This Thanksgiving break has been much needed. I have done a little of all of my favorite things over the past five days - reading, shopping, spending time with family, and watching movies. My sister and her two boys came and spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday with me. We had a great time. Andrew and Ben are so much fun. They kept me laughing. We went bowling Wednesday night and they had a ball. Ben, the three year old, was so cute rolling the ball down the lane. Andrew, the five year old, tried so hard to beat Shelley and me. Too cute! Thanksgiving day was very nice. My Grannie made a lovely dinner and then we hung out as a family and watched The Godfather. Shelley, the boys, and I went shopping Friday morning...not at 4 am. We shopped for a couple of hours with the boys until they hit their shopping wall. Andrew, who is a lot like me, needs a plan before you leave the house of how many stores we are going to. I talked him into 5 stores. Thankfully, he usually counts the mall as one store. We went to 3 stores the way he was counting. I could tell he and his brother were getting tired so I told them we could go home and didn't need to go to stores 4 and 5. Andrew said, "Aunt Patti, that is a great plan. Are we still going to get long chicken nuggets for lunch?" I had told them earlier that we could go to Zaxby's for lunch. So we drove through on the way home. Oh, while we were shopping that day, little Ben happened to knock down three racks of clothes. He likes to hide under the clothes and scare us. One of the racks was wobbly already and I had almost knocked it down. I set it up straight and was walking away when Ben rushed past me. Next thing I knew 3 racks of clothes were on the floor and Ben kept saying "I'm sorry...It was an accident." He is too cute for words.
Well it is back to school tomorrow. I have three weeks to make it until Christmas holidays. It is going to be a stressful three weeks with the students having to take their end of course tests. I hope I have prepared them well enough.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
1st Semester Update
I can't tell you how exhausted I am. It has been a fun, but rough start to my teaching career. I still have a lot of self-doubt that I am actually teaching my students enough or anything. I have also had many frustrating days where I am not really sure this is for me. Thankfully God provides me with some really great teaching days along with the bad. I really enjoy my students. This 9th grade class has some serious behavior and respect issues. It seems as if half of my students are always in In-School Suspension(ISS) or Out-of-School Suspension(OSS). I have to send work down to the students in ISS. I have had as many as 6 students in ISS at one time. That puts a lot of extra work on me.
My classes have just finished reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. They really enjoyed it. I have now read the book 4 times in the last month. Once on my own and then with each of my classes. The students will take their test over the novel on Tuesday -right before Thanksgiving holidays. After the test, I am planning to share Mr. Alan's Thanksgiving Carols with my classes. I hope that many families throughout Dublin will participate in singing and spreading the joy of the Thanksgiving Carols.
My apartment is coming along. I purchased a dark wood round dining table and chairs. I have also hung additional artwork around my apartment. After I finish the office area, I hope to tackle the space that I am calling my craft room. I need to get my Cricut machine set up in a more permanent place so I can continue to make things for my classroom. I got my hair cut into a bob style. I am enjoying it. Chloe is doing well. She loved seeing Emily and Ms. Jan when they came for a visit earlier this month.
On a sad note, my mom's dad, Granddang, passed away on November 7th. Yesterday would have been his 89th birthday. It will certainly be a hard Thanksgiving this year b/c he loved this holiday. His wife, my grandmother, is home from the rehabilitation center and hospital, but can not do anything for herself. My Aunt is in Florida taking care of her on a full-time basis right now. My mom is going down to FL for Thanksgiving and then she is going to stay the week after to give my Aunt Net a break and a chance to go home and see her husband in NC. I can't even begin to imagine the stress that my mom and her siblings are feeling. Thankfully there are four of them so they are trying to share in the responsibilities. So far no major disagreements have erupted between the siblings.
I am on the last push to the end of this semester. After Thanksgiving, I have 3 weeks until Christmas break and then 1 1/2 weeks after Christmas before final exams and the end of the semester. We are going to be finishing our research paper projects, reading and discussing Romeo and Juliet, and completing a public speaking project. My students also want to see the movie based on the novel The Outsiders and I told them we would try to work it in near the end of the semester. I still have two more formal evaluations coming up. I am looking forward to meeting a new group of students next semester. Some things will certainly be done differently next time. I learn a little bit everyday and overall I still love it. Just be glad you didn't ask me on Friday if I loved teaching or not....you would have gotten a different answer.
Love you guys! Give me a call sometime!
My classes have just finished reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. They really enjoyed it. I have now read the book 4 times in the last month. Once on my own and then with each of my classes. The students will take their test over the novel on Tuesday -right before Thanksgiving holidays. After the test, I am planning to share Mr. Alan's Thanksgiving Carols with my classes. I hope that many families throughout Dublin will participate in singing and spreading the joy of the Thanksgiving Carols.
My apartment is coming along. I purchased a dark wood round dining table and chairs. I have also hung additional artwork around my apartment. After I finish the office area, I hope to tackle the space that I am calling my craft room. I need to get my Cricut machine set up in a more permanent place so I can continue to make things for my classroom. I got my hair cut into a bob style. I am enjoying it. Chloe is doing well. She loved seeing Emily and Ms. Jan when they came for a visit earlier this month.
On a sad note, my mom's dad, Granddang, passed away on November 7th. Yesterday would have been his 89th birthday. It will certainly be a hard Thanksgiving this year b/c he loved this holiday. His wife, my grandmother, is home from the rehabilitation center and hospital, but can not do anything for herself. My Aunt is in Florida taking care of her on a full-time basis right now. My mom is going down to FL for Thanksgiving and then she is going to stay the week after to give my Aunt Net a break and a chance to go home and see her husband in NC. I can't even begin to imagine the stress that my mom and her siblings are feeling. Thankfully there are four of them so they are trying to share in the responsibilities. So far no major disagreements have erupted between the siblings.
I am on the last push to the end of this semester. After Thanksgiving, I have 3 weeks until Christmas break and then 1 1/2 weeks after Christmas before final exams and the end of the semester. We are going to be finishing our research paper projects, reading and discussing Romeo and Juliet, and completing a public speaking project. My students also want to see the movie based on the novel The Outsiders and I told them we would try to work it in near the end of the semester. I still have two more formal evaluations coming up. I am looking forward to meeting a new group of students next semester. Some things will certainly be done differently next time. I learn a little bit everyday and overall I still love it. Just be glad you didn't ask me on Friday if I loved teaching or not....you would have gotten a different answer.
Love you guys! Give me a call sometime!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
An Interesting Development
Thursday night I was feeling tired and glad the next day was Friday. I needed sleep. Well I awoke early Friday morning (around 2:00am) itching all over. Even the bottoms of my feet and the palms of my hands were itching. I went to the bathroom to splash water on my face and was surprised by my reflection in the mirror. I was splotchy red all over. My face, neck, chest, hands, etc were covered with red itchy spots. I didn't know what it was, but I needed sleep and thought I would deal with it in the morning. I went fitfully back to sleep and got up at 5:00am. I called my mom and dad at 6:00am to ask what they thought it might be. We decided I had obviously been exposed to some poison ivy somewhere. I went to school, it was Friday after all and you can't call out sick on a Friday--I mean come on--faker!. Hee, hee. I went to school, checked in with the principal so he would know my dilemma and then proceeded to teach school all day itchy and wearing latex gloves so as not to spread my rash (if it was even contagious). My mom called her doctor and got me a prescription for Prednisolone. I have been taking that for the last couple of days. My read splotches have gone away mostly. I still have periods of itchiness. I guess I will be known as "The teacher who wore gloves." Not exactly what I had hoped for. At any rate - I survived another week.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
And the race is on....and I'm behind already....
It seems like yesterday that school started, but it has been almost 3 weeks. I feel like I am already behind. I seem to grade papers, grade papers, and then grade more papers. Every time I turn around there is something else to grade. Michelle says that I'll soon learn not to take so many things for a grade. I want my students to have ample opportunity to keep their averages up and I also need to assess what they have learned so far. We are quickly approaching midterm exams in October. I hope that I can move things along soon. Everything seems to take twice as long as I thought it would. Oh well. Who knew 9th graders could get into so much trouble. Everyday I get a note about a different student who is in In School Suspension (ISS) or Out of School Suspension (OS).
On a good note - I had my first lesson plan check and snapshot evaluation. Both of those went well. The only note he gave me that was in the slightest bit negative was that my standards posted on the wall aren't big enough. I'll try to print those out bigger soon and get them posted before my next evaluation. I am in the middle of trying to figure out our online grade book. Of course we have to keep a written copy as well.
Chloe is doing okay adjusting to the school schedule. Some days she can't hold it until I get home, but overall she has many more good days than bad days. We are both still trying to adjust to our new place. I still have a lot that needs to be unpacked and put away. It is starting to weigh on me, so hopefully I can get to a lot of it this weekend.
On a good note - I had my first lesson plan check and snapshot evaluation. Both of those went well. The only note he gave me that was in the slightest bit negative was that my standards posted on the wall aren't big enough. I'll try to print those out bigger soon and get them posted before my next evaluation. I am in the middle of trying to figure out our online grade book. Of course we have to keep a written copy as well.
Chloe is doing okay adjusting to the school schedule. Some days she can't hold it until I get home, but overall she has many more good days than bad days. We are both still trying to adjust to our new place. I still have a lot that needs to be unpacked and put away. It is starting to weigh on me, so hopefully I can get to a lot of it this weekend.
Friday, August 22, 2008
GO!
Okay, so I know that I am several days behind, but in my defense I am a NEW teacher. Let me back up a couple of days and tell you how things have been going.
Monday, August 18th--I finally finished my classroom! Yeah! I was so happy to be done with the decorating. We had our first faculty meeting. Mr. Kight, our principal, made all of the new teachers to the school stand up and introduce themselves (you know I loved that). Everyone was very nice and gracious in telling me that they would give me their names again. Mr. Kight took all of the new teachers on a little field trip to see the new school. I can't wait to be there next year.
Tuesday, August 19th--I found out today that I am going to have a co-teacher during 1st and 3rd period. That threw me for a loop. Apparently, I have a significant number of students in those classes that need modifications. I'll just have to see how it goes. Today was open house. The parents and students came from 3pm-6pm to meet the teachers and see which classes their children were going to be in. The students had to find their name on a list and then go to the homeroom listed. When they came to their homeroom class, we, the teachers, gave them a copy of their schedule. The schedules were very confusing to read, so I whipped out my highlighters and tried my best to help people figure out where they were going. I had to ask the teacher next door to me, Ms. Wilkinson or Michelle, several questions about where things were. She has been a great help and source of information. I met all but six of the students from my homeroom class of 26. I also met around 30 of the students that I would have in my three 9th grade Literature and Composition classes. I have 77 students on my rosters. My mom came by at the end of open house to see how I was doing. I had a great time getting to meet the students and my parents. Here are some of the comments I heard: "You have a northern accent" (what??), "You have a baby voice" (yeah, I know), and "You sound like a literature teacher. You must love this stuff" (you betcha). These comments were from the parents. Can't wait to hear what the students have to say. I was excited for the first day of school, but I found out that night that I definitely need to wear comfortable shoes b/c after standing for three hours my feet were hurting.
Wednesday, August 20--Teachers had to report at 7:25am this morning. I got to school around 6:50am. I guess I was just so nervous that on my way to school I had to pull over on the side of the road for a minute. Once I got to school and got all of my stuff settled into the classroom, went and signed in, and then came back and set up my lesson for the day - I was feeling much better and very excited. My homeroom class went very smoothly - I didn't mispronounce any one's name. Then I had 1st, 2nd, and 3rd period classes. We only had 1st period for 1 hour b/c of our extended homeroom, so I accomplished as much as I could with them. Then second period we were called out of class for the 9th grade assembly. I had that class for about 45 minutes, then we had a thirty minute assembly, and then 15 minutes more of class time. I had my 3rd period class for the whole 90 minutes b/c this is the period in which we go to lunch. My class has 2nd lunch. Therefore we have 30 minutes of class time, go to lunch for 25 minutes and then come back for 1 hour of class time. I have great students. I was so happy with how things went on the 1st day. Of course, my feet were killing me, but I figure I'll get used to standing most of the day soon. I had been telling my mom for weeks that after school let out on the first day I was going to go home and have a good cry and then take a nap. Well, I didn't do either. I was too excited about how well things went. Oh, I forgot to mention I have three different administrators' relatives in my classes. I figure they want to get scoop from the students. Mr. Kight also came by during 1st period to see how things were going. I was in the middle of introducing the literary element mood by using theme songs from scary movies and TV shows. I was asking the students after each song selection how that particular song would enhance the mood of the movie. Mr. Kight said "Have you played Jaws yet?" I laughed and told him, "You just gave away the next one!" He left shortly after that. He saw my Dad later that day at the school (he was there on official business, not checking up on me) and Mr. Kight told him that it seemed as if I had everything together and was doing well. We'll see.....
Thursday, August 21--Today went great as well. I have a couple of repeaters in my 3rd period class who are a handful, but I think I can handle them. On Monday I am going to give this class assigned seating to separate some of the instigators. I am pretty exhausted. I think it is because I was so nervous leading up to this week and the amount of work I have been doing to get ready. I still don't have a bank of lesson plans made up. I am just staying one day ahead of the students. I guess that will just have to do for this semester. I came home and crashed today. I changed clothes, pulled my hair up in a ponytail, and crawled under a blanket on the couch. Chloe came and laid on my side and we took a nap. I also went to bed around 10pm.
Friday, August 22--I am feeling refreshed in the morning and very happy that it is Friday. Today went well. I am still getting used to having a co-teacher in my 1st and 3rd periods. It is hard for me to allow someone else to teach part of my class. You know how I want to be in control. One of the nice things about it is that I do get to rest my voice while she is doing part of the lesson. It is also a help to have someone assist students with questions while they are working on their assignments. I still seem to accomplish more in my 2nd period, the class I have on my own. This is probably because I have control over the pace and what material is covered during the period. I brought home a long list of things to do this weekend. Hopefully, I can get the whole week's lessons planned out.
Monday, August 18th--I finally finished my classroom! Yeah! I was so happy to be done with the decorating. We had our first faculty meeting. Mr. Kight, our principal, made all of the new teachers to the school stand up and introduce themselves (you know I loved that). Everyone was very nice and gracious in telling me that they would give me their names again. Mr. Kight took all of the new teachers on a little field trip to see the new school. I can't wait to be there next year.
Tuesday, August 19th--I found out today that I am going to have a co-teacher during 1st and 3rd period. That threw me for a loop. Apparently, I have a significant number of students in those classes that need modifications. I'll just have to see how it goes. Today was open house. The parents and students came from 3pm-6pm to meet the teachers and see which classes their children were going to be in. The students had to find their name on a list and then go to the homeroom listed. When they came to their homeroom class, we, the teachers, gave them a copy of their schedule. The schedules were very confusing to read, so I whipped out my highlighters and tried my best to help people figure out where they were going. I had to ask the teacher next door to me, Ms. Wilkinson or Michelle, several questions about where things were. She has been a great help and source of information. I met all but six of the students from my homeroom class of 26. I also met around 30 of the students that I would have in my three 9th grade Literature and Composition classes. I have 77 students on my rosters. My mom came by at the end of open house to see how I was doing. I had a great time getting to meet the students and my parents. Here are some of the comments I heard: "You have a northern accent" (what??), "You have a baby voice" (yeah, I know), and "You sound like a literature teacher. You must love this stuff" (you betcha). These comments were from the parents. Can't wait to hear what the students have to say. I was excited for the first day of school, but I found out that night that I definitely need to wear comfortable shoes b/c after standing for three hours my feet were hurting.
Wednesday, August 20--Teachers had to report at 7:25am this morning. I got to school around 6:50am. I guess I was just so nervous that on my way to school I had to pull over on the side of the road for a minute. Once I got to school and got all of my stuff settled into the classroom, went and signed in, and then came back and set up my lesson for the day - I was feeling much better and very excited. My homeroom class went very smoothly - I didn't mispronounce any one's name. Then I had 1st, 2nd, and 3rd period classes. We only had 1st period for 1 hour b/c of our extended homeroom, so I accomplished as much as I could with them. Then second period we were called out of class for the 9th grade assembly. I had that class for about 45 minutes, then we had a thirty minute assembly, and then 15 minutes more of class time. I had my 3rd period class for the whole 90 minutes b/c this is the period in which we go to lunch. My class has 2nd lunch. Therefore we have 30 minutes of class time, go to lunch for 25 minutes and then come back for 1 hour of class time. I have great students. I was so happy with how things went on the 1st day. Of course, my feet were killing me, but I figure I'll get used to standing most of the day soon. I had been telling my mom for weeks that after school let out on the first day I was going to go home and have a good cry and then take a nap. Well, I didn't do either. I was too excited about how well things went. Oh, I forgot to mention I have three different administrators' relatives in my classes. I figure they want to get scoop from the students. Mr. Kight also came by during 1st period to see how things were going. I was in the middle of introducing the literary element mood by using theme songs from scary movies and TV shows. I was asking the students after each song selection how that particular song would enhance the mood of the movie. Mr. Kight said "Have you played Jaws yet?" I laughed and told him, "You just gave away the next one!" He left shortly after that. He saw my Dad later that day at the school (he was there on official business, not checking up on me) and Mr. Kight told him that it seemed as if I had everything together and was doing well. We'll see.....
Thursday, August 21--Today went great as well. I have a couple of repeaters in my 3rd period class who are a handful, but I think I can handle them. On Monday I am going to give this class assigned seating to separate some of the instigators. I am pretty exhausted. I think it is because I was so nervous leading up to this week and the amount of work I have been doing to get ready. I still don't have a bank of lesson plans made up. I am just staying one day ahead of the students. I guess that will just have to do for this semester. I came home and crashed today. I changed clothes, pulled my hair up in a ponytail, and crawled under a blanket on the couch. Chloe came and laid on my side and we took a nap. I also went to bed around 10pm.
Friday, August 22--I am feeling refreshed in the morning and very happy that it is Friday. Today went well. I am still getting used to having a co-teacher in my 1st and 3rd periods. It is hard for me to allow someone else to teach part of my class. You know how I want to be in control. One of the nice things about it is that I do get to rest my voice while she is doing part of the lesson. It is also a help to have someone assist students with questions while they are working on their assignments. I still seem to accomplish more in my 2nd period, the class I have on my own. This is probably because I have control over the pace and what material is covered during the period. I brought home a long list of things to do this weekend. Hopefully, I can get the whole week's lessons planned out.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Get Ready....Get Set....
I am nearing the starting line of the school year. I am sure that this 1st year at West Laurens High School will certainly feel like a race. I have been in the process these last several weeks of planning, cutting out letters for bulletin boards, and trying to clean and organize my classroom. I am starting to feel overwhelmed with the amount of tasks still to be completed, but at some point I know I have to let the little things go and just start teaching. I can't wait to meet my students! I am sure this year will be a challenge and a joy. I appreciate so much all of the support and prayers my friends and family have given me. I don't know if I would be as ready as I am without the work my mother, Jackie, has put into my classroom. When I get discouraged or frustrated, she is here to cheer me on and prod me to keep moving forward. I have certainly put her to work this summer.
My dog, Chloe, is loving Georgia. She has her summer haircut right now. My dad keeps telling her she looks like a skinned rat. It took me some time, but I have finally gotten used to the way she looks without all of her fluff. Although, I prefer the "fluff". Chloe loves spending time with my mom and Dad and going next door to visit my Grannie and Papaw. She has a lot of yard to run around in here and has a new favorite past time. Chloe is fond of chasing all of the butterflies that are attracted to the flowering plants in my parent's yard. She runs after them and follows whatever path they take. Thankfully she is starting to listen to me and comes back when I call her. I have only had to chase her down a few times.
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