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.

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...

first week done, only... a lot more to go.

Have I ever said that pre-service week is my favorite? It is. During the school year, the faculty never seems to have as much time together to just hang out and discuss what we do/how we teach as we do during pre-service week. I love it because I remember why I love what I do, I love sharing ideas with other teachers and I love seeing everyone else before the stress of the school year and SOLs sets in.

Since we switched to the 4x4 block schedule, I only have three classes.
Those three classes are:
First block: English 9. 25 kids. All awesome & sweet. I love freshmen!
Second block: English 11. 25 kids. I knew most of them. Three are seniors trying to graduate (one showed up late last year, one had medical issues, and one got majorly screwed over by a long-term sub last year). I was a little worried about how this class would interact, but so far, it's been better than expected. We finished reading the first act of The Crucible already and actually had some fun getting through it. Even though this class will probably be my rowdiest of this semester, I have a few things on my side: the two SOLs (the writing one is in October! OCTOBER!! One month from now! AHH!) for this year, maturity, and football season (most of the boys in the class are on the varsity football team, so they have to behave in order to play). Also, most of these kids have a very good sense of humor and are very bright, so this has the potential to be my rowdiest, yet most fun class. Thank god it's during the start of my day, though. I don't think I could teach this class at the end of the day.
Third block: Study hall/planning. Our study hall is paired with AP classes that meet every other day. We have about 5-7 students that are in study hall every day, then the rest of the 28 total students enrolled come to us every other day. Math Teacher Next Door & I share this study hall duty in order to give us both a break as this is our only planning period for the day. So far, we've decided on a 2 day on, 2 day off schedule. The kids are nice, I taught most of them in the last two years.
Fourth block: English 10. 26 kids. I knew a few of them and a few of them coming in were very excited to be in my class---that's a nice feeling. A few of the kids I have this this class that I taught last year said they missed me over the summer! How sweet, right?? So far, this has been my best behaved class I've EVER had at the end of the day. They are smart, chatty, and creative. We already finished one short story--the longest one we reading English 10--and they actually got into it! That was great! This class has great potential.

So far, I love all my classes, but I realize that we are in the "honeymoon" period that happens at the beginning of every year (or semester). We'll see how things change over the next month. I hope they don't change much because I really like all of my students and classes so far. I'm also already pretty used to the 4x4 schedule and seeing the same students every day. It was a lot easier to learn their names & quicker to grade their stuff and makes copies since I have a LOT less students now than I ever had before. I hope next week is as good as this week was!

If you are a teacher (or really good at lying)

One of the perks of being a teacher is the conversations you have with people you just met about what's it like to be a teacher and their thoughts about teaching/schools AND the discounts those people sometimes give you. It's a nice perk, especially if those people really appreciate all the hard work you do.
This summer, the school let us keep our ID badges so we could save money buying from certain businesses that will give discounts with proof of school employment. That was very nice of them to do, but I've found that just mentioning the fact that you're a teacher will sometimes get you freebies, extras, and discounts. For example: I had to go get the first oil change for our new car, typed in my information and the mechanic mentioned that I type really fast. I replied that I was a teacher, so I type a lot throughout the day. We then had a 5 minute discussion where he told me that teachers had the most difficult and most important job in the world and he knew this because he was originally from Liberia and saw how much they did there and here. He said he was a product of the Peace Corps and missionaries there, who taught him the importance of teachers. It was actually one of my most interesting conversations with someone about teaching. Then he gave me $15 in coupons to use. Awesome, right?
I don't usually drop the fact that I'm a teacher into conversation, but when I have, it's usually been a positive experience. I once got a free gallon of sweet tea as well as a percentage off of the cost of food from Hardee's when I was celebrating with my students who passed their English 11 SOLs. Kazoo Books in Kalamazoo has usually given me anywhere from 10-20% off when I buy books that are going to be used in my classroom. Office Max has one of the best programs for teachers where you earn rewards based off of the amount you spend. A lot of people will go out of their way to help you, either through discounts or freebies or helping you find the best quality for the least amount of money. I love when these things happen because it helps me feel supported as a teacher and recognized for doing such a demanding job.

In other news:

• Summer school is happening (sort of?). Nine students signed up for English courses, so I guess they're letting that happen with one less than the requirement for a class. Here's the challenge: it will be three different levels in one class. English 9=4, English 10=3, English 11=2. English 9 and 10 are pretty easy to combine. English 11? Not so much. At least it'll prepare me for teaching English 11 at this new school the first semester (they use a different textbook than the one at GHS, where I taught Eng 11 before). It'll be interesting and enough money to pay my tuition to VCU for two semesters.
• My parents just came for a visit and Virginia gave them a wonderful gift: hot, dry days with temperatures up to 100° and above! I think they had a nice time anyway.
• David's parents are heading down this week and it's still hot out, so they get to enjoy it, too!
• My classes this summer are going along. I'm not procrastinating and turning everything in on time. My group in one of the classes presenting a pretty awesome logic model that we barely have to revise for the second presentation. Also: I was barely nervous presenting. Such a difference from before I taught full time. 
• I'm looking for good book suggestions to read the rest of the summer. Please suggest some!

What I've been up to

Teaching:

English 10 goes on as usual. This is my fourth year teaching it, so it just... goes. My only hope is that in the next year or two, I can convince the school to let me buy a class set of The Catcher in the Rye and move Lord of the Flies to English 9 because I really miss teaching Catcher and definitely think LOTF is way too easy for English 10 (I read it in 8th grade, most of them could easily get it in 8th or 9th). We're heading into the last essay of the year, same topic as last year (quite a few kids enjoy it): Has the world gotten better, worse or stayed the same since the Second World War? They enjoy debating it and thinking about it, which means: easy to write about! Oh! I almost forgot: I made them write persuasive letters and send them--DEFINITELY a good idea! The writing in those letters was definitely an improvement over other essays.

English 9, on the other hand, was the last grade I had not taught between 7th and 12th, so English 9 has been full of work. My classes were slightly different than the other 9s and my style different from the other teachers, so even though I used some of their materials, I mostly made my own. We successfully got through Romeo & Juliet, with one class making their own version of it (it turned out awesome). We are now through The Odyssey because the textbook we use cut the ever-loving crap out of it. They read about a quarter of the real thing, which makes it quick and easy to get through. We've really been focusing on the lessons children were supposed to learn from the epic and comparing it to modern American society (that's actually the topic of their last essay of the year). Two of our three 9th grade classes (the two that did not make their own R&J) are making puppet shows for The Odyssey. They're all split up into groups of 2 or 3, writing their own script, and making their own puppets. We're going to film it and put it together for each class. They were actually pretty into the whole idea. Kids in our 2nd period class kept asking if one group could have a Sassy Gay Friend for Odysseus or Penelope, hah!

Did I say yet that I love teaching English 9? Cause I do.

Remember when I was afraid of teaching 9th grade? I ended up really liking it.

Oh, and remember how I used to play Apples to Apples with students? We played that twice as a WHOLE CLASS. I'm talking 20 people playing in a huge circle. They did GREAT! I also introduced my two English 10 classes to Catch Phrase and they became kind of obsessed with it. There was a lot of screaming, stomping and laughter involved in those games. They got into it way more than I expected!

Altogether, I really enjoyed my group of students this year. So many of them were not afraid to get into the literature, get nerdy/geeky, and be enthusiastic and so many of them have a similar sense of humor, it was a really good year. I love having students who aren't afraid to react to the reading out loud, like one of my gentlemen the other day who kept saying, "Ooh! This is getting SO GOOD! I can't STAND IT! What's gonna happen? Is he gonna kill them? I would KILL THOSE DUDES for trying to touch my wife!!" while we were reading The Odyssey, during the part when Odysseus was disguised as a beggar and planning to kill Penelope's suitors. I only had one class that was a bit iffy--there were a lot of students with low self-esteem/negative attitudes, so it was very difficult to get them to open up. (It was even difficult to get them to play a game with each other! They mostly just wanted to sit there, be quiet and make fun of each other if other people were wrong. There were many times were it would be DEAD quiet in the classroom as if they were taking a test, but they'd just be sitting there... possibly writing, possibly doing nothing. It was... awkward. And the quietest class I've ever taught.)

Even though I love all my classes and students, I'm still happy that the end of the year is coming up. I'm starting to finish up all the end-of-year notes I usually do, which makes it a reality that the end of school is SO CLOSE! I only get a few weeks off before I do summer school (if there are enough students that sign up for it).

Other school news: Our school is switching in 4x4 next year. Should be interesting. Pros: Only 3 classes of students instead of 5, I'm already used to 90 minute classes, more electives. Cons: It's different--teaching every day vs. every other day. That's really the only change I'm worried about, but it won't be too bad--no matter what I teach next year, I've already taught it. I now have materials for 9-12 grade, so I told my department chair to schedule me wherever I was needed.

Literary magazine:

Our literary magazine finally came together and was printed! It ended up being 30 pages long with 3 pages of color and my principal herself stepped forward to cover the cost! It was so exciting! We printed 30 copies (we weren't sure how many people would want one) and have sold 16 so far. This is a very good thing because we need to pay back our loan. :) Next year, it will be even better! Now that it's out, a lot of new kids have become interested in submitting and/or being involved next year, which is about what I expected to happen.

Personal:

David and I are moving! We're just moving a few blocks south of where we live now, into a nicer, slightly larger apartment and closer to a few things, but still in the quieter part of the neighborhood. I'm really excited to move into a nicer apartment, I just hope it ends up being as nice as it looked!

I was also accepted into VCU's Administration & Supervision grad program. I'm starting two classes next week for the summer, then another class & pre-internship class in the fall. I'm pretty excited to get back to class, but a little nervous about how it's going to affect the amount of time I have for school. Since the school is changing to 4x4 and my student load will be smaller each semester, it shouldn't be too bad.

Other small things: I saw Megan graduate from MSU, we're going to Canada this summer and I'm 98% sure I'm selling my moped in the next month.

funniest short answer I've ever read

This is a real answer to a short answer question/topic on the last Romeo & Juliet test.

"Friar Laurence is a character who probably knows how everything is going to end. He deals Juliet the sleeping potion, so he knows she's probably going to end up dead, even if she threatens to kill herself how many times? He's also the character that inspired Sassy Gay Friend.

J: I'm going to kill myself because they want me to marry Paris.

FL: What, what, what are you doing?!"

also, her response to a question about whether or not Paris actually loved Juliet and their explanation for their answer:

"Paris most likely wants money, and wants to get laid. He's almost twice her age, so he's probably still a virgin. He doesn't know love, because you don't know you wanted something so bad until it's gone forever."

The student that wrote these two answers cracks me up on the daily. Her short answers are usually correct, but hilarious. Basically, I hope that my future teenagers are as quick and witty as she is.

For reference:

Also: In 7th period, we read the one act play The Brute by Anton Chekov. 3 students read a out loud in front of class. The boys that read the male parts actually acted. it. out. the best they could with the books in their hands. It was THE BEST version of The Brute my classes have ever heard/experienced. It was awesome!

some days are just funny

3 classes took tests today. During those tests, two classes were hilarious. Some kids just can’t be quiet during tests. Those kids hate silence. I mean, HATE it. Unfortunately, it’s hard for me to keep a straight face. Like when a kid INSISTS on waving his hand at me for 2 minutes because he’s been taking a test for an hour and needs to make himself laugh, I can’t help but laugh, even though I should keep a straight face.

Sometimes I wish I had a way of remembering all of these funny moments. Basically, some days my classroom is filled with laughter while other days it's filled with anger, frustration and possibly tears. That is why my job is awesome.

So. Shakespeare is done. English 9 is working on finishing up essays and projects for Romeo & Juliet. One class is even making their OWN recorded version of the play instead of individual projects. English 10 is ready to read their one act play, then move on to persuasive writing.

This year, for persuasive writing, I decided to make them write a letter. Then they have to send that letter. They can choose parents, teachers, administrators, elected officials (local, state or national), etc., but they have to write the letter to them and send it. It should be interesting.

The literary magazine is coming along. The kids have chosen a day to start staying after school (we used to just meet during club days, but that is no longer possible) and we will start putting it together. This has all been one great experiment and I hope to god it turns out well, for my sake as well as theirs (and the school's!). This school has never had a literary magazine, so it's been interesting being involved in something very new for the school. Like I said, I really, really hope it turns out.

snow days

Today is snow day number 5.

We had school yesterday, but woke up this morning with snow falling hard again. At first, 98% of the schools in the area tried to start with a 2 hour delay. About half an hour ago, they called saying it was cancelled and a majority of those 2 hour delay schools switched to cancel the day. The snow is supposed to stop, but not until after students would have to be transported to school. So far, I've had one Odd day and one Even day with my classes this semester.

Yesterday my classes surprised me by being a little more focused than I expected. We got through the intro work for both plays and actually ended up reading a good chunk of Act I of both Romeo & Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream. That was a load off of my back. Plus, as I look back on last year, this is about where I was already in the second week of Midsummer because there were interruptions and I did a lot more activities with the terminology and themes before we started reading. Once I realized that, I relaxed a bit. Another positive is that my English 9 kids already have a general idea about R&J, liked discussing the true/false statements and actually seemed excited and ready to read. Also: they seemed to understand it already (more than I expected, I mean-- it is Shakespeare, always a challenge for HS kids) and a few of them even got the humor in the first scene. As for Midsummer, that play introduces so many characters to begin with that the students were at first confused. Shakespeare throws out a lot of names and conflicts at the very start, so I can understand their confusion, especially after days of not having class. 7th period was pretty chatty and hyper, but less rowdy than I expected and it seemed like a few of them were catching on. That play gets easier as it goes on, so I'm still looking forward to teaching it for a second year. My English 10 kids are awesome and I think this play is definitely their style, if the snow could stop interrupting the schedule.

This weekend and the snow day on Monday led to me finishing my part of my application to grad school. That's a great feeling. All I'm waiting on is transcripts to be sent from WMU to VCU and two references (they've been held up by the snow days, but both say they can get it to me by the end of the week). I have everything I need to work on Romeo & Juliet, lesson plans and updating my classroom site, so I'll use this day to work on anything I would've worked on during my planning period. The only thing I don't have here that I had to do today was the failure letters teachers were responsible for sending out, but that can be done tomorrow.

Just remembered something

We have another day off, which means another day to make up. It's just as well cause it just started snowing like crazy here.

David and I were talking and I remembered a conversation I had with a student yesterday (my only day this week with students, and a day when I only have two classes)

Student: I have a question, not related to Shakespeare, but I was thinking...

Me: ....yes?

Student: They're getting rid of Don't Ask Don't Tell right? How many people do you think got dishonorable discharges because they were found out as being gay? Hundreds of thousands? Thousands?

Me: I don't know, thousands?

Student: How do you think they're going to feel when DADT is gone? And it's okay to be gay in the military?

Me: I'm not sure, probably pretty crappy.

Man, sometimes I am blown away by students and their minds.

goodbye January! goodbye first semester!

I kept meaning to get around to updating this, but it never happened. I've debated just giving up, but a lot of this is to remind me of the good times I have being a teacher, so I don't think that'll happen.

Highlights of the last week or so:

• While students were working on their exam review, someone asked me if I read Watership Down. This led to a conversation where we bonded over the book about bunnies and how sad and boring it was. We all didn't like it for various reasons. I was surprised that they still had kids in 6th grade read it. It's funny that most of the kids didn't really remember the title of it, but once you mentioned it was the book with the bunnies, they knew exactly which one it was and all had the same basic reaction: "Ohh, the book with the bunnies--I hated that book!"
• My grandma on my mom's side passed away--the same day we got the car fixed, of course--and a few students found out when they noticed I wasn't my normal self. A few stopped by the classroom to give me hugs and tried to cheer me up.
• We got a new car and have a possible buyer for the Jetta. Nice.
• I'm getting ready to teach A Midsummer Night's Dream again and Romeo & Juliet for the first time. I'm looking forward to both, but I am a little nervous. Anyone that's ever taught Shakespeare and had to deal with the difficulty of students who just don't get it would understand. I'm hoping that everyone comes through in one piece and actually understands the play in the end. Oh, and it would be great if the amount of whining about how Shakespeare writes was at a minimum, but that never happens.
• I've been carpooling with another teacher and it's been awesome!
• Last Monday, we had an event for freshmen that helped them study for their exams. They had snacks, lemonade, and hot chocolate as well as teachers wandering around to help them out if they were stuck. I didn't go to last year's, but I went this year. It was great seeing all those kids hanging out and studying. It's a good habit to introduce them to and I hope it sticks.
• It snowed again this weekend. I was supposed to be in school today for a teacher work day since the first semester ended on Friday, but that didn't happen. I'm not even sure if we'll have school tomorrow since the snow is sticking around and there's another storm possibly coming in tomorrow with more snow. What state do I live in again??

what just happened?

Nothing good ever comes from a week that starts off with an almost fight in your classroom. Never.

Tuesday, my car stopped working. The ignition switch stopped working, has to be replaced and won't be fixed until the middle of this week.

Wednesday was overwhelming because everyone had an opinion on my car, but none of them were the correct one. Shannon saved us by giving us a ride out to the school so we could try something. It didn't end up working, but it did reveal the real problem with the car.

Thursday was a faculty meeting with the addition of a budget of doom meeting. Salaries are getting cut, days off without pay and possible teacher cuts. Geez.

Friday was wrapped up the week with two girls quitting the step team, a long, awkward meeting at the end of a long day and no answer at the car place, which meant no car for the weekend.

In all negatives, there are positives:

+Carpooling with Jen will become more frequent, saving us both miles and gas. I also now have numbers of a few people who will help me get to school and back if I'm ever stranded again.

+Shannon helping us out so much! We couldn't have gotten through this week without her help!

+Lots of laughter, especially from 7th period. Nothing beats a kid waiting for everyone to get back to working, then drop a bomb like "So-n-so picks his zits and then eats them!" into the silence. I laughed so hard I almost cried. Good comedic timing, kid.

+Playing Rock Band and watching Doctor Who

+We are now more serious about looking for a new car. I'm really leaning towards the Ford Fusion or Focus, but it all depends on how it feels when I drive the car.

+I now know who to call if my car ever dies out in the country.

I would usually do the list of books I read this year, but I don't feel like it. I didn't get to 50, but David claims I read more pages than previous years. That may be true.

Yesterday I set up an Amazon wish list for my classroom. I've heard of other teachers doing this and with the school facing another $1.5 million to be cut, I figured it'd be a way I could help cover the supply cost and books for my classroom library (a success, btw). I put a link in the side bar and I'm putting on up on my digital gradebook and classroom website.

I finally uploaded pictures off of my camera AND a few videos from when we first got our Flip camera. They're up on my flickr account.

surprise day off!

My school is closed today due to having no power thanks to a massive amount of rain. It's a good thing I'm home, too, since the doors to our front porch really like to let in all the rain. I've gone through almost 5 towels now. Oy.

Anyway, I've hit one of the times in the year that I hate. It's the first time in the year that the kids stop being your great new students and you start seeing their bad side. It's also the first time I start to doubt myself as a teacher because grades start sliding downward. Kids start getting sick of school, start disappearing more, and I start getting more annoyed.

Thankfully this week hasn't been too bad. Usually by this time in the school year, my initial motivation has really disappeared and I get behind, causing me lots of stress. I've been pretty consistently productive, even today when I had no school! This is a good feeling.

My 10th graders are really something else. Their personalities are really starting to show up to class, in a good way. There were many times I laughed really hard this week at something they said or did (not at them, but with them, mind you...). I can't really remember exactly why or can't quite put any of those examples into words--they are more the kind of moments that make me wish I had a video camera on to capture. You-had-to-be-there kind of moments. Retelling them and trying to explain to you wouldn't be the same, unfortunately.

There is one thing that sticks out from this week. As you may know, every year I've taught, I've had at least one pregnant student or student parent. It's my curse. I joked with Math Teacher Next Door about how I should warn any female student I get next year. I have two rumored pregnancies this year, in the same class. I overheard one conversation (I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, they were right next to my desk) where the PG girl was answering questions of one of her classmates. Her classmate asked her "How does your BF feel? Does he want it?" PG says, "He did at first, but now... no. What does he care? His life doesn't have to change. It's my life that's the one that will change." I broke in and said "Ain't that the truth." She kind of laughed, which is the reaction I was hoping for. On the one hand, it's sad that her boyfriend isn't supportive. On the other, I was glad that she realized exactly what she was getting into, had no delusions about what would happen, and wasn't letting him slide by with that attitude. I hope everything goes smoothly for her, she is really sweet.

Who else but 7th period?

Dear 7th period,

My last period of the day has always been the most interesting. I seem to get a mix of the smartest, brightest and most rambunctious kids all in one class of 26-28. Your class has definitely been the most tame (even though you don't think so) and the most advanced. You all pretty much have personality and get along, which I like.

Today, for example, we read about Theseus. I figured you would not be into it at all, like most normal teenagers, but you surprised me again! You came up with History channel references, knew a lot about ancient Greece and really, really enjoyed when I called the Minotaur the "bastard child" of Minos' wife (not to mention when I called Gwynevere from Sir Lancelot's tale last time an adulterous whore). I'm glad my tests to make sure you're still awake are successful. Not to mention how much you enjoyed reading about Theseus torturing bandits the way they tortured other people. Oh, and I love how Troublemaker always acts out the stories, like today's reenactment of Theseus drawing out his sword to prove he was Aegeus's son (with perfect sound effects!). And it was so cute how y'all got quiet when Michael--our British kid for today--read the last paragraph of the selection because you wanted to hear him speak.

Remember how when we were done with work, you were supposed to work on your outlines, but instead danced to Thriller? I honestly didn't mind because you did so well with the story and asked a lot of questions about your writing assignments (and I also know that 90% of you will work on your own to complete it, the other 10% won't do it or will use the class time to complete some of it). Plus, it was great to see all of you laugh and have a good time together.

Basically, I really enjoy your class (even though I'd never tell you that during the school year). I look forward to it, even on your chattiest of days because you make me laugh and keep the class interesting.

Thanks for not being boring or a bunch of crazies!

Mrs. P.

Strange

My day started off with seeing two guys on the side of the freeway. I had no clue why they were just standing there, until I noticed their car halfway up a hill, between two trees. I have no idea how they got that car up there. There was a malfunction in the fire alarm system that led to an urgent-sounding announcement that we needed to evacuate. Now. I've never seen students move so fast out of a building, except for that one time there was a gas leak at GHS. On the way home, the first stop light I hit (and one of my last on the way home) stopped working the moment I stopped after it. That's the exact moment I started shaking my fist and saying, "It's TUESDAY! Not MONDAY! What is going on?!"

I realized I haven't told you how much weirder my students are this year. They have so much more humor and personality as a whole, it's crazy (awesome)! This is a plus for me because they seem to understand my sense of humor, which keeps me on my toes a little more (I like that).

For example:

Me: Why are you hovering outside of my door?

"I've been in jail" 9th grade boy: I can't hover. I don't know what you're talking about.

Me: You mean you didn't buy those special hovering shoes?

Mr. IBIJ: Nah, they were sold out.

I didn't expect him to come back with that.

A lot of my students seem to enjoying my habit of booing or yelling "Whoaaaa!" while making overacted arm/hand movements at students. We've done this in the hallway, at one of my students as she hugged her boyfriend goodbye (Math Teacher Next Door took part in that, too), and at multiple silly children who thought they could throw me off my game.

Oh, and we did that at the girl who brought about the first Classroom Joke.

Ahh, I love the time of year when the first joke that unites most of a classroom comes along. Today I caught a girl being forced by a male classmate to touch another male classmate's butt.

I yelled across the classroom, "Lady L, butt touching is banned!.... Plus, we don't know where Skater Kid's butt has been." Skate Kid says, "Yeah, seriously. My butt's been a lot of places." She says, "I guess I just can't help it..." Hilarious! I'm glad she went with it! This led to an ongoing joke about how L was addicted to touching butts and had to go to rehab. It was ridiculous, but made the whole class laugh.

That time of year

I keep feeling like I catch up only to fall behind again. My to do list never seems to end! Every day there seems to be more things to do and I find more reasons not to finish things and, instead, go home early. My initial motivation and initiative is kinda gone. This usually happens around this year, where I don't have to rush so much and find some sort of balance. Unfortunately, this usually leads me to laziness and procrastination. This is why I'm posting: a little reminder to myself to get my as back in gear.

Here are some highlights:

-40 kids showed interest in the literary magazine. Whoa. We'll see how that goes.

-They keep interrupting English classes again and again for just about everything. Just because English 9 and 10 do not have an SOL doesn't mean we don't have stuff to do.

-We bought Wii Fit. I love all the games in it.

-Something I've been thinking about: Do you ever find yourself thinking about the same people around the same time? For example, I usually find myself thinking about my grandpa or grandma Pushie around 3:30 (my drive home from school). It's usually my family and wondering what they're doing around 6 or 7. I just noticed that I do this most days, and I find it very interesting. Do I connect these people with these times for some reason?

-Have you see Glee or Modern Family? Awesome! New seasons of Mad Men and Dexter? Love them! Although I haven't really liked the new season of the Office as much as I expected, I loved the Jim/Pam wedding!

-We went to see Zombieland and it was AWESOME. I can't wait to see Where the Wild Things Are this weekend!

-Pictures of National Equality March should be up soon on flickr and I'll prob. post a bit on here as well.

It's October already?!

Holy moly. It's October. Already.

I have a lot I could post about, but right now all I want to do is breath & relax for a second. We had a pretty busy weekend, we have another sort of busy one coming up, and I've already taught 4 classes, graded, made dinner, and run errands (and while running errands: avoided buying up all the cute Halloween stuff I found, haha) all before 5. Whew.

Then again, I promised myself I'd blog more. Here's a compromise:

• This year is waaaaaaaaaay better than last.
• I love my principal, Math Teacher next door, new AP (assistant principal, for those who don't eduspeak), and other snarky English teachers.
• I love my little English 9 kiddos! I did NOT expect to ever say that. They are crazy (in a good way), hilarious, creative, pretty well-behaved, enthusiastic, and have tons of personality.
• My throat is so horribly dry today (and yesterday) that I could only talk at a normal tone. There was no Teacher Voice today. Thankfully, the kids were very supportive (even talkative 7th period!)
• I've been having a lot more success with correcting students behavior using a hand on the shoulder and conversational tone. This only works during independent work time or when my co-teacher is in the room and I'm circulating, but it's amazing how this works on kids who were seen as "bad kids" to other teachers.
• Yesterday I hung out with other teachers outside of school for the first time. Okay, it was a baby shower for another English teacher, but it was something! I went. I laughed. I played games. It was fun. Oh! And I wore my "There Their They're" shirt from Threadless and they all commented on it!

And a big announcement:

I am now the sponsor of the new literary magazine. New School hasn't had one for years, but they desperately need one because those artsy, nerdy kids are getting no love or recognition from our school. I stepped up to do it even though I honestly have no clue what I'm doing. I already have about 25 kids who came in to say they're interested. There are flyers all around the school. Hopefully, by the end of the year, we will have something to show for our effort.