My Favorite Things

So I was weightlifting at the YMCA last night, when I realized that a majority of these posts have been had some sort of negative connotation to them. I feel as though I am only portraying the bad parts of my job, which is far from the truth. Sometimes you just feel the need to vent, and what better way to do that then to write out the day's events on the Internet? I'm changing the trend with this post.

There are so many things about this job that I truly enjoy. One thing about this job that I absolutely love is that it there is no such thing as a "normal day." I do not work in a cubicle, I do not have a daily work routine. In summary, I do not have a "9-5" job. Each day keeps me on the edge of my seat! (in some cases, literally...as in when I fell out of my chair).

The second thing I love? The staff! There are so many good people at this school that I just cannot say enough about how caring and genuine that they all are. We all get along very well, and there is definitely no "cliques" or partisianship among the staff members. If people disagree in a meeting, grudges do not seem to carry-over outside of the meeting. I cannot say how supportive they have been throughout my first year of teaching.

And although I complain about the students quite a bit in this blog, I have failed to accurately say how much I enjoy them and the many many times they touch my heart on a daily basis. Some of these kids have such rough lives at home that I feel as though they have such gratitude to be in a 'safe spot" for at least a part of their day. The majority of the students are so polite, so bright... just have such a bright future ahead of them that I feel honored to have at least played a small role in their future successes.

I recently asked my students to complete an anonomous survey for me (the day before Christmas break) that asks them what they like, dislike, and want to see changed in social studies. Some of their responses were very thought provoking, and some brought tears to my eyes... whether it be from laughter or from their kind words.

For instance, here is what one student had to say about social studies...

normally i would hate social studies, but Mr. Anderson makes it really fun! For a first year teacher I think he's done extremely well. I have fun all the time just because he knows how to help students learn in a fun way. I really like the activity we're doing in class now on how government makes laws! I probably wouldn't have understood what was going on if we hadn't done the activity.

Some students shared a little bit about themselves in their survey as well...

I've pretty much liked a lot of [the class]. You are a very good teacher and I've learned a lot and I hope that after Christmas break I will get more together.

One person had some words of advice as to how I can improve myself as a teacher...

Mr. Anderson's stupid, but funny jokes liven up the class. He puts things into terms we can understand. I enjoy his everlasting good composure and attitude...keep on wearing the awesome ties!

I also enjoy when they throw-in their own slang...

Well this has to be one of my best classes, not because of grades, but I like it best. I liked when Mr. Anderson made a fool of himself, and took us outside. You know, Mr. Anderson is a pretty cool kid.

What other profession can you receive a performance review such as this?

I also want to make a small list of my "favorite things" that have happened so far this semester. The list includes the following...

1) Surviving!
2) My homeroom taking 2nd place in the school's canned food drive with $68 donated and over 1,000 items brought-in...breaking a school record. I had nearly 800 bricks of Ramen noodles in my car with their donated money.
3) Doing the "Electric Slide" at the school's staff vs. student volleyball game.
4) My 8th hour students encouraging me to try-out to be in the school play (as a part of the dance team). One student telling me, "it's your time to shine, Mr. Anderson!"
5) Teaching, and learning with my students, how to make balloon animals in homeroom.
6) Instilling the "Spirit of '76" in my students by teaching them about the Boston Tea Party...which amounts to me putting my tie around my head (Rambo style), giving them a "revolutionary pep talk," then storming the troops outside to the Liberty Pole (tie still on my head) with a bag full of chalk and having them write anti-King George III graffiti on the sidewalk.
7) Chaperoning the school dances
8) Winning a cheezy Christmas candle/lamp thing at the school's White Elephant gift exchange.
9) My mentor, who keeps me sane and is always willing to offer advice.
10) Holding a "Mock Congress" session with my classes. I separated them into the House and Senate (me being the President) and had them work together to pass 5 laws that could be enacted for one week. Laws included chewing gum, listening to iPods, etc... I vetoed about 35 bills. Then taught the students that, in eight years as president, Thomas Jefferson failed to veto a single bill (hence why he is a "wimp" in Mr. Anderson's eyes).
11) My parents showing-up on open house to "see how their child was doing."
12) My parents' never-ending support throughout the year.
13) Unexpectedly leading the school in the National Party fight song.
14) "Dr. Hansen" and the whole special ed crew

Mid-year Blues

I'm back in the blogging business! I've missed writing because there has just been so much to do in the life of a first year teacher. In-between lesson planning, correcting papers (see the attached photo of my living room a few weekends ago), meetings, and paper work, writing in a blog is the last thing on my "to-do" list. However, today I've made some room.

Today was a blue day due to a number of factors. Number one being that it is snowing quite heavily outside. Therefore, the students were very restless with anticipation of school canceling early (which it did not). The weather jumped from negative three to about twenty today. Although it amounts to jumping up the thermometer from "frigid" to just plain "cold," it is still a twenty-degree increase.

Additionally, last night the Packers lost. It was a difficult game to watch after such a successful season. It is hard to imagine a football team having a major effect on the attitudes of so many of your students and co-workers. However, living in Wisconsin, that just comes with the territory. As the green and gold do, so does your Monday morning attitude...even after an NFC Championship Game that should have been won on more than one missed opportunity :(

The end of the 2nd grading quarter is wrapping up on Thursday. Last week, I made a number of phone calls to about twenty parents (of whom I took the liberty of calling in my unpaid time off of school) to update them that their child is in danger of failing social studies in the next week. I called to inform them that their child's quarter success could be gained or lost in a matter of seven days. Many parents were appreciative of me calling, and I've seen improvements in many of these students grades.


However, what really gets me irritated, is when YOU care more about the student's grade more than the student and their parents combined. I called the parents of the five children who are literally failing social studies, and I gave them an ultimatium: that if they turn-in all missed work by today, that I would ensure that they pass with a D-. Two of these students turned-in work (one hands me his missing work and feels the need to inform me that he missed playing video games for a month because of me. I told him, "you're welcome").

One of these failing students told me today that she left it at home "even though I have it done and my parents signed it, I can't get it because no one is home until later tonight. Oh, by the way, do you have another copy of today's homework? I lost it." She was actually pretty tricky about how she told me too... in the middle of the crowded hallway, on my way to class, with three of her friends surrounding her; thus preventing me from giving her a stern lecture. I said if it is not in my hands tomorrow, she fails social studies.

Then, on my way out the door into the cold, the principal comes up to me and says that a parent called him today to say that she's been trying to contact me all week to talk to me about her child's progress (which made me wonder, "Why didn't she just call me up? Plus, what she said is a bold-faced LIE because I left a message on her phone asking her to call me, and she failed to do so... unless the janitor has secretly been taking my phone calls, erasing my caller ID at night, or hacking into my e-mail and deleting all the messages).

I'm 23 years old... do I really have more responsibility than these parents?! It's ridiculous!

On top of that, I have a really cool lesson planned for the students this week. We are going to have a class debate on Wednesday as to whether or not we should have Andrew Jackson's face on the $20 bill replaced with Dr. King's. Students were separated into teams (which I even tried to put students into groups with their friends).

The student's replies to my efforts? "That's gay." I was up until 11:30 at night, planning this lesson, and they feel the need to tell me that my lesson is living an alternative sexual lifestyle. Fantastic.

I sometimes wonder on my 30 min drive home from work... is this all really worth it? What if I were to get a desk job somewhere, where I don't have to deal with irresponsibility, or have to bring my work home, and still make 2x as much money?

Then I remember overhearing a student say to her friend today that, "last night I couldn't sleep. So, I got out of my bed, went to my computer and typed my opening speech for our class debate on Wednesday. I'm so excited!"

Not to mention, "Doctor Hansen" giving me a fist-pound and telling me, "Mr. Anderson, you're such a cool dude!"

. I better get going. Gotta go set the alarm clock... so I'm ready for school tomorrow.

Twilight Zone

Last week was a rather odd week... might I add that "odd" is not used in a good way. Friday night was just one of those times where you sit down, reflect, and thank God that He has blessed you with so many good things in life. In one week, three of my students had faced a life or death situation regarding their health while at school (might I add that two of these events occurred in one school day, combined with an unexpected fire drill).

Emotionally, this job is taking a lot out of me... a LOT out of me. There are so many highs and lows in the emotional life of a teacher that I literally go to bed exhaused every day. You find out so much information about these kids' backgrounds and home lives that your mind bounces to every end of the spectrum possible. Every day, from the minute you enter the building, your emotions can range from extreme anger to compassionate sympathy, or confusion to utter amazement.

Most of the information that you find is stuff that you did not expect to know. Maybe a student, who has been a complete angel in your class, is also a frequent visitor to the local police station. Another student may have all of the creative talents in the world, but lacks the mental ability to spell their own name. Yet someone else may give you a hard time every single day in class...only to find out that they do this because they NEED attention due to the fact that the divorce going on at home has suddenly trickled down to the kids' lives. It is the hardest and most challenging aspect of this job by far.

Yet, despite the fact that these students have so much going on with their lives, they still continue to (as they said in the '60s) keep on truckin'. And it gives me inspiration as well.

Speaking of emotions... I chaperoned the school dance on Friday! It was my duty to keep the peace and prevent any unwanted behavior from ruining the special evening.

A middle school dance can be summarized as such: an entire gym packed with teenagers (who are either wearing too much cheap purfume/cologne, or have yet to discover the wonders of deodorant) jumping up-and-down to loud and obnoxious music while drinking Mountain Dew, eating greasy pizza, and fighting tears of a ruined relationship. It was fantastic! I must say that there was never a dull moment throughout the entire night.

Finally, an event occurred today that summarizes why I love middle schoolers. Today was the beginning of WKCE testing for students at our school. I was required to proctor the test to my third hour classroom.

I was working on my gradebook at my desk during the test when I spun around in my chair to reach for a book on the bookshelf behind my desk. It appears that my chair needs some WD-40, because as I spun around, the old chair released a lound groan that sounded very similar to an individual passing gas. I looked up, and thankfully the students were unphased... except one. The quietest and most well-behaved young lady was so red from holding back her laughter that I thought she was going to explode. Finally.... she did! She burst out laughing, and (apparantly everyone had the same idea as she did) everyone else burst out laughing as well, me included.

Where else but in a middle school classroom? :)

Parent Phone Calls

I was paging through my calendar this week and noticed that there is only about a week and a half until the quarter/1st grading period ends! Where has all the time gone?!?

Knowing this brought mixed feelings. First, relief that I have survived the first quarter of the school year (and I'm still employed!). However, this fast-approaching deadline brought a sense of panic because I know that I have a number of students who are currently failing my class and there are a number of parents who are uninformed.

I never want to see a student fail my class and I completely understand that students have a lot going on with their lives outside of school. For instance, at a recent tennis match, one of our players' parents was telling me that her daughter (who is on the honor roll) is so busy with after school, sports, activities, and music, that it is not uncommon for her to be up doing homework until about 11:30 or midnight!

I also understand that it's not just the honor students who have a lot of activities on their nightly plate. I know of at least four of my students who are experiencing parents who are going through a divorce and are having some very difficult home issues. I know that as a teacher I probably should not say this, but these students are dealing with problems that are a little bit more important than learning about the difference between a Puritan and a Separatist.

To ease the panic, I drove to school this morning (Saturday), blared AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" on the radio (kidding!!) and started from the top of my gradebook and called every parent of students who were receiving a "D" or lower. I ended up calling about 12-13 parents on a Saturday morning, and to be honest, I was pretty scared throughout the entire ordeal.

What surprised me the most about calling these parents is that not a single parent was upset at me. In fact, (most) were extremely thankful that I took time out of my weekend to call them and provide them with an update about their child, and expressed relief to know that there was still time for them to raise their grade. One parent even called me on a cell phone to tell me that she and her child were in the car on their way to the middle school so she could get her social studies book, and wanted me to let them in if the door was locked (I let them in 5 min later). It made me feel good that these parents actually had my side on this whole ordeal.

There are two parent calls that stuck out during this Saturday morning. One good, one bad...

The bad parent was initially glad that I had called. However, she started getting upset with me that I had not called her sooner in the school year so her child could work harder to obtain a grade higher than a D or a C. I calmly told her that I understood her viewpoint, however we were working on group projects for the first half of the quarter and that my class did not start doing daily work until 3 weeks ago. The parent then continued to provide me with her thoughts about how most teachers don't call until it's too late and that she really dislikes how that situation is handled on a school-wide basis. Thankfully, the five years of "Culvers' Customer Service" that I have under my belt began to kick-in, and I told her that if she had a problem with the way her other teachers handle things that she should consult administration and quickly ended the conversation without blowing a gasket (I never thought I would say this, but if I could, I would thank the many rude and obnoxious Culvers' customers that I have dealt with over the years for providing me with the patience and ability to deal with "tough" parents).

The phone call that positively stuck out in my mind was the mother of a young girl in one of my classes. The mother started sharing her frustrations with raising a 13 year old daughter and how she is struggling to decide whether to let her child be independent and fail on her own, or pressure her into working harder on her school work. "However," she told me, "my daughter has told me absolutely nothing but good things about social studies and she just adores you as a teacher. She comes home everyday and shares the fun and exciting activities you are doing and what you have planned for the week. She really enjoys being in your class and you are definitely one of her favorite teachers, so I'm sure hearing that she's failing you will cause her to step up her progress."

The mom's comments made all of those long, and sometimes painful hours of lesson planning definitely worthwhile, and we'll see how not only her student, but all of these students respond in the coming weeks.

Also, we had our last day of tennis last Thursday, so you will be reading a few more blog entries than I have been posting lately. I appreciate you for still reading this! There will be many more stories to come, I'm sure.

Busy Busy Busy

Well, I understand that it has been a long time since I last wrote a new blog entry, but that is due to only one reason... teaching has been taking up nearly all of my freetime!

It has been (what I've been told by the school veterans) the most hectic two weeks for social studies teachers for the entire year. This is because last week we held our annual student council convention. This project is described by some as "cooperative learning at it's best."

The convention was first held exactly 44 years ago and has been a school tradition every year since. It is an event that people in the town are very proud of because it has been held for such a long time.

To describe this monumental project in a short statement, I would say this: the entire student body crams into the gym for the morning and elects their student council president. However, because there is so much more to this event than just that one statement, I will describe everything that happens leading up to the event.

The convention kicks off in social studies classes where 8th grade students are asked in early September if they would be interested in running for student council president (this year, we had nearly 26 students decide to run). These twenty-six students spend the entire week hanging signs, handing out stickers, wearing t-shirts, and campaigning during recess in an effort to obtain votes.

After a few days of campaigning, the entire school meets in the gym during homeroom to hold a Primary election. All twenty-six students give a one minute speech in front of every single one of their peers about what they will do if elected president. Platforms range from "getting iPods into study halls" to "repainting the school lockers."

The next day, students vote in their social studies classes for the top three candidates. Once the top three candidates have been announced, preparations begin for the "Party Convention."

In the week leading up to the convention, students are assigned a state to represent and are asked to research some background information about that state. The students are assigned to states based upon the number of electoral votes each state receives in our national election (for instance, this year our school assigned 3 students to Delaware, and 55 to California).

Traditionally, all social studies students meet in the gym and paint huge state posters that hang in the gym during the Convention. However, this year we tried something new in which only the 7th grade spent time hanging posters while the 8th grade made campaign videos and web sites (it was a very trying few weeks in which I had 30 eighth graders running around the school with video cameras... largely unsupervised!).

When the day of the convention arrives, it is a huge party. The school band plays pep songs, the students do the conga line, and dress in appropriate attire for their state (one student, from Utah, dressed as a honey bee because he researched the fact that Utah is the Beehive State). The entire convention is run by students; complete with a party chair person who possesses a gavel and rings a bell when its time to "get down to business."

One by one, a state representative comes to the front of the gym and says a prepared speech such as the following:

"My name is George from the great state of North Carolina, famous for our Civil War history, the Tar Heels, and the birthplace of flight. North Carolina is proud to announce 4 votes for Joe, 6 votes for John, and 12 votes for Tiffany!"

The entire crowd cheers and holds up signs until all the states have been announced. The winning candidate then gives a victory speech and shakes hands as the crowd leaves to their 4th hour class.

The whole project has completely drained me of all energy...but it was worth it! Politics is a subject that does not gain much interest from teenagers, or Americans in general (case in point: the reelection of our current President). However, the students had an absolute blast with the video recording, web page designing, and energetic activity leading up to the event that I now understand why it has been a 43 year tradition! What a fun project!

We are now starting a unit on the Pilgrims and early colonists. Today, we learned what a primary and secondary source document is, and analyzed the story of Pocahontas by watching a clip from the Disney film and comparing it with a journal entry from a Powhatan Indian. The kids were really engaged in the activity and I'm excited to be learning new things every day, not only about history, but about teaching and improving myself.

Scratchin' and Survivin'

I don't have much to say on this post other than today was a good day! I got a lot of work done, our class projects are going well, and I can see the students starting to get ideas and believing in what I'm trying to teach them. Going to bed at 8:30 definitely helped and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's 8th grade team meeting where I plan on recommending two students for "Student of the Month" for their hard work in my 7th hour class (with the special needs students). Tomorrow will be good! Time to correct papers and tighten up my lesson plans!

URGH

What a day, to say the least. Probably the most hectic and wild day of my teaching career. My head is spinning from the day's commotion, and I have no doubt that I will be heading to bed in the next thirty minutes (right now it is 7:24pm).

Today was a special day for the school, and especially the social studies department because it was the 43rd annual "National Party Rally Day." This means that students who signed up to run for student council president last week had to present their two minute speech to the entire school at an hour long morning assembly. The school band plays the fight song, students get all reved up, and twenty-four candidates make a two minute speech that includes such promises as, "allow iPods in study hall," "free cookies during lunch," and "bring back the snack shack (ala carte line)".

After the speeches are presented, students vote for their favorite candidate. The top three students who win the primary election move on to the school's convention (held two weeks later for campaigning purposes) where the electoral college selects who will become the school's new student council president.

The day started off great! My shower was hot, my coffee wasn't too strong, and the Cubbies won the night before in the bottom of the 9th inning... meaning I could have bragging rights for another day.

I arrived at school where I was told that the teacher who usually does the emceeing of these events called-in sick and they needed a replacement. I knew that the other teacher REALLY dislikes speaking in front of the school, so I stepped up to the plate and prepared for the big event occuring after third hour.

While my first hour study hall was setting up the gym for the big event, a student came up to me in tears, explaining that she was not going to be allowed to speak at the event because she didn't turn her speech into her teacher in time... despite the fact that I told her that she could turn it in the morning of the event. The girl was going ballastic, but eventually things were ironed out and she was allowed to give her speech.

Yes, I made a mistake in telling her that she could turn in her speech on the morning of the event. I should taken initiative and been more informed on the due date. Part of being a first year teacher...

The assembly began and ended without a single problem. I emceed to rave reviews from the teachers (and students) and helped lead the school in a rousing rendition of the school fight song.

After the assembly was completed, I returned to class and began my study hall supervision. Study hall began with me sitting down in my chair, and after reaching for an item on the far end of my desk, resulted in me falling out of my chair and people laughing at me. Thankfully, I pulled out the classic one-liner, "... and for my next trick," and the ole "watch me pull my thumb off my hand" gag. The students were laughing more at how the situation was handled more than the situation itself. We'll see if the kids are bragging about how they were there when Mr. Anderson fell out of his chair.

To make things worse, during study hall, a situation involving one of my best students and a suspicion that she was skipping class led to a conference with myself, the student, and the principal that took up nearly my entire lunch hour. The student entered the office in tears, but the situation was ironed out and some miscommunications were cleared up. Thankfully, the principal was very pleased with how I handled the situation and commended me for taking appropriate measures. (I'm just going to say this... it really hurts to see a student in tears and making someone cry will NEVER be something I take pride in doing). To put the icing on the cake, the superintendent was in the office during this time, and saw the whole meeting occur. Fantastic.

So after choking my lunch down and sprinting to class, I found it very difficult to keep my head on straight for the remainder of the day. There were a billion things running through my head about every situation that had happened during the past four hours.

After the final bell rung, I had to coach a tennis match that lasted until about six at night. I love tennis and I really enjoy coaching. But today, it just was not something I felt like doing :( On top of that, a student left the match in tears. I really don't know why because our team won, but I guess that's part of being a thirteen year old.

To sum up my day...
1) Had to unexpectedly give a speech in front of, and manage the behavior of over 500 students.
2) Fell out of my chair and landed on my butt in a room filled with 31 thirteen year olds.
3) Made not one, not two, but three girls cry.
4) I was in the principal's office

To cure my pain, I drove through McDonalds and ate dinner on the drive home (nothing a #2 with a Coke can not fix, right?). I'm currently in my gym shorts, typing while watching "Star Wars" on TV. Possibly going for a run, but I think I'd rather just recharge the battery right now.

It was by far my roughest day of teaching... let's hope this is the roughest it gets!