187 Days of Teaching

The classroom adventures of a high school social studies teacher. Always happy to chat about this extraordinary profession!

[187days]

Day One Hundred Eighty-Six

The school year is over.

We had our last teacher workshop day today. There was a faculty meeting at 9:00. The Principal had each department head say a few words about our work this year, then he previewed some things for the fall (not too much, though- he knows it's not the time to get too into that), thanked everyone, and that was that.

Afterwards, we had time to wrap up whatever we needed to wrap up: finalizing grades, making sure our classrooms were squared away, etc, etc... My department- and some of the English teachers, too- were so awesome helping me to clean out the rooms our new teachers will be going to go into next year.

I had to speak to The Principal about the new teachers- I wanted to check when they'll be on the school board's agenda for approval- so I went to his office and promptly told him I'd have a daily heart attack if I had to be in there everyday. He's got so many tabs on his computer, so many papers on his desk. It's not disorganized, and it's all necessary stuff, but still. No thank you.

I said it was making me very happy with my decision to never become an admin.

The Principal just rolled his eyes at me.

And then he made sure that the district office had everything they needed from us to get the new teachers' names on the board's agenda, which was the last major thing I had to do. I straightened up my office and the staff room, ate lunch with Mrs. R and Mrs. D, helped Mrs. R pack away her things, and signed off on my department's check out sheets.

Then I wished my Cacophonous friends a happy summer, and we all headed home. It's kind of funny how school years, which are so loud and fast-paced, end so quietly, but it's also nice. Like... deep breath, and into summer.

[187days]

Day One Hundred Eighty-Five

Today was the last day of the year for our students. I spent a solid thirty minutes of it in the nurse's office.

I have a severe allergy to horses, and one of my ninth graders wore her riding boots to class. She knows she's not supposed to- all students/their families know- but she thought it'd be okay because they'd been washed. She had to leave the room and I had to take Benadryl and sit with The Nurse (who had epi handy) until we were sure I wasn't going to do an impression of a pufferfish.

So that was eventful!

Before that, though, it was a pretty chill day. Students revised their multigenre projects, did my end of the year survey, signed my yearbook, wrote notes for next year's freshmen. Then I showed a video recap of the year, set to music, and captioned with the lessons I hoped they'd learned.

Is it a bummer their last day was on a Monday? Yeah. Blame the snow days. Did a bunch just not show up? Also yeah. But it was positive vibes with the ones who were there. And I got two really kind thank you notes from parents, which I appreciated.

It was a good year.

And now? Class dismissed.

[187days]

Day One Hundred Eighty-Four

The end of the school year runs on an atypical schedule to accommodate final exams: two 95-minute with blocks and a ten-minute break between them, lunch, and then dismissal. Teachers can spend the afternoons grading, cleaning their classrooms, etc, etc...

Today was Block 1 and Block 4, which meant I had a pretty easy day. Block 1 is my prep time, Block 4 is APGOV. The GOV kids revised their final projects and filled out a course reflection survey to give me some feedback. I closed by showing Kennedy's "Why Go To the Moon" speech (there's a metaphor there that I thought was good for a closing message). Then, as is my custom, I gave them a letter I'd written to them to express my thoughts on the semester.

Afterwards, I had a leisurely lunch with Mrs. R and Mrs. D, then went back to my desk and graded multi-genre projects. Mostly, they're awesome, and I enjoyed reading students' work. The one bummer: I'd caught a student using AI when I read over rough drafts, so I asked him to revise his work before submitting it to be graded and had to contact home because the revisions weren't done. The parent was understanding, and they're on it, but it's still not a fun conversation to have just before summer break.

Mr. CS had a similar situation with one of his sophomores. He came up to ask me for advice on how to handle it, so I told him how I'd handled mine, which I hope was helpful!

I wrapped up my grading right around 2:30 and headed home. I'll see my freshmen on Monday, Tuesday's a teacher workshop day, and then it's summer.

[187days]

Day One Hundred Eighty-Three

Today was the last full day of classes. It probably would have been wilder if the weather had been nice, but it poured all day long, so the kids weren't really longing to be outside rather than in class.

My Global Studies students had one last content quiz, which went well for pretty much all of them. I think knowing it was their last grade made them prepare well for it. Some of them ended up with the highest quiz grades they've ever scored.

In APGOV, students presented the projects they'd done on their towns- explaining town history, economics, political issues, and their own daily lives. After all of them had presented, I explained the point: everything is related to government and politics. It's not just the stuff they saw on town warrants or debated in the local papers. It's everything in their lives: school, sports, going out and enjoying the natural landscape, going shopping at different places, where they're able to hang out, what they wish they had access to here and don't.

They got the point, and how it connects to everything we've done- to understanding how government works, how political participation works.

So it was a solid day of class.

[187days]

Day One Hundred Eighty-Two

I spent most of my day proofreading work: my Global Studies students' multigenre projects, my APGOV students' final projects on their towns, and even some of Mr. SF's students' final projects. It's all really cool, creative work, and I'm just giving them feedback on how to make it even better.

I did have to talk one student down because she'd misunderstood the data on the chart she'd created as part of her project. I told her it was still good data, and that she just had to alter how she was explaining it so she would be accurate, but she was not hearing me. She kept wanting to scrap it all- as if I'd said it was completely wrong- and I kept telling her no. That happens sometimes when kids get anxious and deadlines are looming; they can't process what they're actually being told. So I asked her to take her hands off her work, take a breath, and look at me, and then I slowly explained what she had to do, step by step. That did the trick.

After school, Ms. A, Mr. CS, and I spent a few minutes bemoaning the fact that today would have been our last day if we hadn't had snow days this winter, but, really, the day was fine and the next three will be, as well. We will all get through it!

[187days]

Day One Hundred Eighty-One

I had an absolutely awful headache all day today. But I rallied!

I spent most of my prep time in an IEP meeting and the rest of it doing reference checks for one of our new hires. I didn't have any students scheduled to come see me during flex time- on purpose, in case that aforementioned IEP meeting ran long- so I also had time to straighten up my room and get squared away for the day.

I did a lot of proofreading in all three sections of Global Studies because students are getting close to completing their multigenre projects. Their work is really cool, and I enjoyed looking it over even though the screen time definitely wasn't making my headache better.

I snapped once at my GOV class because some of the boys were playing those high-pitched whistle sounds on their chromebooks to annoy their classmates, and that actually did hurt my ears and my head- and I'm sure I wasn't the only one. They stopped after I pointed out that shouldn't even have to tell students their age not to do something that.

Sigh.

After that everything was fine. They worked on their final projects, I helped as needed. I left a smidge early- Mr. O covered for me- because I had a doctor's appointment (not for the headache, though that eventually went away, too), so that was my day.

[187days]

Day One Hundred Eighty

It's the last full week of school, and one of my ninth graders dropped the bomb on me that he's moving. Tomorrow. He had the paperwork and everything for me to close out his grades, etc, etc... The timing's awful, so I flagged school counseling to see if anything concerning is going on; I'm pretty sure every other teacher this student and his siblings have did the same thing.

Aside from that, it was a pretty unremarkable day. There was minor chaos because students got drafts of next year's schedules in advisory, and despite being told that these are drafts and there's a very easy process to make changes to them, they freak out. They calm down quickly, but still.

I made my students put their draft schedules away so they wouldn't be a distraction. The ninth graders continued work on multigenre projects, which are coming together nicely for a lot of them. I did speak to a couple about time management because the final project's due at the end of the day Wednesday. They're not in dire trouble if they're behind, but they do need to put in some work outside of class or else they will be in dire trouble. As for my APGOV students, they had a guest- one of the state reps who is running for congress- and I was proud of them for having an engaging conversation this late in the year. I thought it went really well.

[187days]

Bonus Day(s)

The class of 2026 graduated yesterday morning. The weather, which had been awful for several days, was beautiful- sunny, breezy, no humidity- and everyone was able to enjoy the ceremony. Afterwards, I was found by a bunch of my former students and athletes to hug/shake hands/high five and pose for pictures. A lot of them said really kind things about APGOV, or track, or both. That's the kind of thing I really cherish.

I had about three hours after the ceremony to eat lunch, caffeinate, and pack my backpack for Project Graduation. I hadn't gone in a couple years, but the seniors requested that I be invited as a chaperon this year, so how could I say no to that?

If you've never read one of my entries about a Project Grad night before, it works like this: a group of parents plan and fundraise to give students an all-night trip with multiple stops, food, prizes, and fun. The destinations are always a complete mystery, which makes it even better. Students freak out when they realize what we're doing, or when we give out in prizes (gift cards to local places, gas cards, an ipad...). It's so much fun to experience the adventure with them.

This year, we went to Boston and had dinner at the top of the Pru at sunset. Kids had time to explore the exhibits, take photos in all the best spots, and hang out for a bit. Then we went to this place that had a bunch of different quest rooms- plus pizza and snacks for fuel- and that was a ball. Kids and chaperons raced around in teams of 3-5, trying to solve as many quests as possible. My team only got one, but we had fun trying!

Our last stop was Boston Harbor. We boarded one of the boats for a little cruise, and there was a DJ on deck, a photobooth and other fun stuff inside, and a magician going around and doing tricks (he was excellent). Some kids curled up in chairs and slept, others danced all the way until sunrise, when we took a big group photo.

Unexpected awesome part: as we were waiting to disembark, a few of the boys who'd taken APGOV last year as juniors came up just to talk about my class, and what they remembered, and how much they'd enjoyed it. My teacher heart was full in that moment.

Now? I'm very tired, haha, but it was a really great time. I'm glad I got to go!

[187days]

Day One Hundred Seventy-Nine

The seniors came in this morning in their caps and gowns to board the buses and do the "Senior Walk" through the elementary school they once attended. It's a great tradition, and I was happy to see a bunch of my students before they headed off.

I was actually able to teach Global Studies in my classroom before the humidity crept up to an unbearable level. I taught APGOV in the auditorium. It wasn't great- too many classes there today- but I at least managed to keep mine separate from the other students, up in the corner (that took doing; kids from other classes kept trying to sit with my class, and I kept telling them to go back to their own part of the room). Did they get a lot of work done, though? Not really. But I suspect they'll feel the time crunch and lock in next week.

At the end of the day, the seniors returned for a celebratory send-off: games, food trucks, ice cream, etc... There was a ten-minute rainstorm that sent everyone dashing for cover, but then the sun came back out. Soon, they'll head downtown for a parade on Main Street, and tomorrow they'll graduate.

[187days]

Day One Hundred Seventy-Eight

There was a crazy thunderstorm overnight, and it caused a ton of flooding. It even washed out a chunk of one of the major state roads. So there were whole towns that were unable to get buses through, and a lot of kids were missing from school today. It was also ridiculously humid- to the point where it was actually trigging my asthma, and I seriously thought about calling for sub coverage so I could go home.

Then The Principal's secretary sent an email telling everyone we could move to any of the air-conditioned spaces that were available if we wanted (if you're wondering why the whole school isn't air conditioned, it's because we only get a handful of days each year that are hot enough to warrant it and even then the cost is prohibitive). I claimed a corner of the auditorium for all of my classes. At first, I was the only teacher there, but then Mr. O brought his class down and occupied the opposite corner. By Block 4, there were a half dozen classes in the space, but it was still plenty big enough.

Since my students are all working on final projects, I was really just there to help as needed: proofreading, giving research advice, making suggestions. For my ninth graders, being in the cooler environment was definitely super helpful and made them more productive. I don't think the same was true for most of the GOV kids, but it's okay. They were at least somewhat productive.

[187days]

Day One Hundred Seventy-Seven

I don't have anymore planning to do- final project time in both my courses- so I spent my morning catching up on emails, doing reference checks for potential hires, and a handful of other non-instructional duties.

Then, in Global Studies, I read some first drafts of multigenre pieces, gave research pointers, and otherwise helped as my students needed. It was a hot day today, but the fans in my classroom kept it from being unbearable, so students still got a lot of good work done.

By the end of the day, though, the heat was rising, and I saw on the attendance lists that a handful of my APGOV students were absent today, so I did what I always do when I've got a group that's small enough: I stole The Principal's conference room.

The air conditioning was delightful.

Students read The Hill's morning report, and we chatted about national politics for a bit- since it's been a minute since we last did that- and then I showed an interview WMUR had done with the NH Speaker of the House a couple nights ago, discussing the end of the legislative session. And then we came back to local stuff. I showed an old video about life and politics in the region in the 1940s, which the kids got a kick out of, and assigned the final project: creating a video, a skit, or some other form of presentation about life and politics here today. They'll start work on that tomorrow.

Did The Principal come back from graduation rehearsal while I was going over the project instructions? Yup. Did he look surprised to see my class? Not even a little.

[187days]

Day One Hundred Seventy-Six

Today was our seniors' final day of classes, which mean a lot of them were coming around to say thank you, ask to have their yearbooks signed, and generally make me emotional.

In APGOV, we successfully surprised the lone senior in the course. All students had to present the work they'd done examining their local town warrants, and I had her present last. Then, when everyone applauded her presentation, I snuck up with a card the other students had signed during senior skip day and a balloon, and then we laid out some goodies (cake, cupcakes, chips, popcorn) for a little party for the last half hour or so of class. It was great.

Earlier, in Global Studies, kids were hard at work on their multigenre projects. I walked around, offered pointers, etc... They've got some really awesome ideas, and I can't wait to see their work come together fully.

The list of topics students brainstormed is still on my board, and was the subject of much discussion this afternoon when grade-level advisors all met for PLC. A few of my colleagues actually took pictures, which was pretty cool. It shows that we finish the year strong in ninth grade!

[187days]

Day One Hundred Seventy-Five

It's a state law that all high school graduates have to pass the 128-question version of the US Citizenship test with a 70% or higher. Students can retake it multiple times, but eventually they have to pass. Our students start taking the test during sophomore American Studies, and we try to make sure they all pass before moving onto junior year, but there are always a handful who don't. There are also transfer students, etc... And that means I have to make sure they get it done before graduation.

Our seniors' last day of classes is tomorrow. And one of them just passed the test today. He was so, so happy to have done it, and I was happy for him!

That happened while my APGOV students were in the middle of wrapping up an assignment on local government and/or revising the papers they'd submitted on Friday (argument papers on the efficacy of a state legislator of their choosing). Before that? My Global Studies student started their multigenre projects. Longtime readers will know that I always start by asking them what's going on in the world that we should be concerned about. It can be things we've studies, things they've learned elsewhere, it's all fair game.

I filled one entire side of my whiteboard with their answers.

Then I had them choose a topic, went over the project instructions, and had them get to work. And it's already brilliant. I love ending the year with this because it's always so cool to see what students decide to do.

After school, I had a union board meeting- final one of the year!- and then had to dash back to the high school for spring sports awards. It was a successful season for a lot of teams, including mine, so it was nice to celebrate that. And, of course, it was nice to celebrate the team's seniors one more time.

Winding towards summer now...

[187days]

Day One Hundred Seventy-Four

It's June, it's Friday, and I was at work until 5PM. But I did it to myself.

I had one more set of on-demand essays (the ones my Global Studies students wrote yesterday) to grade after conducting an interview for a potential social studies teacher, and I decided to sit and grade them rather than leaving them for Monday.

That interview was actually the second of two I had today. The first was during my third section of Global Studies, so I had sub coverage for that, which meant all my students had a relatively easy assignment. I had them look up one of the organizations helping provide aid in the conflict zones we've studied, tell me about it, cite their sources- so they were looking up UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, the WFP, Red Cross/Red Crescent, stuff like that. It's good because I never like to close out the study of something serious and tragic without, as Mr. Rogers would say, looking for the helpers. I want kids realizing that it's possible to make a difference even in dire situations.

I ended up missing lunch and the first part of APGOV (Mr. O covered for me), but then I got back upstairs and rejoined my students. They were just working on an assignment about local government- examining the school's warrant, their town's warrant, finding out more about particular articles and/or suggesting other ones to be added- so it was a chill class. I mostly graded those aforementioned on-demand essays. I just didn't get them all done before I was due back to the office.

It's all good, though. Some learning happened, the interviews got done, and my grading is done, too. And now it's the weekend!

[187days]

Day One Hundred Seventy-Three

Ohhh, today was so ridiculous.

A wasp got into my classroom during my first section of Global Studies and caused a solid eight minutes of chaos because it would not leave, and it would not die. I finally took care of it, but that was nuts. And it happened while my students were trying to write an on-demand essay (I let them stay a few minutes past the bell, if needed, because of that distraction). Then, during the second section, there was a medical lockdown, so no one could leave the room. Thankfully, it was lifted before the bell rang and students were able to go to their next classes on time.

The third section was blessedly uneventful.

But, in APGOV, the boys in the class were bonkers. I know it's June and all, but it was beyond that. They could not sit still, keep their hands to themselves, resist taking each other's stuff. I actually threatened them with detention to get them to be even remotely on task. It was so silly.

Clearly, this week needs to be over! One more day...

[187days]

Day One Hundred Seventy-Two

I had too much to do during my prep time this morning- poor planning on my part, I wasn't taking into account that it was an early dismissal day today- and I needed about ten minutes at the start of each section of Global Studies to mark in their essay outlines. So what did I do? Had students go online and find news updates on any of the conflicts (DR Congo, Iran, Ukraine, Gaza) that we'd been studying, then I had everyone share something they'd learned. That actually teed up my planned lesson- reading and discussing an article about how these conflicts impact one another- perfectly.

Winging it? Yes. Expertly? Also yes.

Meantime, my APGOV lesson was meticulously planned. Students read an article about the historical development of our local region, which primed them to be thinking about the things shaping local policy-making. Then they got a copy of our school district's warrant, and the town warrant for whichever town they live in, and I did a brief lesson on how to read warrant articles, why certain things are included, etc... They have to choose three articles to research further, be able to explain their importance and determine whether or not they'd have voted for them. Or they can propose their own warrant articles and explain why. Or they can do a mix of the two. They'll put all this into some form of presentation for class on Tuesday.

Do they need that much time? No. But tomorrow's senior skip day, there are some sports dismissals coming up, etc, etc... So I'm giving them that much time because I'm anticipating that many of them won't actually be here for all of it.

See? Planning. I do it sometimes.

After students left, we all went to our PLC groups for our final session of the year. The outside facilitators who have joined us on Zoom for most of our meetings were actually there in person, which was very cool. We started with a quick icebreaker game called Follow the Leader, which, if you know how to play, you should know I crushed because of my martial arts training. Heh. Then we did the real work of examining spring testing data and our course roadmaps, discussing what to do to address deficits, and coming up with actual action steps. After that, we had some time for reflection and celebration. Mrs. R and I thanked our departments for supporting us as leaders through this process.

We really did a lot of good work, and I know I learned from it. There's more to be done next year, as well, but for this one? I feel accomplished.

[187days]

Day One Hundred Seventy-One

The leadership team is considering a change in our schedule model, and we want to see what students, families, and staff are thinking on that subject, so we've been designing some surveys to gather information. The Principal, The Career Tech Director, and I drafted the survey to send home to parents, and then I made it into a Google form. This morning, I did the same thing to the survey another small group within the team had drafted to send to students because The Principal asked me to.

Pretty sure he still thinks it's spooky that I'm as fast as I am (and he's so done with my jokes about how I don't need AI with this kind of natural speed), but it does come in handy.

I also rewrote my APGOV lesson to add more detail about how town meetings and deliberative sessions work here in NH, found a relevant video to use as a hook at the start of the block, and also pulled up some articles about the school budget votes in Croydon in 2022 because that's a great example of how participation matters.

That lesson ended up going super well in spite of the June squirreliness students are experiencing, so that's a win.

Global Studies was fine, too, but it was just a continuation of what they'd been doing: research and essay outlining about the effects of the Gaza War. Outlines were due at the end of class today, and while some of my students didn't need all three days I'd given them for this task, I think it was the right call because other students definitely did need that time. This ensures everyone is well-prepared to write on Thursday.

After school, I went down to the district's professional development center, which is housed in our district office, for the kick-off to some paid summer work on CBE and student engagement involving teachers from all grade levels. We did have to do one of those icebreakers at the beginning and share something we love, and I absolutely answered that my brain is full of kpop and I love having BTS concert tix, which earned me some laughs and cheers.

When we got down to starting the actual work, I did a lot of the scribing for the group I was working with, which should've got me out of doing the talking, too, buuuut my group threw me under the bus there. Heh. Moving forward, we're going to be doing some design work to implement during first quarter, and we all have coaches helping us do it. I think it's going to be a good chance for me to learn and challenge myself, so I'm excited about it.