Training:
This is probably the best I've trained for a half, up until a month ago. I had a nagging hip ache for a while, and starting about 4 weeks ago, I was forced to start resting it. Prior to that, I had been training about 8 hours per week of running/biking/swimming thanks to my new triathlon coach, including about 20 miles per week of running. After that, I was down to about half of that training, with under 10 miles per week of running. My last long run was 4 weeks ago and only 11 miles, although I was happy with how fast it went. I skipped two 13-milers, so I was pretty nervous going into this race. I did a fast-ish 7-miler last weekend, with the last 5 miles at around 11 min/mi.
About 2 weeks ago, it dawned on me that the race was a lot hillier than what I was used to. I knew this when I signed up, and all the times I avoided hills during training, but just sort of...forgot.
Prior to the injury, I had been hoping for 2:24 (11 min/mi), but now I was going for a PR (what I remembered as 2:32, but I just checked and it was 2:31:11 - oops, that was almost a huge disappointment). I was planning on starting out between 11:30 and 11:45 per mile (so just to PR), and re-evaluating at mile 7. I forgot about the hills.
Pre-race:
The race was in Philadelphia, which is about 90 minutes from where I live. My parents were driving down from Long Island to join my husband and me for the weekend (thanks Mom and Dad!). Other than that, I pretty much did everything wrong to prepare for the race.
The day before, I walked around a lot (over 10,000 steps for the day). I walked around Princeton with some friends, and had a rich lunch and lunchtime drink. I walked around Reading Terminal Market (pretty much my favorite place in Philadephia, because I really love food) purchasing all of my post-race treats (cheese, beef prosciutto, donuts). Then we all went out for dinner (my friend Dani joined us as well) at an absolutely wonderful restaurant. The food was delicious - and rich, and filling. I had another drink and ate a little too much. I didn't go to sleep when I should, because I don't have a TV in my bedroom in my apartment, so hotel bed TV-watching is always a treat. I spent a lot of time worrying about what to wear and how to pace.
The hotel pillows were the absolute pillows I have every seen. They were small squares that were way too high. It probably wouldn't have been so much of a problem if I wasn't so anxious about the race, but I ended up waking up at about midnight and using my husband's sweater as a pillow. I woke up at 7AM (pretty late for a race, woohoo) and had a soft pretzel (a favorite pre-race treat for me). My tummy was a little upset, so I hung out in the bathroom for a while and then popped an Immodium. I packed some tissues in my pocket, and my parents, Tim, Dani, and I piled into the car to drive to the race.
The race was at a beautiful (hilly) park in Northeast Philadelphia called Pennypack Park (fun to say - you should try it). My parents dropped Tim, Dani, and me off at the park, while they drove around for a while. There was no parking left at the park, and they were planning on getting food while I ran and then meet me at the finish. I went over and got my race packet, used the Port-o-potty one last time, and hung out with my husband and friend until the start of the race.
The race was Oktoberfest themed, so there was a guy playing the accordion at the start line. Pretty cool.
I'm pretty sure my race performance was due to lack of training on challenging terrain, but I'm going to blame everything else for now (dinner, the pillows, and all).
Race:
The weather was 58 and cloudy, with a few sprinkles throughout the race. I was dressed perfectly, in Underarmour running tights, an Underarmour t-shirt, a reflective vest (silly-looking, but plenty of pocket space for my phone and snacks), and arm-warmers. I spent all morning trying to decide whether to listen to an audiobook (but if I can't follow it, I might miss something important), a podcast (This American Life, but it sounded like a pretty heavy episode), or music (I don't usually train with music, so I will I get bored after 2 hours?). I chose music, and started with Ke Bolela by Matsieng, my favorite artist from Botswana (sometimes my semester abroad comes back to visit). I popped half a pack of Clif Shot Bloks (black cherry with caffeine), and was ready to go.
The race started, and although the race had advertised the widest starting line that allowed everyone to start up front, I ended up taking about 20 seconds to cross the start line (according to the official results).
Miles 1-3: The race started out very crowded, and I was lucky to be in between people at approximately the right pace. The course started with a few miles of paved, rolling hills, but I felt great and so I powered through them. Around the first mile-marker, I came across a race-walker that I later found out was named Tim. Good name. I realized early on that I needed help holding back my early pace, so I swallowed my ego and joined this race-walker. He would turn out to be my best friend for most of the race, and I quickly tucked my headphones into a pocket, where they would stay for the whole race. I noticed the mile markers for the return trip didn't match up, and I was worried the course was short (the mile 11 marker was only about 1.5 miles out). The early mile markers were .02-.10 miles early according to my Garmin Vivoactive. I felt very comfortable, and my hip was not hurting at all, so I figured an 11:15 pace would be okay for the time being. Splits: 11:18, 11:03, 11:20.
Miles 4-6: The paved trail turned into packed dirt with some rocks a little bit after the 4th mile marker. I was starting to breathe a little more heavily, but Tim kept me entertained as we swapped stories of our families, both current and back a few generations. I took some of my Clif Shot Bloks and a water from the aid station. By this point, I had rolled down my arm-warmers. The wet leaves on the ground had mostly dried, so the ground was much less slippery. The rolling hills never seemed to stop, but I still felt good. I was aware that the pace would come back to bite me, but I figured that later-me would deal with that. Tim and I talked about the generation gap in running technologies (he recorded all workouts and PRs in a spiral notebook) and e-books. Splits: 11:19, 11:12, 11:28.
Miles 7-10: The conversation had moved to tales of training struggles and injuries. Tim had been running since the 70s, so he had many more tales to tell, had seen many doctors, and had lived through countless trends in running shoes and nutrition. By about mile 9, the conversation dropped off as we struggled to maintain pace. I met one of Tim's friends who ran with us for a while, stopped for a planned walk interval, and then cruised past us running a little while later. I had a gel at mile 8, and took some water at the next aid station, which made my stomach cramp up a bit. My hip was tight, but not hurting. A couple of toenails were hurting, but that was not a huge concern. It was getting harder and harder to maintain pace, so I slowed down a bit, but kept going. Right before the 10th mile marker, a big uphill took the wind out of me, and I had to walk a bit, but I started running again once I reached the top. I didn't feel better, but I was on track for a major PR - or major blow up. I did the math, and only had to complete a 37-minute 5K to break 2:30. Splits: 11:26, 11:40, 11:29, 11:18.
Miles 11-13.1: I felt like I was holding Tim back, but he stuck with me for a while and kept motivating me by telling me how good I still looked (bald-faced lie) and how little distance we had left. He was going to stick with the pace until the 11th mile marker, and then open up to impress his daughter, who had likely finished her first half marathon right around 2 hours. I stopped to walk at a hill right after the marker, and saw him pull away. Bye Tim, thanks for 10 miles of conversation! Now, it really started to hurt. If I ran up a hill, I would feel a little lightheaded, so I walked all uphills. Eventually, the course flattened out, but I was still feeling crampy, so I didn't have my 12-mile gel. I was negotiating with myself - run for 200 steps, then I can walk. In the last mile, I was doing some serious math - I can walk up until this exact minute and still PR. I couldn't get it together enough to run the whole last mile, which I think I've done in every race I've ever done. I walked a little and jogged a little. My breathing was heavy and my stomach was in knots. At about 12.75 miles, I heard the accordion again, and found the strength to run the last bit, which was flat and across grass. I saw Dani holding an awesome sign with my name on it, and Tim (husband) and my parents were cheering me on. Right as I passed the finish line, I heard Tim (running buddy) call my name and I waved at roughly the area I thought he was standing. I didn't care though, I was done. I didn't even care that my Garmin only showed 12.99 miles. Splits: 12:00, 12:41, 12:26.
Post-race:
I took my finisher's medal and immediately sat on a bench. My family found me, and waited patiently while I sat with my head between my knees for a few minutes. Dani brought me a water. Eventually, I could move enough to walk over to the grass, where I sat on the ground and slowly sipped water. My husband was excited about the bratwurst and sauerkraut they were offering, but I had zero interest. It took about 15 minutes, but I was then able to get to the car, where I had the longest 30-minute car ride of my life. I got so car sick, and was barely able to finish the single Fig Newton I had started at the finish line. I was so happy to get back to the hotel, where I could lie down.
After about 20 minutes watching TV (hooray for not caring if I got the hotel bed sweaty!), I felt so much better. After a shower and a maple-bacon donut (yes, at the same time), I was feeling pretty good, so we went out for Chinese food and then hopped into the car to head back home.
One of the best parts about this race was that at about 2PM, I got an email with my official results:
Chip Time: 2:30:27.1
Gun Time: 2:30:47.7
Right about now, the couch is my friend, as is my leftover Chinese food. My hip is tight, but overall my legs feel pretty good. I lost one toenail. I had another donut. That was probably the hardest race I've ever done, and the worst I've ever felt afterwards. I'm already planning the next one!
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Jeffrey
Monday, October 19, 2015
Engineering Task
I want to get out of here in 10 minutes, so this will be quick. I wanted to share how much fun I had in class on Friday.
I'm sure you've all heard about Common Core, and how states across the country are pushing our kids even harder (and sometimes *gasp* pushing teachers as well). Science has something similar, called Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Since science gets less attention, New Jersey hasn't implemented these standards or written a test for them, but there is a link to them on the state website, so at least that's something.
One of the new parts of the NGSS is a focus on engineering and applied science. The thinking is that if students are exposed to applied sciences now, they will be more likely to enter the super lucrative STEM fields. I'm okay with that.
So, we had our first engineering task on Friday. Students were given a bin of Legos and the following challenge: Create a structure for your teacher's desk that can hold 10 pens or pencils.
Students drew prototypes, built structures, tested them, and rebuilt. Some tested and rebuilt a few other times.
The best part was that these overambitious, overachieving kids do NOT play well with others. There were groups of four that had completely fractured into separate projects. There were groups that couldn't agree on a design in a reasonable time. There were groups fighting, and solving problems, and being creative, and sharing, and debating. It was awesome. I saw a few heads explode. The best part is that kids were failing and trying again, and helping each other, and creating things.
Most importantly, kids walked out of class with a new appreciation for the design process that goes into creating some of the more complicated technology that they use on a daily basis. Some kids walked out of class with a new appreciation for the difficulty of working on a team.
I will never be an engineer. I hope that students got a taste of what engineering is like, and that some of them will grow up to design technologies that we can't even imagine. And I hope some of them don't like design and instead choose to pursue plain old theoretical science.
I'm sure you've all heard about Common Core, and how states across the country are pushing our kids even harder (and sometimes *gasp* pushing teachers as well). Science has something similar, called Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Since science gets less attention, New Jersey hasn't implemented these standards or written a test for them, but there is a link to them on the state website, so at least that's something.
One of the new parts of the NGSS is a focus on engineering and applied science. The thinking is that if students are exposed to applied sciences now, they will be more likely to enter the super lucrative STEM fields. I'm okay with that.
So, we had our first engineering task on Friday. Students were given a bin of Legos and the following challenge: Create a structure for your teacher's desk that can hold 10 pens or pencils.
Students drew prototypes, built structures, tested them, and rebuilt. Some tested and rebuilt a few other times.
The best part was that these overambitious, overachieving kids do NOT play well with others. There were groups of four that had completely fractured into separate projects. There were groups that couldn't agree on a design in a reasonable time. There were groups fighting, and solving problems, and being creative, and sharing, and debating. It was awesome. I saw a few heads explode. The best part is that kids were failing and trying again, and helping each other, and creating things.
Most importantly, kids walked out of class with a new appreciation for the design process that goes into creating some of the more complicated technology that they use on a daily basis. Some kids walked out of class with a new appreciation for the difficulty of working on a team.
I will never be an engineer. I hope that students got a taste of what engineering is like, and that some of them will grow up to design technologies that we can't even imagine. And I hope some of them don't like design and instead choose to pursue plain old theoretical science.
Thursday, October 15, 2015
IA1
This week was our first round of Interim Assessments (IAs). I appreciate the value of a standardized way to collect data across the North Star campuses, but the logistics are challenging. Instead of teaching 3 hours a day and another 1-2 hours of duties, I teach 3 hours a day with 1-2 hours of duties and an additional 2 hours of proctoring 20-26 lovely children in a fairly high-stress environment. It's busy and crazy and the kids are always a little...funky...after a few hours of testing, but now I can walk away with a useful set of data.
I haven't scanned in my data to get the real computer analysis, but I've started observing some trends already. Students are really comfortable with density and finding density through experimental data. It's amazing how much hands-on activities stick with the students, and also help them retain related content.
Students do not know what thermal energy is. Students do not know why condensation occurs on the outside of a glass of cold water. They know how to use the vocabulary terms in an explanation, but can't define them and haven't really internalized the concepts. I guess we're going back there.
Today, lunch detention was NOT good. I took a ton of dollars from students, and sent two to the dean's office. I even asked a colleague to step in and assist with the transition (...brb, sending thank you email...). Fortunately, situations like that are quick and seem to be forgotten by students almost immediately, so I don't think they'll remember my brief lapse in effective classroom management. I think next time I need to adjust a few assigned seats that concerned me at the start, but I didn't think it would escalate.
One of my struggling kiddos at lunch detention was my buddy B. He has been having difficulty in the last 2 weeks. After his month of awesome, he has been pushing back. I think he is testing to see how much he can get away with, now that he is a "good" kid. He has not been successful. I'm hoping that he will get over this phase of pushing and get back into the strong habits he had been developing in September.
Also, I ran 3 miles today! Okay, jogged. Okay, jogged with some walking in between. But, my hip isn't sore any more, and I've had 3 solid workouts this week. I'm slowly getting back on the workout routine wagon.
I haven't scanned in my data to get the real computer analysis, but I've started observing some trends already. Students are really comfortable with density and finding density through experimental data. It's amazing how much hands-on activities stick with the students, and also help them retain related content.
Students do not know what thermal energy is. Students do not know why condensation occurs on the outside of a glass of cold water. They know how to use the vocabulary terms in an explanation, but can't define them and haven't really internalized the concepts. I guess we're going back there.
Today, lunch detention was NOT good. I took a ton of dollars from students, and sent two to the dean's office. I even asked a colleague to step in and assist with the transition (...brb, sending thank you email...). Fortunately, situations like that are quick and seem to be forgotten by students almost immediately, so I don't think they'll remember my brief lapse in effective classroom management. I think next time I need to adjust a few assigned seats that concerned me at the start, but I didn't think it would escalate.
One of my struggling kiddos at lunch detention was my buddy B. He has been having difficulty in the last 2 weeks. After his month of awesome, he has been pushing back. I think he is testing to see how much he can get away with, now that he is a "good" kid. He has not been successful. I'm hoping that he will get over this phase of pushing and get back into the strong habits he had been developing in September.
Also, I ran 3 miles today! Okay, jogged. Okay, jogged with some walking in between. But, my hip isn't sore any more, and I've had 3 solid workouts this week. I'm slowly getting back on the workout routine wagon.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
One of Those Days
Today was just one of those days.
The classes were fine, and I accomplished some tasks, but I'm pretty sore from playing with my AWESOME NEPHEW ZANE, and it made the whole day a lot more frustrating.
To add to it, the kids in detention are being a little bit off. Not a lot - no egregious behaviors that require major consequences - but a little. Just barely looking around, not being incredibly focused, and a few extra noises here and there. I don't blame them - it's day 3 of testing, so they had 110 minutes of math assessment this morning and then 4 hours of classes. I'd be antsy too. Actually, I am pretty antsy.
I don't have a whole lot to share today. My hip has been sore, so I haven't had a whole lot of good workout time this weekend. I did some weightlifting and spent a little time on the elliptical (slightly less awful than the treadmill).
Any stories YOU'D like to hear? Leave a comment!
The classes were fine, and I accomplished some tasks, but I'm pretty sore from playing with my AWESOME NEPHEW ZANE, and it made the whole day a lot more frustrating.
To add to it, the kids in detention are being a little bit off. Not a lot - no egregious behaviors that require major consequences - but a little. Just barely looking around, not being incredibly focused, and a few extra noises here and there. I don't blame them - it's day 3 of testing, so they had 110 minutes of math assessment this morning and then 4 hours of classes. I'd be antsy too. Actually, I am pretty antsy.
I don't have a whole lot to share today. My hip has been sore, so I haven't had a whole lot of good workout time this weekend. I did some weightlifting and spent a little time on the elliptical (slightly less awful than the treadmill).
Any stories YOU'D like to hear? Leave a comment!
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Favorites
This is a BUSY week. A lot of extra hours.
I had a disappointing training weekend, but satisfying in other ways. I cut Saturday's bike short because my hip flexor was a little achy. On Sunday morning, I actually got my running shoes on, before deciding that another day to rest would be helpful. (Plus, I was lazy. I got an extra couple of hours to watch TV.) Partly, I was up wayyyyy too late on Saturday night (My last EMS shift of the "summer", and I had a great time), and partly, I was tired of this ache.
By Monday, my hip was feeling great, although I pushed a little too hard with a fast-ish 5 miler - but the weather was great. My coach suggested I run on the treadmill, so I can stop if I need, but I hate the treadmill.
Yesterday, we had Instructional Leader PD, which meant although I was technically at work until 6PM, I was hanging out with all grownups, which is slightly more relaxing than 12-year-olds. Plus, we got free lunch.
Plus, no detention. Bam.
I am pretty proud of myself for completing two workouts between a late workday yesterday and today - an hour on the bike, and a 1300 yd swim this morning.
Today, a student overreacted to a small correction and shut down in class. Shutting down is not entirely uncommon in 7th grade, and means that a student sits there and refuses to move, write, or otherwise follow directions. 7th graders like to get angry, and just need time to cool off. I NEVER did that when I was that age. Right, Mom and Dad?
I ended up having a nice chat with him about an hour afterwards, and we talked about how it is never worth fighting a little correction, because something little can be solved later. Time, tone, place. That's what we always remind them. I tell my students that I always want to hear their side of the story - just not right there, right then. There is always a time to explain yourself, and to hear a better explanation of the correction. I want our students to grow up and make good decisions in the moment, and ask questions later.
I think I learned a little bit from this student, and he learned a little bit from me, which is how it should be.
I've spent a lot of time talking about frustrations with students, so I 'd like to share a couple of my favorites. That isn't to say that I don't love B and W - I would do anything to see them be successful - but they are not always the ones who keep a smile on my face when it's early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
BO is so incredibly smart, and not the work-hard kind of smart. He picks up on concepts so incredibly fast, and can solve any problem. He likes to make his peers laugh sometimes, but accepts correction pretty well. Usually. He is always raising his hand to predict the next answer to the questions his peers ask, or the questions I haven't asked yet. The other day, as a challenge (I like to get kids into some outside science stuff), I asked if anyone knew what the Drake Equation is. His hand popped up immediately with a remarkably detailed response. When he didn't know the answer to a challenge, he looked it up at home and came to school the next day with the answer.
C is an 8th grader, which means I had him last year. He was always doing the right thing, always answering the hardest questions correctly, and always explaining difficult concepts to the class. I would have been happy letting him teach the class. This year, he helps me grade my papers. For all multiple choice or calculation grading, I leave a folder on the corner of my desk with the class's assignments and a Post-It with answers on it. By 5PM, the assignments are completely graded.
J is just the sweetest. Not only does she always do the right thing, even when in a class full of students who are not..quite... doing the right thing. She has adopted some of her mother's Caribbean lilt, so it is a pleasure to hear her speak. She is great at following long series of directions, so I can give her a quick set of directions to set up an entire lab for me, while I can get other work done.
And today, I get to hang out with my 25-ish Science Olympiad-ers while they figure out how to build bridges. It'll be awesome.
I had a disappointing training weekend, but satisfying in other ways. I cut Saturday's bike short because my hip flexor was a little achy. On Sunday morning, I actually got my running shoes on, before deciding that another day to rest would be helpful. (Plus, I was lazy. I got an extra couple of hours to watch TV.) Partly, I was up wayyyyy too late on Saturday night (My last EMS shift of the "summer", and I had a great time), and partly, I was tired of this ache.
By Monday, my hip was feeling great, although I pushed a little too hard with a fast-ish 5 miler - but the weather was great. My coach suggested I run on the treadmill, so I can stop if I need, but I hate the treadmill.
Yesterday, we had Instructional Leader PD, which meant although I was technically at work until 6PM, I was hanging out with all grownups, which is slightly more relaxing than 12-year-olds. Plus, we got free lunch.
Plus, no detention. Bam.
I am pretty proud of myself for completing two workouts between a late workday yesterday and today - an hour on the bike, and a 1300 yd swim this morning.
Today, a student overreacted to a small correction and shut down in class. Shutting down is not entirely uncommon in 7th grade, and means that a student sits there and refuses to move, write, or otherwise follow directions. 7th graders like to get angry, and just need time to cool off. I NEVER did that when I was that age. Right, Mom and Dad?
I ended up having a nice chat with him about an hour afterwards, and we talked about how it is never worth fighting a little correction, because something little can be solved later. Time, tone, place. That's what we always remind them. I tell my students that I always want to hear their side of the story - just not right there, right then. There is always a time to explain yourself, and to hear a better explanation of the correction. I want our students to grow up and make good decisions in the moment, and ask questions later.
I think I learned a little bit from this student, and he learned a little bit from me, which is how it should be.
I've spent a lot of time talking about frustrations with students, so I 'd like to share a couple of my favorites. That isn't to say that I don't love B and W - I would do anything to see them be successful - but they are not always the ones who keep a smile on my face when it's early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
BO is so incredibly smart, and not the work-hard kind of smart. He picks up on concepts so incredibly fast, and can solve any problem. He likes to make his peers laugh sometimes, but accepts correction pretty well. Usually. He is always raising his hand to predict the next answer to the questions his peers ask, or the questions I haven't asked yet. The other day, as a challenge (I like to get kids into some outside science stuff), I asked if anyone knew what the Drake Equation is. His hand popped up immediately with a remarkably detailed response. When he didn't know the answer to a challenge, he looked it up at home and came to school the next day with the answer.
C is an 8th grader, which means I had him last year. He was always doing the right thing, always answering the hardest questions correctly, and always explaining difficult concepts to the class. I would have been happy letting him teach the class. This year, he helps me grade my papers. For all multiple choice or calculation grading, I leave a folder on the corner of my desk with the class's assignments and a Post-It with answers on it. By 5PM, the assignments are completely graded.
J is just the sweetest. Not only does she always do the right thing, even when in a class full of students who are not..quite... doing the right thing. She has adopted some of her mother's Caribbean lilt, so it is a pleasure to hear her speak. She is great at following long series of directions, so I can give her a quick set of directions to set up an entire lab for me, while I can get other work done.
And today, I get to hang out with my 25-ish Science Olympiad-ers while they figure out how to build bridges. It'll be awesome.
Friday, October 2, 2015
Very
Tuesday was a very day. I had some very good moments, and some very frustrating ones.
I tried a new activity in class, and it was AWESOME. In order to get kids more invested in STEM. So, rather than having them look at diagrams of atoms, we made our own. And rather than telling them how to create a helium atom using pipe cleaners and three different color beads, I made them figure it out on their own. And rather than ending the discussion there, I had them talk about all the ways there models were good (the smallest beads were electrons, the nucleus is tightly packed and in the center) and they ways in which their models were misleading (the electrons aren't small enough, there isn't enough empty space, orbitals are not visible). It felt good.
Except for that moment when my difficult afternoon class, after a beautifully focused start to class, listened to me describe protons as "positively-charged balls." There were giggles. I may have been one of the ones giggling.
Teaching chemistry is frustrating, though. It seems that everything I teach has to be qualified with, "That's not actually true, but you'll learn more about that next week/in high school chemistry/in college chemistry." Such as: an atom must be neutral, so it has to have the same number of protons and electrons. Next week, we get to learn why this isn't true.
Also, my buddy B had a rough week. He is learning that as he is more successful on a daily basis, he can no longer get away with messing around when he wants. It's a tough lesson to learn, and he's been pushing back. Since I have him in the last block of the day, if he is pulled out of class (or more frequently, on a transition) earlier in the day, I don't see him. I haven't seen him in class since Tuesday, although I have given him a few pep talks since then. It makes me so frustrated that he can't just get that he has to be respectful to adults, even when he doesn't agree. It's tough seeing him ball his fists in anger, with tears running down his face, because he doesn't understand that talking back is disrespectful.
I had a good swim on Wednesday morning, and a nice run in the evening. Thursday's indoor bike session was cut short, because I spent about 30 minutes fiddling with my speed/cadence sensor, and then I didn't have it in me to finish the workout. I did make an awesome dinner, though. This month, my other commitments are challenging my workouts. Tim is working long hours, and can't cook and clean every day. The first round of assessments in school start next week, and we have conferences on Thursday. I may have to schedule two early-morning workouts next week. Oy.
I tried a new activity in class, and it was AWESOME. In order to get kids more invested in STEM. So, rather than having them look at diagrams of atoms, we made our own. And rather than telling them how to create a helium atom using pipe cleaners and three different color beads, I made them figure it out on their own. And rather than ending the discussion there, I had them talk about all the ways there models were good (the smallest beads were electrons, the nucleus is tightly packed and in the center) and they ways in which their models were misleading (the electrons aren't small enough, there isn't enough empty space, orbitals are not visible). It felt good.
Except for that moment when my difficult afternoon class, after a beautifully focused start to class, listened to me describe protons as "positively-charged balls." There were giggles. I may have been one of the ones giggling.
Teaching chemistry is frustrating, though. It seems that everything I teach has to be qualified with, "That's not actually true, but you'll learn more about that next week/in high school chemistry/in college chemistry." Such as: an atom must be neutral, so it has to have the same number of protons and electrons. Next week, we get to learn why this isn't true.
Also, my buddy B had a rough week. He is learning that as he is more successful on a daily basis, he can no longer get away with messing around when he wants. It's a tough lesson to learn, and he's been pushing back. Since I have him in the last block of the day, if he is pulled out of class (or more frequently, on a transition) earlier in the day, I don't see him. I haven't seen him in class since Tuesday, although I have given him a few pep talks since then. It makes me so frustrated that he can't just get that he has to be respectful to adults, even when he doesn't agree. It's tough seeing him ball his fists in anger, with tears running down his face, because he doesn't understand that talking back is disrespectful.
I had a good swim on Wednesday morning, and a nice run in the evening. Thursday's indoor bike session was cut short, because I spent about 30 minutes fiddling with my speed/cadence sensor, and then I didn't have it in me to finish the workout. I did make an awesome dinner, though. This month, my other commitments are challenging my workouts. Tim is working long hours, and can't cook and clean every day. The first round of assessments in school start next week, and we have conferences on Thursday. I may have to schedule two early-morning workouts next week. Oy.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Papal Visit Ambulance Strike Team 2015
And so, we find ourselves in another detention. I face the frustration that many of the students probably feel right now: Why do I find myself here, every week? What is wrong with me?
It seems that I love my job and my kids, and will sit through detention every Tuesday afternoon, so they build the habits necessary to be successful.
First, though, I enjoyed my weekend thoroughly. I had a lovely homemade pizza date night on Friday, with a little too much wine. Saturday morning was an 11-mile run that hurt a lot more than it should, probably as a result of the pizza and wine. Afterwards, my sore hip was SORE, but felt almost entirely better by school on Monday.
Sunday, though, was my big day. I know I have strange hobbies. One of my favorite activities is providing emergency medical support to major events, and this weekend was one of the biggest gatherings that Philadelphia has ever seen. So big, in fact, that they asked New Jersey for help. Pick me! Pick me!
So, I put on my utility belt and drove down to my ambulance company's headquarters in South Jersey, where I grabbed a partner and an ambulance and headed to a New Jersey shopping mall that was labelled with huge "Staging Area" signs. We met up with about 10 other ambulances, where we signed into the "Papal Visit Ambulance Strike Team NJ 2015" or somesuch and got our snazzy credentials.
We then headed to Philly in an ambulance motorcade, across bridges that were otherwise closed to traffic (and I got my favorite picture of the day), where we got a briefing from their end, got some new radios and a stack of Philadelphia Fire Department paperwork.
Then, we got back on the bridge, and headed to Camden, where we hung out with all sorts of other emergency folks (NJ State Police, Army Reserve, bomb squad, urban search and rescue) in case of any major disaster. There were no major disasters.
Around 3PM, as the Pope was gearing up for Mass, we were taken back into Philadelphia to join another 30-40 ambulance crews, all lined up along the streets near the Pope. We got some snazzy bags of supplies (which included about 8 tourniquets each - what did they think was going to happen?), an oxygen tank, a wheelchair, and a location. At this point, we were close enough to the Pope that we could see the stage where he was standing, but I wasn't interested in pushing through crowds just to say I saw him (really, I was only there for the adventure of EMS logistics). We wheeled on down, about a half mile away, where crowds were still packed solid.
We waited there for several hours, occasionally wheeling a sweaty, dizzy, nauseous, syncopal person we pulled out of the crowds. We hung out with some Army Reserve and Secret Service folks. We had a blast.
The people were...fascinating. Some folks were shouting at us because they had to wait in line all day. They yelled louder when it became evident that Mass was over, and they would not receive Communion at that time. It seemed like another of the security gates had been closed because too many people were packed into the area, and they sent everyone else away to stand in more lines. So, the obvious solution would be to yell at the guys in the neon yellow EMS shirts, right?
And then there were those trying to calm the others down, or were leading the crowd in religious songs, or helping others escape the crowds when they decided they couldn't wait any more. There were some really great people there.
By about 8:30 PM, were were called back to the First Aid Station, and then the staging area, and then back to our ambulances to sit and wait to demobilize. We handed in our radios, ate some turkey sandwiches, and were each handed a Papal Visit Ambulance Strike Team 2015 token before being led across empty bridges and sent home for the night.
I had a blast.
Unfortunately, though, it was too cloudy when I arrived home to see the blood moon, which was frustrating, because everyone (students and grown ups) asked in school on Monday if I had seen it.
I put my EMT hat away and put back on my teacher hat for the week. The week is going well in my classroom, although students elsewhere in the school have made less-than-stellar decisions, so I've been helping out with that.
Sure, maybe my day job isn't quite as thrilling, and involves fewer flashing lights and blaring sirens, but I know I'm changing the lives of these students who are sitting in detention right now, contorted into all possible forms of slouch, scribbling onto a page for the 9th consecutive hour. They'll get there one day.
It seems that I love my job and my kids, and will sit through detention every Tuesday afternoon, so they build the habits necessary to be successful.
First, though, I enjoyed my weekend thoroughly. I had a lovely homemade pizza date night on Friday, with a little too much wine. Saturday morning was an 11-mile run that hurt a lot more than it should, probably as a result of the pizza and wine. Afterwards, my sore hip was SORE, but felt almost entirely better by school on Monday.
Sunday, though, was my big day. I know I have strange hobbies. One of my favorite activities is providing emergency medical support to major events, and this weekend was one of the biggest gatherings that Philadelphia has ever seen. So big, in fact, that they asked New Jersey for help. Pick me! Pick me!
So, I put on my utility belt and drove down to my ambulance company's headquarters in South Jersey, where I grabbed a partner and an ambulance and headed to a New Jersey shopping mall that was labelled with huge "Staging Area" signs. We met up with about 10 other ambulances, where we signed into the "Papal Visit Ambulance Strike Team NJ 2015" or somesuch and got our snazzy credentials.
We then headed to Philly in an ambulance motorcade, across bridges that were otherwise closed to traffic (and I got my favorite picture of the day), where we got a briefing from their end, got some new radios and a stack of Philadelphia Fire Department paperwork.
Then, we got back on the bridge, and headed to Camden, where we hung out with all sorts of other emergency folks (NJ State Police, Army Reserve, bomb squad, urban search and rescue) in case of any major disaster. There were no major disasters.
Around 3PM, as the Pope was gearing up for Mass, we were taken back into Philadelphia to join another 30-40 ambulance crews, all lined up along the streets near the Pope. We got some snazzy bags of supplies (which included about 8 tourniquets each - what did they think was going to happen?), an oxygen tank, a wheelchair, and a location. At this point, we were close enough to the Pope that we could see the stage where he was standing, but I wasn't interested in pushing through crowds just to say I saw him (really, I was only there for the adventure of EMS logistics). We wheeled on down, about a half mile away, where crowds were still packed solid.
We checked in at the First Aid tent, and were sent to wait just past the entrance security. There were thousands of people packed into barriers, so they could be screened by TSA and metal detectors before coming in close proximity to the Pope.
We waited there for several hours, occasionally wheeling a sweaty, dizzy, nauseous, syncopal person we pulled out of the crowds. We hung out with some Army Reserve and Secret Service folks. We had a blast.
The people were...fascinating. Some folks were shouting at us because they had to wait in line all day. They yelled louder when it became evident that Mass was over, and they would not receive Communion at that time. It seemed like another of the security gates had been closed because too many people were packed into the area, and they sent everyone else away to stand in more lines. So, the obvious solution would be to yell at the guys in the neon yellow EMS shirts, right?
And then there were those trying to calm the others down, or were leading the crowd in religious songs, or helping others escape the crowds when they decided they couldn't wait any more. There were some really great people there.
By about 8:30 PM, were were called back to the First Aid Station, and then the staging area, and then back to our ambulances to sit and wait to demobilize. We handed in our radios, ate some turkey sandwiches, and were each handed a Papal Visit Ambulance Strike Team 2015 token before being led across empty bridges and sent home for the night.
I had a blast.
Unfortunately, though, it was too cloudy when I arrived home to see the blood moon, which was frustrating, because everyone (students and grown ups) asked in school on Monday if I had seen it.
I put my EMT hat away and put back on my teacher hat for the week. The week is going well in my classroom, although students elsewhere in the school have made less-than-stellar decisions, so I've been helping out with that.
Sure, maybe my day job isn't quite as thrilling, and involves fewer flashing lights and blaring sirens, but I know I'm changing the lives of these students who are sitting in detention right now, contorted into all possible forms of slouch, scribbling onto a page for the 9th consecutive hour. They'll get there one day.
Friday, September 25, 2015
Yom Kippur
Today I had a very satisfying teacher moment. I called on a student, and one of the students was not tracking the speaker. I had just taken a big gulp from my oversized mug, but raised my eyebrows at the not-tracking student, who then looked at the speaker. I managed my classroom ONLY WITH MY EYEBROWS. Definitely could not have done that 4 years ago.
This week, I had an opportunity to exercise my right as an American to not give my business to a company that I don't like. I have had a frustrating time over the past week with my renter's insurance company and their awful customer service, so I cancelled my policy and opened one with another company. It only cost me about 90 minutes total, and I felt quite proud. When asked why I cancelled, I wrote only "Appalling customer service." Don't buy insurance from Assurance.
In other news, GEICO customer service is pretty great. Give them business.
I managed to get over my cold just in time for Yom Kippur, which derailed my workouts for the week, but gave me a nice day of relaxing and atoning. As with every Yom Kippur, I spend the morning wondering if fasting is really meaningful, or if I am just taking part in a weird archaic ritual. But then, as the afternoon wears on, the hunger makes me...actually feel repentant. I came up with some New Years' Resolutions in that time, while also fantasizing about every meal I've ever enjoyed. Here is my New Years' Resolution: When I make a mistake, admit it. Fix it for next time. Don't justify or defend myself, and don't feel guilty.
I had a couple of opportunities to implement this on Thursday at school, one with a student and one with a parent, and they worked out well. I think this will help my relationship-building go more smoothly.
This week's workouts have been weak, but I have plans to do my long run tomorrow (11 miles, 3 of them fast). Next week, I'm back to 100% workouts. Really.
This week, I had an opportunity to exercise my right as an American to not give my business to a company that I don't like. I have had a frustrating time over the past week with my renter's insurance company and their awful customer service, so I cancelled my policy and opened one with another company. It only cost me about 90 minutes total, and I felt quite proud. When asked why I cancelled, I wrote only "Appalling customer service." Don't buy insurance from Assurance.
In other news, GEICO customer service is pretty great. Give them business.
I managed to get over my cold just in time for Yom Kippur, which derailed my workouts for the week, but gave me a nice day of relaxing and atoning. As with every Yom Kippur, I spend the morning wondering if fasting is really meaningful, or if I am just taking part in a weird archaic ritual. But then, as the afternoon wears on, the hunger makes me...actually feel repentant. I came up with some New Years' Resolutions in that time, while also fantasizing about every meal I've ever enjoyed. Here is my New Years' Resolution: When I make a mistake, admit it. Fix it for next time. Don't justify or defend myself, and don't feel guilty.
I had a couple of opportunities to implement this on Thursday at school, one with a student and one with a parent, and they worked out well. I think this will help my relationship-building go more smoothly.
This week's workouts have been weak, but I have plans to do my long run tomorrow (11 miles, 3 of them fast). Next week, I'm back to 100% workouts. Really.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Cold
Today is one of those days when I have a cold, and it's not bad enough to take a sick day, but it is pretty annoying. I feel kind of drained. Yesterday's super detention was overall pretty easy on me, since I was sitting for most of the day, but it was also exhausting and left me with a lingering nonspecific sense of frustration.
I also had an extra class to cover today. Due to weird field trip scheduling (there are too many 5th graders to take all of them to Project USE on the same day, so the trip is split up between two days, meaning some 5th grade teachers are on the trip, even though there are some 5th graders around to teach), I was scheduled to teacher 5th grade science this morning. The class actually went extremely well, and I was happy with the students' focus and performance on their exit ticket (spinal cord and sensory/motor nerves, pretty awesome for 5th graders).
Teaching 5th grade is good practice for my behavior management techniques, because the 5th graders respond very well to the paycheck system. As long as I was consistent about taking and adding dollars as necessary, the students made sure to stay focused and do their work. I actually had a blast, and we got to have a class discussion about how oxtail demonstrates the shape of vertebrae, so they can see at dinner how the spinal cord is protected. I had fun, and teaching the human body is awesome. (Can't wait for sex ed in January!)
My own classes went well, although B came in a little cranky, but was able to recover the last 20 minutes of class.
Now I have regular detention. It's definitely less tedious that super detention yesterday, but I still have that feeling of walking on eggshells - one wrong move, and the next fifty minutes will be a painful and frustrating battle to stay sane and emotionally constant. But, it's good now. And I'm feeling a little better this afternoon, after a solid lunch. Maybe I will get a run in this afternoon. I'll feel good atoning all day tomorrow if I get a good run in today.
I also had an extra class to cover today. Due to weird field trip scheduling (there are too many 5th graders to take all of them to Project USE on the same day, so the trip is split up between two days, meaning some 5th grade teachers are on the trip, even though there are some 5th graders around to teach), I was scheduled to teacher 5th grade science this morning. The class actually went extremely well, and I was happy with the students' focus and performance on their exit ticket (spinal cord and sensory/motor nerves, pretty awesome for 5th graders).
Teaching 5th grade is good practice for my behavior management techniques, because the 5th graders respond very well to the paycheck system. As long as I was consistent about taking and adding dollars as necessary, the students made sure to stay focused and do their work. I actually had a blast, and we got to have a class discussion about how oxtail demonstrates the shape of vertebrae, so they can see at dinner how the spinal cord is protected. I had fun, and teaching the human body is awesome. (Can't wait for sex ed in January!)
My own classes went well, although B came in a little cranky, but was able to recover the last 20 minutes of class.
Now I have regular detention. It's definitely less tedious that super detention yesterday, but I still have that feeling of walking on eggshells - one wrong move, and the next fifty minutes will be a painful and frustrating battle to stay sane and emotionally constant. But, it's good now. And I'm feeling a little better this afternoon, after a solid lunch. Maybe I will get a run in this afternoon. I'll feel good atoning all day tomorrow if I get a good run in today.
Monday, September 21, 2015
Detention 2.0
Today, I have a special privilege - I get to stay back from the field trip with students who have not earned the privilege of going! That was sarcastic. It's the worst. It's basically like detention, but for the entire school day. 8 hours' worth.
I worked hard to set up a serious, focused room to start the day. Each student is given a packet of stayback work, which includes 1-2 hours of work for each of their academic classes. Before we did that, though, I set the mood with a behavior reflection, so students could take a moment to think about why they were not going on the field trip (paycheck average below threshold), and what they could do to change that for next time. Fortunately, this created a somewhat more positive atmosphere, so it felt less like detention, and the students were more likely to be invested in the task of finishing these assignments (and of course, earning dollars as they worked).
The morning worked really well, despite some fidgets in the last half hour before lunch.
The afternoon, however, was a whole other beast. I've only been up here for 30 minutes, but I've already given a consequence to most students in the room. They're just...silly. I've finally, through a combination of correcting and cajoling, gotten them all back to work, but I don't know how long it will last. Students are beginning to get close to finishing up their packets. 90 minutes left; let's see how it goes.
This weekend was a race weekend, so I got a glorious rest day on Saturday (well, I still worked the whole day in my EMT work, but that was fun, relaxing, and not too difficult) and a short but hard run on Sunday. I raced a 5K, which is my most and least favorite distance to race. It's my favorite because it's pretty short, so it doesn't leave me as worn down as a normal long run would. It's my least favorite because it's HARD. While not as hard as a mile race, it's pushing myself just past comfortable, and holding it for nearly a half hour. Actually, for nearly 28 minutes, which is my new PR (personal record).
Here is my race report:
Training: I've been doing a lot more consistent training in the last 6 weeks, since working with my coach. I've been running between 15 and 20 miles per week for the last 6 weeks, with the exception of last week, which was too busy. I've had a long run each weekend, with the last few Sundays at 9, 10, and 11 miles, which is definitely pushing my limits. I've also pushed to have fast segments during these long runs, such as 2x2 miles fast at anywhere during the 11 mile run. I've been doing an addition 4-5 hours of biking and swimming as well, with most of that as indoor biking.
Goal: My previous 5K PR is 28:49, and that was nearly two years ago, so I really wanted to beat that. I thought I could break 28 minutes, which is just under a 9-minute mile pace. My mile race last week indicated that I could do even faster, but I wasn't feeling great (head cold, sore hip) and had been on my feet the previous day.
Pre-Race: I was originally signed up for a race next weekend, but was asked to work on an ambulance strike team for the Papal Visit in Philadelphia, so I couldn't pass that up. I found a local race for Sunday (Berkeley Heights 5K), and drove about 25 minutes to get there. The Google Maps link on the race's website actually took me to the wrong place, but I was able to follow the written directions to find the race start, which had ample parking. I registered, handed over my crumpled $25, and dropped the race packet back in the car. I am sort of in between iPhone holding devices in my running - my SPIbelt, which I've loved for over a year, has gotten a little stretched out and bounces incessantly sometimes. I wasn't willing to take that risk, and didn't have an armband that would fit my phone, so I went without music. The weather was perfect - 68 degrees and partly cloudy.
Warm-up: I warmed up by slowly jogging about a third of a mile, and then stretching out my tight hip flexor a little bit. I lined up next to some guys that looked a little faster than me, but behind a few young girls who looked like they were about to take off sprinting and then walk the rest of the way (they did).
The race: The first mile was a struggle to find the right pace. I think I worried too much about it - I started out a little too fast, and then slowed down, and then saw my pace was too slow and sped up. I bounced back and forth until I settled into a solid 9:00-mile pace. The second mile was almost entirely uphill, and I struggled to keep my pace down. I averaged about 9:16 per mile here, which brought my average pace for the entire race at exactly 9:00, so I couldn't slow down for the last mile, even though I wanted to. I sped up for the last mile, focusing on my breathing and on counting my strides. My legs were feeling good, with none of the calf soreness that I had felt in some previous 5K races. My breathing was the only limiting factor, which meant my legs were keeping up with my overall fitness, which was good. I tried to keep up with a girl I had been running near, but she took off in the last mile. I struggle to keep behind her, but ended up passing several people along the way. In the last quarter mile, I sped up, and pushed through the finish line that was just past the final turn. I finished, wheezing and out of breath, feeling like I could have done a little faster overall, but I could not have pushed harder at the end. When I crossed the finish line, I saw 27:59 on the official clock, and stopped my Garmin at 27:58 (I must have started a little late). Unfortunately, the official results haven't been posted, so I don't know if I was sub-28 or not!
What's next: My next race is a half marathon in late October. I think I'll wait until early December for my next attempt at a 5K, which is a race that I've done for the last few years and is a really fun one. For this one, I think I can at least beat my PR, if not by 30 seconds or more.
I'm going to end on a good note, because I still have 35 minutes with these students, and the day is long. I've worked hard to build relationships with these students, and today is the day when that pays off. I am only sane at this moment, after 7 hours almost-consecutively with the 20 students in the 7th grade who have not met behavioral expectations this year, because I've cashed in on my relationship building points today. Although there has been some silliness, and some talking, and lots of little noises, they've gotten a lot of work done and they've done mostly what they were supposed to be doing. And as I want to pull my hair out, I've learned to love each of these individuals a little more. And tomorrow, I will start banking relationship points again, for the next time.
Edit: I just checked the official results (like I've been doing every hour today), and they're finally up - 27:57, and second in my age group!
I worked hard to set up a serious, focused room to start the day. Each student is given a packet of stayback work, which includes 1-2 hours of work for each of their academic classes. Before we did that, though, I set the mood with a behavior reflection, so students could take a moment to think about why they were not going on the field trip (paycheck average below threshold), and what they could do to change that for next time. Fortunately, this created a somewhat more positive atmosphere, so it felt less like detention, and the students were more likely to be invested in the task of finishing these assignments (and of course, earning dollars as they worked).
The morning worked really well, despite some fidgets in the last half hour before lunch.
The afternoon, however, was a whole other beast. I've only been up here for 30 minutes, but I've already given a consequence to most students in the room. They're just...silly. I've finally, through a combination of correcting and cajoling, gotten them all back to work, but I don't know how long it will last. Students are beginning to get close to finishing up their packets. 90 minutes left; let's see how it goes.
This weekend was a race weekend, so I got a glorious rest day on Saturday (well, I still worked the whole day in my EMT work, but that was fun, relaxing, and not too difficult) and a short but hard run on Sunday. I raced a 5K, which is my most and least favorite distance to race. It's my favorite because it's pretty short, so it doesn't leave me as worn down as a normal long run would. It's my least favorite because it's HARD. While not as hard as a mile race, it's pushing myself just past comfortable, and holding it for nearly a half hour. Actually, for nearly 28 minutes, which is my new PR (personal record).
Here is my race report:
Training: I've been doing a lot more consistent training in the last 6 weeks, since working with my coach. I've been running between 15 and 20 miles per week for the last 6 weeks, with the exception of last week, which was too busy. I've had a long run each weekend, with the last few Sundays at 9, 10, and 11 miles, which is definitely pushing my limits. I've also pushed to have fast segments during these long runs, such as 2x2 miles fast at anywhere during the 11 mile run. I've been doing an addition 4-5 hours of biking and swimming as well, with most of that as indoor biking.
Goal: My previous 5K PR is 28:49, and that was nearly two years ago, so I really wanted to beat that. I thought I could break 28 minutes, which is just under a 9-minute mile pace. My mile race last week indicated that I could do even faster, but I wasn't feeling great (head cold, sore hip) and had been on my feet the previous day.
Pre-Race: I was originally signed up for a race next weekend, but was asked to work on an ambulance strike team for the Papal Visit in Philadelphia, so I couldn't pass that up. I found a local race for Sunday (Berkeley Heights 5K), and drove about 25 minutes to get there. The Google Maps link on the race's website actually took me to the wrong place, but I was able to follow the written directions to find the race start, which had ample parking. I registered, handed over my crumpled $25, and dropped the race packet back in the car. I am sort of in between iPhone holding devices in my running - my SPIbelt, which I've loved for over a year, has gotten a little stretched out and bounces incessantly sometimes. I wasn't willing to take that risk, and didn't have an armband that would fit my phone, so I went without music. The weather was perfect - 68 degrees and partly cloudy.
Warm-up: I warmed up by slowly jogging about a third of a mile, and then stretching out my tight hip flexor a little bit. I lined up next to some guys that looked a little faster than me, but behind a few young girls who looked like they were about to take off sprinting and then walk the rest of the way (they did).
The race: The first mile was a struggle to find the right pace. I think I worried too much about it - I started out a little too fast, and then slowed down, and then saw my pace was too slow and sped up. I bounced back and forth until I settled into a solid 9:00-mile pace. The second mile was almost entirely uphill, and I struggled to keep my pace down. I averaged about 9:16 per mile here, which brought my average pace for the entire race at exactly 9:00, so I couldn't slow down for the last mile, even though I wanted to. I sped up for the last mile, focusing on my breathing and on counting my strides. My legs were feeling good, with none of the calf soreness that I had felt in some previous 5K races. My breathing was the only limiting factor, which meant my legs were keeping up with my overall fitness, which was good. I tried to keep up with a girl I had been running near, but she took off in the last mile. I struggle to keep behind her, but ended up passing several people along the way. In the last quarter mile, I sped up, and pushed through the finish line that was just past the final turn. I finished, wheezing and out of breath, feeling like I could have done a little faster overall, but I could not have pushed harder at the end. When I crossed the finish line, I saw 27:59 on the official clock, and stopped my Garmin at 27:58 (I must have started a little late). Unfortunately, the official results haven't been posted, so I don't know if I was sub-28 or not!
What's next: My next race is a half marathon in late October. I think I'll wait until early December for my next attempt at a 5K, which is a race that I've done for the last few years and is a really fun one. For this one, I think I can at least beat my PR, if not by 30 seconds or more.
I'm going to end on a good note, because I still have 35 minutes with these students, and the day is long. I've worked hard to build relationships with these students, and today is the day when that pays off. I am only sane at this moment, after 7 hours almost-consecutively with the 20 students in the 7th grade who have not met behavioral expectations this year, because I've cashed in on my relationship building points today. Although there has been some silliness, and some talking, and lots of little noises, they've gotten a lot of work done and they've done mostly what they were supposed to be doing. And as I want to pull my hair out, I've learned to love each of these individuals a little more. And tomorrow, I will start banking relationship points again, for the next time.
Edit: I just checked the official results (like I've been doing every hour today), and they're finally up - 27:57, and second in my age group!
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Broken Eggs
Today, I made a student cry. And, it was the sweetest, most wonderful student I have. And I don't regret it.
Student's were warned that there were breakable, spillable materials on the desks for today's lab, and that if anything was knocked off the desk, students would be taken out of the lab. So, student R, who has often stayed after class to ask questions about unrelated science, and who does experiments on the weekends for fun, knocked an egg off the desk. I sent her to the back of the room with a textbook, where she sat for the whole class instead of doing the experiment. She got a 0 for participation today. She cried.
I hope she remembers this when we are working with glass and boiling water later in the year, or when she is doing something infinitely more exciting and dangerous later in life (she wants to be a marine zoologist, so maybe riding in a fancy underwater exploration vehicle like Alvin). I also make sure to call her mom, who will help her do the lab on her own after school today.
The rest of the week was good moments, though:
Yesterday, a recently-disciplined student waved me over to ask: "Miss, do you have eyes on the back of your head."
I am the greatest.
I also managed a perfect lunch detention today; no dollars were lost. There was no talking, no noises, and a room full of kids with nothing to do, reading quietly. Victory!
My workouts this week have been...completely nonexistent. After a great weekend, Monday was full of family obligations, Tuesday included a 3/4-mile run, but that's all I had time for, and Wednesday was Back to School Night until way too late (and moveover, three parents commented that I looked tired). So, it's Thursday, and I've done nothing this week. Fortunately, Thursday is my leave-early day (implemented last October to counteract teacher complaints that the work is unsustainable - while not a solution, it definitely helps morale to know that I have an afternoon available for making doctor's appointments or going to the post office). I plan on getting at least two workouts in today.
Student's were warned that there were breakable, spillable materials on the desks for today's lab, and that if anything was knocked off the desk, students would be taken out of the lab. So, student R, who has often stayed after class to ask questions about unrelated science, and who does experiments on the weekends for fun, knocked an egg off the desk. I sent her to the back of the room with a textbook, where she sat for the whole class instead of doing the experiment. She got a 0 for participation today. She cried.
I hope she remembers this when we are working with glass and boiling water later in the year, or when she is doing something infinitely more exciting and dangerous later in life (she wants to be a marine zoologist, so maybe riding in a fancy underwater exploration vehicle like Alvin). I also make sure to call her mom, who will help her do the lab on her own after school today.
The rest of the week was good moments, though:
Yesterday, a recently-disciplined student waved me over to ask: "Miss, do you have eyes on the back of your head."
I am the greatest.
I also managed a perfect lunch detention today; no dollars were lost. There was no talking, no noises, and a room full of kids with nothing to do, reading quietly. Victory!
My workouts this week have been...completely nonexistent. After a great weekend, Monday was full of family obligations, Tuesday included a 3/4-mile run, but that's all I had time for, and Wednesday was Back to School Night until way too late (and moveover, three parents commented that I looked tired). So, it's Thursday, and I've done nothing this week. Fortunately, Thursday is my leave-early day (implemented last October to counteract teacher complaints that the work is unsustainable - while not a solution, it definitely helps morale to know that I have an afternoon available for making doctor's appointments or going to the post office). I plan on getting at least two workouts in today.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Trouble Day
I didn't have a lot to write about last week, because everything went well. It was incredibly smooth, and I had the best student management Friday I've ever had.
This weekend was also good. I had a nice 11-miler on Saturday (it was finally below 80 for a long run!), and on Sunday, I beat my mile PR by over a minute! I ran a 1-mile race in 7:37! And...it sucked. Every one of those seconds was painful. The weather was perfect - about 68 during the race - but about 10 minutes after I finished, I sweated profusely onto the pavement in Manhattan. And after those awful 7-and-a-half minutes...I felt awesome. And proud.
And then I immediately tried to bike 20 miles. I made it 17.5, slowly. My quads were sore, and my hip achy. But all in all, I'm incredibly proud of my fitness accomplishments this weekend. I think I'm in the best shape ever, and my coach is really helping improve that.
I can't wait to see what happens in my next races, a 5K in two weeks and a half marathon in the end of October. My new mile time makes me hopeful I can break 28 in the 5K, and even (maybe?) 2:20 in the half.
But then today, my day at work was challenging. I was extremely tired - after two nights of family obligations, including last night's cathartic casting away of sins into the Hudson River, and two nights of not great sleep, I was a little bit cranky. The kids were fine, but not great (I think they are craziest on Tuesdays). The lesson was great. I'm still loving teaching new lessons, and today we got to read the story about Archimedes running naked through the streets shouting "Eureka". And then, right in the middle of my second class, right around "Eureka", I knocked my brand new computer onto the floor.
We get a new work computer every three years. The computers are not the greatest, not the most expensive, and not the shiniest, but they do the job. Last year, in the third year of my Lenovo's lifespan, I struggled. I crashed Windows through an abundance of open Word documents and Chrome tabs about once per week, and spend a lot of my day waiting for the computer to boot up in the morning and for Office to save documents to the server. When I received my new computer in the last week of school, I was thrilled. It was amazing and fast and everything I had spent all year wanting.
Until today, when I dropped it. The class gasped, and I laughed it off. And then I picked up the computer, dusted it off--and it still worked! It was a little slow to respond, but that's probably trackpad issues.
And then it got slower, and slower, until Word crashed. So I rebooted. And that was the last it ever saw. I rebooted. And rebooted. And it never reloaded Windows. And I called tech support. And I ate some Easy Mac. And I did some work on a desktop next to a student in Computers class.
And now I have a new computer. A new new computer. It's actually a little less nice than the old new computer, but it'll do. And I'm back to work, with only a couple of hours lost, so not too bad, all in all.
But, I was sleepy and cranky and the kids were extra middle-schooly today, and I'm proud that I didn't cry when my computer didn't boot up. At least I get to run today!
This weekend was also good. I had a nice 11-miler on Saturday (it was finally below 80 for a long run!), and on Sunday, I beat my mile PR by over a minute! I ran a 1-mile race in 7:37! And...it sucked. Every one of those seconds was painful. The weather was perfect - about 68 during the race - but about 10 minutes after I finished, I sweated profusely onto the pavement in Manhattan. And after those awful 7-and-a-half minutes...I felt awesome. And proud.
And then I immediately tried to bike 20 miles. I made it 17.5, slowly. My quads were sore, and my hip achy. But all in all, I'm incredibly proud of my fitness accomplishments this weekend. I think I'm in the best shape ever, and my coach is really helping improve that.
I can't wait to see what happens in my next races, a 5K in two weeks and a half marathon in the end of October. My new mile time makes me hopeful I can break 28 in the 5K, and even (maybe?) 2:20 in the half.
But then today, my day at work was challenging. I was extremely tired - after two nights of family obligations, including last night's cathartic casting away of sins into the Hudson River, and two nights of not great sleep, I was a little bit cranky. The kids were fine, but not great (I think they are craziest on Tuesdays). The lesson was great. I'm still loving teaching new lessons, and today we got to read the story about Archimedes running naked through the streets shouting "Eureka". And then, right in the middle of my second class, right around "Eureka", I knocked my brand new computer onto the floor.
We get a new work computer every three years. The computers are not the greatest, not the most expensive, and not the shiniest, but they do the job. Last year, in the third year of my Lenovo's lifespan, I struggled. I crashed Windows through an abundance of open Word documents and Chrome tabs about once per week, and spend a lot of my day waiting for the computer to boot up in the morning and for Office to save documents to the server. When I received my new computer in the last week of school, I was thrilled. It was amazing and fast and everything I had spent all year wanting.
Until today, when I dropped it. The class gasped, and I laughed it off. And then I picked up the computer, dusted it off--and it still worked! It was a little slow to respond, but that's probably trackpad issues.
And then it got slower, and slower, until Word crashed. So I rebooted. And that was the last it ever saw. I rebooted. And rebooted. And it never reloaded Windows. And I called tech support. And I ate some Easy Mac. And I did some work on a desktop next to a student in Computers class.
And now I have a new computer. A new new computer. It's actually a little less nice than the old new computer, but it'll do. And I'm back to work, with only a couple of hours lost, so not too bad, all in all.
But, I was sleepy and cranky and the kids were extra middle-schooly today, and I'm proud that I didn't cry when my computer didn't boot up. At least I get to run today!
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
The Story of B
Things are rolling quite smoothly. And, I'm in detention when i say that (okay, it's only 3:51, and there's plenty of time for everything to come crashing down, but I think we're going to be good).
So, let's talk about my buddy, B. He's part of the category of students we call Kids We Love Most, or KWLM's, or K-Dubs. I do, truly, love him the most. I've probably spent more time talking to him, talking to his mom, talking to my principal or colleagues about him, crying in the staff room, and worrying at night, than any other student I've ever had.
B started last year barely getting by, and then had some behavioral struggles. He struggles with processing directions, which is probably the biggest challenge a North Star student could have, because we are constantly telling students how to sit, where to look, and what to do (and expecting immediate compliance). A few behavioral challenges turned into a lot of time spent in the dean's office, and "barely getting by" turned into failing classes.
There were a lot of conferences with mom, who took a while to trust that we really were looking out for her son's best interest, and not just picking on him (because sometimes, when a situation escalates from a student slouching at his desk to a dean send out, it's tough to understand why). I once spent an entire night (like, lying in bed) rehearsing for a meeting the next day with his mom.
I actually lost a lot of sleep over this one, and shed a lot of tears, because I was watching this student struggle behaviorally and academically every day, and have so few opportunities to be successful. It also didn't help that when he got angry, he could be VERY disrespectful, and derail an entire class. I made some mistakes last year, including losing my temper sometimes and not always saying the kindest, most helpful things. I trusted my principal's advice to keep it consistent, even if it is frustrating, because a system of clear expectations and consequences is what has helped students here be successful for so long.
For a while, it was quite frustrating. I sent him out of my class almost every time I saw him. A send out means that he got one to three reminders (like a tap on the desk, or quiet reminder) for posture or focus or tracking, then lost a dollar, then three, then took a moment in the hallway to collect himself, and was then given a chance to write a reflection in the back of the room, which he refused every time. And that was only if I saw him; he was often already in the dean's office by 10:00 AM. When I tried to debrief with him, as I try to make it a habit to do after every student behavioral problem of significance, he wouldn't even make eye contact with me. Every question was answered with a shrug, if it all.
And then one day...it worked. He came into class and did what he was supposed to, without even needing reminders. I like to think it was a combination of familiarity with the consequences, and one very long and exhausting meeting with him, his mom, the principal, and me, when he was forced to make eye contact while I explained that I cared about him, and about his success, and about his chances of playing football at Michigan one day. And then he stayed in my class (almost) every single day for the rest of that year. The biggest problems I had from him were calling out answers...because he was so excited. We chatted after class sometimes (he claims the Patriots are the best and the "Jets are like dookie", which I thing means he was comparing my football team to fecal matter). Sometimes I gave him pep talks that helped him get his act together in other classes.
Unfortunately, it was April, and B needed to cover a lot of ground. He ended up being retained, and I was excited to start a fresh year with him. And he started great in my class. The few slip-ups we had were quickly reflected on and repaired. But it was not as smooth in his other classes. He struggled a lot in the first two weeks, and spent a lot of time in the dean's office. I met with a few other teachers to help come up with a plan that would help him be more successful in his other classes, and that is a work in progress. He came in this week a little more focused, and possible on a good track for the time being. I'm hopeful that he will be successful in football, or whatever he chooses to do. (He'll have to grow a few inches taller if that will become a reality.) I hope that the time we, as teachers, have spent loving him the most will pay off for him, which means it will have paid off for me.
So, let's talk about my buddy, B. He's part of the category of students we call Kids We Love Most, or KWLM's, or K-Dubs. I do, truly, love him the most. I've probably spent more time talking to him, talking to his mom, talking to my principal or colleagues about him, crying in the staff room, and worrying at night, than any other student I've ever had.
B started last year barely getting by, and then had some behavioral struggles. He struggles with processing directions, which is probably the biggest challenge a North Star student could have, because we are constantly telling students how to sit, where to look, and what to do (and expecting immediate compliance). A few behavioral challenges turned into a lot of time spent in the dean's office, and "barely getting by" turned into failing classes.
There were a lot of conferences with mom, who took a while to trust that we really were looking out for her son's best interest, and not just picking on him (because sometimes, when a situation escalates from a student slouching at his desk to a dean send out, it's tough to understand why). I once spent an entire night (like, lying in bed) rehearsing for a meeting the next day with his mom.
I actually lost a lot of sleep over this one, and shed a lot of tears, because I was watching this student struggle behaviorally and academically every day, and have so few opportunities to be successful. It also didn't help that when he got angry, he could be VERY disrespectful, and derail an entire class. I made some mistakes last year, including losing my temper sometimes and not always saying the kindest, most helpful things. I trusted my principal's advice to keep it consistent, even if it is frustrating, because a system of clear expectations and consequences is what has helped students here be successful for so long.
For a while, it was quite frustrating. I sent him out of my class almost every time I saw him. A send out means that he got one to three reminders (like a tap on the desk, or quiet reminder) for posture or focus or tracking, then lost a dollar, then three, then took a moment in the hallway to collect himself, and was then given a chance to write a reflection in the back of the room, which he refused every time. And that was only if I saw him; he was often already in the dean's office by 10:00 AM. When I tried to debrief with him, as I try to make it a habit to do after every student behavioral problem of significance, he wouldn't even make eye contact with me. Every question was answered with a shrug, if it all.
And then one day...it worked. He came into class and did what he was supposed to, without even needing reminders. I like to think it was a combination of familiarity with the consequences, and one very long and exhausting meeting with him, his mom, the principal, and me, when he was forced to make eye contact while I explained that I cared about him, and about his success, and about his chances of playing football at Michigan one day. And then he stayed in my class (almost) every single day for the rest of that year. The biggest problems I had from him were calling out answers...because he was so excited. We chatted after class sometimes (he claims the Patriots are the best and the "Jets are like dookie", which I thing means he was comparing my football team to fecal matter). Sometimes I gave him pep talks that helped him get his act together in other classes.
Unfortunately, it was April, and B needed to cover a lot of ground. He ended up being retained, and I was excited to start a fresh year with him. And he started great in my class. The few slip-ups we had were quickly reflected on and repaired. But it was not as smooth in his other classes. He struggled a lot in the first two weeks, and spent a lot of time in the dean's office. I met with a few other teachers to help come up with a plan that would help him be more successful in his other classes, and that is a work in progress. He came in this week a little more focused, and possible on a good track for the time being. I'm hopeful that he will be successful in football, or whatever he chooses to do. (He'll have to grow a few inches taller if that will become a reality.) I hope that the time we, as teachers, have spent loving him the most will pay off for him, which means it will have paid off for me.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Integrity
I DID IT. All 3 classes went well today, and I held everyone accountable for high expectations. It helped a little that my buddy B was on ISS, but I guess this is a step along the way to 100%.
Today's class was fun. We were practicing using graduated cylinders and triple-beam balances. I managed to create (loose) context for the activity by creating an investigation of which cookie brand has bigger cookies. It was basically an excuse to eat cookies, but we did discover (fairly surprisingly) that crunchy and chewy chocolate chip cookies have about the same mass, even though chewy cookies are much more dense (and therefore smaller).
I am also having a great time with the new curriculum this year. Not only is it different, it is also sequential, so that the curriculum I am teaching this year is a direct continuation of the curriculum I taught last year, even though it's different students. For example, over the weekend students had to write a lab report conclusion, which is a skill we had begun last year and added on to last week. Their conclusions did not look like start-of-7th-grade conclusions (at least as I had seen in the past). They looked like end-of-7th-grade conclusions (or start-of-8th-grade), because these students had done the 7th grade lab skills already. It was awesome, and I think I will enjoy continuing this journey with them.
Lunch detention, though. Lunch detention is going to be a challenge for me this year. It's just an opportunity for...holes. Students have so many opportunities to push boundaries in terms of off task behavior and noises. I hate noises. It's tough because they aren't supposed to be doing anything, and 7th graders get distracted really easily this way. I will have to enforce "look at your food or book only", which will be tough (i.e. a pain in the butt) to enforce at first, but I think it will pay off later. Once I have that expectation down, I can more easily correct students who are messing around but not doing anything specifically naughty. For example, if a student is not quite making funny faces, but is looking weird enough that other kids are laughing, I will get a crazy reaction if I took dollars (our consequence system uses fake money). However, if students know they can lose dollars for looking around in the first place, it would then be easier to take a dollar for "not tracking book/food". It's crazy North Star logic, but it has actually been proven to work.
Today, something really weird happened with lunch detention, in a way that could only happen here. The students...did lunch detention themselves. For like 10 minutes. The lunch detention teacher was late, and somehow they had gotten the message to go inside the room and start eating. They sat themselves evenly spread out and started eating, pretty quietly. When I walked by a few minutes later, they all shushed themselves into silence by the time I got inside the room. We found the right teacher, and the kids got a lecture on why they shouldn't be in a classroom without a teacher's permission, but it was cute. They do what they're supposed to, even when nobody's watching.
Today's class was fun. We were practicing using graduated cylinders and triple-beam balances. I managed to create (loose) context for the activity by creating an investigation of which cookie brand has bigger cookies. It was basically an excuse to eat cookies, but we did discover (fairly surprisingly) that crunchy and chewy chocolate chip cookies have about the same mass, even though chewy cookies are much more dense (and therefore smaller).
I am also having a great time with the new curriculum this year. Not only is it different, it is also sequential, so that the curriculum I am teaching this year is a direct continuation of the curriculum I taught last year, even though it's different students. For example, over the weekend students had to write a lab report conclusion, which is a skill we had begun last year and added on to last week. Their conclusions did not look like start-of-7th-grade conclusions (at least as I had seen in the past). They looked like end-of-7th-grade conclusions (or start-of-8th-grade), because these students had done the 7th grade lab skills already. It was awesome, and I think I will enjoy continuing this journey with them.
Lunch detention, though. Lunch detention is going to be a challenge for me this year. It's just an opportunity for...holes. Students have so many opportunities to push boundaries in terms of off task behavior and noises. I hate noises. It's tough because they aren't supposed to be doing anything, and 7th graders get distracted really easily this way. I will have to enforce "look at your food or book only", which will be tough (i.e. a pain in the butt) to enforce at first, but I think it will pay off later. Once I have that expectation down, I can more easily correct students who are messing around but not doing anything specifically naughty. For example, if a student is not quite making funny faces, but is looking weird enough that other kids are laughing, I will get a crazy reaction if I took dollars (our consequence system uses fake money). However, if students know they can lose dollars for looking around in the first place, it would then be easier to take a dollar for "not tracking book/food". It's crazy North Star logic, but it has actually been proven to work.
Today, something really weird happened with lunch detention, in a way that could only happen here. The students...did lunch detention themselves. For like 10 minutes. The lunch detention teacher was late, and somehow they had gotten the message to go inside the room and start eating. They sat themselves evenly spread out and started eating, pretty quietly. When I walked by a few minutes later, they all shushed themselves into silence by the time I got inside the room. We found the right teacher, and the kids got a lecture on why they shouldn't be in a classroom without a teacher's permission, but it was cute. They do what they're supposed to, even when nobody's watching.
Monday, August 31, 2015
Monday Email
If my coach can send a celebration email on Monday, then I can share my own celebrations.
This weekend, I had some really good workouts, including a 20 mile bike ride followed by a 15 minute run on Saturday, and a hard 9 mile run on Sunday. I'm definitely feeling it, but I'm proud.
I'd also like to shout out my three students who scored 100 on their quiz Friday. Also, my buddy W, who read spectacularly on Friday.
Today has been rough. I didn't sleep well last night, which makes my patience a bit shorter. My first two classes were great, but my afternoon class had struggles. Overall, it was actually really nice - for the first 3/4 of class, the students were absolutely silent and on task (when supposed to be, and talking with partners when they were supposed to be). W was actually keeping up with tracking and hand-raising for the most part. However, my best buddy from last year, we'll call him B, decided he wasn't playing the game today. He sat there and did nothing. I went through the usual consequences, which resulted in his being sent to the dean's office. However, he was sent back to class, I think through a misunderstanding with the dean. At this point, there were no more consequences I could use, so I was unable to enforce my expectations with him. And since I couldn't enforce my expectations with him, I couldn't enforce them with his peers, and the class got a little bit sloppy. It wasn't terrible, but I was not happy to end it this way.
I guess, looking at it now, my classes were 80% great, so I can't complain too much. I have a lot of work to do, but I think it's a manageable amount - it just doesn't seem manageable as a look at a whole week's worth laid out for me on a Monday.
I'm a little intimidated by the weather this week - it's supposed to be over 90 every single day. That will make my runs difficult, and I can't decide whether I should go running before school (very, very early), go right after school at a nearby park (shady, beautiful), or wait until I go home (later, so a little cooler, but not as shady). Tough decisions.
Oh yeah, my husband is back home. It's nice.
This weekend, I had some really good workouts, including a 20 mile bike ride followed by a 15 minute run on Saturday, and a hard 9 mile run on Sunday. I'm definitely feeling it, but I'm proud.
I'd also like to shout out my three students who scored 100 on their quiz Friday. Also, my buddy W, who read spectacularly on Friday.
Today has been rough. I didn't sleep well last night, which makes my patience a bit shorter. My first two classes were great, but my afternoon class had struggles. Overall, it was actually really nice - for the first 3/4 of class, the students were absolutely silent and on task (when supposed to be, and talking with partners when they were supposed to be). W was actually keeping up with tracking and hand-raising for the most part. However, my best buddy from last year, we'll call him B, decided he wasn't playing the game today. He sat there and did nothing. I went through the usual consequences, which resulted in his being sent to the dean's office. However, he was sent back to class, I think through a misunderstanding with the dean. At this point, there were no more consequences I could use, so I was unable to enforce my expectations with him. And since I couldn't enforce my expectations with him, I couldn't enforce them with his peers, and the class got a little bit sloppy. It wasn't terrible, but I was not happy to end it this way.
I guess, looking at it now, my classes were 80% great, so I can't complain too much. I have a lot of work to do, but I think it's a manageable amount - it just doesn't seem manageable as a look at a whole week's worth laid out for me on a Monday.
I'm a little intimidated by the weather this week - it's supposed to be over 90 every single day. That will make my runs difficult, and I can't decide whether I should go running before school (very, very early), go right after school at a nearby park (shady, beautiful), or wait until I go home (later, so a little cooler, but not as shady). Tough decisions.
Oh yeah, my husband is back home. It's nice.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Day 3
Okay, I finally had a tough class. It was about time. My ninth class of the school year, during that last block of the day, was rough. It started with a student who refused to participate, and reacted very disrespectfully. I gave him a moment to collect himself in the hallway, and he agreed to come inside to participate. At the next opportunity, he did the same thing again, with an even bigger reaction. Students were laughing. I believe I was visibly ruffled, and it took a lot to get the class back. It was not the class I had been hoping for, and was very frustrating.
I then handled the situation in a textbook way, and the next part went incredibly well. This student, let's call him W, was new to our school. I had spoken to his mother earlier in the day about poorly done homework, and she mentioned that he is uncomfortable asking for help. I pulled W from detention and brought him to my classroom to chat. He mentioned that he wants to be a pro football player one day. We talked about how, if he wants to earn the millions, he will one day have to speak on TV in front of so many people, and only after he has spoken his way through high school, college interviews, and college. He agreed that even though speaking publicly is scary, it's an important skill.
I explained to him how I get nervous before I teach, and how I practice my lessons ahead of time (this year, anyway). I grabbed a copy of the next day's classwork, and we found a place where he could read aloud. We practiced the reading together. He struggles reading, although I am not qualified to diagnose anything. By the third read-through, he sounded fluent and confident. I also spent a few minutes tutoring him in content that he didn't learn at his old school, and that most of his peers know. I had him text me, so he had my number stored to ask for help. We planned on more opportunities for speaking in class in the future. He walked away with a smile.
I wish I could say that it resolved perfectly, but I don't know yet. I see him this afternoon, and I will call on him to read. He could read aloud, have his peers celebrate his confidence, and continue working hard towards his goals. He could refuse to read, react poorly, and derail the class again. I asked him this morning if he was ready, and he said, "A little."
We'll see how it goes.
I then handled the situation in a textbook way, and the next part went incredibly well. This student, let's call him W, was new to our school. I had spoken to his mother earlier in the day about poorly done homework, and she mentioned that he is uncomfortable asking for help. I pulled W from detention and brought him to my classroom to chat. He mentioned that he wants to be a pro football player one day. We talked about how, if he wants to earn the millions, he will one day have to speak on TV in front of so many people, and only after he has spoken his way through high school, college interviews, and college. He agreed that even though speaking publicly is scary, it's an important skill.
I explained to him how I get nervous before I teach, and how I practice my lessons ahead of time (this year, anyway). I grabbed a copy of the next day's classwork, and we found a place where he could read aloud. We practiced the reading together. He struggles reading, although I am not qualified to diagnose anything. By the third read-through, he sounded fluent and confident. I also spent a few minutes tutoring him in content that he didn't learn at his old school, and that most of his peers know. I had him text me, so he had my number stored to ask for help. We planned on more opportunities for speaking in class in the future. He walked away with a smile.
I wish I could say that it resolved perfectly, but I don't know yet. I see him this afternoon, and I will call on him to read. He could read aloud, have his peers celebrate his confidence, and continue working hard towards his goals. He could refuse to read, react poorly, and derail the class again. I asked him this morning if he was ready, and he said, "A little."
We'll see how it goes.
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Year 5, Day 1 (and 2)
We're back!
School has begun. The first day is always extremely high pressure. We need to show our students that they can't get away with anything. ANYTHING. It's very stressful, but it pays off in the long run when our students know how they are expected to sit, write, act, and speak.
My kids this year are nice. I'm excited to work with them.
Plus, my favorite few students from last year are back in 7th grade again, so I get to continue the relationships I've build with them so far. There will be stories to catch up on, I promise.
The first day went extremely well - my classes were near-perfect. However, I want to push them further. There were very few behavioral problems, but the students tend to get fidgitier by the end of the day (if you don't think fidgitier is a word, you've never met a 7th grader with a 10-hour school day). While my first two classes were extremely well-behaved, my last class is in the last hour of the day. They were a little antsy, and there was...noise. Not really talking, but just more sounds and movement.
And today, I wasn't a whole lot better at managing them. Again, my morning classes were great, and we're really zooming through the content. The last class was fast-paced and fun, and we got through the content, but there was a lot more silliness. We can have silliness, later, but we need to get the basics down first. I need to make a point of slowing down or stopping the class if there is any off-task behavior or excess movement, even if it means I don't finish the content. As we're told all the time, any time we spend now on routines and procedures is time saved down the line. 2 minutes lost to make sure students understand the expectations in Week 1 can save hours and hours later in the year, if it means that we don't lose the 10, 20, or 30 seconds every day resetting the class.
I am teaching new content this year - the 7th graders are getting 8th grade content, so it's more challenging for them (and new for me). I don't yet know what they will pick up quickly, and what will be more challenging. Although my 8th grade partner is great at predicting and explaining, since she has taught this for two years now, it's frustrating to have less instinct around the curriculum this year. It's a fun challenge/frustration, though, because it gives me a chance to learn a little more about 7th graders and their science-learning habits.
Today my principal complimented me in the middle of class for my Economy of Language. Imagine that.
2 days done. For day 3, my goal is to keep up the consistency through 3:25 PM. It's the last hour that's a killer.
School has begun. The first day is always extremely high pressure. We need to show our students that they can't get away with anything. ANYTHING. It's very stressful, but it pays off in the long run when our students know how they are expected to sit, write, act, and speak.
My kids this year are nice. I'm excited to work with them.
Plus, my favorite few students from last year are back in 7th grade again, so I get to continue the relationships I've build with them so far. There will be stories to catch up on, I promise.
The first day went extremely well - my classes were near-perfect. However, I want to push them further. There were very few behavioral problems, but the students tend to get fidgitier by the end of the day (if you don't think fidgitier is a word, you've never met a 7th grader with a 10-hour school day). While my first two classes were extremely well-behaved, my last class is in the last hour of the day. They were a little antsy, and there was...noise. Not really talking, but just more sounds and movement.
And today, I wasn't a whole lot better at managing them. Again, my morning classes were great, and we're really zooming through the content. The last class was fast-paced and fun, and we got through the content, but there was a lot more silliness. We can have silliness, later, but we need to get the basics down first. I need to make a point of slowing down or stopping the class if there is any off-task behavior or excess movement, even if it means I don't finish the content. As we're told all the time, any time we spend now on routines and procedures is time saved down the line. 2 minutes lost to make sure students understand the expectations in Week 1 can save hours and hours later in the year, if it means that we don't lose the 10, 20, or 30 seconds every day resetting the class.
I am teaching new content this year - the 7th graders are getting 8th grade content, so it's more challenging for them (and new for me). I don't yet know what they will pick up quickly, and what will be more challenging. Although my 8th grade partner is great at predicting and explaining, since she has taught this for two years now, it's frustrating to have less instinct around the curriculum this year. It's a fun challenge/frustration, though, because it gives me a chance to learn a little more about 7th graders and their science-learning habits.
Today my principal complimented me in the middle of class for my Economy of Language. Imagine that.
2 days done. For day 3, my goal is to keep up the consistency through 3:25 PM. It's the last hour that's a killer.
Friday, August 21, 2015
Ready Time
Today was a scramble to get ready. It's always a scramble, though. I can't remember a single last-weekday-before-school-starts that wasn't. I didn't get nearly as much done this week as I though I would, but I did have a lot of opportunities to help other teachers practice their first day lessons. I even practiced my first day lesson!
This shouldn't be that unusual, but it is for me. Last year, I was teaching the same curriculum for the third consecutive year. I had made some tweaks and many improvements, but about 80% of lessons I had done at least once, and some as many as three times, in previous years. This year, I am teaching a new curriculum, and what's more, I'm sharing planning duties. While this is great for my workload, and for my learning to work well with others, it means that I am teaching lessons that I didn't write, so I need to invest more time into preparing and practicing. So, I practiced today. It felt good, and I was proud do get it done in the morning, so it didn't get lost in the Friday afternoon scramble.
We've had some changes in the operations staff at school (over the last two years), which have caused some...hiccups...over the last two years, and in the last two weeks. This caused a little extra chaos this afternoon, but I pulled out my handy Microsoft Office skills (let's hear it for divider label templates!) and sped up the process a little bit. At the time we were kicked out of school to go to our pre-school-year happy hour, my room was all ready to go. The room is tidy, worksheets are photocopied, and student binders and materials are laid out and ready to go.
I'm (somewhat) rehearsed.
I've heard great things about this new group of students.
All I have between now and then is a weekend. And I get to spend the weekend with me. My husband is out of town, so I can drink some port, watch cartoons, and run/bike to my heart's content. Last weekend's workouts were cut a little short, but I have high hopes for tomorrow's 20 mile bike/15 minute run and Sunday's 9 mile run. Three days until the start of year 5!
This shouldn't be that unusual, but it is for me. Last year, I was teaching the same curriculum for the third consecutive year. I had made some tweaks and many improvements, but about 80% of lessons I had done at least once, and some as many as three times, in previous years. This year, I am teaching a new curriculum, and what's more, I'm sharing planning duties. While this is great for my workload, and for my learning to work well with others, it means that I am teaching lessons that I didn't write, so I need to invest more time into preparing and practicing. So, I practiced today. It felt good, and I was proud do get it done in the morning, so it didn't get lost in the Friday afternoon scramble.
We've had some changes in the operations staff at school (over the last two years), which have caused some...hiccups...over the last two years, and in the last two weeks. This caused a little extra chaos this afternoon, but I pulled out my handy Microsoft Office skills (let's hear it for divider label templates!) and sped up the process a little bit. At the time we were kicked out of school to go to our pre-school-year happy hour, my room was all ready to go. The room is tidy, worksheets are photocopied, and student binders and materials are laid out and ready to go.
I'm (somewhat) rehearsed.
I've heard great things about this new group of students.
All I have between now and then is a weekend. And I get to spend the weekend with me. My husband is out of town, so I can drink some port, watch cartoons, and run/bike to my heart's content. Last weekend's workouts were cut a little short, but I have high hopes for tomorrow's 20 mile bike/15 minute run and Sunday's 9 mile run. Three days until the start of year 5!
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Coaching
One of the fun parts about having a triathlon coach is our weekly Monday Email, which lists the accomplishments of our "team" (all of the athletes that she coaches). I've been listed twice in the last month:
On 7/20:
NYC Tri: Robin S 3:42:55 126th AG--BIG AG!!
On 8/3:
Jersey Girl Sprint Robin 1:22:14 28/54 nice race!!
While not the greatest accomplishments in the world, it still felt good to be recognized.
In addition to being coached, I have really enjoyed getting back into coaching this year.
What? Coaching?
Oh yeah, I forgot you haven't been with me for a while. Last year, I took on the role of Instructional Leader. IL is North Star's way of out-sourcing leadership to make sure that teachers can get observation/planning feedback quite frequently. I supported two teachers by offering feedback on all of their plans, and then observing their classes at least once per week to offer additional feedback. I was also around to answer any questions, especially about science content (I supported other science teachers). It was a very rewarding experience, but also very challenging.
The first time I met with my teachers at the start of last year, I had the whole meeting scripted out. I thought, who would ever let me decide what other teachers need to do to improve? I sort of made it up as I went along. Kind of like teaching, actually. And, as I went along, my feedback was more coherent, sequential, and overall helpful.
This year, I'm excited to start the year with a little more coaching confidence. I am only ILing one teachers this year (science), which will give me more time to spend working with her. Plus, I already have an outbox full of carefully-worded action steps ready to copy-and-paste. (Which, to be honest, were mostly borrowed from emails I've received in the past from my ILs.)
I dove back into coaching at PD on Friday. We had opportunities to practice pieces of our first week's lessons. I had so much fun offering high-leverage, bite-sized feedback to my partners. I also had fun when, satisfied with the feedback they had received, my partners brought some friends over for help with their lessons as well. Seriously, that happened.
Now that we're preparing for 5th Grade Induction tomorrow, I've had the opportunity to do the same for colleagues in my own building. It's fun, and really gratifying to see a teacher make one tiny change that changes their entire teacher appearance.
I'm really looking forward to getting coached and doing coaching this year.
On 7/20:
NYC Tri: Robin S 3:42:55 126th AG--BIG AG!!
On 8/3:
Jersey Girl Sprint Robin 1:22:14 28/54 nice race!!
While not the greatest accomplishments in the world, it still felt good to be recognized.
In addition to being coached, I have really enjoyed getting back into coaching this year.
What? Coaching?
Oh yeah, I forgot you haven't been with me for a while. Last year, I took on the role of Instructional Leader. IL is North Star's way of out-sourcing leadership to make sure that teachers can get observation/planning feedback quite frequently. I supported two teachers by offering feedback on all of their plans, and then observing their classes at least once per week to offer additional feedback. I was also around to answer any questions, especially about science content (I supported other science teachers). It was a very rewarding experience, but also very challenging.
The first time I met with my teachers at the start of last year, I had the whole meeting scripted out. I thought, who would ever let me decide what other teachers need to do to improve? I sort of made it up as I went along. Kind of like teaching, actually. And, as I went along, my feedback was more coherent, sequential, and overall helpful.
This year, I'm excited to start the year with a little more coaching confidence. I am only ILing one teachers this year (science), which will give me more time to spend working with her. Plus, I already have an outbox full of carefully-worded action steps ready to copy-and-paste. (Which, to be honest, were mostly borrowed from emails I've received in the past from my ILs.)
I dove back into coaching at PD on Friday. We had opportunities to practice pieces of our first week's lessons. I had so much fun offering high-leverage, bite-sized feedback to my partners. I also had fun when, satisfied with the feedback they had received, my partners brought some friends over for help with their lessons as well. Seriously, that happened.
Now that we're preparing for 5th Grade Induction tomorrow, I've had the opportunity to do the same for colleagues in my own building. It's fun, and really gratifying to see a teacher make one tiny change that changes their entire teacher appearance.
I'm really looking forward to getting coached and doing coaching this year.
Friday, August 14, 2015
Training Update
The week is over (well, mostly; we still have a formal shindig in the city tonight to celebrate 10 years of Uncommon Schools). I've given my "anonymous" feedback on the PD sessions and I'm eager to start a week of logistics and last-minute preparations at my school.
This year, I had one big triathlon accomplishment: in my last race, a sprint tri, I finished VERY close to top half of my age group. I was 28/54, less than 30 seconds from the top half. I am...average! It's been a long journey to average, and I'm proud of it.
I also had a few small accomplishments, including cutting 2 minutes from my half marathon time.
Since my accomplishments do not match the time I've put into this sport, I've decided to work with a coach. I have found three advantages to working with a coach:
1) she pushes me harder than I would on my own
2) she holds me accountable for completing workouts
3) I feel less selfish taking time to train, since she is looking for it as well
Of course, I could do all these things on my own, but I've spent 8 years NOT doing them, so it's time to change.
I had 3 perfect weeks: I finished every single proscribed workout (with the exception of one weight training session that I didn't see on the schedule until the week was already over), and felt (pretty) good doing so. I've been doing more faster bursts in my running and biking, which is really fun.
The fourth week was a bit more challenging, as I had to combat a 24-hour stomach bug and ended up shortening 2 workouts and skipping one weight training session. Still, it's going great overall, and I can't wait to see the improvements in the official records.
This weekend, I have a 20 mi bike ride (with Daddy!) followed by a 15 min run, and then a 9 mi run on Sunday with a few fast miles thrown in. I'm a little nervous about the 9 miles - it's the longest run I've done since my half in April, but I have done 8 this summer and 7 last weekend, so it should be possible. It will involve the challenge of eating (there's no way I can run for almost 2 hours without a snack), so I'll have to pack some applesauce or energy gel. Looking forward to a good training weekend!
This year, I had one big triathlon accomplishment: in my last race, a sprint tri, I finished VERY close to top half of my age group. I was 28/54, less than 30 seconds from the top half. I am...average! It's been a long journey to average, and I'm proud of it.
I also had a few small accomplishments, including cutting 2 minutes from my half marathon time.
Since my accomplishments do not match the time I've put into this sport, I've decided to work with a coach. I have found three advantages to working with a coach:
1) she pushes me harder than I would on my own
2) she holds me accountable for completing workouts
3) I feel less selfish taking time to train, since she is looking for it as well
Of course, I could do all these things on my own, but I've spent 8 years NOT doing them, so it's time to change.
I had 3 perfect weeks: I finished every single proscribed workout (with the exception of one weight training session that I didn't see on the schedule until the week was already over), and felt (pretty) good doing so. I've been doing more faster bursts in my running and biking, which is really fun.
The fourth week was a bit more challenging, as I had to combat a 24-hour stomach bug and ended up shortening 2 workouts and skipping one weight training session. Still, it's going great overall, and I can't wait to see the improvements in the official records.
This weekend, I have a 20 mi bike ride (with Daddy!) followed by a 15 min run, and then a 9 mi run on Sunday with a few fast miles thrown in. I'm a little nervous about the 9 miles - it's the longest run I've done since my half in April, but I have done 8 this summer and 7 last weekend, so it should be possible. It will involve the challenge of eating (there's no way I can run for almost 2 hours without a snack), so I'll have to pack some applesauce or energy gel. Looking forward to a good training weekend!
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Science
Science is my passion. Teaching science is my passion.
Because of that, I have faced my first frustration of the
school year, and it is one I face very often.
My school and school network has a big emphasis on
professional development and the constant work of improving. Not only does this
help us, obviously, improve, but it also allows us to model this effort for our
students.
So, we start every school year off with two weeks of
professional development. We have sessions almost every Friday afternoon in the
school year. We meet, we work, we collaborate, we improve.
As a science teacher, I find it frustrating that there are
very few opportunities for professional development in my school network. A few
times a year, we have content-specific professional development (PD) sessions.
The ELA teachers meet to talk about teaching reading strategies, or teaching
lessons on writing, or about diving into novels and non-fiction writings. The
math teachers talk about problem solving strategies, or developing foundation
skills. And then, they put all of the history and science teachers in a room
together to talk about, well, usually reading and writing skills.
Don’t get me wrong – reading and writing are two of the most
important skills as a scientist. In order to prepare our students for high
school, college, and career science, we need to give them the tools they need
to pick up any textbook, newspaper, or journal article and understanding the
meaning of the text and implications of the authors’ biases.
Great. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I can
complain about PD this week. It is ALL science/history combined, learning about
reading and writing skills. There are a lot of important skills science
teachers need, and teaching reading and writing are only two of those. We need
more practice teaching students to design experiments, carry out these
experiments safely and efficiently, invest students in pursuing science
careers, complete engineering tasks, and so many more. Given that this may be
the only, or one of few, time(s) that all of the North Star science teachers
are together, there may be more high-leverage ways they could be using our
time.
Even these PDs, while useful, could be done so much more
intentionally. We value intentionality, in our classrooms and outside. We are
so limited in time and resources for our students that we need to make the most
of everything, There is so much lack of intentionality in our schedule this
week and in the sessions we have. Even within the sessions, the applications to
science feel like throw-away attempts at making everyone feel “included”. Even
some of the science texts we are looking at are less-than-stellar, and are not
texts I would use in my classroom for this purpose.
Plus, ELA and math teachers get to miss school sometimes for
PD and it’s not fair! I want to miss school sometimes. And learn to be a better
science teacher, of course.
I have done everything I can to change this. I have brought
this up with my principal/instructional leader/principal lead of science (each
subject has a principal lead, but science is the one led by someone with no
content background at all – he’s an English teacher). I have made these
suggestions, and even offered to write and lead these PD sessions. I have been
told that there is no time for that this week because of the “schedule shifting
around.” Hmmm. Skeptical.
This morning, we had the first science-specific PD I think I’ve
ever had at North Star, and it was awesome! It really pushed us to do our work
better and more comprehensively, with a specific focus on how we can
incorporate engineering tasks and skills into our classroom. We had a great
time, and it really challenged us. Too bad it’s the only one we have on the
schedule. We’ll see.
I can’t really worry about it, because I’ve done what I can
reasonably do to help. I also can’t just “not care”, because I have to work to
hard to not care. So, I’ll settle for an in-between, slightly subversive
contentedness, while taking every opportunity to make it better. I will sneak
improvements into my science teaching when nobody is looking. I will ask my
peers for feedback. And when a colleague asks me, during our “Planning Writing
Mini-Lessons” science/history PD session, “How does this apply to our science
classrooms?”, I can answer in a way that makes us all learn a little more: How
will you use this in your classroom? Don’t know? Figure it
out.
And then we’ll figure it out.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
I'm Back!
I'm back. I think. And I wanted to share two things with you: where I was, and why I'm back.
Where was I?
I was here. Same place, same school, same back-of-back triathlon times. I was BUSY. In the last year and a half, I:
Where was I?
I was here. Same place, same school, same back-of-back triathlon times. I was BUSY. In the last year and a half, I:
- Got married :)
- Took 10 minutes off my NYC Triathlon time, then added back 8 of them on a 93 degree day
- Lost 10 lbs for my wedding, gained it all back, and have so far lost about half of it again
- Felt complacent in my second year at VMS, and therefore didn't have much to write about
- Took on way to much in my third year at VMS, and therefore didn't have time to write
- Spent time working on some other writing projects, including finishing my first novel (it's pretty awful, but I've created a fictional near-future world of space travel and time travel that I can't wait to continue exploring in the future)
- Enjoyed the first weeks of my nephew's life and can't wait for the next weeks, months, and years
I'm back because:
- I have new insight on how much is the right amount of work for me, and what I need to do to make my career sustainable
- I need help keeping accountable this sustainability
- I need help keeping accountable for still learning and improving myself as a teacher, athlete, and wife
- I started working with a triathlon coach about three weeks ago, and want to share the exciting progress I'm already making
- I love writing
This blog is a really fun project for me and it helps me learn about myself and look at my experiences from a different point of view. I'd love if you joined me again!
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