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!!!!