I went back to work after 2 and a half months off. After that much time without working it is an exhausting transition to get up early and actually work. The exhaustion aside I am excited. I get to teach kids math. How cool is that.
My goals for the new year are this:
1. Establish good routines in my classroom.
2. Be firm and consistent with rules.
3. Focus on students ability to think about math.
How I will measure my success:
1. Students will enter and exit the room in an orderly fashion.
2. Amount of time spent arguing with students.
3. I'm not sure exactly how to measure this. I am going to have to think about this.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Friday, February 02, 2007
2 Hour Delays. Professional Development. Testing.
Got a two hour delay this morning and didn't really know what to do with myself. I really didn't expect this at all. It doesn't feel like this really counts as a two hour delay because we have professional development today anyways. All I had to look forward to was grading some notebooks and hanging up some posters. Its really a fluke that I even found out about the delay.
I had heard it might snow, but when I woke up there didn't seem to be anything on the ground so I didn't worry about it. I even started to bike to work . I didn't get very far though. While riding past the Blockbuster in Waverly I heard a hiss come from my tire. I stopped and looked down to see a piece of glass stuck into my tire. I was dismayed, but not far from home so I called around to look for a ride.I reached another teacher from my school and she was like " What? You're going to school now? We have a two hour delay."
I guess its nice. I don't know. I'm frustrated with work right now. Not all aspects of it. I like the students . I still like the challenges they bring to my classroom. I'm working on getting the class under control. My real frustration is coming from things that are out of my realm of control.
I'm pretty fed up with hearing about the HSA. I really could probably write a lot of things about why its wrong to do this. Maybe I'm just scared that I'm not doing enough to get my students to a point where they could pass it. But to be honest I think this test is wrong. I don't want to feel like I'm teaching my students how to pass it, but this is how the Algebra curriculum is designed. That is how my performance and the performance of my students is being measured. It's bad. I don't think this is what is needed to raise student achievement.
The frustration comes because I don't feel like I'm in a position to do anything about the test. Yes its my classroom, but I am powerless to do anything about this. I can't just say I'm going to teach math the way I think it should be done. I have to have my students ready for this test or they won't graduate. I'm sure with more experience I can take the curriculum and prepare my students for the HSA without feeling like I'm teaching students for a test, but right now that just isn't happening.
I had heard it might snow, but when I woke up there didn't seem to be anything on the ground so I didn't worry about it. I even started to bike to work . I didn't get very far though. While riding past the Blockbuster in Waverly I heard a hiss come from my tire. I stopped and looked down to see a piece of glass stuck into my tire. I was dismayed, but not far from home so I called around to look for a ride.I reached another teacher from my school and she was like " What? You're going to school now? We have a two hour delay."
I guess its nice. I don't know. I'm frustrated with work right now. Not all aspects of it. I like the students . I still like the challenges they bring to my classroom. I'm working on getting the class under control. My real frustration is coming from things that are out of my realm of control.
I'm pretty fed up with hearing about the HSA. I really could probably write a lot of things about why its wrong to do this. Maybe I'm just scared that I'm not doing enough to get my students to a point where they could pass it. But to be honest I think this test is wrong. I don't want to feel like I'm teaching my students how to pass it, but this is how the Algebra curriculum is designed. That is how my performance and the performance of my students is being measured. It's bad. I don't think this is what is needed to raise student achievement.
The frustration comes because I don't feel like I'm in a position to do anything about the test. Yes its my classroom, but I am powerless to do anything about this. I can't just say I'm going to teach math the way I think it should be done. I have to have my students ready for this test or they won't graduate. I'm sure with more experience I can take the curriculum and prepare my students for the HSA without feeling like I'm teaching students for a test, but right now that just isn't happening.
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