I've actually been up to a lot outside of the work/not-work world! Pretty much 50s housewife stuff, which is a fun role to try on. :) (Fun because it's a choice not a mandate! Yay freedom and equality and stuff. :D)
With all of our new gadgets, I've been excited to try out some new things in the kitchen. I finally stocked up on basic ingredients like flour, baking powder, unsweetened cocoa, etc, and have been trying out a few recipes.
We got an electric hand-mixer and I love it! It makes mixing things so much fun and way easier too. :) I made Belgian waffles!
I made cupcakes and frosting from scratch!
We got this sweet blender-slash-food-processor and I love that too! I used it to chop onions and garlic. I've made some smoothies and recently we're working on making a good fresh salsa (we've tried twice but something's off with our proportions, and/or we need more/different spices): Awhile back I bought a slicer thingy, and last week I finally broke it out to make some fried potatoes!
I am going to try some chocolate-chip cookies next. Very excited to try those out! :)
I've also gotten the crocheting bug again in a major way.
I completed my first blanket (the world's easiest baby-sized blanket with giant yarn, but hey, it still counts!): I also made my first pair of fingerless mitts, or wristers as this pattern dubbed them:
This is all just in the last couple weeks! I'm halfway through another project right now, and now I'm starting to think ahead to the holidays, for simple and useful things I could give family.
We got all of our wedding photo stuff, and I'm excited to look through them again and order some prints and things!
Hi there! Yes, I'm here, but just haven't felt like blogging, though I'm sure there is plenty of material to write about.
It's mid-September somehow, and that means we've been married for six weeks. :)
Also, school started. The weird one-day school week was the same as my very first year teaching, which makes sense, because that was seven years ago now. :) I didn't have a permanent job yet, so I was in the ATR and for that first "week" I helped out in a kindergarten class. For the second week I subbed in a Spanish class in a middle school. And I actually tried to teach them Spanish. Which is funny because a) I don't really speak Spanish and b) hello, eighth graders could give a shit about a substitute, especially in the first couple weeks of the year! (I was placed in First Middle School the third week of school, September 27. My principal there told me a few times how lucky I was not to be at that other school. It was a mess; there were four principals that year!)
Anyway, so I had my first day of school not being a teacher.
I did keep busy that day though; I temped downtown. I've been getting a few assignments here and there in offices and school offices in the last week or two. I'm hoping things keep going, because money is finally coming *in* to my bank account instead of leaking out, out, out. It's really stressful not having a regular, dependable paycheck.
I am really enjoying working in new places and doing my best to help get work done. I like feeling useful, and I like mindlessness of filing and things--it is such a difference from being ON every second of the day so that the small people in the room stay under some modicum of control. :) I don't think I'll love it forever; I'm a reasonably smart person and I do want to do a bigger and better job than just a temp for a day or two. But I understand that will take awhile. It's difficult to stay positive and motivated. I know that there's a lot I am capable of doing, but I also know that I'm not very qualified compared to other people my age who have been in 'regular' nonteaching jobs, or at least that it might be tough for an employer to look past so much teaching and/or understand that I can do a lot besides teaching and because of teaching.
There was a bit of time in late August/early September when I was really trolling job boards and sending out resumes. That trickled to a stop once I started getting a few temp calls. Right now, it's such a relief to have something to do (and I love that it's not every day!) and even more, the money. The novelty will wear off soon as I look into the uncertain future without a reliable income for months. Ag.
Oh! I got a steady part-time job on Saturdays--teaching!
It's kind of a strange thing--I was worried about quitting teaching cold turkey and not being around any kids anymore (I miss my kids from last year!). So now I'm still a teacher, but only for one day a week. Much less stressful than five. :) However, it's definitely more stressful than zero! I was really worried about pacing the time (I'm teaching three sections) and what they were expecting of me and the students. But now we've had two sessions and I'm back in the groove a bit. It still takes a bit of time at home to plan and gather materials, and I need to do a little more from now on probably. There are assistants who grade but they might want an answer key, so I need to go all the way through the work myself to prepare that. Not gonna lie, that part I do not like.
Surprisingly, so far I'm liking my older students more. There are only six though (eleven in the younger group), and they're mostly boys. They all seem pretty nice so far, easy-going and eager to learn and laugh a little. I like that. :) The younger ones are much more lively, though nearly all of them are eager to learn and definitely laugh.
This week we were talking about subject-verb agreement and I was reviewing that if there's an 's' on the subject, there's not usually one on the verb, and vice versa. One kid asked how come, or who made that rule. "The president?" she guessed. I smiled and said no, it's from way, way before presidents. I said I have no idea why that's the way it is and I'm not sure how you could go about finding out. "Google!" cried out three students at once.
These kids nowadays. :)
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I have been doing other things around home, but I'm going to save that for another post or two! Because I do want to get back into the habit of blogging. I rarely have anything super exciting to write about, but I like working things out in words and having a record of life's little things. :)
When I decided to take the elementary teaching job last summer, I was really nervous about going into a new school situation, after the horrors of my first charter school experience. I wrote: This wasn't an easy decision, and I know the year will be fraught with new challenges. I won't be going into the year as innocent and naive as last year, but I will be going into the year with goals (first--patience, second--a life outside of school, third--creativity) and realism.
Big caveat to the job: if I'm miserable, if I'm crying, if I'm losing sleep--I will leave. I've definitely learned that lesson the hard way this year and I don't want to or need to go through that again.
But I do want to do a good job in a new environment, and enjoy teaching all the subjects, and get to know and love the students.
In the interview, I told the principal about three things that I needed: professional development, colleagues/teammates to work with, and curricular materials.
So...how did it all pan out?
Well. The professional development was a bust. The summer parts especially. We listened to a bunch of speakers and experts...who had clearly never been in an urban classroom. We had to do an entire day of physical labor to help the school get ready.
Not like I could have used the time any better, because our materials took forever to arrive. I don't think we had any of it before the kids arrived, not even books for a classroom library. The math curriculum came first. We got a Lucy Calkins writing set later (HATED IT and so did the kids). Science must have come a bit after that, and eventually we got a very paltry package of library books (but I'd already brought in a lot of my own books). The reading curriculum was last to arrive--we got that in LATE NOVEMBER. No social studies curriculum at all.
The teachers at this school were amazing--fantastic people, and great educators. I loved being a part of their team. Of course, I barely saw them. Elementary teachers basically never get out of the classroom, and there was no teacher break room in which to rest and chat. After school I was always sequestered in my room alone for several hours. My grade colleague had been at the school for the last two years and was great at planning and teaching too--but she never had time to stay before or after school to meet and talk to me. I really, REALLY needed someone at the beginning of the year--I felt completely overwhelmed and in over my head. I needed someone to work together with, bounce ideas off of, and talk to. And she just couldn't be there for that. Midway through the year she ended up leaving and I had a good month of being the 'stable' member of the grade team. We ended up with a great sub taking over the rest of the year, but he needed a lot of help in getting settled and figuring out how things worked. We were able to plan a little bit together eventually, but it was difficult finding time to do so on a regular basis.
So...those three things that I needed in order to have a successful year? Were not there at all.
I'm kind of amazed that I did as well as I did, considering. I don't really consider it a 'successful' year, in terms of achievement and learning, but in terms of survival, well, I did that.
How about my personal goals? Patience: Hoo, boy. I was super patient for about three weeks. I don't even know how I did that with the group I had. But then I found myself back to losing patience. Eight hours is a LONG day, y'all, with a bunch of rowdy, difficult boys who don't give a shit about learning or anyone else learning either. (That's basically who my class was all fall.) I tried so many things. I reached out to so many people. Some helped (some colleagues, some of the parents) and some did absolutely nothing (parents, some admin). I don't know how to be patient enough for these kids. I wasn't good enough to them, for them. All of my kids, even the rough ones, needed SO much from me, and I couldn't show enough patience, love and understanding to them, even though I felt it.
A life outside of school: Didn't happen at all the first part of the year. Once again the 11/12 hour days kicked my ass during the week and then the weekend was about recovery. I was better about relaxing and trying to do fun things on the weekend, though. At Christmas, my mom came to visit and we went to visit the boy's parents in his hometown. In January I started a photography class, specifically to give me something other than school to do during the week. I really enjoyed it. I started a second one in April. I guess we didn't do anything for February break, but I did a weekend to DC with friends in March, and of course we did travel for Spring break, to Costa Rica! Had a fantastic time getting engaged, exploring and having adventures. Once daylight savings hit and it was light after 5pm again, I was over school. No more being stuck inside in the dark for so many hours. I left by 5.3o or 6 for most of the rest of the school year. Still didn't have much time or energy to do fun things during the week, but continued to try for things on weekends.
The weekends were my absolute favorite them. I loved them. I LOVED any time not spent teaching. It didn't take long for me to notice that and think about the meaning and ramifications of that.
Creativity: So-so. I definitely had some high points with lessons I created. Not sure if I remember any of them. (I wish I'd had more energy to record things on this here blog!) We all loved doing grammar with School House Rock and erasable sentence strips. I coordinated a bunch of field trips for my class and the other class in our grade, which was my favorite part of the year. Oh, and teaching my class the states and capitals and different language greetings--I was proud of that. Overall I could have done a lot better. I had the kids do some cool projects that combined science, social studies, art and reading. I created a couple sweet powerpoints for one of our ancient culture units. I tried to do a biography/research project, which kind of failed and fizzled. The problems were twofold--a lot of kids didn't do the research as assigned over February break, and then after some great in-class practice (taking notes, and then using those notes to create paragraphs. I was actually really happy with these lessons.), the final drafts were still very much not in their own words. I HATE that and was so frustrated with the way that many of them seemed to be done or heavily guided by parents.
At the New Year, I made a goal to do more small group work. (My admin had been wanting me to, and I agreed it's helpful. It's just more work and you can't do a lot of new material that way, and in so many subjects we were pressed for time!) It took me awhile to get around to it. Reading groups, when I did them, went swimmingly--I did two different types. Sometimes I had them rotate in groups doing different activities and skills (like vocabulary, reading comprehension, etc), and sometimes I just had the groups stay in one place and read their small group book together and answer questions. Math groups I didn't do as often. I definitely could have done better with that. Although maybe not, because in January we plotted out the next few months to cover all the curricular points we needed before the test in May. So we kind of had to book it along. I think I did a couple though, like with coordinate graphs where they had to make shapes and 'test' each other on the points. They seemed to enjoy that. Lots of fun group activities in science kits! The best unit was on nutrition--we had AMAZING discussions and the kids were really into the experiments.
Remember, another one of my New Year goals was to find a new job. In January I was despondent, because I was sure the year would never end, or at least that my sanity wouldn't last. And there were some seriously trying times. (I would articulate some but my brain has long since forgotten it.) The biggest bully was removed from the class, which would have been a relief if not for the eight bajillion other problems still facing me. There was a lot of drama with my worst kid, and then three--no, four--other kids developed a shitload of drama, and the worst one got more worst, and ugh. I was like, oh my god, I can't wait to get this year over and done with! But wait, what am I going to do? Should I stay and ignore the insanity? Is it better to be broke and happy, or employed and crazy?
But in June when I found out that the school wasn't offering me a contract, it was still a shock. I had to remind myself that I'd already made the decision not to return.
In past years, I've usually needed some kind of processing time, or grieving time when a year (or teaching job) is over. In my favorite year, I think I cried even. I've always been happy to finish a year (god, I bet I was over the fucking moon at the end of my first year! what a nightmare year that was!), but I was also sad about leaving the kids and nervous about new ones.
But this year, I didn't give the end a second thought afterwards. I woke up on that Tuesday so happy, relieved, weightless. SO unburdened and carefree. It was wonderful.
As August crept on, I started seeing ads for back to school sales. Blog posts about schoolmares. Teachers writing about their plans. Pictures of classroom set-up. It's been very strange to not be a part of all that. The planning, the anticipating, the brand new planbook, the gathering of supplies, the copying of handouts, the writing of classroom rules, the wondering about the kind of kids you're getting, the stressing out about the first day...it's all so familiar and so stressful, and while I'm glad to not have all that stress, I feel a little lost without it. Like, who am I without "teacher"?
That still remains to be seen. I'm doing my best to look forward, not backward, and go bravely into this unknown.
This has been a fantastic summer--busy, but not chaotic, and fun. We've traveled to Seattle and Chicago, and I went upstate for a couple days too. There were wedding activities. I hung out with friends. I took pictures. I got to stay up late and sleep in. I had time to relax, but not so much that I got bored. It was perfect.
We got married on Sunday! The weather was perfect--warm but not hot, overcast so no glaring sun or squinting. It rained later in the afternoon after we were at the reception. The ceremony was lovely and pretty emotional for me. :)
When I saw my dress this summer for the first viewing, I was underwhelmed and a little disappointed. I didn't love it. The fitting made it better for sure, and then my mom and I found some perfect earrings and necklace set to match the dress and sparkly headpiece. Then I liked the dress a lot more, and while I'm still not sure I can say I loved the dress, I did love wearing it!
Our favors were little wooden fans (pretty and useful in case of heat) and bubbles. The guests bubbled us as we 'proceeded' out of the ceremony area and then later back in. What fun! We want to be bubbled everywhere we go now. :)
Walking through the park in a wedding dress was a really fun experience--lots of people smiled, congratulated us, took pictures. Our photographer was fantastic. She posted a few photos on facebook the same day and they are gorgeous! I can't wait to see more! Most of my friends were armed with their cameras too and have kindly posted them to a group so we can see them all in one place.
The reception was very low-key and kind of quiet. We made a crossword puzzle about us to give people something to do. It didn't get handed out until we got there, which then made it feel like I had just given everyone a Do Now. :) People were excited to finish and some had questions, but got hints from us or others. It was kind of fun, and some of them learned things about the two of us. :)
The food was pretty good, and our cake was delicious. I hadn't eaten anything all morning just to be extra sure that the dress would zip, and so by the time we got to the restaurant at 2.30, I was starving! We did a brunch buffet and my choice was the belgian waffles, so I had a couple of those, a bit of fruit, and a delicious Bellini. Then I was stuffed and could only take a couple bites of cake. Later we wanted more but dutifully saved the top tier and wrapped it in clingfilm and foil when we got home.
Overall, it was a wonderful, lovely day. I was so thrilled and grateful to share it with family and friends, and everyone was so kind and warm. It was very, very surreal, and even now we keep saying to each other, "We got married? We had a wedding? We're married now?" It feels strange. Just the words, I guess, since we've lived together for two years already. Married friends--did you feel that way? How long til it feels 'normal' to be a wife and have a husband?
It still hasn't quite hit me yet that this is all real. :) It's getting closer though because my family and friends have descended upon NYC for fun and wedding stuff. Love seeing people here for the first time!
Oh, here's some exciting news--I upgraded my camera! When I bought the D80 on a semi-whim in December 2008, I told myself I needed to keep it for two years. (I had only gotten the D40x six months before.) It's been a year and a half, and it was one of my goals for this year. I successfully saved up enough for a D300s, and in less than six months! I decided to use my money a little differently, a little smarter. I bought a used D300 and a used lens (85mm f/1.8) for about the cost of a new D300s body only. Squee! It is so clicky and comfortingly heavy. I love it. And even though it hasn't been quite two years that I promised myself, I think I've learned a lot and can use the new camera as an investment with more paid photography.
Earlier this summer I was able to second-shoot a wedding, and I rented the D300 and two lenses. I kept my D80 out too, and both lenses on that body were so slow and the shots were not very good.
One reason I bought it so quickly this month is that I got a portrait gig and wanted to use the good camera! It went really well and if it wasn't the wedding month I would be already done editing and processing. :) I love taking portraits and really want to get more bookings!
I hope to take some interesting city shots after the wedding madness dies down and will try to post some here. And maybe I will find some faceless wedding photos to post too! Earlier this summer I said to someone that I will have to really fight the urge to pick up the camera on the day itself...but now I think I want to take some, at least a few when I can. I'm so excited to have our awesome pro photographer capturing everything and everyone, but I don't think I want to miss the opportunity to capture my own details. We'll see how it goes. :)
It's August! The wedding is less than two weeks away!
I continue to love not teaching. Unfortunately I continue to have schoolmares occasionally. This past month has been busy with traveling and wedding plans and also trying to have some fun. :) We did get a second air conditioner, which has made life so much more bearable. Our reorganizing/redecorating scheme is progressing--I want it finished by this weekend. I'm really excited about it--we're working on making our place a little more sophisticated and not so cluttered with crap. (Really, that part is all me--I have a lot of crap. It makes me all anxious when I look around and see how much there is--how in the world am I supposed to eliminate or organize it all? Deep breath, one thing at a time.)
This month will also be very busy with friends, wedding events, and more travel. In theory I should have so much to write about, but a)my brain is pretty much mush and b)the wedding stuff is pretty personal. Oh, and we won't be taking a honeymoon--doing this wedding thing in only five months means there's no money or time to travel. So we figure we'll take one next year (I'm hoping for spring), once we decide on a destination and start budgeting.
Speaking of budget, we're doing the wedding for as little as possible. Photography and food are the biggest portions of the money. Other things have been a little more than we thought or a little less. We'd already eliminated or pared down some of the traditional and expensive elements (video, DJ, fancy flowers, expensive linens, limo). We still hope that the low-key wedding will be pretty and interesting.
Boys and girls, I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to be in summer. I am so relieved and happy to not be teaching! It's already ancient history. (Except for the first-week-of-schoolmare the other day...that was strange.)
It's really effing hot and humid this week, so I'm doing my best with our window fans, but plan to escape soon to the nearest air-conditioned place of business that allows loitering.
Yes, at long last the day has come--the end of the New York City school year! I, for one, often thought it would never arrive. But it has, and wow, am I ever grateful.
It is strange also though, because today is my last day being a teacher.
Yes, I am not going back to my school next year. (Is this really a surprise? I think not.) But additionally, I am not going to any other school next year. I am done with teaching. For real this time.
So today was the last time that I walked out of my very own classroom. It's bittersweet, because there are some kids I will miss, and there are some teacher experiences I will miss, and there are some amazing colleagues I will definitely miss (well, not like I ever had time to talk to them). But I will not miss the behavior nonsense and the lacking administrator support. (Do you know that the principal never once set foot in my room? Except once she had to borrow our broom. But never to see our class, to evaluate, to lend a presence, nothing. Does that tell you a little about our school? How about the fact that the clocks all stopped like two weeks ago and they haven't been fixed? You know the broken windows theory, right?)
Anyway, so this is the end. I lugged the last of my stuff--three very full bags' worth--home this afternoon and now I have to keep reminding myself that it's only Monday, instead of the longest weekend ever, AND THAT I DON'T HAVE TO GET UP EARLY AND GO TO SCHOOL TOMORROW!!!
All of this ending business will take time to sink in, but right now I'm most grateful for the chance to SLEEP. Man, this year has been exhausting!
Also, as it is currently five thousand degrees in my apartment (though only two thousand in front of the window fan), I am off to find some air-conditioning in which to hang out for a bit. I will be posting more soon. (Since there's all this extra time now, since I'm not a teacher anymore! Whee!)
I am excited about one of my lessons today, and I wanted to share it and record it for posterity.
So we're studying one of the ancient civilizations right now; we just started a week or two ago on this unit. I showed one overview powerpoint, and then I MADE another one (it took like three hours! I was very proud of myself, even though it was just cutting and pasting, although I did also go find and insert pictures for each slide) about daily life there.
I wanted to cover gods/religion this week, but I didn't know what to do. My colleague originally offered to find something, but the day approached with nothing (it's been a busy/fast week, so not a surprise). So yesterday I tried to think something up.
I knew I didn't want to do any more powerpoints. I also knew I didn't want to make a giant packet (finding, copying, the kids quickly losing...) of all the gods. That wouldn't help them learn much.
In looking around the internets, I found a site with pictures of each god and short description of his/her appearance and domain. So I came up with a really cool plan!
First, I printed out a page for a bunch of the gods. Then I copied the image of each god into a separate document all together, like a photo album. Last I made a notes page for the kids to create a chart listing each god, appearance, and domain.
The cool part is that I took the gods pages and put them up all over the room--on the back of the door, hanging off a chair, in a book display shelf, on a locker, on the side of a cabinet, etc. I gave the kids their chart sheets and photo albums, and they did kind of an easter egg hunt--moving around the room at their own pace, matching pictures and then jotting down details.
And friends, it worked perfectly! Everyone was on task, the room was quiet, and at the end when I asked some basic questions, lots of hands went up--they learned!
I loved it, and I even heard a kid say, "This is fun!"
There are a lot of days in a school year, and there are five-ish different lessons I have to teach in each of those days. In the last six years, there have been only a handful of lessons that I'm really proud of (as in, most things are fine, or okay, but some are Special, and Awesome) for creativity, incorporating the vaulted Multiple Intelligences and resulting in real learning. Today's goes on that list!
Last week was a trying one for me. For a couple nights I barely slept, so the last two days I was a complete zombie.
Also, one of my already-difficult parents totally crossed the line.
But! There are only four weeks left of school, and none of them is a full one. Because of trips and other events, I'll only be teaching two or three days of each week! We've got some projects to work on in class as well, so I'm hoping the days go quickly.
Even better, I have a bike! I bought it a couple weeks ago and this week had it fixed up. Last night I went for a ride for an hour and LOVED it. I can't wait to explore more of the city on two wheels!
it's been more than five weeks since i updated for real, and we only have five weeks left of school!!! i know we're all at the countdown stage by now, right? :)
i caught senioritis pretty early on and have been mentally half checked out for at least two weeks. however, june promises to be pretty cool (not literally of course; enter the kids' nonstop whining about no air conditioning here) with lots of field trips! I've got two booked and am working on a third, plus we'll do a field day. that's four in one month! sweet!
i got a nasty cold two weeks ago and actually took TWO days off from school. this has never happened. usually i get sick, hack and cough and feel miserable at school for a few days, finally take a day, and go back feeling just as gross. please note, however, that the two days were not in a row. which was stupid because i was at school for two full days (and one was a trip!) with barely a voice.
but i'm much better now. :) especially knowing that there are five weeks left!
I saw this on AprilMay and it cracked me up. Because it's funny and so utterly ridiculous, just like the education system.
No Child Left Behind - Football Version
1. All teams must make the state playoffs and all MUST win the championship. If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable. If after two years they have not won the championship their footballs and equipment will be taken away UNTIL they do win the championship.
2. All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at the same time even if they do not have the same conditions or opportunities to practice on their own. NO exceptions will be made for lack of interest in football, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities of themselves or of their parents.
ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL!
3. Talented players will be asked to work out on their own, without instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren’t interested in football, have limited athletic ability or whose parents don’t like football.
4. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in the 4th, 8th, and 11th game. It will create a New Age of Sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent and all teams will reach the same minimum goals.
If no child gets ahead, then no child gets left behind.
You know, I've updated so many times in my head that sometimes I forget I'm neglecting the real blog. Oh well.
The BFG continues to ask lots of out-of-left-field questions. Things like:
in the middle of math, "You're a nice teacher. That's why you have a cat."
on the way to dismissal, "Can I have one of your earrings? Please, just one?"
on the stairs, "Miss is a model! Her name is Miss Trixie!"
during a transition, leaning his head on my shoulder, "Can I be your best man?"
*
Upbeat Girl asked if she could have my diamond ring, which sparked finally the discussion of if I'm married or engaged and what the difference is, and of course questions about if they can see my fiance. I said maybe I'd bring in a picture.
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Last week was a really long, late week. No fun. I am ready for summer now.
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However, there were some fun things. One was that I shared the book list with the kids. Once we started talking about it, me telling them what was on the list and asking who had read what, and them asking if certain books were on the list. They were unimpressed with Charlotte's Web being number one, and thought Stuart Little should be up there instead. Kids started pawing through the book bins and looking at the list on their own. It was really cool to see them so excited! And about books!
I made a little adjustment after we came back from spring break. In the afternoon, after our break, I have them read silently. I keep the lights off sometimes too. And though there are always a couple kids who have a hard time settling down, most of them don't; they crack open their books right away. And by god, it gets QUIET. Do you know how much I love quiet? I really do. Also, do you know how much I love to see a class of kids reading on their own? A whole lot. As an extra bonus, it gives me a few minutes to chill out, maybe mark papers, or get things in order for next period.
I actually hate to stop them. Once the Dreaded Tests are out of the way (so soon!) I hope to wiggle more reading time for them during the day.
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I keep finding books that I want to share with my kids but have despaired at how, even with a long fucking day, there is no time for that kind of read aloud. I want my kids to read the Phantom Tollbooth, and a week ago I started reading another book aloud to them, called No Talking by Andrew Clements. I do just one chapter, at the end of the day if they've packed up quickly enough so that we still get to dismissal on time. They are loving it! The story intrigues them and they usually want me to keep reading. Hurrah!
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It was Charlie Chaplin's birthday the other day, and since of course none of my kids knew who he was, I decided to show them a clip. I wasn't sure if they would like it, since of course all his work is black and white and wordless.
But. They. Loved. It. They laughed out loud the whole time. They were delighted. They begged for more! How awesome is that?
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Right now I would like to beg for more weekend. Can anyone help with that? :)
According to a poll done by Fuse #8, a blog on the School Library Journal. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379/post/1820053782.html
Teachers and booklovers, you will love this!
x#100 The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (1967)
x#99 The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks, illustrated by Brock Cole (1980)
#98 Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston (1954)
#97 The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo (2006)
#96 The Witches by Roald Dahl (1983)
#95 Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren (1950)
#94 Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (1930)
x#93 Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink (1935)
x#92 Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (1997)
#91 Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar (1978)
x#90 Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (1985)
x#89 Ramona and her Father by Beverly Cleary (1977)
#88 The High King by Lloyd Alexander (1968)
#87 The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg (1996)
x#86 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (1999)
#85 On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1937)
#84 The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge (1946)
#83 The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (1997)
#82 The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (1964)
#81 Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (2009)
#80 The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2008)
#79 All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor (1951)
#78 Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (1943)
x#77 The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (2003)
#76 Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse (1997)
#75 Love That Dog by Sharon Creech (2001)
#74 The Borrowers by Mary Norton (1953)
x#73 My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George (1959)
#72 My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett (1948)
#71 A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (1999)
#70 Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace (1940)
x#69 The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (2007)
x#68 Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (1994)
#67 Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville (1991)
#66 Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary (1950)
#65 Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild (1936)
#64 A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck (1998)
#63 Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright (1957)
x#62 The Secret of the Old Clock (The Nancy Drew mysteries) by Caroline Keene (1959)
x#61 Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (2000)
x#60 The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi (1990)
#59 Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (2003)
#58 The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken (1962)
x#57 Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary (1981)
x#56 Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (1989)
#55 The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson (1978)
x#54 The BFG by Roald Dahl (1982)
#53 Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (1908)
#52 The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (2007)
#51 The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright (1941)
#50 Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell (1960)
#49 Frindle by Andrew Clements (1996)
#48 The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall (2005)
#47 Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (1999)
#46 Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls (1961)
x#45 The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (1995)
#44 Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume (1972)
x#43 Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary (1968)
#42 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1935)
x#41 The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (1958)
#40 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (1900)
#39 When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (2009)
x#38 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (2003)
#37 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor (1976)
x#36 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (1970)
x#35 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (2000)
x#34 The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis (1995)
#33 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (1961)
#32 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien (1971)
x#31 Half Magic by Edward Eager (1954)
#30 Winnie-the Pooh by A.A. Milne (1926)
#29 The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper (1973)
#28 A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett (1905)
#27 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)/Alice Through the Looking Glass (1872) by Lewis Carroll
x#26 Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (1989)
#25 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868 & 1869)
x#24 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (2007)
#23 Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1932)
#22 The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo (2003)
#21 Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (2005)
x#20 Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (1975)
#19 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (1964)
x#18 Matilda by Roald Dahl (1988)
#17 Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (1990)
x#16 Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (1964)
x#15 Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (2000)
x#14 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (1999)
x#13 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (1977)
#12 The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien (1938)
x#11 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (1978)
x#10 The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (1961)
x#9 Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (1908)
x#8 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1911)
x#7 The Giver by Lois Lowry (1993)
x#6 Holes by Louis Sachar (1998)
x#5 From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg (1967)
#4 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (1950)
x#3 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (1997)
x#2 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle (1962)
#1 Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (1952)
I've only read forty-two. But I just started another one tonight!
I plan to share this list with my students and their parents, and with my colleagues too!
Our Costa Rican adventure was filled with all kinds of interesting places and things. First exploring forest around the volcano, a river filled with creatures, then the cloudforest from below and ziplining above, and finally, the Pacific coast, on a quiet beach. Perfect.
On this trip, I tried not to be too obsessed with photos. I deliberately didn't take my camera with me to every single outing (thus there are no pictures of my first tapas meal, which was interesting and tasty, especially the desserts! [yes, plural]). I brought one of the cameras on the zipline adventure, and took a few pictures and videos, but mostly focused on enjoying the experience as I experienced it. This means that I don't have tons of photos that I'm really proud of, but that I had a good time.
That said, there was one detail that kept catching my eye for repeated photographs...
An engagement ring!! The BF proposed on our first night, so we got to enjoy it ourselves for a week before telling family, friends, and of course, the internet. :) We are happy and excited for the next step of our relationship. It has been four years now, so we're definitely ready. :)
Seen on Fusenews from School Library Journal: After the impressive success of last year's Book Fair for Boys that saw over 600 books sent to the LA County Detention Center, GLW has teamed up with the Readergirlz, YALSA and If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything, (A national reading club for Native American children) for another book fair event to get books to students enrolled at Ojo Encino Day School and Alchesay High School." Wishlists for these schools are up at Powell's (excellent choice). Here are the further instructions, if you'd care to buy something for the kids: First, hit the Powells site and on the upper right click on "wish list". From there you will be prompted for the email address of the list owner. Type in "guyslitwire@gmail.com". You will then be given the choice to select either Ojo Encino or Alchesay. Once you are looking at the lists (which contain hundreds of titles) you can make your selection of a new, used, or sale copy. After your done and ready to make your purchase you will be asked to confirm that you are buying books for a certain wishlist. Checking those boxes will keep the lists up to date and prevent books from appearing as unsold even after they were purchased. Now all you have to do is enter the mailing addresses, and here they are:
Mary Nickless Ojo Encino Day School Librarian HCR 79 Box 7 Cuba, NM 87013 (505) 731-2333
Marilyn Hill Alchesay High School 200 Falcon Way Whiteriver, AZ 85941 928-338-4848
I donated a couple books to the last effort and as soon as I saw this, I hopped right over and bought one book for each school. Hope you can help out!
Even if you can't afford to donate right now, if you love books, reading, kids, reading to kids, kids' books, and you have a few hours to spare, I suggest you pore over this list of 100 Best Children's Novels from the same site. What a treat to find loving descriptions of books I'd forgotten about, and intriguing reviews of books I've never read. I can't wait to hit up the library!
Hey look, I'm not dead! I've just been enjoying ice cream in the park for the last month. Haha, I wish.
Actually, things have been busy but okay. Coming back after midwinter break, I was not excited. However, strangely, my class has settled down a bit. There are still plenty of moments of madness, but overall, things are smoother and a little easier. I'm still behind on lesson planning, but I'm not feeling as stressed while I'm at school. I'm even, finally, sleeping a little better.
The warmer weather and more daylight this week have made me feel so much better, too. More hopeful even.
We have one more week of school until spring break! And then there are only three months of school left. That really doesn't seem so bad.
My photo class is ending this week, and I think I might sign up for another one. It's really fun to be out during the week doing something completely non-school and non-teacher related. The price is very affordable too. (Check it out: Educational Alliance)
Oh friends, it's finally here! I thought the month between Christmas break and midwinter break wouldn't be too slow and awful. I told myself I wouldn't take any days off, and I succeeded in that. There was a pretty rough stretch for a bit, though, with that bunch of teachers leaving.
Loud Leo left our class a few weeks ago. A new boy came to the class, but has apparently left again. Buster, whom I have not yet mentioned, has remained a serious detriment to the class's focus and my patience (or lack thereof). Buster refuses to control himself most of the time. It's 'just' his mouth, but that means that when the rest of the class is quiet, he makes noise and distracts them and then never shuts up. And then other boys follow his lead and make more noise. GAH. He's really started to haunt me.
As for the rest of the kids, some are still okay and some are still difficult. Fidgety Frank continues to play with anything he finds (actual toys, paper, eraser bits, etc) and do almost no work. BFG falls asleep half the afternoons. Upbeat Girl still tells me I'm beautiful.
We had a party on Friday, that I'm not totally certain they deserved, but lord knows it had to be better than trying to force them to learn on the Friday afternoon before a week off. Our last lesson of the day was writing Valentine acrostics. About half of kids basically did nothing, but the rest did a poem, and a few of them turned out pretty well actually.
Anyway....we're here! Vacation! A whole week off! My favorite part is always the not waking up before dawn. Also the not being at school for so many hours. I didn't bring anything home with me, but I will go in for a few hours next week to work on unit planning. I've been behind for so long but too exhausted to do anything about it. I hope to remedy that, at least a little for now. Also, happy Valentine's Day today! The boy and I had a wonderful day together, out and about.
I keep thinking of tidbits to post on here, but they're none of them very happy at all. This job has me focused on the fatigue, neverending admin tasks, and the endless planning in which I'm drowning. I'm not a very happy person at this job, and this makes for either an unhappy and repetitive blog, or an empty one.
But I remembered that I have been collecting Goofball anecdotes. He's been a bit more annoying and talkative lately, but he still is so cute (in a nicely immature way [as opposed to an annoyingly immature way]) and he catches me off guard with unexpected sweetness.
It was the afternoon, and everyone was leaving for Christmas break. Out of nowhere, he goes, "Did anyone tell you you're a nice teacher?" I said no. "Well, I'm telling you." "What if I'm not a nice teacher?" "You still are, cause you teach." "But what if I teach but in a not-so-nice way?" "Doesn't matter, you teach kids, so you're a nice teacher."
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We have a schoolwide token-type system. I've assigned two students to hand them out, because I already have like four systems I can't remember. One morning during morning meeting, he handed one to me. He said, "here, for you, for teaching."
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We were walking down the stairs and he asked me, "Do you run the tracks?" Me: "No, I don't. Why, do you think I need to? Are you saying I'm fat???" "No, you're skinny, that's why I thought you did." Then another kid piped in that goofball said I walked too fast for my age. I asked what that meant and a third goes, "He means you're really old and creaky." Then I grabbed ears all around.
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Have I mentioned the BFG? I have a Big (mostly) Friendly Giant in my class. This week, after learning in another class about the lunar new year, he came up to me and asked what year I was born. I said something about not telling him that. He wanted to know what animal year I am. "Chicken?" he said. "Dog?" with a smirk. I narrowed my eyes and told him he was being inappropriate.
A few minutes later, he and another couple students were chatting. One of them called over to me, "Did they have cheerleading in your school?" I said yes. "Were you a cheerleader?" BFG goes, smirking again, "She couldn't make it." "Hey!" I snapped.
Then another one goes, "Are you married?" I was actually about to answer this for once, when BFG pipes up, "That's too personal! You can't ask her that!"
I goggled at him. "You ask me that question like once a week!"
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I was doing some kind of lesson about something or other. Who knows, really. A kid randomly called out, asking how old I am. I said, "Old enough." Student 1: 29! Student 2: 34! Student 1: She's not that old!
There are definitely some things I could actually write about, but I'm too tired for that. Instead, I will share updates on my year goals. They've been
First, the positives: -I have successfully posted here once a week. I think. -I posted a couple times on my photo blog already this month. -I have worked out at least once for four weeks of the five (counting this morning for this week). -I have been making small granny squares to eventually make a blanket (?). So far I've got sixteen. -I've been keeping my eye out and sending emails about photo opportunities. -I opened a new savings account specifically for the new camera. (Since a new lens costs about half as much as the D300, I figured it would make more sense to just save for the camera.) -I signed up for a photography class! It starts this week!
Not so positive: -I have not been so great about doing my dishes. It's been about half and half, maybe, that I clear everything away. -I haven't written a letter yet. There are a couple I have in mind to write, but of course I have been too lazy thus far. I still have a week or so for that 'deadline.' Also, I owe some family some presents, that I have completely not gotten or even thought about. Very bad job. -No progress on the home decor. -I need to work on my finance stuff and roll over previous retirement accounts. I've put that off for months already.
I'm glad that I recorded these goals. I have them in a little notebook so that I can jot down notes and thoughts and updates. I find they're a lot more real this way and I want to be more successful seeing them written down. Of course, it hasn't even been a month yet, so it's all still pretty fresh. The test will come farther down the road to see if I'm still thinking about them.
I read Mrs Mimi's great take-down of this opinion piece by a substitute teacher. (Link: The Replacements) Mimi made some great points about the piece, and I wanted to add a few of my own.
Here is some background info: This is my 6th year teaching. (Holy cow!) I've taught at three different schools. The first two weeks of my first year were spent subbing (one in a kindergarten classroom as an assistant, and one in a very tough middle school that would go through four principals that year). I subbed for three months last spring at a few charter schools. So at this point, I've seen enough to know both sides of the story fairly well (and also to know that, as rough a time as I've had, things could be so.much.worse than I've ever had it).
This woman subbed once a week for two years. This does not make her a reliable expert to me. If she had ever been a classroom teacher, she wouldn't be saying most of this. Most of her 'facts' and all of her suggestions show little to no research on her part. Also, her tone is just too far out there.
She says that teachers are out all the time, and that while sometimes it's 'legitimate' (ie, sick), she implies that many teachers are just selfish and lazy and are absent all the time (they take a mental health day or go to an event (which, I agree, is weird and probably inappropriate)). Obviously she hasn't spent enough time in a classroom to know that teaching has to be one of the hardest jobs out there. Surely she has met teachers who cough and hack for days on end because even if you do bring yourself to take one day off, you can't take more than that, even if you need to. (I have had to cough, hack and spit over the garbage can in the middle of teaching, because I was still sick. The kids looked concerned and asked if I was okay. "Not really," I replied. But what else am I gonna do?)
So a mental health day here and again? Any teacher who's been a teacher for more than a few months knows that mental health is a real thing and it's a real thing that can bring you down down down. The teachers I know don't take it lightly and don't take advantage. But sometimes, yes, for god's sake, we need a day off. If you think subbing is so, so hard, because no one told you what to do, try that for an entire year, every single day, in the same room with the same kids! You will need an occasional day off too!
As a middle school teacher, I often had to cover another class during a prep. Usually it was older kids, ie, devils. As a sub, I almost never had a lesson plan left for me.
If a teacher wakes up sick one morning, how is he or she supposed to magically send a substitute plan to the school? Ain't gonna happen. Are teachers required to have generic sub plans submitted to the office? Of course. Does everyone do that? Who knows. Do the plans make it to the classroom on the occasion that a sub requires it? Probably not.
Teachers know that a sub in their room means total chaos and destruction will most likely ensue. One day I returned from being out and things (charts and bulletin boards attached by nails) had been TORN OFF the walls.
Naturally, if you know ahead of time that you're going to be out, you want to leave something for the sub (because you can sympathize about the panic when faced with a group of unfamiliar, rowdy students with nothing to do, and because you want to minimize the damage to your classroom). You can't do anything new, because the kids probably won't get it and you don't want to trust a stranger to teach it how you want it to be taught. You basically have to find some busy work for the kids. Any sub worth their salt knows this and wants this. The sub can't really do much other than say, "I'll have to tell your teacher that you x/y/z." But it's better to have something concrete to give That Kid to do than nothing at all.
Are there bad teachers who don't give a shit about anything and never leave anything at all for the sub or the class to do? GOD, YES.
So guess what? I always brought a bunch of stuff with me. I wanted to be prepared, just in case! I have an assortment of games, activities, generic lessons (often grammar related, since I taught english for so long) to be ready with. I'm like a scout--always prepared! Can you imagine the alternative?
It sounds like she's had tough times with a few plans from a few teachers. And that sucks. But, and this might be my martyr complex talking, be grateful for anything left for you at all, for crying out loud! Also, there is always a good student somewhere who can tell you about those mysterious routines teachers might mention.
Point/counterpoint for her so-called fixes: "School administrators should provide substitutes with basic training in classroom management, teaching, contacting the office and dealing with medical emergencies." YES. Of course. That would be the professional thing to do. Realistically though, if you're going to a different school each day, and showing up 10-30 minutes before school begins, there's not a lot of time for this, for the sub or for admins.
"They should check with their subs during the school day." This sounds like common sense, doesn't it? It never happened to me. Nor did I really expect it. Administrators, good ones and bad ones, are freaking BUSY PEOPLE. They have demands coming in from all sides all day long. There's no time to talk to a sub about how she's feeling that day. Especially if, like in so many big nyc schools, there are anywhere from two to eight subs in the building at once. The sub has the unfortunate duty of taking on a difficult task with little to no thanks or feedback. Come on, you have to know that going in!
"And they should form district-wide advisory committees (comprising the superintendent, principals, teachers and substitutes) to find solutions to problems related to substitutes." That sounds awfully complicated, vague and, again, unrealistic. There are way too many big problems that schools/districts need to worry about. Subs should be certified and trained, sure. But I don't think that they can do much more than that. Subbing can really suck, and teachers have to be absent sometimes. End of story, really.
"To minimize the need for substitutes, principals should require that teachers call them personally when they’re ill — calling in to a machine increases absences." Meh, I don't know about that. Teachers feel guilty about taking a day off; they're thinking about their students and their classroom. That doesn't change if they're talking to a machine.
"They should keep track of all teacher absences." Um, they do that already. Where are you that they don't? Why on earth would you think otherwise?
"And they should hold in-service training sessions for teachers on weekends or during the summer, rather than on school days, or else conduct them in the classroom with the students." No Effing Way. Are you on glue? NO.
"Principals should also try to arrange for other teachers to use their prep time to fill in for absent colleagues. British secondary schools do this — and pay teachers a stipend for the extra work." Again, they already do this in secondary schools. It sucks, but those teachers deal with it. Because of course teachers of adolescents need to have even more stress during the day, dealing with unruly, unfamiliar adolescents. But it happens, and teachers have to suck it up and do it. Who is this woman claiming all these outlandish things as suggestions?
To reiterate: I've been Just a Sub. It's freaking hard. Ignored, left high and dry to suffer through a day. Some students are pleasant and polite, but many are not. And that's to their 'regular' teachers, so amplify that times a million for a strange substitute that they'll see for less than a single day. That's a hazard of the profession. (At least in this town.) Some subs work really hard to manage their temporary charges, and teachers admire them and are grateful to have them cover their classes. Some subs don't work very hard. Some subs do try hard, but the kids can make things really difficult.
I agree, there are a lot of things that need to be fixed about education, teaching, teachers, curriculum, discipline, management, and schools. Substitutes are a necessary thing, and I really empathize with the people doing it, but it's nowhere near even the first half of all the trouble facing schools nowadays. This lady needs to get over herself.
Last week was really weird. I was sort of in the past and in the present at the same time. I was remembering the awfulness of being in that job, and the shock and fear at losing it.
And then congratulating? myself on not getting fired from this job. Thinking about how much better off I was out of that other job. How I should have quit right away, that the crying and no sleeping was never worth it. Thinking that I don't cry at this job, but I still can't sleep. Wondering how far I'll make it through the year. I'm pretty sure I'm not at risk of firing (bad pr, you see), but do I really want to make it all the way? How much longer can I go without sleeping well? How can I last another five months when just about every day I am exhausted and out of patience?
I got home that night last week and there was a package for me. I hadn't ordered anything, so I was very curious what on earth it could be. Turns out, it was an art book that has one of my photos in it! That certainly would not have happened last January, and it certainly couldn't have happened without what did happen last January.
Thank you for the insightful comments! Nancy, you are spot on about the modeling piece. That's always been one of my weak points; I tend to skip over that. So thank you for the reminder about "I do, we do, you do"!
I read this great book over the break, called "Schooled." It's a novel about a starry-eyed new teacher who enters the world of Manhattan private school. It probably would have found it funnier if I didn't find it all-too-familiar and depressing. It's yet another book about teaching where the main character finds acceptance and thus leaves teaching.
Anyway, the character was really into creating unique and fun activities and lessons, and it was another eye-opener for all the good teaching that I haven't been doing, or ever done. And then I ended up watching a couple pieces of the Dr Oz show. In at least one segment per show, he chooses a seat at random, and that person is the Assistant, and gets to come up and do some kind of hands-on thing (not anything terribly complicated even) about the topic.
These two things were quite an inspiration. It kind of made me feel down about all ways I haven't been involving students, but then I just figured I would use those ideas. Hence the small-group activities and also a hands-on social studies/art/science project. On Thursday, because Wednesday's test scores were mostly bombs, I had them do...center work, I guess. I rewrote each problem on an index card and put the problems of the same skill at each table. I put them into level groups, but I had them rotate individually. It was definitely somewhat noisy and chaotic, but just about everyone was on task, and for the most part, they were getting the problems correct! Plus they didn't realize that they were basically redoing the test from the day before. They also got to talk and help each other with the skills they had trouble with. At the end of the session, once they were back in their seats, I asked them to raise their hands if they understood more about the skills. Just about all the hands went up. Then I asked them to raise their hands if they were going to ace a new test the next. Up went the hands; some kids raised both!
The scores from Friday's retest were definitely better. Two got a hundred, two got in the nineties. One kid went from an 18 to a 75. A couple kids went from a single digit to a slightly larger double digit (like 3 to 11, or 8 to 14), which is still bad but hey, it still counts as improvement.
I also finally did two days of small groups stations for reading. They had to complete the tasks for the reading curriculum to be ready for the weekly test. That was harder and there was more off-task talking and goofing around, and most of the groups didn't finish the tasks. (I assigned three simple tasks for each station to be sure that no one would work too quickly, but it backfired a bit in that a couple of the tasks took the kids way too long.)
We'll see how much I can keep up the interactive stuff. Part of me feels that I can't be a good teacher without it, but then I remember that the small group stuff isn't actually instruction; it has to come after direct teaching.
1. Sleep. 2. Crochet. 3. Read (a new YA series!). 4. Play new Katamari game. 5. Have brunch with friends I haven't seen for a month. 6. Watch movies. 7. Sleep. 8. Finish the two, er three blog posts I've started.
Did I mention how obsessed I have been with crocheting? I did a lot of crochet over the break. It was lovely: mindless hours looping along, seeing something grow and take shape.
If I had spent even half those hours planning for school, I would have all month planned to the minute. Alas.
I did make sure to spend some time doing a rough plan of the week, and specifics for Monday. I came up with a cool writing activity about making goals. I was all excited about it. I made a form page for the kids to do their 'final' goal setting, so it would be all uniform and clean, and then I would put them up for display. (Because one of the reasons I'm a bad teacher is I don't have a lot of student work displayed.) I typed out what I wanted to say and everything.
When I started the writing period with the class on Monday, it seemed to be okay. I talked about goals and how being vague isn't helpful. I came up with a hypothetical vague goal and had volunteers help make it more specific and measurable. (Hello, can you tell I've internalized a bit of the charter school culture? :D) They seemed to get that. But then when I gave them time to come up with a list of their own, it just didn't work. Half the kids weren't doing anything at all, and the other half were half-heartedly doodling things like, "Do better." A couple times I stopped them to give more examples, from my own list and from a couple hard-working student volunteers. But still, not much happening.
I was really disappointed. I told them that, too. I had to have them do the official page as homework since they weren't getting it together to do it in class.
And then of course, the homework was also half-assed.
I was supposed to finish a chapter of math before going on break. Actually, I originally scheduled myself to finish it in the beginning of December. Please tell me, other elementary teachers, that I'm not the only one eight years behind the curriculum pacing guide!
We pretty much finished the skills before break, but there wasn't time to take the test. Obviously I won't give a test right after a long break, but I didn't want to just teach it all over again. So I planned a group activity.
I gave each group a skill to review and reteach. They went back to the book and made a poster with notes and instructions and problems to work. I was worried that it would be chaotic and only the three good kids would do any work and everyone would still fail.
However! The group work went really well! The groups busily got to work! Several of them worked together on what to write, or rotated writing. A few were spacing out, but nearly all the class was working! A miracle!
Today, the groups presented their skill to the class. And lo, it was good! The class was eerily quiet. Most of them diligently took notes and completed the practice problems. (As the minutes wore on, a few more students would get lost to the world of distraction.) But they were paying attention! Test is tomorrow. I've yet to be satisfied with test grades this year; here's hoping these aren't miserable.
Starting a group project for social studies. Today I split them into groups, gave them a basic group info sheet, and let them go. There were some raised voices, but there was also voting, and "who wants to do this?" and "which one do you want to do?" and some actual decisions made.
Glory be, hallelujah, I don't have only bad moments this week. Lord knows I need a little encouragement from feeling like the worst teacher ever. Apparently the answer is for me to not actually teach them. Harrumph.
I've never been one for Making New Year's Resolutions. For one, I don't have any vices that I need to quit, and for two, I'm not the type who wants to make sweeping changes, because inevitably it won't work.
Last year, I was asked to come up with three resolutions for a school thing. I came up with: take a photography class; travel to a new country; and knit something new (like a new garment that I hadn't tried before). Of course, two of those require money, and since I spent more than half the year either unemployed or underemployed, they didn't happen. As for the knitting thing, I was lazy. I'm one of the crafty-in-spurts types, so whatever.
One year in high school, I made myself a list of goals for the gymnastics season. After each meet, I would check off what I accomplished. By the end of the season, I had accomplished almost all of the goals! I felt that I had worked hard and focused, and I was proud.
So I am in favor of goals.
Then, last week, I ended up trolling some amazing photography blogs, and I was inspired but also bummed that I don't have that much photography work. One of them had a list of "100 things in 1001 days." That was really inspiring and interesting to read.
After that crazy shit of this past year, I decided that there are some things I want to work on in 2010. I wrote down a list in a cute little pocket notebook to help me keep notes and thoughts. Here they are!
1. Go to the dentist twice. (I haven't been in three years. So as soon as I get my insurance info, I will make an appointment. )
2. Buy at least one new lens. (I have some money to help from Christmas. I think I will go for the 10-20mm wide angle!)
3. Save up for a D300. (I know. Lots of money. I bought the D80 in December 2008, so I figure two years is a good time to spend with it before upgrading. And maybe closer to the end of the year, the price will go down a teeny bit more. Even used it's a little more than $1,000!)
4. Travel to a new country. (Check! Last week we bought tickets for Costa Rica for spring break!!!!! WOOOOOO!!!! Also, my brand new passport arrived, fresh for another decade of country hopping!)
5. Do a paid photo shoot. (I would love to do some engagement sessions.)
6. Write on blog at least once a week. (There's always so much in my head, but I'm usually so tired and lazy at the end of the day.)
7. Update photo blog at least once a month. (I would love to post the link here, but I'm a fan of Anonymity. Send your email address if you'd like to see my work!)
8. Exercise at least once a week, at home or at the gym. (That's a pretty easy goal. One I've already exceeded for now--I went twice last week and this morning too!)
9. Get a new job. (Not teaching. Yeah.)
10. Attend 3 Meetups (for any group). (I would like to be more social and make more friends. Also this would help improve the work/life balance the right direction.)
11. Shoot a wedding (as first or second shooter). (I want to get better and take more photos!)
12. Take a class (photography, Spanish, etc). (Time is a problem here, with my stupid late hours at school. But I really want to do this.)
13. Visit my Grandma. (Haven't seen her in a few years.)
14. Attend graduations. (Check! Bought tickets home for June! Yay!)
15. Write a real letter at least once a month.
16. Decorate bedroom (frame van Gogh print, new dresser, paint?).
17. Donate clothes/books once per season. (On New Year's Day, I finally donated the FOUR large bags of clothes that have been cluttering my closet and car for the last five months.)
18. Buy a new computer. (I bought this one in the spring of 2006, and the memory is crap. I upgraded it once, but not much compared to today's standards, and I have a second hard drive that's more than half full with tens of thousands of photos and music files. I don't think it's exaggeration to say that I will need a new one.)
19. Knit or crochet a garment. I have been completely obsessed with crochet for the past month. I've made three hats this week. Last night I started a granny square. I want to buy some yarn specifically to make a vest as a start, since it's only two sides.
20. Some kind of financial goal. (I wasn't able to save any money for most of 2009, as I didn't have a real income. I would love to max out my Roth IRA contribution, but $5,000 is a lot in one year. I was thinking about getting my savings account up, with a goal of $10,000. I have about half that now, so it would be a two-year goal at best. I already bumped up my monthly contributions to both savings and IRA. We'll see how the job thing develops.)
21. More freelance photography. (That's not exactly up to me, but I have so enjoyed going out to shoot new things and then seeing my work published in a real newspaper! I will contact the staff there and let them know I'm more available. I can definitely do a shoot every other weekend or so.)
22. Do not leave any dishes out or in the sink; wash everything before going to bed. (I get lazy and feel bad about being a bad roommate; the boy never leaves dishes out.)
I hope to revisit these occasionally and evaluate my progress. It's my hope that making them public will help hold me accountable, so think good thoughts for me. :)
Ms M wrote a fascinating post about it, then Nancy did, and now I'm inspired too!
2000: My junior year at UW. I live in an apartment just off campus, and I make good friends with one of my roommates. I'm double-majoring in Women's Studies and French. In the summer I do a month-long study abroad in Paris. It is amazing and I love wandering the city. In the fall I decide to drop the French major so I can graduate on time. I move home. I begin my senior thesis, on body image and the media. I break up with my college boyfriend.
2001: I graduate from college! I am very proud of myself. I go to Europe for five weeks with assorted family members: Greece, Italy, Paris, Scotland, London. Incredible. I apply for AmeriCorps NCCC (which I had first found in Paris the summer before) but get wait listed. I quit Starbucks for good, after three years part-time. In the fall I receive news that I am accepted into the winter term beginning in January. For the fall, I do temp work and work at a restaurant.
2002: January to November is spent in AmeriCorps NCCC in the Northeast Region. I work in Baltimore, rural New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Connecticut, with brief stints in San Antonio, Gulfport, and Cape Cod. It is the hardest thing I have ever done but also the most worthwhile and life-changing. When I go home at the end of the year, I am lonely and sad without my team. I apply for Teach for America and am rejected.
2003: I do seasonal work at a downtown department store. Then I get a temp job at a mortgage office. It becomes permanent, and I move from being at the front desk to being an assistant. I volunteer regularly. I have a boyfriend and then break up in the summer. Also in the summer my knee suddenly freaked out and I had to do physical therapy and stay off my feet. I gain like ten pounds and am at my heaviest. Finally I start taking walks during my lunch breaks at the office. It quickly becomes the best part of my day and I go every day, rain, shine, or snow.
2004: In January, I travel to Paris for a week, with a couple days in Belgium. It is lovely and charming and I want to travel more and more. I have recently been 'promoted' to funder and it is busy and stressful. One day I start crying on the way to work and within a week have submitted my two weeks' notice. My former team leader sends me a posting for the NYC Teaching Fellows. After a year pushing paper and answering phones and feeling completely worthless, I am desperate to do something for the Greater Good. So I apply for the Fellows as well as for NCCC Team Leader. I go to New York for a week for the interview and to see my friend from college. I decide that I'd rather do AmeriCorps than teach, but never hear back from them. So I accept the teaching fellowship. I move to New York City on June 16, 2004.
The summer is long and lonely and tough. My first year teaching, beginning in the fall, is pretty much a disaster. I have no idea what I'm doing and my management is non existent. I don't care about my grad school classes. I know nobody in the city and am lonely. I turn 25 alone with no celebration. I buy my first digital camera.
2005: Somehow I survive to the end of my first year. It is by far the most difficult thing I have ever done. In the summer I do grad school and prepare for school. I go home to visit and spend a week and a half driving back to New York, visiting former teammates and family on the way. My second year starts off a complete 180 from the first, and I love my classes. My mom comes to visit at Christmas and we travel to Barcelona and Paris.
2006: I go to Prague in February. It is gorgeous and incredible and I adore it. In April, I volunteer in New Orleans for a week. It is hard work, but I enjoy feeling like I'm doing worthwhile work. At the end of March I begin a relationship with a wonderful boy three years younger than me. I move into my own studio apartment, still in Queens. It's cute and just the right size. My second year ends. It remains my favorite year of teaching. In the summer I graduate with a Master's Degree. I decide to stay in NYC and keep teaching. My boyfriend comes with me to visit home. My third year of teaching begins. At Christmas I travel to Amsterdam on my own. It is noisy and smoky, and I feel old and cranky. The Anne Frank House stuns me. I thoroughly enjoy visiting the Hague. A couple more days and Amsterdam grows on me.
2007: In February, the boy and I visit London and Paris. It's his first time out of the country, but he proves to be a worthy travel companion. I vow to stay away from Paris until I visit enough other places. We celebrate our one-year anniversary in Boston. I upgrade my camera from a crappy point and shoot to a more sophisticated point and shoot. In the summer, I spend three weeks in Australia. I completely fall in love with the entire country and everyone in it. My fourth year of teaching begins.
2008: I decide to start looking for a new job. I am bored and restless after teaching the same thing for four years in a row. I want something new, different, and I want to challenge myself to become a better educator. So I start applying at charter schools in February. (I have No Idea what I'm getting myself into.) In April I visit a KIPP school in Austin. I love the city and the school, but I am rejected. I look for jobs the rest of the school year. My boyfriend surprises me with my first DSLR. We visit Maine for a few days in August, and it is just gorgeous. We move in together, in Brooklyn. I start working at My First Charter School. It kicks my ass but good. I feel like I've reverted to my first year again. I cry most days at school or at home, and I cannot sleep. I am at school for twelve hours and never feel caught up. (Oh, how I laugh at that self now. I only had one lesson to prepare each day! Now I'm supposed to do FIVE!) In December I upgrade to a better DSLR. At Christmas, I travel to Guatemala. It is amazing; I am blown away; I do not want to come back home to the bleary winter and my stupid job. On New Year's Eve with friends, I cry when talking about it.
2009: I am fired in the first week back from break. Thank god. I do some photography work and sub in charter schools. The boyfriend and I become official Partners and later move into a new, fantastic apartment. I accept an elementary teaching job. It kicks my ass also, but I do not cry at home or at school. I like the age I'm teaching and I really like some of my students. However, I am frustrated with the workload and that I can't live up to the standard I'd like, and really start to feel that it's not for me. I turn 30! In December I realize anew that teaching is not for me and I need to figure out what to do with my life.
so...
I became an independent adult in this decade and then defined who I am: I'm a teacher in New York City. I don't want to be either of those things anymore, so by the time I'm 40 (gah!) in 2020, I want to be something else somewhere else. By then hope to have visited even more places around the globe, continued to work with photography, and of course to still be in this great relationship.
I also made my first pair of fingerless mitts, or wristers as this pattern dubbed them:
This is all just in the last couple weeks! I'm halfway through another project right now, and now I'm starting to think ahead to the holidays, for simple and useful things I could give family.
