Book endings

Obviously I have been slacking on my blogging. This actually makes me really sad because I am sure that there are many memories that have already slipped from my mind and are lost forever because I didn't take the time to write them down. Darn short-term memory.

Christmas break is practically upon us. In fact, I am writing this post during my prep period on the last day before break. Today is definitely a "fluffy" day, one I'm still unsure of it's purpose. Whatever.... I am so excited to take a break.

This last week we finished our book, The Devil's Arithmetic. When 5th period finished the book, there were tears in some eyes because of the emotional ending and all of my students clapped. I couldn't help but smile and feel satisfied that I had helped my kids feel real joy and anticipation in reading. I loved those days when they would anxiously ask, "Ms. Mayans, are we reading today? Pleasssseeeee?!?!?" 

They really do make me laugh. I was teaching compound sentence one day and trying to help them figure out what they were without specifically saying a definition. Once we had looked at models and written down the things they all had in common, I asked a student, "Ok, now with that information, what would you say is the definition of a compound sentence?" He looked at me with squinty eyes and said," Uh, I dont know." Now wanting to let him off the hook so easily, I energetically and dramatically said, "No, think about it. If a person walked up to you and said to you 'Dude, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me what a compound sentence is!' what would you say?" To which the student replied without hesitation, "I'd say, 'Get out of my face!'"   I got a good laugh from that one.

Yesterday I taught them a quick lesson on symbolism. We then watched Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas and they had a worksheet to fill out on the symbolism they found in the cartoon. So today, perhaps as a time filler, I had my students write Holiday cards to teachers and administrators to show their appreciation. I got one from one of my students. Here it is (and please note how she applied our lesson from yesterday to her note. I smiled when I read it):

I catch myself wondering if it really wasn't divine intervention that made me teach 7th grade this year instead of 9th. Who knows what next year will bring and what grade I will be teaching, but I have learned how much fun these 12 year-olds can be. They are sweet and funny and (some of them) try so hard to make sure that I am happy with their work and their behavior. I have fallen in love with teaching middle school. Who knew it could be so rewarding!?  :)

Merry Christmas!

Impossible to please everyone

Fact: It is impossible to make everyone happy.

Just accept it. There is nothing you can do to change it. Especially if you are a teacher.

It seems there is always someone who is upset at me.

For the last few weeks I have tried to do something new with vocabulary but it didn't work well, so I decided to return to the original plan of having my students create vocabulary charts. I know these charts have been effective in helping them learn the new words, but of course I had students come up to me and say, "What!? I HATE doing the vocab chart. Why do we have to draw a picture of the word. This is stupid! This doesn't help me at all.... Blah blah blah blah blah..." Annoying. Very annoying. But, you know what? I have realized that as the teacher I get the final say and I get to ultimately decide what we do. I like taking suggestions and knowing what students enjoy doing in class, but in the end it is all up to me and what I believe is best for my students.

End of discussion. End of story.

Holocaust Simulations

We are currently reading The Devil's Arithmetic. It is fictional novel about a girl is transported back in time to the time of the Holocaust. Naturally, we have done a lot of historical front-loading so that my students can better understand the context and culture within the book. I have loved every minute of it, and I think my students are still very enthusiastic about this book. Yesterday we did a Holocaust gallery walk. I posted pictures with small captions, pamphlets, and artifacts about the Holocaust around the room and had my students walk around and view the various artifacts as if they were in a museum. One of the exhibits was a pile of pennies my students have brought in during the previous weeks. We had collected 10,730 pennies, and each penny represented a Jew who died in the Holocaust. I wanted my students to be able to visually see what an astonishingly large number of deaths occurred during the Holocaust (it is estimated that 6 million Jews were killed). Here is a picture of the penny pile.

The day before (Thursday), I did another activity with them that related to the Holocaust; I set up an experience similar to that of the Jews being removed from their homes, having their possessions taken, and being shoved into boxcars for deportation. Of course, this school experience couldn't ever be even a fraction of what the Jews really felt and experienced, but I felt that the activity was very affective in bringing more understanding to my students. 

         As my students approached the classroom, I stood unsmiling and stern at the door and informed them that there would be absolutely no talking. The entered the room and began working silently on the bellwork. Suddenly, in a very commanding and mean voice, I instructed them to line up at the door. I found every reason to yell at them ("You're not moving fast enough", "Dont look at your neighbor", "No talking", etc.). I told them that they needed to give me their jewelry, watches, phones, and anything else of value that they had on their persons. They looked at me with shock but obeyed and put their stuff in a small container I had. Then I marched them single file-quickly-still yelling at them to the front office and inside a small time-out room. After I had shoved all 30 of my kids into a small corner of the room, I began to read from the book. The chapter I read from described the experience of traveling in a boxcar, and soon our little time-out room also felt hot and muggy. Once I had read part of the chapter, we returned to the room and discussed the experience. Most of my students talked about the feelings of fear and confusion they had felt during this experience. I heard from the math teacher that my students were still talking about this experience the next day. Mission accomplished.

My professor later informed me that this teaching strategy is called simulation. She warned me about how some teachers have taken these kinds of activities too far, but she also explained how simulation can be very affective in bringing the text to life for some of my more hands-on learners. 

Reassessing my Assessments

This week's schedule was so strange. We went to Salem High School on Monday morning to see the play they are soon to perform, Guys and Dolls. That took all of the morning, and I only saw my 6th, 7th, and 8th period classes. Then the next day we had an early out without a change in the bell schedule. This meant that I only saw periods 1 through 5. So basically, I taught the same thing on Tuesday and Wednesday. And can I just say how shocked I am at how fast the time whizzes by!? When I was studying to be a teacher, I saw the curriculum we are required to cover and I thought to myself, "Oh, it wont be hard to fit that all in a year. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I have extra time I'm not sure what to do with." Wow, what an ignorant assumption. I have plenty to teach, and I feel like I am running out of time for some things.

The kids had early out on Wednesday so that the teachers could have an in-service training meeting. It was soooooooooo boring, but I was reminded of a few things. Our principal talked to us about having common assessments (which my school --or at least my English team of teachers--  is horrible at). However, this did serve as a reminder to me that every day I should be assessing my student's understanding of the concept I have taught. I feel like I am pretty good at that part, but I forgot to also look and assess more long term. For example, over the weeks I have been teaching my kids the parts of speech (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc.), but I don't know how much they have retained. This is especially important to know because I am planning on giving them a final test on parts of speech right before Thanksgiving break. So, because I was inspired by the boring meeting, the next day I gave my students a benchmark test on these concepts. Wow, they did horribly on some of it, and I quickly realized how useful assessments can be for reteaching. This week's task: reteach (in a different way) some of the parts of speech so that my kids can be better prepared for the final test.

You guys...the worst has happened...I knew it was coming...but I didn't want to admit it...it's here...SNOW!!!! Oh, how my poor California-raised body and spirit long for the simplicity of...no snow. But no, I don't get my wish. So of course with yesterday being the first snow day, all the kids were in a funk. No one could concentrate. The power briefly went off twice yesterday, and of course that got everyone talking and laughing and chatting instead of focusing. Usually I am sad that I don't have a window, but yesterday I didn't mind it.

Just so you guys can envision what I have to suffer, this is a picture of my car this morning. Remember, yesterday was our FIRST snow day.   :(



One last, funny thing.
I wrote this on Facebook about something that happened to me on November 7th:
"Happy UnBirthday to me! Today during 4th period, the band kids came into my classroom with all their musical instruments and wearing party hats. They gave me a candy bar and played a very entertaining rendition of the "Happy Birthday" song. I clapped, and then I blushed as I explained that it wasn't my birthday... Woops! haha. Just a month off guys! But thanks for the very sweet gesture."

The cold, hard truth

I realized something this week, and it's not pretty. When you are an intern, it is required that you live, breathe, think, eat, sleep your job. In other words, your internship is your life, and you can kiss those care-free college activities goodbye. Yup, that is the cold, hard truth, and it only took me one crummy week of teaching to realize it.

Yes, it's true that this week I didn't have the most optimal teaching environment anyway. It was anti-bullying week, dress up week, Halloween, and afternoon assembly schedule. Still, I know I can take some responsibility for my pretty mediocre lessons. Here are my confessions:

• Confession #1: I put my social life before my job this week. Yikes! I know, I know, I can try to excuse my behavior by saying that I am young and still single and live in a house full of desperately eligible bachelorettes. I admit that I was lured by the promises of costume parties and lots of candy (including eye candy). But the truth is simple: I knew when I accepted the internship that I would have to put in a lot of time and effort into doing my job well, and this past week I didn't put in the needed focus for successful teaching.
• Confession #2: There were days (Dr. Coombs, please don't kill me) that I didn't have a lesson plan written out. Yikes again! I realized how big of a problem this was when I was standing in front of my class, watching them talking, trying to get the attention, and also trying at the same time to figure out in my mind what exactly I needed to tell them. While sometimes I write lesson plans that I don't use during the actual lesson, I still find security in knowing that it sit there on my podium just incase my brain decides to fail me momentarily. So lesson learned.
• Confession #3: Because I was feeling so guilty, I went to the library last night to work on my unit plans. I am happy to say that I have basically everything planned out from now until Christmas break. But here is a little thing you may not know about me: I am a perfectionist when it comes to writing. I hate scribbling out things, but I think I hate writing in pencil more. It's a no-win situations. Until...I figured out a brilliant way to plan without having to scribble out changed lesson plans. I call it "the post-it method" and some of the veteran teachers at my school have started using it since they saw my planner. I have different colored post-it notes for different subject (the novel we are reading, writing, and grammar) and once I write the different lesson plans on the post-it, I am able to move and rearrange them to fit just right. I love it! Here is what it looks like: 

While you may read these confessions and think, "Maichael, you are being too hard on yourself. I'm sure your lessons were fine,"  I sit here and know that, although my students may be none the wiser, I know I didn't put in my full effort and that disappoints me. But, a new week will come in a few days, and I am already rededicated and better prepared for the future.

Anyway, enough of my bad confessions. Here are some more entertaining ones:

• Good Confession #1: I think I may be falling in love with teaching 7th graders. True, I haven't yet had the opportunity to try my hand at teaching older grades, but I actually enjoy teaching 7th grade much more than I thought I would. They are always so full of surprises. I have one girl in my first period class who is in love with words. The other day I said "befuddled" in class and she immediately got up and picked up a dictionary to find out what that word meant. Then, a few minutes later, she said to me, "Ms. Mayans, that is a cool word!  You want to know another cool word I learned a few days ago: Indubitable." She promptly opened up the dictionary again to find the official definition of the word "indubitable" and has been carrying a dictionary in her hand ever since. I love it!  :) Big words are so fun.
• Confession #2: It is pretty funny working in predominantly Mormon community. You get some very interesting reading logs. (The second picture instructs the students to write down sentences from their reading and identify the subject and verb).  
•   
• extra credit if you can identify where this girl is reading!

Well, that is all for now. Thank you to those who have commented or emailed me to give me advice and support. I love you all!

My Picture on the Website

Look! I am officially on the Mt Nebo Junior High website.  :)

     Today was such a wonderful day, I just have to tell you about it. Really, it was nothing special. Just same old lessons and assignments, but today I wasn't the only one working hard; my students did such a great job at working diligently on these fractured fairytales we are creating.

      Let me tell you briefly about the assignment. My kids are taking a fairytale and making a major change to the story (like changing the setting, point of view, character roles, etc) to make new stories. We have spent the last few days looking at a ton of models and now today we talked about sensory detail and how to make your story come alive. After all this work and preparation, it was nice to have them finally start drafting their stories. I gave them a little bit of time to talk with a friend and do some last-minute brainstorming and tweeking before having them quietly work on their stories. And the great thing is, they ALL worked hard today. Yup, even my kids who hate writing. Yup, even that ridiculous 7th and 8th period, talkative class. Yes-sir-ee, I was a happy gal.

     

     So it didn't even bug me when I had kids in my class until 4 (remember, school gets out at 2:40) desperately trying to get missing/late work or redo tests before the end of term. I was actually impressed with some of their diligence today (although I am hoping that they learn their lesson this term and cease the procrastinating game). 

     Ok, but now it just hit me...I am exhausted....nap time at 7:40. Sounds good to me.

A Few Weeks Worth....Sorry

Holy cow! It has been way too long since I last posted something about my life. So much has happened, but it has also drained me a little bit (hence, I haven't even found the strength or motivation to write briefly about it).

Lets start with today and move backwards, shall we?

The end of term is almost upon us. October 29th, grades are due and October 19th is the last day for my students to turn in any late/missing/redone/extra credit work. Yes, you heard right, that is THIS Friday. Are people freaking out? You bet your boots they are! Just last week I tried to give one "catch-up" class period. I was thinking, "Oh, this will be easy for me. I will just give them the class period to work on whatever they are missing and maybe a few people will ask for some help during the hour."  No! Once again, I was terribly mistaken to think that an activity I planned would turn  out simple. I had students coming up the entire time: asking what they were missing, wanting to see their grade, checking how much an assignment was worth, asking questions about how to do something. By the end of the day, I had a head ache. But, I can honestly say, that I am glad I gave them that time. I feel like many of the students appreciated it and used the time wisely.

With grades coming out soon, I am supposed to notify all the parents of students who are currently earning a D or an F. For most of the parents, I have sent an email. Generic. Simple. Clear. "Your son/daughter is earning a         . They are missing the following big-point assignments:         ." The end. It hasn't been too bad (besides the fact that I have more students failing that I would like to admit). There are, however, some parents that don't have emails. These ones are usually the hispanic families. So, yesterday afternoon, I called the house of one of my students and began to have a painfully un-understandable conversation with his mom. I soon realized that this was going to get me nowhere, so I admitted to her that I spoke Spanish and that we could probably try to communicate in her language instead of pretending to communicate in mine. It was tough, but also rewarding to communicate with her. I was so grateful at the end for my mission and the opportunity to learn Spanish. I can tell it will truly be a blessing to me for the rest of my life.

Yesterday was also fun because I realized how important metacognition (the act of thinking about thinking ) is. We were reading "The Landlady", a scary short story, as a class. I didn't even realize how much you have to infer about the story until the very end when I was all pumped and my students were like, "Huh?! That's it? That wasn't scary at all!?" What a bust! Here I was, all excited and literature-nerdy, and my kids couldn't even understand how cool the story was. (Feel free to read/listen to it here). Anyway, after first period's less-than-stellar reaction, I realized that I needed to scaffold the inferencing better. The rest of the day went better, but it all taught me a lot about what I can expect from students this age.

A few weeks ago, I went to an English teacher conference (UCTE). I'm not going to write a lot about it, but I will say that it was very fun and gave me a lot of good ideas. I feel like I am brimming with good ideas but am not sure exactly how to implement them. That, or I once again dont have time because I am juggling so many things. Some of the speakers included: Shannon Hale (author of Goose Girl...which I LOVE and read in one night a few years ago) and Taylor Mali (author of "What Teachers Make"....read it here or watch it on YouTube).

Last weekend we had Fall Break. No school on Thursday or Friday and it was definitely a needed break. Yay!

Ok, so a few weeks ago, I broke up a fight at school. A girl fight. Oh man, it was intense. The adrenalin kicked in when I saw these two girls punching and pulling hair in front of my classroom during passing period. I pulled one girl off of the other, and then luckily another teacher came who knew the girls and could tell the administration who they were. I was fine until the crowd dispersed and I saw the clumps of long, brown hair in the hallway. Yuck!  I almost gagged. I was then the talk of the school for the next few days. Kids would seriously walk past my door, look at me, and whisper to their friends, "That's the teacher that told on so-and-so." Haha, while it was kinda funny, I am happy that the fame was fleeting and things are now back to normal.

Well, I'm sure there is probably more that I missed, but I can't recall anything else for the moment. I promise I will do better from here on out.

Easy!? Hahaha, yeah right!

I think the worst thing to experience is a day you expect to be easy and then it turns out to be a lot of work. That was my Friday. I'd originally thought to myself, "Oh, my kids are just taking a test and then they are silently reading the rest of the class period. I don't have to do anything!"  Yay. 

Seriously, my lesson plan was about a 1/2 a page in length and consisted in reminding them of any homework over the weekend and how the test was set up. That's it. 

Easy day......or so I thought.

Easy day, that is, until first period when I pulled out one of my students with an IEP (individualized education plan) so that I could read her the test in the hallway. Just then, one of the special education kids down the hall was having a temper tantrum and screaming "F*** you! Mom, your such a B****." While his teacher and the administrator had confined him to an empty classroom (right across the hall from my classroom, I might add) you could still here his colorful language and see his not-so-appropriate hand gestures from the classroom window. Needless to say, it was difficult to help my student focus. I helped out her as much as I could, reading the questions out loud to her and letting her answer verbally before writing things down, but I'm not sure how successful I was, given the circumstances. 

Easy day, that is, until I was bombarded with complaints of "Ms. Mayans, this was too much material to study in one night." (I had given them a study guide on Tuesday and we had even filled it out together. One night to study?! Yeah right). "Ms. Mayans, I wasn't here when you talked about theme so I shouldn't get this question wrong." (Once again, this boy was talking about when we reviewed theme on Tuesday, but he had been here for the 2 full days of lessons on the subject. And, of course, he had all week to ask me questions if he hadn't understood something). "Teacher, this isn't fair. All of my teachers are giving tests today: English, math, science..." I think the thing that really bothered me can be summed up in the statement given by the vice principal: "It can be frustrating when you are working harder for them to succeed than they are for themselves." Truth! I honestly feel like I gave them every tool for success. Good and memorable lessons, practice, a study guide we worked on as a class (with practically all the answers), review after review after review, extra study guides on the class website to print out, an email to both students and parents to warn them about the upcoming test, reminders, making them write it in their planners, and always offering extra help if anyone needed it. Yes, I can sit back and know that I have done my part. 

So then why did I cry after school? After talking to my mom about it, I think I can probably relate it to the same feelings I had on my mission. While a missionary (or any kind of teacher) can work so hard for someone to understand something, it is ultimately up to the investigator/student to do the work for themselves and internalize what has been taught. Agency, which usually we discuss as a good thing, can be so frustrating sometimes!

Today was supposed to be easy!

Easy day, that is, until I caught someone cheating on my test. It wasn't even discreet! It went something like this:

-Ms. Mayans: "Ok, when I had out the test, there is no talking. If you are talking or even making ooglie eyes at someone, I will assume you are cheating and I will take away your test and give you an F. This is a closed book, closed notes, closed neighbor test."

-hands out tests and students start working.

-Ms. Mayans notices student X, who sits in the very front and center of the room, looking at his hand while writing something down on his test.

-Ms. Mayans: "Student X, what do you have written on your hand?"

-Student X: "The answer. But I wrote it there before you gave out the tests!"

-Ms Mayans: (not believing that a student could be that....should I even say it?....dumb) "Go wash your hand right now! That is 100% cheating!" 

-While student is gone, Ms. Mayans writes a zero on that test questions. It is literally the first question and sooo easy!

-Student X returns to the room and looks at his test: "What?! Why did I get a zero on this question?"

Sigh....so now you understand why my "easy" day was not so easy.

But, let us not end on a bad note. Here are some things that cheered me up when I was feeling drained:

• A few days ago, while talking about protagonist and antagonist, I used movie examples like Batman, The Lion King, and Tangled. I confessed to my students that my roommates want me to be Mother Gothel (from Tangled) for Halloween because I know her entire song "Mother Knows Best." One student looked up at me and said, "You're not THAT mean!"   hahahaha, I seriously laughed out loud. I couldn't help myself.
• After grading a few of the tests last night, I am happy to say that at least a few students got A's on the test. Yay for kids who study!
• I will be teaching commonly confused words on Monday and found this pretty funny blog about people writing "alot" instead of "a lot." Enjoy! hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com

Reflecting on the week

I love Saturday mornings. They are the only mornings that allow me to sleep in...until barely 8:30. Ugh, darn school schedule makes it impossible for me to sleep in later than that, but it is nice to just wake up naturally and stay in bed for a few hours. I catch up on my reading, maybe some grading, and of course a little reflecting on what I have learned in the past week.

This week was parent-teacher conference. From 3:15 till 7:30, I sat in the cafeteria with all the other teacher, waiting for my students and their parents to come over and talk to me. Out of 87 students, 48 parents came. That is a pretty good ratio, especially since I was advised by other teachers and administrators not to expect more than 40% of parents to come. In the 4 hours, I hardly got a moment's rest. While I had been scared before the conferencing started, I quickly realized that most parents are on my side. Most of them supported my classroom management and grading choices. They were able to see how their student had earned the grade they had according to the effort they had put in.   **Sigh**   What a relief! There was only one mom who acted like I was the culprit for her son's bad grades. "My son is getting A's in all his other classes; why are you giving him a D?!"    Hm, while her son loves to read, unfortunately you can't just read to earn an A in my class. Oh well, 1 out of 48 is pretty good.

I also had an epiphany while in my 8th period class. There I was, getting all frustrated and upset once again that they were talking non-stop. Without even realizing what I was saying, I said, "Why wont you guys stop talking!?" From somewhere in the room, some snarky student replied, "Because you react."   **Lightbulb moment!**   As soon as he said that I realized something: the consequence for my students talking and being disruptive should not be more stress for me. No, no, no. The consequence should effect them, not me. I am in control and need to make sure they feel the consequence, not me. So, I have changed my tactic. Instead of getting upset, I'm either going to give them a pop quiz that will probably hurt their grade, or I am just going to give them less time to finish something. For example, yesterday they were talking while I was explaining the creative writing assignment. I didn't get upset, I just waited, and I warned them that they were taking away their own time to work and that the expectation for them to write a full page and a half was still there. While the other classes had gotten a full 30 minutes to work on it, they only got 20 because they had wasted time with talking. I am hoping that this idea works better, because I cant afford to get stress wrinkle on my forehead just from this one class.

And of course, I have some simple pleasures from the week:

• Honestly, I love my job. Of course it is stressful. And it is always interesting working with other people's kids. But I feel blessed to have found something I am good at and love doing. 
• Yesterday, one of my students came up to me and told me he had written a poem. IT WAS A LOVE POEM! Talk about ridiculously cute and....ridiculous! :)   It was actually pretty good for being a 12 year-old's perspective of love.
• Another one of my students sent me an email that contained the "first chapter" of a book he is writing. I wont go into detail about it (incase any of you try to sneak his budding, creative genius), but I will inform you that it has Mr. Hamburger as the protagonist. Yes....
• We started a new book project for the term, and it seems that my students are pretty excited about it. Some of the girls in my 7th and 8th period class even decided to stay in from their 5 minute break to come talk to me about books. Yay!

What am I doing wrong?

I have had two moms come and tell me this week that their child thinks I hate them....What am I doing wrong?! :(

This has been a really, really, really hard week and I am so emotionally drained right now; I'm not sure what else to do besides just sit and sob.

Sometimes I feel that I am not wired to be a 7th grade teacher.....these kids still expect someone like their elementary teacher, and I am just not like that. I have too much on my plate to be able to walk them through everything and coddle them. I dont feel like I am being mean. I feel like I am trying to be fair in my teaching and disciplining, and I feel like I am a fun, outgoing teacher.

So then why do I feel like I am failing miserably?  :(

Remembering with Emotion

Today was just one of those days that you sigh and say to yourself, "Yes! I can do this!"

Being September 11th, I decided to start out the class period with a little memorial video and music. I talked to my kids about my experiences during Sept 11, 2001 and how it impacted my life. I then gave them some time to write in their writer's notebook about a time/experience they might have had that has changed their outlook on life.

(Basically I wanted them to think of something emotional that changed their lives)...This was all in anticipation for our lesson on The Great Depression. And boy, did it work!

One of the hard things about teaching is finding a way to make your kids care about what they are learning. Whether it is history or grammar, I truly believe that lessons will be more enjoyable and stick better if kids feel invested in some way.

So this prewriting stuff was to help them imagine how people during the Great Depression felt when all of a sudden things went terribly wrong. We then had a gallery walk. I had photos from the Great Depression on all my walls and music from the time period playing in the background. My students went around looking at the pictures and reading the little informational clips. They then filled out a worksheet and wrote about which 3 pictures they liked the most and why. It was a really good lesson (if i do say so myself).

Ok, but every lesson has to have something that goes wrong. In my last class, as I was having them write about their life changing experiences, I had some more emotion than I had seen all day. One girl was crying (I had anticipated her getting emotional because her dad died about a year ago. I was pretty sure this writing prompt would lead her to write about that). What I was unprepared for, however, were 2 other girls bursting into tears as they shared with the class what experiences they had written about (PS: I didn't force anyone to share. I knew this was very personal, so I allowed people the opportunity to share without feeling obligated). At the end of class I felt so bad. Had I emotionally manipulated my kids? Did I do something bad/wrong by making them think of these hard things. Honestly, I just wanted to help them feel a connection to history, but I wondered if I had gone to far.

But....thinking about it.... I think I'm ok. :) So all in all, it was a pretty good day.

Just a good day, Lots of interest

        Today was a great day. I think I have been focusing so much on everything I am not good at that I have forgotten to enjoy all the little successes I have be experiencing as well. My first period class was totally off task from the very beginning of the period, so I made them leave my classroom and try starting the period over again. It worked better the second time. My fifth period class, same thing. But when my seventh period class came in ( you know, the crazy class), they all knew how serious I was about being quiet and starting class on a good note. When the bell rang, the class was quiet and working on their starter. I just had to sigh and smile to myself. :) Success!

      I really enjoyed teaching today. We discussed theme again (after looking at their homework and realizing that most of my students hadn't understood theme at all, I decided a second day was necessary). Well, today was better. I read The Giving Tree to them (and choked up every time I read it) and we discussed what the message was. Then we reread "Casey at the Bat" and analyzed each stanza to extract the meaning and feeling of the poem. The kids ate it up! Even the boys who never participate and act too cool were totally interested in the poem. There was discussion, there text-to-self connections, there was emotion, there was interest....I LOVED IT! And there was great classroom management from the simple fact that everyone was engaged. It was just one of those days that you examine afterwards and say, "Yes, I am a good teacher."

       But....I must admit that I am very happy for the weekend. Yay! Time for a rest. :)

Assessment

In case any of you are wondering, TEACHING IS HARD! But...I'm still loving it!

     This week....tests, tests, and more tests. My students have had to take the DRP (degrees of reading power) district test, and then tomorrow they have to take the STAR school reading level test. While these tests do allow me some breathing time, they also take away a lot of my teaching time. This and last week, we have been learning elements of fiction (setting, characterization, conflict, plot, and theme). Today was theme....which is sooooo difficult to teach.
     Assessment, I've found, is really difficult. It's not enough just to teach a good lesson. No, none of that matters if students dont internalize the information and successfully demonstrate that they understand. Then you through in all the variables (English Language Learners, students with learning disabilities and Individualized Education Plans, outside distractions, time/effectiveness of the lesson) and hope for the best.
      Today we had a staff meeting and we talked about FLEX (a 20 min period on Tuesdays and Thursdays for students who need extra help). Well, I think my Flex time will be very very busy because half of my kids are failing my class. This depresses me :( Mostly, it comes down to the fact that a lot of them do not turn in assignments. I haven't even given them very much homework, yet they still manage to procrastinate that little bit.
      Well, I swear I'm not a complainer. I actually really do enjoy being around my students. I have a lot of kids who come in early and talk. After lunch, I have a line of kids waiting outside my door to come in for class. We have fun laughing together (mostly they laugh at me, but I'm ok with that).

I take it back!!!

Just a few months ago, as a BYU student observing the classes of other teachers, I was judging teachers in their own classroom. "If this were my classroom," I'd think to myself, "I would have much more participation." Or, " they don't have very engaging lessons. I would put in so much more effort and thought into my class time." OH MY GOSH....I REPENT OF MY JUDGING THOUGHTS! It is easy to have big dreams when your don't have the full work load on you. But now that I am the only teacher in my classroom, I see that planning, preparing, and managing time and lessons takes a lot more work than I ever had imagined before. 

So my goal for this week is to finish my unit plan map (for A Long Way From Chicago) and try to make every day fit in with the one before and after it. I need to be able to see the unit end from the beginning and work towards those goals. While these first two weeks have seemed very random, next week will have more fluidity to it. Monday is a holiday (Yay!!! No School!!...I think I will appreciate holidays more as a teacher than I ever did as a student). Tuesday we will talk about the Article of the Week (an article by the PTA on how parents can help their students succeed) and talk about elements of fiction. Wednesday and the rest of the week will be dedicated to A Long Way From Chicago. Ok, now I just need to breathe and take it one day at a time.

Still experimenting...

     Monday is hard! Haha. I am realizing how much I have to scaffold the learning for my students, and I am finding that it's easy to want to do too much too soon. Grammar, reading, writing, vocab, article of the week, editing....everything requires so much frontloading. Even though it is only the second week, I feel bad that we are still doing worksheets to understand how to use the textbook or review grammar concepts. How can I make it more exciting and interesting while still completing these beginning of the year tasks?

     This week I have already had some changes to make. One of my procedures that I explained last week didn't work as smoothly as I had originally hoped. Today I changed the procedure, and we will see how it works this week.

      As far as my last period goes, I think part of the problem with classroom management is me. I need to be more clear on my expectations. When I give directions, I need to tell my students every step and what to do afterwards. Today that class period worked silently (probably because I threatened them with a test tomorrow if they didn't work diligently today), but the noise started once some of the kids were done with the assignment. I guess they didn't know what to do, and I needed to be more specific on my procedures for after assignments. Well, I guess it is another thing I can put on my "To Do Better" list. (That list seems to keep getting longer and longer).

First day of school

 Today was my first full day of teaching, and BOY am I exhausted. I feel like I need to remove my throat and let it rest for a while. My feet hurt, I'm sweaty, and I no longer have a voice, but to be completely honest, I am soooo happy right now. I did it! Today was a successful day and I am so proud of myself. Of course the day wasn't perfect, but I learned a lot and I'm excited for this school year.

     I learned some of the dynamics of my classroom. First period are angels sent straight from heaven. They may be a little sleepy, but they are even good for me in 4th period when we have class together again. On the other hand, 7th and 8th periods are hellions. Wow, those kids can talk and I find myself telling them to be quiet over and over and over again. I can tell that they will be my classroom management class. This may be tough, because by the end of the day I am tired and a little more short tempered. But I need to recognize this in myself and be aware of how I am treating the kids. There are 5 boys who just love to talk and goof around in this class. I just barely made my seating charts for this term and I am SOOOO excited to implement them tomorrow. Hopefully this will cure a lot of the problems.

      But let me also tell you about some of my successes. The first time I met with my students today, we talked about the classroom as a game. It turned out to be a wonderful discussion where we all compared our favorite sports/teams to the classroom. I felt like this lesson really engaged the student's interest and helped them see my vision for our classroom community. The second time we met, we went over my disclosure document and then did an activity where the students set up their pairs for the year (called the appointment clock). I had to help some of the shy kids get involved, but overall I felt proud of my students and their abilities to get outside of their comfort zones to get to know each other. 

     Other random things that happened: One student offered me cat jerky....sketchy! I received two drawings from students-- one of a saber-toothed tiger (it honestly looks like an oversized hamster with fangs, and a chicken fighting a turkey in a plane). And I was told I looked nice by my principal. 

Preparation Sensation

 
     This summer has flown by. I have explored many Utah trails and mountains, soaked up those delicious rays of the summer sun, witnessed my brother's beautiful wedding in California, and now it's time to start focusing on the fast approaching school year.
     Just a few days ago I was finally able to set up my classroom. I have to give a little shout-out of praise to my roommate, Leigh, who managed to deal with me and my indecisiveness without strangling me. But seriously, Leigh was such a big help: putting up my posters, arranging and rearranging desks (at least 5 times), moving bulky book cases, creating to-do/buy lists, and going to Savers and DI to help me find the perfect accessories for my dream classroom.  What a champ! Now that it is all (mostly) set up, I can already imagine those desks filled with little 7th graders. Wow, this is finally becoming real!
     Well, with the excitement also comes a lot of nervousness. Just ask my roommates, parents, and close friends and they will tell you of the tears I have shed and the "i-dont-know-if-i-can-do-this" moments. I'm sure there will be more of those moments to come, but for now they have been pushed to the side thanks to some district orientation meetings and planning sessions. 3 days of sitting at the district office can make some people fall asleep (I almost did on day 2), but for the most part I found the speakers inspiring and motivating. They helped me remember the basics of classroom management, planning, technology, and school laws/procedures. I was also able to finally meet the other members of my Mt. Nebo English team. These are the blessed souls with whom I will share laughs, tears, ideas for success, and epic failures throughout the school year. They all seem very nice and willing to share past lesson plans with me. Honestly, I will take all the help I am offered.
     Days till it all goes down: 28!!!!

A Prisoner In My Own Kingdom

The damsel in distress: Ms. Maichael Mayans

The hero: temporarily unnamed custodial worker

The villain: my classroom door handle

        I enjoyed my drive to the school, windows rolled down and the warm 80º wind whipping through my hastily done up hair. Since I surprisingly didn't have any work today I had decided that I would dedicate the late morning to setting up my classroom. In anticipation for the task, I had already loaded my car with my classroom keys, reading books, writer's notebooks, cleaning supplies, my laptop, and a sack lunch. "Today," I thought, "I am ready for anything."

        Or so I thought...

        There were a few cars in the parking lot but I didn't run into anyone as I walked down the dimly lit hallway to my room. Keys in hand, I jiggled the door open and walked in, loving the thought that this room was to be my own personal kingdom for the next 11 months. The door closed quietly behind me and I began to organize the few things I had carried with me from the car. Well, that didn't take long, so I went over the door and pulled down the handle to make my way back to the car for another load.

        The door didn't open. "Ok," I said to myself, "Don't panic. You probably just didn't pushed hard enough." Once again I pulled down the door handle and pushed against the door with all my might. Nope...still the door stood immovable, a stone-cold guard trapping me inside my own once beloved kingdom-- talk about damsel in distress! It was at about this point in time that the clammy feeling of fear, panic, and embarrassment began to engulf my body. What to do. What to do.

        All I can say is this: thank the heavens for smart phones! Using my phone's internet, I found the number to the school and quickly called. Kaye, the principle, answered and asked how she could help me. "Um, this is rather embarrassing," I mumbled, "but I seem to have locked myself in my own classroom." She seemed confused at this since the doors didn't even lock from the inside, but mine had decided to have a personal vendetta against me and I was most certainly stuck inside. "Let me call custodial to unlock the door," she said and quickly hung up the phone. A minute later her voice came over the intercom, and she chuckled as she asked for a custodian to "go to room 218 because there [was] a teacher trapped in her classroom."

       I tried to look cool, busy and unconcerned, when the custodian walked up and opened my door. "Are you sure you were locked in?" he asked in a skeptical voice.

      "Yeah," I insisted. "The door handle didn't work at all."

       He insisted I try it again, and once more the door closed softly between us. My mind raced with thoughts: "I swear, if this door opens right now while he is standing here, I am going to be so upset. I may not be a science nerd, but you shouldn't have to work at NASA to be able to understand how to open a door." Pushing the handle down and tugging at the door, I demonstrated that the door was indeed locked from the inside.

        The custodian looked at me through the prison-sized window. "Pull the handle up," he said. And, of course, that was the trick. I was a free woman who now understood the sneakiness of my classroom door. Once my principal and vice principal arrived to make sure I was ok, we all got a good laugh from the experience. I wish I could say I am a teacher prepared for anything and everything, but after today's experience, I once again see how dependent I am on the aid of others to guide me and rescue me from my fatal blunders in the school world.

      Door handle: 1

      College graduate and teacher: 0