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@cardschic
Darkness
Winter is all about darkness some days. Sometimes as a teacher I completely miss the sun. I'm thankful for breaks like the one we're on right now for thanksgiving. I'm extra thankful that my husband is home with me. It's been really nice to talk with him and spend time together this week. I think we both really needed it.
OCD
Today my algebra 1 class reviewed for our linear equations test. First, count me crazy disappointed in how terribly they did. They missed questions that I was sure that they could tackle and looked baffled at "gimme" questions. I'm thinking that next year I should flip the formal review and the game review. Maybe they will get some more confidence if they review before they try to game. That said, I was laughing pretty hard when one group with K it it named themselves OCD, then she shouted that my O wasn't circular enough. Nice. I do feel like intermediate algebra was feeling good about their review today. I think the activity yesterday where they have to solve, find the answer on a new slip and then solve the new equation had them in a good frame of mind for making sure they knew what they needed for their notecard today. They were frustrated to see equations and not know what to do to solve it, but today it caused them to be motivated to review today. I especially appreciated all the norskies in 7th hour study hall that asked me to check over their notecards. It feels backwards from what I just said about algebra 1, but that might just be the lack of maturity in the freshmen right now. Great kids, but they need a cheerleader and I haven't been cheering hard enough this week. I'm thrilled with planning the new web design class. Every hour I get to spend working on it just makes me feel awesome.
Common core logic - it helps with multiplying, but does it help with factoring?
Being Less Helpful vs. Having Enough Time
Doing the Solving Quadratics activity that I have been using over and over really struck me today, because I noticed that the kids literally did not know which equation needed which type of solving technique. There were some that required solving by factoring and some that were solving by using square roots, but it took awhile for them to realize that they were different.
Here is where I struggle with the concept of “being less helpful” so that they do more discovery on their own. They asked the right questions and figured out the differences, but by then so much of class was taken up that quite a few only solved 3 or 4 of the dozen or more questions in the activity. Is it better to let them have the discovery but then not get done, or to give them some introductory information that allows them to solve more but maybe turns them a little more robotic? Hmm...
Along those same lines, I’ve been questioning how helpful point-slope form really is when you can just as easily solve for the y-intercept and have the answer that way. After talking to coworkers about it I’ve realized that providing them two ways to solve and telling them to choose one has kind of opened their eyes more to both. The only way some might get stuck is if they don’t know how to use point-slope at all and have to use it on the test.
Hopefully by allowing them to use a notecard it will eliminate the confusion of having so many equations. I don’t feel like I ever got a notecard in high school, that I had to memorize. Maybe that’s part of what we lose with having to cover so much, but then again maybe that’s why common core seems to be working out for some people, because they’re making weird early connections that make more sense later when they get to upper level factoring and such.
Movie Life
Girl: So all that has to happen is for S to mess up in whatever class between now and graduation and I will be valedictorian. (They’re juniors) Girl 2: Who is it in our class? C? He’s like genius. He got a 33 on ACT.
Web Design is pretty much done for the semester, but hanging out and getting to know them has been really fun! Likewise, my computer apps class is really going for it on their movie projects. They will be much funnier than the last few years, but when you have a funny bunch, you have to expect it. :)
For instance: the boys making a movie about the boys dorm want to have a picture of Mr. B sitting on the couch reading a book, but caption it with, “Mr. B has the hardest job in the school.” I laughed when the asked if it was okay, which might be slightly inappropriate, but if the movie is meant to be funny then where’s the harm?
Stepping Back
Me: Hey, why are we only half here (in homeroom)? K: I’m always only half here.
Intermediate couldn’t take it today. Rather than fighting them I split them into groups, with 1 person in each group who was definitely done with the lesson. I had them help each other get finished and even take the homework quiz together. Kids were stressed with everything from sickness to exhaustion from soccer this weekend to drama tech week to major tests blowing up in their faces. I appreciate that they were receptive to my stepping back and seeing that they just needed a break today. I also need to rework that homework - it was just too much and the numbers (factoring ax^2+bx+c) got too hairy on them. Having students say “Thank you” for helping them out is always a good feeling.
Status Quo
All seems good in most classes. Intermediate, despite all its troubles, is actually a pretty good group this year. No one is failing and beyond hope (and I really did not expect that this year knowing some of the algebra 1 kids I was getting again). It’s always good to see signs of maturity. I just wish I could get them to talk!
Having P come in after school and say, “All the coaches said you talked about me in faculty meetings and how I was doing bad! I didn’t think I was doing bad - what do I need to do?” was awesome. He actually wasn’t doing anything wrong, he just hadn’t done anything well in awhile. We came up with a plan and the coaches are happy.
With my ST gone I had to teach PE today, and starting speedball with stitches in my backside sounded horrible, but it actually went really well. I will never have another PE class this awesome, so I’m cherishing it. A few of them seem genuinely happy to have me there, which isn’t anything against him, it’s just good to be liked.
The stitches situation is horrendous. I’m not sleeping, gaining weight, stressed out, and sitting is outrageously uncomfortable. The fact that my classes are going so well is just a testament to the fact that I have
-great kids that are working really hard. -great coworkers who cover for me and keep encouraging me. -about the best job I could ever have.
I am thankful!
11/5 - AKA the day before soccer state and LSAM
I kind of yelled at Algebra 1 a bit this morning, because they weren’t focused on test corrections. I’ve given basically the same test for 3 years and this is the first time where none of them knew how to find domain and range over time for the Oreo sales over 8 years question. Is that something I did wrong or are they just a tad lazy on word problems? Not sure I know...
On the plus, M (who is repeating the class) was the only one to ask for extra help on test corrections, and that’s a really good step for him. I’m not sure how he’s making some of the mistakes he’s still making with some graphing, but he was receptive to the help, so I’m happy about that.
Computer Apps is having SO MUCH FUN making audio commercials. Audacity had been a huge chore for other classes, but this group has been having a lot of fun recording and adding in music, which is great. I’m terrified of N’s commercial about adopting cats and getting a sweater for you with their face on it and vice versa. That seems a little crazy, but so funny at the same time.
I’m excited for day 3 of weights. I’m still really excited about J being there, because she’s come a long way to really seem happy and excited about anything, and I’m happy to see that coming out in her through this. She even found out that she was able to lift more than she expected, which is awesome! We dropped from 16 to 12, but I was happy to have the ones that were there.
THIS MADE ME LAUGH: Norskie: My arms were tired after weights. Me: Good pain or bad pain? Norskie 2: WHAT IS GOOD PAIN?!?!
Having tomorrow off is such a blessing right before LSAM. I’m going to be refreshed and ready! The soccer bus just left - it’s fun to see the kids so excited for such a big game for the school. :)
Joys: Getting S’s VB highlight film done, M asking for Algebra 1 help on test corrections, having a ST so I can get work done instead of teaching PE (I feel so spoiled!), being able to move around better with my stitches.
Holding On To Things
I haven’t ever kept very good track of the funnier/sadder side of my teaching life, so I’m going to try to work on that here.
Happier things: 18 girls showed up for the first day of weights! I’m especially happy to see a girl who’s struggled with self harm come and try things out that she’s never done before.
Not having to do concessions this year has made LSAM seem much calmer.
NO SCHOOL FRIDAY for state soccer! WOO!
Unhappier things: Stitches where no one wants stitches. Ouch.
The girl that turned in a quiz yesterday after missing school the day we took it in class and just saying, “I have no idea what I just did.” Whoops.
Mathy Help!
Okay mathies... I know it's Saturday night, but let's knock this one out for a friend. The only answer I can get is 45D = 35, but I feel like I must have messed something up. Thoughts??
A box contains 49 coins of nickels, dimes and quarters. The number of quarters is two more than twice the number of dimes.The total value of the coins is $3.20. How many of each coin?
I HATE Wisconsin snow. What's worse is that my parking spot is the end of a row, so when it snows I get buried by the plow. When I got out to shovel this afternoon I had drifts three feet high on the driver side and behind the car, and the passenger side of the car? I couldn't even SEE that. Or the hood. Completely buried.
I swear, if I get shoveled in again tonight, I'm going to cry. Also, if someone takes my parking spot tomorrow while I'm at school/basketball... I might just skip town.
I'm going to go make a vat of hot chocolate.
I should not go back there
So since we're about to get two feet of snow and I'm sick of having to step into the drifts to get to my car after it gets blocked in by snow plows, I decided to go buy a snow shovel after school tonight. The closest store that would have shovels in it is a KMart that I think I've been to a grand total of twice (counting tonight) in the year and a half since I moved here. Now I remember why I didn't go back after the first experience - it is confusing to no end.
When I was walking towards where I assumed shovels would be, I remembered that I needed a new filter for my water pitcher (you do not want to drink tap water here - trust me). I was already in the appliances, and figured if I could find kitchen stuff I would probably find water pitchers. I walked through kitchen, bathroom, laundry and other small appliances, but could not find water pitchers. Feeling slightly slow in the head and thinking I must have just missed them, I asked a saleslady who was restocking shelves. She pointed across the aisle from where we were standing and said to go one row down and it would be there. The aisle she pointed me to was automotive, but sure enough, around the other side was water pitchers! What the heck???
I grabbed a filter and headed for shovels, which I found with relative ease. As I picked up the one I wanted I felt a nerve in my back pinch (again). I don't know what I did, but it's been hurting all day. In lieu of a boyfriend to give me a massage, I decided to grab a heating pad on my way out the door.
Walking back to the front of KMart, I headed for the pharmacy area. Walked every aisle, found back massagers, pain relievers and everything else, but no heating pads. I couldn't find any salespeople to help, either. As I was wandering, I wound up in the alcohol aisle. Seeing as how my five minute stop at the store had already turned into twenty, I decided I had earned a girly drink, so I grabbed some wine coolers and continued on my way.
I finally found a kind older gentleman who pointed me in the right direction. I told him that I was sure I had missed it, but he said I had at least found the item that was probably at the top of the list, meaning the shovel (I think). Yes, I'd been walking around KMart for what felt like an eternity with a water filter, wine coolers, and a shovel for what felt like days. Who does that?
Heating pads are found by arthritis medication, in case you were wondering. You can't find them unless you are literally standing at the pharmacy counter either.
I went to check out, and had that dilemma - take the line with six people each holding one or two items, or the line with one pair of crazy white trash ladies and a truckload of stuff, carrying on and hollering at each other? I chose the long line, and it paid off. However, watching them was so amusing that when I was checking out I pulled out the wrong card and got confused when my 'debit card' was rejected for entering the wrong pin.
It helps if you swipe the debit card.
The lady behind the counter looked at me like an idiot, which would make the third salesperson in this short trip to give me strange looks, not to mention all the people who were looking at the girl in dress clothes and carrying a shovel and booze.
I lead a weird life. I don't think I'll be going back to that KMart anytime soon.
Good, Bad, Ugly as Sin
Okay, I'm just crazy frustrated with school right now. I'm trying to process through it, and realizing that it's not as bad as I think it is. I just need to put it into words.
Good: Almost everything. No, really.
My 5th graders are wicked smart. I can't even put into words how much smarter they are than last year's crew. We're a full two chapters ahead of where I was last year, and they're totally on top of it. GCF and LCM? No big. Intro to fractions? Boring. Where did these kids come from? I throw them the toughest problems I can think of and they go, "That's it? That wasn't hard. You said this would be hard." Umm... sorry, I thought it would be for you. Tryyyyy THIS! *yawn* "That was easy! Can we do more?" Nice!
All my other classes are hovering right around a day or two of being right on schedule in terms of how far I want to get with them this year. I'm happy about that, and the one class that might lag a little behind (7th grade) is an okay one to slow down with because I made it through all the material last year and realized I could have stretched some stuff out more and made sure they are really soaking everything in.
The 6th graders finished their fraction recipe books and today was the day they could bring in one of their recipes that they actually used for extra credit. Hands down - the cheesecake won. Totally amazing.
For being a PE major (yeah I said it - I'm dual certified in math and PE) I really sucked up teaching PE last year. I'm doing much better this year, diversifying activities, working on different skills while still making sure they are getting aerobic workouts when they need it, and recognizing various skillsets better than last year. I don't have to hang my head every time I think of my college advisor now and how disappointed she would be with how little I do.
Bad: Some of the stuff I did well with last year.
I was super ambitious last year. My kids did various blogging projects, a bunch more cool technology related things, ran their own website, etc. This year we started strong on blogging, but it's totally fizzled. The website is basically dead in the water, mainly used for posting daily homework assignments from all their classes. I'm frustrated with it, but I literally cannot do more with it.
My scheduled library time is during band. Last year I only had 1 kid was missing. This year it's a quarter of the class that misses library/computer time, and the missing kids are of course the ones whose parents would have a field day if I constantly gave the kids hardcore/awesome work to do during that time like I used to. I would get nasty phone calls and emails and get fussed at that they don't have time to do these projects that all the other kids get to do in class. It makes me want to scream.
Ugly as Sin: 7th. Grade. Math. It was last year, it is this year. These kids were my darlings last year. They are my nightmare this year. I think it's just 7th grade or something. They forget everything, panic about nothing, and are always convinced that they don't understand something very simple. I find myself constantly saying, "Okay, look what we have now! We know how to do this! We've done this before! What do we do next?" and looking out at blank stares.
Again.
And again.
Of course the first chapter after Christmas break with them is percents. I might as well be teaching empty desks. They ask the same question five times in a row, freak out about step one before even hearing step two, and do one problem then become convinced that the next problem is nothing like we've ever done before. I have this class right before lunch, and it just sets me off for the rest of the day. I get frustrated with their questions, and right when I finally get myself calmed down again study hall time hits and here they come in a flood of more questions. I don't even know how they come up with some of them. I literally cannot trace their thought process.
What's crazy is that I know I dealt with it last year, and then when I did the percent unit with the 8th graders this year they did much better. I know they have to have taken something with last year's endless frustration... but how do I alleviate the torture this year?
I own one of these now... I know, you're jealous. I'm a happy girl. :)
Looking For Patience
My life, as it stands today, is good. I have a wonderful family, amazing friends, coworkers, and students. There is love in my life. There is also a hunger for more, and the possibility that there are going to be a few huge changes in my life sometimes feels like it is growing by the day.
But the day where those changes could start happening is not today. It's probably not tomorrow either. There are only so many days where I can go to bed praying for patience and wake up hopeful for change.
I'm trying. I won't give up. These things are worth waiting for. I'm sure of it.
Back in the Saddle
I was so not ready to come back to school this morning, to the point where my not ready brain forgot to reset the alarm to a school wake-up time. Oops!
Surprisingly, the kids were relatively awake this morning. I felt less than prepared for pretty much all of my classes today, but that's alright - it's the beginning of the chapter. My 5th and 8th grade kids jumped right into new units just fine, but wow, 6th and 7th grades were just..... painful.
I am forever indebted to @MrsBMG for passing along her recipe book project to me last year. My 6th graders finished doing all the fraction work before Christmas, but I knew they'd forgotten, oh, everything over the break. They're my toughest class anyway in terms of general mathematical ability, so trying to get them back in a groove after borderline three weeks off (the last week before break was a mess) is nuts. Since we somehow are ahead of where I was last year, I figured we would just spend all this week doing the project in class. They were stumped by simple things. 1/2 divided by 2........ "WHAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!" Argh. They know this... or they used to know it. Thankfully the snapped out of their fog quickly, so things got better.
7th grade is starting the percent unit. Gross. 8th grade finished that one before break and did alright with it compared to last year's class, which tells me that I must have done a decent job with what I did last year in 7th grade. It just stumps me that they forget literally everything about fractions though. "Make 4/5 a decimal? Seriously? How are we supposed to do that? We never learned that!"
*headdesk*
Honestly? I've missed this relatively normal life. No program practices to worry about, no extra frills or field trips or other random stuff this week. Just school and basketball.
This post is boring, so I'll end it with a story or two. First, the school re-keyed the front doors over break and told us to just ring the doorbells when we got in for today. So this morning I got there and rang the bells... and no one answered the daycare or school bells. I tried again........ nothing. Finally I'd been standing outside in the freezing cold for a couple minutes, waiting for anyone to come to my rescue, when the 5th grade teacher pulled into the parking lot. She already had a key since she was in town over break, and right as she was getting to the door someone finally buzzed me in. Of course.
Also, I cut my hair about two weeks ago when I was at my parents' house in Missouri, but kinda forgot about it until my students started coming in this morning. Suddenly I had girls running up to my desk going, "MISS W! You look so pretty!!!!!" Really? Just because I cut bangs into my hair? Well, whatever. Thanks girls. ;)
New Year... New Hiding Place
Last year I jumped in with the whole 365 photo project. I actually lasted longer than everyone else I knew in the project, making it until July-ish before falling off thanks to vacations and computer issues and just being over the whole concept. I tried to make it into something of a sharing cool events or things I did at school or in life, but after being under attack at school in part due to the fact that I had a picture of some of my students arms (no faces - none) on my blog, I'm shutting down that sucker. I'll leave what I have, but I don't think I'm going to toss any new content up on there. Now that I know it's being watched, it's not worth it to leave myself open to getting attacked again.
I'm so ready to start over. 2010 actually threw a lot of good things my way. There are people in this world that know me as a writer now. That's not something I ever expected. I've expanded my worldview a lot - accepting many things I once thought were outside the realm of possibility. I found happiness again, after being miserable throughout much of 2009. But I'm ready for some new things in my life. Part of it is finding a little more anonymity. I've locked down my twitter account, which I hate, but I'm still slightly paranoid that I'm being watched. I don't want to hide from the world, but at least until I leave this ridiculous school board in my rearview mirror, that's the way it has to be. This is disconnected from anything else I use online. I know - I don't need another site to work on, but I need a place to say what I'm thinking and not care who is watching.
So here we go - goals for the new year. I never really keep tangible goals, because I'm total fail at them. I can keep some general ones, and there is one very real one that absolutely has to happen...
This is the big one - I have to get out of this place. Apartment for sure, but this school, city and state would be preferred. Obviously I want to go to St. Louis, but I need a job first. I'll go anywhere in Missouri or Illinois, I don't care, but I have to go. People here don't want me to go. Students will cry. I know in my heart that I need to get closer to friends and family and people that love me. I just have to find a freaking job first.
Take better care of myself. Better regimens for life, more healthy eating habits (that should probably mean no more 'dinners' of chocolate from my desk), etc.
Enjoy today for what it is. My life is pretty far from anything I'd describe as perfect, but I know I've got it pretty good here too. Even in the bad days, I need to find the good. If I don't, I drown. It's simple.
Keep writing. Right now I've got this (and who knows how long this thing will last. It might not last the week), CDD, i70, and random UCB projects taking up a lot of my time. I probably need to find a better balance, but I'm working on it. It'll be easier when basketball season is over... I mean, it has to end eventually, right? I want to keep writing though. I enjoy it, and I think I do well with it.
Keep pushing the limits of new lessons and authentic learning vs. just teaching the book and never doing anything outside the curriculum. That is absolutely what got me in trouble in those three horrid weeks of school between Christmas and Thanksgiving, but ask anyone that's heard my story if what I did is wrong, and they will say no. I'm fully convinced that students learn more from teachers that are willing to take advantage of teachable moments and do something off the beaten path than teachers who never stray from the lessons and do the same thing year after year.
Alright, I'm done rambling for now I suppose. I'm already 90 minutes past deadline for i70. Guess it's a good thing I'm the editor for tonight. ;)