Much better today. Believe it or not, it seems like kids don't like to see their names on the board. Several people ARE absent, but we're doing pretty good. I somehow came to the realization this weekend that just because I have a lesson plan doesn't mean I have to finish every single little thing that I have planned. That has made today a lot easier. I got through the bellwork with 7th grade today, and that's it. We had to enter the classroom 3 times before they did it right. We also handed out the bellwork handout twice because they thought it was their time to talk.
Sister Nancy is currently speaking to my 7th graders during their extension class. She's talking about goals and organization. I thought that being 6'5", 220 lbs and wearing a beard would be sufficient to scare my students into being respectful. If that's true, then I have no idea what the kids would be like if I were much smaller and baby-faced. However, whatever presence I bring to the classroom is nothing to what my 5'0" 82-year-old nun principal brings. She brings the hard vibe. They are all ridiculously attentive when she's talking. I guess I just need to go into a convent and age a few decades...
Monday, August 31, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
End of Week 2
So...this week was clearly not as awesome as my first week. My 7th graders (my homeroom, so the class I see ALL THE TIME) cause me endless headaches. However, I'm trying a few new things with them. Straight-up hardcore consequences don't seem to be working. I was told that giving students responsibilities in my classroom is a good idea. I've done that with one of my students, and I've got a few ideas for some others. There are other students who have already taken it upon themselves to do certain jobs. One of my girls handles giving everyone Germ-X on the way to and from lunch. Another two girls handle wiping the tables down in the cafeteria when we leave. I am having one guy (as of yesterday) who is trying to keep his friends from picking on one of the students. Other jobs will include writing homework assignments on the HW work board and writing homeworks in my copy of the student planner for kids who were absent. I haven't quite decided what other jobs to have them do...
Speaking of absent kids...they are the bane of my existence. They never come ask me for the assignments, and I don't ever have time or the memory to give them everything they missed. Also, kids who just don't turn in HW also tick me off. I'm technically supposed to help them try to get it in, but the last thing I want to do is continually remind them to get it in. The other teachers hold their kids during PE to do their assignments. I wish I could do that - but I can't since I coach PE.
Fun times in Mobile this weekend. We had about 10 people spend the night last night. About 50 will be here tonight. We're having the annual Mobile "Back to School" party. It's basically the party that kicks off Gulf Coast ACE parties for the rest of the year. I smoked 2 briskets last night (Thurs night), and chopped them up yesterday. They taste awesome...I was really worried about it, but they turned out really good. In honor of (Castroville) Clary family tradition, we are going to have our guests who want to make brisket tacos and wrap them in foil to stick under their hoods on the drive home in case they get hungry on the way.
That's it for now...going to try to get some grading done before everyone wakes up.
Speaking of absent kids...they are the bane of my existence. They never come ask me for the assignments, and I don't ever have time or the memory to give them everything they missed. Also, kids who just don't turn in HW also tick me off. I'm technically supposed to help them try to get it in, but the last thing I want to do is continually remind them to get it in. The other teachers hold their kids during PE to do their assignments. I wish I could do that - but I can't since I coach PE.
Fun times in Mobile this weekend. We had about 10 people spend the night last night. About 50 will be here tonight. We're having the annual Mobile "Back to School" party. It's basically the party that kicks off Gulf Coast ACE parties for the rest of the year. I smoked 2 briskets last night (Thurs night), and chopped them up yesterday. They taste awesome...I was really worried about it, but they turned out really good. In honor of (Castroville) Clary family tradition, we are going to have our guests who want to make brisket tacos and wrap them in foil to stick under their hoods on the drive home in case they get hungry on the way.
That's it for now...going to try to get some grading done before everyone wakes up.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Beginning of the Week
My 7th graders have been uncontrollable so far this week. An assistant principal yelled at them at the end of the day Monday. I didn't really like that he just walked in and started yelling. They were lectured by the 5th grade teacher yesterday, and yelled at again yesterday after PE by the same asst. principal. By this time, I was absolutely seething. I had had a 45-minute discussion with them earlier in the day about why my expectations are what they are, that I wouldn't waste all my time and energy trying to get them "act straight" if I thought they were incapable of it. They seemed to respond, but the afternoon was awful. So, when they came in from PE (after being yelled at to line up), I ripped into them as well. I basically told them that I had had it and that now would be a perfect time to sit quietly for the rest of the day. They were absolutely silent and still for 15 minutes. This morning, I took no nonsense, and have my disciplinary consequences listed on the board. I don't know if they took me seriously and were quiet or if they were still asleep and were quiet for that reason. I guess I'll see at lunchtime.
So, I've basically been in a terrible mood for the past two days. I have always been really good at projecting a good front, even when I'm upset. I don't know if I'm too tired to keep that up, or if I've really been so upset at the end of the day that I just can't cover it up. It was my turn to cook dinner last night. Chicken Sopa - basically tortilla casserole with chicken. It seemed to go over pretty well. We tried canned chicken, which I found to be a bit dry, but it may have been the cans. We've had them on the shelf for a while.
Today after school, I'm going to run to Taco Bell (for the first time since I've been here), and am going to return to school to make phone calls home to all my 7th grade boys who have been a thorn in my side. Nothing but positives this week. We'll move into negatives next week as needed.
So, I've basically been in a terrible mood for the past two days. I have always been really good at projecting a good front, even when I'm upset. I don't know if I'm too tired to keep that up, or if I've really been so upset at the end of the day that I just can't cover it up. It was my turn to cook dinner last night. Chicken Sopa - basically tortilla casserole with chicken. It seemed to go over pretty well. We tried canned chicken, which I found to be a bit dry, but it may have been the cans. We've had them on the shelf for a while.
Today after school, I'm going to run to Taco Bell (for the first time since I've been here), and am going to return to school to make phone calls home to all my 7th grade boys who have been a thorn in my side. Nothing but positives this week. We'll move into negatives next week as needed.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Last Friday
Last Friday was a lot of fun. My classroom was miserable because I found the thermostat on 60 degrees on Thursday night when I left. In order to make up the energy that we had wasted, we held class all day Friday at 80 degrees. I was fully prepared to deal with sweating all day, but I was unprepared for the smell that hit me like a truck about two class periods into the day. The stench of BO added an unexpected element of deterrence to anyone who wants to mess with my thermostat again.
Other funny stories from Friday include my giving up teaching my 8th graders. After stopping about 5 times in two minutes (they took my restarting each time as an invitation to start their conversations back up), I dropped my yardstick (my "enforcer" prop that I wield daily) and sat back down at my desk. The class got immediately silent, they all started looking at me, and after about 15 seconds started saying, "OK, Mr. Clary, we'll be quiet. Come back and start teaching again." I didn't really know what to do, so I stayed at my seat staring at the board. Then one of my students got up, stood behind my podium, looked at my lesson plan, and started running class. It was actually pretty good. They stayed quiet and did their work. At one point, a girl had a question about the worksheet, and turned to ask me. I shook my head and pointed at the new "teacher," so she addressed him with "Mr. _____." It was pretty funny. He handled the question well.
Also, my 6th graders told me that I can be boring sometimes, so I had three of them up to teach on Friday as well. They actually did a pretty good job. One kid even looked down at my roster and called on a random student that did not have his hand up. His teaching stopped then because I was laughing too hard to let him continue.
Finally, PE was rained out at the end of the day, so I had my 7th graders inside with me. They were completely rambunctious, and I couldn't get them to do what I wanted, so I asked for someone to come teach the class. Luckily, the student I wanted to teach volunteered. I sat at his desk and let him get a sentence into whatever it was that he was saying. Then I turned around and started talking to the student behind me. He came and quieted me. When he left, I started digging through his pencil pouch and messed with his eraser tops. Then I threw a pencil at another student (he was looking, and I aimed at his legs). One kid in the class was literally rolling on the ground laughing. Everyone got the point (it didn't really stick though).
So, Friday was awesome...then this weekend was great too. I did all my grading on Saturday at Barnes and Noble. Saturday I also explored Mobile's Cathedral and went to a seafood place out on the water. It was awesome. Sunday I went to the beach in Pensacola before planning. Then, yesterday, I had a very rude awakening. More on that later...apparently, I was so grumpy when I got home that it merited the rest of my community making a poster for my wall with encouraging messages. It was really funny, but I felt bad that I had been so noticeably affected. This morning's class (7th grade) went well - especially in light of the fact that it was that class that caused most of my stress yesterday. More on Monday later...
Other funny stories from Friday include my giving up teaching my 8th graders. After stopping about 5 times in two minutes (they took my restarting each time as an invitation to start their conversations back up), I dropped my yardstick (my "enforcer" prop that I wield daily) and sat back down at my desk. The class got immediately silent, they all started looking at me, and after about 15 seconds started saying, "OK, Mr. Clary, we'll be quiet. Come back and start teaching again." I didn't really know what to do, so I stayed at my seat staring at the board. Then one of my students got up, stood behind my podium, looked at my lesson plan, and started running class. It was actually pretty good. They stayed quiet and did their work. At one point, a girl had a question about the worksheet, and turned to ask me. I shook my head and pointed at the new "teacher," so she addressed him with "Mr. _____." It was pretty funny. He handled the question well.
Also, my 6th graders told me that I can be boring sometimes, so I had three of them up to teach on Friday as well. They actually did a pretty good job. One kid even looked down at my roster and called on a random student that did not have his hand up. His teaching stopped then because I was laughing too hard to let him continue.
Finally, PE was rained out at the end of the day, so I had my 7th graders inside with me. They were completely rambunctious, and I couldn't get them to do what I wanted, so I asked for someone to come teach the class. Luckily, the student I wanted to teach volunteered. I sat at his desk and let him get a sentence into whatever it was that he was saying. Then I turned around and started talking to the student behind me. He came and quieted me. When he left, I started digging through his pencil pouch and messed with his eraser tops. Then I threw a pencil at another student (he was looking, and I aimed at his legs). One kid in the class was literally rolling on the ground laughing. Everyone got the point (it didn't really stick though).
So, Friday was awesome...then this weekend was great too. I did all my grading on Saturday at Barnes and Noble. Saturday I also explored Mobile's Cathedral and went to a seafood place out on the water. It was awesome. Sunday I went to the beach in Pensacola before planning. Then, yesterday, I had a very rude awakening. More on that later...apparently, I was so grumpy when I got home that it merited the rest of my community making a poster for my wall with encouraging messages. It was really funny, but I felt bad that I had been so noticeably affected. This morning's class (7th grade) went well - especially in light of the fact that it was that class that caused most of my stress yesterday. More on Monday later...
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
It never ends. I can't wait for the weekend. I need to get myself organized again. I realized Monday that I don't have anywhere to keep my extra copies, lesson plans, and other records. So I got some binders. How in the world am I supposed to find time to organize binders with planning, benchmark grading, classroom set-up, and a zillion other things to do just to make the class happen? So, that's my plan for the weekend.
My 8th graders get some humor. I'm not completely sure if it's appropriate to be using it yet, but once or twice per day I just can't pass up the opportunity. They constantly try to get me to engage with them, and I usually do (not in the way they want). One of the ringleaders called out an answer yesterday, and I raised my hand and asked the question again. He then shouted, "Man, but I knew the answer!" I looked at him and said (I don't know where this came from): "So did I, but I restrained myself from yelling it out." Everyone got a good laugh out of it, and he did a little double-take. Today, it was storming just before noon. We had been having thunder for a while, and for some reason the kids didn't notice it until the fourth or fifth thuderclap. When they noticed, a student on the opposite side of the room from me leaned from his chair to look through the blinds. I stopped and said, "Really? Thunder is more interesting than my lesson?"
The 8th graders were talked to this afternoon during my class by an assistant principal. They had been being disrespectful towards some teachers, and so she wanted to address our expectations, and what the goal of those expectations is. It was a good discussion. Then she left. I modified my bellwork. Instead of brainstorming maps (boring!!), we brainstormed community. They came up for a chalk-talk (they walk to the board and write a response that they came up with during the bellwork), and some of their answers are: "watch out for each other" "help people by encouraging them to do better" "a place where people come together" "a group of people working together to make something better." I was really impressed with their responses.
That's about it for now. I need to figure out what we're doing tomorrow for the 50 minutes of PE I took away from my homeroom (the PE period is only 45 minutes long)...
My 8th graders get some humor. I'm not completely sure if it's appropriate to be using it yet, but once or twice per day I just can't pass up the opportunity. They constantly try to get me to engage with them, and I usually do (not in the way they want). One of the ringleaders called out an answer yesterday, and I raised my hand and asked the question again. He then shouted, "Man, but I knew the answer!" I looked at him and said (I don't know where this came from): "So did I, but I restrained myself from yelling it out." Everyone got a good laugh out of it, and he did a little double-take. Today, it was storming just before noon. We had been having thunder for a while, and for some reason the kids didn't notice it until the fourth or fifth thuderclap. When they noticed, a student on the opposite side of the room from me leaned from his chair to look through the blinds. I stopped and said, "Really? Thunder is more interesting than my lesson?"
The 8th graders were talked to this afternoon during my class by an assistant principal. They had been being disrespectful towards some teachers, and so she wanted to address our expectations, and what the goal of those expectations is. It was a good discussion. Then she left. I modified my bellwork. Instead of brainstorming maps (boring!!), we brainstormed community. They came up for a chalk-talk (they walk to the board and write a response that they came up with during the bellwork), and some of their answers are: "watch out for each other" "help people by encouraging them to do better" "a place where people come together" "a group of people working together to make something better." I was really impressed with their responses.
That's about it for now. I need to figure out what we're doing tomorrow for the 50 minutes of PE I took away from my homeroom (the PE period is only 45 minutes long)...
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