A Monumental Week…

This week was amazing- in more ways that one.  Professionally, I completed my first FULL week of teaching and coaching middle school volleyball.  What an awesome and exhausting experience.  It’s so rewarding to be able to do something you love; so much so, that the fatigue that you feel from long hours doesn’t bother you.  I’m so thankful for the opportunity to do what I love.

What was the real exciting part of the week for me was the Democratic National Convention.  I blinked back tears as I watched Michelle and Barack give wonderfully exciting speeches that have further propelled our country into anticipation of what’s to come in November.  As I’ve said before, I’ve always been hopeful that I would experience an African-American president during my lifetime.  I just didn’t think it would be this soon.  As I watch Senator Obama execute his campaign with dignity and class, I’m so overwhelmed with pride.  There really aren’t enough words to thoroughly express how I feel, but I’m working on it.

All in all, it was a pretty good week.  I’m still holding on…and I guess that’s a good thing.

Pray for me…

So Glad for the Weekend

When I did my student-teaching a couple of years ago, I used to long for Friday afternoon like Romeo longed for Juliet.  As much as I loved (and still love) what I was doing, it was always great to make it to the weekend.

And yes, being back in the classroom, that feeling as returned.  Although we got off to a slow start due to Tropical Storm Fay, school started on Wednesday, and I just completed my first week of teaching.  How was it?  Great.  Challenging.  Exciting.  Exhilarating.  Exhausting.  Memorable.  I could keep going, but I won’t.

I think that part of what people don’t understand about teaching is the amount of preparation that it requires.  I liken it to preparing for a play.  Every class period, you’re putting on the performance.  You’ll have a different audience who will react differently to what you’re saying, even though the material is similar.  But then there are also the interruptions.  The student who can’t keep quiet is like the person in the audience who refuses to turn off their cell phone.  The student who can’t sit still is like the person in the audience who has to keep getting up in the middle of the performance to go to the lobby, or the restroom; stepping over several people each time (because they aren’t considerate enough to take an aisle seat).

What I’m navigating is how to deal with the interruptions, and how to also balance the age difference.  I teach 6th graders and 8th graders.  My 6th graders are a challenge.  They are chatty, inquisitive, needy, and energetic.  They each require individual attention and care.  They each have their own gifts to explore, and they feel awkward- as middle school is an awkward place.  I am privileged to get to explore that with them, under the auspices of teaching world history.

My 8th graders are a challenge also.  They are incredibly independent, increasingly more confident and sure of themself (yet also needing to be validated), inquisitive, and excited.  Like my 6th graders, they also require individual attention and care.  They are deciding how they want to be distinct while still remaining similar.  I am honored to meet them at this point in their journey of self-discovery, with a guise of teaching them US history.  All that said, my philosophy for teaching middle schoolers is quite simple:  they don’t care how much I know until they know how much I care.

Although I’m grateful that I’ve made it to the weekend, and I am enjoying the time that I don’t have to be with children, I still have things to do.  There are files to be organized, lesson plans to be reviewed, and papers to be graded.  I’m always sensitive about my weekends because I feel like they should be refreshing (i.e.: not consumed with work) but productive.  My desire to be a good teacher often means working a little (okay, a lot) more than I’d prefer; however, I feel like some of what you don’t have in natural ability can be made up in hard work.  Additionally, I feel that if I expect my students to work hard, then I have to model that same behavior to them.

All that said, it’s been a great first week with the students.  Only…35 more weeks to go?  Something like that .

Oh, and if there are any teachers out there that care to share some tips for a first year teacher, feel free to leave your comments.  I’d be most appreciative.

Question Re: Dating Later in Life

This question was asked to me yesterday by my good friend Ty.  Here’s what he asked:

Do you think that the later in life you start dating, the easier it is for you to fall in love?

Ty and I hypothesized that it probably is easier to fall in love because you may not have the same emotional baggage as people who began dating earlier in life and have gone through some bad situations.  At the same time, we thought that beginning to date later in life could be problematic because as you get older the proverbial clock starts to tick, and with every person, there’s the hope that they could be “the one”.  Between that hope, and the naivete that a person has regarding relationships, they could be much more easily hurt than someone who’s been through some relationships and knows how to navigate them in a healthy way.

But now, I pose the question for you:

Do you think that the later in life you start dating, the easier it is for you to fall in love?

stuff that makes me nervous

This morning I found a blog and an op-ed on the AJC.com about giving teachers report cards.  The writer of the op-ed says the following:

The most reliable measure of whether teachers will succeed with a class is whether they have succeeded before, but the relevant data are treated as top secret by most districts. While a parent can find out how third-graders at their school fared on the state’s Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests last year, they can’t tease out how Ms. Brown’s third-grade class, or Mr. Smith’s, performed.

Virtually all data about individual teacher performance disappear into some black hole. If you pull up the latest state Department of Education Report Card for Gwinnett’s Brookwood High School, for example, you can find out that 45 percent of algebra students exceeded standards, 36 percent met, and 18 percent failed.

But there’s no way Brookwood parents can discern whether any corollary exists between student pass rates and specific math teachers. Nor can you match Advanced Placement scores to teachers — unless there’s only one person teaching an AP course that year.

True, test results for a single year won’t tell parents much; it could be that a teacher walked into a class of slow learners one year and a class of Einsteins the next.

However, it would be helpful and fair to examine a teacher’s performance over several years. If Brookwood parents discovered that the students of one algebra teacher consistently surpassed standards and students of another repeatedly failed, they’d push hard to get their kid in the former’s class.

Now, please don’t get it twisted.  I’m all about teacher accountability.  Really, I am.  I believe that teacher performance does make a difference in the education of our students.  But I think I need some more information on how this would work before I can decide if I’m sold on it.

In some school environments, parents request class changes for their children just so their child can receive an A.  Does that mean the child is high achieving or does that mean that the teacher is a lax grader?  Right now, we’re in an educational environment that emphasizes high achievement on standardized tests.  If my students pass the test, does that make me a great teacher?  Are you really able to gauge their ability to successfully understand and articulate the principles behind the Declaration of Independence or the Emancipation Proclamation when all they have to do is bubble in an answer?

Teachers are an integral part of the education system, and I’m all for holding US (yes, including me) accountable.  And report cards might be part of that system of accountability.  But I would hope that these (and other) options would be FULLY explored before anything is put into place.

Just my thoughts from a first year teacher…

Week Two: Complete

It’s crazy that I’ve completed two weeks at the job, but I have yet to teach a single class.  Yesterday marked the end of our in-service training, and on Monday, we’ll begin teaching classes.  Monday.  It’s coming so fast.

This week we went through a FranklinCovey training on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and it was AWESOME.  I’ve never read the book, but after the workshop, I’m definitely going to apply the principles to my life.  The book is also on my “Books to Buy/Read” list (which gets LONGER by the minute), and I would encourage you to check it out too.

So, my teaching career starts in about two days…and I think I’m feeling OKAY about it.  I might be fooling myself, because there’s SO. MUCH. TO. DO…but I definitely feel better than I felt before.  My middle school team is pretty cool, and one thing that I learned from the workshop is that teachers are the WORST students.  If you’ve ever been around a group of teachers, then you already know.  If there are any teachers reading this, just observe your faculty meetings.  I promise that you’ll see characteristics of your students that drive you crazy in your coworkers.  In a strange way it’s comforting, because you see that even with those characteristics that make you want to throw a textbook across the room, the person can still grow up and become a productive citizen that contributes to society.

Anyhow, I have a LOT more in my head, but I’ve got even more on my plate of things to do…so I’m going to tackle that.  Wish me luck!

Week One: Complete

So, again, I SHOULD be doing lesson plans or reviewing benefit information.  But I’m not.  I’m writing and I’m watching the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics.  I now have the motivation necessary, but I just don’t feel up to it.

After completing my first ‘week’ at work (I started yesterday, so it was a really short week), I feel slightly more comfortable with what I’m going to be doing.  I met the other new teachers, and we all have different backgrounds and a different story.  Everyone seems nice and excited about the opportunities at the school, but I think we all feel SLIGHTLY overwhelmed because there is SO. MUCH. TO. DO. before school starts on the 18th.

Between feeling a little overwhelmed/nervous about work, I’ve also been feeling REALLY homesick/GA sick.  I think it would be really good to be around someone that I know.  I miss being able to go see people, or have dinner and happy hour with friends, or just being able to hang out.  It’s REALLY hard.  For any of my folk that read this- PLEASE come visit me soon.  Like, really.  It will make ALL the difference.  There’s part of me that wants to quit while I’m ahead, and go back to where everybody knows my name.  But there’s another part of me that wants to prove that I can make it here.  Let’s hope that part of me wins.

All in all, I’m still here.  As Antwone Fisher says, “I’m still standing…”.  I’m not sure how I feel about being strong- at least at this point.  At any rate, I have to do what I have to do.  God willing, I’ll do it well.

“I can’t think of any one reason on why I want to be a surgeon. But I can think of a thousand reasons why I should quit. They make it hard on purpose. There are lives in our hands. There comes a moment when … it’s more than just a game. And you either take that step forward. Or turn around and walk away. I could quit. But here’s the thing. I love the playing field.”  ~Grey’s Anatomy

“The will of God will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you.” ~unknown

Sparked by Sex and The City…

While working on lesson plans, I was listening (okay, watching) Sex and the City, and Carrie asks the following question:  “In a relationship, is honesty always the best policy?”

Now, I tend to lean towards the YES end of that spectrum, because I feel that if I can’t be honest with you, then what does that say about our “relationship”?  And that goes for ANY relationship- with friends, family, or a romantic relationship.  However, I’m sure some people would disagree.  So, I’m posing the question to you all:

“In a relationship, is honesty always the best policy?”

Random Ramblings

I really should be working on a lesson plan.  Or several lesson plans.  But for some reason, my ability to focus has gone out the window.

I report to work on Thursday for new teacher in-service training/orientation.  And you’d think that the fact that Thursday is getting closer would motivate me to get on it.  But there are just SO. MANY. OTHER. THINGS. that I’d rather be doing right now.

Well maybe not.  I love taking this time to plan lessons, brush up on my own history knowledge, and try to prepare to be the best history teacher ever- I just can’t focus.  I think it’s because I’m really nervous- so it’s like performance anxiety or something.  At any rate, I need to get on it, because time is ticking away…and I’m only on Chapter 2…of 30.

On another note, I just completed a whirlwind mother visitation.  My mommy came and helped me get completely settled into my apartment, which of course meant saying things like “Why did you put this here?” or “Don’t you think that you need to get ___________” and “I’m not saying you have to do this, but if this were my apartment, I would _________________.”  With her help, my apartment is now a cozy little home complete with a microwave, toaster, and vacuum cleaner.  THANKS MOM!

I’m starting to get used to the idea of living in Florida- at least for right now.  I’m a big believer in making where you are where you want to be.  And, I think the change is quite welcome for me.  However, I will say that I do need to venture out and do the things that people do to meet people.  I started the church visitation process (another post completely), but if there are any South Floridians out there that know of some nice adult things going on…feel free to let me know.

Until then- I’m going back to lesson planning.  Be encouraged