two days

Wow, have we had snow! This week alone, we have had two snow days, meaning no school, and two delay days. We have now officially used up our five built in calamity days. If we miss any more days of school, we start to make them up.

The kicker is that I was to work today, too. We got the call last night that we were going to be delayed so I am thinking to myself, even better...a work day with a delay!

So onto the weekend. Here we are. I hope we don't have any more cancellations, however, we still have spring to get through and we all know what happens in the spring...

FOG.

Horrendous Days...

Our school is on a modified block schedule. We have 4 85-minute classes and 1 60-minute class every day. We have an A-day and a B-day schedule. Math and language see their students daily and all other classes (except those meeting for 60 minutes) see their kids every other day. I LOVE IT! Our high school is pretty much on this same schedule. They don't love it. Next year, they will be going back to the traditional 7-period day. Because this is a money saver for the district, many people think we will lose our block schedule as well. I don't want this to happen. (If it does, we will lose 4 math and 4 language teachers.)

Because of the possibility--and terrible morale on our campus--our principals decided we would have "The Great Experiment." Two 8-period days with 45 minute classes. UGH!!!!!!!!!! IT WAS AWFUL!!!!! I felt so rushed through the class periods. It was as if we just started class and the bell was ringing to end it. If we were to go to this schedule, I would not see my kids twice as I did during the experiment. To let the kids know what it would be like, I treated the A-day classes (in the morning) differently than the B-day classes (in the afternoon). I purposely gave the students homework in both classes--about the amount they would receive if this was the real schedule. I wanted them to KNOW what it would be like. Unfortunately, other teachers didn't think like I did. So, the kids just thought they had way too much MATH homework instead of too much HOMEWORK. (Right now, they complain about having too much homework every night. They could get homework in 4-5 classes a night with time in class now or work in 7 classes a night with not time in class. Hmmmmm...that should be a no-brainer! I also know for a fact that math is the only core subject my students have homework in at night. We have a history teacher who has commented to the kids "If your teacher gives homework, then he/she isn't doing his/her job. No teacher should ever give homework." SAY WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?)

At the end of this ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, HORRIBLE, DISGUSTING experiment, I was dog-tired, crabby, cranky, irritated, annoyed, fed-up with the kids, and had written 2 office referrals for bad behavior in class--which is one more than I had written in an entire semester of school!

busy busy

I have subbed the last two days and will again tomorrow. I am subbing for our physical education/reading teacher. I love phys ed...I actually have an expired teaching certificate in the subject. I am currently working on renewing but need to take some grad classes to accomplish this.

I recently sprained my knee and being on my feet for so long is tiring. In addition to being on my feet, our school has stairs. The stairs are what are killing me.

I had three phys ed classes yesterday and two today. Today I had THE class. Off task, not listening, etc. I sub only in this building and have even done a long term sub for this teacher so I know the rules, discipline, etc. And the kids know it. I gave one student about six verbal warnings...I finally had to put him in the time out box.

In all honesty, I don't even want to write about school. I am hoping tomorrow will be a better day and then I can reflect on it over the weekend.

Everyone should know that the job of the substitute demands flexibility and sometimes more gratitude than it receives.

Presidential Inauguration

What a historic day!!! I'd love to hear how other schools celebrated this event.

Our school changed up the schedule a little to allow the students to watch the ceremony. It was really interesting to watch the young watch a part of history--while I truly watched my first inaugural ceremony. At the beginning, I had tears in my eyes and tried very hard not to let them fall. I felt better when one of my students wiped her eyes. After a while, I was ready for them to leave. I received several questions and fielded several comments throughout the day that I found very scary--and, they made me realize that our schools are failing our students as President Obama stated. Here were a few questions/comments that were made.

--Is that the White House? (It was the U.S. Capitol Building.)
--Who is that man? (This happened to be Former Vice President Dick Cheney...I have to forgive them a little--how much did we really SEE of him the last 8 years?)
--That must be a cemetery because of the fog. (Because, all cemeteries have fog all of the time. Actually, I don't know where it was--maybe you can help. We were looking at a shot of the cannons at the time.)
--Why is there glass around him? (To protect him.)
--Couldn't they turn on him and shoot him? (This was in reference to the dignitaries and VIP's sitting immediately in front of the Capitol. My reply: This isn't an adventure movie.)
--President Kennedy? (When asked which presidents were in office during the student's life-time. They were born from 1995-1997.)
--They were voted for twice. (We found the average number of years each president (person) served. Using 43 people--we included President Obama and didn't count President Cleveland twice since he is only one person--and 220 years--the number of years since President Washington took office--each person served 5 and 5/43 years. I asked how this could be when each term is 4 years.)

I can only hope my kids do better with math than they do history! I guess it's a good thing I'm certified to do both...I can incorporate it into the math lessons.

When reading the local paper today, I found that a former student--who is a freshman in high school--was at the ceremony in Washington, D.C. He made a very intelligent comment to the reporter and made me proud to say I taught him.

Long weekend...

Here in the TX, we, too, had a long weekend. Ours was for a different reason though. Friday was a teacher work day (Yeah, no work got done...), and Monday was technically a Teacher Staff Development day. The kids had a four day weekend and some of the teachers had a three day break.

Friday--Our day started with making sure our grades were turned in. Thursday was the end of the third six weeks grading period and first semester. (We have 6 6-week grading periods instead of the 4 9-week "quarters".) We were given a longer lunch break so we could enjoy ourselves. We were given an option for the afternoon--either work in our classrooms or attend a session at the local high school auditorium. I chose to go to the session at the high school.

The guest speaker was Manuel V. Scott. Seeing his name probably doesn't trigger anything in your brain. However, he is an Original Freedom Writer--You know, from the movie Freedom Writers. Please visit here to find out more. (I'll let him tell his story.) It was really neat to hear from a student after hearing the teacher, Erin Gruwell, a few years ago.

Monday was a Staff Development Day, which teachers were allowed to "comp out" of if they earned 6 hours of staff development during the summer (before the school year) or after school during the year. I usually get more than my share of hours in the summer...some of those activities will be discussed as the year goes on.

In my opinion, our district goes about this all wrong. I'm not talking about the comp hours, but the day they have chosen for the comp day. We have a good African-American population that celebrates the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Our community has a parade, a dinner, and other activities all weekend. (This is how hour guest speaker came to be.) For our district to NOT acknowledge this day as a true holiday, is just not right.

And, substitute, we had 10 days off in September for a hurricane. But, I don't know which is better/worse????? Cold or Hurricane? Want to debate?

do we really have to go back?

Ah, a very long weekend. Here in the OH, we had a nice long weekend due to snow, ice and very, very cold temps. Sorry, teacher, but I don't think you had that in Texas!

I actually called off tomorrow. I want to stay at home and be in front of the TV all day. Tomorrow is history. Yes, HISTORY.

My brother is a teacher, too, in the city of Chicago. He teaches high school and do you know what I found out today? His students will be taking exams tomorrow. I think that, if at all possible, students around our country need and should be watching The Inauguration of our 44th President. This is one of those defining moments that you will remember where you are and what you were doing.

I am especially puzzled that the students at his high school, IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO, won't be witnessing history. Not only is Obama from Illinois, but he is from Chicago.

Whatever you are doing tomorrow, if possible in any way, shape or form, you should be taking part in a defining moment in our country's history.

Savor every moment of it!

Monday

I was scheduled for a half day in the afternoon. I really did not want to go in at all as I reinjured my knee Sunday night. I had talked with the teacher the previous week because it was a planned absence. We had chatted because one of her students was having some special needs issues. The special needs were not educational in the way of teaching or her learning capabilities but rather accommodation.

All I can say is this: it was a very long afternoon.

Why did I become a teacher???

People ask me why I decided to become a teacher. I really can't answer that. All I remember is that I used to play school when I was little and said I wanted to be a teacher. When I was in fifth grade, I decided to be a flight attendant. However, that changed a few years later, and it was back to teaching. After that, I never wavered. I wish I could tell you some exciting story about it being my mission to help kids learn or something along those lines...but, I can't.

I guess I was just born to teach. Sorry for being boring.

value

"It is an accepted cliche in education that the number one goal of teachers should be to help students learn how to learn.

I always saw the value in that, sure. But in my mind, a better number one goal was this: I wanted to help students learn how to judge themselves.

Did they recognize their true abilities? Did they have a sense of their own flaws? Were they realistic about how others viewed them?

In the end, educators best serve students by helping them be more self-reflective. The only way any of us can improve is if we develop a real ability to assess ourselves. If we can't accurately do that, how can we tell if we're getting any better or worse?"

~Randy Pausch

the beginnings of a sub

this has been a hard week! for those of you who had the opportunity to stay home over the holidays, the sleeping in and staying in pj's all day if you wanted to, are long gone.

back to school. back to work. for me, school is work. I work in a school.

I am a substitute teacher.

sometimes I think subbing is more difficult. sure, I don't have all of the extra work, the grading papers, the staff meetings to attend. but I need to be able to wear many different hats and to wear them well.

I don't have the advantage of knowing the students on a more personal level. I am not with them every day. I don't know any of their personality traits, family history or just plain old background that sometimes can make a day easier. I am not always familiar with the routine of the classroom. a certain comfort level isn't there that the regular teacher has.

like today....I was subbing for a paraeducator....I signed in for her but then moved into a teachers role. now mind you, I am not angry with this. just trying to explain my many hats. so, I taught the morning classes and then moved to the paraeducators duties...recess and silent reading supervision. while doing this, I was approached to then cover a different teacher's room because she had to leave school rather suddenly. I replied, yes, I can but I do have an early bus duty and then door duty after school. can't be in two places at once.

(seriously, I am not mad at all by today's schedule it just was crazy to know who I was and what I was responsible for!)

let's face it. kids take advantage of subs. kids know that subs don't know all of the rules. the one good thing I have going is that I am currently only subbing in one building. the one my daughter attends and my son attended before moving to the middle school. so, I do know the building, the discipline, the general flow of the school. but mind you, I subbed in a large district of 32 elementaries, 12 middle and 5 high schools years ago. subs can feel alone, lonely, taken advantage of and often left in the dark. I have faced administration that offered to punish the kids with what he thought appropriate when in reality, it would have been punishment for me. (*if you want the full story, leave me a comment.)

subs need to be flexible. subs need to be willing to step in and take charge and somehow command respect against all odds. subs need to be able to stand up in the front of a classroom of kids that they don't know, introduce themselves and hope that they aren't laughed at. or talked back to. or worse. (see **)

subs need to have general knowledge of most things so they don't look like an idiot when teaching a lesson. subs need, and deserve, respect like the normal, regular teachers.

subs need love.

this blog will be my journey of substituting, recorded for all to share.

welcome.

**I have seen the penis of a high school student because one of his buddies thought it would be funny to pull his pants down.