Preliminary Spring Break

Nothing like having a little spring break before spring break rolls around, isn't there? Really though, it was interesting to observe some of the reactions by both the teachers and the students last Wednesday as the snow was coming down. Obviously the students were excited, as the snow was accumulating quite rapidly. What was really amusing was how antsy all of the teachers appeared to be. At one point during an advocacy period, some of the students poked their heads outside to catch a glimpse of the snow as it fell. While my CT commented, “You act like you all haven’t seen snow before,” you could tell that there was some level of anticipation in her tone as well. I don’t know how many phone calls she received, or how many other teachers came by to see what her thoughts were on whether we would be getting the next day off. It was like they were all a bunch of high school students waiting for a snow day or something (though I can’t say inside I felt any differently). As we all know, the final product was one of the biggest snow storms that we have seen in years, with yet another one on the way. No big complaints on my end, however, there are some complications that come with it.

The trick now is what this will do to the lesson plans. Due to homecoming and parent teacher conferences, my lesson plans already had to be adjusted somewhat. With the KPTP deadline, I think many of us feel at least something of a crunch in getting all of our main lessons and evaluations in accordingly so that we can either be good to go before spring break, or complete the last minute details over the course of the break. However, with this preliminary spring break it only seems to add to the crunch. I know that I will now have to swap, tweak and perhaps even remove some of the lessons that I had planned in order to not only keep my KPTP schedule on line, but to not get too far off for my CT’s final unit beginning a little ways through April.  On the bright side, looking at some of these lessons, I have found that many of them will work just fine being condensed into one another. The book that my freshmen are reading, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, has been well accepted by my students thus far. This should make assigning some outside reading a little easier than it would be for, say Romeo and Juliet. I wasn’t slated to start my senior’s unit until this Tuesday, so that should, fortunately, not have to be adjusted by more than a day depending on what this next storm brings.

But back to the main point: It really is quite humorous to see just how little things change from high school to the professional level. The amount of rejoicing by not only teachers, but other professionals that I have seen on Facebook and the like has been nothing short of amusing. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I can’t say I was complaining too much. Stay safe in Round 2 everybody! 

On My Own

The past week and a half has been something of a roller coaster in the classroom. Things were going pretty smoothly up until I received a text while watching the Super Bowl two Sundays ago. While watching the game, I got word that my CT’s husband broke his leg and was going to  require surgery. My CT was to be in and out of the classroom over the course of that following week. I was not too concerned with this, as I had a pretty good grasp on what the students were supposed to be doing those next couple of days. The freshman would be completing a small tableau assignment over Romeo and Juliet and the seniors would just be watching the end of Hamlet and taking a test. No biggie.

My CT was in and out of the classroom over the course of that week as planned, and her husband had surgery that Thursday. Things were supposed to go back to normal the following week when I had schedule to begin my first unit of teaching with the freshman. Unfortunately, I received word that Friday that there had been some complications after the surgery and that her husband was back to struggling pretty severely that weekend. This resulted in me having to become the guy in the classroom over the next week.

While I do not wish the circumstances that brought it about upon anybody, I do feel as though the following week allowed for a tremendous amount of experience. I could no longer look to my CT to help me put out fires either with the students or with other faculty members as issues came up. I had to become firmer in my expectations as I did not have her leering over the classroom ready to have my back if any of the students got out of hand. I recall one student mentioning that I had gotten “stricter” since my CT had left the classroom.

That being said, I feel as though this allowed for a great opportunity to further my relationships with the students. It put me in a position where I had to be the one in charge and they began looking to me as such. We were still able to joke around and have a good time, but when I expected them to get serious and focus on their work, I noticed that the outcome was much better than it had been in the weeks prior.

I am also fortunate that I was as prepared for the week as I was. All of my lesson plans were in order and ready to go. While I may have had a couple missteps along the way (and who isn’t at this point) I feel that each of my lessons for the freshman class ran pretty smoothly. It is exciting to see them actually enjoying the book and being willing to read it while in class. While these first few lessons have been fairly introductory into the text, it has me excited to lead them through some of the more complex lessons that I have planned further down the road.

I am curious to see how things go when my CT returns next week. I hope the students will now feel as though there are two teachers in the classroom, not their teacher and some other guy telling them bits of information that they don’t care to hear from time to time.

So it begins...

Well, sort of at least. It has certainly felt like a whirlwind this past month. It has been interesting spending little more than four hours in a classroom each week to spending nearly thirty-five or more. While some of the classes can crawl by as I sweat out trying to extend a lesson that, unfortunately, fell short of the time I had allotted for it, the days fly by and I often leave feeling as though I have not accomplished everything I needed to.

But that's OK. The students are getting used to having me around the room, and some of them appear to even respect me a little bit. It has to be difficult for them as well to have somebody come into the classroom who they are not used to in the middle of the year, and start taking over. Of the classes I have taught so far they have gone, actually, quite well. The relationships are developing and the level of comfort is increasing daily.

One of the things I have come to love this semester, though it can also be a great source of frustration, is the expectation that my CT has for me. I have had good teachers and good bosses before, but I don't think I have ever worked with somebody who has stayed on me as hard to get things completed as she has. That isn't to say I am always a major procrastinator by any means, but where I like to get things finished on time-she prefers them early. While this is great, it can certainly cause a lot of stress during a semester that is not only filled with other responsibilities during student teaching but a couple of other jobs on top. The stress is ultimately worth it, though. The feeling of being ahead of where I expected to be at this point in the semester, and knowing that I will be finishing up with some major tasks way earlier than I had anticipated certainly is great. Plus, I know that it is just another lesson and skill that will come in handy when necessary in the future.

The next couple of weeks certainly have a lot in store. My first big unit will be starting up either a week from tomorrow, or the following Wednesday. I think I am feeling pretty confident in the lesson plan that I have devised for the students. Round 1 will be happening with my freshman class and they will be reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. While there are some incredibly valuable lessons to be taught while reading this book, there are some portions that I think will be absolutely hilarious, and at times incredibly awkward to discuss with the students. I'm really looking forward to it.

And so it is that the beginning, it isn't bad. I know that this semester has a lot in store for me, and I'm excited to see what it brings.