Kids these days!

Tonight at a middle school soccer game, one of my freshmen thought my 9 year old cousin was my daughter. This first year math teacher is NOT that old. And then his grandma didn't believe I was old enough to be a teacher! Yikes! He had to show her my school ID so she'd believe I was really his teacher.

Conferences were tonight, but no one wanted to meet with me! So I got LOTS of work done. :)

Soccer Can Make One Crazy

Tonight my school's girls' soccer team played the school I student taught at. I was SO excited because my cooperating teacher's daughters play. So I got to see her and catch up and talk about teaching, and specifically, teaching math. It was great to be able to say, "It took the whole period to go over the homework over composition of functions" and to have someone understand that! One student from her class that I taught last year was on the team, and one from one of my geometry classes. I said hello them both, and I got to see her two girls play as well. It was so nice to hear an update about things at there school, because I truly enjoyed working with the math department there. They were great.

My other cooperating teacher retired this year. He's been following my blog and thinks I'm overwhelmed because I haven't updated lately... THIS UPDATE IS FOR YOU!! Thanks for all the fun times last year, and for all you (and Mrs. D and the whole department) taught me! We had a good time, but I must say, I couldn't be happier than to be right where I am. Also, she will probably be telling you soon that I had to go take care of a "popcorn emergency."

Don't worry, I handled it! ;)

Anyway, conferences tomorrow... No one has signed up for me yet... I just hope my brother's game doesn't get the time switched with the girls because I'd hate to miss a rival middle school soccer game!

Speaking of soccer... a storm got one of my brother's games cancelled yesterday. Since all the boys were already at the field but the girls' game was still going on, they all ended up in our living room. One of my students was here too, since he's the older brother of one of my brother's friends... I learned this weekend when I went to the fair (where I saw eight students), that I can't go anywhere anymore! I'm apparently not even safe in my parents' home!

Stress Free Evening

Tomorrow we have a two hour delay, which means I only need to plan for about 30 minute classes instead of 50. Score! And we'll be returning quizzes in all of my classes, and then going over them as well as returning any other papers they still need to see and telling them their midterm grades. Easy day. Yay. :)

I needed to change my license to a 4 year resident educator license. It's a new program the state is putting new teachers through and it's kind of a pain. I sent in my application and the state put me on a payment hold. I was ANGRY. So today I called them. The nice woman on the phone instantly told me that it was a mistake on their part and something they had to enter manually. Everything should be finished in 48 hours. What a relief! Sometimes people really can be helpful when you call!

It's been a good day.

Out of Creative Ideas for a Title...

Well, it's been 4 weeks since the first day of school. Can you believe it? I sure can't. I'm still adjusting to life. I cannot believe that I really teach at my old high school. You would think that the reality would be completely sunk in by now, but it's just not. I'm thrilled, and SO blessed.

Routines are starting to set in. I know how each day runs and I am pretty good at figuring out a tentative plan for the week and adjusting accordingly for the constant changes in the daily schedule (regular day, long homeroom, short homeroom... who knows?!). Friday we have a 2-hour delay for an in-service, so my classes will be really short. It's crazy, but I don't actually have the bell schedule memorized, so I just remember which schedule we're on and check the correct row and column on the chart I keep on my desk.

My little brother is the greatest kid on earth. He sets up my computers every morning and helps pack up and clean up at the end of the day. It makes my mornings much smoother, and gets me out of school faster at the end of the day.

Midterms are coming up already too! Yikes! I've got lots of work to do in the next week. Tomorrow I will be observed by my principal! The kids have been warned, and I think it will be fine. I sure hope so!

OH! And I FINALLY got a contract today! I'm SO official.

Well, that was random, but I think that's all. Absolutely enjoying life lately... hope you are too!

Oh, Study Hall!

Just thought I'd give you a quick anecdote from study hall today.

A student comes in and complains about an essay that he has to write. Apparently NO ONE did the assignment last night, so today they were told to do it again, and that anyone who does not have it tomorrow gets a detention. He wanted to go bug his English teacher because he said he didn't understand it. I said "no." Did he read the story? No. Were the directions clearly spelled out? Yes. I basically read the directions to him, emphasizing each point. (Note: this essay requires about 6 sentences.)

Finally, the guy behind him says, "You know, in the time you've complained about this, you could have had it done."

To which I reply, "Yes, get to work and don't talk until that essay's finished."

The student asks, "Can I talk when I'm done?"

"Not until I read it."

"But you're a math teacher."

AHH! WRONG THING TO SAY STUDY HALL STUDENT. I told him that I went to a liberal arts college and that I got a 4 on my AP English test when I was a student at my school. The stereotype that math teachers can't write or use proper grammar or otherwise speak their native language infuriates me. I may not always love writing, but I don't think you'll find any grammar mistakes in this post. If you do, please let me know and I'll fix them immediately. 

Anyway, he did get the essay done, so if I did nothing else today, I did save one student from 30 minutes in a silent, windowless room. And I did read the essay. I added and erased a few commas and told him that the language could definitely be cleaned up some (it was awkward and wordy) but that he would at least get by. Secretly, I wanted to read the story and let him know what a decent essay sounds like, but I'm doing so much math every day, I just don't have time to write essays on short stories! I sadly don't have much reading time at all. YES, SOME MATH TEACHERS EVEN LIKE TO READ! ;-)

Testing!

Gave my first tests in Algebra I and Geometry on Monday and Tuesday. The Algebra ones went great! Geometry was okay. I've found that a lot of students struggle with Geometry because it requires a whole different way of thinking than they're used to. For those it clicks for, it's really easy. I know my mom loved geometry... her geometry teacher told me!

I've also learned that you hear some interesting things in the teachers' lounge! 

But back to testing... Algebra II tests are tomorrow. I'm really glad I asked my department head about how she formats her Algebra II tests before I left today... because she just handed me hers and said I could use it if I want! I'm planning on it. I'm pretty sure it's the same test I took when I was a student. Guess this means that I have to recollect them after the test... they can't be reused if the students have them!

Finally... sports. (Finished talking about testing now.)

-Watched my little brother win (by a lot) this week in MS soccer. Fun times. Graded papers over dinner during a rain delay. 

-Sold popcorn with my freshmen at a rivalry volleyball game. Now that the kids have it down, I don't really have to do much (unlike the first game, where my co-advisor and I did it all ourselves), so I graded papers there too! 

A friend of mine who was an English major said my blog was very readable. I'm glad... as a math person, I'm not much of a writer. I can write, and I actually like grammar, but I don't always enjoy it. But I love my job, so I think that comes out in my writing... or at least I hope it does! 

Weekend of Memories

Friday my school had a moment of silence and showed video clips from September 11, 2001. I was in 7th grade that day. I was in band when things started, and since we were all in our "special" classes, all the 7th grade teachers had prep that period. Naturally, one of the history teachers was watching the news. My friends and I filed in to our preAlgebra class and we'll never forget that history teacher coming down the hall and telling our teacher to turn on the news. I don't remember exactly what else he said, but I remember confusion and the crazy indescribable look on his face. We saw the live footage of the second plane. I don't think many other teachers let us watch the news that day. There was a lot of confusion... I guess that's middle school for you.

Later, when I was a freshman in high school, our English teacher made us draw pictures about that day. I don't remember the point of the assignment. We probably wrote a poem or something too. But I do remember a very artistic classmate of mine's drawing. He drew us sitting in that preAlgebra class. It was a drawing of what he saw at that moment. He remembered who sat where and made and included the backs of our heads. And up in the corner of that drawing was the mounted TV from our classroom, with that image we saw so many times over those days.

So thank you, pre-Algebra teacher. The firefighters get a lot of recognition (which they deserve, because they were great!), but we won't ever forget you either. Thanks for letting us witness history happening, and thank you for keeping us calm.

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This weekend I attended a wedding in the town I went to college in. I stayed with younger friends all weekend, but the couple who got married were seniors when I was a freshman. It was a weird combination of feeling really old and really young. I had a great time, but I realize that I'm not cut out for college life anymore. I'm SO tired and I am seriously lacking the motivation to grade these papers sitting next to me.

It was a strange weekend of reliving old memories, making happy new ones, and reflecting on a sad day 10 years past. I hope that I'm never the teacher that my preAlgebra teacher was to me. I don't want anyone to ever have to go through another day like that.

Thanks for reading.

Busy Busy Busy

Had a great long weekend. The university I attended doesn't have Labor Day off (to encourage freshmen to stay on campus) so it was my first Labor Day off since I was in high school myself. How nice!

It's also great because now that I've got one day of school down for the week, there are only 3 left instead of four! I think I've got a pretty good idea of what the week is going to look like, but I still have a lot to do to prepare for tomorrow. Looks like there may be several interruptions this week, so we're going to hold off any tests until the beginning of next week.

New teachers in Ohio are now considered "Resident Educators" for 4 years. This means we have to go through a mentorship program that lasts 4 years. First meeting for that was today. It will be a long process, but the upside is that there are several new teachers in my district who are new to the profession, so we'll all be going through it together. And my mentor is a really great teacher, and I had him as a teacher back when I was a high school freshman!

Dropped by the volleyball game so I could help my co-advisor to the freshman class count ballots, but it turns out not every class that was supposed to vote did today. No big deal, we'll count them soon. Just more that contributes to a busy week. Staff meeting tomorrow, then it looks like my week will slow down a bit.

Still loving my job! :)

Another week done!

Last night was Open House... when I was in school we called it "Meet the Teacher Night." Parents come in and follow their kid's schedule. They go to all their classes in the order they go to them so that they can meet all the teachers. I printed up a bunch of handouts and made small talk. There were 13 families that signed it in my room. That's it. Guess I didn't need those 45 handouts.

I stayed after school and just worked on things, then went to dinner with a few other teachers. We came back for open house and I finally got home around 9pm. My classroom had to be 80 degrees, even after the sun had gone done. It was miserable.

Today wasn't much better, but my awesome 12-year old brother carried my fan in to the school for me this morning, and it helped a ton. Still, after driving home in a car that desperately needs the a/c charged, I was miserable.

Oh well, another week complete and now I'm camping! My parents' friends have a wireless hotspot. We don't rough it at all! I've uploaded my lessons for next week, so I feel really accomplished! Time to enjoy a great weekend with family and friends. (There will be over 25 of us tomorrow!)

Enjoy your holiday weekend, everyone. This math teacher is ready to relax!