Last week, we begun mentoring certain students. Those students. I was initially not assigned any students to mentor, but I seem to have picked up two. One of them is a girl in my homeroom class who started off the year as #1 Goody Two-Shoes, but has since made the wrong friends. She is smart, and works hard, but she talks A LOT. And gets involved in a lot of drama. At the moment, she wants to switch homerooms because she doesn't get along with certain kids. I doubt they'll switch her, because she's not quite at the level of the higher class, but I have no doubt she'll settle into this class again. She's a sweetheart who has some bad friends. Although, there aren't a lot of 12-year-olds who make good friends. She does have this habit of talking, though. In fact, the day after she declared herself my mentee (one being mentored), I had to call home because she was talking all throughout my lesson. She cried at me. The next day she was my best friend again, spending a couple of periods in my room because she needed a break from her "friends". Whew. 12-year-olds are complicated.
My other mentee adopted me late last week. I didn't particularly think she needed a mentor, because she's usually a quiet girl, but she's been involved in some middle school drama lately. I invited her to my room at the end of the day, during my prep on Thursday. I asked her about herself, and heard more words from her than I had all year. She came here from Jamaica about a year ago, and her voice has that gorgeous singsong quality that can only have come from an island. She sings in her church choir. I'm excited to get to know her.
My weekend was surprisingly snowy, and my boyfriend got stranded in Charleston after a medical school interview. I had the sniffles. I played on the ambulance, but there were no emergencies. Not exciting, but I still love weekends. Weekends are better when you earn them.
My classes seem to be getting better. Each week, I "have" more students than the week before. There are challenges, especially when I lose my temper, but there is improvement there. Today I introduced SF to another class, and they were pretty excited. It's still really, really challenging, but it's getting better. Unfortunately, I've hit a bit of unmotivation this week. I need some motivation. Hopefully tomorrow will help. Tomorrow is training #2. Sub day. No kids. Sleep until 7:30. Nice.
I have a new reader, the only one who has ever been able to share a room with me. It lasted a whole year in college. She is rocking the business world in NYC (and bought me sushi).
Does everyone still make a wish when blowing away eyelashes? Last night, I realized that I wished that school would continue to get better. I think that's a good sign. Even subconsciously, I know I'm making progress.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Future?
It makes me really nervous that I'm already getting emails from TFA about job opportunities for the 2012-2013 school year. That's TWO YEARS from now. I certainly appreciate the networking opportunities, but (un)fortunately, the job openings are not close enough to possible boyfriend medical school cities, so I won't be applying immediately.
Yesterday, I tried one of the techniques right from my new book. It suggested that when you ask a student to do something, and he/she refuses, stare 'em down. It outlines exactly how to go from slow turn to withering stare to leaning over desk. I did it, and it worked! A girl who never even sat down when I asked, picked up a crumpled paper from the floor and threw it away all because I stared at her. She hated being stared down. It was great, and no words were exchanged.
Today, my voice went slowly away. I made it until the end of the day, but just barely. Believe it or not, I think I'm noticing progress with my students. Although I made some mistakes today, the students are more in control. Someone even came into my classroom during afternoon homeroom and commented on how quiet and well-behaved they were. At one point during the exam, I was even able to sit down and grade some papers! My class is slowly, slowly beginning to run itself. Sometimes.
The Tuesday off has made me extremely more relaxed. I feel almost in control. I did, however, look at the stack of half-done sub assignments from Tuesday that were going to be graded as a quiz...and threw them away. Don't look at me like that! It wasn't worth my time, and it would have only hurt their grades.
I talked a little bit about science fair (hereafter: SF) with my TAG-less 7th grade class. It seems like this is gonna work out. A couple of students had to make sure that they would definitely fail if they didn't do it, but a lot of them were interested. I also showed them some of a Blue Planet DVD (next in the Planet Earth series) and they LOVED it. I'll have to incorporate that into some of my other classes. I think the segment on tides will be good for CMT review on both Earth and Life Science.
Tomorrow, I introduce SF to my homeroom. Oh goodness! I hope it goes well! Also, I hope my voice comes back.
I was wiped out today, and instead of a usual gym workout, my mom suggested trying something new. I Netflixed a yoga video, and made it 10 minutes into it before becoming confident enough in my core strength to be bored. I'll get a good workout this weekend.
Yesterday, I tried one of the techniques right from my new book. It suggested that when you ask a student to do something, and he/she refuses, stare 'em down. It outlines exactly how to go from slow turn to withering stare to leaning over desk. I did it, and it worked! A girl who never even sat down when I asked, picked up a crumpled paper from the floor and threw it away all because I stared at her. She hated being stared down. It was great, and no words were exchanged.
Today, my voice went slowly away. I made it until the end of the day, but just barely. Believe it or not, I think I'm noticing progress with my students. Although I made some mistakes today, the students are more in control. Someone even came into my classroom during afternoon homeroom and commented on how quiet and well-behaved they were. At one point during the exam, I was even able to sit down and grade some papers! My class is slowly, slowly beginning to run itself. Sometimes.
The Tuesday off has made me extremely more relaxed. I feel almost in control. I did, however, look at the stack of half-done sub assignments from Tuesday that were going to be graded as a quiz...and threw them away. Don't look at me like that! It wasn't worth my time, and it would have only hurt their grades.
I talked a little bit about science fair (hereafter: SF) with my TAG-less 7th grade class. It seems like this is gonna work out. A couple of students had to make sure that they would definitely fail if they didn't do it, but a lot of them were interested. I also showed them some of a Blue Planet DVD (next in the Planet Earth series) and they LOVED it. I'll have to incorporate that into some of my other classes. I think the segment on tides will be good for CMT review on both Earth and Life Science.
Tomorrow, I introduce SF to my homeroom. Oh goodness! I hope it goes well! Also, I hope my voice comes back.
I was wiped out today, and instead of a usual gym workout, my mom suggested trying something new. I Netflixed a yoga video, and made it 10 minutes into it before becoming confident enough in my core strength to be bored. I'll get a good workout this weekend.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
A Puzzlement
I'm baffled. I gave my class a lab to do, and they did it. Almost all of them. And they were great. This was my eighth graders, a class I've had a lot of trouble with. A couple of strong personalities were absent today, but that's no excuse for such good behavior. I had them for a double period, which is usually a huge challenge for me. Today it worked. I spent the first period doing a review game with them, and it was a new game I was trying, but it worked. The second period, they did a lab! I gave each group a Matchbox car, ruler, and stopwatch, and I asked them to make a racetrack out of textbooks and calculate distance, time, and speed. And they did it! I turned my back for one second and they were all doing it! Well, mostly. One or two kids were not entirely helpful, but every single student contributed somewhat. Some usual characters were really into it, creating elaborate textbook ramps and then cleaning them up afterwards. It was great.
My homeroom class was actually good. I had to call several of their parents tonight after getting a list of misbehaving kids from the sub, but they were working hard today. I had them drawing pictures of plant and animal cell organelles from a textbook, adding in their own creativity. They enjoyed drawing. I should use their creativity more.
My later, difficult class was not so difficult. I did the review game with them, and although I didn't have 100% compliance, I taught a bunch of kids some stuff. Hopefully, it'll show on the exam tomorrow.
Lunch duty was another story, but let's not go there.
After school, our usual faculty meeting was an independent work session, so I decided to take the cornbread I had made for the meeting and walk around to classrooms, sharing it with teachers. I got to thank them all in person for being so helpful.
Another thing I got done this afternoon: I met with the principal, and the Wilbur Cross School Science Fair will be on Thursday, January 19! And I'm getting extra paper to make the packets! I'm definitely anxious, but now I know what my demon looks like.
I had a great TFA learning moment yesterday. TFA always emphasizes assuming that others have our best interests in mind, especially our colleagues, superiors, and students' parents. Yesterday, I received an email from the principal asking if I have been contacting students parents when necessary. My first response was frustration: what does she have against me? I'm doing my parent calls! I got all stressed out and everything. So, I wrote the nicest, most responsibly-worded email I could muster, about how I've been calling parents when I can and documenting it on an Excel file. I immediately got a response: Thanks for the update, let me know if I can do anything to help you enforce your classroom policies.
Oh. I guess she was being helpful, not accusing. I need to get over the whole teacher-hates-me view of the principal. She's a really great principal who could really use an assistant principal.
I spent the last two hours making parent phone calls. The substitute teacher yesterday left me a list of names, and I promised I'd call. I called 14 homes, spoke to someone about half the time, and left a few voicemails. Not bad for a day's work. I'm getting pretty good at it, too. Considering it was the thing I worried most about, it's not so bad. I can call someone to tell them that their child is lazy and disrespectful, but I do it in a way that makes them thank me for it. Maybe they just like talking about their kids, or maybe they just like me, but I've heard more nice things this afternoon than I do in a usual week.
And now, I'm going to drag my butt to the gym and then out for trivia. I've got a terrible sore throat and headache, but I THINK I feel better than I did the last couple of days, and that I'm getting better.
My homeroom class was actually good. I had to call several of their parents tonight after getting a list of misbehaving kids from the sub, but they were working hard today. I had them drawing pictures of plant and animal cell organelles from a textbook, adding in their own creativity. They enjoyed drawing. I should use their creativity more.
My later, difficult class was not so difficult. I did the review game with them, and although I didn't have 100% compliance, I taught a bunch of kids some stuff. Hopefully, it'll show on the exam tomorrow.
Lunch duty was another story, but let's not go there.
After school, our usual faculty meeting was an independent work session, so I decided to take the cornbread I had made for the meeting and walk around to classrooms, sharing it with teachers. I got to thank them all in person for being so helpful.
Another thing I got done this afternoon: I met with the principal, and the Wilbur Cross School Science Fair will be on Thursday, January 19! And I'm getting extra paper to make the packets! I'm definitely anxious, but now I know what my demon looks like.
I had a great TFA learning moment yesterday. TFA always emphasizes assuming that others have our best interests in mind, especially our colleagues, superiors, and students' parents. Yesterday, I received an email from the principal asking if I have been contacting students parents when necessary. My first response was frustration: what does she have against me? I'm doing my parent calls! I got all stressed out and everything. So, I wrote the nicest, most responsibly-worded email I could muster, about how I've been calling parents when I can and documenting it on an Excel file. I immediately got a response: Thanks for the update, let me know if I can do anything to help you enforce your classroom policies.
Oh. I guess she was being helpful, not accusing. I need to get over the whole teacher-hates-me view of the principal. She's a really great principal who could really use an assistant principal.
I spent the last two hours making parent phone calls. The substitute teacher yesterday left me a list of names, and I promised I'd call. I called 14 homes, spoke to someone about half the time, and left a few voicemails. Not bad for a day's work. I'm getting pretty good at it, too. Considering it was the thing I worried most about, it's not so bad. I can call someone to tell them that their child is lazy and disrespectful, but I do it in a way that makes them thank me for it. Maybe they just like talking about their kids, or maybe they just like me, but I've heard more nice things this afternoon than I do in a usual week.
And now, I'm going to drag my butt to the gym and then out for trivia. I've got a terrible sore throat and headache, but I THINK I feel better than I did the last couple of days, and that I'm getting better.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Happy 101!
I missed the 100th post, so now I'm celebrating the 101st. And you know what? It was a great day today.
A day off from students helped a lot with my stress levels. I had a full day training, and believe it or not, it was really useful. In fact, of all the PD I've had since I started this shindig in June, this was the most helpful. It helped that I had a couple of months under my belt.
We spent the entire day talking about classroom management. The program was run by a small Cuban man who sprinkled his speech with Spanish expressions, and made me realize that I don't often find native Spanish-speakers giving workshops and lessons. Hopefully, I'll change that, one student at a time. He was part of a UCLA classroom management program, that used to be a Brown classroom management program until money ran out there. The program has an office in Trumbull, and although he taught and administrated there, he grew up in Bridgeport. I wish he could talk to my classes about hard work and success.
The day was mostly marked by group discussions about what has worked and what hasn't, and I learned some new techniques to try, but we were given a lot of valuable advice as well. We were also given a book (Fred Jones' Tools for Teaching), which I've found immensely helpful since I read half of it this afternoon. It's written in the Idiot's Guide format, which involves humorous anecdotes, cartoons, and specific advice. It outlined specific scenarios that I've been unable to handle in my classroom (e.g. handling the "Explosive Student" and talking back), and gave advice on how to handle them. The book is most useful because it follows the following pattern:
1. Here's how to set up the classroom to avoid behavior problems.
2. If that doesn't work perfectly, here's how to solve small behavior problems before they get out of hand.
3. If that doesn't work perfectly, here's how to solve big behavior problems.
I have to admit that I skipped right to the solving behavior problems, because that is what I need help with right now.
The biggest piece of advice that the speaker gave us is to pick our battles, and pick ones we can win. My goal is to pick a new battle, one thing to improve on, every day or week or month. This week, I will take what I learned from the book about not showing frustration when kids are pushing my buttons. I will work on standing up straight, taking a deep breath, making eye contact, and NOT RESPONDING when they talk back. I will not get angry, not raise my voice, and not join in their childish banter.
He also gave us other suggestions, such as a great way to illustrate a multi-step process on a permanent poster that we can hang up during certain lessons or units, which I think will help in my Physical Science class.
This afternoon, I got ahead on planning. I also got an email reminding me about payday this Friday--I had forgotten! What a nice surprise! This will be my first "regular" paycheck, and it's a few dollars more than I expected. It's nice to know, but I bet the money will be going into my classroom anyway. I just ordered a copy of October Sky to help get my kids revved up about Science Fair.
As I learned from a chef on Chopped, "Don't forget the 7 P's: Proper prior preparation prevents piss-poor performance."
A day off from students helped a lot with my stress levels. I had a full day training, and believe it or not, it was really useful. In fact, of all the PD I've had since I started this shindig in June, this was the most helpful. It helped that I had a couple of months under my belt.
We spent the entire day talking about classroom management. The program was run by a small Cuban man who sprinkled his speech with Spanish expressions, and made me realize that I don't often find native Spanish-speakers giving workshops and lessons. Hopefully, I'll change that, one student at a time. He was part of a UCLA classroom management program, that used to be a Brown classroom management program until money ran out there. The program has an office in Trumbull, and although he taught and administrated there, he grew up in Bridgeport. I wish he could talk to my classes about hard work and success.
The day was mostly marked by group discussions about what has worked and what hasn't, and I learned some new techniques to try, but we were given a lot of valuable advice as well. We were also given a book (Fred Jones' Tools for Teaching), which I've found immensely helpful since I read half of it this afternoon. It's written in the Idiot's Guide format, which involves humorous anecdotes, cartoons, and specific advice. It outlined specific scenarios that I've been unable to handle in my classroom (e.g. handling the "Explosive Student" and talking back), and gave advice on how to handle them. The book is most useful because it follows the following pattern:
1. Here's how to set up the classroom to avoid behavior problems.
2. If that doesn't work perfectly, here's how to solve small behavior problems before they get out of hand.
3. If that doesn't work perfectly, here's how to solve big behavior problems.
I have to admit that I skipped right to the solving behavior problems, because that is what I need help with right now.
The biggest piece of advice that the speaker gave us is to pick our battles, and pick ones we can win. My goal is to pick a new battle, one thing to improve on, every day or week or month. This week, I will take what I learned from the book about not showing frustration when kids are pushing my buttons. I will work on standing up straight, taking a deep breath, making eye contact, and NOT RESPONDING when they talk back. I will not get angry, not raise my voice, and not join in their childish banter.
He also gave us other suggestions, such as a great way to illustrate a multi-step process on a permanent poster that we can hang up during certain lessons or units, which I think will help in my Physical Science class.
This afternoon, I got ahead on planning. I also got an email reminding me about payday this Friday--I had forgotten! What a nice surprise! This will be my first "regular" paycheck, and it's a few dollars more than I expected. It's nice to know, but I bet the money will be going into my classroom anyway. I just ordered a copy of October Sky to help get my kids revved up about Science Fair.
As I learned from a chef on Chopped, "Don't forget the 7 P's: Proper prior preparation prevents piss-poor performance."
Monday, October 24, 2011
Update
This made me smile. It requires some knowledge of Indian food and superheroes.
While it's fresh in my mind, I wanted to share what I've learned from a conversation with my TFA adviser tonight. I had asked to speak to him regarding the behavior problems I've been having.
First, he told me that where I am right now, with the frustration and the behavior problems and the roller coaster of classes, is normal. Not only that, but it will get better.
Also, he pointed out that if my classes vary so much from lesson to lesson, especially from seventh grade to eighth, maybe it's my lessons that need work.
That makes so much sense. I am trying to squeeze too many key points into one lesson, and they don't listen for all of them. I need a better hook for the lesson and fewer key points. I can then let them do independent/group work, and they'll understand it better. If they don't understand, they'll just complain, and not even try the work. I need to challenge them, but only enough so they don't notice.
I need to improve my lesson plans. This week, I want to make plans for the first part of Unit 3 for both 7th and 8th grade. I have high hopes.
He even said that he was surprised that I was having so much classroom management trouble, because it looked like I was good at giving clear expectations and consistent consequences last time he visited. :)
Also: the state of education in America.
P.S. "According to most sources, both spellings are acceptable, but my Webster's doesn't have a separate listing for "advisor" (with an "o"), it is merely an alternate spelling of the listed word, "adviser" (with an "e")."
While it's fresh in my mind, I wanted to share what I've learned from a conversation with my TFA adviser tonight. I had asked to speak to him regarding the behavior problems I've been having.
First, he told me that where I am right now, with the frustration and the behavior problems and the roller coaster of classes, is normal. Not only that, but it will get better.
Also, he pointed out that if my classes vary so much from lesson to lesson, especially from seventh grade to eighth, maybe it's my lessons that need work.
That makes so much sense. I am trying to squeeze too many key points into one lesson, and they don't listen for all of them. I need a better hook for the lesson and fewer key points. I can then let them do independent/group work, and they'll understand it better. If they don't understand, they'll just complain, and not even try the work. I need to challenge them, but only enough so they don't notice.
I need to improve my lesson plans. This week, I want to make plans for the first part of Unit 3 for both 7th and 8th grade. I have high hopes.
He even said that he was surprised that I was having so much classroom management trouble, because it looked like I was good at giving clear expectations and consistent consequences last time he visited. :)
Also: the state of education in America.
P.S. "According to most sources, both spellings are acceptable, but my Webster's doesn't have a separate listing for "advisor" (with an "o"), it is merely an alternate spelling of the listed word, "adviser" (with an "e")."
"Get out of my f**king face, b*tch."
That was how my morning started. At least he got a three day suspension. My students may have seen me tear up, though.
I had a meeting with my mentor this morning. She is the one in the school who holds me to the highest standards. She challenges me. She's like my mother: she comforts me when I'm sad, and she provides advice that I don't always appreciate at the time but is probably the best answer.
I took her advice in giving another one of my classes assigned seats. It took 20 minutes, and involved A LOT of arguing. Eventually, I got (almost) every student to stop groaning and go to their assigned seat. It ended up working pretty well, although I didn't feel like they were able to do the lab activity today, so I went a little overboard on worksheets.
After 2 preps, a lot of productivity, and a teary-eyed lunch, I was back in form. My first class after lunch was much better than usual. I gave them a review worksheet to practice before the exam this week, and I had more compliance than usual. I definitely had more than half the class on task (sometimes more, sometimes less), which is an improvement. This is a class that can quickly snowball into laziness and complaining. I ended up getting a few more kids than usual doing hard work.
My non-homeroom seventh grade class had donuts and a quiz today, and they did great on the quiz. As usual. It's the same quiz my homeroom had last week.
My last class was also not bad, although I had trouble keeping them on task. I was able to (for the most part) keep them in their seats and quiet, which is a start. Next I have to work on staying on task.
At some point during the day, my homeroom class had difficulty finding their way to class, and now they're not allowed to go anywhere without an escort. Is it my fault for starting their day off poorly, or are they really that difficult? I have to say, they were great during homeroom this morning, so I don't think it's me.
On Friday, I had a great career discussion with a student. He wants to be a basketball player, but I don't think it's the most likely future for him. I discussed with him the idea of working towards being a video game designer. He loves drawing and coming up with stories, but his writing could use work. I'm hoping that if he gets into drawing, he'll be less bouncy in class. I enjoyed speaking to him.
This weekend was wonderful. I found good (but expensive) sushi, but I don't think I'll be going there too often. I went on a lovely hike outside New Haven. I made INCREDIBLE banana bread, with pumpkin ale as the liquid and a little too much sugar. Yum. I also found the greatest ethnic supermarket and stocked up on various noodles and miso paste.
Tomorrow is the first day of my New Teacher Induction Program through BPS. Full day PD. I used to hate that sort of thing. Now I can't wait. No students for a full day!
Back to grading. I have some leftover miso soup to charge up for spin class tonight. Rough morning, good afternoon.
I had a meeting with my mentor this morning. She is the one in the school who holds me to the highest standards. She challenges me. She's like my mother: she comforts me when I'm sad, and she provides advice that I don't always appreciate at the time but is probably the best answer.
I took her advice in giving another one of my classes assigned seats. It took 20 minutes, and involved A LOT of arguing. Eventually, I got (almost) every student to stop groaning and go to their assigned seat. It ended up working pretty well, although I didn't feel like they were able to do the lab activity today, so I went a little overboard on worksheets.
After 2 preps, a lot of productivity, and a teary-eyed lunch, I was back in form. My first class after lunch was much better than usual. I gave them a review worksheet to practice before the exam this week, and I had more compliance than usual. I definitely had more than half the class on task (sometimes more, sometimes less), which is an improvement. This is a class that can quickly snowball into laziness and complaining. I ended up getting a few more kids than usual doing hard work.
My non-homeroom seventh grade class had donuts and a quiz today, and they did great on the quiz. As usual. It's the same quiz my homeroom had last week.
My last class was also not bad, although I had trouble keeping them on task. I was able to (for the most part) keep them in their seats and quiet, which is a start. Next I have to work on staying on task.
At some point during the day, my homeroom class had difficulty finding their way to class, and now they're not allowed to go anywhere without an escort. Is it my fault for starting their day off poorly, or are they really that difficult? I have to say, they were great during homeroom this morning, so I don't think it's me.
On Friday, I had a great career discussion with a student. He wants to be a basketball player, but I don't think it's the most likely future for him. I discussed with him the idea of working towards being a video game designer. He loves drawing and coming up with stories, but his writing could use work. I'm hoping that if he gets into drawing, he'll be less bouncy in class. I enjoyed speaking to him.
This weekend was wonderful. I found good (but expensive) sushi, but I don't think I'll be going there too often. I went on a lovely hike outside New Haven. I made INCREDIBLE banana bread, with pumpkin ale as the liquid and a little too much sugar. Yum. I also found the greatest ethnic supermarket and stocked up on various noodles and miso paste.
Tomorrow is the first day of my New Teacher Induction Program through BPS. Full day PD. I used to hate that sort of thing. Now I can't wait. No students for a full day!
Back to grading. I have some leftover miso soup to charge up for spin class tonight. Rough morning, good afternoon.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Fail
Today I failed in preparedness. I THOUGHT I was prepared, but I guess you learn something new every day.
My day started off with a double period of homeroom class followed by a single period the other 7th grade class, during which I was to be observed by the science department chairperson. I had a great lesson, which I sent her yesterday, that involved a few short video clips describing the needs of all living things.
I arrived at school extra early today, because I had a meeting with my mentor, and I needed to set up the microscopes for my homeroom class and to make sure everything is prepared for my observation. I turn on the computer, open the PowerPoint, click the link to the videos, and BAM. Website server error. No access to the videos.
No! No! No! I scoured the internet for another way to access them, and then started looking for alternatives. I found something close, but it was a tangentially related 25 minute video, not three perfect 5 minute videos.
At this point, it is a few minutes after I'm supposed to meet my mentor, and I run downstairs to the music room. She begins to comment on my tardiness...and I burst into tears. I think that I have officially presented myself to her as the kind of person who cries rather than takes criticism. I'm learning from my students. It doesn't help that I see her on Friday mornings, the morning of my busiest class day and at the end of the week. She hands me an Oreo and sends me back upstairs to call the science chair. I left a message and an email, and we agreed to reschedule. I need to be better prepared next time. Backups of lessons. I barely have time to make lessons in the first place! I need to spend some time working on a couple of backup lessons, though, for any reason.
And, surprisingly, my homeroom class was okay. They were great during breakfast, and slowly got fidgety over the course of two periods, but they LOVED the microscopes. Even the toughest kids. They thought the cells were cool/gross/interesting. That is why I do this job.
I could finish a description of my day, but that is where I want to leave it. Now I'm off to my massage appointment!
My day started off with a double period of homeroom class followed by a single period the other 7th grade class, during which I was to be observed by the science department chairperson. I had a great lesson, which I sent her yesterday, that involved a few short video clips describing the needs of all living things.
I arrived at school extra early today, because I had a meeting with my mentor, and I needed to set up the microscopes for my homeroom class and to make sure everything is prepared for my observation. I turn on the computer, open the PowerPoint, click the link to the videos, and BAM. Website server error. No access to the videos.
No! No! No! I scoured the internet for another way to access them, and then started looking for alternatives. I found something close, but it was a tangentially related 25 minute video, not three perfect 5 minute videos.
At this point, it is a few minutes after I'm supposed to meet my mentor, and I run downstairs to the music room. She begins to comment on my tardiness...and I burst into tears. I think that I have officially presented myself to her as the kind of person who cries rather than takes criticism. I'm learning from my students. It doesn't help that I see her on Friday mornings, the morning of my busiest class day and at the end of the week. She hands me an Oreo and sends me back upstairs to call the science chair. I left a message and an email, and we agreed to reschedule. I need to be better prepared next time. Backups of lessons. I barely have time to make lessons in the first place! I need to spend some time working on a couple of backup lessons, though, for any reason.
And, surprisingly, my homeroom class was okay. They were great during breakfast, and slowly got fidgety over the course of two periods, but they LOVED the microscopes. Even the toughest kids. They thought the cells were cool/gross/interesting. That is why I do this job.
I could finish a description of my day, but that is where I want to leave it. Now I'm off to my massage appointment!
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