so bad and yet...so good

they are so crazy. but they are so great. two of my favorite/most difficult students stayed late after school and actually one is still here (at 4:22 pm). he spent class making a sign for my door, and then had to stay to do his work. it was worth having him here after school, because he didn't disrupt the class. whoo hoo!! he was actually focused on this great sign for my door. i know, it's not academic, but he's doing his work now and he's doing it well.

another one of the students who stayed is one of my 7th graders. he is ridiculously adorable. i just want to give him big hugs when he does his work and give him a noogie when he doesn't do it or he's screwing around. but i don't do either of those things. i just squeeze his shoulder and smile or poke him on the arm. our principal is constantly saying, "do not touch the students." the truth is, i touch a lot of my students on the shoulder usually. it's weird to *not* touch people sometimes--i feel very affectionately toward my students. we spend two plus hours together every day--well, with some of them--and i know that they like being in my classroom, too.

it's amazing how some of the most challenging students really just want attention and affirmation. they exhaust me sometimes during class, but then they stay and it is totally renewing to build these relationships outside of the classroom. it's almost kind of miraculous, actually--it surprises me a lot.

my computer is running out of battery so i should wrap this up. i guess that all in all, the school year is going well so far.

pretty good day

wow. i had no real idea whether or not today would turn out well, but it actually did. it was a really fun and funny day with my students. of course they were talkative but also really positive. it did not help that they were telling me that they like me. my afternoon (aka crazy) class was really great. i mean, they talked too much and the 7th graders were a little crazy as usual, but overall it was a pleasure teaching them today. i am trying to give them more choice, responsibility, and initiative in the classroom. i want my classroom to be a place that kind of runs itself--that's my ultimate goal. i gave student jobs: take attendance to the office, recycling, cleanliness monitor, telephone answerer, visitor greeter, substitute assistant, scissors and glue assistants and a couple others. that means that i don't have to think about who is going to take the attendance, pass out supplies, i don't have to ask a student to answer the phone when i don't want to, i don't have to deal with people who come to the door, i don't have to remember to do the recycling because one of my students will remember, and hopefully they'll remind me that they need to take the attendance. maybe you didn't know that i have to do all of those things (and a million more) in the course of a day--but it's nice to have a routine where i don't have to worry about those things.
i would almost say that i'm working more than last year--maybe not working more, but working smarter and so it's taking more brain power. i don't know how to describe it, other than all i want to do is work for my kids. it's a really weird feeling. last night i was reading about how to teach reading for over an hour--it was so exciting and inspirational. i know, it sounds super nerdy and maybe it is but....it's really cool, too. it's interesting, i think that this is what a lot of people's first year of teach for america is like. the way i'm working now is the way that TFA wants us to work, which is probably where i get it from. but i never really got my feet under me until the end of the year last year (which is when i started teaching smarter) and so i never got to this point last year. the difference is that a lot of those TFA teachers will leave and i am not going to leave--i want to keep getting better.
and yes--it does stroke the ego to have kids say that they like me.

photos of my classrooom

these are from awhile ago, but i forgot about them!!

my babies

okay, i shouldn't say that. but i feel like that sometimes. my ELD class (5th and 6th period) was incredible today!! for the most part, they listened, did their work, stayed focused, and in general they were just very pleasant to be with. i also had most of a bottle of coke before class, which i'm guessing had something to do with my energy level. they filled out class job applications today, which i think that they really liked. also the woman who helps in my classroom once per week was there, which helps with crowd control. we actually did everything that i planned, and i ran out of stuff to do, but luckily they all keep their workbooks and textbooks under their desks now (thanks to angelica's idea) and i could have them start something in their workbooks really quickly. they are good kids--just a little crazy. i have these latino boys who are extremely difficult, but i think that individually they like me. they act like they do, for sure. when i can give them individual attention and be positive with them, they seem like they are really wanting it. basically i adore them. but you know that later, soon, probably not too long from now, i will be writing about how ridiculous they are. yay for my great students!!! yay for not being a brand new teacher anymore!! i don't even mind the hard work when the results pay off.

quote of the week

"is it beyonce or fiancee?" asked perla. (while discussing jesse)

planning

so yeah. i do a massive amount of planning for school. earlier this year (well, the last school year) i posted about a planning process called understanding by design that i was learning about. i've used it a couple of times now, and i've really liked it each time. i am always trying to internalize it for when i'm thinking about planning. i also am always trying to design my assessments first and then plan my lessons from there. like, i'm thinking about what my kids will need to be able to do by the end of this week, and the end of the unit, and then i have to decide how to get them there.

today i sat down with the intention of just planning the week (feeling like i didn't have time to plan the unit) when i thought to myself "i have to plan this unit or else i'll go crazy." i know, that sounds ridiculous. but after an unnecessarily drawn out unit this past 5 weeks, i just feel like i want to be efficient and effective in my teaching and to do that i need to have a longer-term vision of where we are going. so i took out my UBD template and started planning. i was worried that it would be really difficult, i wouldn't be able to do it, that i couldn't do it without a friend--but it turns out that i think that i did a pretty darn good job. jesse and i already talked over some of my ideas for the unit yesterday, so it came out a little bit more naturally. but it was really exciting to be able to sit down and use the process in an efficient way.

anyways--i should get back to planning tommorow. i hate being so last minute, but the intent of having my whole unit planned is to avoid always planning the night before. it's hard though.....

work!

well, i will admit that i haven't worked much in the past two weeks so i had to make up for it this weekend. jesse was away until this afternoon so let's just say that i had a lot of work time.

friday:
work 7:30 - 4
rest 4-5 pm
grade 5-8:30

saturday:
swim 8-9
work on my classroom 9:30-11:30
errands 11:30 - 1
sleep 2-4
eat/rest 4-5
grade and plan 5-11:30 (partly while watching the law & order CI marathon)

sunday:
put away clothes 9:30-10:30
3 loads of laundry today
washed dishes
now i have to finish getting ready for tommorow

and when did i rest, you may ask? um. for half an hour last night when i was watching TV and not working?
from 11 pm - 12 am on friday night when i was watching "house" in bed.

hmmm. too much work!!! i hope you had a more restful weekend.

11.5

i was just walking home from the corner cafe and thinking to myself that it's a good thing i'm not single, or i would do nothing but work. i know, it's not totally true, but i do think that my relationship helps me balance things. jesse is chaperoning a trip this weekend and he left this afternoon. i worked my 8 hours at school today, and then i came home, organized my CDs, went to the cafe and worked on grades and grading for 3.5 more hours. ouch. well, i got a lot finished so that was good.

i have been teaching with no voice for 5 days. i am just hoping that by not talking for a few days, with jesse gone, that my throat can get better. i got sick last weekend and it made me lose my voice. grrrr...

intensity

i think that most or all of you who read this know that my grandpa passed away about a week and a half ago. my brother and i went back east (and most of you reading this were probably there with us.) it was very sad but also very heart-warming. my grandma got dozens and dozens of sympathy cards, and there were many people who came to the memorial celebration to appreciate my grandpa. we all knew that he was incredibly special--and seeing and hearing from all of those people just confirmed it. it was, honestly, really wonderful to be with my family (many of whom are my devoted readers.) :-)
i am so excited for next summer, when we will be together to celebrate our wedding. i'm really sad that my grandpa can't be there--but he and jesse did get to spend time together before he passed away. that was really important to me. i hope that i can have a marriage that weathers many things, the way that my grandparents' marriage did.

at my grandpa's memorial celebration, a bunch of his 8th grade teaching colleagues came and they told me about his time in the classroom. he taught 8th grade history for 20 years (or thereabouts, i think). it's funny because i'm not going to say that i chose middle school because of my grandpa, and i didn't have a choice of what grade i was going to teach. i was hired to fill an 8th grade position. also, my grandpa was the first to say that our teaching experiences were incredibly different in many ways. however, i do love that i am following in his footsteps. all throughout my life, and especially in my more adult life as a college student and a working professional, he has always asked me questions about my life, been interested in what i've been doing, and shared his stories and experiences with me. he and my grandma have always been proud of me, too, and that has felt really good. they have never pressured me about things, either. i guess it just makes me feel good to know that i am sort of carrying on some of what he did. it is a nice way for me to remember him.

i won't say anything else sappy or cliche. just that i will miss him, and i know that we all will. i am just glad that he was as much a part of my life as he was, and that we got to spend some time together this past summer. he was many things, including a wonderful grandpa.