Friday-leullia!!

This might have been one of the longest weeks ever! Thank god I documented half of it, and the last two days were half days! That only means I still had energy for other activities afterward. I spent time tearing apart my lab looking through all the junk that I inherited with the classroom, a lot of resource sheets that help guide me through the semester, books all over the place, papers, equipment, toys, and BOXES FULL OF EMPTY SHOE BOXES!! What is the point of that! I kept finding new things to do differently for my class, and it just puts me further back on trying to get an organized classroom, but I will overcome. Anyways, I'm staying in tonight. Working on some online geometry, grading, and sleep.

I need to get it together somehow

Family Day

I had come back as I normally do. A place where I may experience triumph or a feeling of defeat. Today was more triumphant than the latter. The equipment I received the night before was the major component to everything I needed for my toughest class. It was a success even with the parents.
The next class with my team teacher was wonderful as well. We took turns, answered questions, and got the students to do work on their own. Productivity all around. The rest of the classes were normal, so I have now a feeling of fatigue. I get to relax now thankfully. There were a couple students sending notes to eachother during class, I assume they wanted me to find out about it or else they would have taken it with them at the end of class. New seat arrangement for tomorrow. I think that was the only bummer for today. I will redeem myself in some other way. The rest of the week is short classes and I think I have an idea planned out for what is gonig on in which class. Lesson Planning helps, as long as you dont have to write a book to produce a 50 minute lesson. The good news is that I am starting to see the end of the week now, the bad news is all the work I will have to do when the weekend hits.

It's still Tuesday!

So today was kinda rough. It was a little hectic with the overwhelming events happening this week. So many times I caught myslef realizing, it's only Tuesday! Groundhog Day, Primary Election Day.

There was an incident I felt I couldn't control. Some girls were being downright mean. Phone calls were made, hardly any of them got to an actual person, and the victim has a lineup of defense to spread a football field, and I had to calm all of them down. Tomorrow will be a new day, and I will be able to act better IF the same situation were to arise.
I actually do not feel as bad as I did several hours ago. I finally got out of that building with a positive note about my equipment getting delivered that I need for tomorrow, and I got all the copies setup and prepared ready to kickstart the day. I've done some but not all of my grading, and I think I will get a good night's rest hopefully soon. This counting blessings moment helps.
I saw other teachers teach today. They are amazing. It's not that I want their style, I just want to do better with my students than I already am doing. Even the students that are trouble can be good students. I wish to see that side soon from them. The only feeling I share with those who are offering to help change my style of teaching is fragile stubbornness, I do have my own track of doing things, but it takes a lot of time, and then some more time, and then a lot of effort, to get on a new track. In a physics sense, my momentum is huge once I get started, but then to change takes even greater amount of force to change the momentum. I hope that makes sense.
As far as anything else goes, my only fear is to poison the young minds with useless information or at most, misguided information.

What is neat though from the other day with my team teacher, I sat back and watched her teach. I realized, I teach like a physicist! Utilization of brute tactics to have physics drive the math when solving any type of problem. I dont skip steps, but I do just lay it out and carry on.

I have not done this in a while.

Wow, So many times I would think about posting a blog, but never do it. Do I have time? Sometimes. Should I be grading or planning lessons? Of course! It's like working out, you just do it, and then after a while it comes naturally, just like the other things you need to pick up with doing in your life. Then they will come naturally. Even in the classroom with having specific routines you want to happen. It may be slow at first, but then before you know it, everything falls into place, and other mundane tasks are done without even thinking twice about it.

I am half-way through the third quarter of my first full school year of teaching. I started this over a year ago and am surviving. A lot of support is out there both concrete and abstract. If there is someone I need to talk to, there is someone there. A random check-in from my colleagues goes as far as it needs to for me until I am hit with the next challenge, I find a way to deal with it.
To update what I have been teaching, I have a section of Seniors for Honors Physics, and the rest of my classes are mostly Froshmen in Physical Science and Algebra. A lot of them I teach twice in the same day. I feel sorry for those who only have me once. The school hired my older sis to be the foods instructor. She is doing very well with that, and some of those students I have go to her class as well. For some of them, half of their schedule is dominated by my family. It is as if there was home-schooling going on.
My classes are kind of slow on where I need to be. I am getting back on track with some new help, and a rigorous pace. Life outside of school is fine, it's only something I want to do for the rest of my life that I only want to get better at.
I recently attended a conference on Conflict resolution. It was very worthwhile, and have yet to find out if has become effective. As laid back as I sound when I teach, now I try to be peaceful and calm if ever there is a situation. It's the tone that you send the message that allows you objective to be reached, and being a bit linguistically persuasive is a plus.
I like my students, even if they get themselves in a little bit of trouble now and then, it's in their nature. It has not been as bad as last year. Once I see something I don't like, it is certain that I will not have it happen the year after that.

Since I am a scientist, instead of a Philosophy, I have developed postulates for teaching, ironically these postulates are subject to change with is one of the aspects of the nature of science.
A teacher must succumb to the fact that learning never stops.

A teacher must see through multiple perspectives.

A teacher must resolve conflicts in a swift, just manner.

A teacher must maintain classroom order for optimal learning to take place.

There is more to add and more to change as my experience gets greater, but we will leave it for now. I need to do some grading.

PCK pre-post

So its been a few weeks into my first official graduate course. I have been a grad student sort of speak since I graduated from Monmouth, but this time the class I am taking can possibly lead into a Masters program, and I would already be half-way done with it. In the near future, I am going to post my weekly reports I sent in each week during this class, just to give out what I have (re or de)learned, questions and observations, etc.

It's OVER!!

The finals have been graded, the 2nd semester grades have been entered, my checklist of year-end procedures have been turned in.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I have finished my first semester as a gainfully employed science teacher, and I cannot wait for the next year to begin.  As I have mentioned, I do have a heavy summer load of classes that have crept up on me.  I am waiting on getting accepted to a chemistry inservice that wont cost me anything and will award me another 3 graduate classes.  (recap:  16 total already, 9 this summer for PCK, and 3 for the inservice = 25 grad credits.)  This is both good and bad.  At some schools, i do qualify for a 2nd pay lane of schools, without having this summer load.  If I spend another summer after this year taking up to 5 more grad credits, then I am a volcano of a pay raise ready to erupt once I get a master's degree.  I would jump to lane 1 to lane 4 at my school.  These classes I take right now usually accept me if I have permission from my principal to take it.  They must know what could happen if I get over a 15 or 30 grad credit mark, or even admission into a program that grants a master's degree, which is why I am afraid they will say no and I will not be able to get into one which would lead toward more pay.  Okay, I do get a lot out of these programs other than a chance of a raise, but I do appreciate the benefits of advancing my profession.

I have just gotten a catholic school self-appraisal evaluation.

THEY LIKE ME! THEY REALLY, REALLY LIKE ME!!!

I have decided to stay another year at Maria High School.  By the end of spring break I was convinced that I did not want to come back to the school.  There was one day that I was in my horrible, horrible mess of a lab and I realized, what are they going to do with this?  I must do something.  I must stay another year to get this all sorted out and taken care of.  I no longer need any of the lab equipment since everyone is taking finals next week and all they have to do is review.  My goal is to have a system of transforming the physics lab into a laboratory classroom.  Right now I teach in one room, move them in the lab to do the experiments.  Next year I want this to happen in the same room.  I wont be teaching chemistry, but whoever does can take the lecture room I am currently using as well as the chem lab, which I might borrow during the first half of the school year for my physical scientists.  This summer is filled with both a graduate course (which I am getting paid to take!) and an undergraduate course in mathematics. This class should complete the requirements needed to obtain my math endorsement even though I will already be teaching math here next year here instead of chemistry.  I hope to get the labs cleaned up for whoever is going to be working with me next year.