Almost There

Wow!!! I have almost survived an entire nine weeks of teaching Spanish I. There have been some rough patches, but overall I am really loving my job. I love that I have great support from the administration as well as from fellow teachers. I also love the fact that most parents that I call have a genuine interest in their child's education and are really supportive in my efforts. I am giving my students their Chapter 2 Test tomorrow, and I feel that most of them are ready. Of course, there are many students who are not studying like they are supposed to do, but overall I am please with their performance. They were amazed this week when they could read 2 paragraphs in Spanish. Eight weeks ago they knew nothing, and now they are becoming Spanish speakers. I am so very proud of them.

Yay! I survived midterms even though it is a tedious process in my new school. I was used to last year putting the grades in the computer, and then them printing out the report for the students. At this school, each student brings a sheet, and we have to write in a grade, conduct, comments, etc. Some students, of course, are upset because they are making their first B's or another grade they are not used to making. Overall, I am happy with my students' performance. I have been calling parents of those not doing so well, so I am starting to see a bit of a turn around in behavior and studying/performance in class. Everything is still going really well though.

Ick

I thought teaching high school would make me less susceptible to catching germs. Boy was I wrong. We've only been in school for a month, and I have already caught the flu from some students who had it about a week ago. I feel so bad, and my whole body is achy. I've been a trooper though, and I have still gone to school everyday this week because I had to get them ready for their test over Chapter 1 on tomorrow. Other than me being sick, everything else is going really well.

It's Almost Midterm

We have been in school for nearly a month and a half now. I am giving the test over Chapter 1 this week, and we just learned how to tell time in Spanish. This is confusing some of the students very much (as I knew it would). I had my first real behavior problem this week with a boy who decided he was going to get in my face about me telling him to go to his correct seat. Not a good idea on his part. Most of my students wouldn't dare test me and my discipline plan, but he decided to do just that on last Thursday. I quickly dealt with the problem and wrote an office referral. My new school doesn't deal with students disrespecting teachers, so he has been suspended for 5 days. Overall, it is still a good and productive year. I can't wait to see what the future holds for me in my new classroom and with my new students. I'm so excited to see them develop their Spanish-speaking skills.

Two Weeks Down, 16 more to go

Ok, so I've just completed my second full week of teaching. I had a couple of write-ups this week, but they weren't any major major discipline problems. We just have to write office referrals for cell phones and if students fail to report to detention we have assigned them. It has been kind of hot in my classroom lately, but that is because it has been 100 degrees or over every day this past week. Other than that everything is still going pretty well. I'm starting to see who my good students are and also probably the ones who won't make it to Spanish 2 next semester. Overall, I am having a good time, and I think that the students are learning a lot. I'm such a performer in my classroom; the students are always laughing at something I say or do. Then again, there are the students who don't like me because they don't like language and also those who don't like the fact that I am a firm disciplinarian in my classroom. They will eventually get over it though; they are just mad now because they aren't allowed to do whatever they want in my room.

Second Day

Today was only the second day of school, but I find myself extremely tired already. Part of it might have to do with the fact that I am on the road headed for school at 6 in the morning. I have first period planning, so I can stand to be a little tired at the beginning of the school day. However, it is also tiresome to teach 3 classes back to back. I'm having a good time though, and I'm really enjoying being able to actually teach Spanish this year.

Yay! My First Day

I'm am absolutely thrilled at how my first day went. It is miles away from my first day of teaching middle school where I got cursed out and had an agend book thrown at me. I had absolutely no discipline problems today, and everyone seemed interested. I am teaching about 90 students (30 in each class) this semester, and I have first period planning. All of the students seem like really great kids, and I am so happy to have each one of them in my class. I hope that next week goes really well also. I am really looking forward to this school year and the possibilities that each new day could bring.

Aaaahhh

Oh my gosh!!! I can't believe I actually get to meet some of my students tomorrow at Open House. I have been working all week getting my classroom ready, and I finally got it done today. I'm stressing a little because I need a good solid lesson plan for Friday. I really like everyone at my school so far, and I think it will be a productive and successful school year. I'm teaching all Spanish I classes this semester. I'm just so happy to be an Eastside Eagle.

Home in Georgia

I'm home in Georgia now. I got back here at about 5:30 Saturady afternoon. However, I was in the airport for a little over 2 hours. They lost my luggage AGAIN! This time no one on the flight got their luggage, so we all had to stand in line to file a claim. I'm doing well, and I get to start work tomorrow. The first day of school is actually Friday, so I have a lot to do before the students get there being that I would have started work last Thursday had I been in Georgia. I miss all the students in the MATSL program, but I know that there must be something else out there for me.

(Sigh)

The tiredness is really starting to set in. I am so exhausted from today. I finally finished my essay that has to be turned in tomorrow, but I'm not sure if I have good information to support my ideas. I feel like I'm being pulled in million directions especially since we have to work on group projects in both the culture class and the AR class. I really didn't have a lot to say in this post, but I thought I would write because I must wait a little while for my clothes to finish drying. I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed because we will put in a lot of work here, but i won't get a break when I leave here. I start work the very next day. I'm also feeling a little discouraged about some things that have transpired over the last week. I don't care to elaborate more, but what happened made me feel very isolated and like I don't have a place here.

Using Blogs, Wikis, Websites

I have finally decided where I am teaching next year, and that is at a high school. I think that it could be beneficial for me to use blogs in my classroom if we are having a discussion, but we don't have time to finish it in class. I could assign students to blog on the subject that night. It might also be useful for those students who do not feel comfortable speaking up in class. I have learned about many websites from my peers here, and I think that I might be able to use some of them when I am doing lesson planning as well as some of them in the classroom. I think that the more interactive websites will allow my kids some hands on activities while other websites will give me resources that I might be able to print for handouts to students. I'm not quite sure how I might be able to use the wiki, but I will continue thinking about it.

Internet Detective

When I was looking at Internet Detective, I already knew a lot of the information on there. I knew that hoax website existed, but I was not aware that some website are out there that actually try to give people the wrong information to go against a certain cite. I think the Internet Detective gave me some good sites where I could check to see if information was a hoax as well as a place where I could check my citation of sources. These tools will be useful for me when I start conducting my research.

First MATSL post

This is my first time posting to the MATSL blog. I guess it officially begins now.