERY team got to answer. After 20 seconds, they all held up their whiteboards and every team with a correct answer got a point. The winning team got Tootsie Rolls. I had almost everyone engaged, and the few troublemakers were distracted with some dry-erase doodling.
I just went running with a friend, and nothing is better than running with a friend. I got a chance to unwind from the day and I ran faster than yesterday. I did 2 miles in 21 minutes. The weather was even more beautiful.
Tuesday is one of my longest days of teaching (5 full classes plus lunch duty), so it is my afternoon off. I got a lot of planning done during lunch, so I can relax this afternoon. I have a few phone calls to make, and I'll be home before 5.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Negative Split
In running, there's something called a negative split. It's the thing that everyone tries to do, that's supposed to make it a good run. It means running the second half faster than the first half. It's supposed to be a good strategy for racing, because it leaves steam for a final push. It's a good training technique because it forces a harder workout at the end.
I did a negative split today, on my two miles at the park after school. First mile in 11:50, second mile in 11:30. It felt great. I did underestimate the temperature, or else I forgot it gets cold by 4pm, but it was perfect by the end.
I think it's a lot easier to do a negative split in teaching than running. The learning curve is different. In a two-mile run, or a 4-miler, or even a half marathon, there's not a whole lot that's learned from the first mile to the last. Running faster at the end is only a sign of an adrenaline rush, a surprise downhill, or a sign I didn't work as hard as I could have at the beginning. In teaching, though, I learn something new every day. From the beginning of the year to even the midway point, I'm a whole different teacher. My skill at planning, management, and overall teaching is much greater now than it was in September, so I will teach better and harder until June.
I had a wonderful, relaxing vacation. It did wonders for my body to be able to relax, and sleep late, and go running, and not think about school at all (mostly). I ran 10 miles over the course of the week, ate lots of good food, and even went out with friends a couple of times. My favorite run of the week was a 3-miler in Central Park (after a 1-mile walk/run getting to the park, after a nice NYC deli lunch). I spent a night in Atlantic City and learned how to play craps. I went on 2 ambulance calls and spent another 12 hours hanging out at the firehouse.
By the end of the week, I even got some work done. I sat down for an entire day and managed to completely catch up on all of my grading. Thanks to my mom's advice (1 hour work, 15 minutes play), I managed to finish all my work in a day and a half (okay, it was really 1 hour work, 30 minutes play). While grading, I discovered something that made me feel good as a teacher.
I usually "curve" my tests, so that the mean is somewhere in the 70s. I will curve differently for each class, as a form of differentiation, so the grades are more reflective of their relative effort than of my shortcomings as a teacher. Well, for the first time, I didn't curve a quiz for my high class of eighth graders. And the class average was 75. I'm a real teacher!
I did a negative split today, on my two miles at the park after school. First mile in 11:50, second mile in 11:30. It felt great. I did underestimate the temperature, or else I forgot it gets cold by 4pm, but it was perfect by the end.
I think it's a lot easier to do a negative split in teaching than running. The learning curve is different. In a two-mile run, or a 4-miler, or even a half marathon, there's not a whole lot that's learned from the first mile to the last. Running faster at the end is only a sign of an adrenaline rush, a surprise downhill, or a sign I didn't work as hard as I could have at the beginning. In teaching, though, I learn something new every day. From the beginning of the year to even the midway point, I'm a whole different teacher. My skill at planning, management, and overall teaching is much greater now than it was in September, so I will teach better and harder until June.
I had a wonderful, relaxing vacation. It did wonders for my body to be able to relax, and sleep late, and go running, and not think about school at all (mostly). I ran 10 miles over the course of the week, ate lots of good food, and even went out with friends a couple of times. My favorite run of the week was a 3-miler in Central Park (after a 1-mile walk/run getting to the park, after a nice NYC deli lunch). I spent a night in Atlantic City and learned how to play craps. I went on 2 ambulance calls and spent another 12 hours hanging out at the firehouse.
By the end of the week, I even got some work done. I sat down for an entire day and managed to completely catch up on all of my grading. Thanks to my mom's advice (1 hour work, 15 minutes play), I managed to finish all my work in a day and a half (okay, it was really 1 hour work, 30 minutes play). While grading, I discovered something that made me feel good as a teacher.
I usually "curve" my tests, so that the mean is somewhere in the 70s. I will curve differently for each class, as a form of differentiation, so the grades are more reflective of their relative effort than of my shortcomings as a teacher. Well, for the first time, I didn't curve a quiz for my high class of eighth graders. And the class average was 75. I'm a real teacher!
Friday, February 17, 2012
Last Word
I really need to get out of here, but I wanted to share one more thing. What really makes it worth it, at the end of the day, is that after yelling at my class for 40 minutes to stay in their seats, do some work, clean up, etc, on my way out of the classroom I shout, "Have a great vacation", and 25 voices shout back, "You too, Miss!"
Vacation!
It's almost vacation. I have two periods left to teach, and I don't have the motivation to do ANY work during my prep today. So, I'm gonna write. I'm gonna write until it's time to get ready for my next class. I have about 6 hours of grading to do, so working for 20 minutes is not going to make me feel that much better.
Last night, as I was cleaning my apartment and packing up for vacation, I realized I had old bananas. If there's one thing I love, it's having old bananas. There is only one thing to do with old bananas: banana bread! I made some of my famous pumpkin ale banana bread to take with me to my boyfriend's house (and to eat along the way).
This morning, my class returned to my "toxic" classroom. I have them for a double period on Fridays, so we were in it for the long haul. They weren't the most productive, but I had a great time with them. Every single student showed some understanding of homozygous/heterozygous or Punnett Squares. I had this great activity called "Bikini Bottom Genetics", which everyone knows refers to the hometown of Spongebob Squarepants. The activity used traits of Spongebob, Squidward, and others to let students practice Mendelian genetics. And, when they were done, there was a crossword puzzle to do. They love crossword puzzles.
I also got a little bonding time with them. As I helped groups work, I had the opportunity to talk to them about my family, their families, video games, fire department stuff, and other things. I really love my kids, but I may feel differently after trying to keep them in line during afternoon homeroom right before vacation starts.
Moreover, during my class with them, I saw the principal peeking in through the door, and she didn't come inside or say anything. That is a big complement; she felt that I had my classroom under control (and I did!).
I'm really starting to get the hang of lockdown (although I did forget an important worksheet for one of my classes, and had to improvise). I suspect we're not going to get a whole other week of it though (yay?). This morning, the assistant principal was asking teachers if they had any way of taking attendance for all thier classes (which I already to, thanks to my mentor's advice, with a homemade spreadsheet) and keeping track of tardies and cuts. This sounds like the end of lockdown is approaching, or at least planning for it is.
This week, I was frustrated to learn that veteran teachers get more support from administration. Their office referrals are much more likely to result in suspension than mine. I'm going to have to focus more on my classroom consistency, now that I've learned the office isn't necessarily going to help me with consistency in suspending. I need to keep management in my classroom as much as possible for now.
I'm getting a better hang of things, though, after last week's disastrousness and my coach's advice. The clearer expectations are really helping. Repeating expectations seems to have more of an impact on the classroom than consequences do, but a combination of the two work best. I know my last two classes will be really antsy, more so than the average Friday, but I have high hopes.
I'm not sure if I will blog over vacation. Probably not. I will definitely try to run regularly, though. I will not have access to a gym until Thursday, so I'm going to try to do some outdoor running. It's harder to run on pavement, and I'll be in a hilly area, so I'll get some good, challenging workouts in. My GPS watch is all charged and ready to go, so I can keep track of every hundredth of a mile and foot of elevation I travel.
I am taking today off from running, but I'm not sure about tomorrow. I might be lazy, but Sunday will be colder. I think I'll brave the cold so I can get two days off from running (Friday and Saturday). On Monday, I'm spending the day in NYC, and I might wear my running shoes and wander around Central Park for a bit. I hope it'll bring back some awesome memories of the best race I ever did, the New York City Triathlon in 2009. 1.5 km swim, 40 km bike, 10 km run. 4:04:26. Best day ever.
I plan to run Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Wednesday is my trip to Atlantic City, and then I can run again Thursday. By then, I'll be back at my parents house, and can use the gym near there. Running outside is way more fun, but it's hard.
I can't wait to spend several whole days not thinking about school (or trying hard not to). By the end of next week, I'll have to get caught up on grading, though. I have high hopes to get ahead on planning, but that never works out. My number one priority next week is relaxing. Two is running, and lastly is work. I don't usually get to order my priorities that way, so it'll be a nice treat. And I have banana bread.
Enjoy President's Day, and whatever vacation you get (or don't). Go outside while it's not too cold.
Last night, as I was cleaning my apartment and packing up for vacation, I realized I had old bananas. If there's one thing I love, it's having old bananas. There is only one thing to do with old bananas: banana bread! I made some of my famous pumpkin ale banana bread to take with me to my boyfriend's house (and to eat along the way).
This morning, my class returned to my "toxic" classroom. I have them for a double period on Fridays, so we were in it for the long haul. They weren't the most productive, but I had a great time with them. Every single student showed some understanding of homozygous/heterozygous or Punnett Squares. I had this great activity called "Bikini Bottom Genetics", which everyone knows refers to the hometown of Spongebob Squarepants. The activity used traits of Spongebob, Squidward, and others to let students practice Mendelian genetics. And, when they were done, there was a crossword puzzle to do. They love crossword puzzles.
I also got a little bonding time with them. As I helped groups work, I had the opportunity to talk to them about my family, their families, video games, fire department stuff, and other things. I really love my kids, but I may feel differently after trying to keep them in line during afternoon homeroom right before vacation starts.
Moreover, during my class with them, I saw the principal peeking in through the door, and she didn't come inside or say anything. That is a big complement; she felt that I had my classroom under control (and I did!).
I'm really starting to get the hang of lockdown (although I did forget an important worksheet for one of my classes, and had to improvise). I suspect we're not going to get a whole other week of it though (yay?). This morning, the assistant principal was asking teachers if they had any way of taking attendance for all thier classes (which I already to, thanks to my mentor's advice, with a homemade spreadsheet) and keeping track of tardies and cuts. This sounds like the end of lockdown is approaching, or at least planning for it is.
This week, I was frustrated to learn that veteran teachers get more support from administration. Their office referrals are much more likely to result in suspension than mine. I'm going to have to focus more on my classroom consistency, now that I've learned the office isn't necessarily going to help me with consistency in suspending. I need to keep management in my classroom as much as possible for now.
I'm getting a better hang of things, though, after last week's disastrousness and my coach's advice. The clearer expectations are really helping. Repeating expectations seems to have more of an impact on the classroom than consequences do, but a combination of the two work best. I know my last two classes will be really antsy, more so than the average Friday, but I have high hopes.
I'm not sure if I will blog over vacation. Probably not. I will definitely try to run regularly, though. I will not have access to a gym until Thursday, so I'm going to try to do some outdoor running. It's harder to run on pavement, and I'll be in a hilly area, so I'll get some good, challenging workouts in. My GPS watch is all charged and ready to go, so I can keep track of every hundredth of a mile and foot of elevation I travel.
I am taking today off from running, but I'm not sure about tomorrow. I might be lazy, but Sunday will be colder. I think I'll brave the cold so I can get two days off from running (Friday and Saturday). On Monday, I'm spending the day in NYC, and I might wear my running shoes and wander around Central Park for a bit. I hope it'll bring back some awesome memories of the best race I ever did, the New York City Triathlon in 2009. 1.5 km swim, 40 km bike, 10 km run. 4:04:26. Best day ever.
I plan to run Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Wednesday is my trip to Atlantic City, and then I can run again Thursday. By then, I'll be back at my parents house, and can use the gym near there. Running outside is way more fun, but it's hard.
I can't wait to spend several whole days not thinking about school (or trying hard not to). By the end of next week, I'll have to get caught up on grading, though. I have high hopes to get ahead on planning, but that never works out. My number one priority next week is relaxing. Two is running, and lastly is work. I don't usually get to order my priorities that way, so it'll be a nice treat. And I have banana bread.
Enjoy President's Day, and whatever vacation you get (or don't). Go outside while it's not too cold.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Not My Fault
This is the first week I've run 7 miles in a long time. That was three 2-milers and a 1-mile faster run. My legs are tired, but I feel proud. I know it's less than some of my original plans, but it's done, which makes it better than any plan anyway.
Today was the second day of lockdown. My classes went better overall. I really noticed that clearer expectations makes a HUGE difference, much more so than consequences. I actually got a bunch of teaching done today.
Throughout this blog, I've tried very hard to take responsibility for myself and my teaching. As in computer science, everything works out the way you instruct it to, which is not necessarily what you WANT it to do. A lot of my self-reflecting has led to big improvements over the last six months(!). But, I'm not going to take the blame for this one. Here's what went on today.
My homeroom class was HORRENDOUS. They're really a challenging bunch, and everyone agrees with me. In fact, today, my principal walked into homeroom and announced that my class would be in lockdown in a different room for the day, because my room is "toxic". Maybe a new environment would lead to better behavior.
In short, it didn't. They were rowdy, disobedient, and ended up trashing another teacher's classroom (I'm used to cleaning up every afternoon). Four kids got suspended. On the way out of the building today, my principal said that my kids aren't going to be in that classroom again and that something else needed to be tried, because my class is so awful.
Now, keep in mind, I was only with them for one period today. The rest of the day, they had other teachers. Three of the kids were suspended on other teachers' watches. The trashing of the room happened over the course of seven classes. It's hard enough to manage a classroom when I'm there, and I've been working a lot on improving that. I can't manage a classroom when I'm not there! I've been getting a lot of flak lately because my homeroom class is such a challenge. It's the class that was assigned to me. Just because it's known as my class doesn't mean that their behavior in other classes is a reflection of me.
This one is not my fault.
P.S. I still love the kids, but in a way that makes me really excited that I only have one day until vacation.
Today was the second day of lockdown. My classes went better overall. I really noticed that clearer expectations makes a HUGE difference, much more so than consequences. I actually got a bunch of teaching done today.
Throughout this blog, I've tried very hard to take responsibility for myself and my teaching. As in computer science, everything works out the way you instruct it to, which is not necessarily what you WANT it to do. A lot of my self-reflecting has led to big improvements over the last six months(!). But, I'm not going to take the blame for this one. Here's what went on today.
My homeroom class was HORRENDOUS. They're really a challenging bunch, and everyone agrees with me. In fact, today, my principal walked into homeroom and announced that my class would be in lockdown in a different room for the day, because my room is "toxic". Maybe a new environment would lead to better behavior.
In short, it didn't. They were rowdy, disobedient, and ended up trashing another teacher's classroom (I'm used to cleaning up every afternoon). Four kids got suspended. On the way out of the building today, my principal said that my kids aren't going to be in that classroom again and that something else needed to be tried, because my class is so awful.
Now, keep in mind, I was only with them for one period today. The rest of the day, they had other teachers. Three of the kids were suspended on other teachers' watches. The trashing of the room happened over the course of seven classes. It's hard enough to manage a classroom when I'm there, and I've been working a lot on improving that. I can't manage a classroom when I'm not there! I've been getting a lot of flak lately because my homeroom class is such a challenge. It's the class that was assigned to me. Just because it's known as my class doesn't mean that their behavior in other classes is a reflection of me.
This one is not my fault.
P.S. I still love the kids, but in a way that makes me really excited that I only have one day until vacation.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Addendum
I got a phone call this evening from Adviser (the TFA one, NOT the school mentor), who heard a slightly different summary of my coaching session yesterday. Apparently, he heard that the kids love me and do anything I say, I just have to tighten up my directions. Cool!
Lockdown!
Lockdown is awful. It was disorganized, chaotic, and extremely challenging. And yet, it's worth it to know that the kids are even more miserable, and that they might learn from this.
I've realized just how important my routines are, once again. Change the routines, and it all goes to hell. The kids were a disaster. I feel like I spent the entire day shouting at them. And, of course, all the work I've done to take dominance over my classroom went away when the other teachers rearranged the tables in my room. Great. There goes the seating chart. On the bright side, the other classrooms have desks and better setups than mine. Also, the kids by the end of the day were especially rowdy.
To make my day more challenging, I had a meeting that got started at the exact moment my lunch period started, and ended just in time for me to get back to class. No missed class, all missed lunch. And the meeting was a challenge. A parent, a DCF case worker, the principal, the special ed teacher, the school psychologist, and I met to discuss a student with severe attendance problems. As in, since second grade (he's now in seventh, and did fifth grade twice) he's missed at least 35 days of school. For the last two years, he's missed at least 80 days of school. That's out of 180 total. The student's mother can't get him to go to school when he doesn't want to.
We suspect that he was bullied as a younger child, and began staying home, and got away with it, so he kept staying home. There are still bullies, so that's his excuse. When he was invited into the meeting, he shed a few tears and shrugged his shoulders a lot. The principal made it clear that she would get him into any other school he would rather go to. He shrugged. I started to think that he was manipulative-crying rather than repentant-crying. His mom was definitely crying for real, and it didn't help that everything had to be translated into Spanish for her. I need to learn that language.
I was let out of the meeting just in time to take my class back from lunch, but not in enough time to get my papers from my classroom. I also couldn't find a staff member to cover for me for a moment. Most of the class had to take an online standardized benchmark test, but I didn't have work for the others. I felt bad, but they sat and drew with markers. This lockdown thing is tough.
Two days until vacation. Tonight is trivia. And last night I cooked a delicious pasta with fresh chopped tomatoes and eggplant, and some chopped up turkey meatballs. And some garlic and olive oil, of course.
I've realized just how important my routines are, once again. Change the routines, and it all goes to hell. The kids were a disaster. I feel like I spent the entire day shouting at them. And, of course, all the work I've done to take dominance over my classroom went away when the other teachers rearranged the tables in my room. Great. There goes the seating chart. On the bright side, the other classrooms have desks and better setups than mine. Also, the kids by the end of the day were especially rowdy.
To make my day more challenging, I had a meeting that got started at the exact moment my lunch period started, and ended just in time for me to get back to class. No missed class, all missed lunch. And the meeting was a challenge. A parent, a DCF case worker, the principal, the special ed teacher, the school psychologist, and I met to discuss a student with severe attendance problems. As in, since second grade (he's now in seventh, and did fifth grade twice) he's missed at least 35 days of school. For the last two years, he's missed at least 80 days of school. That's out of 180 total. The student's mother can't get him to go to school when he doesn't want to.
We suspect that he was bullied as a younger child, and began staying home, and got away with it, so he kept staying home. There are still bullies, so that's his excuse. When he was invited into the meeting, he shed a few tears and shrugged his shoulders a lot. The principal made it clear that she would get him into any other school he would rather go to. He shrugged. I started to think that he was manipulative-crying rather than repentant-crying. His mom was definitely crying for real, and it didn't help that everything had to be translated into Spanish for her. I need to learn that language.
I was let out of the meeting just in time to take my class back from lunch, but not in enough time to get my papers from my classroom. I also couldn't find a staff member to cover for me for a moment. Most of the class had to take an online standardized benchmark test, but I didn't have work for the others. I felt bad, but they sat and drew with markers. This lockdown thing is tough.
Two days until vacation. Tonight is trivia. And last night I cooked a delicious pasta with fresh chopped tomatoes and eggplant, and some chopped up turkey meatballs. And some garlic and olive oil, of course.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Valentine's Day
I hate Valentine's Day. I didn't realize how much I hated it until today. The kids were terrible. They left candy wrappers around the school and spent more time worrying about their personal lives than usual. It was not what my students needed.
On the other hand, I had a session with a real-time behavior management coach today. I got to wear a cool earpiece and get some real-time advice. I then met with her afterwards and got some feedback.
First of all, my classroom isn't terrible. I'm not the worst first-year teacher ever. My classroom is not dangerous. Kids aren't doing really bad things. They stay in their seats. They react when I talk. There is the possibility of improvement.
I was given a couple of pieces of advice, things to implement immediately. I need to redesign my beginning-of-class plan. My current one takes too long and doesn't get the kids settled. I'm going to cut my 2-minute timer down to a 1-minute timer and work on passing out papers more quickly. I am also going to (hopefully) turn the Do Now into 2 minutes of silent work time. My other task is to script, on post-its, my expectations for each part of my lessons. I know these things will help. I definitely need to work on clearer expectations, and post-its make everything better (remind me what to say and when to say it).
I had a meeting at my firehouse last night, and the drive home was a comedy of errors. I got on I-95 in the wrong direction, and didn't realize it until I saw a sign that said "Last exit before George Washington Bridge". Oy. I lost 30 minutes there. On the CT end, I went the wrong way once I got off the highway (in my defense, I usually come from the North on CT-15), at which point my gas light went on. I got home too late, and with a tank full of gas.
Now I will run some errands and then drag myself to the gym. If I say it, it's more likely to happen. I EXPECT myself to pick up dry cleaning, stop at the bank, and go to the gym. If I don't do that, I'll have to call my parents and tell them I didn't cooperate.
On the other hand, I had a session with a real-time behavior management coach today. I got to wear a cool earpiece and get some real-time advice. I then met with her afterwards and got some feedback.
First of all, my classroom isn't terrible. I'm not the worst first-year teacher ever. My classroom is not dangerous. Kids aren't doing really bad things. They stay in their seats. They react when I talk. There is the possibility of improvement.
I was given a couple of pieces of advice, things to implement immediately. I need to redesign my beginning-of-class plan. My current one takes too long and doesn't get the kids settled. I'm going to cut my 2-minute timer down to a 1-minute timer and work on passing out papers more quickly. I am also going to (hopefully) turn the Do Now into 2 minutes of silent work time. My other task is to script, on post-its, my expectations for each part of my lessons. I know these things will help. I definitely need to work on clearer expectations, and post-its make everything better (remind me what to say and when to say it).
I had a meeting at my firehouse last night, and the drive home was a comedy of errors. I got on I-95 in the wrong direction, and didn't realize it until I saw a sign that said "Last exit before George Washington Bridge". Oy. I lost 30 minutes there. On the CT end, I went the wrong way once I got off the highway (in my defense, I usually come from the North on CT-15), at which point my gas light went on. I got home too late, and with a tank full of gas.
Now I will run some errands and then drag myself to the gym. If I say it, it's more likely to happen. I EXPECT myself to pick up dry cleaning, stop at the bank, and go to the gym. If I don't do that, I'll have to call my parents and tell them I didn't cooperate.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Monday
Today we received some news at school: the seventh and eighth grades are entering "lockdown" starting this Wednesday. There has been so much chaos in the hallways that students are now going to sit all day in one class. It'll be awful for us, but worse for them.
My first response was, oh crap. What about textbooks? Powerpoints? Organization? But, it'll only be for a few days, and besides, the kids need it. I can figure out the rest. So many problems happen in the hallway and students are always late for class (even though they walk between classes in a line).
What a way to come back from a lovely weekend. My homemade eggy pasta was good, except for the little accident that left half the pasta in the sink. Saturday's dinner out was wonderful, and we even found a little boutique ice cream shop nearby. Of course, though, I only placed second in the relationship game this weekend: he arrived with a bouquet of flowers on Friday, with a note reading "Sorry you had a bad week."
My first response was, oh crap. What about textbooks? Powerpoints? Organization? But, it'll only be for a few days, and besides, the kids need it. I can figure out the rest. So many problems happen in the hallway and students are always late for class (even though they walk between classes in a line).
What a way to come back from a lovely weekend. My homemade eggy pasta was good, except for the little accident that left half the pasta in the sink. Saturday's dinner out was wonderful, and we even found a little boutique ice cream shop nearby. Of course, though, I only placed second in the relationship game this weekend: he arrived with a bouquet of flowers on Friday, with a note reading "Sorry you had a bad week."
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Mini-Epiphany
Epiphany might be too big of a word, so I went with mini. Anyway, it occurred to me why I've been having such a hard time the last couple of weeks. It's not that the kids are extra difficult. After having my classroom management questioned, I lost confidence in my system. I became less consistent. I thought I was being "tougher", but really I was just being inconsistent. It's not an incentive to behave if the teacher calls home without warning.
Consistency: starting again tomorrow.
First World Problem #4: It seems like a cruel trick of the DEA that I have to go to 2 Stop and Shops, wait in line, show ID, fill out a form, and sign a paper, all just to buy a box of Sudafed (although, Stop and Shop brand was under $5). When I least wanted to do all of those things, and most wanted to go home and take a nap.
Next week is Valentine's Day, and I have some fun things planned for this weekend. The advantage of having a boyfriend who doesn't read my blog ("I like hearing the stories from you") is that I have someone to brag to about surprises for him. I'm going to surprise him with dinner tomorrow night when he arrives at my apartment around dinner time, that will include favorite eggy pasta topped with shaved truffled pecorino. I also got a couple of other nice snacky cheeses, and the big treat, a quarter pound of gourmet sopressata. I'm not sure what sopressata is exactly, but I know my boyfriend likes it a lot and doesn't get it very often. Then, we have dinner reservations on Saturday night at a lovely, budget-friendly Italian restaurant in Fairfield. I've got enough food planned to forget how stupid Valentine's Day is.
Consistency: starting again tomorrow.
First World Problem #4: It seems like a cruel trick of the DEA that I have to go to 2 Stop and Shops, wait in line, show ID, fill out a form, and sign a paper, all just to buy a box of Sudafed (although, Stop and Shop brand was under $5). When I least wanted to do all of those things, and most wanted to go home and take a nap.
Next week is Valentine's Day, and I have some fun things planned for this weekend. The advantage of having a boyfriend who doesn't read my blog ("I like hearing the stories from you") is that I have someone to brag to about surprises for him. I'm going to surprise him with dinner tomorrow night when he arrives at my apartment around dinner time, that will include favorite eggy pasta topped with shaved truffled pecorino. I also got a couple of other nice snacky cheeses, and the big treat, a quarter pound of gourmet sopressata. I'm not sure what sopressata is exactly, but I know my boyfriend likes it a lot and doesn't get it very often. Then, we have dinner reservations on Saturday night at a lovely, budget-friendly Italian restaurant in Fairfield. I've got enough food planned to forget how stupid Valentine's Day is.
Silly Kids
Today, half of my homeroom class was giggling throughout an entire class period, because my pants were tucked into my boots. I don't care that I look silly, but they were so loud! Ah, middle school.
Still sick, and that made it a tough day. Classes were long and kids were antsy. I did have a good experience with an activity in one of my classes, though: they had to design a roller coaster through an online educational activity, to practice kinetic and potential energy. (I have no more energy today. I'll think I'll call it an early day and head out of here by 3:30.)
Just all around blah, but then again, I could never get the hang of Thursdays. On the bright side, tomorrow's Friday. And tonight I'm going to the cheese store.
Still sick, and that made it a tough day. Classes were long and kids were antsy. I did have a good experience with an activity in one of my classes, though: they had to design a roller coaster through an online educational activity, to practice kinetic and potential energy. (I have no more energy today. I'll think I'll call it an early day and head out of here by 3:30.)
Just all around blah, but then again, I could never get the hang of Thursdays. On the bright side, tomorrow's Friday. And tonight I'm going to the cheese store.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Case Study
I spent much of my day today engaged in a case study of the effects of a rhinovirus or rhino-like virus, as well as the possible palliative effects of the boiled rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale and Lifesavers.
The kids are being extra difficult this week, but it could be me. I could be tired, or a little discouraged. I had a nice talk with my colleagues, though. They assured me that I am not the worst first-year teacher ever, and that my struggles are normal. One colleague reminded me of the 10,000 hour rule. With about 1,000 hours of teaching per school year, I only have about 9,500 hours left to master this thing!
As a result of the aforementioned case study, I skipped my run yesterday, and I don't think I'll make it up today. Now, I have a warm cup of miso soup waiting for me.
The kids are being extra difficult this week, but it could be me. I could be tired, or a little discouraged. I had a nice talk with my colleagues, though. They assured me that I am not the worst first-year teacher ever, and that my struggles are normal. One colleague reminded me of the 10,000 hour rule. With about 1,000 hours of teaching per school year, I only have about 9,500 hours left to master this thing!
As a result of the aforementioned case study, I skipped my run yesterday, and I don't think I'll make it up today. Now, I have a warm cup of miso soup waiting for me.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Running
I just finished off a mile and a third jog around the University of Bridgeport. After I run, everything is good and happy. The weather is beautiful, I feel great, and I had a great day. Before my run, I walked around the park for a bit with my colleague/friend/mentor (mentor with a lowercase "m", not the school-designated one). We had a nice chat that wasn't about teaching.
School isn't all sunshine and roses, but things aren't too bad. I think I'm having more learning happen in my classroom. I've been having difficulty the last few weeks with management, but the students are learning objectives better. The last round of quizzes had a couple of classes with averages in the 60s and 70s, which is outstanding compared to the start of the year. Students are learning more and trying harder in my classroom.
Tomorrow is the district science fair. I get a break from classes. We set up the boards of our five winners today, at the UB student center. I walked around a bit, and noticed that we might have a shot at this competition. I don't think we'll win, but we fit in well.
I've decided to change my workout schedule a bit. I've gotten bored of the weightlifting program, so I've decided that winter lifting season is over and now it's running base-building. I'm going to build up the miles, running as much as possible, without hurting myself. I've had a host of overuse injuries in the process of training for various races, so I'm trying not to do that this time. I'd like to build up to 4 or 5 runs per week, even if some of them are only a mile. I have 3 more yoga classes paid for, so I think I'm going to do them every other week (mostly because I don't feel like going tonight).
My run today was pretty enjoyable, and I don't usually enjoy running. I usually only like the after-run. Today, I enjoyed the run, and completely zoned out while listening to Tim Curry narrate Journey to the Center of the Earth. I'm going to try a schedule of running Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. I'll throw an extra workout in there somewhere, maybe a run and maybe a ride on the broken recumbent bike in the gym. I can't wait until bike season (and by "bike season", I mean "not too lazy to take the bike out season"), but I can still make excuses until the weather is definitely going to stay this nice. It'll be nice again tomorrow, but it might snow Wednesday! Now I shall commence checking the weather forecast every 30 minutes from now until Wednesday.
School isn't all sunshine and roses, but things aren't too bad. I think I'm having more learning happen in my classroom. I've been having difficulty the last few weeks with management, but the students are learning objectives better. The last round of quizzes had a couple of classes with averages in the 60s and 70s, which is outstanding compared to the start of the year. Students are learning more and trying harder in my classroom.
Tomorrow is the district science fair. I get a break from classes. We set up the boards of our five winners today, at the UB student center. I walked around a bit, and noticed that we might have a shot at this competition. I don't think we'll win, but we fit in well.
I've decided to change my workout schedule a bit. I've gotten bored of the weightlifting program, so I've decided that winter lifting season is over and now it's running base-building. I'm going to build up the miles, running as much as possible, without hurting myself. I've had a host of overuse injuries in the process of training for various races, so I'm trying not to do that this time. I'd like to build up to 4 or 5 runs per week, even if some of them are only a mile. I have 3 more yoga classes paid for, so I think I'm going to do them every other week (mostly because I don't feel like going tonight).
My run today was pretty enjoyable, and I don't usually enjoy running. I usually only like the after-run. Today, I enjoyed the run, and completely zoned out while listening to Tim Curry narrate Journey to the Center of the Earth. I'm going to try a schedule of running Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. I'll throw an extra workout in there somewhere, maybe a run and maybe a ride on the broken recumbent bike in the gym. I can't wait until bike season (and by "bike season", I mean "not too lazy to take the bike out season"), but I can still make excuses until the weather is definitely going to stay this nice. It'll be nice again tomorrow, but it might snow Wednesday! Now I shall commence checking the weather forecast every 30 minutes from now until Wednesday.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Moving Around
I learned a good lesson today. I usually stress out about Fridays because I start off the morning with a double period with my homeroom class, and then teach 6 periods in the day.
Today went better than expected. I was really nervous about an activity I had planned with my homeroom (now 28 kids!). It involved them doing a class survey, walking around the class and figuring out the proportions of dominant and recessive traits (dimples, Widow's peak, curly hair, etc). I laid down the ground rules...and it worked! They weren't too rowdy (mostly), and they even did their work (mostly). I need to give them more opportunities to get up and move around.
And then, there was a fight in my last period class. Not terribly unusual. And now it's the weekend!
Today went better than expected. I was really nervous about an activity I had planned with my homeroom (now 28 kids!). It involved them doing a class survey, walking around the class and figuring out the proportions of dominant and recessive traits (dimples, Widow's peak, curly hair, etc). I laid down the ground rules...and it worked! They weren't too rowdy (mostly), and they even did their work (mostly). I need to give them more opportunities to get up and move around.
And then, there was a fight in my last period class. Not terribly unusual. And now it's the weekend!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
New Kid
We have another new kid. That makes 28 in my homeroom. Oy.
One of two things happened this week. Either 1) the kids all decided to be tougher this week, or 2) I have higher standards for myself this week. It might be a little of both. I'm tired and wiped out, but I guess I'm teaching better than a few weeks/months ago.
Tonight, I met with a TFA 3rd-year to get some resources for CMT review, so CMT review begins tomorrow. I am going to print out a few review packets and some practice questions. As an incentive, I'm going to offer a pizza party to any student who can complete 6 of these packets (~1/week) by the CMT (end of March). Let's see how this works.
The other night's dinner was better than expected - it turned out that the flounder was actually flounder stuffed with cheesy crabmeat. Yum. And I baked a loaf of delicious, moist plain ol' white bread. Tonight, I have pasta with olive oil, sundried tomatoes, artichoke, and "Italian Spices".
Also, this weekend, I have volunteered to help out at the district "Math Fair." I figure it will be good to get my name out in the district and when I volunteered I didn't realize it would be on a Saturday. But, I get to entertain K-5 kids with Wizard of Oz-themed science demonstrations, and I get a few dollars to spend on it. One of my demonstrations is tornado bottles, which consist of two 2-liter bottles connected mouth-to-mouth with a novelty plastic "Tornado Tube" that I got to buy for this. I shared all of this so I can explain that I didn't have any 2-liter bottles around, and don't drink caffeine, and don't want more calories, so tonight's dinner is accompanied by a nice glass of Sprite Zero. Or two. Cheers!
One of two things happened this week. Either 1) the kids all decided to be tougher this week, or 2) I have higher standards for myself this week. It might be a little of both. I'm tired and wiped out, but I guess I'm teaching better than a few weeks/months ago.
Tonight, I met with a TFA 3rd-year to get some resources for CMT review, so CMT review begins tomorrow. I am going to print out a few review packets and some practice questions. As an incentive, I'm going to offer a pizza party to any student who can complete 6 of these packets (~1/week) by the CMT (end of March). Let's see how this works.
The other night's dinner was better than expected - it turned out that the flounder was actually flounder stuffed with cheesy crabmeat. Yum. And I baked a loaf of delicious, moist plain ol' white bread. Tonight, I have pasta with olive oil, sundried tomatoes, artichoke, and "Italian Spices".
Also, this weekend, I have volunteered to help out at the district "Math Fair." I figure it will be good to get my name out in the district and when I volunteered I didn't realize it would be on a Saturday. But, I get to entertain K-5 kids with Wizard of Oz-themed science demonstrations, and I get a few dollars to spend on it. One of my demonstrations is tornado bottles, which consist of two 2-liter bottles connected mouth-to-mouth with a novelty plastic "Tornado Tube" that I got to buy for this. I shared all of this so I can explain that I didn't have any 2-liter bottles around, and don't drink caffeine, and don't want more calories, so tonight's dinner is accompanied by a nice glass of Sprite Zero. Or two. Cheers!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Planning
I really love planning. I love calendars and agendas. I love molding a unit to the inconsistent schedule. I enjoy taking abstract science concepts, distilling them to a few straightforward learning objectives, and then bringing those objectives to life with short and interesting lessons. I love it. I like modeling skills and creating practice problems. I love creating assessments.
But, damn it, it's stressful. I have to submit two weeks-worth of lesson plans every two weeks. I'm the only teacher who submits them, but I want to look good for my principal. I also know that the moment I start to slack off with my planning, I'll never catch up. Many of my peers are planning day to day. I like being expected to plan ahead.
And that means grading and cleaning and decorating can wait for a few days. I've got planning to do!
But, damn it, it's stressful. I have to submit two weeks-worth of lesson plans every two weeks. I'm the only teacher who submits them, but I want to look good for my principal. I also know that the moment I start to slack off with my planning, I'll never catch up. Many of my peers are planning day to day. I like being expected to plan ahead.
And that means grading and cleaning and decorating can wait for a few days. I've got planning to do!
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