JOHN - Hi everybody (all 2.5 of you who are actually reading this), I am back. I would apologize for not keeping this blog as updated as you'd like but considering there are probably only 3 or 4 people reading it, I don't feel that bad. Besides, I have been too bizzy teaching school and playing on the weekends to actually sit down and blog. But, now that I have a little time, I figured I would do a little writing. Oh, as you can tell, my roommate is completely useless when it comes to updating the blog so it's really just my dog & pony show now. Let's talk about school, shall we?
Over the past few weeks, I have been in full-teach mode at school. This means that I am responsible for the planning of lessons, teaching of them and everything in between. Mrs. Schiebel has been a great help by assisting me when needed but hanging back when she knows it's something I have to do on my own.
The first coouple of days were a bit rocky when it came to teaching the A.P. class. By the time I full taught, I was pretty familiar and comfortable with the Regs curriculum and had already been teaching a lot of the students. However, the A.P. kids had an entirely different curriculum and I wasn't as comfortable knowing those kids. For some reason, I was a bit nervous when it came to teaching them and some of the lessons were a bit rocky. The downside to that is, I only have ONE A.P. class and they are my first period students. This means I only have ONE shot to get it right whereas with my Regs, I have multiple classes to fine-tune the lesson. Like I said, it's been a bit rough but by the end of the first week/start of the second, I was getting used to the extra responsibilities of that class.
On top of the additional class, I have also been lesson planning with Mr. Wogstad, the other 7th grade Regs teacher. Each week, during our 3rd period prep, we'd meet and discuss the upcoming week's curriculum. Northside provides much of the curricuculum for its departments so we already have a nice foundation from which to work. It's definitely suited to assist new teachers. Anyway, I have to not only look over and understand the curriculum but also write lessons that will be posted on our website as well as given to the administration. It's been a lot of work and late nights but I really feel like I am getting a good hand of all a teacher's responsibilties.
While all of this is going on, I am still planning and teaching my 5 Regs classes, going to different meetings either for the math department, PBS or everything in between. I have been helping out as the assistant tennis coach for our fall intrumural season. In fact, there was an instance where I had to actually conduct practice because the coach had to leave for a family emergency. Again, great practice and training. I hope to coach someday and I can see that takes a lot of work to balance teaching and coaching.
If there is any advice I can give to future student teachers, it's these 3 things: 1. Time management, 2. Organization and 3. Comfortable shoes. When it comes to time management, you have to just be ahead of the game. Unlike college, where you can cram a paper and stay up to 4 AM drinking Red Bull, you don't have that luxury as a teacher. First, you'd be too tired to teach effectively the next day. So always be ahead of the curve. Plus, you will have to be ready to improvise. Next, you should be organized!! Organizationg goes hand in hand with time management and you need to have both down pact. In fact, one cannot work w/o the other. So be sure to stay organized. The better you are, the more smooth your life will run. And last, wear comfortable shoes. I bought these nice Skechers and have they been great for my feet. Teachers at Rawlinson are not allowed to wear sneakers (unless it's a jean or spirit day) so I needed some dressy yet comfotable shoes. These are great because you are on your feet ALL DAY LONG!! Trust me on this, you don't get to sit until after the bell rings. Invest in comfortable shoes, you will be glad you did. Jayma would agree 100% with me on that one.
Other tidbits about school... On the day before Halloween (it fell on a Saturday this year), Mrs. Schiebel decided to scare the kids. We rearranged the classroom to have her hide in the back corner. As the kids came in and class got started, I informed them that she was at a meeting off-campus and it was me that day. Then, after taking attendance, going over the Focus problem and homework, she would slowly creep from the tree and kids would begin to notice them. It was pretty funny because some of the students didn't know how to react. It was great time for everyone and most of the classes were surprised. It's nice to know you can still have fun with the kids in this day and age of accountability. They seemed to really enjoy it and I got a kick out it. Oh, I forgot to say, she dressed up as a gorilla for most of the day. For last period, she decided to be an alien.
I caught a nasty cold last week. Jayma was sick the week before and kids have been out sick all school year. I am surprised it's taken this long for me to get sick but I knew my luck would eventually run out. So, last Wednesday, I noticed that scratchy feeling in my throat develop and I knew then and there, it was all downhill. By Thursday, I started the day off alright but by the middle towards end of the day, I was in full-blown sickypoo mode. My head was throbbing, I couldn't breathe and I was making careless mistakes in class. I was really out it. Good thing it was a test day and that Mrs. Schiebel was there to back me up. I ended up calling Mrs. Schiebel that night telling her that I wouldn't probably be making it to school the next day. It ended up working out because Friday was only a half-day and that we were going to be in the library conducting Math Blitz so there was already going to be a substitute teacher there. It worked out well for me to miss that specific day. I do feel better now but I still got that lingering couch and stuffy nose but I do feel much better.
Next week is my last week of full-teach and then I start giving back classes to Mrs. Schiebel. To be honest, I am ready to be finished with student teaching. I have loved the experience and have learned so much from my time there. I still have a lot to learn. But it's coming to the point where I am going to have to do this learning and training on my own, inside my own classroom. Mrs. Schiebel has been extremely patient and helpful and I am ever grateful for that. But it's time to do this on my own. Plus, I am looking forward to finally graduating (again) and start making some actual money. I am broke as heck and living off credit cards which isn't a good thing. On top of that, my car has decided to have a some major problems which is going to cost me some major coin.
Alas, I have less than a month here before heading back to cold and snowy Illinois and getting my degree. It's been a great experience so far and I have no regrets taking this journey in my life. From going back to school to coming to San Antonio, it's been an amazing experience. But, I still have few weeks left and an upcoming 7th/8th grade dance I need to talk about. I will probably be posting 2 or 3 more times before ending it with graduation day. Thanks for reading.... all 2.5 of you!
By the way, here are some new classroom pics. The leopard, Decimo, I found at Goodwill. I bought him for $2.15!! I donated him to the class and had the kids come up with a name. Decimo was chosen (like decimals in math, get it?) but we call it Deci for short. The door is the one created by my advisory class. The girls who worked on this put a lot of time and effort into it. I wanted to make sure there was a picture of it.
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