I'm tossing around words to describe my first week with students. Full of surprises? That seems like an exaggeration. The students did surprise me; their writing skills and attitudes are better than I was led to believe. But the week was not full of surprises, no, not full. Stressful? Not as stressful as the weeks leading up to it. Busy is not the right word either. What about heavy? The week was heavy. That's it.
For one thing, I seem to be off to a good start. I don't know if I told you guys about my plans, but the week was centered on classroom processes and social skills. On Monday, I played a game with them. Everybody had to stand up, and if you won you got a piece of candy and a seat. the catch was, I didn't tell them the rules. they had to stand in a certain sequence of spots in the room, but even the ones who did it had no idea how they had won. The point? That's how it feels not to know the rules: frustrating, even maddening. I then went through a little bit about how American society has a secret center, where only a few people can get in and really make it big. The problem is, nobody tells you what the rules are. My goal for the class is to get them the tools to make it. How to get along with others, how to improve yourself, and how to speak and write without sounding like an idiot. Tuesday and Thursday, I went through things like how to pay attention and how I will handle discipline--at which I am getting really good, BTW--and set up the tribal rules for small groups, just like we learned. Huge successes, all of it. On Thursday, after a quiz, I took them outside and make them sit in a circle in the shade. Each of them had to rate his or her emotions on a scale of 1-10, and share anything else they felt like. Now these kids are all at risk. Every one of them, by the official definition,many in more than one category. I expected them to take a while to buy in to the way I roll, but several of them said, "I am a ten today because I really like this class." I was blown away. I fell in love with these kids right then. Lots of them are gangsters, pregnant, don't speak English, or all of the above. Most of them have a chip on their shoulder, because what I say about American society is really true, and they don't see a way out. But I think I just might be able to pull some of them through the keyhole this year.
On top of which, I went out bowling with my new coworkers last night. We were dirty drunk whores, and I can't bowl worth shit on my prosthesis--no balance--but it was a great time, and I think it's going to be a great year.
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I love that "shit" you wrote. Seriously, your ways of getting students to think outside the box never cease to amaze me. I'm terrified of my management, but I am totally doing the home group stuff and going over the 13 traits of a successful group (what it "looks like" and "sounds like"...the ONE useful TIRP class...ever). We'll see. I also came to a revelation. As an educator, I want to teach my students to appreciate...each other, themselves, me even. So, what if in the middle of working, I just yelled out, "SOC [insert name]!" SOC meaning: Stop, Observe, Compliment. What if I just yelled this and the student would have to at that moment say something he/she appreciates, i.e. "I appreciate that so-and-so is taking notes for our group," "I appreciate that my mom made me a sandwich for lunch," "I appreciate that the room is quiet, so I can learn." Would this be stupid? I thought about using a whistle. One whistle means, you guessed it, SOC. Two blows and that means quiet. Is this extreme? I'm a coach...aren't I supposed to be a fan of whistles? I don't know. It just came to me in bed the other night. Weird. Thank God I haven't actually started teaching yet. I did set up my bulletin boards today, but my room is separated by one huge bulletin board, and I've learned that people hoard butcher paper...I'm stuck with navy blue...that's it, navy blue. Not bad, not great. Any thoughts? And, oh yea, the highlight of my life is moving all my basketball equipment from the boys locker room to the girls. Lots of stuff...not so fun...but will be well worth it. Last time I checked, I didn't really like hanging out in the boys locker room. Okay, this is much too long for the "peanut gallery." I'm out.
Okay, so Steph...go to Walmart or some place and buy fabric...you'll love it...way better than butcher paper for bulletin boards. If we were in the same state...I'd share. :(
Brandon, you amaze me with your talent. You two need to fill me in, because I think I chose the only useful day of class to skip to go see the Falcon play against the Army and I was smashed at 11am. Yikes!
Brandon, your school and mine are so different...it's crazy. Most of my students are privileged and many feel they have the right to do whatever they want. It's frustrating. I yelled at them on Friday. They were just pissing me off. I HATE being the hard-ass teacher, and I rarely had to be her last year, because I had worked for respect. Now, that's all gone and I hate earning it back. It pisses me off. I am struggling liking these kids. They are good and all, but I miss my old kids...a LOT. I think about them and wish they were the ones coming to my class. Plus, I just feel so rushed during the day. I think it's because I teach four classes in a row, which I've never done before. Always just been three. It's hard. Oh well. I'll survive.
Tomorrow, is Open House, but here they ring the bells and parents follow their student's schedule, so there is assigned time for each class. Should be interesting...
This is rather long. Sorry. Oh! I got paid...and it's bull shit. I'm going to have to confirm it's right, and if it is...I'll have to get a second job. It sucks. Steph, I'm going to be feeling your pain, somewhat.
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