Well, I have almost made it. We have very few days until the 30th... last day of school and I am just racing toward the finish. This year has been full of ups and downs. I have found that I still love kids and that I do love teaching. I have decided that coaching is not for me and I am looking for a science (or similar) teaching position only.
I went to a job fair the other day and was blown away by how rude districts feel they can be. Everyone thinks that you should have already put you applications in their system and no one wants to talk to you until you have... sad.... for them. Seriously... then what is the point of coming to the job fair!!!!??? Of course there were many new teachers there and one of them just hit a bad note with me. She just wouldn't stop talking about herself... funny of me to say that when that's all I do on here... but she was the annoying kind and I just pray that we don't end up at the same school next year.
I did get a couple of good hits and even a phone call today inviting me in for an interview. I am calling back tomorrow to tell them "OF COURSE!!!"... in a much smaller and less desperate voice. I am hoping to find a district that is towards the big city without being the big city. One of the principals told me I was the top of her list so you know I filled that application out on Monday night.
I am looking forward to my next assignment. Whether it be as a teaching only position here or another school district, I know it will be exciting and new... again. As for the title of my post... well I just know sometimes at the end of a race you get going so fast that you can't help to fall over yourself... so I am trying to slow down my pace and just coast into the finish... mostly out of fear that I might land face first.
Thanks, Library Girl for prompting me to write this one. My access had been cut off to this site for a while, but now I am back... strangely... again!!!
make it a great day or not... the choice is yours!!!- coach b!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Genetics and Pregnant He/Shes
Well, we are working on Genetics in class right now. I find it to be really interesting as the students realize different things about themselves. I used an example of my mom and dad passing on genes of hair color to my sister and me which they seemed to enjoy. Then... I had the ever dreaded question about the pregnant man... who is actually a woman in disguise. It was a very interesting conversation and even though it made me a little uncomfortable... the kids really seemed to be interested and had lots of questions.... sooo we talked about it for a while and then... miraculously (maybe because of their new found enthusiasm)... they did all of their work. It was awesome!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Teaching... The Sisyphus Way
This year has been full of ups and downs... mostly ups but but recently downs. I struggle to stay ahead in knowledge and energy of my students each day. I think up new and creative ways to give them material and have them experience and learn it and in my personal belief I am doing pretty well... until yesterday.
I received an email in the morning from our district PR person that said nominations for things like "teacher of the year" and "staff member of the year"... along with "rookie of the year." Scrolling down to our school I was surprised to not see my name there. See, when I was hired, I was the ONLY new teacher at the whole school. I tried so hard to fit in and make it seem like I wasn't SOOOO new. I have stayed late and come early, tried to join committees and oh, by the way I teach 8th grade science which is a TAKS level and I coach 7th grade basketball and help out with pretty much all the other sports. So when I say I come early and stay late, I mean that I come before the 7 am time for athletics and stay well after the 5 pm end of athletics... think 10:30 pm with janitors kicking me out.
Well, in January they hired this new teacher and let me just tell you about her schedule. She comes to school at 9am... teaches 3 classes of computer, has 2 conference periods and then goes to assist with high school sports. Are you kidding me? She even told me herself that her job was a cake walk. But, guess who my school nominated for "rookie of the year." That's right... half-day girl.
All I could say yesterday was WOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW! I was shocked. It was like a big slap in the face.
Some people talked to me about it later on and told me they felt the same way.... but these are all people that you would call "pee-ons," people that don't mean anything because they are just other teachers and not the great administration that we have at this school. My fellow pee-ons did make me feel better because they told me I was their rookie of the year and I thanked them.
Later on last night I was looking for some files on my computer and came across this paper that I had written in college for my "Sociology of Death and Dying" class. It was about Sisyphus who if you are not familiar with is the guy who pushed the rock up the hill only to have it roll back down so he can push it up again... for eternity. Well, our paper was related to the fact that we all go through the monotony of every day pushing of rocks only to have it fall while we sleep so we can get up again the next morning and do it again. Its a very negative but somewhat intriguing way to look at life. In my paper I talked about how our lives aren't just one hill and that there are a bunch of hills connected where the valley in between the next 2 is always a bit higher than the one before. So we are making progress but its like a 3-steps-forward-and-2-back kinda thing. I probably argue this because I refuse to believe what I do every day won't lead to anything and if you know me I am determined enough to have a success of some kind no matter how small.
OK, now that I have thouroghly confused you... let me tell you how this all goes together. We have to teach the Sisyphus way... well not the original way, but the way I talked about in my sociology paper. We can not wait for someone to tell us "Great pushing." We can not be in it for the awards... or for the recognition. We have to be in teaching to feel the little victories. As teachers, you already know what they are. Tying shoes, light bulbs turning on, passing a test, finally getting multiplication in 8th grade, and having confidence to stand up in class and give a speech are all examples. You can't ask for more than that. Occasionally you will get a valentine's or a big hug, but if we (and I mean me...) search for those awards to be handed to us everytime we stay late or help out a student who isn't even in our class or grade level... then we will be constantly stuck rolling our rock up the same side of the same hill forever. We will never be able to get our boulder into the next valley so that we can prepare ourselves for the next small victory. If we teach the old Sisyphus way where we beg for praise then at the end of our lives or careers we really won't have anything to show for it except a boulder sitting at the bottom of the smallest hill. When we teach the new Sisyphus way, we can end our careers and even die knowing that we made a difference in our students, our community and maybe most importantly ourselves because we were able to give ourselves victories instead of waiting for someone to give them to us.
So, I am ok with it now... and I hope this other girl feels good with her reward because it seems to me this might be the only one she's received all year. I, on the other hand, have watched and shared successes with over 100 students this year and that is definitely something to be proud of!
I received an email in the morning from our district PR person that said nominations for things like "teacher of the year" and "staff member of the year"... along with "rookie of the year." Scrolling down to our school I was surprised to not see my name there. See, when I was hired, I was the ONLY new teacher at the whole school. I tried so hard to fit in and make it seem like I wasn't SOOOO new. I have stayed late and come early, tried to join committees and oh, by the way I teach 8th grade science which is a TAKS level and I coach 7th grade basketball and help out with pretty much all the other sports. So when I say I come early and stay late, I mean that I come before the 7 am time for athletics and stay well after the 5 pm end of athletics... think 10:30 pm with janitors kicking me out.
Well, in January they hired this new teacher and let me just tell you about her schedule. She comes to school at 9am... teaches 3 classes of computer, has 2 conference periods and then goes to assist with high school sports. Are you kidding me? She even told me herself that her job was a cake walk. But, guess who my school nominated for "rookie of the year." That's right... half-day girl.
All I could say yesterday was WOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW! I was shocked. It was like a big slap in the face.
Some people talked to me about it later on and told me they felt the same way.... but these are all people that you would call "pee-ons," people that don't mean anything because they are just other teachers and not the great administration that we have at this school. My fellow pee-ons did make me feel better because they told me I was their rookie of the year and I thanked them.
Later on last night I was looking for some files on my computer and came across this paper that I had written in college for my "Sociology of Death and Dying" class. It was about Sisyphus who if you are not familiar with is the guy who pushed the rock up the hill only to have it roll back down so he can push it up again... for eternity. Well, our paper was related to the fact that we all go through the monotony of every day pushing of rocks only to have it fall while we sleep so we can get up again the next morning and do it again. Its a very negative but somewhat intriguing way to look at life. In my paper I talked about how our lives aren't just one hill and that there are a bunch of hills connected where the valley in between the next 2 is always a bit higher than the one before. So we are making progress but its like a 3-steps-forward-and-2-back kinda thing. I probably argue this because I refuse to believe what I do every day won't lead to anything and if you know me I am determined enough to have a success of some kind no matter how small.
OK, now that I have thouroghly confused you... let me tell you how this all goes together. We have to teach the Sisyphus way... well not the original way, but the way I talked about in my sociology paper. We can not wait for someone to tell us "Great pushing." We can not be in it for the awards... or for the recognition. We have to be in teaching to feel the little victories. As teachers, you already know what they are. Tying shoes, light bulbs turning on, passing a test, finally getting multiplication in 8th grade, and having confidence to stand up in class and give a speech are all examples. You can't ask for more than that. Occasionally you will get a valentine's or a big hug, but if we (and I mean me...) search for those awards to be handed to us everytime we stay late or help out a student who isn't even in our class or grade level... then we will be constantly stuck rolling our rock up the same side of the same hill forever. We will never be able to get our boulder into the next valley so that we can prepare ourselves for the next small victory. If we teach the old Sisyphus way where we beg for praise then at the end of our lives or careers we really won't have anything to show for it except a boulder sitting at the bottom of the smallest hill. When we teach the new Sisyphus way, we can end our careers and even die knowing that we made a difference in our students, our community and maybe most importantly ourselves because we were able to give ourselves victories instead of waiting for someone to give them to us.
So, I am ok with it now... and I hope this other girl feels good with her reward because it seems to me this might be the only one she's received all year. I, on the other hand, have watched and shared successes with over 100 students this year and that is definitely something to be proud of!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Astronomy Bangs!
Ha! That was supposed to be a take off on "Geology Rocks" but it doesn't really have the same kinda umph! to it.
Anyhow we are on the unit I have been waiting all year to study. ASTRONOMY! We started by just looking at some cool pictures and other stuff that could get he kids excited. I wish we could dive in deeper, but we are doing a semi-big project. I have 25 groups who each have something related to astronomy to research. They will have to make a small poster over their object or concept and then they will have to create a 3D model or just a drawing to show their object. WWE will be displaying them all at the back of the classroom in this elongated corner so that it can look and feel a little more like outer space. I think the kids will really get into it because they all got to (kinda) pick a topic they were interested in and they will be doing this for the whole next week. Plus, no one will be soley in charge of EVERYTHING and they get to create a big mural in the classroom. (I wish I could just paint the back wall black but seeing as how I am new and all, I don't really see that happening.) So, down comes the "useless" word wall and up goes the space wall!
And then we will be on to genetics... and then review for TAKS (ugh!) but good at the same time because this year is almost over!!
-coach b!
Anyhow we are on the unit I have been waiting all year to study. ASTRONOMY! We started by just looking at some cool pictures and other stuff that could get he kids excited. I wish we could dive in deeper, but we are doing a semi-big project. I have 25 groups who each have something related to astronomy to research. They will have to make a small poster over their object or concept and then they will have to create a 3D model or just a drawing to show their object. WWE will be displaying them all at the back of the classroom in this elongated corner so that it can look and feel a little more like outer space. I think the kids will really get into it because they all got to (kinda) pick a topic they were interested in and they will be doing this for the whole next week. Plus, no one will be soley in charge of EVERYTHING and they get to create a big mural in the classroom. (I wish I could just paint the back wall black but seeing as how I am new and all, I don't really see that happening.) So, down comes the "useless" word wall and up goes the space wall!
And then we will be on to genetics... and then review for TAKS (ugh!) but good at the same time because this year is almost over!!
-coach b!
Friday, February 22, 2008
Shout Outs!
Every week on Friday our AP comes on and announces shout outs... It is usually very annoying because it takes up about the first 10 minutes of class... or maybe it just feels that way.
"What is a shout out?" you ask. Well, the office has a box that it encourages students and teachers to put shout outs in about each other and the great things they do. Teachers can write about students and students about teachers.
Well, today, I guess one of my students wrote one about me. (Thank goodness I didn't groan when they came on today... haha.) It was very sweet and they just said that I cared about them and really encouraged them to try hard and not give up. I think it was from one of my track kids because they called me "Coach B" and most of my science kids just call me "Ms. B" but I don't know. I wish I did know who it was because I would like to just say thanks and make sure that they know I appreciate it and that it made my day.
My students are so great and I wish I could just have a big group hug with all of them! (I know I'm corny...)
have a great weekend! -coach b!
"What is a shout out?" you ask. Well, the office has a box that it encourages students and teachers to put shout outs in about each other and the great things they do. Teachers can write about students and students about teachers.
Well, today, I guess one of my students wrote one about me. (Thank goodness I didn't groan when they came on today... haha.) It was very sweet and they just said that I cared about them and really encouraged them to try hard and not give up. I think it was from one of my track kids because they called me "Coach B" and most of my science kids just call me "Ms. B" but I don't know. I wish I did know who it was because I would like to just say thanks and make sure that they know I appreciate it and that it made my day.
My students are so great and I wish I could just have a big group hug with all of them! (I know I'm corny...)
have a great weekend! -coach b!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Update and Observation
My prickly thorn has decided to withdraw and transfer to another school district. Sorry if he is coming to yours but I couldn't be happier about it.
Also, my consultant came today. We were finishing up our atmosphere stations. We have been doing 8 different stations. They are all 20 minutes each so it has taken us 4 days to get through them. Being the last day, it was really easy and I didn't have to teach them much of anything. I had a class of only 11 when she came because 2 were out. I was also fortunate enough to have a cold front coming through on the same day that some of my students were starting on their weather vocab. One of the terms is air mass.... and I was able to show them a picture that showed them what the air was doing today and how it would be very cold outside after school. YEA!!! for "perfect" weather. Anyhow, I was given good comments on my observation.
Have a good weekend!
coach b!
Also, my consultant came today. We were finishing up our atmosphere stations. We have been doing 8 different stations. They are all 20 minutes each so it has taken us 4 days to get through them. Being the last day, it was really easy and I didn't have to teach them much of anything. I had a class of only 11 when she came because 2 were out. I was also fortunate enough to have a cold front coming through on the same day that some of my students were starting on their weather vocab. One of the terms is air mass.... and I was able to show them a picture that showed them what the air was doing today and how it would be very cold outside after school. YEA!!! for "perfect" weather. Anyhow, I was given good comments on my observation.
Have a good weekend!
coach b!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Have a Nice Fall!
Today in class, a student was being very disruptive, so disruptive that other students were asking him to be quiet. It escalated into a very ugly situation which ended in 8 detentions for him for each time he talked back to me. I thought it was over at that point.
I was on my way down his aisle to assist another student. That is when he stuck out his foot to trip me. I did trip but I did not come falling down or anything. I'm pretty sure that everyone in the class saw what happened because even though it was quiet due to testing, after that it was SILENT enough to hear a pin drop.
I guess the admin doesn't think tripping a teacher is a big deal. All they gave him was a day of in school suspension. By the way... it is his 2nd day back from the alternative school from previous behavior issues that have nothing to do with me. I am so close to done with him, I can hardly stand it.
Now, the good things about my day: Technology came over and set up my 2 student computers... another "finally." They decided there is no internet wiring for the computers except by my desk so they have to have another guy come out and fix that. They also sorta set up the document camera... even though it was already set up yesterday. Somehow they forgot about the spliter so another (yes, more "anothers") will come back with that as well.
Annnnnd... its Valentine's Day. I got 3 Valentine's from some of my favorite kiddos. Plus, the boyfriend is coming to see me so I think he has something planned.
Happy Valentine's to You! -coach b!
I was on my way down his aisle to assist another student. That is when he stuck out his foot to trip me. I did trip but I did not come falling down or anything. I'm pretty sure that everyone in the class saw what happened because even though it was quiet due to testing, after that it was SILENT enough to hear a pin drop.
I guess the admin doesn't think tripping a teacher is a big deal. All they gave him was a day of in school suspension. By the way... it is his 2nd day back from the alternative school from previous behavior issues that have nothing to do with me. I am so close to done with him, I can hardly stand it.
Now, the good things about my day: Technology came over and set up my 2 student computers... another "finally." They decided there is no internet wiring for the computers except by my desk so they have to have another guy come out and fix that. They also sorta set up the document camera... even though it was already set up yesterday. Somehow they forgot about the spliter so another (yes, more "anothers") will come back with that as well.
Annnnnd... its Valentine's Day. I got 3 Valentine's from some of my favorite kiddos. Plus, the boyfriend is coming to see me so I think he has something planned.
Happy Valentine's to You! -coach b!
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