**student teaching week 12**
After this placement, I'm a pro at dealing with standardized tests
in my planning. Yes, I planned around a third standardized test this
past week. It's getting to be a little nuts but I think I'm clear for
the next two weeks.
The beginning of my week was quite eventful, but in a good way. I
excitedly told my teacher I had the best Easter weekend of my life
the first thing Tuesday morning and showed off my left hand a little.
She was so excited that she sent out an email to the whole staff –
and that's a lot of staff. It was a fantastic day after that, with
teachers coming up and congratulating me all the time. I felt a part
of the staff in a way I haven't yet. My homeroom students caught wind
of it right away in the morning, and so they also spread the word a
little (although I found out later a majority of my classes actually
didn't know until Thursday, but not a big deal).
We also had MAP testing on Tuesday and Wednesday, which meant I
didn't see all of my classes for either of those days. Though I
thought it would seriously mess with my planning, because I worked it
all out about a week and a half before, it all ended up working quite
perfectly.
Thursday things got rough again. I encountered disrespect towards
me, students ditching class, and disregard for what I was saying.
Yet, that being said, that was a small minority of the students, and
most of the actual instruction time was what I've typically faced.
However, I stuck with the behavior system and put in some negative
marks, and students received necessary consequences. I think that had
some effect on how students behaved Friday, because most stayed in
line during instructional, Language Arts time. Advisory that day was
chaos, though; it's a somewhat long story that I won't go into. Yet,
somehow that also turned into a blessing. Because I felt I had been
dropping the ball and should've had better control over the students,
I was feeling pretty down after classes ended and sent an email
apologizing to another teacher for dropping the ball. She came down
to encourage me, and as she was building me up and being my sounding
board, the assistant principal also came in the room and tried to
encourage me. Though I was still shaken up, their support was what I
needed and I can go into the next week knowing a have experienced
teachers knowing my pain and actually feeling the same way I am right
now.
On another bright note, I'm loving this unit and not feeling near
as stressed. Partially this is because my teacher is a Poe expert and
has so many resources at my fingertips. Also, it's because I'm
actually able to read with the students – for once! - and I find it
easier to bring in supplemental material when it really is
supplemental to the main part of the lesson, which is reading a poem
or story. I believe I'll be transitioning out of the full-time by the
end of the week, but I'm glad I got to brush up my Poe and am
laughing at how stressed I was that I was going to mess this up.
Eighth grade right now is rough. They know they're moving on, so
don't care as much about academics. Some have already lost end of the
year privileges, so really don't care about their behavior either. I
stay strong in front of the students, and never let them know if they
get under my skin, but I can only take so many hits before it does
affect me. I know I'm doing my job and that's why the kids don't like
me right now; I know I'm not superwoman and can't see everything. I
can only do the best I can and with the back-up of others around me,
that's how I'm going to go into these final weeks.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Monday, April 21, 2014
My fairy tale proposal
Taking a break from the student teaching posts for a minute...
I HAVE TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE BEST THURSDAY EVER.
As most of you know, I've been dating Mr. Kyle Koning quite seriously over the past year. We'd talked marriage plenty. My family loves him, I love him, and everything was pointing towards marriage. I knew it was only a matter of time until he proposed, but I wasn't sure if he was capable of surprising me.
But, oh, he did.
I was driving home from Trinity for Easter weekend on Thursday.
My dad called to see how far I was - normal.
He said we were going to go out to dinner - normal.
My best friend, Jess, decided to go come too - normal.
I got home, and Jess and Mom were there waiting.
Asked where dad was, Mom said he was held up at work - normal (if you know my dad's job, this is normal)
Mom told me to brush my hair - caught me off guard, but yeah, okay.
Set off for the restaurant, where dad would meet us - normal.
Dad was going to be late - okay.
Pulled off the road to go to my favorite park - ummmm... okay, sure.
Started walking and talking with Mom and Jess - okay
Kyle pops out from behind a tree - what.
I spot Dad with a camera - I told Kyle that when he proposed, someone HAD to take pictures... OH MY WORD. I KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING.
So then the love of my life held me and quoted Lord of the Rings to me about spending his one life with me rather than a thousand eternities alone. Then he got down on a knee, called me by my full name and asked me to marry him.
Response: "Yes, of course!"
So with my best friend and my parents watching, as the sun set with brilliant hues of pink, I got engaged to the man I'm going to spend eternity with.
Is this guy good, or what?
I HAVE TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE BEST THURSDAY EVER.
As most of you know, I've been dating Mr. Kyle Koning quite seriously over the past year. We'd talked marriage plenty. My family loves him, I love him, and everything was pointing towards marriage. I knew it was only a matter of time until he proposed, but I wasn't sure if he was capable of surprising me.
But, oh, he did.
I was driving home from Trinity for Easter weekend on Thursday.
My dad called to see how far I was - normal.
He said we were going to go out to dinner - normal.
My best friend, Jess, decided to go come too - normal.
I got home, and Jess and Mom were there waiting.
Asked where dad was, Mom said he was held up at work - normal (if you know my dad's job, this is normal)
Mom told me to brush my hair - caught me off guard, but yeah, okay.
Set off for the restaurant, where dad would meet us - normal.
Dad was going to be late - okay.
Pulled off the road to go to my favorite park - ummmm... okay, sure.
Started walking and talking with Mom and Jess - okay
Kyle pops out from behind a tree - what.
I spot Dad with a camera - I told Kyle that when he proposed, someone HAD to take pictures... OH MY WORD. I KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING.
So then the love of my life held me and quoted Lord of the Rings to me about spending his one life with me rather than a thousand eternities alone. Then he got down on a knee, called me by my full name and asked me to marry him.
Response: "Yes, of course!"
So with my best friend and my parents watching, as the sun set with brilliant hues of pink, I got engaged to the man I'm going to spend eternity with.
Is this guy good, or what?
Going Up
**student teaching week 15**
This past week improved quite a bit from the previous two weeks. Though the kids were still talkative and occasionally disrespectful, I felt better about the week and I think the kids enjoyed, mostly, what I was teaching. This week I was introducing the students to Poe, which is the next unit we begin. Despite my nerves about it, once I found a mystery story to read, I was excited to go through it with the students. And the students seemed intrigued, too, and after the first day some even read ahead to find out the ending. I could hardly discourage that, although I encouraged them to keep some details a secret. The story ended up taking the whole week, which was unexpected, but actually allows for me to have more planning ahead for the week to come. In the end, I'm more excited about the Poe unit than I was a week ago.
Another positive that came toward the end of the week is another new behavior system, which my cooperating teacher was planning to implement in the last unit of the year anyway. It involves Class Dojo, and marking when students display a negative behavior. My teacher and I discussed which behaviors need to be cut down, and what consequences we will enforce. It was then explained to the students, and has already been implemented. I'm hoping this also improves the students' behaviors or reinforces what's appropriate for the classroom.
I am hoping these next three weeks remain on the higher side as far as good behaviors and fun with the students. I want to have positive relationships with these students, and I love it when I can laugh with them. I want to end this semester on a high note, including with my students. With only three weeks left, I am leaning on God's strength to carry me through.
This past week improved quite a bit from the previous two weeks. Though the kids were still talkative and occasionally disrespectful, I felt better about the week and I think the kids enjoyed, mostly, what I was teaching. This week I was introducing the students to Poe, which is the next unit we begin. Despite my nerves about it, once I found a mystery story to read, I was excited to go through it with the students. And the students seemed intrigued, too, and after the first day some even read ahead to find out the ending. I could hardly discourage that, although I encouraged them to keep some details a secret. The story ended up taking the whole week, which was unexpected, but actually allows for me to have more planning ahead for the week to come. In the end, I'm more excited about the Poe unit than I was a week ago.
Another positive that came toward the end of the week is another new behavior system, which my cooperating teacher was planning to implement in the last unit of the year anyway. It involves Class Dojo, and marking when students display a negative behavior. My teacher and I discussed which behaviors need to be cut down, and what consequences we will enforce. It was then explained to the students, and has already been implemented. I'm hoping this also improves the students' behaviors or reinforces what's appropriate for the classroom.
I am hoping these next three weeks remain on the higher side as far as good behaviors and fun with the students. I want to have positive relationships with these students, and I love it when I can laugh with them. I want to end this semester on a high note, including with my students. With only three weeks left, I am leaning on God's strength to carry me through.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
We're Getting There
**student teaching week 14**
In light of what I wrote about last week, I'm going to start out this week just listing some of the positives:
I'm not going to go on to list negatives because no one wants to read a list of complaints, and really my footing seemed surer this week. However, I will go on to give you a window into some more portions of my week.
This week we continued our Shakespeare unit, though it was basically the last week. Monday's lesson went all right, because it was mostly reviewing who all of the characters of A Midsummer Night's Dream (AMND) are – it does get confusing! I also showed some clips I found on youtube of some of the scenes, which is how Shakespeare was intended anyway – to be seen. The kids were pretty talkative on this day, though, but I started the new timer system. However, advisory did not go well. The students wanted to go to the gym, like we do many days, but I was told to just keep them in the classroom today while my teacher finished with the PARCC students. They had an assignment – check their grades, make a plan for how to improve them – and then just had quiet time to read or work. However, most of the students didn't want to stay in the classroom and were pestering me most of the class. One student kept getting up and going to walk out the door, but then would come back. However, eventually, he ran, saying he was going to the gym, and slammed the door in my face. I stepped into the hall and he was nowhere in sight. Just at that moment, my cooperating teacher was coming down the hall and I told her. She called the office just before the student returned. He told the principal he was going to go to the bathroom, but he was given a consequence anyway because he had not indicated anything to me other than that he was gone. However, this student continues to challenge me (and honestly, most of the teachers). He has taken to calling me by my first name, mostly to get a rise out of me, which is why I show little reaction. He also refused to listen the rest of the week in advisory and told me repeatedly this week how all the students dislike me. Thankfully, I have a thick skin in regards to his comments and am also aware that he's just trying to get to me. But it doesn't exactly feel nice either.
Tuesday's lesson was a flop, really. I was trying to do a jigsaw activity with an article about what Shakespeare used as sources for some of his characters and plot points of AMND, but few were understanding what to do, even after it was laid out step by step on the board, and they refused to go with the groups I split them into. As a reflective teacher, I realized by last hour this was going nowhere, so switched up some tactics and worked through the article as a whole class instead.
Wednesday improved. We watched portions of the movie version of AMND and looked at specific, important quotes to try to decode some of the language. Most students appreciated watching the movie clips and that kept them quieter.
Thursday was better still. The students were assigned a short writing piece – 2-3 paragraphs – arguing why Puck is the protagonist of the play. We first discussed who they thought might be the main character, and why. Students seemed engaged in this, and then I explained that we'd be specifically considering Puck as a protagonist (as required by my teacher). After laying out the guidelines for what I expected, including explaining setting up quotes using the analogy of an Oreo, students got to work and worked on this again on Friday.
Friday was by far the best day – students worked for the whole period, we saw the play, and it was a sunny day. However, I got more comments from a couple other students that I was not being nice to them and was only ever picking on them. These came after I had circled the room a few times, reminding them and several other students in other areas of the room to stay on task and get to work. Now, I know that I was giving other students reminders to stay on task and so I wasn't singling them out, as they claimed. Additionally, I never raised my voice to them, only redirected them away from conversation. However, as a reflective teacher, with about 4-5 students in the week making comments about either disliking me or thinking I was mean or unfair (one student had similar comments Thursday because I wouldn't allow him to eat in the room and I was telling him to quit talking numerous times), I couldn't help but wonder if something in me this week was more harsh than usual, or if this was the students just getting defensive and I was in the clear. Most of me says, after thinking about it, that because I've started being more firm and giving stricter consequences, students are reacting. I would need a third, adult opinion about my behavior this week, though, because maybe there was something I wasn't seeing in how I interacted with students. Yet, the attitude I display for students will be something I will keep in mind going into this week.
We're beginning Poe this week, and it honestly has me quite nervous. I'm supposed to be teaching them the biographical information about Poe and other background material, and then after Easter starting “The Raven.” Poe is someone I have learned very little about as a man himself, and the last time I read “The Raven” was junior year of high school. To add pressure, my teacher is a Poe fanatic and was describing how she had to plan and provide materials for the other Reading and Language Arts teachers because she wants this unit done “right.” As a positive, I do have the long weekend to think about “The Raven” and we are only easing into Poe this week because Reading isn't ready. Yet, MAP testing is also throwing a wrench into plans because a) my students take them Thursday then the following Tuesday and Wednesday and b) the teams decided that instead of shortening all classes to just change which classes we see each day. So with break in there, there are some classes I don't see for just under a week, so I can't plan anything big that they will forget when they don't have class or anything that bridges the weekend. On the plus side, working with this schedule at least prepares me for standardized testing schedules when I'm a teacher!
I have 18 school days left at this placement – 2 four day weeks and 2 five days weeks. At this point, I don't know when I'll be transitioning out of full-time teaching – if that will be at the end of April, at the end of the Poe unit, or if I will be teaching 6 classes right up until May 9. I'm just taking it a week at a time, trying to do everything that's needed, no matter how much time that takes. I'm hoping that soon I will have time to actually enjoy my last weeks with my friends, with the Trinity community that has meant so much to me over four years, before graduation and we all spread to different parts of the world (literally... I have friends going global), even if that means just an hour a day that I take a breather from schoolwork and planning.
In this week of Holy Week, I also hope to be filled and reminded daily of what this week means to our faith. Thus, though I may not be getting spiritually filled at school, I pray that I be granted time to filled with special activities on campus this week that will then allow me to pour out an extra measure of love in the classroom.
In light of what I wrote about last week, I'm going to start out this week just listing some of the positives:
- 2 days this week, I taught only 3 of the Language Arts
classes and the advisory class because the first two classes were
taking PARCC testing in the morning. While this had some negative
effects as well, easing into the morning just silently watching kids
take a test was a pretty nice start to the day
- my cooperating teacher had me implement a system she's used
before to get the kids to be quiet quicker – hold up a timer and
time how long it takes. If the class gets to 5 minutes by Friday,
they all have a lunch detention. It did seem to work better for
getting them to get quiet quickly, and no class got to 5 minutes
- CST traveling company performed A Midsummer Night's Dream
for us Friday and it was
fantastic
- Friday we were able to go
outside during advisory class because it was so gorgeous and sunny
- some students in 4th
hour commented on Friday how I was a nice teacher, which was good in
light of some other comments I'd been getting that day and the
previous day
- I didn't feel as behind on
my planning as previous weeks
- I was in bed by 12:00 or
12:30 most nights
I'm not going to go on to list negatives because no one wants to read a list of complaints, and really my footing seemed surer this week. However, I will go on to give you a window into some more portions of my week.
This week we continued our Shakespeare unit, though it was basically the last week. Monday's lesson went all right, because it was mostly reviewing who all of the characters of A Midsummer Night's Dream (AMND) are – it does get confusing! I also showed some clips I found on youtube of some of the scenes, which is how Shakespeare was intended anyway – to be seen. The kids were pretty talkative on this day, though, but I started the new timer system. However, advisory did not go well. The students wanted to go to the gym, like we do many days, but I was told to just keep them in the classroom today while my teacher finished with the PARCC students. They had an assignment – check their grades, make a plan for how to improve them – and then just had quiet time to read or work. However, most of the students didn't want to stay in the classroom and were pestering me most of the class. One student kept getting up and going to walk out the door, but then would come back. However, eventually, he ran, saying he was going to the gym, and slammed the door in my face. I stepped into the hall and he was nowhere in sight. Just at that moment, my cooperating teacher was coming down the hall and I told her. She called the office just before the student returned. He told the principal he was going to go to the bathroom, but he was given a consequence anyway because he had not indicated anything to me other than that he was gone. However, this student continues to challenge me (and honestly, most of the teachers). He has taken to calling me by my first name, mostly to get a rise out of me, which is why I show little reaction. He also refused to listen the rest of the week in advisory and told me repeatedly this week how all the students dislike me. Thankfully, I have a thick skin in regards to his comments and am also aware that he's just trying to get to me. But it doesn't exactly feel nice either.
Tuesday's lesson was a flop, really. I was trying to do a jigsaw activity with an article about what Shakespeare used as sources for some of his characters and plot points of AMND, but few were understanding what to do, even after it was laid out step by step on the board, and they refused to go with the groups I split them into. As a reflective teacher, I realized by last hour this was going nowhere, so switched up some tactics and worked through the article as a whole class instead.
Wednesday improved. We watched portions of the movie version of AMND and looked at specific, important quotes to try to decode some of the language. Most students appreciated watching the movie clips and that kept them quieter.
Thursday was better still. The students were assigned a short writing piece – 2-3 paragraphs – arguing why Puck is the protagonist of the play. We first discussed who they thought might be the main character, and why. Students seemed engaged in this, and then I explained that we'd be specifically considering Puck as a protagonist (as required by my teacher). After laying out the guidelines for what I expected, including explaining setting up quotes using the analogy of an Oreo, students got to work and worked on this again on Friday.
Friday was by far the best day – students worked for the whole period, we saw the play, and it was a sunny day. However, I got more comments from a couple other students that I was not being nice to them and was only ever picking on them. These came after I had circled the room a few times, reminding them and several other students in other areas of the room to stay on task and get to work. Now, I know that I was giving other students reminders to stay on task and so I wasn't singling them out, as they claimed. Additionally, I never raised my voice to them, only redirected them away from conversation. However, as a reflective teacher, with about 4-5 students in the week making comments about either disliking me or thinking I was mean or unfair (one student had similar comments Thursday because I wouldn't allow him to eat in the room and I was telling him to quit talking numerous times), I couldn't help but wonder if something in me this week was more harsh than usual, or if this was the students just getting defensive and I was in the clear. Most of me says, after thinking about it, that because I've started being more firm and giving stricter consequences, students are reacting. I would need a third, adult opinion about my behavior this week, though, because maybe there was something I wasn't seeing in how I interacted with students. Yet, the attitude I display for students will be something I will keep in mind going into this week.
We're beginning Poe this week, and it honestly has me quite nervous. I'm supposed to be teaching them the biographical information about Poe and other background material, and then after Easter starting “The Raven.” Poe is someone I have learned very little about as a man himself, and the last time I read “The Raven” was junior year of high school. To add pressure, my teacher is a Poe fanatic and was describing how she had to plan and provide materials for the other Reading and Language Arts teachers because she wants this unit done “right.” As a positive, I do have the long weekend to think about “The Raven” and we are only easing into Poe this week because Reading isn't ready. Yet, MAP testing is also throwing a wrench into plans because a) my students take them Thursday then the following Tuesday and Wednesday and b) the teams decided that instead of shortening all classes to just change which classes we see each day. So with break in there, there are some classes I don't see for just under a week, so I can't plan anything big that they will forget when they don't have class or anything that bridges the weekend. On the plus side, working with this schedule at least prepares me for standardized testing schedules when I'm a teacher!
I have 18 school days left at this placement – 2 four day weeks and 2 five days weeks. At this point, I don't know when I'll be transitioning out of full-time teaching – if that will be at the end of April, at the end of the Poe unit, or if I will be teaching 6 classes right up until May 9. I'm just taking it a week at a time, trying to do everything that's needed, no matter how much time that takes. I'm hoping that soon I will have time to actually enjoy my last weeks with my friends, with the Trinity community that has meant so much to me over four years, before graduation and we all spread to different parts of the world (literally... I have friends going global), even if that means just an hour a day that I take a breather from schoolwork and planning.
In this week of Holy Week, I also hope to be filled and reminded daily of what this week means to our faith. Thus, though I may not be getting spiritually filled at school, I pray that I be granted time to filled with special activities on campus this week that will then allow me to pour out an extra measure of love in the classroom.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Take a Deep Breath
*student teaching week 13*
Though we had just returned from Break, the schedule immediately threw us, teachers and students alike, back into the thick of things. We started the Shakespeare unit, which is a combined unit for Reading and Language Arts classes. The unit will culminate in a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Central's auditorium on the 11th. In Reading, they're reading an abridged version of the play and Language Arts is supposed to supplement that with information about Shakespeare, the language, the time period, or reviewing material they need more exposure to because they aren't understanding it in Reading. The unit has actually been going well, at least on the Language Arts end, so far. I had a feeling these students would not see the relevance of Shakespeare, and being a Shakespeare fan myself, I wanted to find ways that Shakespeare might be fun for the students. I gave them an in-class project to show how many stories we watch on film or read in books today were based on Shakespeare, in order to bring more relevance to Shakespeare. We did an activity with Shakespearean insults because it's part of the more fun and humorous parts of Shakespeare and his language. Though there's still students who choose to grumble, overall they seem to be enjoying the lessons I teach thus far.
It is, however, strange for me to not be reading the play in conjunction with what I teach. I like these lessons; however, to me it would make more sense if I was also reading the play with them. That is where these lessons have true value – in connection to the text and performance. It also, apparently, is hard for the students to make that connection between Language Arts and Reading still, despite the fact that in reality it's all the same subject. Some students made comments questioning why the teachers are all wanting to talk about this play; I explained that Reading is connected to Language Arts, and we're helping each other out, but they still aren't sure why it's covered in two classes that they view as wholly separate. Another student told me I shouldn't have chosen to give them homework – and a quiz on that homework, per what my teacher constructed – on Midsummer since they are learning it in another class so already know some of the answers. I explained to him again that's the point – we want to continue to integrate these classes together and emphasize what is taught in each.
One challenge, however, is PARCC testing. This is the test that is supposedly taking the place of ISATs next year. On Monday of last week, we had a training for the test. Then the test happened on Friday, and continues this upcoming Monday and Tuesday. This wouldn't be that big of an inconvenience, except for the fact that only two of my classes are doing this test, during 1st and 2nd hour. Students in the following 4th, 5th, and 7th hours don't do it all. So I have to carry on with lessons for them, but it has to be lessons that it won't matter that 1st and 2nd hours miss. It's a weird schedule to work with. However, I've been able to find some filler activities on Shakespeare that are valuable but unnecessary to all classes.
Honestly, this placement is starting to wear me out. I'm staying at school after other teachers have left, working on plans the night before I teach them, then grading, grading, and grading some more. Ideally, those plans would be made during the weekend, but weekends are for me to apply for jobs and work on classwork. I'm stressed about the fact that no one, in all the applications and feelers I have out there, has contacted me for interviews, despite the fact that I have been applying since January and others have had many interviews and even have jobs. However, I'm hoping this will turn around soon. I've finished grading narratives (and rewarded myself with a customary Cadbury crème egg), so I won't have that to do every night. I am nearly 2 days ahead on the plans for the week, so hopefully that pattern will give me some space.
In addition to the hope I have, I have good friends. All of this busy-ness has kept me from making a lot of contact with my friends. But this weekend I spent some meals with some close friends on campus. During those conversations, one friend stopped me and asked me to tell her three positive things about school. I did, and she's made it her mission to find out three new positives each day. She told me she doesn't want to see me coast through the next five weeks or grow negative. I know I need that accountability or I may start losing heart and focus. I do love what I'm doing; I love the topics I teach, and I do have some fun with my students. I still feel called to teaching. I just needed good friends and reminding to smile about that.
Though we had just returned from Break, the schedule immediately threw us, teachers and students alike, back into the thick of things. We started the Shakespeare unit, which is a combined unit for Reading and Language Arts classes. The unit will culminate in a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Central's auditorium on the 11th. In Reading, they're reading an abridged version of the play and Language Arts is supposed to supplement that with information about Shakespeare, the language, the time period, or reviewing material they need more exposure to because they aren't understanding it in Reading. The unit has actually been going well, at least on the Language Arts end, so far. I had a feeling these students would not see the relevance of Shakespeare, and being a Shakespeare fan myself, I wanted to find ways that Shakespeare might be fun for the students. I gave them an in-class project to show how many stories we watch on film or read in books today were based on Shakespeare, in order to bring more relevance to Shakespeare. We did an activity with Shakespearean insults because it's part of the more fun and humorous parts of Shakespeare and his language. Though there's still students who choose to grumble, overall they seem to be enjoying the lessons I teach thus far.
It is, however, strange for me to not be reading the play in conjunction with what I teach. I like these lessons; however, to me it would make more sense if I was also reading the play with them. That is where these lessons have true value – in connection to the text and performance. It also, apparently, is hard for the students to make that connection between Language Arts and Reading still, despite the fact that in reality it's all the same subject. Some students made comments questioning why the teachers are all wanting to talk about this play; I explained that Reading is connected to Language Arts, and we're helping each other out, but they still aren't sure why it's covered in two classes that they view as wholly separate. Another student told me I shouldn't have chosen to give them homework – and a quiz on that homework, per what my teacher constructed – on Midsummer since they are learning it in another class so already know some of the answers. I explained to him again that's the point – we want to continue to integrate these classes together and emphasize what is taught in each.
One challenge, however, is PARCC testing. This is the test that is supposedly taking the place of ISATs next year. On Monday of last week, we had a training for the test. Then the test happened on Friday, and continues this upcoming Monday and Tuesday. This wouldn't be that big of an inconvenience, except for the fact that only two of my classes are doing this test, during 1st and 2nd hour. Students in the following 4th, 5th, and 7th hours don't do it all. So I have to carry on with lessons for them, but it has to be lessons that it won't matter that 1st and 2nd hours miss. It's a weird schedule to work with. However, I've been able to find some filler activities on Shakespeare that are valuable but unnecessary to all classes.
Honestly, this placement is starting to wear me out. I'm staying at school after other teachers have left, working on plans the night before I teach them, then grading, grading, and grading some more. Ideally, those plans would be made during the weekend, but weekends are for me to apply for jobs and work on classwork. I'm stressed about the fact that no one, in all the applications and feelers I have out there, has contacted me for interviews, despite the fact that I have been applying since January and others have had many interviews and even have jobs. However, I'm hoping this will turn around soon. I've finished grading narratives (and rewarded myself with a customary Cadbury crème egg), so I won't have that to do every night. I am nearly 2 days ahead on the plans for the week, so hopefully that pattern will give me some space.
In addition to the hope I have, I have good friends. All of this busy-ness has kept me from making a lot of contact with my friends. But this weekend I spent some meals with some close friends on campus. During those conversations, one friend stopped me and asked me to tell her three positive things about school. I did, and she's made it her mission to find out three new positives each day. She told me she doesn't want to see me coast through the next five weeks or grow negative. I know I need that accountability or I may start losing heart and focus. I do love what I'm doing; I love the topics I teach, and I do have some fun with my students. I still feel called to teaching. I just needed good friends and reminding to smile about that.
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