Pre-Service Week '09

I love pre-service week. I love being able to have a whole week to work in my room and talk to teachers about our ideas for the upcoming year.

What did I do with mine? The usual: working, meeting, chatting, sweating, moving, bitching, moaning, and being professional developed.

The thing I worried about most this summer was confirmed on Monday. I was moving rooms. The administration didn't have a certain answer for me when I left in June, but I got an answer on Monday. All of Monday, between Convocation and a school-wide meeting, I moved from my upstairs room to my new room downstairs. I'm no longer in room 208, but I'm not changing this blog again. :)

At first, I was frustrated. Why couldn't they email me during the summer and let me know? I would've come in earlier and moved! Then I decided just to get it over with and see it as a fresh start for this year. Last year, I moved into another teacher's spot a week into the school year and never got to set up the room the way I wanted. This year I got to do that and I got to do it in a new room (a blank slate). By the time I left on Monday, it was all set.

Tuesday started off with parking in my new assigned parking spot. It is sooo much better than the one I had last year. It's on the academic side of the school, so I no longer have to walk all the way through the school to get to my room. It's also right next to the door. Since I had to move rooms on Monday, I decided to bring in all the supplies and books I bought over the summer on Tuesday. This new parking spot made the two trips I had to take so much easier. I quickly put away all of the supplies and headed off to the first professional development of the week.

The first PD of the week brought great news (for me, at least. Some weren't too happy about it): we are switching to a 4X4 block schedule next year. WOOO! For those of you who have no clue what that means, it means we are switching from a 7-bell schedule (7 classes for the whole year) that has 4 classes every other day (one meets every day) to a schedule with 4 classes per semester that meet every day for 90 minutes each. I love the 4X4 schedule, probably because the HS I graduated from switched to it and it made my life a lot easier (and I learned a lot more). As a teacher, this means a lighter student load and one planning period per day. Also, the students can no longer use the excuse of the every other day schedule to claim they don't remember homework, tests, quizzes, etc.

After that PD, we were let loose for lunch. The county I work in has a lot of new development happening, so we headed to one of the new restaurants that opened over the summer. Since pre-service week is one of the few times in the year where teachers have enough time to go out for lunch, most of my department jumped at the chance. We headed to what my department chair now calls "The Fox & The Hound". We actually went there twice during the week and it was DELICIOUS. I was so surprised! A lot of students from New School work there, too, which is cute to see.

Wednesday was full of working, chatting, and a meeting or two. I finally finished my syllabus for English 9 as well as English 10. I had to finish my room so it was ready for Freshman Orientation the next day. My room and my syllabi have never looked better! I think this is definitely the best job I've done of getting my room and information together.

Thursday was the Busy Day. It started with Freshmen Orientation. The freshies went off with Link Crew to have fun and be introduced to the school and upperclassmen who can help them through the year, the parents were stuck with us. First, we sent the parents to the auditorium to meet VIPs, then we went them to homeroom to sign papers, then I had to meet the three classes of Freshie parents. After meeting the parents, I watched all of my former 10th grade babies walk by in their new Junior attitudes and positions as Link Crew leaders. They were excited to see me and I was excited to see them. They were doing a great job and I beamed with pride as they walked by. A few of them stopped by after they were finished, lamented that I wasn't teaching English 12 anymore, and told me they'd talked me up to friends that have me this year.

Let me tell you, I hate meeting parents. I love talking to parents after I've met them, but I hate getting ready to meet them and I hate the initial "Let Me Tell You What My Class is About..." speech while they stare at me. I hate it mostly because I always end up right in front of the parents who give me the look that says, "You don't look old enough to teach my child. Are you qualified?" Nothing makes me more nervous than seeing that look on a parent's face. Gives me chills just thinking about it now.

One really awesome thing happened while I was meeting parents: A parent of a sophomore I had last year told everyone in my 1st period group that her daughter just loved me and my class last year, and her daughter hated reading and writing. I told them all I paid her $20 to say that. At least my 1st period parents will have good reports for their kids...

Anyway, I met a lot of parents, gave them my selling points, then breathed a sigh of relief and talked with the teacher next door about how much we were sweating after it was all over. She looks young like I do, so we bonded over the fact that all the parents probably think we graduated from HS last year.

As if meeting parents wasn't torture enough, we were sent to a three hour long professional development about high standards. This lady lectured at us for three hours and then said, "This was supposed to be 4 days." FOUR DAYS of PD into THREE HOURS! There were no breaks, either, so at one point in time, my legs cramped up and my bladder almost burst. I'm one of those people who hates getting up in the middle of someone talking, no matter how badly I need to and no matter how badly the lecture is because I had a few teachers scare the ever-loving daylights out of me whenever I needed to get up in their classrooms. It's a phobia that's stuck with me even though I highly doubt anyone would interrupt their own lecture to tell another professional to sit down. I ended up doing it anyway when I just couldn't take it anymore and everyone else in the room had gotten up and moved at least once.

I have no clue what she said for the last 90 minutes, either.

All in all, this was a very productive pre-service week. My room is set up, the homeroom materials are on the desk, the syllabi are copied and ready, and all my ice breaker games are ready.

There are so many positives so far this year, that I can't help but feel that it's going to be great. I have a new classroom and a great bunch of teachers that have welcomed me to the first floor. I have a great administration: a new AP who is hilarious, and a principal and AP that complimented me on my ability. I have former students who have stopped by and who have made me proud already. I have a department chair who is hilarious and a department as a whole that are motivated and connected. I have a great new co-teacher. I've already had another teacher say they want to come into my class and see what I do and learn from me. My room is next to a teacher who cracks me up and is new to the school, like me.

Basically, some things are new, but I feel comfortable. I know what I'm getting into, I know the people I work with, I even know some of my new students. I still have a few nerves and anxieties about the first day, but this year I'm not half as nervous as I was before. I don't think I'll ever meet a new group of students without some nerves, and I'm okay with that. I think this year will be a lot more smooth than last for many reasons and that makes me incredibly excited.

Seeing the other coast

This is a little overdue, but I kept doing other things and then going "Ohh, yeah, the blog..." around midnight.

So. This summer continued to be busy after Michigan. I had a week of rest, then headed out to the other side of the country.

All of this flying this summer made me realize something: I've developed an uneasiness about flying. Not quite a fear, but definitely not the easiness I remember having flying up to Canada and back multiple times. This was not helped by having to fly on a propellor plane once during my trip. It was terrifying.

I started in San Francisco, where I saw Emily, who is the MOST ADORABLE pregnant woman ever (seriously, look at her newest blog post with the pictures of her & her fantastic husband, Dan, and try and disagree with me). Emily & I met in an undergrad class we had together and then she ended up dating & marrying my boss/friend, Dan! I haven't seen them in two years and I saw I had to fly through SF to get to Oregon, so I asked Emily if it was cool to stop in for two days, even though she was ready to pop. Thankfully, she said yes (and also didn't give birth while I was there! As exciting as that would be, I didn't want to add any sort of complication to that time [or cut the cord, haha]). She was kind enough to walk around with me, even though she was mere days from her due date. It was awesome to just see Emily & Dan again and catch up, but I also got to see things in SF I didn't get to see the first time I was there, talk with Emily about all the TV shows we watch AND it was Dan's birthday the second day I was there. It was awesome to be a part of that and try out something new: Indian pizza! Seriously delicious. I wish there was a place in RVA that offered it.

After that small time in SF, I flew into Portland to meet Katy. Katy & I lived together in Kalamazoo for two years. Katy & Mike came to visit us in VA last year and we had a blast. This year there was a new addition to Katy & Mike's life: Alexandria! She is absolutely adorable! Seriously! I felt in love with her the moment I saw her. Katy & I went to an AMAZING bookstore in Powell's, then walked a little around Portland, swearing that next time, we would have ideas of other things to see, and headed to Eugene, where Katy lives. In Eugene, I introduced Katy to the IT Crowd and True Blood, and she introduced me to life in Eugene! We went to see Harry Potter (a tradition), talked about hippies and Eugene/Oregon culture, ate at delicious places (I now want a Cafe Yumm! in RVA), went to Saturday Market (all handmade things & a multi-cultural food area), went out on a girls' night, went to the Oregon Coast, went to an art museum, and tried to dodge the heat wave that hit Oregon.

When I first started this, I was going to include pictures & video of my trip, but they're ALL on my facebook and flickr & I don't feel like putting them here as well, since it took some time to get them on those two sites. If you don't know how to get to those, ask me.

This summer has been a summer of firsts, which is what it was meant to be. I want to stop letting excuses and anxiety get in my way of doing the fun things I talk about, and I think I've been pretty successful.

Firsts:

-Flew to Michigan alone

-Delayed luggage

-Flew to the west coast alone

-Ate alone in a restaurant

-went to a movie alone

-said "y'all" like I was born saying it. It just kinda popped out of my mouth before I knew it!

-sang karaoke (not quite alone, with two other girls, but STILL! way more than I would've ever done a year or more ago!)

-met the first additions to friends' families: Alex, Harrison (I didn't mention this in my Michigan post I now realize. I went to visit my friend Kate and meet her son, who is adorable, funny & smart!) and (sort of) Jackson. I'm just gonna put him on the list cause I got to feel him moving around :) All of my friends have such beautiful children! (Again, putting Jackson in that cause I bet you he will be just adorable!)

-many more I've forgotten!

I still have some plans for the rest of the summer. I need to start working on school plans more than I have, but I have some time...

Say Yes to Michigan!

This summer has been a busy one so far.

My last day of school with students involved giving 17 kids an exam, grading them and putting in all grades in a span of 2.5 hours. I then drove about 1.5 hours to Norfolk to see my first class graduate. It was AMAZING. I didn't take any pictures because I was too busy being bombarded by about 100 kids. It was crazy with hugs, screams, some tears, laughter and smiles. One of them spun me around screaming YOU'RE HERE! YOU'RE HERE!!! Another ran across a group of people screaming my name and almost knocked me over when he slammed into me to give me a hug while he told me I made his graduation day and senior year perfect by showing up. I didn't have time to talk to a lot of them, so our conversations were brief. Most of them said they missed me, and I told them the same. A lot of them said that they still had my notes and awards (some of them were reading them in the days leading up to graduation). I heard a lot of great news about their future plans. They reminded me why I teach and made me feel like I've been pretty successful so far as a teacher. They're all such great kids, I was really lucky to have the group that I did for my first two years.

Since I left early from school, I had to go back in the day after to check out. It was basically almost three hours of cleaning up my room, packing up stuff, and then running around the big school to find everyone that needed to sign off on my check out list. Ugh.

After that, I had a day and a half to myself before David's parents came to visit for a week. We took them all around Richmond, they went to see Monticello and I went with them to Va Beach. It was a beautiful week, we were given perfect weather for each activity we chose that day. It was great to see them!

The day they left, Charna, Jordan and Dave rolled into town for the moped rally in Richmond. It was TONS of fun! It was great to be on a moped again and see Richmond from that POV. They took us on some great rides and I met some great people. My moped ran like a champ with the only problem being that it didn't want to idle sometimes (that's fixed now, though!). Everyone left Sunday morning, which was fine with me because I was exhausted, bruised, sore and blistered!

Plus, I only had one more day until I left to spend a week in Michigan. My checked luggage didn't come with me, but it ended up okay. I spent one night in Detroit so I could see Joey's bike shop and hang out with him. Megan came to pick me up and we headed to East Lansing. I finally got to see her apartment (cute!) and meet her pet rat (CUTE!), Eve. Of course, we had Tim Horton's, went shopping, had ice cream made on MSU's campus (delicious!), and relaxed. The next day, we headed to Kalamazoo, tried to find my luggage, and then had a get together so Megan could tell us all about her Uganda trip. I am AMAZED by what she got to do--truly the experience of a lifetime! The next morning, we got confirmation that my bag was flown back to Richmond and was now safe and sound in my apartment, so Megan, mom and I went shopping, got Root Beer Stand (I cannot tell you how much I miss this place!) and headed out to the cottage. We spend Friday to Monday at the cottage, it was amazing to be out there again! It was barely warm enough to swim the whole weekend, but we got some time on the lake. We also went to the Hayloft, which has amazing sundaes, and a flea market, which is fantastic for people watching. I found a few books to add to my classroom library there, too. Most of the time at the cottage was spent relaxing, playing games, and reading. It was nice having some cooler weather because I knew that when I got back to Richmond, it was going to be hot and humid for another few weeks! When we got back to Kalamazoo, I HAD to go to Kazoo Books, mostly to find books for my classroom. Thankfully, they ship books all over, so they had no problem sending the books I paid for down to VA. I also got to see Krista before I left! I'm so glad we got together! I hadn't seen her in years, and it was wonderful to catch up a little bit. I hope we get to see her when we go up for the holidays, too. :) All in all, it was an amazing trip to Michigan. I got to enjoy some of my favorite Kalamzoo or Michigan-only foods, go to Meijer (oh man, I miss that place so much), see a movie with my sister, see my parents and have an amazing time with them. I'm really lucky to have seen them so much in the past year.

Now I'm enjoying some time without plans or travel before I head off on my next trip: SF and Eugene! I'm so excited!

About those 9th graders...

This fall will mark the beginning of my 4th full year of teaching. The past year was one of the most challenging, for sure. I'd say it was even more challenging than my first year, believe it or not. But that's really for a whole other post.

Each year I've been a teacher, I've taught a new prep. First year, I taught 10th grade, which I had never done before. Second year, I volunteered to do 11th as well as 10th (it gets really boring to teach the same thing 5 times over). This year, I was given 12th and continued to do 10th grade. I really love teaching English 10, so I'm glad that that prep has never changed.

Next year will be no different, but it wasn't really my choice. My AP came in one day to talk about my schedule for next year. He presented me with an opportunity that appeared at first to have two options: Yes or No. Turns out there was only one answer.

You see, at New School next year, they are changing things with the 9th grade, as they usually do. It makes sense to start with the incoming class because teenagers (and a lot of teachers) can't handle a lot of change at once and starting with the 9th grade means that those kids knew no different way of doing things. This year, we had three levels of English: Remedial, General (what I taught) and Advanced (AP in 12th). Next year, 9th grade English will have a Collaborative class, one or two General (I can't remember which, and I'm not sure why they're allowing that, but whatev), and the rest Advanced. They're trying to combine General and Remedial to avoid tracking, avoid lowered expectations (both teachers and students) and improved self-esteem and environment.

I was chosen to teach those 3 Collaborative English 9 classes. It was a compliment. I was chosen because they saw I was good at keeping all kids busy, differentiating, connecting to students, etc. I also have experience teaching a "collaborative" class. At Old School, we didn't have three levels like they did. We had Regular or Honors/Pre-IB/IB/AP. I taught five classes total, and two or three of them would have a co-teacher. It's nothing new to me and they know this. They also knew that I would not treat any of the kids in there as different or incapable of doing the work. My AP said they wanted the incoming 9th graders to start off their high school career with a "positive view of English class" (ooh, burn to those other 9th grade teachers! He probably didn't mean it that way, but still... word choice, man.).

I am excited about a few things involving English 9. A Raisin in the Sun. The Odyssey. Romeo & Juliet. Their text book has some of THE BEST short stories. Oh, and English 9 & 10 don't have a research paper, although they do have a research project. YES!! On the scheduling side of things, all of my English 9 classes are in the morning, English 10 every day (5th per) and one at the end of the day. That is a major plus, very smart scheduling.

Why did I not want to teach 9th grade? 'Cause it's 9th. I've never taught it before. They're 9th graders. I've taught middle school and it was tiring as hell. 9th graders are crazy. You get the idea.

Then again, it might be totally fun. Why not, right? A new challenge. Can't be any worse than teaching seniors in April & May. I told them I'd try it, but I did ask if I could get out of doing it if I really, really hated it. The answer? "We want you to try it for a few years... to get used to it... maybe you'll like it better the second year!" Uhh... right.

Whoops

I totally just remembered that I've been meaning to update this, but never actually did it. Oops.

School year ended today for me. Here's what I'll get around to after I get the required few hours of doing whatever the flip I want:

-Why I'm teaching 9th grade next year. 

-Review/reflection on my year at New School

-My birthday & graduation at Old School (it happened on the same day, so they are intertwined)

-Pictures of 2008-2009 hooligans

-Ideas for next year

That's about it, I think. Let me add this to my to do list on my fancy new phone... 

...which reminds me to also put here that I have a new phone number. If you don't have it and you want/need it, please email me (alikay@gmail.com) and ask for it.

end of the seniors

I love days where my students are loving and kind, they get along with each other and I get along with them and things just... go. Days like this make me happy I teach, they make me not wish for 3:00 or for summer vacation every moment. Even better is when the week goes by at a nice pace, things get accomplished, to do lists get finished, and everything works.

I hope it lasts until the end of next week!

I only have 2 more class days with each senior class. Their exam (both classes I have) is set for June 1st, but some are going to take it next Thursday or Friday since grades are due June 2nd. Thankfully, most of my seniors are exempt, which means I only have a few to worry about. I'm slowly getting research papers and quickly grading them and returning them. I'm giving them my usual end-of-the-year thing on Thursday and Friday.

It's nice to have seniors. Once they're gone I'll have two open blocks to get my room all situated for next year. It will be nice to have all that extra time after a whole school year of craziness.

I only have 7 more odd and even days left with my sophomores. I really love teaching 10th grade. I don't know why. I've really come to like this crazy group of kids. It'll be nice to see them next year again and possibly in 12th grade.

My last day with students is my birthday. This is the first time I've ever been in school as student or teacher on my birthday. When I was in elementary school, I was always bummed that I never got to celebrate my bday at school and bring in treats. That day is also the exam day for my 5th period, which is the class I see every day. That's exciting because they are the group of kids I get along with the best. That day is also graduation for Granby, so I'll be going down to Norfolk to see all my old students graduate! I'm so excited to see them again and see them on such an important day!

Even though things are going great now, I'm still looking forward to summer vacation! My birthday, a trip to Michigan, a trip to SF/Eugene, possible other trips are all exciting additions to the general joy of summer vacation. Nothing beats not having a schedule, being able to read whatever I want, not having to grade and not having to deal with 100+ demanding teenagers Monday-Friday. :)

today's funny moment

TG is a student who has a big personality and is not afraid of being brutually open and honest. He's a good source of laughter in class due to his quick moving mind and imagination. 

Today, TG's class was pretty small and quiet due to SOLs. We were also stuck together for about 2 hours. They were working independently on two different things, so I was at my desk, attacking the massive amount of grading I have to take care of.

About one hour in, it's nice and quiet and then... the noise. You know the noise. The noise of someone farting and not being shy about it. Some teachers dread it because it brings on the giggles in your students. 

After I heard the noise, I looked up, pretty sure I knew who it could be. 

TG: Yep, that was me.

Girls around him: Good night, I was right near you! Ewww!

TG: Not my fault y'all got all quiet right as it happened.

Amber: You leaned forward!

Casey: He totally leaned forward, you do this all the time in other classes. Mrs. P, he does this all the time and his farts smell like death. He once did that in International Relations and half the class had to leave.

TG: That's true...

Casey: He made me puke      in        my        mouth. (Imagine a very well-time, spaced out statement. She looked at me with the most sincere look I've ever seen. She was dead serious and disgusted. I didn't meant to laugh, but I had to)

Kayla: That's pretty serious if he made you puke in your mouth.

TG: That's the G! You can't tell me you know someone else who could make them puke in their mouth. I mean, who else can do that?

Casey: You're lucky I kept it in my mouth!

He was proud of his ability. I laughed so hard because they were all so serious, debated about whether or not it was possible to make someone puke in their mouth from a fart, etc. TG was completely serious and proud that no one else could say they met someone other than him that could cause someone to puke in their mouth by farting.

Wow. My seniors are something else.