Success, Confrontation and The Bulge
It's weird to think this was only week three of student teaching, I feel like I've been here for much longer. I have officially memorized all my students names, have a regular seat in the faculty lounge at lunch and am BFF with the librarians who are geniuses on the copy machine.
The Good Stuff:
I feel like I'm finding my sea legs of sorts. I am no longer concerned about the kids liking me and can get the class to settle down in a matter of 3 seconds while still being able to have fun with them throughout the rest of the period. My mentor teacher is nowhere to be found. She says hi in the morning, checks in at lunch and we usually have a nice chat together after school. She is super supportive and always willing to help, but feels strongly that I need to be on my own to get the full experience. Luckily I feel confident on my own, so this arrangement is fine with me. I'm getting better at getting all of my to-do list done during my prep period and my pacing through the lessons are getting better as I realize how long things are going to take (or quickly adapt to the time I have left). My lessons with my juniors are turning out awesome! We're reading the Scarlet Letter and have had a couple of great discussions on shame/guilt, etc. Today I made dye cuts of red letters for each of the students. They will each get their letter on Monday and wear it throughout the rest of the day/week. The letters represent a vice they would like to improve on; for example "G" for gossiping or "L" for lying. I'm excited to see the reaction they get from their peers as well as the kind of discussion we will have after. I'm also hoping to get them thinking about having morals, because I can tell a bunch of them have never been taught them at home! When I can pull of these kinds of activities with the kids I feel so good, like they're learning and I may actually be making a difference!
The Bad Stuff:
I got TICKED on Thursday. One of my smarty-pants Seniors decided to watch a youtube video during our time in the computer lab rather than working on his research paper. When I asked him to turn it off, he ignored me. When I walked over to his computer and sternly said he had lost computer privileges and needed to sign off right that second he looked up at me and said, "When I'm done, in a minute." Little turd! I turned it off for him and as I tried to get him to understand that the consequences of this would be no computer time next week, he got up (as I'm in mid sentence), walks away from me saying, "Whatever" several times. ARGH! Honestly, I did not know what to do. It was awful. My mentor teacher says it is best if you never let the students see you get emotionally involved in an issue. I'm sure that comes with practice, but such blatant disrespect gets my goat like nothing else! My plan to handle this is to pull him aside privately on Monday and very calmly remind him why he will not be joining us in the computer lab and asking him point blank what the problem seems to be (he's been disruptive in class several times now). I'm hoping an adult conversation will fix the problem....keep your fingers crossed.
The Bulge
I feel SO big! Every time I bend over I make a little huffing sound. My back aches during the day, but when I lay down it actually gets worse rather than better. I've started using a hot rice bag on my back and sleeping with a pillow in between my legs and both seem to be helping. Little peanut says hello a couple times a day now and I grin every time I feel her. I love when she moves while I'm teaching, because it's almost as if I'm keeping this amazing secret that no one else is in on! Burke is jealous and can't wait until he can feel her on the outside. I am worn out every day, but I go to bed happy as can be.
The hubby just "graduated" from training at his new job, so now he doesn't have to worry about being laid off for not making the cuts. Hooray! To be honest, sales are tedious and it's definitely not his dream job, but we are SO grateful for work. It feels so amazing after 6 months to have an income flowing in and to know we will be able to pay our bills. I know many people right now who are suffering dramatically economically and I want to acknowledge that I know we were taken care of due to the numerous blessings given by a loving Heavenly Father. I know we had a lot of prayers on our behalf and want to thank all of you who continued to pray for us as the weeks of unemployment turned into months. We are so grateful for all the love and support and the blessings that sustained us. To any in a similar situation I know it is so hard to be patient, but don't ever doubt that the Lord knows who you are and what your needs are. Don't forget him and he won't forget you.
All right, this is a mammoth post, but I wanted to document our latest happenings. Off to dinner at the Ridings with the parentals who are down for the weekend. Yeah! I love when visitors come to US!
The Good Stuff:
I feel like I'm finding my sea legs of sorts. I am no longer concerned about the kids liking me and can get the class to settle down in a matter of 3 seconds while still being able to have fun with them throughout the rest of the period. My mentor teacher is nowhere to be found. She says hi in the morning, checks in at lunch and we usually have a nice chat together after school. She is super supportive and always willing to help, but feels strongly that I need to be on my own to get the full experience. Luckily I feel confident on my own, so this arrangement is fine with me. I'm getting better at getting all of my to-do list done during my prep period and my pacing through the lessons are getting better as I realize how long things are going to take (or quickly adapt to the time I have left). My lessons with my juniors are turning out awesome! We're reading the Scarlet Letter and have had a couple of great discussions on shame/guilt, etc. Today I made dye cuts of red letters for each of the students. They will each get their letter on Monday and wear it throughout the rest of the day/week. The letters represent a vice they would like to improve on; for example "G" for gossiping or "L" for lying. I'm excited to see the reaction they get from their peers as well as the kind of discussion we will have after. I'm also hoping to get them thinking about having morals, because I can tell a bunch of them have never been taught them at home! When I can pull of these kinds of activities with the kids I feel so good, like they're learning and I may actually be making a difference!
The Bad Stuff:
I got TICKED on Thursday. One of my smarty-pants Seniors decided to watch a youtube video during our time in the computer lab rather than working on his research paper. When I asked him to turn it off, he ignored me. When I walked over to his computer and sternly said he had lost computer privileges and needed to sign off right that second he looked up at me and said, "When I'm done, in a minute." Little turd! I turned it off for him and as I tried to get him to understand that the consequences of this would be no computer time next week, he got up (as I'm in mid sentence), walks away from me saying, "Whatever" several times. ARGH! Honestly, I did not know what to do. It was awful. My mentor teacher says it is best if you never let the students see you get emotionally involved in an issue. I'm sure that comes with practice, but such blatant disrespect gets my goat like nothing else! My plan to handle this is to pull him aside privately on Monday and very calmly remind him why he will not be joining us in the computer lab and asking him point blank what the problem seems to be (he's been disruptive in class several times now). I'm hoping an adult conversation will fix the problem....keep your fingers crossed.
The Bulge
I feel SO big! Every time I bend over I make a little huffing sound. My back aches during the day, but when I lay down it actually gets worse rather than better. I've started using a hot rice bag on my back and sleeping with a pillow in between my legs and both seem to be helping. Little peanut says hello a couple times a day now and I grin every time I feel her. I love when she moves while I'm teaching, because it's almost as if I'm keeping this amazing secret that no one else is in on! Burke is jealous and can't wait until he can feel her on the outside. I am worn out every day, but I go to bed happy as can be.
The hubby just "graduated" from training at his new job, so now he doesn't have to worry about being laid off for not making the cuts. Hooray! To be honest, sales are tedious and it's definitely not his dream job, but we are SO grateful for work. It feels so amazing after 6 months to have an income flowing in and to know we will be able to pay our bills. I know many people right now who are suffering dramatically economically and I want to acknowledge that I know we were taken care of due to the numerous blessings given by a loving Heavenly Father. I know we had a lot of prayers on our behalf and want to thank all of you who continued to pray for us as the weeks of unemployment turned into months. We are so grateful for all the love and support and the blessings that sustained us. To any in a similar situation I know it is so hard to be patient, but don't ever doubt that the Lord knows who you are and what your needs are. Don't forget him and he won't forget you.
All right, this is a mammoth post, but I wanted to document our latest happenings. Off to dinner at the Ridings with the parentals who are down for the weekend. Yeah! I love when visitors come to US!
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