they're dancing to songs that are older than they are

So chaperoning high school dances is pretty much the greatest thing ever. They are hilarious! Extremely hilarious.

The Shire

School's been going well. Nt much to report. Today all my students have their first quiz. They're all freaking out but it is pretty easy and straight-forward. I in no way aim to confuse them.

But yesterday we spent the day playing a review game to go over everything and calm their anxieties about the quiz. Somehow one of the classes became incredibly interested in how tall I was and started making jokes.

One girl kept asking exactly how tall I was and insisted she was taller (I knew she was but I wasn't going to admit to it). Then she came up to the front of the room, stood next to me and laughed. Then a football player came up to the front of the room (he was a foot taller than me) and everyone laughed. I hear one girl say "he's such a cute little person" and I called her out on it. And then I heard people talking about the Shire. So yeah, yesterday was fun.

Buffalo Cheese

Today was pretty uneventful. Some of the classes analyzed political cartoons about slavery and for homework they have to create their own.

But during lunch duty today, a random guy of kids called me over to their table.

"Do you know where Parmesan Cheese comes from"

"I don't know, Italy?"

"No, like what animal? He swears it comes from a buffalo"

- the kid who thinks it comes from a buffalo then goes off on a rant while I slowly walk away

does a chair plow a field?

Today three of my classes reenacted the Dred Scott Court Case. Scott sued his owners for his freedom and the case made it all the way up the Supreme Court.

In order to get the students to have a deeper understanding of the case, as a class we had a mock trial presentation. We had two judges (from the original trial and then the Supreme Court trial) Dred Scott, Scott's attorney, Scott owners, their attorney, and at least two witnesses.

The first class did fine, it could have gone smoother but since none of us had done project like this before there were some problems that came up that we never thought of. But it went well none the less.

The next class I did it with I set some guidelines and an order that we were going to do things in the "court room." They all really got into it, the lawyers were great on both sides and Dred Scott really held his own. The judge had parted his hair during lunch so he would look more professional even. (The judge also got to wear my robe from graduation).

The next class got into it too. They were giggling and stuff the whole time, but it still worked and the objective of the project was made. The owners' lawyer compared Scott to a chair trying to say that Scott was just property, at which time Scott yells "Does a chair plow fields!? Does a chair have a soul? etc" It was really funny.

I was glad to see all the kids get into it. I'm finishing up with this project on Wednesday with my 2 other classes, they're Honors so we'll see if there's a difference. But on the whole all the students really appreciated this type of project and asked if they can do something like this again.

Hilarious

Today was awesome.

First off, I planned my whole day in the car ride it took to get to school (all of 6 minutes). I gave the kids a quiz and did a mini lesson on how to take proper notes. Because the kids have been wicked slow taking notes when I give presentations because they copy verbatim everything that is on the slide. It's bad, so we talked about abbreviations, efficiency in note taking (no extra information) and things like that.

We ended up playing a "note taking game" where it was a race to take legible notes that get all of the pertinent information in the fastest amount of time. The whole class got involved, it was a lot of fun and it made the day go by fast.

But we were also talking about what was most important in history in the students opinion. One guy was talking about Columbus, I asked him why he thought he was important.

"Well, if it wasn't for Columbus, none of us would be here"
right away another student, who's dad is the leading member of the native american tribe in the area says
"None of YOU would be here!!!"
it was HILARIOUS. the whole class started laughing, it was great.

then another guy said that he thought the French and Indian War was the most important. Most of the other football players in the class were making fun of him for picking such a random topic. But he explained his opinion, he backed it up well.
Then one of the football players who was making fun of him the most talked about his opinion. He said.

"Well I couldn't decide what one thing was most important in history, so I made a list of eight things ...

Declaration of Independence
Industrial Revolution
Printing Press
Treaty of Versailles
Seven Years War
Reformation
Fall of Roman Empire
Plymouth in 1620"

I then told Tyler that that was a good list, but asked him if he knew what another name for the Seven Years War was. Right away, Joe the one who thought the French and Indian War was most important, from the front of the class yells "Check it!"

So I said, "Tyler, the other name for the Seven Years War is the French and Indian War." Again hilarious.

So today was a good day and now class is going to start

Parent-Teacher Night!

Parent-Teacher night was a huge success. I thought it went really well, could not be happier. I told them a little bit about myself, where I went to school the degree I received, how I'm getting my masters. I was pretty much oozing enthusiasm. The parents were great, a few of them came up to me afterwards, "my daughter absolutely loves your class, and you did great tonight."

So yeah, weight lifted off my shoulders. First PTA meeting done. Moving on.

SURPRISE!

The first monday of the school year went pretty well. As a whole, the days are all going by smoothly. However this week in particular is very hectic.

On monday we talked about Harriet Beecher Stowe and "Uncle Tom's Cabin." I explained how it was a fictitious book but it was based in reality. Similar to reality TV, and one of the students right away was like "Oh man, so Uncle Tom's Cabin is just like the Jersey Shore." I stopped the conversation there, being shocked how Harriet Beecher Stowe and Jersey Shore were being referenced in the same sentence. I was sure to stop it before it turned into a discussion on which character is most like Snooky.

Another student in class started asking about John Brown because we were going to discuss him that day too. "Is he that guy that is [this] [this] [this] and [this]?" I was surprised there too, "Actually Evan that completely right, and you just brought up pretty much everything I was going to say about John Brown today." So I asked him how he already knew all that and the response caught me off guard. "Well I was watching the history channel last night and the episode was all about the US before the Civil War, I like watching the History channel because it's only one away from Bravo. I was flipping back and forth between that and the Real Housewives of New Jersey."

Today went pretty well too. All my classes were engaged and attentive. The lectures went well, American Idol got brought up in regards to the Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858. During my last period of the day I was in the middle of my lecture and I thought doing pretty well. And then SURPRISE! unannounced informal observation by the principal! He stayed for about 5 minutes in the back of the class. I thought I held my own pretty well. I was loud and clear when I talked, I was engaging the students and asking them questions. I was excited and enthusiastic about the material. At the end of the period, well after he left, I had to thank my students for doing so well while he was there.

So tonight is Parent-Teacher night. The parents go through a mini-schedule so they meet all their students teachers and get a glimpse of what it's like for the students to get lost and confused in the crowded hallways. I'm excited to meet all the parents, because I officially know all my students names now, but I'm freaking about it too. So we'll see how it goes

Also, tomorrow I'm getting observed by the director of the program I'm in. fun fun.

homework stinks as a teacher too

I hate grading. Why did I ever think it was a good idea to assign this much homework.

All Grow'ed Up

So I pretty much absolutely love my school and teaching in general.

Today was a great day. All my classes went really well, I have another class of names down. I'm starting to develop some really good connections with my students. The classrooms (although only day 4) seem like they've been together for weeks now. Everything is just going really well.

Tonight we went to the freshman football game and saw some students, I felt like an adult but not entirely like a teacher. It was still a good feeling. Later on tonight we went to the varsity football game against our school's biggest rival. For some reason, walking into the stadium I felt like such a teacher. Students were saying hi, (and I knew their names too). It was just a great feeling.

I feel as though I'm really settling into the place and I'm starting to get a glimpse of why so many of the teachers here have stuck around for so long and continue to dedicate themselves to these kids and the school community as a whole.

Pop Quiz

Day 3 went pretty well. I continued lecturing the kids to give them background info for the Civi War. At this point it is a dry period in history, we've been learning the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

I gave my classes a four question pop quiz. They all actually did pretty well. That made them feel good, and it made me feel even better.

All-in-all yesterday was lack luster. I had my second class for grad school yesterday too. MIND NUMBINGLY BORING. It's a course about using technology in the classroom which would seem to be very interesting and incredibly practical. But .... we're going to start the year off with how to use a Word Processor. Awesome.

That's all for now.

Today (because I'm writing this abut yesterday during today's free period) we're having a pep-rally. They were great as students, I wonder what it's like as a teacher. We will see.

Day 2

Today was my real first day of school, today I actually began teaching. It was great. I met with 4 out of 5 of my classes today. In the first class I did the syllabus and stuff i did yesterday because they didn't meet yesterday. But in my other classes I started actually teaching.

I did a presentation/lecture on the Compromise of 1850. I thought it went really well. They kids were all attentive, for the most part except towards the end of the last period (understandable) but they still paid enough attention. They were asking questions, they were answering my questions. They were laughing at my jokes, or laughing at me for my stupid jokes.

at one point I tried a joke, it didn't work. I apparently made a face, and then one of the student just burst out laughing. I asked what was so funny, because time had passed so I knew she wasn't laughing at my joke (and it was a bad joke, I knew that going in) and she just said, "you're face is priceless right now!" So whatever that meant, i was fine with it. It was after this point that this particular girl started paying more attention and participating in class. So I guess my face did good today.

But as a whole I am really happy with how today went. I am getting most of the names down. I already have 2 full classes and most of the other 3 classes already, so I'm happy about that.

Yesterday while I was doing afternoon cafeteria duty (I sit in the caf from 2:30-5:00 and tell kids not to sit on tables, make out, or run around) a parent came up to me and said, "you, you look like you're a teacher, can you help me?" AWESOME. made my day. that was great.

But now that I am a real full-blown teacher, being a student starts back up today. Fun fun. My grad classes continue today and thursday from 4:30-6:00. I'm super-duper excited for it (sarcasm).

.... until then.

Day 1

Today was the first real day of school. All in all it went by smoothly. Out of the 7 periods today, I taught in 4 of them. I got to meet me students and got to know them a little bit better. I already have a lot of the names down already.

In my classes today, I went over my syllabus, went over the seating chart, and gave them their first assignment (a 3 page essay). Then I gave all the students index cards and they had to write some information about themselves down for me: name, the name they go by, birthday, extracurriculars, expectation for the class, and a fun fact

All of my classes had a little bit of a difficult time figuring out a "fun fact" but after a little bit of explaining, I got some pretty interesting answers:

• I can dislocate my left shoulder
• I dislike when people chew loudly
• I'm second in the state for golf
• I once swallowed a bingo chip
• I have a metal pelvis
• I met David Hasslehoff
• I met the Pope
• I want to be a clown
• I'm named after Lawrence Taylor
• I'm super-duper social
• I eat marshmallows with almost everything
• I love Canada
• I crashed by F-150 into a tree this weekend
• I'm a bird watcher
• When I listen to the radio, I'd rather seek & scan the stations than listen to just one station
• I only have one kidney
• My grandpa owns 200 cows
• I'm captain and founder of the badminton club

So I think this is shaping up to becoming a good, and interesting, year

0 Days on the Job without an Error

So today .... yeah.

Yesterday was the first day of student orientation. Yesterday was for seniors and freshmen and today was for juniors and sophomores. Last week I told the principal and vice principal that I had a cardiologist appointment in Boston on Wednesday. They told me it was fine for me to leave around 930 on wednesday morning. I only had Junior history classes anyway.

So yesterday, I went up to the principal's administrative assistant and told her that I was leaving. She told me I was all set and I went on my way. My doctor's appoint went fine, but that's beside the point.

I got to school today and found a note from the principal in my mailbox. Apparently one of my junior history classes has 6 seniors in it. There was no way for me to know, but it technically wasn't my fault but yup ... way to mess up on the first day. The principal was understanding, he knew that it was a miscommunication on all sides so he couldn't hold it against me.

But I met all (except the 6) students today. It went really well. I was wicked nervous before the day but now I'm so excited for the year. I told the kids how I have high expectations of them, basically went over my classroom expectations, and gave them a little info about me. All if not most of the students were positive, attentive, and a little enthusiastic.

This is going to be a good year. They don't see it coming but on the first real day of school they're getting assigned a 3 page essay.