Sunday, July 20, 2008

The Rookie Remix: Suck or "Crunk"?


Yeah, so I don't make a habit of using crunk in my lingo, but it fits the metaphor so just roll with me as I highlight 07-08 and look ahead to 08-09.

Being a rookie is any situation is hard. It is especially hard when you are not necessarily a rookie in other facets of life, but are found in a situation where you are learning the tricks of a trade and becoming more polished in your craft, all the while being critiqued. So, while beginning things is usually challenging for a multitude of reasons, my hardest part of being a first year teacher was doing so after having been a leader in so many other areas of life.

We new teachers have all heard the good, bad, and downright stank from veterans, teacher-educators, and peers in the profession. As with anything, you filter through all of it to take in only what you need, but of course you are sometimes left with a stank taste in your mouth as some words linger. For example, one of my grad-classmates turned colleague (who has ten years under her belt) told my cohorts and me that our first two years were going to suck. Great. Way to kill a rookie’s excitement. She was not without advice for combating this of course, but it still put a damper on one’s hopes of standing out amongst fellow rookie-teachers.

I would love to say that I didn’t experience any first-year suckage, but I would be straight up lying, and that’s just not me. Not to mention, it wouldn’t be reflective if you ignored the bad stuff, so here goes.

The Low Points:
Floating the first two weeks while trailer is still getting repaired, moving to the trailer and the air conditioner breaking(August + south, uhh...yeah), then floating again and back to the trailer, all in the first four weeks of school. What a great way to begin my first year. Other not-so-winning moments:
  1. Constantly putting out fires in 1st period, and getting to the point of just trying to make it through the semester. Yep, it was sad.
  2. Staying late pretty much everyday, and no, not just on the days where I had tutorial hours. Even though I tried to get everything, including as much grading as possible done during planning, I was not as consistently successful as I wanted to be.
  3. Doing more for one class than others. Oh, don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about!
  4. Creating just about everything from scratch. I was so eager to do this, but this took most of my time, especially trying it out first before I used it. Yes, I borrowed plenty as we teachers know well how to do, but you know you still have to adapt for your groups (and your personality). I admittedly lean more toward the perfectionist side, but hey, you do that when it’s your livelihood.
  5. One of our grad school slogans was “sleep is for the weak,” and, I am a night owl. So, I didn’t get as much sleep as I needed last year. I believe this affected my personal life the most (My hubby and pre-schooler get awards for "most supportive family of the 07-08 school year").
Now, for The High Points (Yes, I have them!):
One of my repeaters who wanted to sleep the first week of school (didn't let her) ended up with a low “B,” and after proudly scoring an A on a test became the class go-to-girl; “Ask Able—she’ll know the answer.” Parents at different times telling me that their children were reading—for fun--due to something that was said or done in class. My steady high-B student (who was very content there) fiiiinally pulling his grade up to an A, after a pep talk with him for my desire to track a true student-athlete’s success. He knew he was able, he just liked to coast. Not that A’s mark success, but I always explain to a student that if you can you should do—you never know when you’ll need the leeway, especially when a state-mandated test makes up a portion of your grade. And of course, students who generally don't value literature loving some of the selected texts and giving the subject a second chance. Others:
  1. Getting a classroom before spring break! This made a huge difference in my classroom management. If you’ve never been without your own classroom or even your own space, you may not appreciate the valuable real estate that it is.
  2. Seeing students be proud of their work, and not just because they were seeking my approval/affirmation or wanted a good grade, but because they began to value themselves as learners.
  3. Seeing students correct certain mistakes and know why, as well as being able to explain them to others.
  4. Having excellent support, both at school and at home--again, awards are necessary.
  5. Being able to say that the first year didn’t suck! I personally love the block system and being able to have a true new beginning in January was wonderful. Second semester was way better the first, even though it had its own set of minor challenges.
These may seem minor wins, but as you know from the world of sports, a W is a W.
Since I’ve been thinking all summer about all the things I will change and implement for next year, I admit that I haven’t yet been brave enough to de-clutter yet; meaning decide what to keep or toss. I have a host of good unused materials and lessons that I have that may work for a different group, so I will soon (er, this week) be revisiting them and tweaking, adding, and deleting. Also, since it seems that most awards are reserved for the 3-years + crew, I would like to achieve some others milestones—not sure what these are yet, but I’ll figure something out.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Sure to Make a Teacher Smile


Hopefully you fellow educators caught the penny-sale last week at Staples? This is teacher-economics at its best: Four hundred pencils for 0.54! I think this year the forgetful frequent offenders will have to barter the correct lit term to get a taste of this minor commodity. I can just see it now--
Scholar: Miss K, do you have a pencil? (They always walk right into it).
Miss K: Sure I do, because I never come to class unprepared. But you'll have to tell me what it's called when inanimate objects or animals are given human characteristics before I can offer my goods. (Wait five seconds) If you don't know, ya' betta ask somebody.
(Another pause--gets help from classmate--)
Scholar: Oh yeah--personification!
I'm thinking it will be a constant reminder of earning what you get, and might encourage peer learning as well.
But of course I'm open to other ideas.