Wow... been a long time

Ok, so the twice a week thing didn't quite work out.  That 's ok... I'll post whenever I can, but hopefully not with a 2 year absence.

My school operates on a semester schedule and the students recently ended their first semester.  They are on break now, and I am very excited to implement some classroom management practices that should have happened all year (i.e. consequences for tardies, unexcused absences, etc...)  For a long time it would have been ridiculous for me to crack down, as the next semester (and a reset of tardies/absences) was just around the corner.  However, these two issues got out of hand and they need to be dealt with.

It's hard to deal with the tardies/absences.  A kid who barely comes to class... should I hand them a detention slip when they come back?  I always go a few different ways with this one.  Sometimes hard-core on the policy, other times more holistic.  Many colleagues I have spoken to have had this issue as well.

Trinkets

As Megan over at by&by posted over 2 years ago that

Most high school students do not give Christmas gifts to their teachers, and my students are no exception.

And neither are mine. But I have collected a few trinkets and as I look around my desk, I see them. An art project given to me (it's a cardboard box with a figurine on the inside), a photo of the Prom court from the first Prom I ever chaperoned, a picture with one of my motivational phrases on it.

Not many things, but it is great to look at them and think about the students who gave them to me. It gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling to think that they took the time to give me something. And it makes it easier to remember my past students.

I am curious, what trinkets or gifts have you received, and what do they make you think about when you see them?

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.