Thursday, February 20, 2014
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Monday, December 23, 2013
Rejuvenation
Well hello there. Has it been that long? I suppose it has.
Christmas Break officially started today. Hurray! And even though I fended every possible cold that first year teachers catch during school...I am now sick. Ah well.
November and December were busy. Progress Reports were written, parents (some) came in for Celebration of Learning, Christmas concerts, pajama days, trying to keep the students busy without teaching them something new that they'll promptly forget on their break. It was lovely (/end sarcasm).
November and December were also rough. I met with a mentor during the last week before the break, and she showed me a picture of the yearly cycle of a teacher's emotions. It was spot on. She said "Right now, you're probably feeling Disillusionment." And I was! I was certain that I had screwed this year up fantastically and there was no way that I was going to get a probationary contract out of it. And she said "You're probably questioning your career choice." And I was! That morning I drove by McDonald's and saw their "Hiring" sign, and thought....Yeah I could do that again...for the rest of my life...
It was comforting to know that this is something that most teachers go through during the year, and that as I gain more experience, my disillusionment valley won't be so deep.
So what stage is next? Well, that's Rejuvenation. So I will take some time and rest, and come back refocused and re-energized. I type this as I sit in my classroom trying to plan for January. You can't win them all I suppose.
Christmas Break officially started today. Hurray! And even though I fended every possible cold that first year teachers catch during school...I am now sick. Ah well.
November and December were busy. Progress Reports were written, parents (some) came in for Celebration of Learning, Christmas concerts, pajama days, trying to keep the students busy without teaching them something new that they'll promptly forget on their break. It was lovely (/end sarcasm).
November and December were also rough. I met with a mentor during the last week before the break, and she showed me a picture of the yearly cycle of a teacher's emotions. It was spot on. She said "Right now, you're probably feeling Disillusionment." And I was! I was certain that I had screwed this year up fantastically and there was no way that I was going to get a probationary contract out of it. And she said "You're probably questioning your career choice." And I was! That morning I drove by McDonald's and saw their "Hiring" sign, and thought....Yeah I could do that again...for the rest of my life...
It was comforting to know that this is something that most teachers go through during the year, and that as I gain more experience, my disillusionment valley won't be so deep.
So what stage is next? Well, that's Rejuvenation. So I will take some time and rest, and come back refocused and re-energized. I type this as I sit in my classroom trying to plan for January. You can't win them all I suppose.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Rules to Live By
Be kind to your custodian, so that when one of your students pukes in the garbage can, they'll clean it up right away.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Bye Bye September
Oh hello there. It's been a while. Probably for good reason.
The rest of September was pretty rough. There was a moment I almost cried in front of my class (Teacher Rule #1: Never show them weakness!) as I tried to convince them that I'm not a mean teacher, I just need them to stop fooling around and get with the class. The next day I did cry in front of my principal, as she said that she could tell I was starting to get stressed out. Strangely enough after those 2 days I felt a lot better and haven't had a breakdown since.
We're now into the second month of school, and my EA and I are working hard to believe that our students are starting to get it. That things are starting to settle down. That the kids are learning the routine and remembering how to behave in school. And to be fair, they are. The final lesson of the week was Art, and I didn't have to give them constant reminders that they were too loud and getting too silly. My reward system has been implemented, I've started building a book bug around the classroom with them (everyone who reads 15 minutes a night gets a body part to add to the bug), I'm wrapping up my first math unit and getting ready to assess.
Curriculum wise I'm feeling more confident and prepared. Science I just picked units from each grade that I thought would pair along with each other, or that I found interesting. For Social, I am planning on teaching the Grade 3 curriculum but incorporating the Grade 4 curriculum alongside. Math I was having a bit of a panic attack with, but then I was given a great resource from Math Makes Sense (which, unfortunately, many teachers refer to as Math Doesn't Make Sense, but I found that out after the fact and I'm just going to roll with it) that basically laid out exactly how to teach what to each grade. In our PD yesterday the words IPPs and Progress Reports were already mentioned so it's time to start looking at those fun things already.
Even with those looming, October is going to be a fun month. It's Read-In Week next week, and my class has 5 or 6 people coming to read to them for half an hour. The school is also hosting an Artist in Residency which will be fun, and my class is starting a mentor program which means we essentially get a 2 hour field trip every week. For the whole year! Right now I'm guaranteed to be there til the end of October, but that's just unnecessary stress right now.
The rest of September was pretty rough. There was a moment I almost cried in front of my class (Teacher Rule #1: Never show them weakness!) as I tried to convince them that I'm not a mean teacher, I just need them to stop fooling around and get with the class. The next day I did cry in front of my principal, as she said that she could tell I was starting to get stressed out. Strangely enough after those 2 days I felt a lot better and haven't had a breakdown since.
We're now into the second month of school, and my EA and I are working hard to believe that our students are starting to get it. That things are starting to settle down. That the kids are learning the routine and remembering how to behave in school. And to be fair, they are. The final lesson of the week was Art, and I didn't have to give them constant reminders that they were too loud and getting too silly. My reward system has been implemented, I've started building a book bug around the classroom with them (everyone who reads 15 minutes a night gets a body part to add to the bug), I'm wrapping up my first math unit and getting ready to assess.
Curriculum wise I'm feeling more confident and prepared. Science I just picked units from each grade that I thought would pair along with each other, or that I found interesting. For Social, I am planning on teaching the Grade 3 curriculum but incorporating the Grade 4 curriculum alongside. Math I was having a bit of a panic attack with, but then I was given a great resource from Math Makes Sense (which, unfortunately, many teachers refer to as Math Doesn't Make Sense, but I found that out after the fact and I'm just going to roll with it) that basically laid out exactly how to teach what to each grade. In our PD yesterday the words IPPs and Progress Reports were already mentioned so it's time to start looking at those fun things already.
Even with those looming, October is going to be a fun month. It's Read-In Week next week, and my class has 5 or 6 people coming to read to them for half an hour. The school is also hosting an Artist in Residency which will be fun, and my class is starting a mentor program which means we essentially get a 2 hour field trip every week. For the whole year! Right now I'm guaranteed to be there til the end of October, but that's just unnecessary stress right now.
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