Rookie Reflections

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DISCLAIMER:
Commentary of the blog writer does not reflect the opinions of her employers (allegedly).

This is RIDICULOUS. In several people's IEPs it says to designate a "cooling off place" for them to calm down before they go apeshit. It seems merciful on a faculty member's part to let them cool off instead of writing them up for suspension when they get violent. I don't see it as a violation of rights. What about the rights of students and faculty around that violent child?

Also, when a kid gets disciplined enough to be suspended one time, that kid usually DESERVED to be suspended at least five other times before that. Contrary to popular belief, teachers don't like to see students miss school. To me, it sounds like someone's parent wanted to get some easy money at the expense of the school system. If the parent wins, that means our hands will be tied in discipline even more than they already are.

Yesterday in class, we played a quick game of verb charades to show them the difference between physical and mental action verbs. One of my students asked, "Do you just sit around at night and think of things like this?" Since I was too busy laughing, another student fired back, "No, they learn all their tricks on the Internet."

HAH!

I was thinking about work, and I figured out one of the biggest changes in me as a teacher. I am finally figuring out how to discipline effectively and how to give tough love. When I started teaching, I took everything personally. When a student was mad/upset at a decision I had made (such as not allowing them to turn in late work or go to the bathroom for the fitieth time) it hurt my feelings, and I would second guess myself every time. I'm sure it showed, and it probably contributed to my lack of disciplinary skills. Now, I am confident about my discipline policies and realize it's important for them to learn things like deadlines and resource management, even if it means them getting angry or aggrivated for a minute. I would still say my weaknesses are mainly in the disciplinary area, but at least I feel like I'm getting better at it.

Next goal: not thinking about work on the weekends

Today was a great day at work! We finally got to start reading the scandalous Puritan soap opera The Crucible. I was nervous that they may not be interested, but I worked really hard on my intro and background information; the discussion beforehand went GREAT. They listened, questioned, and even acted it out with emotion when we read. I am looking forward to tomorrow!

My 9th grade students just finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Of course, they loved it! I love watching them start from the beginning, (“UGH Mrs. DUNCAN! This book is so LONG and BOOORRRINNNGG!”) begin to come around in the middle, (“Ok, this isn’t so bad, and Scout’s kind of funny”) and give final, intelligent statements of approval at the end.



Every time I read this book, I take something different away from it. Of course there are the mainstays (i.e. Atticus is a stud). However, it seems that the book is so full of social/economic/psychological commentary that there is always something new to focus on and learn.

After this read, I am thinking about the character of Bob Ewell. Often, I take for granted that everyone is naturally happy, has good intentions, and wants a peaceful existence. That is just not reality.

To say Bob Ewell is the villain in TKAM would be too simplistic. I love the way that Harper Lee gives the reader background on the Ewells before she shows him giving his testimony at the trial and before the reader sees most of his actions. Lee discusses his low economic status and what that means to his family: living by the town dump, too poor to buy shoes or get medicine for his many children, etc. She also makes his alcoholism known early on.



By examining his poor lifestyle and ill-founded pride, Bob Ewell’s actions change from villainous to, honestly, sad. I like to think that he knows what he is doing is wrong, but he has something to prove to himself. Why does Bob attack Jem and Scout instead of Atticus? The answer must be because he was afraid of/intimidated by Atticus. Even still, he attacks the children at night, afraid to get his “revenge” in the daylight. Does Bob Ewell deserve to be pitied? I am still thinking on it.

What about you? Who is your favorite character in To Kill a Mockingbird? Do you have a book that you love to read over and over?

I just got finished grading the 9th grade autobiographies. Here are my favorite one-liners:

"I would like to grow up and drive a Ford Fusion."

"I was named Brittney. My dad wanted to name me Shenigua, but my mom saved me."

Verb Confusion: "Later on, my mom became my brother, and after 8 years we moved."

"What really makes me happy is getting what I want... a boyfriend who is SEXYFINE!" (sexyfine = all one word and my new favorite)

"When I marry my husband, he must be kind and sort of a Christian."

I died my hair reddish again to cover the gray hair takeover. This is why I'm going gray prematurely:

My tenth graders recently studied Puritanism and Arthur Miller's The Crucible. When they finished, we discussed paragraph formatting and organization, and they had to respond in correct format to prompts about the movie.

On a side but related note, we are having to be especially frugal with our resources this year. We have little to no funding left for copy machines, and the man is expected to pull the plug on them by the end of this month. Because of that, when I have been making copies of assignment sheets, I won't let the students write on them. I am hoping to keep as many class sets as I can for next semester when we don't have copy machines at all.

Back to The Crucible and formatting. When I handed out the assignment sheet, I tried to make the conversation light about them not writing on the paper.

Me: Please do not write on this paper. (Insert speech about copy machines and saving resources.) Do not write on this paper. Again, do not write on this paper. Amber, do you write on this paper?
Amber: No ma'am.
Me: Donnell, will you write on this paper?
Donnell: Absolutely not.

We all grinned and they got to work.

When I get the papers back, what do you know? Most of them had written on the paper. However, one student took it to a whole new ironic level:



SHE WROTE ON THE SHEET TO WRITE "DO NOT WRITE ON THIS SHEET"

:)

Bad News:

Over all my classes, I have two Savannas, three Ambers, two Morgans, three Hunters, two Hannahs, two Brittanys, two Bradleys, two Shelbys, four Brandons, and two Allisons.

Good News:

On their first assignment (an "I Am" Poem), they impressed me. On one line, they had to say what they worried about. I was sure most of them (especially the baby freshmen) would be worried about the new school and classes and finding their ways. Au contraire. They worried about the economy and troops at war and the national deficit. Sign of the times?

When they started writing their autobiographies, one student asked me if he could write his in third person "as if Samuel L. Jackson were narrating it." It's going to be a good semester.

I must say that this past week has been one of the best weeks of my summer. Blaine's brother asked if we wanted to come stay with them at the beach. Ok, being honest, we sort of hinted around until they said "ok, come."

We had the best time! We played in the ocean, swam in the pools, got tanned but not burned, ate a bunch of yummy food, rode in a helicopter, saw a movie, laughed, and spent some time relaxing and being goofy.








It was great. After that, I feel ready to start turning my mind to teaching and preparing for the upcoming semester. We got a letter in the mail telling us our schedules for next year, and this is mine:

1st Semester:
1st Block - Prep
2nd Block - Adv English 9
3rd Block - Adv English 9
4th Block - English 10

2nd Semester:
1st Block - English 10
2nd Block - Prep
3rd Block - Adv English 10
4th Block - Adv English 10

I am completely stoked! I requested to have some 10th grade classes, and I got them! Although I'm not crazy about the literature in 10th grade, that is my favorite age of students. They have been in high school for a year, so they know what is expected of them, but they are not old enough yet to have the "too cool for you" attitude. Also, that is the year most of them get their driver's licenses, and you can really see them begin to mature.

I am going to really try to find a way to present the literature of 10th grade (American Lit to 1900) in an interesting way. Can it be done? What are your favorite American works/authors before 1900?

I would also like to work up a way to have a class blog or wiki this year. I may do it as a place for class announcements and/or ongoing response medium or else just use it when we write longer pieces. They could use it to peer edit or see other students' work. Any suggestions?

Things I am NOT doing this year that I did last year:
-accepting late work
-putting up with attitudes
-skipping workouts/not being healthy
-bringing work/grading home
-getting in a funk towards the end of the semester

Hello, bloggers! This week is my favorite week ever so far. Sunday night, Blaine and I went to Nashville for the night. It was so nice to get away, even for just one day. After a Memorial Day filled with driving, rain, and TrueBlood, we came back to work today. I gave my students their semester exams last week, so this week I am basically a highly-paid babysitter. I am really going to miss my classes from this semester. I have a feeling next Fall might not be so pretty...

Thursday is our last working day, and then we leave for the beach on Saturday! We are staying the whole week; I'm officially taking bets on how many days it takes me to get a major sunburn. Any takers?



For boredom:

RULES - Think of five categories, and list five answers for each. Then, tag five people to fill it out after you.


ONE - Five jobs I would like if I weren't a teacher:
1. interior decorator
2. event planner
3. congresswoman
4. cute stuff store owner
5. personal shopper

TWO - Five long-term goals
1. learn how to plant flowers and not kill them within the month
2. speak fluent Spanish
3. save enough money for me to relax
4. send Blaine back to school
5. start my own business

THREE - Five things that make my blood pressure rise
1. when people talk down to me
2. smart-mouthed students
3. televised golf
4. when I clean up Piper's litter box and she immediately goes and does the riverdance in it
5. PDA

FOUR - Five of my happy places
1. Mom and Dad's house
2. the river walk
3. Egan's
4. Barnes and Noble
5. the beach

FIVE - (living) famous people I wish I knew
1. the Boss
2. Paul Rudd
3. Toni Morrison
4. Maxine Waters
5. David Byrne



I tag:

1. Hayley
2. Jessica
3. Lindsey
4. Kristen
5. anyone who wants to do it!

My last regular day of school is tomorrow! Here are my sweet babies from this semester:





I didn't take a picture of the seniors, because they're hateful. It's going to be a good summer!

TODAY'S HAPPENINGS:
-stoneage computer at school officially crashed
-said computer crash forced me to get some organizational work done
-first day without the seniors... sadder than I expected
-awkward departmental meeting
-caught up on grading - woo!
-finished lesson plans through the rest of the semester - woo!



UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
- Wednesday - Happy Birthday JD! dinner in b'ham
- Thursday - GRADUATION DAY! my first experience seeing students that I've taught get their diplomas
- Friday - mental health day
- this weekend - going home to see my parents (secret cannot wait!)
- May 25 - Memorial Day Holiday
- May 26-27 - student exam days
- May 28 - last working day! first full year in the books!
- May 30 - BEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAACCCCCCCHHHHHHHH



WORRIES:
-slacked on my diet...again
-didn't go to the gym...again
-husband pinched backfat... again. (see first two items for explanation)
-sort of messed up my grade posting for seniors
-wondering if we definitely have a job next year (we'll find out soon enough!)
-money (of course)

HAPPIES:
-no unexpected failures in my class
-next to last Monday morning at school today
-finishing out the year teaching exclusively my favorite short stories
-sold my first paintings recently!
-two other paintings lined up
-love my family, job, friends, husband, cat

Happy Tuesday! I am strangely happy to be back at work after the break. I didn't think I would miss the kids while I was gone (and, honestly, I didn't), but it has been really nice seeing them again and getting caught up in all their lives.

The next couple of weeks are going to be heavily grammar-filled, because we still haven't covered some of the standards for the ninth graders. The students hate grammar, but I love teaching it. Grammar topics are cut and dry for the most part, and I feel like I do a good job teaching them. I guess we'll see how this goes.

I had a free wellness checkup at work yesterday that was provided by our insurance. They checked all my blood levels (glucose and cholesterol), checked my blood pressure and pulse, and then made me stick my foot in this thing that looked like a foot massager but did not massage. The results were pretty good, except that I have high cholesterol (supposed to be under 200 and mine is 228) and low bone density. I am supposed to stop eating anything relatively good and start exercising every free minute I have.

In other news, Julie @ wearingmascara.com is having an incredible giveaway in honor of her 300th blog post and her new switch to Wordpress.

Here is the loot:



- Photo Op Under Eye Brightener

- Photo Finish Foundation Primer Light

- Quench Moisture Rich Lip Gloss

- O-Glow

- Illuminating Serum

- Fusion Soft Lights in Baked Starburst

- Eyeshadow Quad in Bright Eyed

CLICK HERE to find out how to enter, but I hope I win :)

I have a senior student who is on the Occupational Diploma track. His case manager and I work well together, because his case manager was my co-teacher last semester. So, we have been in touch off and on about this student. I will call him Seth for the sake of the blog.

I really can't say enough good things about Seth. He is a sweetheart of a kid: polite, respectful, and always smiling. He also works well with other students. When he does his work, he does a great job despite his low reading level. However, sometimes he's just not into it. He sleep and daydreams on a regular basis. I guess I can understand his lack of motivation. He works two jobs during the week and is graduating in 2 months; his first priority is probably not characterizing Lady Macbeth.

But, as you may have guessed, his grades are suffering. His grade is WAY below what he is capable of making, and he is on the pass/fail borderline. His case manager contacted me today through email to see what the problem was. I told him of Seth's lazy streak, which he already knew. He told me he might just need some encouragement. Mr. Case Manager printed out Seth's progress reports and given them to him.

All that is to say that when Seth walked in today, he said, "Mrs. Duncan, I'm going to stay awake the rest of the semester! I saw my progress report today, and I know I can do better than that." I was so proud of him, and said, "Well, Seth, you do a great job when you're awake!" He flipped around and looked at me with a serious look on his face. Then, he said, "Well, why didn't you tell me that?"

... I have no excuse. He is completely right. I haven't told him before that he does a good job when he focuses. Teachers are supposed to motivate students to do their best, and somehow I had just disregarded him altogether. I guess it was just easier for me to accept the fact that he slept in class. All he needed were some kind words. I need to pick it up!

This past weekend, B had a rock show in Auburn so my seester and mother came down Friday night to stay with me. It was so much fun! Friday night, we ate chicken salad (made by Mom) and Nutter Butter Banana Pudding (recipe here). I was so proud of myself for making the dessert. I even made the pudding myself instead of cheating and using jello pudding. Please, allow me to gloat. After we ate, we went to the mall for a little window shopping and then to the movies. We saw He's Just Not That Into You. It was very cute (and true!) but unexpectedly depressing. I still love precious little Ginnifer Goodwin with all my heart.



Saturday morning, we walked two miles (woo hoo!) and then went to look at huge houses "north of the river." It is like a completely different world over there. Even the small houses were enormous, and we saw a Range Rover with a Northridge parking permit. Can you imagine driving your RANGE ROVER to HIGH SCHOOL?!

This week is the major administration of the Graduation Exam. For those of you who don't work here, that means that this is a complete waste of a week where all we do is keep study halls and watch movies (This morning, we have already watched the first X Men and half of the second one). I have gotten a lot of paperwork done (grading, lesson plans, etc.), but I have a feeling I'm going to get bored of this very quickly.

BEST NEWS EVER - Spring is here! You all have no idea how happy I am; Spring means warm weather and an instant lift of my spirits. I have already painted my toes a springy pink.

or, for those of you who are bored and want to loaf around on the internets: (click the links)


For work:

1. Teen Dating Bill of Rights

2. "This I Believe" story sharing project from NPR (with accompanying lesson plans - LOVE that)

For fun:

3. Best Week EVER (I'm a sucker for the sarcasm)

4. This website explains so much. For example:



5. Bad Gift Emporium (YOU CAN ACTUALLY BUY THIS STUFF, PEOPLE!)

6. Do you know anyone who is passive aggressive?


For creativity:

7. I enjoy looking at the patterns

8. I am totally making this!



For thought:

9. Interesting

10. for the history lover

11. Daily News Quiz

-Yesterday, I had my very first cavity filled. It wasn’t that bad, except afterward my face felt like it was melting off (funny) and when I talked I sounded like I had a speech impediment (not funny).

-Yesterday was also Piper Mortimer Duncan’s first birthday. Since I am a bad catmother, I completely forgot until I was in bed about to go to sleep. We decided to let her stay in there with us for the night (it was her birthday, after all) until she started attacking our hands and feet. Before you start feeling sorry for her, I do not think she realized it was a special day; she doesn’t speak English, after all.

-A couple of girls from work asked me to start walking with them sometimes. I am so excited! It made me feel good and included in the work crowd.

-A friend gave me some back issues of Time magazine, and I have been slowly catching up. According to Time’s article “CT Scans: Just How Safe Are They?”, new medical research says that CT scans can expose you to large amounts of radiation (45 millisieverts – the typical chest x-ray delivers .02 millisieverts) and can actually make malignancies worse. Another article (“Gardasil: Vaccine Battle?”) says Gardasil may cause side effects, including seizures, fainting, and even death. HOWEVER (on both the CT scan and the Gardasil front), McSister (my sister doctor) checked medical journals and we are in fact going to live even if we’ve had a CT scan and the Gardasil shot. You can rest easily.

-Tomorrow = last working day of the month = pay day! WOO HOO!

I am frustrated with the (lack of) grammatical knowledge my ninth-graders have. I reviewed parts of speech during the first six weeks, because I wanted them to have a good review before we start harder concepts like subject-verb agreement, sentence structure, style, etc. I realize that for all those who are not grammar nerds, it can be a little boring. So, I came up with (what I thought were) effective, entertaining ways to learn parts of speech. For example, after we learned pronouns, I played "Can't Buy Me Love" and had them pick out the pronouns. Also, after we did adjectives, we played a game to see which group could come up with the most adjective for everyday objects. They were very involved and seemed to understand it at the time.

Fast forward to today when I'm grading their six weeks exams. THEY DON'T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMMON AND PROPER NOUNS. You can just forget about pronouns and adjectives. They can tell you every single word to every single Gucci Mane song, but they have no idea which of the words in the song are nouns.

I re-taught what should've been a review, reviewed the review, and then tested. These are primary concepts, and yet they still don't know them. What gives?

Since today is the last school day before Valentine's Day, I had the kids make Valetine's cards with haiku poems in them. They were able to choose the recipient and create a haiku with any tone they liked (funny, serious, loving, etc.)

They REALLY liked it; they generally like anything that allows them to use crayons. (Side note: So do I. I guess you never really grow out of that.) Anyway, I was impressed at what they came up with. Some of them did an outstanding job, and (nearly) all of them knew what a haiku was by the time they left. Right before the bell, I reminded them to give their cards to their Valentines. One little boy came up to me and had made me a card (sweet!). This was the haiku inside:

"Happy Valentines
Come to the movies with me
Don't tell your husband"


HAHA!

Today during my planning block, I was working on some lesson plans when I heard a knock at the door. I opened the door, and there stood three girls I taught last semester. They all gave giggly hellos and told me that they missed my class. I was happy and welcomed their energy. I am surprised that they came by, epecially since last semester they were all demonic contributers to a hellish class. I got to talk with them for a couple of minutes about what was going on in their lives and how their semesters were going, and I found that I really missed them, too. What a nice surprise!

In my British Lit class, we started Canterbury Tales today - one of my favorites! That Wife of Bath is saucy. Here is a link to a very nerdy rap version of The Pardoner's Tale:

bustin' a rhyme