The Grind and Other Bad Metaphors

It appears we have reached the point of the semester where everything seems to be coming at you at 100mph, yet the weeks go by just slow enough to give you pause and see the work piling up before you. I knew going into this semester that it was going to a little change of pace from what I was used to during the school year. Obviously this is in large part because I am now on the other side of the podium. As students, we became used to having seemingly every test from every class converge upon us at once, whilst two or three papers were sprinkled on top. This often made for at least seven big, grade deciding, projects to deal with over the course of the week. As teachers, we are now reaching the point of the year where we begin to experience the other side of the coin. While we may have only one subject with two or three grade levels a piece, each of those classes are sending numerous assignments, large or small, our way to be graded. We are at the point where lesson plans need to be adjusted in order to accommodate unexpected changes in our schedule. With each of those schedule changes, we may have to rush to create new lesson templates for our students to use the next day. In short, we are reaching the time period right before spring break.

The semester is reaching the mid-point, the peak before the downhill slide into summer. We are at the point where we can all but see over the peak of the mountain and look onto the valley below. We are at the point where repetitive sentences and cheesy metaphors make a blog post feel way more emphatic than it should. But as those papers pile before us, as those last minute rushes to change a our schedules occur, there is still the understanding that in two weeks we can take a breather. With a little bit of work, not only can we all at least come close to getting caught up in the classroom, but we can get caught up with our own personal studies as well.

See that’s the trick for us right now. Teachers and students, they are two sides of the same coin—and as student teachers our coins are two faced. We inhabit both sides and are currently fighting through the semester as both students and as teachers. And wouldn’t you know it, both our student obligations and our teaching obligations are coming to a head at the same exact time. Funny how that works. The hope, however, is still there. If nothing else, we can champion the fact that we have to work twice as hard, and then with a little luck, breathe twice as easily once spring break rolls around. I know that these next two weeks have the potential to be hell, getting myself caught up on grading and lesson planning. But this isn’t anything new. You and I will get through it like we have every March, with the knowledge and reassurance that after Spring Break, we’re practically there. 

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.

Questions: Or the Things One Thinks While Teaching

Questions:

What will the plan be for tomorrow?

Who is going to cause a fuss today?

Do the students consider me a “cool” teacher?

Am I one of the “lame” ones?

Why does he always fall asleep?

How well would this lesson plan work?

Why are we reading this book?

Why are those two even sitting next to each other?

Am I ever a burden on my CT?

Seriously, why can’t he stay awake?

Have the students realized I only wear one of five outfits?

Are there any students I don’t focus enough on?

What am I going to eat after class?

What is the point of this lesson?

Come on, dude, this is getting old.

Will the students miss me the last two weeks?

Why doesn’t he trust his writing when he always gets A’s?

Should I start wearing a tie?

Why does she always forget her book?

Thats enough, wake the hell up!

The First Final Haul

The past few weeks of this semester have been rather hectic, but I feel at last as though I am beginning to see the end of the craziness and can at last take a moment to enjoy everything. Within a rather short time frame, at the end of October, I had to complete both my video reflection, as well as my formal observation. Both assignments added a bit more pressure to those days, as would be expected when you have somebody watching over your shoulder and jotting down notes over every move you make for an hour and a half. 

On top of this, I also had the class all to myself multiple times over the course of my unit lesson. While these solitary (well, mostly solitary as the subs in the classroom were instructed to let me have the class to myself) moments did not seem like much to fret about for my teacher, for me I had the added stress of making sure I didn't set our class back to summer. Sometimes students just don't behave as well and don't get things accomplished quite as smoothly without the head honcho in the room. On one hand I'm lucky that I have a teacher with such solid management skills that I can learn from, on the other hand, because of this my less than perfect management skills are only exacerbated. 

But the light is there. Having received several items of feed back from both my supervisor as well as my CT, I am finally feeling more comfortable in the classroom. Nothing has gotten too out of hand with my students, and they are still, as far as I can tell, moving forward. As long as I continue to build relationships with the students and continue to work on my management skills, I think that the future in this classroom looks quite bright. Fortunately for me, both of these items go hand in hand. 

As this semester begins to settle down, next semester rolls ever closer. Oddly enough, though, I am less concerned with how things will go next semester than I was at the start of this semester. Sometimes I surprise myself with a tool I have picked up within the last three months. I will also begin spending some time wherever possible these final few weeks with some of the other classes that I will be student teaching next semester. The more familiar all of the students are with my face, the more quickly I feels we will be able to adjust to one another.

While I am admittedly excited for this semester to come to and end and to enjoy a little bit of a break away from everything, I am also excited to get things going for the final haul next January. While the next year certainly holds a lot of questions for my future, I have no doubt that the experiences I gain over the course of the next seven months will be vital for the rest of my career, wherever it leads me.

KATE

I really had no idea what to expect going into it as I really have not ever been to something quite like this. Was I just going to be listening to talks and lectures? Would we be interacting with the speakers and other teachers during the breakout sessions? Will this even be worth my time, or will I just be hearing the same things that I have heard from my classes? Fortunately, I did find myself picking up a few tips and gaining a bit of knowledge as the conference went along. Due to my work schedule, I was unfortunately not able to attend as much of the KATE conference as I would have liked to. However, for the majority of the sessions that I was able to listen in on, I did gain a fair amount of knowledge and did feel like I got a lot out of it.

While I was a little less than riveted when the initial chair members spoke, I did get a lot out of Brent Crawford’s talk. You could tell that he was very sincere in how grateful he was towards the teachers he had while growing up. It was clear that he had come a long way from where he was back in school to where he is now, and that even he is somewhat surprised that it was writing that put him there. His humor kept the talk lively and through that he made it very easy to see which student he was while growing up. I unfortunately was not able to catch Rachel Hawkins, so if anybody wants to let me know how her talk was comparatively I would be very appreciative.

As for the breakout sessions, I think that the one I got the most out of was “How to Survive Your First Year.” The lady giving the presentation was a fairly young teacher herself, having only taught for three years, so it was clear that her experiences were still fresh in her mind and relevant to what we may experience ourselves. It was really the little things from her talk that struck me the most, the ones that would seem so obvious that we often forget them: Make sure you allow yourself to have a life; end confrontation thoroughly and immediately; take a step back. Essentially, they were the things that would allow you to remain sane during the school year.

While I felt like I was all over the place during the conference, I did have the fortune of doing at least some amount of networking. I received some email addresses from some of the other participants. I was very thankful to see that many of the presenters offered their addresses as well in case we have any questions down the road. Over all, I was very impressed at how open of an environment it was and how willing people were to jump into discussions and ask the presenters questions if there was something that they did not understand.

Again, due to work I was only able to make four of the breakout sessions and listen to one of the keynote speakers so I do feel as though there was a fair amount that I missed out on. However, what I did attend was as much, if not more informative than I expected it to be. Having gone to the conference once certainly gives me a better idea of what to expect if I ever attend this one, or anything similar in the future.