first test = success!

Last week, I gave my students their first big test, and I have to say my eyes were watering tears of joy as I sat grading their exams.  My class average was a high B!  I was just very excited and proud to see that my students who trudge through some of the work do so well on their first big test.  The following class, I brought the students popcorn to celebrate the great score.  I could see the excitement that I was feeling on their faces which made it all the more rewarding! :)

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

No need for any in depth explanation of the frustration behind this post; however, I would like to vent.  Here goes.  WHY WON'T STUDENTS DO THEIR HOMEWORK!?  About 2 weeks ago, my class and I had a "come to Jesus" speech about the importance of doing homework on time.  I expressed my disappointment in their lack of effort and their neglect of their work, yet they continue to ignore my pleas.  I have passed out progress reports with the low (or missing) homework grades highlighted in electric pink and green, but alas, my wire basket still only contains 40% of my students' work.  I have students who could be making A's if they would just turn in their homework, yet they don't.  I just don't know what incentive to use to motivate them to turn their work in.  They will even admit that I told them about the work, that it was their fault they didn't do it, or even that they are just lazy, but that doesn't put the homework in my basket.

So, what now?  I am open to all suggestions.  I already take 50% off for homework turned in at any point after I ask for it.  Which makes me and my green pen sad to do.  Maybe they will be better.  Lots of thoughts and prayers towards my students' outside of class work ethic!

Long Time No Post

So, as I began to busy myself with the hustle and bustle that is high school and graduate school, I realized that blogging daily was much more difficult that I had originally thought it would be.  Then, as I got more and more off track, I found it was easier to be off track than to jump back on the tracks.

However, I am starting again!  Attempting to jump back on the horse and get at it again!  Wish me luck this time around... Being an oxymoron is tough stuff!

library days...

So today I completed my very first adventure to the library with my class.  Man was that an adventure.  Although the students seemed to work hard a majority of the time, there were the few that looked at the computer like it was an alien invader and had no inclination in the slightest of what to do.  However, I believe that it was an overall successful trip. One of the students who has lately seemed to not care in the class made a beautiful brochure today, and I am excited to see that student present on Friday!

Things to remember:  Make sure the kids clean up after themselves, or you'll have to do it.  Do not let them pack up and stand at the door with 3 minutes to go... 3 minutes is a long time! 

check your problems at the door

No matter if we have had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, had someone dinged up our car then driven away (with no note), run out of gas on I-40, or just had an all around bad day, as teachers we cannot bring our negativity or personal problems into the classroom.  Today was one of those days for me.  The weekend had gone as far from "as planned" as physically possible, and I had to trudge in on a Monday morning and act like everything was all hunky dory!  Although I had heard that it would be tough before, I definitely learned it first hand that day.  Although some colleagues were able to read me, I believe that my students were oblivious to my personal problems which is exactly what I want.

Some of these kids only have their teachers to look to for positivity.  A few of them may have stressful home lives, and school is their refuge.  Even if only one kid in my class uses my class as an escape from negativity, I should make it a point every day to be as positive, upbeat, and supportive as possible no matter what!  So, check your problems at the door because even if you may have had a rough start, some of these kids are depending on you to help them get a good start!

shake it off

When I'm helping girls in volleyball and they miss a serve or a pass, I tell them, "Shake it off, you'll get the next one."  Well, as I learned Friday, I am going to have to do that when my lesson plans do not work out as perfectly as I had planned.  Despite my lengthy planning, the lesson I taught over geography on Friday definitely did not go as planned.  A worksheet I made had flaws, I messed up an article for a word, and even apologized too much.  It was definitely a flop.  However, after the lesson was over, I talked with my mentor teacher who reminded me that I needn't apologize, I am the teacher and that I needed to remain confident in my teaching.  She helped me remember that no teacher has a perfect day, and even veterans are going to have a really off lesson plan that we all just have to keep at it and just make it better for the next time!  So, I'm shaking off Friday's lesson and working to make this week better!

don't over do it!

So yesterday, I taught my very first 90 minute block!  It was very cool to finally be in front of the class executing a plan that I had spent lots of time organizing beforehand.  My students are great!  I know that this year is going to be great.  Surely, students who stay awake during the reading of a syllabus are going to be good kids, right?!

After the syllabus, we talked about the reasons why everyone thinks it is important to study Spanish and then what Spanish words we already know.  Because the students before the class acted terrified to be in the class where they did not know a lick of Spanish, it was cool to see them recall words that they already knew and show off to their friends!

One thing that I learned from my lesson plan on Wednesday is that if there are only a few minutes left in the class, do not try to cram in one extra activity.  I tried to fit in my last activity and ended up running out of time in the middle!  It's crazy how fast the time flew by, but I am excited and ready for another full block Friday!

be a little crazy...

So as I observed classes today, I began to realize, that all teachers are a tad bit crazy.  In fact, I think on the application to be a teacher, they should write, "Are you crazy? (Check one) [ ]yes  [ ]no".  The reason being if you aren't a little bit crazy, you will lose the class and then it would be absolute chaos.  As much of a contradictory statement that is to make, I simply mean, teachers have to be willing to go out of their normal comfort zone in order to grab the attention and participation of their students.  For example, one of our mentor teachers sang elementary Spanish songs in the class today and had the students repeat them.  Although the kids acted like they were embarrassed, you could tell that they enjoyed the class more than just a straight lecture.

So, although it may be a little out of character to do something within the class, if it is a little crazy, DO IT!  The activity will more than likely help reel the kiddos back into the lesson!

day one done! phew!

Today was brief, eventful, and fabulous!  Finally having kids in the classroom made everything come to life and seem completely real! 

One thing I learned today was to work on lesson pacing.  I planned a powerpoint to introduce myself to the class in Spanish.  Unlike I originally thought, 6 slides was clearly not enough.  Apparently, I speak in Spanish just as fast as I do in English.  Who knew?  I think it is a good lesson to learn on Day 1; however, because now I know that I need to over plan in case I fly through something that I think will take me extra time.  Although that I'm sure it will probably happen again, at least now I know firsthand that over planning is better than under planning!

spanish teacher = part time translator

So on the last day of inservice, the freshmen came, went through a mock day of their schedules, and got a run down of the school clubs.  Since I am starting with a Spanish I class, I knew that I would be meeting quite a few of my students this day.  Sure enough, I had 1/2 of my students present.  It was really exciting to finally have kiddos in my class!  They were all attentive and seem to be a great group; so, I can't wait until Monday!

The surprise of the day was that the other Spanish intern and I got pulled to translate for a Mexican student who does not speak a lick of English.  Obviously, he was very nervous about the day; so, we tried to calm his nerves by giving him a school tour, introducing him to teachers that he would be meeting, and even the soccer coach.  Little did he know, I was a nervous wreck because I haven't really used my Spanish since last Spring!  I think it was a good reminder for me to see that our job descriptions go beyond "classroom educator".  Clearly, Spanish (and other world language) teachers need to add "part time translator" to theirs!

Kids come back Monday, and I cannot wait to meet them all and get them pumped up about español!

whoever said this was easy?

In a teacher education class last Spring, we watched a Colbert Report episode about the educational changes in our country.  He showed a clip of one of our nation's lovely politicians stating something along the lines of he did not understand why teachers were causing such a fuss that their jobs were a walk in the park.  In fact, he made the point that teachers only work from 8am-3pm, get the summers off, and basically use all their free time to go shopping.  I don't know what kind of school that man's children go to, but I have never met a teacher like that!

That being said, I got up at 6:45 this morning and was at the school from 8:30am to 7pm today.  The kids aren't even here yet!  I would love to make that politician withstand 2 months of being a teacher. I doubt that he would make such ridiculous comments again!

Although the exhaustion is inevitable, it is worth it.  I have loved getting to learn the ends and outs of the school logistics, but cannot wait until Monday when the niños get there and the real work begins!

syllabus sillyness...

Syllabi are pretty simple, once you have one made.  However, somehow the district has found a way to make it complicated this year.  Instead of giving us a simple "your syllabus must contain", we were given a format that must be followed to the T.  Now, being a student teacher, you would think this would not have too much of an effect on me; however, I poured hours into making my syllabus perfect and cute.  So now have to change it to the boring format? Sad.

After working for a couple hours this afternoon on the new syllabus format, I decided that even though it may be bland, sometimes we just gotta learn to take everything with a grain of salt.  No, I would not have chosen a seemingly repetitive and robotic syllabus format, but that is what I have been given to work with.  Therefore, I must use it.  Complaining will not put clip art on my syllabus or make changing the syllabus any more fun.  Today, this project made me realize that no matter what red tape we have to cut through, we should just be grateful for the opportunity to create a syllabus to begin with!

hats off to evaluators

So all the buzz at inservice so far has been about the new teacher evaluation system that is being implemented this year.  Because as student teachers we have not ever been evaluated, we can't really be too upset about a new system.  Frankly, we just don't know any different. 

However, it has been interesting to be apart of the training for this new system for many reasons.  First because we are able to see what legitimate concerns veteran teachers have with a new evaluation model.  Second, because we will be in the know when our time comes, and third because we are getting to see all the work that goes into the process.

I gained so much more respect today for those brave souls that have volunteered/applied to be "lead teachers" or TAP evaluators.  We did an exercise where we scripted a teacher's lesson then evaluated the teacher.  First off, scripting everything in a 60 minute (much less a 90 minute) lesson plan was miserable for those of us who have the attention span of a squirrel.  To top it off, it's so tough to put aside personal teaching strategies and theories when judging another teacher's lesson!

Therefore, today I learned to tip my hats to you, evaluators.  More power to you; I don't think I could do that!

Down the rabbit hole I go...

The first day of in-service is a very exciting day for us student teachers.  It's our first day to proclaim that we are adults and that we are actually working towards a now seemingly attainable goal.  Before now, we have had class after class discussing the theories of education and how our students theoretically will be, but nothing can truly prepare us better than just getting out there and getting our hands dirty.

So while all of the veteran teachers dread the long hours of in-service "torment", we student teachers pull up our ironed slacks, throw on a matching blazer, strap up our high heels (or teaching flats), and say "BRING IT ON, in-service".

We'll see how long that mentality lasts...