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!

"You look a lot different in real life"

Last week was kind of a rough week when it came to classroom management. Students are finally beginning to see how far they can push me, and are anxious to see how I will respond in regards to their attempts.

I have never been a fan of detentions or in school suspension. As a teacher, I feel that sending a student to detention or ISS is the sign of a teacher who can not handle his or her classroom. As a former student, I internally begged for my instructors to give some wanna-be class clown a size twelve in their rear end. In fact, I cheered for the teacher in nearly every situation when a student was giving them a hard time. So, the conflict of interests that I'm possessing has caused me to believe that classroom management will be my number one issue throughout this first year of teaching.

A young lady gave me an especially hard time in study hall last week. I have this student three times every day; once in morning study hall, once in social studies, and once in lunch study hall. Throughout the first week of school, she has been out of her seat an average of six times a class period. The students are fed up with her attempts to get out of class or desire for attention. I know this because I see at least four sets of eyes roll every time she walks toward my desk. Something needed to be done.

This young lady earned two detentions from my in the FIRST WEEK of school. I just couldn't handle it any more. The constant nagging, begging, and pleading for any sort of random thing made me longing for my days of substitute teaching in kindergarten and first grade classrooms. At least those little tykes said their pleases and thank yous.

I scheduled a meeting with the principal to see what sort of ideas he had when it came to dealing with young females such as this. I wanted to avoid any sort of lounge talk, fearing that I would be provided with unfair biases and unnecessary information that I do not need to know about her and her family.

The principal was very open and candid about how the situation should be handled. In fact, he scheduled a meeting involving me, him, this student, and the school's counselor to discuss her behavior (good cop/bad cop as he put it).
The meeting worked very well, and this girl has kind of backed off giving me a hard time. In fact, today she came up to me and stated, "Mr. Anderson, you should be very proud of me. I didn't get out of my seat today in study hall more than twice." I congratulated her and thanked her for her hard work.

I believe that it's a good thing that I worry about this stuff and I can honestly say that it keeps me up at night. It is a chess game with these kids... what move will they make next, and how can I block it from happening?

Not attempting to make stereotypes in any way, but typically the athletic kids (aka jocks) are students who give me the hardest time during class. They tend to talk out of turn way too much, make irresponsible comments, and cause the most problems for all of their teachers.

In order to keep these kids on my side, I decided to attend their football game this past Saturday. I asked the students where to meet and what time the game started. Many of them scratched their heads and seemed puzzled that a teacher was interested in attending a game; yet there was a buzz in the air on Friday afternoon about how their teacher was possibly going to be in attendance.

Whether or not it was a joke (I'm assuming that it was my mistake and not their's), the students gave me the wrong location as to where the game was going to be held (although I can easily see how it was confused... athletic complex versus athletic club). But I managed to attend the game and arrived at half time.

As soon as I arrived on the football field, the players started poking each other, and one by one, they were turning around and waving at me and yelling, "Mr. Anderson!" with big smiles on their faces. A couple of them ran over and gave me fist pounds. It was great! Big, brutish jocks in their football uniforms, yelling and waving at their teacher in the crowd!

Today in class, all the football players made sure to point out to their classmates that I attended their game. Everyone of them asked if I saw their "big play," and one of them even came up to me in the hallway, showed me his "battle scar" and bragged about how he had to go to the doctor to get checked for bruised ribs. Weird? Yes. But they thought it was the greatest thing that I was there to see the bloodbath happen.

One of the students even pointed out to the whole class that, "Mr. Anderson looks a lot different in real life!" I asked him to explain what he meant by "real life." He replied, "Well, here you dress all heighty-tighty; but at the game, you just looked just like a real person." I don't know what he meant by that, but I'll just take it as a compliment.

The Doctor is In

The 120 students that I am currently teaching have been very well behaved during my first week of school. Most students raise their hands and have been following our classroom rules. Sure, there have been some talkative students that I have had to have "hallway conferences with," and I can already point out individuals whom I will likely have to make a phone call home in the next 7-14 days. However, all and all, these students have been great! I've been learning more from them than I believe they have been learning from me. Every single one of them has a very unique personality and I think I'm getting the hang of all of their names.

Toward the end of last week, I have come to the conclusion that there has been a class that is quickly becoming one of my favorites to teach. My seventh hour social studies course is composed of about twenty-four eighth graders with an even mix of boys and girls in the class. However, what sets this class apart from the others is that I have about five students who possess various forms of down syndrome and cognitive disabilities.

I was a little intimidated to have such a large percentage of students possessing such strong educational needs. Although they do have an aid with them at all times during the day, I was still concerned about my personal preparation and lack of experience in teaching students in special education.

After the first week, any intimidating feelings that I once possessed have completely disappeared. These students are the most pleasant individuals (not just students) I have ever been around. Their enthusiasm for life is something that I really envy! They enter the school building with a huge smile on their face, never miss an opportunity to say "good morning" to me when they see me in the hallway. Even more impressive is that they always say their "pleases" and "thank you's"...even when I hand them homework.

Their sense of humor is something that is truly special as well. One of the students, we'll call him Jonathan Hanson, raised his hand in class the other day while the students were working in groups of three. I came over and asked him, "Jon, how can I help you?"

Jon kind of gave me a frustrated look- a look that made me concerned that he was going to make a scene in class. He picked up his paper, pointed to the top, and said, "Mr. Anderson, please don't call me Jon. My name is Dr. Hanson." Sure enough, Jonathan's worksheet had a name written at the top reading, "Dr. Hanson." The doc then looked me in the eye, gave me a huge smile, and gave me a big "thumbs up." We both burst out laughing and my cheeks hurt by the end of class. I was later told that day by his aid that Jonathan told her, "Mr. Anderson is SOOO cool!"

My respect for seventh hour is not all about these five individuals. The remaining 20 have my complete admiration as well in the way they embrace and take each of these students by taking them under their wings.

I recently allowed the class to work in groups of three on an in-class project. The special ed aid and I had a brief talk about whether the five students should work with her, or cooperatively with other students. I suggested that they get involved with their classmates for the first project, and if changes needed to be made, we could make them. She agreed.

We began looking around the room and eyed-up groups which we felt would make good matches for these five individuals. She and I politely asked groups if "so and so" could join; hoping that a scene wouldn't erupt where we would need to lecture an adolescent about including students with special needs.

To my suprise, not a single student batted an eye at the thought of allowing one of these boys and girls to join in their group. One student even said, "I'd love to have ____ join! Come on over!" to which all members of the group welcomed him with a high-five. It was really a great scene to witness thirteen year olds, students who are traditionally very cruel and torturous to anyone different than they are, to embrace an opportunity to help a peer. I have a strong feeling that this particular class will be a very special bunch.

First Day Jitters

I never thought that teachers would be MORE nervous than their students the night before the first day of school. Personally, I thought teachers lived in their classrooms up until high school...

Last night it took me over an hour to iron my clothes, clean the bathroom, set my alarm (not one or two, but three alarms total just to be on the safe side) and do some last minute reading before the big day. I was very appreciative that my family and some friends gave me a call to wish me luck. It made me feel like people were out there cheering for me to do well, and I have no doubt in my mind that they all were.

Before bed, I continued reading the textbook that the school district provided me, entitled "The First Days of School." I determined that reading this book was both a blessing and a curse. It is written in a manner that emphasizes how important the first day of school is; stating that it sets the tone for the entire year. The authors include a lot of very helpful hints about how to make a strong first impression on the students. So, I made a "First Day Battle Plan" with a list of items that I wanted to remind myself once I entered the classroom the next morning.

The list I made included such things as to smile and say hi to every student who enters your room, have the seating chart clearly posted so the students know where to sit once they enter, write your name and class on the board, and introduce yourself to everyone as soon as the bell rings with a welcoming smile. I especially wanted to remember to write my name and class on the board because I recently read a book about adolescent psychology. The book stated that the absolute worst thing that can happen to a child at this age level on the first day of school is to walk into the wrong classroom and be embarassed in front of all of his or her peers.

I turned the lights off in my room around 10:30 and I could do nothing but stare at the ceiling and wonder what I still needed to get done. I ran through a list of things in my mind and had successfully completed all of them, but it didn't help me from imagining every worst case scenario. So, for the first time in a long time, I went in my closet and dug out my Bible. I looked up a passage about worrying and found a very comforting passage in Matthew where Jesus discusses the pointlessness of worrying. I feel asleep shortly afterward.

I woke up the next morning at 5am after drifting in and out of sleep. I popped out of bed and immediately took a shower, had a cup of coffee, and was ready to hit the road. I really found a lot of comfort while I was getting ready in that a rerun of the "Cosby Show" was on television. It was one of the later episodes in the show's running because Theo, Bill Cosby's son, was beginning his first day of student teaching.

The roads were very clear the entire way to the school. As I took the off-ramp from the interstate, my iPod started playing AC/DC's "Highway to Hell." Needless to say, I quickly changed the song to "Thunderstruck". However, the fact that the song came on brought a big smile to my face and really calmed me down.

There were a few teachers who got to school as early as I did and were busy putting the finishing touches on everything in their classrooms. I quickly got my room prepared, and a little while later, the 7th grade literature teacher entered my room and asked if I was nervous. I said an abrupt "yes," to which she smiled and said "that's good because that means you want to do well."

I grabbed my attendance sheet and headed downstairs. My first class of the day was a study hall in the school cafeteria. The bell rang and the students entered. I stood outside of the cafeteria and smiled and welcomed the new (and very frightened) seventh and eighth graders. There were a few students who walked past me whom I coached on the basketball team last year who had big smiles on their faces and said a very geniune "Hey Mr. Anderson!" asked how my summer was, and gave me a high five. It really made me feel good and kind of made me say to myself, "This is what it's all about."

The bell rang and I walked in the cafeteria and looked at my 14 students. It kind of had a nice ring to it... MY fourteen students. Not "my cooperating teachers," not "my observation class students," they were mine! And what did I do? I started sweating uncontrollably not knowing what to do next! Four and a half years of college, and I was stumped...

So I briefly collected myself and thought back to the battleplan. I introduced myself, explained my rules for study hall, and handed out an activity I had found that was supposed to get the kids out of their seats and mingling around with fellow classmates and teachers. It went very well and the students were not "too cool" for it. The sweating eventually stopped and I was very confident.

The rest of the day went as smoothly as possible. Not a major problem occurred in any of my remaining classes. No child vomited (and most importantly, I didn't vomit), so all and all, it was a very successful day. The students seem to enjoy me but I know they will test me throughout the first week. Hopefully things go as smoothly as they did today!

School is... inservice

The time has come for me to put my teaching license to use! The school year is just over 24 hours away from beginning, and it has been a hectic past few weeks! Things have been moving at such a rapid pace that I'm having trouble catching my breath. However, I know that things will die down shortly once the school year begins.

Where do I begin? I moved into my new apartment on the southeast corner of Madison on August 18. My Dad and I hauled everything in on that Saturday, and I have slowly been unpacking ever since. However, I believe that all I have left to do is decorate the walls and hang some pictures!

I started working on my classroom around August 23. It was very difficult to begin tackling the monumental task of preparing the room because two teachers (the retiring one, and the one who unexpectedly moved to a different district) left a lot of teaching items behind. I needed to make a series of phone calls to ensure that they had no intention on retrieving their stuff a few weeks down the road, but I eventually got the "ok" from these teachers, as well as the secretaries, to begin assembling my own room!!


There was a method of thinking preached throughout the summer by a few members of the Union Grove janitorial staff: "If you haven't used it in six months, or have no intention on using it in the next six months, you don't need it." By last week Friday, I had thrown out a variety of items that included moldy blankets, student assignments from 1973, pieces of broken chalk, and probably Abraham Lincoln's old stovepipe hat. The janitors told me they were happy to see so much stuff being thrown out and said that they "love it when new teachers come in because it gives us a chance to 'clean house'." Not a day went by last week that I wasn't in the building until six in the evening organizing and throwing things away. The janitors have been extremely friendly and very happy to see what the new room looks like.

Last week all the new teachers had their first inservice meetings. On Monday we all met at the local intermediate school building where we were given a "crash course" on how to sign-in to the school district's computer system. We were also taught how to use Skyward online gradebook and the school's email account. The training started at eight in the morning and lasted until about noon.

On Tuesday, we all met at the intermediate school where we had our "mentor/mentee breakfast." All new teachers were given special gift bags and had our pictures taken for the town newspaper. We also were given a welcome ceremony by the teacher's union! They informed us at the end of the meeting that they were going to deduct eighty dollars a month from our paychecks (Norma Rae seemed so nice in the movie! What happened?!)

My mentor is my co-eighth grade social studies teacher. He and I get along great, and he always has some neat teaching ideas or hilarious story from years past. He's been teaching at my school for about thirteen years and right now we are reworking the school's big social studies project for the year pertaining to the student council. A lot of teachers seem to have some skepticism with changing a 43 year tradition, but there are also a lot of teachers who are excited about seeing some fresh ideas.

Wednesday consisted of the "welcome back "ceremony at the high school. All the teachers in the district attended this meeting where the superintendent introduced the new staff, gave awards for teachers who have been teaching for 10, 15, 20, 30 years, and also gave a "kickoff" speech. Some students from the high school also sang a song.

After the meeting at the high school, we had our building meeting in the school library. Our new principal went over his expectations and procedures for the year. His style is a lot different than the last principal's, but I feel the staff and students will get along with him very well. The entire middle school staff went to Culvers for lunch after the meeting, and then we returned for our eighth grade team meeting. I'm very happy that everyone in the school gets along so well and that they jump at opportunities to be social with each other outside of school.

I was later asked after the meeting if I would be interested in coaching tennis for the upcoming school year. I eagerly accepted and am looking forward to getting invovled with some after school activities.

Thursday was our first union meeting at the high school. The meeting was rather anti-climactic, but there was some discussion pertaining to changes to the health care plan that occurred during the summer.

After that meeting adjurned, we had our "social studies department" meeting with the high school social studies teachers. We discussed the changes made to the district's geography test and also talked about revamping the eighth grade social studies curriculum around Christmas.

We left the department meeting and walked to the community park across the street where the school board members hosted a cookout for the teachers. The weather was absolutely beautiful and I had a great pork sandwich, yet sadly did not emerge victorious at the raffle drawing (I was ONE number away from possibly winning $50 in cash!).

I continued working on my room after lunch and headed back to school the following morning until about noon. I plan on spending all Labor Day at the school doing some lesson planning and trying to be as prepared as possibly for the first week. I'm not that nervous about starting, but I bet at this time tomorrow, I will not be getting much sleep!