Break

I am really enjoying  break.  I am under a no thinking about teaching until the 26th rule and I am enjoying it.  I've been reading, sleeping in, and playing video games.

Ahh...  Recharge those teaching batteries!

The Command Center

My weeks usually always end the same, me sitting at the computer with a stack of papers.  I have recently taken over a coffee table and transferred everything I need there. 

• Computer
• Wireless Mouse
• Wireless Keyboard
• Manilla folders
• Things to grade
• Baskets
• Soda
• Airborne
• Stapler
• Paper Clips
• Answer Keys
• Pens
• Paper Clips

I call it the Command Center.

Teaching is Like a River

As I was reading The Random Thoughts of Louis Schimer I ran across this post about how teaching is a bed of roses. I think that Louis makes a great point in his introduction to the analogy:

If you know anything about roses, they are high, very high, maintenance plants. And, they have thorns that prick, scratch, and draw blood. To make roses into an alluring “bed of roses” is complicated, challenging, time consuming, and occasionally bloody. That’s why they’re sometimes known as the “temperamental divas of the plant world.”

I also enjoyed this observation about roses that do not make it.

Now, I’ve helplessly watched some roses whither from whatever. But, you’ve got to be tough enough to win. You’ve got to be tough enough to take some adversity, make mistakes, and keep on without considering the possibility of losing.

I have had a few students like that. I have had a student who was doing very well, but he/she made a mistake and then were removed from school. I am not disagreeing with the admin for their decision, they were doing the right thing, but it was a shame to see a student who had been doing well make a poor choice, and essentially withered from the classroom.

As I read this analogy, I was thinking about my own analogy, but more from the first year teacher perspective. As I stare down the large stack of papers to the left of my computer, I to me, a river is an analogy about teaching.

Rivers are great. Swimming in them is refreshing, much like teaching is refreshing and a great life to have. If someone is drowning in the river, much like a struggling student, we wade in and do our best to help them. If we can't save the student ourselves, we go and get help. We throw the lifeline out and hope that the student can grab on. We work with our colleagues to pull them back in. We all hope that they make it.

Sometimes the current moves really fast in the classroom, and other times we get stuck in an eddy, but no matter the flow, we have to keep our heads above water, or we'll drown. Drowning is especially important to avoid, especially as a relatively green teacher. About half of teachers quit in the first 5 years.

Second Chances

My students have had a project for over a month.  They were required to write a paper and prepare a 2 minute statement.  We spent a lot of time in class on it, but many of the papers were deficient and yesterday when the class was to present, they were not ready.  Instead of sacrificing them and ruining their grades, I gave them a reprieve of more time to prepare.

Some of these students were working very hard the whole time on their projects and were ready to go, and some who had also worked hard were not ready to go.  Many of the students though just didn't take the time necessary to do the work that needed to be done.

I do not know what it is.  Perhaps the class is seen as a throwaway, maybe they just don't care, maybe there's so much stuff going on that homework takes an extreme back burner.  I was frustrated with them, and let them know that in the real world there aren't always second chances.  I don't dislike them, I dislike some of the choices that many of the students make.

On the bright side, I have learned some valuable lessons for my world issues project.  Their work will improve and the next project will be much better.

The Master Key

I remember that when I was a student I always wanted a master key.  My desire wasn't for mischief but convenience.  Being a student leader I was always at the school doing community service and school activities.  Having a key meant convenience.

Now that I am a teacher, I have that master key... but it isn't what I imagined when I was a student.  As a teacher, the master key means you can come in before and after the building is locked.  That time is for work, less than the whimsy I viewed when I was younger.

Don't get me wrong, I love teaching, but having hte master key fantasy fulfilled is like being allowed to spend the night in a toy store, but only because you're the stockboy.

Wow, hoped for more updates

I had a grand plan on updating this throughout the year.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize truly how busy a first year teacher is.  I roll in around 6:15ish and go home around 4.  Then I work on things at home.

Conferences, IEPs, after school tests, before school questions, during school issues... It's a busy life, but I love it.  It is nice to have a career that I love and doesn't (always) feel like work.  I like taking the time to speak to my students and build those positive relationships.  Even students who didn't seem to like me at first are warming up.

I even have students attempting to friend me on MySpace and Facebook.  They asked if I had a MySpace, and I said yes because I knew that they could find it, so why hide it?  I won't friend them because I don't want to see their profiles, and I want to avoid any possible liability/communications that are not controlled by the district, but it is nice to know that they want to friend me.

I plan to update this at least 2 times a week from now on.  I think that is a good goal.

And I Am Done!

I turned in my last assignment today.  I had about 20 minutes to spare!  But now I am done with Grad School, regalia soon, and then I start work.  I cannot wait.

As I walked back to my car, listening to "Good Time" by Leroy (it's from Scrubs when everything is starting to go well for JD) I realized I was on the exact same path I had taken the first time I had explored the University when I was visiting the campus for a conference.  So there was some nostalgia, but I am so happy to be done!  I am looking forward to moving out of my apartment and into a rental house, no longer sharing a wall, and in a quiet neighborhood (no bass music entering my house from houses 50-75 yards away).

So now I start packing!  Ugh.  :)

Site Update

Sorry for the lack of posts as of late.  Classes have been very busy.  I will try to get more online later this week.

Chalk the Movie

I did not like the NBC show Teachers, although to be fair, I only watched a few minutes of it. I remember flipping through the channels and stopping long enough to see a teacher hit a golf ball into a classroom. That was enough for me. I know it was supposed to be a sitcom, but it was so over the top that I couldn't watch anymore. That said, I think that this movie looks great.

It's been described as a mix between The Office and real life (sorry, I can't find/remember the blog that I read that description from) and from the looks of this trailer, I can't wait until I can get it through Netflix.

The movie's official website is also good.

How Can I Harry Potter Civics?

While standing in line for Harry Potter last night (only an hour, the Wal-Mart wasn't party central like BN and Borders) I began to wonder how I could get that kind of attraction around the social sciences in the classroom.  If I taught something else I'd be thinking "How can I Harry Potter _____?"

It was amazing, people of all ages, lined up for a book.  I know it was the last one, but there has to be something more than just the conclusion of the story, as people have been lining up for these books for years.  It's a great story, and a realtively easy read (kids books), but there's something else there.  I want that something else for my classroom.

Evaluating Students Verbally

In my student teaching, I had provided feedback to students after speeches in front of the class.  Positives and things they could work on.  This was done verbally and gave immeidate feedback and showed the class what to do well and things to avoid.  

After sitting in class today and seeing a group evaluated, I am rethinking this approach.  The group did volunteer to be a model, and they did ok, but I was not very comfortable with the way this was done.  Maybe I'm more sensitive now, maybe I am tired, but this experience has really made me rethink the practice of verbal feedback.

Thing for me to keep in mind: I can give generalized feedback to the class if I see a trend developing.  By giving general feedback, it spreads thenevaluation, so it's not just on one student (or group).  This is not to say that positive feedback cannot be given to students.  The more warm and fuzzies the better I say.  More specific corrections can be given to the students or to the group individually, so as to spare the embarrassment.

My Sticky Note

Above my computer screen is a tiny sticky note that says "You've got to graduate first."  I wrote it late one night, and I'm a little iffy on the grammar, but it serves as a good reminder that I need to be working on classes instead of being perpetually lost in thoughts of next year.

Speaking of which... back to the text. 

The importance of being a student

Being a student during the summer is always a god thing because it reminds me what it's like to be out in the seats during a lesson.  I see the strengths and weaknesses of my professors, and realize things that I am glad I do, things I like, and things that I want to avoid.

Things I am glad I do: I set clear goals for each class and I work towards them.  I have sat through a few classes where the prof just talks and talks without a clear goal, and this is incredibly painful.  I can see now why my students just want to fade away if they don't really have a reason why they are there.

Things I really like: I like that one of my professors provides printouts of his slides.  This may not be applicable in a public school where printing and paper budgets are much tighter, but it's nice to have here.  I'll have to explore options of getting info into my student's hands, but in a budgetary and environmentally friendly way.

Things I want to avoid: Showing my students that I am frustrated with them.  I have a professor now who has been snapping at students who have questions.  This is completely unacceptable.