Not Dead

Ok, so I know that it seems like this blog has died but it has not! I refuse to let it!!! I guess that basketball made me more busy than I even realized and I didn't have time for anything other than school and ball. Not even time for this blog! But, basketball is over so now I might have time to function and do the things that I want to do. 2nd trimester ends in 2 1/2 weeks. I cannot believe that we are already that far into the year. Looking back, I think that this trimester has gone a lot better than last trimester did. I feel like I am more organized and just a better teacher in general. I act more like I want to act when I am in class and I feel like I am finally letting the kids get to know the real me a little more which I think helps things a lot. I am sure that I have a lot of good stories that I should have put on here but right now, I don't have the energy or the brain power to write them. I will slowly start to add some of the stuff that has been happening. Mostly this post is just to say that there will be more posts to come!

2 minute post

I only have 2 minutes until my prep is over. I must say... I don't think that I have ever been as busy as I am right now in my entire life. Even when I was going to school full time and working 2 jobs I feel like I had more free time. I think that it is mostly because I feel like basketball consumes my life. And, I'm not upset that it does. I love coaching and I love everything that it has brought to my life. I can't imagine not knowing all of the girls that play. I get so upset when I see them upset.

Teaching is going well. I am getting more organized and on top of things. Nothing too exciting to report...

pointless

i hear what is going on in other classes and sometimes i wonder why in the world teachers assign the work that they do. some of it just seems entirely pointless to me. maybe that is because i don't see what is going on in the rest of class and i don't see how it all connects but still... it seems like a waste of time. i wonder if people outside of my class think that sometimes. i sure hope not. i try to only have my students do assignments that will actually help them. maybe i will ask a student that i trust will be honest with me what they think.

back to school, back to school...

Thanksgiving break is over.... and I am sad. It was really hard to wake up and come to work today. All of the students seem extra tired (and so do I!). It seems that when they don't have school they sleep WAY less than normal. One girl told me she thought that she slept only 8 hours the whole break (ok, I know she was exaggerating but still, I'm sure she didn't sleep much) It has been a struggle today so far getting them to listen and do their work. Hopefully they get back into the swing of things.

My new books got here today. Well, part of them did. I am excited! This trimester looks like its going to be a good one.

end of first trimester

Last Thursday our first trimester ended. I can't believe that I made it through my first trimester of teaching. It feels good to make it to this benchmark. Teaching has been getting better lately. My second trimester is going to be a lot better than my first. They took away my geometry class and are splitting up my algebra 1 classes into three classes rather than two. That means that instead of 30 or more students in each class I will only have around 20. I think that it will make life a lot better. Also, I get to start teaching out of new books which I think will make things easier. Basically my life of teaching is looking up.

I am loving coaching basketball. I have really grown to love the girls I work with. They are so much fun to be around and they make my life happier. I especially like that they feel like they can come to me and talk to me and I feel like I can help them and make a difference. That is what I really wanted to be able to do as a teacher but it happens faster and easier as a coach. I am going to miss basketball when it is over. Good thing it lasts until February.

Sorry I haven't been very good at writing on here. I am going to try to start writing more.

Basketball

Last week I started coaching the freshman girls' basketball team. It has been really fun so far. It makes me like teaching more. I think that it is becasue I get to interact with the girls in the way that I wish I could interact with all of my students. We have fun together but they still listen to what I say and I am able to listen to what they are saying. If only all of my students and classes could be like that.

Saturday we had two practices so that we could get in our 10 practices before their first game. They ran along the water for the first practice. It was fun to watch them bond together and finish a long run. The girls that finished before everyone else went back and ran with the ones that were struggling. Here's a picture of them finishing.


(i took the picture down because I decided it just wasn't a good idea)

cheating

Today my day has been filled with students cheating. During our breakfast break (yes, my school takes a break and serves the students breakfast for free... which I think is a really good idea) another teacher came and found me and handed me 2 pieces of paper. They belonged to two boys in my first period class. She said she caught one of them copying. So, I got to talk to those two about cheating.

My fourth period was the kicker. We were going over homework from yesterday and I look back to a kid sitting in the back row and he is so obviously copying off of another paper. I asked him who it belonged to and he just said it was his so instead of making a scene I told him he could just talk to me after class. Well, after class I went over and talked to him and asked him which student he was copying off of. He said that he honestly wasn't copying from another student. So, I asked him whose paper it was. Well, turns out his Uncle's girlfriend did it and he was copying it into his own handwriting. Yes the kid was stupid for cheating but what makes me really mad is the stupid girlfriend. I assume that his uncle and girlfriend are adults. Why would an adult think that it was ok and that it was going to help the kid. I am not a teacher that assigns homework just for the fun of it. The homework prepares them for the TEST! Doing it will help him get a good grade. So, if he isn't doing the homework by himself does she think that she will be able to come in and do the test for him?!?! I took everything from him and told him to redo it and give it to me tomorrow or he wasn't getting any credit. The nerve of some adults. No wonder kids cheat, that's what they are shown is acceptable by the adults in their lives that should be role models.