First Semester of Teaching

Teaching is definitely not what I thought it would be. It's not that it's harder, it's just crazier. Something crazy happens every day without fail. Kids are so crazy. They make up some weird stories to try to get out of class, to get out of doing work, to get out of a test, .... I wasn't expecting to have to spend so much class time not teaching but passing back work, giving worksheets to students that were absent, filling out another form that the office needs immediately, telling twenty kids each period that they can't go to the bathroom, telling another twenty kids each period that they can't go to their locker, reminding kids that they have a warm-up just like every other day, that the date is on the board just like it is every other day, that the homework is on the board just like it is every day, ... It's just crazy. The teaching is easy; the hard part is keeping all the other stuff "skraight" as my kids would say.

I'm glad we're getting close to Christmas break-- I can tell that my kids are slacking, I'm slacking with management, my principal hasn't done anything with a single one of the referrals that I've turned in since 10/19..... We all need a break to get everything together and ready for next semester.

Over all, though, I would call the semester a success. I had three kids who don't take me come by this week and say that they wished I had been their geometry teacher since my kids say they're actually learning. Made me feel pretty great.