The first quarter is over...on to the second. It doesn't feel like I should be a quarter of the way through the year already, although the idea of five more weeks until Thanksgiving break is admittedly daunting.
The past two weeks have been filled with testing and grading, which is quite draining. As I start the second quarter, I'm looking back on the first quarter and realizing what did or didn't work and what I need to do better. I'm still figuring things out, that's for sure--like how to teach this language without putting any attention on grammar. The grammar nerd and lover in me is in mourning.
The first quarter was good, and I feel good about what I'm doing, but I am seeing a lot of areas that I need to improve upon. That's good, since I should always be reflecting and trying to grow, but sometimes it's intimidating and overwhelming. And it's intimidating and overwhelming with helicopter parents and with the students comparing me to what once was (meaning, the former teacher).
Today in church, part of the message was "give people what they want, not what they think they want...because what they think they want is just a reflection of the past." The example along with that was if Apple had polled people and asked if they wanted the iPad, before it had come out, they would have never put it out, because it hadn't existed so nobody would have known they wanted it. And it's the same with things like iOS7 and new Facebook updates. After every new major update, everyone complains and whines how much they hate it and wants what they had before (many threaten to leave, yet they never do), but after a week or a month, the dust settles and people realize how much they love it and get over what they initially decided to hate.
And that really hit home for me. I know the students compare me to their old teacher a lot, and some students have embraced me, but some have openly not. And I know I focus on that more than I should. So it was a great reminder today to give my students what they want but not what they think they want. What they want is a fun class where they learn German. I can do that, but not in the way that they think they want it, because I'm never going to be their old teacher. And eventually, they'll grow accustomed to the change and life will go on as if nothing happened.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Thursday, October 17, 2013
How today was weirder than the PSAT day.
Today has been weird, folks, and something tells me tomorrow will be too.
First, I was at my morning post in the hallway, directing students through the halls, when a teacher came by and calmly said that a bus was on fire. As if this were everyday news. As normal as teachers making copies. Um...what? Sure enough, there was a bus with an engine problem that caught on fire. All students are safe and no one was harmed, which is probably why she was so calm in telling me that the bus was on fire.
Next weird thing: Both classes that took exams on Tuesday complained of my worksheets afterwards ("But Frau! None of the other teachers make us do work after a test!" Lies.) but my German 2 kiddos actually wanted MORE worksheets after they finished the first one. They asked me! Just when you think you've got them all figured out...!
Most recent weird thng(s): We had an impromptu fire drill this afternoon. Of course, as soon as the students understand it was not planned, they swear they can smell smoke and blame it on burnt popcorn. Sillies. During said fire drill, which was with my craziest monkey class, the students followed my directions and listened to me. Amazing, especially when surrounded by their best friends from other classes. One chatty, but sweet, girl stuck by me to talk, as well as another girl who is very hot-and-cold about me and my class. But they chatted with me as if they actually liked me, haha. I was mistaken for a student about four times, by both teachers and students. The only good thing about that in this situation was the element of surprise when they would swear right next to me. The looks on their faces when they realized I'm a teacher was priceless.
And now it's my planning period and I've got a mountain of grading before I'm off to get my hair done (thanks, Groupon!). Let's hope nothing weird happens there...
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Testing...testing...1,2,3.
This week is testing week. Since we are on a block schedule, with four classes per day, two classes will have an exam each day. It's supposed to be less stressful and more manageable for the students. Also the teachers, I think.
Today we also had PSAT testing. This was taken in our homeroom classes, where we, the teachers, had to be the proctors. And if you know anything about standardized testing, you know that it's a whole barrel of fun. ...Not.
I treated myself to a Grande Chai Tea Latte before work (usually, if I get something on the way to work, I get the Tall, which is smaller, but I knew I'd need an extra kick of caffeine and deliciousness today). When I got to work, I had to go to the guidance office to retrieve my PSAT booklets and answer sheets, as well as about 11 pencils and 7 calculators. I have 25 students in my homeroom class.
School starts at 8am and testing was to end at 11:20, although it ran late, so we got out at 11:41. I read the bolded lines in my PSAT script and Teacher Glared at any students chatting. After bubbling in about 8,000 bubbles for their names and addresses, they set to work. Section by section, 25 minutes by 25 minutes. It was intense. Standardized testing is SO strict and rigid in the test-taking. If a student wanted to go to the bathroom, he/she had to be escorted by a hall monitor to the bathroom. They had a total of two stretching breaks in the 3.5 hours of testing, which totaled six minutes (5 minutes and 1 minute--honestly, what's the point of a one minute break?!). And I got to stand there and watch them for 3.5 hours.
At first, it's not too bad. You start thinking about the personalities of the students and watching their Deep Concentration faces. You try not to laugh at their visual struggles of staying awake. You picture what they will look like as old men/women. You imagine what type of job they will have when they're older. But mostly it's just awfully boring. I have a stack of papers about as tall as me that I need to grade. I have lessons that need to be planned. And planned lessons that probably should be replanned. Or really almost anything besides just standing there for 3.5 hours.
If you're thinking it'd be nice to have a do-nothing break, you are wrong. I'd rather clean my apartment twice. Or do all of my laundry and refold all of my clothes (worst chore ever.) Or take the PSAT myself. Does that tell you how boring it is? It is not fun to do literally nothing for 3.5 hours. It's not the fun do-nothing Saturdays where you lay around being lazy while watching too much TV and sleeping too much. That's at least doing something.
So then my kids were monkeys for the rest of the day. It was weird mix of braindead tired and elated that the test was over.
Funniest/weirdest thing to happen all day:
Oops. I guess I'm braindead too.
Today we also had PSAT testing. This was taken in our homeroom classes, where we, the teachers, had to be the proctors. And if you know anything about standardized testing, you know that it's a whole barrel of fun. ...Not.
I treated myself to a Grande Chai Tea Latte before work (usually, if I get something on the way to work, I get the Tall, which is smaller, but I knew I'd need an extra kick of caffeine and deliciousness today). When I got to work, I had to go to the guidance office to retrieve my PSAT booklets and answer sheets, as well as about 11 pencils and 7 calculators. I have 25 students in my homeroom class.
School starts at 8am and testing was to end at 11:20, although it ran late, so we got out at 11:41. I read the bolded lines in my PSAT script and Teacher Glared at any students chatting. After bubbling in about 8,000 bubbles for their names and addresses, they set to work. Section by section, 25 minutes by 25 minutes. It was intense. Standardized testing is SO strict and rigid in the test-taking. If a student wanted to go to the bathroom, he/she had to be escorted by a hall monitor to the bathroom. They had a total of two stretching breaks in the 3.5 hours of testing, which totaled six minutes (5 minutes and 1 minute--honestly, what's the point of a one minute break?!). And I got to stand there and watch them for 3.5 hours.
At first, it's not too bad. You start thinking about the personalities of the students and watching their Deep Concentration faces. You try not to laugh at their visual struggles of staying awake. You picture what they will look like as old men/women. You imagine what type of job they will have when they're older. But mostly it's just awfully boring. I have a stack of papers about as tall as me that I need to grade. I have lessons that need to be planned. And planned lessons that probably should be replanned. Or really almost anything besides just standing there for 3.5 hours.
If you're thinking it'd be nice to have a do-nothing break, you are wrong. I'd rather clean my apartment twice. Or do all of my laundry and refold all of my clothes (worst chore ever.) Or take the PSAT myself. Does that tell you how boring it is? It is not fun to do literally nothing for 3.5 hours. It's not the fun do-nothing Saturdays where you lay around being lazy while watching too much TV and sleeping too much. That's at least doing something.
So then my kids were monkeys for the rest of the day. It was weird mix of braindead tired and elated that the test was over.
Funniest/weirdest thing to happen all day:
One very sweet girl suggested I buy dry erase markers on Ebay, and I thought she called me a D-bag, to which the whole class erupted in laughter and my face turned tomato red.
Oops. I guess I'm braindead too.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
The elusive nap points.
During any transition between activities (which in a 90-minute block, there are generally quite a few), my first block students always suggest naptime. Their obsession with naptime grew when I got irritated with the naptime suggestions one day (students love to push your buttons!), so after that, I decided to give in to their naptime desires. Kind of.
No, they do not get naptime. Yes, I tell them to sit-up-with-their-back-straight whenever they're drooping or sleeping.
But they THINK they're getting a naptime someday. After my first observation from the district foreign language head went well, I was praising the students on their excellent participation during that time. The students suggested naptime as their reward, of course. Instead of getting irritated or telling them to just be quiet, I said (in what could only be the result of improvisation) that they had earned two nap points. Of course, the next question was how many nap points they need to earn naptime. I love overexaggerating with my students (the answer to when they get to leave my class is always "never", and the answer to how long the test will be is always "800 pages/questions". Eventually they're learn to just not ask), so I said they needed 1,000,000 points for naptime.
Instead of being discouraged at the thought of trying to earn 1,000,000 nap points, they got excited trying to figure out how they could earn nap points. Honestly, I've given approximately 0 thought to it, because naptime during my German class will never ever be a thing, but they're enjoying it, so that's fine with me! They always ask if they can get more nap points for various things, to which I just threaten to take away the two points they have. One student offered me $10 and asked how much that would buy. I said half of a point. One student asked how much $1,000,000 would buy (silly question--technically only 500,000 points), but I responded by saying as many naptimes as they wanted, because then I'd just quit my job and move to Switzerland ;-)
They also complained about my lack of Kleenex, so I told them each box was worth half a point. (I hope no one brings me 2,000,000 boxes of Kleenex ever.)
Yesterday, one kid said "Man, it's so hard to get nap points, but it's so easy to get them taken away!" It's so hard not to bust out laughing at these things!
Maybe I should award a whole point if they can go a day without suggesting naptime. Bet they'll never see that point.
It may sound stupid, and it probably is very stupid, but it's the little, silly things that keep the class fun.
No, they do not get naptime. Yes, I tell them to sit-up-with-their-back-straight whenever they're drooping or sleeping.
But they THINK they're getting a naptime someday. After my first observation from the district foreign language head went well, I was praising the students on their excellent participation during that time. The students suggested naptime as their reward, of course. Instead of getting irritated or telling them to just be quiet, I said (in what could only be the result of improvisation) that they had earned two nap points. Of course, the next question was how many nap points they need to earn naptime. I love overexaggerating with my students (the answer to when they get to leave my class is always "never", and the answer to how long the test will be is always "800 pages/questions". Eventually they're learn to just not ask), so I said they needed 1,000,000 points for naptime.
Instead of being discouraged at the thought of trying to earn 1,000,000 nap points, they got excited trying to figure out how they could earn nap points. Honestly, I've given approximately 0 thought to it, because naptime during my German class will never ever be a thing, but they're enjoying it, so that's fine with me! They always ask if they can get more nap points for various things, to which I just threaten to take away the two points they have. One student offered me $10 and asked how much that would buy. I said half of a point. One student asked how much $1,000,000 would buy (silly question--technically only 500,000 points), but I responded by saying as many naptimes as they wanted, because then I'd just quit my job and move to Switzerland ;-)
They also complained about my lack of Kleenex, so I told them each box was worth half a point. (I hope no one brings me 2,000,000 boxes of Kleenex ever.)
Yesterday, one kid said "Man, it's so hard to get nap points, but it's so easy to get them taken away!" It's so hard not to bust out laughing at these things!
Maybe I should award a whole point if they can go a day without suggesting naptime. Bet they'll never see that point.
It may sound stupid, and it probably is very stupid, but it's the little, silly things that keep the class fun.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
I've got that school spirit!
So, this week was Spirit Week at school, which means that there were different themes for each day that we could dress as. Teachers too :-)
Monday was Pajama Day, which meant I was super comfortable all day and was allowed to walk around in my slippers all day. Awesome.
I wore my Calvin College Education Program shirt, which said "Teachers have class" on the back. My students didn't find the pun nearly as funny as I do (typical!).
Tuesday was Costume Day. Bridget let me borrow a Dirndl, since I don't yet have one of my own, so I went to school dressed in traditional German garb. Many students asked "What are you supposed to be?" and "Are you Dorothy?" Sheesh. Kids. I got some weird looks and confused looks when I explained that it's traditional clothing from Germany, but I also got a lot of compliments.
Wednesday was America Day, so I wore my red, white, blue (and gray) striped dress over black pants with my blue scarf that has white flowers on it.
On Thursday, we had 80s day. There was a whole lot of negative anticipation for this day because I guess in the past, it was Neon day, which resulted in students (for some reason) going crazy and causing a lot of problems. Neon colors and "neon day activity" was completely banned. I am not aware of any problems from this year's 80s day, so I guess we were successful at that.
It's interesting to see these nearly-Millenium babies' perceptions of what people wore in the 80s. Instead of acid wash jeans, oversized shirts/sweaters, and skirts with leggings, there was a lot of jazzercise clothes, and they're all pretty convinced that everyone walked around like that wearing only neon colors in the 80s. Not quite, kids. Not quite.
On Friday it was School Colors day (red, white, and light blue) and students were supposed to dress like their class theme (Freshmen: Arctic, Sophomores: Jungle, Juniors: Mountains, Seniors: Beach) but a lot of people did not. I just wore my school shirt.
Last night we went to the Homecoming game (there's no Homecoming dance, though). There was a barbecue beforehand, where I ate everything without the meat, as per usual. (My students canNOT get over the fact that I don't eat meat...) Sadly we lost the game by one point, but it was still a lot of fun.
Sidenote about my vegetarianism: My students believe it is impossible for me to live here without eating meat, but that's just because they're obsessed with fried chicken and bacon. Yesterday, some of them tried to convince me to eat just the skin of fried chicken because it's not really meat and supposedly the best part. Gross. I could gag at the thought of that! They were dumbfounded when I told them that even when I ate meat, I always took the skin off the chicken because I hated that part. Gross, I don't miss that.
Anyway, it was a fun week and fun to see what the students did for each day. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. The hallways were also decorated for each class theme, which was fun to see too. I'll try to remember to take pictures of that next year ;-)
Monday was Pajama Day, which meant I was super comfortable all day and was allowed to walk around in my slippers all day. Awesome.
 |
| pajamas and slippers :-) |
 |
| Teachers have class! |
I wore my Calvin College Education Program shirt, which said "Teachers have class" on the back. My students didn't find the pun nearly as funny as I do (typical!).
Tuesday was Costume Day. Bridget let me borrow a Dirndl, since I don't yet have one of my own, so I went to school dressed in traditional German garb. Many students asked "What are you supposed to be?" and "Are you Dorothy?" Sheesh. Kids. I got some weird looks and confused looks when I explained that it's traditional clothing from Germany, but I also got a lot of compliments.
 |
| I braided my hair in two braids |
 |
| My Dirndl |
Wednesday was America Day, so I wore my red, white, blue (and gray) striped dress over black pants with my blue scarf that has white flowers on it.
 |
| It's kind of American-Flag-ish |
On Thursday, we had 80s day. There was a whole lot of negative anticipation for this day because I guess in the past, it was Neon day, which resulted in students (for some reason) going crazy and causing a lot of problems. Neon colors and "neon day activity" was completely banned. I am not aware of any problems from this year's 80s day, so I guess we were successful at that.
 |
| You can't really tell in the picture, but I braided my hair overnight so it would be crimpy for the day |
On Friday it was School Colors day (red, white, and light blue) and students were supposed to dress like their class theme (Freshmen: Arctic, Sophomores: Jungle, Juniors: Mountains, Seniors: Beach) but a lot of people did not. I just wore my school shirt.
Last night we went to the Homecoming game (there's no Homecoming dance, though). There was a barbecue beforehand, where I ate everything without the meat, as per usual. (My students canNOT get over the fact that I don't eat meat...) Sadly we lost the game by one point, but it was still a lot of fun.
Sidenote about my vegetarianism: My students believe it is impossible for me to live here without eating meat, but that's just because they're obsessed with fried chicken and bacon. Yesterday, some of them tried to convince me to eat just the skin of fried chicken because it's not really meat and supposedly the best part. Gross. I could gag at the thought of that! They were dumbfounded when I told them that even when I ate meat, I always took the skin off the chicken because I hated that part. Gross, I don't miss that.
Anyway, it was a fun week and fun to see what the students did for each day. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. The hallways were also decorated for each class theme, which was fun to see too. I'll try to remember to take pictures of that next year ;-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)