Week 2 and Worksheets

This week was interesting, as the teacher went on vacation Thursday and Friday. Ends up the school district decided that it was easier to have a school day this week then either have school the Thursday during teacher meetings, which they were planning to, or add a Monday after the fact. Surprising, quite a bit of students said they would prefer to come back the extra day. Student 5 mentioned since this was such a difference, they had to deal with their employer who expected them to have it off.

Anyways, enough about how cruel it is that I only had two days off this weekend. Back to serious topic, the teacher had me give worksheets to the students for periods 3-6, which was the 9th and 8th graders. The first two periods had homework to work on and they were very much on task and didn't need much help. The sub let me answer most of the questions they had, which helped to break up the monotony of watching them work well. Though the Chem class didn't read instructions very well and started doing all the problems instead of just odd. The physics class went well and student 11 and I determined that the answer key rounded everything in it, thus throwing off the final answer, something I might want to mention to my teacher on Monday. The worksheet went well, overall, though I definitely need to work on how I write directions. Though they completed the assignment faster than I expected as a whole. All except two finished before the bell rang. They stayed pretty quiet while a couple pulled out extra work. The first 8th period class was awesome, they were very quiet, worked well together, however, the second class was much more disruptive. I ended up getting into an argument with a student on what how they are supposed to call me. They and student 45 seem to be the troublemakers of the group. The substitute, who's been around the school district mentioned that 45 was a well known trouble-maker. I guess I have a challenge on my hands.

Well good luck to everyone, and we'll see each other in two weeks.

Not what I was expecting the first two days...

Well, I wasn't very nervous for the first day if actual students, since the staff seemed to like me. The day went well, I didn't mess up when introducing myself to each class and a few seemed impressed about the rugby playing. My cooperating teacher was really helpful, and if I ever have a student teacher, I definitely need to remember a few things that he's done. Though it is interesting how many of the students the teacher already knew. The one thing the first day taught me was I can't sound bored when explaining classes for the sixth time, since the students are very close to being very bored and first impressions are important. Overall, the first day went well...

The second day started well, as I finally got all the names of my first period class down and learned a bit more about them. Second period started off well, as the students had lab safety, and then started working. The end of the period, student 12, started not feeling well. The student was going to be escorted downstairs as they started to shake. It went worse as the student ended up having seizures. Thus I ended up having to call 911 as the next period was diverted to the library. The good news is the fact that the student seems to be alright as of this posting as another student, student number 4, received a text stating number 12 was being discharged. The rest of the day went well, and since the Principal came in to give an update to my cooperating teacher period 4, I got to do roll and give the lab safety talk to the students. My cooperating teacher said it went well, which is good to have validation. One thing I never really thought about teaching chemistry was the whole figure out the costs for chemicals. That and cleaning the storage area up will be interesting as it has become mine to take care off.

Well, I think that starting to teach won't be too bad, hopefully no one else has as unexpected a surprise as I did during their experience. I'm actually starting to look forward to it, as my nerves start to die down. Hopefully they don't decide to pull a nefarious last stand the day before I start on anything.

Last request, can readers let me know how the lay-out looks, is it readable? And good luck to the rest of you teachers to be.

Orange Juice and Teacher Meetings

Well, today wasn't with the students, though the school had quite a bit of meetings today. And during the first meeting I found out that my lid on the bottle with orange juice in it wasn't exactly tighten enough. Which ended up spilling onto the floor through my bag. Fortunately, no one gave me too hard of a time, and nothing was really damaged.

The first thing that surprised me was the fact they had an entrance for boys and an entrance for girls, the age of the place stood out. I also didn't expect the high school to be so small, especially after finding out that the school was 7-12 as well.

The meetings were interesting as I learned quite a bit and some of the history of what happened last year. I wasn't surprised about the number of meetings; though that may have been since RAs have even more meetings for training week. Also met my cooperating teacher and quite a bit of the staff, though I only remember a few of the names. I have my own desk in the classroom which is nice and I like the fact it is in the back of class, that way when students walk in I'll see them and they'll have to see me as well. The classroom has desks similar to what we had for MAT classes, which slightly worries me, especially with Life Science with 8th graders. The staff seems very friendly to me and the guest speaker they had at the end of the day was interesting, and surprising most of what he talked about management was what came up in Ray's class and a few other classes.

Overall, I'm still nervous but feel a bit better, as I don't think I'll make myself a complete fool though I may start leading with a lab earlier than I expected because the chemistry class has to wait for OIT to start the term a bit. And my teacher asked if I had any lab ideas. The one thing that a meeting opened my eyes about was that the school board could change policies very quickly if they want to, as the last meeting they had they made a change that is going to have a major impact on how teachers grade, I believe.

Lastly, I do have one thing to add, a link to a comic that those of the "computer problematic" will find useful. http://xkcd.com/627/ Hope you find it useful.

Place holder until I start student teaching

Those looking for anything here will have to wait until August 25 when the school opens. Which is different then I am used to since the schools I went to started after labor day. Also the school I'm student teaching at only goes four days a week, so I get three day week-ends. And I don't have to drive too far away.

Have a good rest of the summer.