it's at that point

my classrooom is at the point where i really feel like my kids are learning. i'm teaching this writing system/concept for the third time, and i think part of why it's so satisfying is that i feel like i actually have a lot of tools for explaining it--it is multi-dimensional to me, too. so when kids are confused, i can explain why it works in a lot of different ways. i have several visual representations, also. and i'm feeling like i can introduce concepts a few at a time, instead of feeling limited to just one or two concepts per day. i just don't have time to go that slowly.

my first period kids were confused, but they were trying, and i think that they understand better now than they did when they walked in. i have been telling them that you have to kind of internalize it and once you do, it becomes part of you and part of your writing. i really believe that. but of course, it takes time.

overall, i've been working so hard but i feel like i'm working pretty smart. i should get back to planning....

unbelievable

okay. i just feel unbelievably tired. i know you all have exhausting jobs, too, either as teachers or something else. but i just feel like i'm in an endless rat race right now.

1) my students at the end of the day are acting kind of crazy. i have 7th and 8th graders in the same class (because it's ELD--English Language Development) and it generally causes craziness. right now, they're taking a test which i have elected to read to them. there is a different test for 7th and 8th graders. so for the past two days, i have had to send someone to the library with them to give them the test. i have kept the 8th graders (most of the class) in my classroom to do their test. but the coordination is just...well...tiring!!

also:
1) i am coordinating the oratorical fest, and the entries are due tommorow. the website is down.
2) i have to submit my fieldtrip request form by tommorow and i don't know what dates to go yet
3) my desk is a mess
4) i am trying to leave early tommorow to go out of town for the weekend
5) grades are due (but i am finished YAYAYAY!!)
6) i am doing something different with each class tommorow
7) i leave in 20 minutes for my once-a-week extra tutoring job for $$$
(at least at tutoring i get a big mac or some pizza. yum!)

okay. gotta go. just so tired.....

teaching them and writing lesson plans

my kids have to take a district "benchmark" test. i've had it for about 2 weeks, and i've spent almost the whole time prepping them for it--we did informational materials, today we did a total fly-by on theme, and we are studying some vocab words for the test. it's a 50 question test--they do 25 questions tommorow, and 25 questions on thursday. it's hard. and i haven't taught everything that's on it. but i have done a lot more.

so, i wanted to comment on writing lesson plans. today we studied theme. i had this worksheet photocopied for my students. another teacher made it, and i gave it a perfunctory glance on friday before i left school. i figured i'd review it this weekend. last night i knew i would be teaching theme, and i was just going to jump in with this worksheet without doing any intro. all of a sudden i had a light go on in my head like "oh, i have to somehow introduce theme--it will be so much of a better lesson if i do." i brainstormed a little and lit on the idea of theme songs. class began with the theme song to "Cops"--you know, the one that goes "Bad Boys Bad Boys, watcha gonna do, watcha gonna do when they come for you?"

the kids almost died, they got all excited and totally into it. then i gave them the definition of theme, and then we talked about the "Friends" theme song--"I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to fall, I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me too....blah blah blah." you know how it goes.

and all of a sudden, they were into theme, and i was into theme, and they listened to me paraphrase these fables and they were totally into it. basically it all just kicked butt. AND they totally rocked the exit slip at the end of class--that was the most satisfying part. yay me! go me! and...i have to give a lot of credit to my TFA program director on this one, because she and i had a great conversation about really having a solid objective that i tie to everything. we practiced the objective in 2 different ways in class, and then we did the exit slip which was a lot like how we practiced. it rocked, basically.

good first day back after a three day weekend. even if the rest of the day isn't awesome, this morning really made my day. of course, they are my favorite class.....shhhhh, don't tell. :-)

eighty percent????

the "big goal" for each class is 80% average on every test or quiz. in the past, my period 1 & 2 has come close, but not made it. today i gave a 20 point multiple choice quiz that was pretty difficult--no one whizzed through it or anything. i was mildly worried but some kids who often have a difficult time seemed to be doing okay.

i took jesse's suggestion and did something that a colleague at his school does: have the students record their answers on a scantron form (multiple choice), and collect that. then, we went over the test answers while they still had the actual test. (there was no opportunity for them to change their answers and cheat, though--I already had the scantron). they got instant feedback on how they did. i know, it sounds simple, but sometimes i struggle with an efficient time and procedure for doing that. it's extremely important that they know how they did right away, because their memories of the test by monday will be gone, for most of them.

my period 1 & 2 we corrected quizzes right away, and the kids did really well for the most part. they were so proud and celebratory about their scores. one student was up playing air guitar. i think everyone passed--maybe there was one "D" but a lot of kids who normally get low grades did well on this difficult multiple choice test on figurative language. they had to identify and interpret metaphors, similes, personification, haiku, and then map rhyme schemes.

it was so exciting--i felt so proud of them, and like my poetry unit was successful!!! i didn't test them on EVERYTHING i was supposed to--but i feel like they learned a lot. if they had taken this test as a pre-test in december, i think they would have mostly failed miserably.

also, they all turned in their poetry portfolio projects today. they decorated, copied them neatly, made a cover, and illustrated five poems that they've written: where I'm from poem, an ode, a haiku, a "family metaphor" poem, and an acrostic (that was for fun). the portfolios look great and i can't wait to grade them and hang them on the wall!!! i made this detailed rubric that might make it a tedious process, but it shouldn't take *too* long since it's all laid out very explicitly. i don't have to make decisions about points or anything, or write very many comments--it will be pretty clear why they lost points if they lost points.

well, it's time for 4th period and a quiz review and quiz. i'm having a "celebration" with my 5th and 6th period crazy kids today---they've actually done well this week, plus i hate their curriculum sooooo much that i really can't bear to teach it to them.

work

oh sh*t!!!
i have gotten almost NOTHING done over this vacation. i have piles of grading weighing on my mind, masses of planning, and instead all i have been doing is thinking about our wedding which is 7 months away. i have sat at my computer for the last 5 hours and done no schoolwork. okay, almost none. this is awful--what will i do? i am considering leaving my computer and going to a cafe nearby to deal with my grading. i have to get through this to get to my planning. vacation is very close to being over and i haven't done anywhere near the amount of work that i intended. this is BAD!!!
grrr...this is one of the downsides of being a teacher.