Quick Update

Okay, very quick update. It's going to be short, though. I went through though the day today with my stress level just one notch above comfortable. It could have to do with the crazy snow-day-testing-make-up stuff, or the fact that I hadn't run in 4 days, or something else.

Testing. I was pretty disappointed with the scores, but some weak points from last year were stronger. I think I need to include some review lessons that discuss big-picture ideas, and that allow students to work with topics they struggle with.

Tonight was my longest evening run ever, 4.5 miles. It gave me a chance to zone out and made me feel like most of my problems were solved.

I'll end with an email thread from today, which shows an inspired moment I had and the respect my superiors show me.

<Me>

I had an idea that might help G and other students with behavior and engagement. G needs to work on consistency – only losing a couple of day, rather than trying to earn all his dollars back at the end of the week. He is also a builder (he is always fidgeting and creating), and I’m thinking of creating a reward system that takes advantage of this. It would look something like this: If G makes it through a day only losing $2 more dollars than he earns (on path to make his paycheck), and completes 1 assignment in Homework Center, I will pull him to work on an “engineering project”. [English teacher] suggested something like this. I think he has a lot of potential to be a really awesome engineer, if he can pass 7^th grade first. Is this something I can do, and is it something the school can buy? If it works, I can include other students as well. What do you think?

Thanks,
Robin

<Principal>

OMG yes.  I love this idea – [DOO] can answer your question about purchasing!

<Assistant Principal>

Great idea!  Thinking out of the box, Robin. :) If budgeting is an issue please let me know.  I’d be willing to purchase a kit.

Almost Wedding #1

Mostly, I'm excited about my sister's wedding on Sunday. I'm anxious about travel. I can't wait to party with my family. But it might snow when I'm supposed to fly out.

And they expect me to focus on my work?

This is testing week #3. Today was the second day of Literature testing. Tomorrow is history, and Thursday is science. I don't know if my students are more or less prepared than last year, but I'm doing a better job of reviewing key points with them during Do Nows and our Oral Drill Challenge. Overall, the classes are a little bigger than last year, and the scores are a little lower, but I'm hopeful. Last year, I was hoping for 75% of students to score over 75%. This year, I'm going for 70%. I'm not lowering the standards, but I did make the test harder. I think we can do it.

My classes actually went smoothly today. I rarely get three solid classes, especially when they are consecutive. Due to the schedule today, I have only about an hour of prep time between 7:40 and 5:15. Fortunately, detention is solid today, and I got a surprise bathroom break around 3:00.

I ran 5 miles this weekend! It felt great, and I was a little sore the next day, but two days later, I feel like I could do it again. Unfortunately, it'll have to wait until tomorrow, if I can drag myself out after parent-teacher conferences. This week is incredibly busy, so I'll have to do tonight's bike ride after tutoring, and tomorrow's run after conferences, which were rescheduled due to last week's (second) snow day. And then--running in San Francisco! I'm hoping for a 6-miler on Friday and 5 on Sunday, with maybe an hour on an indoor bike on Saturday.

Relationship Success

Whoa, crazy week.

Monday was a snow day.

Tuesday involved two successes in the parent-relationship department (plus, the student I had success with last week continued to make good decisions). Basically, I used my communication skills to "over-communicate" (making extra phone calls that I wouldn't have made otherwise) about things like missing homework or not-quite-perfect behavior, to repair relationships that I had previously thought broken. It turns out that when parents say things to teachers, they don't actually mean it, and are just blowing off steam about their child's imperfections. Okay, that's not the kindest thing to say, but I've had a few parents say some mean things about me (I have a God-complex), about our systems (you must have lost his homework, three times this week), and about our school (you are all picking on my daughter), and then discovered that a parent may not even remember who I am, a month later. I'm sure I'll understand one day.

I had some great running last weekend (3 miles on Saturday and 1.5 on Sunday, no pain), and have no time this week, so I squeezed in a run last night after school and before dinner with friends. I was afraid to stray to far, so I parked at the restaurant and ran laps up and down a hill right next to the main street area, which was well lit and shoveled. It felt good, and then I stuffed my face with Mexican food. I've been biking pretty consistently too (2-3 times per week). I haven't been so great with swimming (about every other week), but it's better than years past.

Today is a snow day.

Hope we can catch up before IAs next week!