Oh, hell.   Well, that could have gone better.

Had my first formal observation this week, and it went really well. I told my kids if they rocked it I would consider doing a pizza party on Friday, and they actually did NOT rock it the way I was hoping they would, but it gave me the chance to display my classroom management to…

I’m taking my first sick day today. It sucks, but unlike when I had to miss a day to do data training with the district, I don’t have enough energy to be worried about my kids. There’s stuff in the sub folder, the lesson plan/agenda is up on the board. If things go crazy, it…

I really don’t have time to be posting, but I haven’t in a while, and I sometimes have felt over the past week like I do nothing but grading. The end of my first nine weeks of teaching is on Friday, and I simultaneously feel like I’ve been doing it FOREVER and like I just…

Today was a good day. I just – I have such love and joy and pride in my kids. I don’t know what I expected when I started – I expected the struggle, and the pain, and the exhaustion. I expected to feel helpless most of the time, feeling like I didn’t know what I…

Today my PD came to my school and observed one of my classes, and then she and my AP and I had a talk about my concerns with my first period class. And what I’ve taken away from this conversation is this: I need to calm the heck down. I’ve been so, so worried and…

TODAY CAN BITE ME. SERIOUSLY.

So here’s the thing. On the one hand, I absolutely and completely love my kids and I’m still having a ridiculously fun time up in front of the classroom. On the other hand, I have such overwhelming guilt – because there’s so much paperwork and I find it so intimidating, and it seems so inextricably…

We’re coming up to the end of my first month of teaching, and in the past week quite a lot has happened. I got my first full load of classes a week ago yesterday! I am thisclose to having all my students’ names memorized, too – a lot of them were in my Study Skills…

Today my kids translated the Fresh Prince of Belair theme song into Standard Academic English as a practice for using SAE during the first draft writing of their first ever five paragraph essay for my class. It was pretty much the most hilarious thing I’ve ever seen. I am not exaggerating when I say that…

Oh my god, middle schoolers. I love them. Seriously, they’re so hilarious, and so unaware of adults laughing at them, that it makes me retroactively laugh at the way I was when I was that age. I love listening to the girls in my homeroom gossip, because (if I’m being honest) I’m kind of addicted…

When I said next time I would have photos of my classroom, I totally was banking on the fact that my classroom would, in fact, be ready for me to walk into it today. It’s not, so I’ve got a long list of things I need to do without actually being physically in the classroom.…

Life is really super crazy hectic and stressful. But yesterday I got a ton of stuff done. And I’m starting to feel like an adult. What the hell is that all about? I was definitely not consulted. Next up: photos of the classroom. But for that to happen, obviously I have to actually see the…

Week 1 went slowly. Week 2 went faster than that, and week 3 went even faster. Now it’s week 4, and I’ve got one day left of teaching these kids, and I’m… I don’t know. I’m going to be sad to leave them. Kind of. To some extent. See, I definitely have made progress along…

This week I: 1. Spent 30 minutes in one day getting my students to line up to come in from recess. Found myself saying, “That’s not a line, that’s a swarm.” Contemplated just telling them it was ok and to come in. Resisted. 2. Flubbed my math twice in front of students. 3. Flubbed my…

Apparently something people get asked is why they decided to teach in their region, and I think it throws a lot of people off. For me, though, I know exactly why I want to be in Louisiana. My mother left Indiana as soon as she graduated high school (much like me!) and where she came…

As the end of my more or less year-long break from reality draws closer, I find myself willing time to go faster – though I know that once I’m at Institute I am going to be desperate for any sort of break. I just feel like I spent so long very determinedly doing nothing, because…

I took the Praxis yesterday – Middle School Science and PLT 5-9 – and it’s great to have that done and out of the way. I’m pretty sure I passed, even though there were a few chemistry-related questions on the content exam that I just blatantly had no idea about. My teacher for Honors Chem…

I’ve known I was going to South Louisiana as part of the 2009 corps for a while now – I applied in the first round and was really pleased to be accepted. But I delayed starting a blog on TeachFor.Us – which I have thoroughly enjoyed browsing through, by the way – because I have…