Posted in First-Year, Growth, Struggles on Sep 21st, 2008 No Comments »
I knew that teaching would be an emotional roller coaster, but I had no idea the twists and turns would be this frequent.
Monday: I had a good start to the week.
Tuesday: I approached break point #1.
I finished my last class of the day with a little bit of time to spare. So, I gave my [...]
Posted in Childhood Education, Goals, Statistics, Struggles, The Achievement Gap on Sep 18th, 2008 No Comments »
I’m not here to save anyone. I’m just here to give the best education I can. It’s up to them to take it.
Two weeks ago, I revealed the bad news to my 6th grade kids that they’re averaging at a 3rd grade reading level. But I also revealed the good news to them: our Big [...]
Posted in Advice, Growth, Methods, Struggles, Teaching is Collaborative on Sep 18th, 2008 No Comments »
It’s undeniable that this profession feels highly unsustainable. This past summer, I asked a veteran teacher if he intended to teach for life. He hesitate for a bit… “I don’t know about forever. Teaching really is a burnout profession.” Sometimes I feel the same way, sometimes I don’t. Like an ex-ex-roommate once said “anything worth [...]
Posted in Other Teachers, Parents/Guardians, Random Meanderings, Struggles on Sep 14th, 2008 1 Comment »
Passing period and the phone rings:
Other T: “Hey Mr. G, I’m wondering about a student named AC Whenever you get the chance, could you send me his grades from last year in your geometry class?”
Me: “Yeah sure. Well, off the top of my head, I know A was a great student. He did always got [...]
Posted in Reflections, Struggles on Sep 11th, 2008 1 Comment »
This is my second year of teaching.
I’ve quickly come to realize that the whole “in your second year of teaching, things get so much easier!” deal is actually a myth. It’s a myth.
Well, at least it is for me.
If i had 5 periods of geometry classes, it’d be a different story. I didn’t begin the [...]
Posted in First-Year, Reflections, Struggles, The Achievement Gap on Sep 8th, 2008 No Comments »
Here are some first week quotes that should shed some light on my experience thus far:
“Miss, you ain’t gonna stay.”-student on day 1
“Miss, you should get with a Puerto Rican. You’d have sexy kids.”-female student
“Principal T asked us what we thought of you. Don’t worry, we all said you were good.”-student after school
Students say [...]
Posted in Childhood Education, Classroom Management, Struggles on Sep 4th, 2008 1 Comment »
Everything was going well. I had just gone over all our rules and consequences. Our situational exercises and share outs had gone so smoothly. We lined up. And the most horrific thing that could possibly happen just as students are being dismissed.
A fight.
3 students in the front of the line had a “misunderstanding.”
Student 1: She [...]
Posted in Struggles, The Achievement Gap on Aug 27th, 2008 1 Comment »
Today was ‘textbook day.’ The majority of each class period was spent journeying to the library, standing in line, checking out textbooks, then journeying right back. Laidback for teachers, laidback for students. Throughout the day, however, I couldn’t help but notice a stark contrast in attitude between classes…
Many of my geometry students were excited. A [...]
Posted in Random Meanderings, Struggles on Aug 18th, 2008 No Comments »
These classes have personality; each it’s own personality.
These students have personality; each their own personality.
The year will have it’s ups and downs, it’s struggles and triumphs.
A lot of that is dependent on the students, on me, on our relationships. All ~150 relationships.
An entire 36 weeks spent with unique individuals, some of whom I’ll battle with, [...]
