Teaching Science with the Force

I've not posted a teaching blog in quite a while, so I thought I'd throw this at you. The past two weeks in my science class at school, we've been learning about force, motion, and Newton's laws. I try to make the things I teach as easy to relate to as possible, because educational psychology has discovered in some study or another I read in grad school that the more connections a person can make to a concept, the better they comprehend and remember said concept.

So, how do I teach about force (as in F=ma)? By equating it with The Force, of course. By our 10 year-old definition, a force is a push or a pull. What is one way the Sith use the Force? Force Push. They even tried to equate a Force Choke with a pull somehow.

Picture from Force Unleashed, property of LucasArts

When discussing balanced and unbalanced forces we talked about the Jedi and Luke being the one to bring balance to the force.

Another SW reference I've used was in Social Studies (back when I was still teaching that before the winter holidays). In the pre-Civil War lesson on the Fugitive Slave Law, we were talking about bounty hunters. The kids didn't really grasp the concept until I said, "You know, like Boba Fett. And Greedo." Then it clicked.


I love being able to geek out with my students this way. About 80% of them get the Star War references. And those that do *really* get it! Like I said to a friend the other day, if I can figure out a way to connect my lesson to Star Wars or SpongeBob, it suddenly makes more sense.

Open Books, Open Minds

As Banned Books Week draws to a close, I'd like to share with you some of my favorite banned/challenged books. In my 5+ years as a teacher of young adolescents, I'm glad to say I've not had to fight for the right to have a book available to my students, and I've even shared some of these with them! If you're interested in fighting this good literary fight, check out what the ALA has to say.


Three Beloved Classics:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Why? Deals very bluntly with racial issues. Rape. Profanity. (Seriously, who hasn't read this book, or at least seen the incredible movie?!)

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Why? Religious issues. Explicit sex, language, and violence.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The ultimate book about banning books!
Why? Rebellion. Frightening images of totalitarian dystopia.Warnings of censorship.


New Classics for Young Adults
The Giver by Lois Lowry
This is quite possibly one of my all-time favorite books of YA Lit, because it was one of the first sci-fi books I ever read. And it led me to my love of dystopian science fiction. :)
Why? References to euthanasia and suicide. Frightening images for younger children.

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
Yes, I love this series. I've read them over and over again. I don't care if certain connoisseurs of "real fantasy" consider it trite. It's been a very enjoyable read for my students and me for years. Plus I've actually done lit analysis of some of the books, and found some good writing and allusions within.
Why? Witchcraft and wizardry. Need you look any further? It was pretty bad here in the "Bible Belt."

A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Yes, seriously, the book of silly poems by the beloved children's poet.
Why? Because it encouraged children to ignore their parents and not do their chores. For real!

Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes
This book makes me cry every time I read it. It's great for adolescents dealing with loss/death for the first time. I don't get why it's been challenged. It's a very real book. Maybe that's why.
Why? Children dealing with the harsh reality of sudden death and social isolation. Kissing. Complex family issues.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Another one of the books that never fails to pull a strong emotional reaction from me every time I read it! It's so moving, and I think more people need to be aware of books like this that might help teens and even adults deal with serious issues.
Why? The book deals with the aftermath of a rape. Very frankly. It's a sensitive subject.

Go out and read a book. Maybe even one that might make you think. And talk. And open your mind!!

"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them."

- Ray Bradbury

When being a teacher hurts...

Today I've been dealing with one of the saddest situations of my teaching career. You always hear, going into a career in education, not to bring your students' baggage home with you. You need to keep school life and home life separate. But when you're dealing with the livelihoods of children, it's pretty much impossible not to get emotionally involved. There are students you stress about whether their basic needs are being met, the ones who keep you up at night worrying, the ones who you wish you could bring home with you because you just *know* you'd give them a better home environment than they currently have.

These are the students who break my heart. It's impossible not to build relationships with students, because even the Harvard Principals Center found in one study that the one single thing that has the biggest impact on student achievement is whether or not their teachers care enough to form a relationship with them.

Four years ago, during my second year teaching, I had two such boys in my class. Today focuses on one of them. He was from a rough family whose step-father was a large, scary, verbally abusive, drug-dealing (rumoured), "hood rich" man. He scared the living daylights out of me, and I never had to deal with his mouth directed at me personally. I just witnessed it directed at others. And I was terrified.

Needless to say, DCS was involved in this boy's life. During his sixth grade year, he was pulled out of his home and sent to live with an aunt for about a month. Then, after a home visit that was obviously all an act by the kid's parents, he was returned to his parents. Another month or so, he was pulled out and sent back to the aunt, and a formal DCS hearing was held. This time, he was taken away from the abusive, drug-ridden situation for good. But sadly, when he was sent to a group home in the spring of that year, he was taken out of our school, as well. I no longer had any interaction with him, but I still wondered about him every once in a while.

Fast-forward three years. Last year, a former teacher from our school, who is now an instructional coach, ran into him at his high school, where he was a freshman, and an outstanding varsity football player. He told this woman to tell his 6th grade teachers he was, "doing really well." He also said that he really appreciated all we had done for him. He was in foster care at the time, but apparently it was a pretty good situation, so it seemed.

Then last night, I heard briefly, via Twitter (since I don't watch or listen or read the local news ever), that there had been a shooting in the west part of our city - which is the suburban side where we live. Other than the thought of, "Oh, wow. That doesn't happen out here very often," I didn't give it much brain power.

This morning, while I was sitting in a meeting with my fellow 5th grade teachers, I got a text message from a 6th grade teacher I used to work with. It turned out that the victim of the shooting had been this former student of mine, a 15-year-old boy who was a promising football player and was attempting to get his life back on the right track after having been raised in such unfortunate circumstances.

Today was the first time I had ever gotten news about a former student of mine that shattered my world. I had been holding out hope for this boy for 4 years. And now, it's all gone. And I don't even know who to grieve for. He had no real family to speak of that was involved anymore, because he wasn't even with that same foster family from a year ago. It hurts. Not quite as badly as losing a person who was very close in my life, but still, a child, taken out of this world way too early. And I like to think that I had been instrumental in trying to start that turn to the right direction and rehabilitation.

It's made me realize what an impact these kids have on my own life, and how I hope I've done the same for them. I mourn the fact that the world has lost someone who could possibly have been the next great NFL star running back or a great dad, brother, or friend. And I just don't know what else to say. I just hope that I did help him out in the 4 years since our paths crossed.

I Don't Have to Prove Myself

 ^not me^

So, I've officially started my new job as 5th grade teacher as of today. The teachers are back on contract, but we don't have students until NEXT Tuesday. Which is also my 29th birthday. Anyway, back to my point I was trying to get to before I start rambling off into space.

I've now met all of my colleagues except one who's not been at the school yet due to family issues, and from what I've heard keeps to herself all the time anyway. There are a total of 8 5th grade teachers in our school. 5 of them have made me feel super welcome and comfortable ever since I thought I might be getting the job. I met 4 of them at professional development curriculum workshops the week between getting the call from the principal and the "official" call from Human Resources. They were super nice, come to check on me, joke with me like I'm already a part of the crew, and one has even come to *me* for teaching advice.

But if you do the math, here, that means there's one more teacher who doesn't fit into either of the above categories. And of course, she's the one who I share an office with and have to team-teach with. Right now, she's making me feel like I've got to prove myself to her for me to be accepted. I feel like she resents me because I took the position her best friend vacated. It really was bothering me, when I first started dwelling on it, because I'm honestly not used to people automatically not liking me without ever getting to know me.

Then I started thinking (along with encouragement from the Hub) that I don't need her approval for multiple reasons. First, I know I'm a good teacher. Parents are whining that I'm not at the middle school anymore because I taught their older kids and now they have more that are going into 6th grade, and they were hoping I'd be one of their teachers. Apparently, now there are parents making requests for me at the elementary school already. So, see, I know I must be good. The kids and parents like me for the most part. (And I'm not always the nicest teacher. I have high expectations of work quality and behavior.) Second, it dawned on me that this teacher that's making me feel this way is younger and has less experience than me! I definitely don't need to prove myself to a teacher who's been doing this less time than I have, no matter how great she thinks she is.

Plus she talks down to me and words things in a way that makes it sound like she's doing me a favor, like by "saving" me from having to plan both science and social studies, when she's just doing that because she doesn't want to teach social studies (because she's always taught science - always being the previous two school years). Or that she graciously "took over" the low-level math class that the teacher I replaced had taught the year before so I wouldn't have to "get dumped on". Seriously? Do yourself a favor, and stop being a martyr. You should be doing this to help the kids in the best way possible, not to make yourself look like a saint!

So, I've decided I'm going to tolerate her "living" next door to me until Thanksgiving, then pray when she goes out on maternity leave, that she does decide to stay out for the rest of the year. I just don't want to deal with such condescension on a daily basis.  It's not worth it. I'm better than that. I'm just going to go out there, do my thing even if it is different than the way she's "always" done it, and do what's best for my students. And continue to shake off the feeling that I need to demonstrate that I am, indeed, a good teacher and a fun human being. (Plus I like talking with the teacher across the hall better, anyway. She'll be my friend and let me vent. I can tell already!)

6 more days to get my room (and lessons) ready before the students walk through my door for the first time!!

Almost Back to School

I'm officially back to school in a week, but for those of you who haven't heard (via my eight million tweets about it), I will not be returning to the middle school or 6th grade next week. Instead, I got a last minute transfer to the elementary school next door. I'm gonna be a

This week I'm gonna be packing up and moving all of my stuff to my new classroom across the parking lot.

One of the reasons I didn't post anything last week was because I was an anxious wreck and didn't want to give anything away until it was official. I had gotten a call from the principal of the elementary school on Friday, July 23 asking me if I'd be interested. I told her of course I would be. But then I had to play the waiting game of waiting for our school district's Human Resources department to call and officially offer me the job. I had to wait a WHOLE WEEK! Talk about nerve-wracking! But they did call last Friday while I was at a 5th grade Social Studies workshop.

Yeah, I spent a lot of last week going to curriculum workshops for 5th grade stuff as well, since I wanted to be prepared if (when) I got the call with the official transfer offer. Well, I'm off to see my new classroom today. I'm super excited because I am going into a 2-year-old building from a 45-year-old building! Better lighting, better space, cleaner, and I'm expecting a healthier environment for me. No more moldy, musty old school!

I'll keep you all updated on what's going on in the Great Classroom Move of 2010!

Poetry Blog Hop: Where I'm From

As I've not been doing a whole lot of creative writing in a long time, when @metta1313 suggested last week, an assignment fit for we English teachers, I jumped at the opportunity. I remember the 8th grade teachers using this same assignment as a "getting to know you" exercise with their students a few years ago and thinking how cool it was then. Now I'm trying my hand at the skeleton poem inspired by George Ella Lyon, "Where I'm From". 
-------
I  am from mountains of books

from cookies I bake and novels that consume me

I am from the silver-blue walls 

of my hideaway that hide me from the night

(calm, and at the same time 

mysterious, like a sky before the storm)
 

I am from the delicate, pink petunias spreading,

The errant sassafras against the fence 

whose long gone limbs I remember

as if they were my own.

 

I’m from big holiday dinners and perfectionism 

that makes them complete

from a neurotic, analytical, overly-talkative mother 

and a painfully distant father.
 

I’m from a nose stuck in a book 

and baking cookies at Christmas

and from sitting at a little table 

away from everyone else with my favorite Cousin at meals. 
 

I’m from "Hold your horses!" and "Stop picking your nose!"

and "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
 

I’m from big family holiday dinners 

with meticulously 

roasted meats and ever-present mashed potatoes

I’m from the suburban South and heaths and highlands,

sweet corn on the cob and whoopie pies.

From the time when my grandma brought home 

all the old books 

on record from her classroom 

when she retired,

my cousins and I hid in the back bedroom

red-striped record player on, Frog and Toad are Friends.

In a box in my closet
where it's not too far away,
are piles and piles of family photos
that I treasure,
but am too distracted to do anything with.
Someday, maybe, a scrapbook or
album, but for now
from piles of memories.
------

The Curse of Brains

I never knew being "too smart" was actually a downfall in the world of employment, especially when it comes to molding the minds of the future. Now, I know that places like McD's don't want to hire people with a lot of higher education, because those people are generally way over-qualified for minimum wage jobs and would leave as soon as something better came along. But apparently my nerdiness has become my biggest impediment in getting the job I truly want.

{via}

I really, truly want to teach somewhere between the ages of 6 and 9. That's grades 1-3 in the US. Those are the ages when you see so much potential and growth in kids. It's the time when they're still relatively innocent and have a thirst for knowledge. It's when kids ask a million and one questions and expect you to answer all of them. Kids at that age haven't developed any horrible adolescent attitude problems yet. They think the teacher is an immortal being of great knowledge and power. Basically, they haven't begun to suck as humans at this point. 

 {via}

Sadly, though, I've basically found out that the reason I've not gotten the jobs I've been interviewing for (my in-laws are both administrators in the school district and get inside knowledge) is that other principals think that "with my great content knowledge," also known as I actually have a fully-functional nerd-brain, I am too smart to teach primary grades. WTF, people?! This makes me wonder what the IQ of the average 1st grade teacher is around here. From my experience, teaching those grades are not intellectually taxing, but they require miles more creativity than teaching 6th grade does. To me, that means just as much brain as any other grade! They all think I'd be a wonderful, great, stupendous, *insert other superlative here* teacher in 4th or 5th grade where they want people who actually know the content of science and social studies, but knowing that stuff isn't important in a classroom full of 7 year-olds who ask questions all the time about the world around them... 

 {via}

Whatever. If that's the way they feel about it, then I should look at it as they're losing out, not me. On the plus side, it's now looking like I'll be shifting into a mostly science-teaching position in 6th grade if I stay at the middle school next year. Now that's something I can get excited about.  

 {via}/{via}

How I Spend My Summer Vacation

No, this is not the horrible essay your teacher possibly made you write that first week of school when you were 10. See, the verb is in the present tense, "spend," not "spent." People always assume that since I have the whole summer off every summer, I get to have all sorts of glamorous travel plans and exciting adventures. That is not the case. First of all, I'm a teacher. I don't have enough money to go on exciting vacations all summer long. Second, the Hub doesn't get much time off from work, and I'm not big on traveling by myself.

So what do I do with three months off each year? Aside from getting the 18 off-contract professional development hours I need for every school year, I read. A lot. Basically, I live off books for the summer. My stack of "To Read" books on the bedside table is so tall, Hub suggested I not buy anymore books until I put a good dent in this stack. I've made pretty good progress so far. I've removed six books from the pile you see here.

Every once in a while, once I read a few books, I'll give you my opinions whether you want to read them or not. What have I been reading? These are the first five down for the summer. And yes, I know, I've only been student (and responsibility) free for a week and a half. So what? :) Most of what I've been reading first is YA lit. It's a bit easier and faster to get through.

 Book#1: The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
I enjoyed the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Riordan well enough, so I was excited to learn that he was writing a new series that focused no on Greek mythology, but Egyptian. Turns out Red Pyramid is much more than that. It delves into Egyptian mysticism as well as the pantheon of gods and goddesses.

Sophie and Carter Kane are a brother and sister who discover a secret about their family history in the midst of tragedy. They soon discover that gods and goddesses are being awakened in the modern world. There are those on Earth that wish to allow this and those that wish to keep it from happening. The Kanes get stuck in the middle, must learn how to use their newly found powers, and help to keep chaos from being unleashed by Set. This is the first of a series, and it was enjoyable enough that I'd like to keep reading. As a matter of fact, I think it's better-written than the Percy series.
- - - - -
Book #2: The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett
This book is one of the first "grown-up" fantasy books I've ever read. I've never been much into the epic fantasy wizards and dragons type or books. I actually picked this one up for my husband before he went on an international business trip. It sounded interesting enough to me, but right up his alley. Once summer started, I decided to give it a go at his insistence. I'm glad I did. Once I was able to get through the stodgy first few chapters, I really enjoyed it. As a matter of fact, I'm adding the second of the trilogy to my stack once I found where the hub put it...

In this book, the world is haunted by demons called corelings. People have forgotten how to fight them over the ages. All they have are their herbal medicines and magical wards to protect their homes, farms, and cities. Humans cower in their homes at night, hoping the wards hold. The population is connected only via the messengers who brave the open road to travel from town to village to hamlet, carrying goods and news. When one small town is visited by a messenger after a vicious coreling attack, he inspires courage in a young boy named Arlen. This is his story, the story of a crippled fiddle player, and one of a talented young herb gatherer.
- - - - -
Book #3: Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
As I've loved many of Anderson's books in the past, such as Speak, Catalyst, Wintergirls, and Fever 1793, I was hoping that I'd enjoy this one as well.  Sadly, it was a bit of a struggle to get through. Basically, it's the story of a seventeen-year-old boy named Tyler who has a roller-coaster of a senior year thanks to a graffiti prank and an accident involving his arch-nemesis's twin sister. Oh and he's got a messed up family. It was honestly more shallow than any of Anderson's other books I've read. Usually the emotions of the characters draw me in. They're raw and intense, but this book didn't get that way until the very end, and by then, I was pretty much over the book.
- - - - -
Book #4: Phoenix Rising by Karen Hesse
I think that Karen Hesse is better when writing historical fiction, also when writing in a non-traditional narrative form. This was another relatively disappointing (and depressing) book that I chose based on authors' past performances. Nyle lives with her grandmother on a sheep farm in Vermont. She's dealt with way too much loss in her short thirteen years, but when a nuclear power plant in the southern part of the state explodes, her life changes even more. Her grandmother takes in evacuees who are both sick with radiation poisoning, and Nyle must come to terms with life and death. It was a quick read, but it was too depressing.
- - - - -
Book #5: The Necromancer by Michael Scott
This is my current favorite YA fantasy series. It, too, involves taking ancient mythological creatures and bringing them into modern day, but Scott has woven a much richer tapestry bringing together Greek, Egyptian, Norse, Celtic, Mesoamerican, and ancient Mediterranean cultures and gods along with real historical figures who have been made immortal by these Elder gods. As always, there's some kind of war going on, and humans are caught in the middle.

In the fourth book of the series, we find the protagonists, twins Josh and Sophie Newman, back in San Francisco with Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel. Sophie has been taught Air, Water and Fire magics already, but Josh only has Water. The plan is to take him to Prometheus for instruction in Fire magic. Dr. John Dee, the magician, has been declared an outlaw by his master Elders and is on the run with another dastardly plan, this time aided by Virginia Dare. Machiavelli is starting to question his purpose and loyalties, but still goes on the quest with Billy the Kid to set a horde of monsters, including a sphinx, loose on SF. Joan of Arc, Scathach, William Shakespeare, Comte de Saint-Germain, and Palamedes find themselves in an alternate Shadowrealm with an impossible task set before them. Over the course of a day and a half, more power is unleashed, Shadowrealms are explored, and history of the world as we know it is revealed.
- - - - -
Now I'm on to my sixth book. The weather's been too crappy to be outside, plus with my lovely grass allergy, I don't really want to be outside this time of year. My plans are to get to the gym a few times, get to the pool in my in-laws' neighborhood, take a few sewing classes at a local craft and fabric store, cook, eat, sleep, oh, and if you didn't realize it, read a few books.

Even Puppy says to pick up a book this summer!

...But They'll Never Take My Freedom!

**Warning: Profanity-Laced Post Ahead** 

Today was the last day with students. I have been in classrooms for seven years and teaching full-time for five. As you probably know, I really do love my job. It's where I'm meant to me. I have a passion for kids - guiding them, caring for them imparting my knowledge to them. But this year has been the worst school year ever! It's like the Herdmans infiltrated the minds of the frakking sixth grade this year and tried to make our lives a living hell. Seriously, I've never taught a worse group.

These kids took, took, took, and never gave a shit. I went through more school supplies than ever before, and I teach in a fairly good middle-class community.  I started out the year with 600+ pencils and ended the year with 10. I don't even want to know what the kids were doing with them. How irresponsible can you be? They smeared glue sticks on my floor and desk. They stole books from my classroom (and from other teachers' as well) and were found "left" all over the school. One was even found soaking wet on the floor of the boys' restroom. No telling...

They were apathetic. They didn't care about their learning. I've always been able to encourage students to take ownership of their learning and make it relevant to "real life," but this group would have none of it. Very few students even showed a glimmer of personality. My honors class, which is usually a highly-motivated, enthusiastic, creative bunch of kids were mostly bumps on a log with their noses stuck in books. I couldn't even get them involved in activities this year.

Needless to say, after a few months of apathy and disrespect (for people and property), I lost most of my motivation to be a "good" teacher. I still cared about the students, but I was starting to care less and less about what I was teaching them. Yes, please, write me a three-paragraph essay that tells me how to do or make something. Seriously, district? This is your idea of a GOOD writing assignment? i was just lucky that the second half of the year meant teaching how to use non-fiction resources, how to do research, a simple novel study, state testing review, and a couple of big, time-consuming projects. I didn't have to put forth much effort. When the students don't appreciate the effort put into the lesson, I'm less likely to make an effort.

There were some super sweet students in this group who got overlooked because of all of the ass-hats that spent most of their time in detention or suspended. I've never had this many students with bad discipline records, ever! And I had a student who almost went to juvenile a few years back! Back to those few good ones. They're the ones who I still tried to reach, but their classmates made it damn near impossible. They're the ones who I actually took the time to sign their yearbooks this week. They're the ones who came by to give me hugs today. They're the ones I hope actually come back to visit me once they're older. They're the handful I'm going to miss.

{via}

That all being said, they did not kill me this year. I have survived. I will no longer teach these students again. If they ever darken my doorway in the future, it will be simply to visit, not as a student. As of 12:00 pm EDT today, the students of Hellclass 2010 are on summer break, and that means I, too, am free! Sure, I have to return for a few days of teacher work next week, but those days are easy. I'm not focusing on that, I'm focusing on my 12 sweet weeks of freedom.

You'll probably be seeing me way too much for my own good online now! But it will definitely be fun. And less stressful.

Worst (or Best?) Teacher Ever

We are now T-minus two and a half days until I am free of kiddos for twelve glorious weeks. That being said, my class has been the best class ever for students to come to for the last week or so. I say that because the English curriculum basically tells me to do a project and teach a novel study for the last few weeks after state testing is done. All of our "real teaching" is done before the testing.

My students completed the epic Middle Ages research project and Keynote (yes, we're an all Apple school) presentations that took all of three weeks. Then they wrote a theme analysis of a novel we read in class back in March. This was their end of the year "Writing Assessment" we must complete for the district.

After that, all bets are off. I can't logically teach a novel study because (a) I just taught one six weeks prior and (b) the students are reading a novel in Science class (Hoot) and in World History class (Catherine, Called Birdy). Do I really need to confuse the 12-year-olds even more?!

So, yeah, here's what my class has looked like since last Thursday:
Thursday, Friday, and part of Monday - Watch From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler because one of my classes read it in March. The other classes read The 39 Clues: Maze of Bones, and there is not yet a film version of that book.
Other part of Monday - Make students organize all of their writing assessments from 6th grade in their writing portfolios because I don't want to do that for 100 folders.
Tuesday through whenever it takes - All classes now watch The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe while the teacher takes down bulletin boards and packs up classroom. Why this you ask? Because it's based on YA literature, was on my syllabus, and is easily justifiable if questioned. Oh, and it's ridiculously long.

So, does this make me a teacher made of awesome or of fail? I don't care. It's made me a teacher free of stress.

And Then My Head Exploded...

So, last night, I was on the verge of an anxiety-induced breakdown.  I've been stressing out waaaaay too much over the past three weeks on whether or not I'm gonna get this third grade job I interviewed for. Our school system is so large and bureaucratic, that I can't exactly call up and ask what the status is.  With two weeks left in this school year, I'd like to know where I'm gonna end up next year. Will I stay where I am or do I need to pack up my entire five-year accumulation of teaching stuff in my current classroom?! I about lost it last night when I got home based on a really small, ridiculous, and most definitely inadvertent trigger from another teacher.

And this is how I've been able to deal over the past twenty-four hours:

Snuggling on the couch with my sick hub watching old episodes of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer Season One while he reads me random tweets from Wil Wheaton.

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Chatting with fellow 20sbers Alex, Mel, Jen, and Risha. Little does Risha know, but she totally talked me down last night. She's so awesome!

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NyQuil. Yeah, I know. I have allergy problems. Sometimes I live off this stuff. And last night, I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep without something...

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Playing Yahtzee with some of my students this afternoon. Instead of doing something productive in my last class today, I pulled the board games out of storage. I really need to do that more often. And they got such a kick out of me playing, too.

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/via

Selling tickets at our school's annual carnival after school. Watching the faces of 5 and 6 year-olds light up when you hand them a strip of paper tickets is priceless. It can pretty much melt any heart. This is one of the reasons I want to teach the younger ones.

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Coming home to a surprise order from ThinkGeek that my hub got for me!

 

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And watching THIS!

I'm definitely looking forward to relaxing this weekend and hopefully seeing Iron Man 2. Any of you have great, unconventional ways to destress or calm an anxiety freak-out? Other great, lazy weekend plans? 

Things Kids Write

This afternoon, I was grading the research "papers" (only 2-3 paragraphs long) of my lowest English class.

Every year, our sixth grade does an interdisciplinary unit of study based on the social studies curriculum. Specifically the Middle Ages.

In English class, we do a research project. Our students each researched a person who lived from 500-1500 A.D.

Here are a couple highlights:

Who Are These Children?

 picture /via

So, after being Debbie-Downer last night after a rough few days, I got to wake up to this. Thanks so much, Angela! You made my day just a bit brighter.

Then I got to spend a good part of the day spreading cheer thanks to the Sunshine Award.

When it came to my intervention class that I have dubbed "hellclass," they were actually GOOD! They were (mostly) respectful. They did what I asked. They were relatively quiet. They WROTE. And all of this on the one day of the entire year the Secondary Reading supervisor for the whole system decides to randomly drop in and observe my class. They were like perfect angels in that respect, especially compared to how they usually act. I'm not sure what happened to my normal students. I think they were replaced with pod people. I'm pretty sure my 6th period class today was aliens. Who like to write. This just made my day!

And to top off a great day, I found a CD of 21st Century Breakdown in my car when there was nothing on the radio to listen to. The Hub had burned it for me MONTHS ago. I got to rock out to epically great Green Day while driving home.

In the immortal words of Ice Cube, "Today was a good day."

Chill Out

Ok, I just need to take a deep breath and chill the frak out. If I were to go to the doctor anytime soon, I'm sure my blood pressure would be off the charts. I'm getting stressed out and irrationally worked up over the most asinine things right now.

Situation One - 
I'm still waiting to hear whether or not I'm gonna get the teaching transfer to something grades K-4 that I interviewed for last week. They have until May 21 to make the decision. That means another month of waiting. I'm not always that patient.

Situation Two - 
I'm starting to feel like I'm losing control of my 6th/7th grade reading intervention class. The 6th graders are still sweet and listen to whatever I say. They're nice and respectful, though they might try to talk over me sometimes.

The 7th graders have a major attitude, though, and act like my class is beneath them. Sadly, they're the ones that really need the help. Some of them have gotten rude and disrespectful over the past few weeks, and it really hurts. I've never had students be this blatantly rude to me before. Can you start to see why I want to leave middle school?

The End is Near!

So, this week at school has been horrible. It was the week of TCAPs, the Tennessee state tests. Four days of testing, the shortest test part was 45 minutes long. There are eight parts, four subjects, and a hell of a lot of bored kids. In the past, students were at least allowed to read a book when they finished the test. It was this way forever, as I remember that accommodation when I was in school. This year, the state Department of Ed decided that was no longer allowed.

Seriously? That means students who are brilliant and finish the science test, part one in 20 minutes and have 25 more to just sit there are gonna get really bored. I was so worried that the students would start to get disruptive when they finished. The group of kids I was testing was fairly obnoxious. Luckily I only had one or two problems on the first day. After that, they either took a nap or drew for the most part.

This week every year makes me remember how much I hate eighth grade students. We're not allowed to test students in our own grade level for security reasons. I can understand and respect that, but I really hate these kids by the time they reach eighth grade. It puts my desire to leave sixth grade in perspective. I appreciate my students so much more! Also, I've been driven to the desire to drink more this week than I have been in a looong time.

But honestly, sixth grade is not where I feel my teaching calling is. It never has been, but when you're fresh out of university, moved back in with Mom, looking for a job, you take what you can get. I've been teaching sixth grade for almost five school years now. (We're done in 5 weeks!) Some opportunities have presented themselves, so I'm applying for a transfer.

I had what I hope was a great interview at the elementary school next door yesterday. If I get the job, though, as the realization hit me this morning, I'll be going from teaching twelve-year-olds how to analyze characterization and write research papers to teaching five- or six-year-olds how to spell cat. Yes, I applied to transfer to kindergarten or first grade.

If this does happen, it will be a huge but fulfilling challenge, and I'm sure you'll get to read all about it! Sorry for the really random post, but it's been a stressful week,  and my brain is DRAINED!

7 Weeks, But Who's Counting?

So, today was the first day back to school after Spring Break, and let me tell you how much I want out already! After teaching 6th grade for 5 years, this is the least-attentive, most talkative worst-behaved overall group we've ever had. Even some teachers who've been there 20+ years are saying the same thing. They drain all the energy I have by 3:30 every day.

We start our state testing (TCAP) next week, so this week is "finish reviewing" week.  First of all, with a new curriculum, a new test that is supposed to be higher-level thinking such as application and analysis of skills, and the fact that our job security is now directly tied to our individual test scores, I hate "teaching to the test" more and more each year, but it's getting hard to find much of a way around it.

Our school at least bought these great test-review books that have helped me to review kids in isolation on skills we worked on earlier this year in a much more holistic manner. They've made the past few weeks really easy on me, but I know that the students are completely over it. I mean, a week and a half of test prep before the break and another week after? Yeah, that's how massive my tested Language Arts/Reading curriculum is.  Reviewing takes two and a half weeks. 74 tested skills. Yay?!

So, in other words, if I can make it through the next two weeks, after TCAPs are over, there are only 5 weeks left. All downhill from there, right?