Spring break!

Ahh! Break is finally here! It is a much needed break, especially since my last two projects/papers for my two classes are due the Monday and Tuesday after it's done.

There are a lot of things going on in my classroom, but most of it cannot be published here. Maybe one day. Since this blog is not necessarily private and I feel it would not be professional of me to put it all out there, I'm going to take a while to think about exactly how to word what's going on that will not reflect anyone negatively. Let's just say I'm experiencing a really interesting experiment in my room that has had both positive and negative results. One negative is that I've ended up very frustrated and stressed at the end of the day. The positives definitely outweigh the negatives, though. This has helped me grow as a teacher, helped me prepare for my administrative internship coming up in the next year or two and I've really bonded more with my students (seriously, I will actually miss them during this break. Not saying I don't miss teaching over breaks, but usually, I look forward to the breaks as time where I don't have to stress about grades, grading, plans and struggling students... this year is different).

I'm only teaching one of my three classes right now--English 9. We've just finished Act 2 of Romeo & Juliet, one of my favorite units to teach. The kids are actually enjoying it! We were a bit worried due to the make-up of the classroom: 20 boys and 5 girls, half of which have SPED accommodations and have struggles of all kinds with reading and writing. They're picking up on Shakespeare better than we expected--not that we had low expectations, we just weren't sure which way this class would go with the play.  We're keeping it simple as my co-teacher and I are still getting to know each other & want to make sure the students understand everything.
Speaking of my co-teacher... I love her. We are pretty much a perfect teaching team. She is hilarious and positive and we share the same philosophy--major plus! They're keeping us together next year because we work so well together with our baby freshmen. This makes me feel so much better about being out for maternity leave in the fall. Knowing that she will be there has eased a lot of the stress/anxiety I had over what will happen when I'm at home instead of the classroom.
My schedule next year is looking like it'll be pretty much the same: English 9 & 10. There will be (hopefully) three English 9 classes I will be responsible for--2 in the spring, 1 in the fall (smart choice, schedule makers!). The rest of my open teaching spots will be English 10 aaaaaaaaaand CREATIVE WRITING! Finally! The only way that won't happen is if there weren't enough students that signed up for it. Based on how many students told me they were signing up for it, I don't think that will happen. I'm guessing that creative writing will be in the spring (why introduce a new class when the teacher will miss 8 weeks of it, you know?), which means I'll have 1 English 9, 2 English 10 in the fall and 2 English 9 and 1 Creative Writing in the spring. I'm cool with that. :)

My classes this semester are just about done. Like I said earlier, only two major papers due. I still have to start the final product and get typing, but I know what I'm doing for both of them. I'm only taking one class this summer--one of the ones I was supposed to take first, but was never offered anywhere/anytime that worked for me, my job and schedule.  This summer, I've also volunteered to teach summer school again. The extra money is nice, it's an easy schedule, and I really enjoyed it last year--why not?

new things

I realized I haven't posted since December. I've been really busy. Here is a list of everything that is new:

• Student teacher is now full-time. She starts teaching Eng 9 next week and Eng 10 in about 2 weeks. Yikes! I'm hoping the full-on teaching experience will help her improve in the areas we've identified. Some of them need to be improved, otherwise... I will be put in an awkward position. She is getting more comfortable in the classroom, which is a step in the right direction. The whole thing has been an interesting experience, one I'm not yet sure if I would do again. 
• I am taking two grad classes this semester: School Law (interesting, but the classmates are... slightly irritating.) and Improving School Programs and Performance (this one has 4 people total and is a hybrid course--we only meet every other week, the other weeks are online discussions. We've had really great discussions and I LOVE the professor, she is absolutely fantastic!)
• New semester started. I miss my old English 9 and 10 classes, my new classes are definitely different and the ST and I have had a lot of conversations about how unique my first semester classes were in terms of motivation and skills. Our English 9 class is 20 boys, 5 girls. That's been interesting. They're warming up though. My two English 10 classes are very different, but fun in their own ways. I swear, something about the 4x4 schedule makes these kids act better in class. I haven't had as many behavioral problems this year as previous years. 
• There's a good chance I will be teaching creative writing next year! That's so exciting!
• I am pregnant. Due in mid-September. It is exciting and terrifying.
• My students are really cute when they find out that piece of news. My 10th grade classes both know (and their reactions were ADORABLE), my 9th grade class doesn't know as a whole (a few of them have figured it out or other kids told them). I announced it yesterday on my student facebook, mostly for my older students or students I don't see often. Since I'm already showing, students that know me have figured it out, but students that don't know me probably just think I'm a little chunky, haha! 
• Being due in mid-September is good. It'll give us the whole summer to prepare, to find a long-term sub, and I might even be able to meet my new classes at least once before going on leave

That's about it. This is a busy semester. Classes on Monday and Tuesday, Literary Magazine meetings on Wednesday, mentoring a student teacher and my own personal life changes... whew. I'll try to keep this updated, but who knows? I always forget because I find other things to do.

snow!

This is the second "real" winter I've experienced in Virginia.  This week and last have been absolutely freezing and colder than normal for VA at any point during the months of December-February.
It sort of snowed during the day on Monday, but it started after we were already in school.  It barely covered the grass and promptly melted when the sun came out around 1:30. That was nice.
Today it snowed. Not a whole lot, but the ground is covered with probably 2-3" (I haven't been outside, so I'm totally guessing). What cracked me up is that my district called a snow day before a single flake even fell. That was a first. Also: for this small amount of snow, there are grocery stores with sold-out bread aisles. I understood it a little more last winter when it was, like, two feet of snow and a for-real blizzard because that is incredibly strange for Virginia.
We still have until Tuesday before winter break starts. I'm not sure if we'll have school tomorrow. The snow stopped falling, but sleet is supposed to roll in and it's so cold outside that it might just cause another snow day or a 2 hour delay (to make sure the roads aren't too slick).
Will the freak out over snow hitting Virginia ever stop being amusing to me? I hope not.

My lovely English 9 class

When I was first asked to teach English 9, I was nervous. My impression of 9th graders, as a 10-12th grade teacher, was that they were wild, insane, immature creatures that I would never survive a year with.
I was wrong. Very, very wrong.
As much as I love teaching English 10, English 9 might just surpass it as my favorite. English 11 and 12 are awesome because you have the timelines and lots of history cross-overs and whatnot, but English 9 and 10 are where I really feel like The Teacher.
This year, I not only have the blessing of an ah-may-zing co-teacher (we could not be more similar in teaching philosophy and sense of humor), but we've also been spoiled with an even more amazing English 9, first semester class. We actually told them the other day that if we could teach them every day for the next three years of their high school lives, we would do it in a heartbeat.  As other classes are hitting that wonderful mid-semester slump/doldrums, this class marches in every day with a smile on their face and a skip in their step. At 7:40 A.M. Do you know how abnormal that is for high school kids? While teaching them, I sometimes worry that I'm still sleeping and having a wonderful dream about The Perfect Class. Seriously, how did I/we get so lucky? It has also proved what I always tell kids at the start of the year/semester: you meet me half-way in enthusiasm and effort, and this class will be awesome and as fun as you want it to be.

Here are some reasons why my English 9 class is SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME:

• All of them passed the first quarter. Only two or three of them had not turned in every. single. assignment.
• They get along with each other. (!!!)
• They sing happy birthday to each other.
• They want to read out loud. They fight over who will read out loud. 
• We have inside jokes. The yeti/Sasquatch, calling people a "turd", the Plagiarism Police and more...

Speaking of the yeti obsession, it has been ramped up even more! As we were watching Act 1 of Romeo & Juliet, during the Queen Mab speech, my Sasquatch-obsessed student yelled out "YETI!!!" and claimed there was a guy dressed as a yeti in the background. I thought he mistook the guy dressed as a Viking for a yeti. On Thursday, during the student teacher's lesson with that class, she had them re-watch that section, but that time I saw it! We all started laughing so hard that there were tears and the student teacher played it off very nicely by saying "And now we know--Shakespeare prefers yetis."

• We laugh so hard we cry--this happens at least 2-3 times a week.
• They get into everything we read. Seriously. They come up with connections, they turn in amazing writing assignments, they become passionate about the characters--it is an English teacher's dream.
• They study. They prepare. They ace tests!
• They are honest.
• Their parents are incredible.
• Some of them even read outside of class/school and are not afraid to admit it. (!!!)
• When reading A Raisin in the Sun, they fought over who would read each role every day.
• When I told them the next thing we were going to read was Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, they cheered. CHEERED! They were EXCITED!
• When reading Romeo & Juliet, they've tried their hardest to understand it and have done incredibly well with it so far. They've had amazing discussions and are actually getting some of the jokes that they shouldn't get because they are dirty, dirty jokes.

There are many other reasons, but seriously, folks--this class is amazing. On Friday, a student was biting his thumb (a great insult in R&J). I asked him, "Are you biting your thumb at me?". He replied, "I'm just... biting my thumb." I ask again, "But are you biting your thumb at me?". He turns to the girl behind him and asks "Is the law on our side if I say 'yes'?". It was a good example of why we love this class--they really get into the reading and have fun with it.
I could make another list for my English 10 class, as well, but it would look pretty similar to this one (they have more inside jokes, though--that class is full of comedians). I have been very lucky in who was placed in my classes this semester. The only downfall is that it will be very difficult to let them go in January and even more difficult to not compare my second semester students to this semester. I'll miss these classes, for sure.

whoops

I always put this on my lists of things to do, but never get around to it.

Let's see.
Student teacher is getting better. I have another half-written post about her first lesson ready to post... when I get to it.
We went to D.C. this past weekend and I got to see one of my oldest friends. It was a much-needed visit. It's so nice to see friends you've had for FOREVER, especially when you've had years of moving and trying to make new friends. I'm SO looking forward to seeing other friends of ours that finally moved back to the east side of the U.S. during Thanksgiving weekend and of course--seeing my family in December.
This year, I feel more and more respected by students and staff. It's nice.
I have a lot going on: Literary magazine, student teacher, 3 preps (9, 10, and 11), new schedule, grad classes, mentor program for our on-time graduation committee, technology go-to person for the English department, conferences my principal volunteered me for, study hall duty... and I'm probably forgetting one or two things.

I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with this blog. Student stories? Lesson ideas? School politics? Day-to-day updates about my boring life? Not sure.
I do have a few posts that I've started and never finished on various topics. I might get around to taking care of them at some point in time. Or I might not.

the ST, day 3

Today was day 3 with the ST.
She was in on a day that was not a Thursday, so there were (of course) a few kids who asked, "What are YOU doing here today? It is NOT Thursday!" (gotta love teenagers, you always know where you stand with them.)
She had to finish up a test she started yesterday with some English 11 students (they got huge bags of candy out of it, which immediately stopped their complaining and helped them make 20 new BFFs! LOL)

Thankfully, she is finally getting a little more comfortable. I asked her if she would like to get up and walk around while kids were working on essay outlines and/or study guides and I think that helped her feel a little more comfortable. The kids are getting used to her, but a few are still harassing her or refusing her help when it's offered. They'll warm up after a while.

She asked me yesterday if her just sitting near my desk is a distraction and offered maybe finding another spot. I had to remind her that with any student K-12, her just being there is a distraction. It's something new, a change in the schedule, a full moon, a shift in the weather... it's a distraction. But I also told her that the longer she shows up, the less that will happen. When we discussed how some of the students reacted today, I reminded her that any change in the schedule immediately draws their attention, and teenagers immediately need to address it. That's just how some of them are and it's something every secondary teacher (well, any teacher in general) needs to recognize and know how to deal with.


Another great thing about today? We have a new student in our English 9 class who is a few years older than the rest of the class. He's lived a life and found out that dropping out was not what he wanted to do, after all. There is another student in our English 9 class that was in one my classes last year and now has to repeat. He's been debating dropping out because he just isn't into school (and pretty much hates everyone there, including me).  While I was circulating, I overheard a little bit of their conversation where the older Eng 9 student was telling my repeater about how dropping out is not the way he wants to go and giving him reason after reason after reason. It was really nice of him to do and I told him so after class. I said that I think it was good for the repeater to hear because it was coming from someone who actually experienced it. His response was not so hopeful (he said that he tried, but the repeater will probably make his own mistakes and end up not listening to a word he said), but I still told him that I was really proud of him for trying and really appreciated the effort to "save" him.

exciting week!

Third week of school is usually when the honeymoon period ends. On Tuesday and Wednesday, there were two different fights in the same area of the school. Both fights involved girls. The first involved one of my former students (she found out another girl was pregnant with her boyfriend's baby! Draaaamaaaa!) and the second involved a 'clan' of girls (all related), some of whom I taught last year. They jumped a new girl and tore out her hair! Poor girl was bleeding all over the place & her hair was all over the floor, I was told. Yep, honeymoon period over.
Students got a little more wild this week, but I still like them. I met quite a few parents on Wednesday night for our first semester Back to School night. They were all very nice & a majority of them brought their students with them!
All my classes took tests on Tuesday. For English 9 & 10, it was their first. They all did pretty great! I think out of all my students, only 3 failed (basically one per class), 5 got D's or C's, and the rest got high B's or A's! Some even got above 100 due to study guide extra credit or completing ALL of the short answer options. I am impressed! I've got a great group of kids this semester!
My student teacher (yes, MY student teacher--what? how?) had her first full day with my classes on Thursday. She came in for Back to School night and did a wonderful job of introducing herself. My English 9 students and student involvement worker met her last Friday when she was first visiting the school. She's not a 'real' student teacher just yet. This semester she will be coming in only on Thursdays and has little tasks that she must complete every week for the two classes she's taking. Next semester, she will be teaching for 10 weeks (yikes! Will I be able to give up my control of my classroom for that long?). She seems very nice, but nervous and/or uncomfortable. It's cool, though, cause I was pretty much the same way during my pre-internship.
The students don't really like her so far. My English 9 students call her the 'awkward lady'. My English 10 students were not pleased that she shh'd them when she was here (neither was I, to be honest. That's my job. haha!) and constantly told one of them to be quiet. My English 11 students didn't take much notice of her. All of them were disturbed that she never laughed or showed any emotion. Oh, and they all took notice of her make-up and a shoulder twitch she had going on (teenagers are so observant of the things you probably do NOT want them to notice at all). My 9th graders were planning on just staring at her next Thursday because they claimed that she just stared at them the whole time. I talked them out of that and explained to them what I explained to all of my classes who asked about her: she's probably just nervous and will loosen up as she becomes more comfortable in the classroom. Either that or she thinks we're all nutjobs. And that's okay.
At first, I was nervous about what she would say about me. Then I realized a few things.

1. She has never taught before. If she has, it definitely wasn't at a high school level.
2. My administrators and department chair know how I am, how I teach, how other teachers/students/parents feel about me. Their opinions matter more than hers because they determine if I have a contract.
3. Regardless of what she says, I will continue to teach the way that works for me. If she disagrees with it, that's fine since we are obviously different types of people.
4. My students are successful and retain a lot of the information I need them to. To me, this shows that I'm doing at least one thing right. :)
5. She's never taught before. Comparing myself to who I was when I was her age and place in my career to now shows how much you change when you actually have to teach.

Bless her heart, though, I do not envy her. I would not relive my pre-intership, student teaching or first year of teaching for any amount of money. The pure terror, panic and anxiety from those two years probably took at least a year off of my life. I no longer wake up with a nervous stomach, questioning why I didn't choose a career that didn't involve getting up in front of 20-30 teenagers and trying to teach them something. I am so glad that I'm in year five of my career, comfortable in front of my students, knowledgable about what I have to teach and learning more every year about becoming a better educator. By the way, I noticed that I wasn't nervous at all during Back to School night. My greatest weakness used to be addressing a whole classroom full of parents because I would get so nervous that I shut down, but now it barely phases me! Loving it!

One last note about this week: I found out one of my current (and technically former, she was in an English 10 class of mine two years ago) students is pregnant. Every year, there has to be one... I should really start warning my female students at the beginning of the year...