What a school year it was! I know school has already started, but I wanted to recap the 2010-2011 school year kind of like I did last year. I feel a little bit of closure doing that, and I have been really down in the dumps not being at Desert Pines this year. If I am being honest, last year was really tough. Each year has had it's own challenges, but this year was a pretty good combo of all the hard things rolled into one. I'll make a list. I'm good with lists.
1. The biggest challenge was my students. I had some really super rotten kids last year. I am usually pretty good at managing my classroom and getting my students to behave and get engaged in their work, and I'm pretty funny so they usually like being in my class, plus we do really cool activities and labs. But there was some monsters this past year! MONSTERS. If they were my kids, I would... maybe I better not say. It's not very nice. Two of my classes were co-op classes (about 65% of the class was special ed. I had some students who could barely even read in those classes) and they were SUPER challenging. But I must also say that there are students who are ANGELS and I love and adore them and am so grateful for them. But the monster vs. angel ratio was just a little bit worse than normal this year.
2. Our administration was a JOKE. I don't know how it is at other schools, because this is the only one I have taught at. But it was a NIGHTMARE! My supervisor (an assistant principal who puts the ASS in ASSISTANT) was particularly nasty. So many long stories, but they make me grumpy, so it will suffice to say that I am so glad I am rid of him.
3. On a positive note, I took the kids on some fun field trips this year. A couple of them were during school, but most of them took place after school or on Saturdays. I love taking them places they have never been and showing them cool stuff. What a blast.
4. I miss my teacher friends. Especially my science peeps. My first year was not so pleasant, but a lot of those teachers transfered to other schools and we had a whole different group by the time I left. We would stick up for and look out for each other, and tell our stories to each other. They were often a great source of sanity, and I felt lucky to be surrounded by such good people.
5. I learned last year that despite your very best intentions and efforts, there are some kids that you just won't reach. I have been able to see some of my students really come around and change and be better and get rid of bad influences in their lives. It is the best feeling in the world knowing that you may have made a difference to one of them- it is the greatest reward in teaching. But then there are those who get close, they get to the point where they need to make a choice, and they chose the gang or drugs or fighting or whatever else. And it would break my heart to know that all their potential to do something really great is wasted. But you never know what the future holds for them, and hopefully something you say stuck with them.
5. I love teaching. Even though I often whined and complained last year, I absolutely love it. It is what I was meant to do. I haven't been able to get a position here in California (we'll save that drama for another day...) and I miss it more than I ever thought that I would. Those kids need love and attention, and they need to feel like somebody cares about them. A lot of my students didn't have any of that, and it brought me a lot of joy to give them that, even if they didn't learn anything about photosynthesis or cells or genetics.
Okay, now for the pictures!
4th Period Biology
I liked this class. It was small, they were all really bright and did their work and didn't complain too much. They usually had the highest class passing percentage on their tests, which means they usually got treats for that. I think they only lost that contest once.
5th Period Biology
This was one of my co-op classes. SO HARD. They were just really hard to keep on task, a bunch were autistic, most of them couldn't spell or read very well... it was way harder than I thought it would be. Plus my co-op teacher didn't do a thing, even when she bothered to show up. But they made me laugh! And often that was all I needed. Plus I had lunch right after this class, so I had a bit of time to recoop!
6th Period Biology
My other co-op class. Way bigger than the last one, and intensely more crazy. My co-op teacher was BOMB, I love her, and we had a pretty good time with this class. They were pretty good at staying on task, even though they were super loud. ALL THE TIME. A couple of kids I would still like to punch in their annoying faces, but that is, sadly, frowned upon.
8th Period Biology
This class had it's moments. It's sad how 3 or 4 really annoying kids could make the whole class seem awful. The kid on the far right came to school EVERY DAY and got an F all year. He never did squat. Well, that's not true. Sometimes he would write his name on stuff. There were some real smart kids in this class. They usually gave 4th period a run for their money on tests, and even beat them once. Funny funny kids.
9th period Biology
This class I started teaching in the middle of the year. I can't remember why, but they took a few kids from a bunch of different classes, and had me teach it as an extra class. Which I got paid extra for- HOLLER! They were pretty fun. It was a small class, and the last one of the day, so we were all pretty done with things by the time they got there. But they were good, and cracked me up when I would start to get mad. I broke up a girl fight (I am so cool) in the halls right before this class and they always thought I was pretty tough. Because I am tough.
3rd Period Anatomy/Physiology
Oh how I LOVE these kids. I have had most of these kids for more than one year- maybe 10 or 15 of them for three years. First Biology, then Chemistry, then Anatomy. I absolutely ADORE them. Well, most of them. The three boys on the back left were rotten little booger faces, but for the most part I loved them. We all knew each other pretty well, and it was a riot. ALL THE TIME! We had dance offs in class, debates about things totally unrelated to science, fashion time... oh, and we learned stuff too. These are my honors kids, so I could just give them a lab assignment and they would do it without whining or complaining or asking 500 billion questions (ie, do I need to put my name on this? Why are we doing this? Do I have to do this assignment? I am to tired. Ms, why did you do your hair like that? Can I go to the bathroom? Can we use our cell phones for this? BLAH BLAH BLAH). This is a great group of kids, and I LOVED being their teacher. These are the ones I miss most- the ones who took this class just because I was the teacher. I love them.
Dissections
My favorite part of the year! We dissected seastars, squid, and rats this year. SO FUN.
HIKING @ RED ROCK
These are my favorite trips- we did 5 or 6 of them this year. Most of the kids had never been there before, and they had THE BEST time. It would take us forever to do the hikes because they would stop and look at everything, take detours, climb rocks, etc. What a blast. Plus, their cell phones don't work out there. Curse technology. AND- I got to drive a gigantic van with a bunch of hyper teenagers. What is more fun than that?!?
A girl got lost on this particular trip. Oops.
Ice Box Canyon
At the very end. What a fun group (most of these are my anatomy kids). Cesar, with the white bandana, came on every hiking trip I organized. What a stud. And Mr. Morrow, with the hat, came on all the trips this year. He's a geeky science teacher like me.
DISNEYLAND
I got invited to go with the Math Club to the Magic Kingdom! It was SO FUN. These four girls had never been there before, and seemed lost, so they decided to go with me and I showed them the FUNNEST day at Disneyland. We went on all of the rides, saw all of the sights, and ate all the best food. When we got on the bus that night, after talking to other people, they decided we had the best day out of everyone. I kept telling them they could ditch me and go do their own thing, but they were pretty content to let me show them around. It was really super fun!
They did a bunch of cool activities with the kids, including letting them make their own roller coaster. They had to include a hill, a turn, a loop, and... something else I can't remember. It was actually pretty cool! I didn't know Disneyland offered school things like that.
More hiking! This was our first trip of the year. We caught a tarantula an d put it in a starbucks cup. Oh, the memories...
Made it to the end!
This trail is called Calico Tanks. Off to the left in the background you can see Las Vegas. This is one of my favorite trails at Red Rock.
Mr. Morrow, Ms. Simons, and Ms. Rich. We are cool.
After Calico Tanks. Everyone made fun of my fanny pack- but they weren't laughing at the end when they were all eating my granola bars and fruit snacks and drinking my water. Little turds.
BODIES
I took my anatomy class and some of my stellar biology kids to the Bodies exhibit at the Luxor. It was SUPER FUN! We divided into groups of 10 and got to go through the whole exhibit. Of course they had an assignment to do while we were there (becuase I am such a nice teacher), which of course they whined about, but it was all in all a really fun day. We stayed and ate lunch at the food court, where I got caught up in teenage dating drama. I made fun of them for the rest of the year. So funny.
The whole group (woah, that is a really crappy picture. Sorry.)
This group we took to eat at The Olive Garden and to Ethel M's Chocolate Factory where they have a Cactus Garden all decked out with Christmas lights. It was a really fun night, and the kids had a great time. I thought taking 15 teenagers to a restaurant was probably a really bad idea, but they were very polite and well behaved and I was so impressed! We had a really good time! Thanks Ms. Rich for braving it with me!
Outside the Cactus Garden
Cafe Rio and The Planetarium
I really enjoyed this field trip! We went Friday after school and ate at Cafe Rio (mmmm, my favorite!) and then went over the CSN's Planetarium. The Planetarium show was slightly less than cool, but afterwards they took us out to look through the telescopes, and that was REALLY cool. We even saw Jupiter- sweet!
The whole gang outside of the Planetarium, next to the telescopes.
What memories! Even though there were some hard things this year, there were also some really fun times. It's good for me to look at these and remember the good things that happen- it helps me forget the crappy! Here's to finding a job in Cali!
