Yom Kippur 2013

9:56 AM. Hungry, but not so bad. Kind of like any other Saturday morning, when I'm too lazy to make breakfast. Watched season finale of Dance Moms.

I read over last year's Yom Kippur post. It included my recent action steps for school. I am proud to have made all of those steps part of my normal routine, but also to have seen the direct effect of these habits on my classroom. I am consistently bringing energy (and joy!) into my classroom, holding students accountable for accuracy on written work, and (trying) to keep all kids engaged in the lesson.

Teaching is getting easier. Obviously, there are many things I can improve, but having a class run smoothly and having the same success as last year is taking so much less effort.

This week I received more advice about becoming an awesome teacher. I was told that if I want to one day be a Head Science Dude, I need to first work on being a super-duper-awesome teacher. My IL and I watched a video of part of my class, and found a few areas of improvement. My current action step is to reword improvised CFUs (checks for understanding) with the ideal answer in mind, so it is more clear what I am asking. This is a weakness of mine, because I'll reach a point in the class and want to lead the kids to make a connection, so I'll ask (what I think is) a leading question, only to have the student stare blankly back at me, or give an answer that is completely different from what I had intended. This leads to a 1-2 minute series of leading questions and student prompts, which completely derails the class and kills momentum. By just asking the initial question more directly, I can achieve the intended result and keep the pace.

Friday the 13th was full of unlucky frustrations. First, there was an accident on the Parkway in the morning, and I had to take a detour through backroads-suburban New Jersey, and still arrived at work about a half hour later than I had expected. I spent the morning scrambling to prep for my lesson, which was in another classroom due to the half day schedule. (About 1 Friday per month is a half day for PD.)

Then, morning circle (which was a lovely discussion on "The path to awesome") ran 15 minutes late, so I had to cram an already-over-planned 55 minute lesson into 40 minutes. It was frustrating for me and the students, and I felt a little chicken-head-cut-off, but I think I gave them the tools they'll need to read challenging texts using content knowledge from previous readings.

I kept that class a few minutes late, because they had typing next, and we're always encouraged to shorten typing class (as long as the classroom isn't needed for another class). When I tried to transition to typing, we noticed that another class was already in the computer lab. Uh oh. I brought the class back, got them started on their science homework, and checked the half day schedule. It turns out that the computer lab was double-booked. After some panicky emails, the typing teacher relieved me from "study hall", and I was able to use my abbreviated prep period to get some stuff done before afternoon PD.

My second two classes ran very smoothly, and the students were challenged and engaged. Besides, it was Lab Coat Friday.

11:17 AM. A little smelly. A little light-headed. A shower would be nice.

I don't feel atone-y yet, but I'm sure I will by about 4PM. This is the holiest day of the year. It's the day that jews reflect on the past year and atone for their sins. The last 10 days should have been atoning for sins against people, and today is for atoning for sins against God.

That is not why I fast. I fast to atone for sins against myself. I include any wrongdoing against anyone else under the category of sins against myself. Mostly, I said some things I shouldn't have. I'm not perfect. I usually apologize, if I know I did something wrong. What worries me is that I have done things that I'm not aware of. I don't know how to atone for these sins.

(I guess I was wrong, I guess I am feeling atone-y.)

I also fast because it gives my body a reset after all the junk I ate (and drank) this summer. It's at the end of triathlon season, so I don't feel like it's really ruining a training weekend (although I did squeeze in a lovely run last night before dinner). It helps me feel like I'm starting the year with a clean slate, physically.

I appreciate that the Jewish New Year coincides with the new school year. It gives me extra ritual and tradition to add to the usual start-of-school-year rituals of the teacher.

I've decided that my personal goal in school is to pretend to be Head Science Dude until I officially recieve the title. This week, I sent out the first weekly science department email. It included a reminder for Lab Coat Friday, some shout outs to fellow science teachers, and a fun science fact. It took five minutes of my time, but it made some smiles. I also realized that I need to spend more time observing/assisting the 5th and 6th grade science teachers. The younger kids are much more difficult, and having an extra adult in the classroom is always helpful. Besides, I can't shout out teachers I don't observe!

That's it for now. There may or may not be more reflecting later.