The student teaching component

Some people call it an extended job interview. Others call it the best learning experience of their lives. Still others consider it to be a time of painful out-growing of naive, idealistic hopes and dreams.

I call it all of the above.

Everybody's student teaching experiences are going to be different, even if the requirements (set by the university where the credential program is held) are different.

Which leads to the most frequently asked question on student teaching that I've heard yet: why do the requirements differ from university to university? I don't know, although I can guess. Some places only require four weeks of shadowing a classroom teacher. Others, like CSUS, requires two full semesters - one at part-time (i.e. half of each week), and the other at full-time (basically all day everyday). I did all my student teaching at Title I schools, and even though they had a lot in common, they had even more differences.

Room 10, first iteration.
My first student teaching experience was in a first grade classroom at a Title I school. It is my favorite out of the three. It was difficult, exhausting, fun, frustrating. I grew the most, as a teacher, here, in large part due to the highly hands-on, guidance my CT gave me. I walked in apprehensive of 5-7 year olds, and walked out armed with skills, knowledge, and confidence for the next step. I also learned to love teaching first graders. They are hilarious.

Room 14 - ominous, since "14" in Chinese means "certain death." The woman in this photo was a fellow student teacher. I got a lot of support from my fellow student teachers while at this school. Thank you!
My next student teaching assignment was at a school that had recently undergone various administrative changes. They had four different principals in as many years before the one that was there (still is, I think) when I was there. The students were pretty much like most students I've seen. They all have their own individual baggage of course, but I never viewed that as a handicap, or an excuse. Still don't.

I never really fitted in at this school. Never really understood the reason why, but I guess "why?" is a moot question. I just didn't make it. Period. There were many subtle undercurrents within the intermediate teaching staff that I grasped not at all - and liked even less. While I was there, I got the feeling that the primary teaching staff - in general a much more uniformly formal group, at least on school grounds - looked down upon the intermediate teachers. Including me, a person they had just met. A lot of this occurred, a lot of "inside jokes" and clichishness. A lot of rumors. A type of casualness with the students I didn't feel comfortable with.

I learned a lot in the short seven-and-a-half weeks I was here. A lot in terms of depth AND breadth AND intensity. This experience is listed on my resume, despite some people telling me that isn't a good idea. I am not ashamed of what I did here. I was prepared. I worked hard. I gave my excellence at this place, for these students. It wasn't enough to get on any where near the medal podium. Sometimes your best is not enough. So goes life.

Room 10, second iteration.
My phase-3-take-2 was at an incredible rare school - winner of various awards, including the Title I Academic Achievement School for nearly a decade. Straight. The students here were the sweetest I've ever met. The staff here actually enjoyed teaching nearly all the time - and they enjoyed working with each other. The front office people are the nicest. Ever. And I've seen a lot of front office people through teaching after school art.

I had it easy at this school, not just in comparison to the previous semester, but relative to the entire realm of classroom teaching. Thus, I became a bit complascent and fell into some difficult to correct bad teaching habits. My CT had to lay it down pretty hard before I even began to get out of that rut.

Towards the end of my student teaching here, I got the opportunity to observe 3/4 of the entire staff at work. Most of them were excellent. There were a few who were good, but were given the short end of the stick and were struggling to corret it (one teacher entered in the middle of the semester because of staff changes, and another had to deal with a class that the student teacher ruined). Watching them, and their classes, was eye-opening. There were a small handful that were horrible - even I, n00b and green, could see that. My CT had advised me to watch these people. He didn't tell me why, he was just pretty adamant about it, so I went. Afterwards, he told me he wanted me to see some really bad teaching in action from these teachers - I wasn't the only one who thought they could improve much.

And there you have it: my 2.5 semesters worth of student teaching summarized, and yet there is so much more that occured than in just this summary. So goes teaching in general. I can summarize my thoughts in reflection until my fingers fall off, but it still doesn't say it all.

Then again, some things are more powerful unsaid.

The class "Mystery"

As mysterious as the meat in this steamed bun (although, the steamed bun was still good).
In my 5th/6th split class last semester, I had a student who just couldn't be placed in any category. He had been tested for learning disabilities, but he had none. He typically did horrible in math, so he was with the low group and did the remedial work - yet he scored Proficient in math on his CST the year before. His verbal skills are far, far above average.

He is a rather explosive kid - quick to anger and quick to forgive. Quick to do anything - which gave him the talent of taking initiative, which is something many kids twice his age have yet to develop. He was also slow to think before acting - which put him in the middle of quite a few skirmishes with his peers (and arguments with his teachers). Still, most everyone liked him, and vice versa. I certainly enjoyed teaching him.

All the teaching and office staff called him a mystery because of his inconsistent academic performance (sometime really on top of it, sometimes not at all). During a grade level meeting with the principal, we were supposed to place our students into one of four groups: high achieving/high motivation, low achieving/high motivation, high achieving/low motivation, and low achieving/low motivation. It took me so long to finally decide where this kid fit on the spectrum. I've seen him act within the realms of all four areas.

Kids are kids, though, and they'll be inconsistent. That's to be expected. Certainly it's a challenge to figure out how to teach a kid who constantly moves around the board. But that makes teaching fun as well.

Good byes

Yesterday was my last day at my student teaching school. It was a busy day. I observed three more teachers, bringing the total for the week up to 9.

Then, after discovering that everyone else was either testing or watching a movie, I returned to my own classroom and helped facilitate the dissection of owl pellets. This activity is awesome, I'm totally going to make time for it in my classroom. Now, I wonder if anyone knows where I can order cow's eyes to round out my plans for 4th-6th grade science labs?

After lunch, I assisted with the unit party. Students handed me gifts. I gave each of them a lucky red packet containing a little, Japanese styled pad of sticky notes. One student cried. I got many hugs. I gave a thank you gift to my CT, who would be working throughout the winter break, prepping for the rest of the school year.



I visited the office staff, said some good byes, and I was out.

I think I'll visit some time again, near the end of the school year. This student teaching experience was so different from my previous two. I was only in the classroom two days out of the week last fall. My time was cut short in the spring. But I was here, at this school teaching these students, five days a week, starting the week before the first day of school through yesterday. You get attached.



I'm going to miss these kids. I hope they know Ms. Ng is rooting for them, where ever they are, for the rest of their lives.

Now what?

Anti-climactic.
Solo is finished. I handed the class back to my CT. I spent yesterday observing other teachers. Will spend most of Wednesday and Friday doing the same.

Today, I'm getting the semester's paperwork organized, finalizing my portfolio (which I've been doing since June, so many things to add! and they are all last minute!), printing business cards, and making a list of schools to visit on Thursday.

On Thursday, I'm going to hand-deliver my portfolio to various principals and HR people at various schools and district offices.

Yesterday was a little awkward for me. I didn't want to be in the way of my CT getting back into the classroom. But I also didn't know what my role was. The university has said we are not required to teach anymore after our solo, but it's always an assumption that student teachers stay in the room past their solo to transition out. These transitions can be so awkward.

But I've got to do what I've got to do right? It's nice to observe other rooms. It's nice to take some time off from teaching all day and get my ducks in a order.

Most of all, it's just nice to be done.

Solo done!

Where can I find these little lights of hope when my confidence is broke?
Yesterday was my last day of solo. Overall, the two weeks went decently. The entire semester was productive too.

All I have left before I get my preliminary credential is the final evaluation, and filing for graduation with the university and the CCTC.

Yet, I still have this nagging fear that they will fail me. Because CSUS has been known to guide a student teacher through the entire semester and then say at the very end, "You are not good enough."

Although they didn't tell me at the very end, they did make me waste a good six months of my life.

In my eyes, I passed. But I can't shake off that nagging fear.

Unreasonable assignments

Not everyone is as lucky as this double-yolk egg.
I have one more day of my solo experience to go. Since last Wednesday, things have been going pretty well on all fronts.

Today was a bit of a scatter-brain day, what with students getting pulled out left and right, assemblies, end-of-the-year-2009 rush to get things accomplished, and a general sense of "w00t! one more week of school until Christmas break!" The fact that it was Thursday didn't help matters very much.

But over all, I'm teaching well. At least, according to my standard of "teaching well." Of course I've got things to make better. But I got 90% of the class to learn how to locate North and South American countries and their capitol cities today. 75% of the class can correctly calculate the multiplication AND division of fractions AND mixed numbers - despite the fact that both concepts were introduced within one day of each other. Two days ago. Which was about the same time when 90% of the class finally understood the difference between the GCF and LCM.

However, I'm babbling. Let's just say what I've been telling people: "It's been up and down, but more up than down, so I consider it a success."

One thing to remember: don't assign ginormous assignments (i.e. like the astronomy project my class had to finish this week) without mico-deadlines. Or requiring that students type and print their report, knowing full well that they don't have computers, let alone printers at home and that school rules say they can't print anything from school printers (budget cuts). Granted, my CT gave them plenty of time to figure all this stuff out (a full 6 weeks), but still. They are 10 and 11 year olds. They have no concept of independent long-term planning.

Oh well. They'll learn. This class's demographics are such that they will bounce back. I'm not so sure about others.

Discipline without stress

That moon cake from the Hong Kong Peninsula Hotel was awesome. I ate three of them in two days. Which is an example of non-discipline.
Ideal and impossible? Not according to Dr. Marvin Marshall. I bought this book some months ago and began reading it immediately. The first third wasn't so great. It was everything I knew already, nothing new to add.

The second third was a little better. A bit more practical advice, and an activity on defining standards that I want to do in my own classroom. Very logical, very clear cut, and very internally driven, which I like. The goal, when teaching behavior and social standards, are to get students to do things on their own, for their own benefit.

UTEC encourages us in a very overt way to feature social objectives in every lesson. I would say at least 70% of my pedagogy classes were about teaching social standards in an explicit way. But my CT likes to handle behaviors on a one-to-one basis, developing a sort of mentorship rather than direct teaching. From what I've seen, both are effective, and both are even more effective when both are used at once.

I haven't gotten to the last third of the book yet. There are still five days left of my solo, and I've only been able to read a few paragraphs before I conk out each night. But I'll get to it. And I'll let this blog know.

Dark vs. light

Sometimes, I think the light just isn't shining on me. The lamp above me is broken, but everyone else's is lit. That was yesterday.

Today was better. Today, the light above me was dim. Not completely there yet, but better. I think my social studies lesson went well, although two of the higher achieving students bombed the assignment, strangely.

I need to be a little harsher on the grades. C is the middle, B is above average, A is advanced. Don't give a nicer grade just because of they took more effort, and yet didn't quite make it to par.

They say upper elementary grade students tend to value peer opinion more than teacher opinion. I see that as half true and half not so much.

Keep high standards! Demand more from students. They are slacking when I am slacking.

Solo, Day 1-3

Lord Byron got it quite accurate. I've been in a daze the whole day, at least since my morning Open Court lesson crashed and burned in the most spectacular way possible. Thus, I'm not very coherent right now, not even to myself. But I do want to jot down a list of thoughts going through my mind, learn from them, put them aside, and start fresh with a renewed spirit.

Did I mention I only have half an hour to do all of that? Yeah, because the work never ceases.

*finally completed the Educational Leave of Absence process today. my impression of the chair person's reaction to my question on who would approve my form seemed rather snotty. I in no way expected any "special" anythings "granted" tome. the form protocol required a signature. I was following the protocol. period.

*I really wish my CT would let me talk a little more when we go over my lessons after I teach them. I'm not sure him doing all the talking is effective in helping me understand how to teach better.

*also, it is very difficult to get my thoughts together right before the bell rings when someone is talking at me. and when my thoughts are not together, I teach poorly.

*I better let my CT know this tomorrow. I'll ask him to save his comments for the end of the day, not at lunch, or at prep, or at recess.

*damn, is it only Wednesday?

*seriously, I love teaching science.

*why on earth am I making the same teaching errors over and over again? why am I so inconsistent? why are my old habits dying such a long and drawn out death?

*more importantly, how can I fix this weakness?

*I am totally NOT a 4 in any of the performance evaluation items. Am scared. Am anxious. Am nervous. Am frustrated. Am depressed and disappointed.

*almost cried at school today. at the verge of tears now. and my first three solo days haven't been that bad! yet, I still feel like a hopeless failure because of my inconsistency.

*I don't mind failing. it's the second time that makes me mad. and also the fact that the future doesn't look very promising.

*right now, would very much like a decent paying job where I just play with rabbits all day. is there a job like that? because I would like to apply.

*the commute seems so much longer when it's been a bad day.

*so much freaking stuff to do for the job hunt. I've already done so much too, but it never seems to end. there's another piece of information to add to my portfolio, another bit of contact information to give to this person, another school to study-up on enough to be able to ask intelligent questions, another thing that needs doing but I don't know what it is yet because it'll only pop up at the last minute. ~.~ uugh.

*I do not give a rat's tushie about being "holiday ready," so you can stop pushing that tinsel in my face now.

*I really appreciate my part-time job, really. But I don't appreciate the expectation of showing up to a class WHEN I WASN'T TOLD THAT THERE WAS ONE. Or being under the assumption that I am available teach a new session, scheduling me for it, AND THEN telling me after all other things had been set. Or thinking that I can magically appear at a school site in twenty minutes WHEN IT TAKES FORTY TO DRIVE THERE.

*I really do appreciate my part-time job. I will probably work at it for a little longer if I can't manage to find a full-time teaching position.

*that is, assuming they let me pass. it would SO SUCK if they end up not letting me pass. again. I'm not sure I would continue with the program if that happened.

*not that I've been told any time this semester that I'm under risk of not passing. my supervisor has actually been pretty impressed by me. and my CT, in general, thinks I'm decent as well. it's just that today was such an utter disaster, it feels like I'm failing. again.

*would very much like to crawl into a warm, soft cave and hibernate for a very, very long time.

Ok mind, are you emptied yet? Can I move on with my life and get back to work? Can "being patient start now," like Lyra says at the end of The Amber Spyglass?

I'm so glad tomorrow is a new day. I just hope today won't chain me down from those flying colors tomorrow.

Photo from: Beauty in Everything

The food chain

Mo says, "Please don't eat me."
Today in science:

Me: Humans are at the top of the food chain because they have the ability to hunt and eat nearly everything. In China, at the markets, they sell all sorts of things like roasted cockroaches and barbeque snake. On a dare, I ate bbq snake once.

Student 1: Did it taste like chicken?

Me: It was burnt, so it tasted like charcoal.

Student 2: My dad said when he was younger, he would catch rabbits and eat them.

Me: Yes, people can eat rabbits. But that story makes me a little sad. Do you know why?

Students (all): ::blank but curious stares::

Me: Because I have a rabbit at home.

Students (all): ::bursts out laughing::

I love teaching science at the elementary level. They are just so naturally curious about the world. I wish I could have science lessons every day.

Parent/teacher conferences

Viewing the paper work from this point of view.

Parent/teacher conferences began yesterday and will continue up to Thanksgiving break. This is my third time sitting through these as a student teacher. I got to participate a little, giving my input on the student's progress, during my first experience last fall. This time, I'm going to run some of these myself. My CT will be present, of course, but I'll be the sole person addressing the parent. Am I a teacher-geek for being excited about that? Absolutely.

So far, I've learned:

- schedule the Spanish/Russian/Hmong speaking parents back-to-back with the other Spanish/Russian/Hmong speaking parents so the translator doesn't have to hop back and forth, from day to day. They will have more energy to do a better job translating, AND they will like you more. It is important to have a good relationship with the support staff.

- schedule the "teacher intensive" (either on the parent's side, or on the student's side) early in the conference week. Some will be no-shows, which means I can call them and attempt to reschedule later in the week.

- conversely, schedule the model student/parent meetings later. It just makes it nice to end the conference week on a happy note.

- massively push to have most of the meetings in the early half of the week, because it is A WHOLE WEEK AND THEN SOME of conferences. It is a long slog. I will get tired.

- leave the last conference week day open. That allows room for reschedules - and if those aren't necessary, then I'll get to leave school at 12:15 PM! w00t!

- coordinate with the teachers of brothers and sisters of my own students. The parent will be happier about hitting all the meetings on one day, rather than returning multiple times for anxious meetings.

How my pants usually die

I found these ink stains on my carpet some months ago. They came from a leaky Muji pen, which is sad because Muji pens are my favorite pens ever. It's like I was betrayed by a best friend.

This happens to me more often than not though. I come home only to discover that I had been walking around with an ink stain on my pants from the pen I stuck in my pocket during teaching. Sad because that ink stain doesn't come off all the way. Sadder still because I have limited pairs of teaching pants.

Maybe that's why my skirts and dresses last a lot longer than my pants - they don't have pockets.

I sometimes wish I could just have a velcro - or magnetic, because it won't make that annoying ripping sound - band around my arm and stick pens to it. Kind of like those non-slip pads that keep things like cellphones and sunglasses sticking to the dashboard of cars. I would so buy that. It would be much more handy than any pocket. Especially since pants pockets have been growing smaller and smaller.

I'm not that only one that thinks so right? My theory is that clothing manufacturers cut costs by making the pockets smaller. I can barely fit my car keys in some of the pockets of my newer pants. My older pants can easily fit my keys, my phone, a lipgloss, and my wallet (in the other pocket). Which is convenient because then I don't have to carry around a bag.

The small pockets also ruin my pens more. The nibs get damaged, which makes them leak even more. The caps snag on fabric and snap off. Sometimes the whole pen doesn't even fit into the pocket, not even diagonally, which makes it uncomfortable as well as annoying.

The ink stains on my carpet doesn't really have anything to do with pants. I'm just reminded of my pen-and-pant-pocket dilemma from the photo. Make bigger pockets, people!

But you know, if my bigger worries from teaching is ink stains on my pants, then I really can't complain. It's been a good semester so far. I'll miss this.

Writing

Some snippets of awesome (or more like awesomely hilarious) writing from my students. The writing assignment was to write a three paragraph "how to" essay. Parentheses are my own thoughts, not communicated to the students of course.

"How to act dum (sic)" was the title of one essay. (um.....)

"Have your siblings ever gotten you in trouble? Well, now it's your turn to get them in trouble." (vindictive much?)

"Have you ever flushed a fish in the toilet? That is the improper way of taking care of them." (no joke)

"As bait, put your sister's favorite toy on the floor." (another essay about tricking siblings; I'm reminded of Homer and donuts)

"If you haven't tried homemaid, try it you will have a blast (sic)." (that's what she said. ok, ok, vulgar, yes, but still hilarious)

"Are you hungry? If yes, then you should read my essay on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." (as if reading an essay will ease hunger. actually this student is a pretty good writer, it's just this part was too funny)

"If your pie is cheesecake, DON'T MICROWAVE IT!!!!" (or else it will become cheesecake soup?)

"Annoying your younger sibling is worth it." (does Loreal know you are taking their catch phrase?)

"Tip number one: you must get paid for watching the kids, or the deal is off." (employee rights! booyah!)

Evaluations make me puke

It's midterm season, which means performance evaluations. Which, restating the obvious here, make me puke.

I, frankly, am not very good at evaluating myself. The things that stand out to me - and seem important to me - are not exactly important to anyone else. In particular my CT, my supervisor, the university, the school, etc. Who, by the way, are the ones who decide whether I am competent enough to teach the public's children.

Another example. I think I'm good at some things, my CT has an opposite view. I think I'm not so good at some things, and once again, my CT has an opposite view. So far, I'm just getting confused.

My evaluation of myself, this time around, was a lot harder than what my CT gave me. I'm still not particularly confident yet, for a variety of reasons. Sure, I can rock an art lesson. This week I had spectacularly awesome art teaching (from my point of view, of course). But handling a full day classroom? I'm shaking in my teacher "power shoes," which, ironically, are supposed to give me more confidence.

I am the teacher. i AM the teacher. i am THE teacher. i am the TEACHER.

But just because I am, doesn't mean I'm good at it. And I want to be good at it. I thought I had talent for teaching, but now I'm not so sure. Which confuses me more because my grading of myself isn't to be trusted, apparently.

Oh well. I guess I'm still only good at eating, sleeping, and getting distracted. Right now, I'm cool with that.

A time of reflection

Like looking at an old, black and white photo.
I'm currently waiting for my one-on-one conference with the professor about our most recent paper. Not particularly in the best of attitudes, since, in my opinion, she wasted a lot of time doing these one-on-ones in the first 45 minutes of class while everyone else waited around doing nothing.

Anyway. This week has been a week of reflection. And not just because my paper is about blogs and teachers and critical and descriptive reflections. But I would like to say that I'm not critical of myself enough on this blog. Which I will try to change. Maybe. There are some criticisms I'm not particularly willing to share with the entire cyberworld. I wish teenagers (and adults too) would learn a bit more restraint on the internet themselves.

It's been a tiring week, but a good week. My lessons were decent. My CT, who proclaimed to give me miles and miles worth of notes during my teaching hasn't really given me that much feedback this week. Not sure if that is a bad thing or a good thing. Maybe it's just a neutral thing. We have been extremely busy this week.

I'm pretty sure I will be taking a leave of absence from the MA program in January. First, I'll need to find a job. Second, this potential job may or may not be in the Sacramento metro area. Third, I'm pretty sure my job will take up 150% of my time. The things I do in my classroom now are only things on the surface - I've taken on most of the teaching but my CT still handles the logistics, scheduling, parents, and a myriad of other things. I'm surprised any one teacher can handle the teaching job on their own.

Job comes first. MA can wait. This doesn't mean I won't be studying on my own. Even if I don't have online access to the university library and database (but maybe I will if I subscribe to the alumni association...either the UC or CSU one is fine), I can still physically go to a university library on a free Saturday and read, bring photocopies home. There are also tons of articles in my files from these past two years that I haven't had a chance to properly study using my own sweet time yet.

Last word: still lots to learn. But I need to contribute something outside of academia now.

Movie day

Site of movies such as The Dark Knight, Push, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li, and whole bunch more.
It's the end of Unit 1 in Open Court and we are watching a movie on cooperation and competition. My CT chose Remember the Titans, which fits really well with the theme.

I originally wasn't so hot on the idea of showing movies in class. It seems like a cop out to me. And students get so much TV at home anyway, they don't really need more in school.

But the choice of movie can make the activity sink or spectacular. I like pretty much anything by National Geographic, Lonely Planet or Globe Trekker, and the movies that match with whatever topic we are studying.

My all time favorite is Donald Duck in Mathmagicland. This movie was made before I was born, probably, but it is still awesome. Math never goes out of style.

Alive!

Like sometime rising up out of a pit.
Just barely. Had a close shave with another sinus infection - second one this year. I'm still getting over the tail end of it. Luckily it didn't last three weeks this time, thanks in part to Nyquil. Still, I need more sleep and am not looking forward to getting up early tomorrow.

Lots of things to do, with a crunch for time. Story of my life as a student teacher. I like it and I don't like it at the same time. It reminds me of how students need structure and stability in their lives. I need the structure of paper deadlines and lesson plan due dates. I don't like it at the same time because I've grown to enjoy working at my own pace. Which can sometimes be much slower than the prescribed deadlines.

Every day has been a good teaching day. Well, at least there hasn't been a bad teaching day this semester so far. ::crosses fingers:: I'm sure there will be one soon. This group of kids is just too good. You have to pay them to misbehave in a big way. Of course there are little things like talking out of turn, getting out of their seats, being over excited and knocking things down. But they quickly get back in focus and no one has questioned my authority in a resentful manner. Very polite kids, very logical, reasonable students who care about and are decent to other people. Great kids over all.

I'm having issues with teaching two maths to two groups of students at the same time. Enough said for now. Partly because I don't even want to think about it right now. It gives me a headache on top of the one from the sinus pressure.

Thinking about my future and what I'll be doing once I'm finally done with this program. In in the MA program at CSUS too, but with the way things are I'm leaning towards transferring the credits elsewhere. Thinking about job hunting (bad), thinking about money and professional development and my life goals as well as career goals. So much to think about. Still, I'm forcing myself to push these items aside until the tasks immediately in front of me are complete.

But life is good so far. I'm at peace with where I am, satisfied with where I'm going, and glad I did the things I did in the past. Right now, I'm happy with that.

Skip

Like a garden path that has to end somewhere.
Well, that was a good run. Six months of one-post-a-day, but of course it had to end sometime. Not that I've quit blogging. On the contrary, just as I was starting to run out of ideas, the education world vomits a whole slew of things into my lap for consideration. As if I was the only person to consider them.

Recent events

a) A big rig decided to flip over in the middle of my route to school yesterday morning. It took me over 2 hours, when the morning commute usually takes 45-50 minutes. I was So. Freaking. Late. Luckily, this happened during student teaching when it doesn't really matter because I'm not the sole adult in the room. Still, it wasn't exactly a good start to the day.

b) Related to a), my personal goal of living within a 10 minute walk from my workplace is re-ignited.

c) Just as I got to school, and just as I got started teaching, I was called to the kindergarten room. To cover for the kindergarten teacher. Because the kindergarten teacher had a meeting with the principal. This, in my eyes, is so not cool. At the time, I didn't mind, but being taken out in the middle of teaching a new segment I just picked up this week, not being able to experience that, or get feedback from my CT, that SUCKS. I totally brought this up with my supervisor. Let's hope it doesn't happen again.

d) We got a new student! My CT is not so happy about this change because they just called him down (right before they called me) and plopped a new student in our class without prior notice. When our class was already at 27 enrollment and the other two fifth grade classes were at 25 each. Where is the even distribution here?

e) Some days I love teaching art. Some days I'm ready to leave it for something new. Yesterday was a good art teaching day.

Sanity and teaching

CT: Hey, listen to this (reads from a quick write response), "I think it is a good thing because it is good and it will be good."
Me: So she means, "Good things are good now, and will be good later?"
CT: When it comes down to this point, I've usually stopped trying to make sense out of it and just laugh.

I've heard teachers say they never crack a smile until Christmas. I used to agree with that, and then I disagreed with that, and now I'm on the fence. As a relatively young teacher, I think my students expect me to laugh a little. If I don't, I somethings get the feeling that they think I'm a stick-in-the-mud and thus lose a little respect for me.

Ok, so I'm not sure if that's true. It certainly isn't a scientific observation - just something my "teacher gut" tells me at certain times.

I like laughing. I like laughing with my students. I like laughing at my students. My CT and I do all the time - although we don't let the students know. I like ending a day that is so bad it makes me cry with a laugh.

Because that's how I stay sane doing this insane job. That's how I deal with educational law and policy that makes me do 10 hours worth of instruction in 5.5 hours time. That's how I handle being given thousands of dollars worth of teacher's manuals and yet not be provided with pencils or paper or a classroom that doesn't leak rain in during the winter and turn into a broiler in late summer/early spring. It's how I can still feel that this job is worth it even when I'm blamed for my students low test scores - these same students who are children of migrant workers and have been in school an average of 2 full years by the time they are ten years old; students who were alcohol fetal syndrome babies; students with learning/physical/cognitive disabilities; students who have no concept of what "humor" is in their first language, let alone English; students who find gang activity as common as Saturday morning cartoons.

So if you ever see me having something that looks like a hysterical fit, don't be alarmed. I'm not crazy, I'm just a teacher.

Back to school night #2

Last week, I experienced my second back-to-school night as a teacher. It was pretty fun. GE is one of those schools that has a high parent involvement percentage. And by parent involvement percentage, I mean at least 75% of them attend back-to-school night.

Out of my class of 28 students, 19 students' parents/family showed up. That was a number I didn't see at WB. It's probably a number that wouldn't happen often at EIB either. GE is an awesome school like that.

But there were some unhappy parents too. Mainly because they don't like the fact that we are teaching 5th grade social studies and science to both the 5th and 6th graders. Which is understandable, I would be angry too if that happened to my kid.

I would also raise some money to hire another teacher to relieve this problem as well. At least a part-time social studies/science teacher, if not a full-time, contracted one. There are crazy things happening with this district, and parents aren't the only ones who are unhappy about it.

I had a positive experience with back-to-school nights so far. Enough so that I'm willing to do more than just give my own classroom spiel to my students' parents. The local Jamba Juice decided to sponsor our back-to-school night this year. Which was awesome and hilarious at the same time. There's a thesis idea in the works over this concept in my head.