rough

I am having a rough time! No matter how good I am at my job, I am certainly tired of it. I have to be honest. My second year is making me want to take a break from teaching and do something else entirely. I will spare the complaints.

friendly observation

Observation can never be neutral. I was sitting in the back of someone's class taking notes while I observed her teaching; I wasn't there to judge, but of course I was comparing myself to her. We are both second-year teachers; though, my students are a year younger than hers. I can say mine are more well-behaved than hers.

I noticed how insecure the kids felt. They didn't answer questions and they teased each other frequently. I was pretty miserable and bored myself sitting through the short classes. The clowns just wanted to get sent to the suspension room, and usually they got to go. It must be fun in there.

That school was in a really rough neighborhood that was the site of a gang-related shooting last year. I imagine the kids just come to school to be safe, make friends, and make it through.

My students seem less troubled, but I don't think they realize that. The kids I know don't always meet my expectations, but I am not going to lower them one bit. I am glad all those kids have a teacher who cares and challenges them.

Gradebook is Empty

Yes. I have two different piles of homework to grade. One test. One essay from Writing assessments. But I had a great day! My lesson today consisted of a powerpoint (informational) and a class discussion (knowledge-building). My class discussed the fact that the United States is 5% of the World's population, yet we use 25% of the oil consumed. The kids were shocked to find that nothing in the room around them was made without oil. Even their very bodies - fed from food shipped and produced with oil energy. I didn't mean to scare any of them, but we all had some serious criticism of the American lifestyle. Their suggested solutions to major world problems were admirable, but inconsequential. I got them thinking, and I loved the sight of it.

Tomorrow, however, I'm not sure what we'll work on. We burned through two days' worth of assignments in one class period. Tomorrow I need to either give them a new article to read, or do vocab practice and summary skills.

I am not sure why they asked us to give a writing assessment and then not provide time to grade it. I am struggling right now with communication between my coteacher and I. Without blaming her, the truth is that I am taking on all the work myself. Even my vice principal has ordered me to put her to work. In her words, "you have two highly-paid professionals in your room: get them working with the kids."

Today we did parallel teaching. I liked that I got to hear from every student in my small group. I disliked that we ended up in different spots when we got back together. Instead of giving the rest of the worksheet as homework to the group that was behind, I just said "we'll go over it tomorrow." So, I intend to have the kids teach each other what they learned in small group. Haha! Less work for me.

Now I gotta go grade these papers *grumble*