Today was the first day I have left my children with a substitute. There was no avoiding it. I woke up this morning feeling alright (with a slight migraine "hang over"), but as soon as my shower was over, BOOM, came another aura. I knew this did not bode well, as I had two auras last night, along with the aforementioned numbness that had not yet happened when I wrote the previous blog. For the record, I had another aura later today as well, around 10:30. I could not drive, nor could I read, so I decided that I should just keep the sub.
Apparently, my school is still standing, and my children were only a little bad. Some of them were (according to a coworker) blatantly disrespectful and disobedient to the substitute. Children, if ever you see this blog, I know who you are, and I am coming for you. Others of my coworkers assure me that the day went fine. I am anxious to see what the substitute said about my class, if he left a note at all (I know it was a male from various reports). If they were bad, it was because I was not there, not because the substitute was inept, or because they are dumb. They are dumb, it is true, but that is not why they were bad. Does that make sense? I'll update you on how tomorrow goes (if anyone, besides my mother and my darling, even reads this or cares).
Once I can drive again, I really must get to the grocery store. I have no ice cream in my freezer.
Valete,
Magistra
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Case of the Mondays.
Today was not as good as Friday. But, every day cannot be perfect, right? Especially when you're wrangling 130 ninth graders. To add to the chaos, I had major heartburn this morning. First period seems to choose days to be collectively uncooperative. Today was one of those days. The heartburn only lasted for my first two periods, thankfully, before it subsided during third period. The kids were working on projects on their own, so I was not the center of attention, and was able to take a minute to breathe.
Seventh period was unusually rambunctious, which I did not mind, as my heartburn was gone, and I was feeling pretty good. They got a little loud, and I had to get on to a few of the regulars, but other than that, nothing significant happened.
I have been grading their first compositions. The first thirty or so (the ones turned in on time) were really good. I was suprised at their ability to find a voice and tell a story without too much direction. The ones I have graded tonight (the ones turned in late) have been less thrilling. Only one or two have impressed me. Of course, I'm also a little grumpy because I am not on the weekend. In addition, my body thought it would be a good day to rebel. I have a wicked migraine, and the words on the screen are disappearing more and more every second. Forgive typos...I cannot actually read very well right now.
This is my first [what I consider] real migraine of the year, meaning, it is my first migraine with an aura. If you do not know what a migraine aura is, go to:
http://headaches.about.com/od/migrainediseas1/a/aura_ache.htm.
They give a pretty good description in the first paragraph of that article. "Visual disturbance" (the way an aura is usually described) is kind of a lame term for what I experience, but whatever. At least I can feel my right side of my body (for now). If this worsens during the night, I am going to have to call in a sub for tomorrow. Lately, my low-grade migraines have been rather frequent, but I have not had any aura (huzzah, right?). I could attribute it to stress, but I think the weather is about to chage, so that could contribute as well. My love being gone is a weight on my poor brain, as is the struggle of being a first year teacher. My brain just cannot handle the additional stimuli of a day with heartburn, an extra department meeting, extra paperwork, etc.
I need a hug.
Valete,
Magistra
Seventh period was unusually rambunctious, which I did not mind, as my heartburn was gone, and I was feeling pretty good. They got a little loud, and I had to get on to a few of the regulars, but other than that, nothing significant happened.
I have been grading their first compositions. The first thirty or so (the ones turned in on time) were really good. I was suprised at their ability to find a voice and tell a story without too much direction. The ones I have graded tonight (the ones turned in late) have been less thrilling. Only one or two have impressed me. Of course, I'm also a little grumpy because I am not on the weekend. In addition, my body thought it would be a good day to rebel. I have a wicked migraine, and the words on the screen are disappearing more and more every second. Forgive typos...I cannot actually read very well right now.
This is my first [what I consider] real migraine of the year, meaning, it is my first migraine with an aura. If you do not know what a migraine aura is, go to:
http://headaches.about.com/od/migrainediseas1/a/aura_ache.htm.
They give a pretty good description in the first paragraph of that article. "Visual disturbance" (the way an aura is usually described) is kind of a lame term for what I experience, but whatever. At least I can feel my right side of my body (for now). If this worsens during the night, I am going to have to call in a sub for tomorrow. Lately, my low-grade migraines have been rather frequent, but I have not had any aura (huzzah, right?). I could attribute it to stress, but I think the weather is about to chage, so that could contribute as well. My love being gone is a weight on my poor brain, as is the struggle of being a first year teacher. My brain just cannot handle the additional stimuli of a day with heartburn, an extra department meeting, extra paperwork, etc.
I need a hug.
Valete,
Magistra
Friday, September 26, 2008
Blue Skies...post-Ike happiness!
Now that Ike is over, and I've been back at school for four days, I have to admit that I don't mind my job a bit. At least, not very much. On Monday, we had a day back at school just for the teachers, so that we could all adapt our lesson plans to the events of the hurricane. I enjoyed my day mostly in the solitude of my room, getting activities together, sending copies to be made, and straightening things up. I am really glad we had that day, because it refreshed me and got me caught up for the rest of the week. Now, Ike seems like a hundred years ago.
On Tuesday, when the kiddos came back, I found myself actually glad to see them! I was surprised at myself, as I had thought that my week back would be full of discipline problems due to the week they had off. One especially delicious moment on that first day back was right before first period, when I had a student tell me that they were so bored already on the second day off of school that they picked up their Latin text (amazing, I know) and began to read the culture sections that we had not had time to cover in class. Imagine my surprise! I don't give these little people enough credit.
On Wednesday, my darling left. He got a job, and is off to the Great Lakes for a month or maybe a little more, depending on this or that. It has been difficult these last two days. The apartment is quiet with out another person's noise, and empty without another person's mess. I lived in it for a month alone before he got here, so it's back to the olden days when I cooked for one. The upside (for me) to his job on the Lakes is that he is in the States, so I get to talk to him, and use Skype. Yay!
All this week, my English students have been writing personal narratives (a.k.a. stories about something that happened to them which they learned from or will never forget). This is their first composition of the year, besides little half-paged warm-ups they've had to write. I've read four or five of them, and am actually really pleased so far. If my pen runs out of ink, it will be because of grammar fixes, but not because of content, which is the most important thing. Some of these kids have had really awful things happen to them, the likes of which I can't even begin to imagine. They seem to take it in stride, mostly, but I would rather they all had perfect childhoods like I had. I guess it builds character...?
Oh, another wonderful moment came regarding the warm-ups we've been doing this week. They have had to copy a sentence with grammatical errors, and then correct it. We then go over it as a class. Today, two students (one in 4th period, one in 7th) asked if we could go back to the half-page prompted writings we used to do before this week's grammar warm-ups. I was really surprised at this, because they would hem and haw, complaining about having to write half a page OMG OMG OMG. It made me very happy to know that they preferred writing to copying.
Ah! Another excited moment for me was in 2nd period Latin. I have a student who doesn't say much, but I know the student understands what is going on, because that student's grades are really good on things we have to do in class where they can't look up information, like on tests and quizzes. Today, we introduced the irregular verb, "to be" (sum). It is a booger. They've never seen an irregular verb, so they panicked a little bit. I made it seem as similar to a regular verb as possible, and they calmed down some. Anyway, the student asked some really great questions, and has been contributing more this week. The student asked what the word is for "to want," and I conjugated volo for the class. When so-and-so asked for the infinitive (velle), I couldn't remember. I looked it up, though. I get to answer fun questions like those in 2nd period because that class is smaller, and we have an extra five minutes for announcements and the like.
In other news, apparently I act like every day is the first day of school, according to one of my students. I won't say where I got the information, but I feel like I should be flattered.
This is a long post, but I must record one more thing. I hate to end on a bad note, and I don't think it will be bad ultimately, so I'll go ahead and put it. I had to admit I was wrong today. Alas (eheu!)! I had let 3rd period use the lap-tops (we have carts with 18 laptops in them and a printer, called COWs, or Computers on Wheels, that teachers can check out and use) to work on various things, then 4th period came in, and a student asked if they were going to get to use the lap-tops. I told the student, "No." Later, I let some kids use the lap-tops, and the student, along wtih two or three other students, called me out on it. I was defensive at first, but then just admitted I was wrong. They settled down really fast, and were content to let it go. One student, who had been especially offended by my misdeed, got a personal apology for the confusion regarding the computers. I'm glad I admitted my mistake rather than steadfastly refusing to budge on the matter. Teachers are human too, it turns out.
Valete,
Magistra
On Tuesday, when the kiddos came back, I found myself actually glad to see them! I was surprised at myself, as I had thought that my week back would be full of discipline problems due to the week they had off. One especially delicious moment on that first day back was right before first period, when I had a student tell me that they were so bored already on the second day off of school that they picked up their Latin text (amazing, I know) and began to read the culture sections that we had not had time to cover in class. Imagine my surprise! I don't give these little people enough credit.
On Wednesday, my darling left. He got a job, and is off to the Great Lakes for a month or maybe a little more, depending on this or that. It has been difficult these last two days. The apartment is quiet with out another person's noise, and empty without another person's mess. I lived in it for a month alone before he got here, so it's back to the olden days when I cooked for one. The upside (for me) to his job on the Lakes is that he is in the States, so I get to talk to him, and use Skype. Yay!
All this week, my English students have been writing personal narratives (a.k.a. stories about something that happened to them which they learned from or will never forget). This is their first composition of the year, besides little half-paged warm-ups they've had to write. I've read four or five of them, and am actually really pleased so far. If my pen runs out of ink, it will be because of grammar fixes, but not because of content, which is the most important thing. Some of these kids have had really awful things happen to them, the likes of which I can't even begin to imagine. They seem to take it in stride, mostly, but I would rather they all had perfect childhoods like I had. I guess it builds character...?
Oh, another wonderful moment came regarding the warm-ups we've been doing this week. They have had to copy a sentence with grammatical errors, and then correct it. We then go over it as a class. Today, two students (one in 4th period, one in 7th) asked if we could go back to the half-page prompted writings we used to do before this week's grammar warm-ups. I was really surprised at this, because they would hem and haw, complaining about having to write half a page OMG OMG OMG. It made me very happy to know that they preferred writing to copying.
Ah! Another excited moment for me was in 2nd period Latin. I have a student who doesn't say much, but I know the student understands what is going on, because that student's grades are really good on things we have to do in class where they can't look up information, like on tests and quizzes. Today, we introduced the irregular verb, "to be" (sum). It is a booger. They've never seen an irregular verb, so they panicked a little bit. I made it seem as similar to a regular verb as possible, and they calmed down some. Anyway, the student asked some really great questions, and has been contributing more this week. The student asked what the word is for "to want," and I conjugated volo for the class. When so-and-so asked for the infinitive (velle), I couldn't remember. I looked it up, though. I get to answer fun questions like those in 2nd period because that class is smaller, and we have an extra five minutes for announcements and the like.
In other news, apparently I act like every day is the first day of school, according to one of my students. I won't say where I got the information, but I feel like I should be flattered.
This is a long post, but I must record one more thing. I hate to end on a bad note, and I don't think it will be bad ultimately, so I'll go ahead and put it. I had to admit I was wrong today. Alas (eheu!)! I had let 3rd period use the lap-tops (we have carts with 18 laptops in them and a printer, called COWs, or Computers on Wheels, that teachers can check out and use) to work on various things, then 4th period came in, and a student asked if they were going to get to use the lap-tops. I told the student, "No." Later, I let some kids use the lap-tops, and the student, along wtih two or three other students, called me out on it. I was defensive at first, but then just admitted I was wrong. They settled down really fast, and were content to let it go. One student, who had been especially offended by my misdeed, got a personal apology for the confusion regarding the computers. I'm glad I admitted my mistake rather than steadfastly refusing to budge on the matter. Teachers are human too, it turns out.
Valete,
Magistra
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Home again, home again.
Salvete,
I'm on my way back home, via Austin. My dearest friend has a bridal shower today in said capitol city, so after the pre-nuptial festivities, I will be hitting HEB to fill my cooler, then heading east. I am supposed to return to school on Monday, sans students. Lesson re-planning will commence.
Who knows what awaits me upon my return. I assume my milk has exploded in my fridge, and if that is the worst that has happened, then I will be thrilled. My little Christmas lights on my porch are probably gone, but let's hope not. I paid $9.99 for them, so surely they were able to endure through some silly hurricane. Right. I have power, according to my apartment complex, and they've cleaned up the tree debris around the place. Last I heard, there is still a curfew in place in the evenings, but I haven't talked to anyone in a few days, so who knows. It will be nice to get back to the daily grind on Monday, I think.
I had a nightmare last night that I had a whole load of new students, and not enough desks, so many of them had to sit on the floor. The girls were all doing their makeup while I was teaching, and had makeup bags identical to mine, except that theirs were newer, and mine looked a little more worn. My document camera had been replaced by a regular overhead, which was set on a desk, instead of on a cart. My projector was now in a chair-attached-desk (I have chair-detached desks in my room, currently), which folded strangely in the top to reveal a computer control panel of some sort. None of the equipment worked like it should, of course. There were three other teachers in there talking over me and trying to teach what I was teaching. The kids weren't listening, it was so noisy, and everything was just a mess.
Let's hope this is not the case on Tuesday, when the children come.
Valete,
Magistra
I'm on my way back home, via Austin. My dearest friend has a bridal shower today in said capitol city, so after the pre-nuptial festivities, I will be hitting HEB to fill my cooler, then heading east. I am supposed to return to school on Monday, sans students. Lesson re-planning will commence.
Who knows what awaits me upon my return. I assume my milk has exploded in my fridge, and if that is the worst that has happened, then I will be thrilled. My little Christmas lights on my porch are probably gone, but let's hope not. I paid $9.99 for them, so surely they were able to endure through some silly hurricane. Right. I have power, according to my apartment complex, and they've cleaned up the tree debris around the place. Last I heard, there is still a curfew in place in the evenings, but I haven't talked to anyone in a few days, so who knows. It will be nice to get back to the daily grind on Monday, I think.
I had a nightmare last night that I had a whole load of new students, and not enough desks, so many of them had to sit on the floor. The girls were all doing their makeup while I was teaching, and had makeup bags identical to mine, except that theirs were newer, and mine looked a little more worn. My document camera had been replaced by a regular overhead, which was set on a desk, instead of on a cart. My projector was now in a chair-attached-desk (I have chair-detached desks in my room, currently), which folded strangely in the top to reveal a computer control panel of some sort. None of the equipment worked like it should, of course. There were three other teachers in there talking over me and trying to teach what I was teaching. The kids weren't listening, it was so noisy, and everything was just a mess.
Let's hope this is not the case on Tuesday, when the children come.
Valete,
Magistra
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Still in exile...
School is closed through Friday, so I'm an evacuee until next week, at least. I talked to my uncle, and he said that if it is meat, cheese, milk, or bread, you can't get it in our area. People have either gone berzerk and bought everything, or the stores can't get supplies. I didn't ask which it was, but I'm certain it is one of the two. In the mean time, I'm still in Dallas, and frankly, I'm feeling a little lost. I don't live here anymore, but I still feel tied to the city--its sights, its ways, and its people. I don't love Houston. It is messy, crowded, confusing, massy, and ridiculous. But, it is where I live now. It is where my job is, and like it or not, I'm stuck in that job until I can figure out what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm not ready to fully commit to the idea that teaching isn't for me. I am a first year teacher, yet to hit my stride, and it is supposed to be difficult. At least, it isn't supposed to be easy.
And "easy" it isn't.
I want to get back to my apartment, where I am organized, where everything is familiar inside, even if the surrounding city is chaos (not just because of the hurricane, but because that is how Houston is). I want my bed, my room, my posters, my dishes, my couches...I want to check my mail. I feel like I'm living in a hotel on a business trip. I'm living out of my bag. I'm expected to perform certain tasks I'm not used to performing, such as being available to others for "hang out" time in the evenings. I'm used to running my own life, and not having anyone attempting to dictate where I should be, what I should be doing, and to whom I should be speaking at any given time. I don't have very many friends in Houston, and the ones I do have either live too far away to demand my time (another drawback of Houston--it takes a year to get anywhere), or are my co-workers, and are too tired to ask anything of me.
Don't get me wrong, I love being home. I love my parents, and my friends, and everyone I know who lives in Dallas. All I'm saying is, I feel like something of an alien, or a piece of furniture out of place. I find that I can't come here and continue to live seamlessly the type of life I live in Houston, whatever that is. I'm expected to perform. I'm expected to be whatever it was I was before I left. It is trying, not just for me, but for my parents as well. Hopefully by the time I get back to Houston, the city will have returned to some kind of normalcy.
Valete,
Magistra
And "easy" it isn't.
I want to get back to my apartment, where I am organized, where everything is familiar inside, even if the surrounding city is chaos (not just because of the hurricane, but because that is how Houston is). I want my bed, my room, my posters, my dishes, my couches...I want to check my mail. I feel like I'm living in a hotel on a business trip. I'm living out of my bag. I'm expected to perform certain tasks I'm not used to performing, such as being available to others for "hang out" time in the evenings. I'm used to running my own life, and not having anyone attempting to dictate where I should be, what I should be doing, and to whom I should be speaking at any given time. I don't have very many friends in Houston, and the ones I do have either live too far away to demand my time (another drawback of Houston--it takes a year to get anywhere), or are my co-workers, and are too tired to ask anything of me.
Don't get me wrong, I love being home. I love my parents, and my friends, and everyone I know who lives in Dallas. All I'm saying is, I feel like something of an alien, or a piece of furniture out of place. I find that I can't come here and continue to live seamlessly the type of life I live in Houston, whatever that is. I'm expected to perform. I'm expected to be whatever it was I was before I left. It is trying, not just for me, but for my parents as well. Hopefully by the time I get back to Houston, the city will have returned to some kind of normalcy.
Valete,
Magistra
Saturday, September 13, 2008
What is the Latin word for "Hurricane Ike"?
I have evacuated to Dallas. At first, I played off the impending strike of Ike as media sensationalism, but then I thought, I only have one life, so why not continue to live it in certain safety from the gusts, etc? My dear and I made our way to the Big D on Thursday, as school was closed on Friday, and all activities were cancelled for Thursday afternoon. Expecting to hit major traffic on I-45, we by-passed the gridlock via College Station. Apparently we were ahead of the major wave of evacuees, and even had time to stop at good ole Haiku Sushi for some dinner. Delightful.
I wrote up my first child this week. The aforementioned eloper got his just desserts. I felt more giddy than I probably should have. No, that's not true. I felt every bit as giddy as I deserved to feel. I also spoke with some parents, and several problems that have plagued me since the beginning of school (sleeping student, resistent-to-following-directions-and-turning-in-work student) are now inconsequential, or are on their way to being so. My advice to anyone: just call the parent. It will make a world of difference, and you might find out things you need to know that no one else is going to tell you. Most parents really are interested in their child's education, even if the child is not.
I haven't heard if we are having school on Monday. I'm fairly certain that my part of the city does not have power. My aunt and uncle live in the next suburb over, and they are without power AND water. One of my fellow teachers lives about seven miles north of me, and she has power just fine. I called my complex, and no one answered, which does not bode well, as they are meant to be open today. However, I did not read carefully the "Hurricane Preparedness" notice they sent out, so perhaps they are closed for Ike.
I'll keep you posted on the goings on...
Valete,
Magistra
I wrote up my first child this week. The aforementioned eloper got his just desserts. I felt more giddy than I probably should have. No, that's not true. I felt every bit as giddy as I deserved to feel. I also spoke with some parents, and several problems that have plagued me since the beginning of school (sleeping student, resistent-to-following-directions-and-turning-in-work student) are now inconsequential, or are on their way to being so. My advice to anyone: just call the parent. It will make a world of difference, and you might find out things you need to know that no one else is going to tell you. Most parents really are interested in their child's education, even if the child is not.
I haven't heard if we are having school on Monday. I'm fairly certain that my part of the city does not have power. My aunt and uncle live in the next suburb over, and they are without power AND water. One of my fellow teachers lives about seven miles north of me, and she has power just fine. I called my complex, and no one answered, which does not bode well, as they are meant to be open today. However, I did not read carefully the "Hurricane Preparedness" notice they sent out, so perhaps they are closed for Ike.
I'll keep you posted on the goings on...
Valete,
Magistra
Friday, September 5, 2008
Unbelievable
I had a kid escape from class today. No, I'm not kidding.
I've been having trouble with this individual since the individual came into my class about five days ago. The student acts as a distraction to the students surrounding, and it has been getting worse and worse despite my best efforts to redirect and put a stop to this behavior. Today, the students were doing individual work that was more unstructured. They were coloring and that sort of thing, so they were allowed to get out of their seats. I won't go into all the stuff that was going on, but it boiled down to me having a discussion with the student and two other students encouraging him to listen to me. The student smarted off, and eventually I asked the student to sit on his own and work without distracting others. Eventually I coaxed the student into doing this (with the prodding of other students), and let the student be so that the student could work.
Then, I hear someone say "Where's So-And-So-With-Whom-You've-Been-Having-Trouble?" I look up and indeed the person is gone. GONE. WHAT? So I sent an email to the AP in charge of that student's part of the alphabet. We'll see what happens.
Really, do the kids think they are going to get off for this kind of nonsense? It was the last 25 minutes of the day, but that isn't the point. We have cameras. We have email. We have their name, phone number, address, and probably their retina-print, so what do they think they are doing? I guess there is no thinking, which is the kicker. Ok, I'm out for the day. TGIF.
Magistra
I've been having trouble with this individual since the individual came into my class about five days ago. The student acts as a distraction to the students surrounding, and it has been getting worse and worse despite my best efforts to redirect and put a stop to this behavior. Today, the students were doing individual work that was more unstructured. They were coloring and that sort of thing, so they were allowed to get out of their seats. I won't go into all the stuff that was going on, but it boiled down to me having a discussion with the student and two other students encouraging him to listen to me. The student smarted off, and eventually I asked the student to sit on his own and work without distracting others. Eventually I coaxed the student into doing this (with the prodding of other students), and let the student be so that the student could work.
Then, I hear someone say "Where's So-And-So-With-Whom-You've-Been-Having-Trouble?" I look up and indeed the person is gone. GONE. WHAT? So I sent an email to the AP in charge of that student's part of the alphabet. We'll see what happens.
Really, do the kids think they are going to get off for this kind of nonsense? It was the last 25 minutes of the day, but that isn't the point. We have cameras. We have email. We have their name, phone number, address, and probably their retina-print, so what do they think they are doing? I guess there is no thinking, which is the kicker. Ok, I'm out for the day. TGIF.
Magistra
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