I keep finding myself in this weird world where I lie to myself and coerce my brain into believing that I am all caught up. Then, reality hits me in the face. The most recent casualty has been my Creative Writing class. I love them dearly, but I keep forgetting that they exist. Furthermore, I actually have to have them do things.
I say this and it seems like I don't ever do anything academic with them. That is not true. We get to do fun stuff that is also academic and my hope is that they really enjoy my class. Still, it doesn't erase the fact that I keep forgetting them! Most of the time, I find it hilarious. To be fair, I really enjoy this class. Most of the time they are on task or at the very least respectful and receptive to re-direction-ing.
I know I am not alone. I know that lots of teachers get behind. Mostly, I've just enjoyed how even though I've been behind, we have still been able to do some cool things. We have done poetry, short stories, plays, built lego creations for technical building and written letters to past and future selves. It is kind of awesome to see the span of creativity we get to experience. My biggest regret it that I didn't take pictures of the lego creations to show here.
Alright. I'll probably post again for Thanksgiving. Thanks, as always, for reading.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Any faithful readers left?
Alright. I know. It has been a while since I have posted. Something tells me this is going to be a theme. Last week marked week one of Quarter Two, if you can believe it. Now we are in November, which I have heard some call "No School November". This seems fairly accurate; thus, I embark on the wonderful journey that is attempting to engage my students and get them through material before Winter Break. Awesomeness.
First of all, end of quarter sucks. It is so busy and nuts. Then, you have the great and wonderful next quarter. For my students, that meant the "Oh shit, I actually have grades and need to do stuff" realization that has probably faded now that we have had a four day weekend. I love seeing some students have that realization because there is true hope in their eyes that they will change their behavior. Encouraging that hope is one of the best parts of the job.
With a new quarter came conferences. Now, let me just say a couple of things. First, this is not the first time I have done conferences, however it is the first time I have had to do it with my own merits. Also, we spent one day in an arena style set up and one alone in our rooms. For any teachers who are reading this, you know this is truth: conferences are some cruel exercise in marathon running. They are torturous. I loved meeting some of the parents and getting to make connections with faces from emails, etc. That part was awesome. I was also really lucky in that almost 100% of parent interactions were positive. Also awesome. The parents who came to conferences were generally the ones who were truly interested in their kids' education and future. The flip side was that I wanted to be able to give thorough feedback to all of them. Time-wise, that was nearly impossible.
Highlights? The first highlights were the looks on the parents' faces who seemed to understand that I felt like I was running a marathon. Most laughed at my fast talking and were really kind in asking me to slow down. Choking on my own spit in front of one parent, having to run out and ask one parent to wait because "oh my goodness I have to use the restroom but I promise I will be right back!", shaking because I had waaaaayyyy too much coffee and not enough food, or the genuine positive feedback parents gave me with phrases like "________ really likes you" and "English teachers have always butted heads with ___________ but he/she really likes you and your class". That feedback makes me want to keep learning from these kids and improving my skills as a teacher.
Admittedly, there are a lot of aspects about this job and this year that are kicking my butt. I know, every teacher I have spoken says that the first year is tougher than tough. And if you can survive the first three years, then you are awesome. With all of the crazy, it is so great to get the positive feedback. I really enjoy it a lot.
Now, because I am also trying to expand my horizons and learn from my peers, I have been looking at a bunch of teacher blogs and such. Mostly, it helps when you know there are others going though similar things or with similar visions. I found a blog called Love, Teach. Love, Teach is written by a fellow English teacher with an array of stories that I have really enjoyed going through. If I have any readership left, you should check out this blog.
First of all, end of quarter sucks. It is so busy and nuts. Then, you have the great and wonderful next quarter. For my students, that meant the "Oh shit, I actually have grades and need to do stuff" realization that has probably faded now that we have had a four day weekend. I love seeing some students have that realization because there is true hope in their eyes that they will change their behavior. Encouraging that hope is one of the best parts of the job.
With a new quarter came conferences. Now, let me just say a couple of things. First, this is not the first time I have done conferences, however it is the first time I have had to do it with my own merits. Also, we spent one day in an arena style set up and one alone in our rooms. For any teachers who are reading this, you know this is truth: conferences are some cruel exercise in marathon running. They are torturous. I loved meeting some of the parents and getting to make connections with faces from emails, etc. That part was awesome. I was also really lucky in that almost 100% of parent interactions were positive. Also awesome. The parents who came to conferences were generally the ones who were truly interested in their kids' education and future. The flip side was that I wanted to be able to give thorough feedback to all of them. Time-wise, that was nearly impossible.
Highlights? The first highlights were the looks on the parents' faces who seemed to understand that I felt like I was running a marathon. Most laughed at my fast talking and were really kind in asking me to slow down. Choking on my own spit in front of one parent, having to run out and ask one parent to wait because "oh my goodness I have to use the restroom but I promise I will be right back!", shaking because I had waaaaayyyy too much coffee and not enough food, or the genuine positive feedback parents gave me with phrases like "________ really likes you" and "English teachers have always butted heads with ___________ but he/she really likes you and your class". That feedback makes me want to keep learning from these kids and improving my skills as a teacher.
Admittedly, there are a lot of aspects about this job and this year that are kicking my butt. I know, every teacher I have spoken says that the first year is tougher than tough. And if you can survive the first three years, then you are awesome. With all of the crazy, it is so great to get the positive feedback. I really enjoy it a lot.
Now, because I am also trying to expand my horizons and learn from my peers, I have been looking at a bunch of teacher blogs and such. Mostly, it helps when you know there are others going though similar things or with similar visions. I found a blog called Love, Teach. Love, Teach is written by a fellow English teacher with an array of stories that I have really enjoyed going through. If I have any readership left, you should check out this blog.
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