Yesterday, an unidentified student (or students) kept making this noise that sounded like a vibrating phone. I couldn’t tell for the life of me who it was or how they were making the noise. I had an idea of which class clown it was, but couldn’t pinpoint the perpetrator. The noise continued and people (most likely the ones that were doing it) kept complaining about how the “phone” was distracting them. So that continued most of the period generating much disruption.

Today, in the middle of a student presentation, the noise started again. When it was time for me to teach/ introduce new material, I heard it again. I was fed up and reached the point of making irrational teacher threats.

“I put it on everything that I love, if I hear that noise one more time, I’m NOT going to teach. If you know who the person is, feel free to write me a private note.”

As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I thought “Crap! That was THE dumbest teacher move ever. Clearly someone’s going to do it again just to make me fulfill my threat.”

But the Teacher Angels were on my side today. I continued the lesson and at the end of class, I realized…..the noise NEVER happened again.
I was in awe.

I feel like some students might have thought I meant I was going to quit my job altogether when I said “NOT going teach”. Nevertheless, it made me feel good that they held such high regards for me as a teacher; even the troublemakers.

I recently began reading a book called “Teaching With Love and Logic”. It talks about how one of the myths that teachers believe is that students don’t need to like you as long as they respect you. I’m realizing more and more why this really is a myth. If your students like you, they will do nearly anything to please you, even if it’s what they would not normally do for a teacher.

I worry a lot about how my rookie status, my close rapport with students, and my age proximity to them might impact their respect for me as a teacher. I used to get defeated when I see students who are often tardy or rowdy in my class be on time or silent for other veteran teachers’ classes. But then instances like today’s happen. And I realize that “respect” can be shown in different ways. And I think I’m just fine with how they express their respect for me and my class.

Half day tomorrow, then Thanksgiving break. Woohoo!
Here’s to hoping the kiddos aren’t too off the wall tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

It’s supposedly a hoax, but nevertheless I think the theme is relevant to the classroom as well.  October is supposed to be one of  the roughest months for teaching.  The honeymoon period is over, students are back in the groove of school, and ready to test the waters with their new teachers and see who is serious and who is not.  Sounds like gang initiation to me.  Lol.

So far my students have been on board with me and willing to learn and listen.  Hopefully this will last because things are about to get tougher for them.  We just finished our first unit, which was super easy material.  I’m glad that many of them got a confidence boost from it, but the next unit is a bit more challenging.  And I don’t want them to be fooled and think the entire course is going to be a breeze.  I had to contain my laughter the past couple of weeks when I repeatedly heard comments like “this class is so easy.”   Haaa.  Get back to me on that when we start molar conversions, sweetie.

Other updates:

Back to School Night was awesome.  Had to stay pretty late, but the turnout of parents was great.  All of them were passionate about ensuring that their children started off the year on the path to success.  I exchanged a lot of contact info and need to hold myself accountable for keeping communication up.  (Oh, I also got to practice my Spanish with one set of parents.  To me, it was a hot mess, but they understood what I was trying to say and were impressed.  yayyy!)

We took a test last week, and Pauly D, (myspecial project from last blog post)  emailed me all weekend trying to find out if he passed.  I told him to wait until Monday to be pleasantly surprised. Lol.  He got a B! So happy for him.

Goodbye for now.  I think my next post will be a collection of quotes I’ve gathered so far this year.   Should be entertaining.  Latersss.

“The Lord is my strength.”

And “everything” obviously doesn’t include efficient class schedules/rosters, quality learning environments, or access to all the resources that I need.  But besides that, I had a pretty good first week of school.  Well, that could be a bit hyped up, but the good definitely outweighed the bad.

“The 2nd year is much better” is SUCH an understatement.   Even though the chaos/disorder of my school and district remains pretty much the same, at least having SOMEWHAT of  clue of what you’re doing as a teacher makes life soooo much easier.  I’m a pro at winging stuff, going with the flow, and I feel much more comfortable in front of my students.

The other amazing thing I’m noticing is the great rapport and relationships I’m already developing with my new students.  I think part of this comes from building up a positive reputation during my first year.  And word of mouth is the best form of advertisement, so most of my new students came to me having heard good things about my class or about me as a teacher.  So this helped tons.  Even more, I gained a better understanding of the student and community culture that I was dealing with during my first year.  So I used that to guide me in my demeanor, presentation, explanations, humor, etc.  It’s great.  All so great.  So far, all of my students are on board.  And even if this is just a honeymoon phase for the 1st couple weeks, I definitely think I can leverage off of it in the future when things get rough in the classroom.

As much as I’m excited about these new students, my former ones still warm  my heart.  ”Make new friends, but keep the old.  One is silver and the other’s gold.”   <–I think this definitely applies to students as well.  My students from last year stopped by frequently to visit and tell me how much they missed my class or wished I was their teacher again.  This is such great motivation for giving my new kids a great experience.  Also, some of my former students, mostly seniors, come by my room during their free periods and help me with stuff around the classroom.  And who am I to deny free labor?  :-D

And finally, the highlight of my week goes to one new student in particular, Pauly.  (Everyone calls him this because he had a haircut like Pauly D.  from Jersey Shore, but this is not actually his name.  I was disappointed when I found out it was just a nickname because I was definitely fooled.  Thought it was a cool coincidence.  I’m still gullible, people!)  Anyways, Pauly was one of the reckless freshmen last year,  who’s schedule was completely Hallway 101.  He had a friend in my class last year, and always came into my classroom to be with him.  Some days, I just let him stay because I figured it was better that he was there than making trouble in the halls.  I even made him do the work with us! Lol . Overall, he’s a a pretty unmotivated kid; got into trouble a lot, very bad grades, etc.  Not violent or outwardly disruptive, but just a notorious slacker.    So this year, he ends up in one of my chemistry classes.  He comes in the first day beaming and says “Miss, I’m in your class!”  (Took me a second to even recognize him because the Pauly D hair was gone. )  Many teachers don’t seem fond of him, but to me he is SO sweet.  I think the time he spent “visiting” my classroom last year really helped.   I can tell that school is really not his thing but I believe he just needs the right motivation.  I can already see that he cares a lot about my class, my opinion, and impressing me.  Everyday during this 1st week he’s been on task, completing his work, and before he leaves, always asks “Miss, I’m doing good, right?”   And every  time I answer, I make sure to hype him up to the fullest; especially because, from the way he asks, I get the vibe that I’m the first teacher that ever said anything positive to him.  Definitely going to keep my eyes on him this year.  And hopefully I can try to get him to be motivated in all of his classes and not just mine.

So, that’s all for now! I will try to update every Friday.  Not going to promise anything crazier than that, especially with this off the wall schedule they gave me.  (I won’t even bring up the fact that we have teacher shortages considering how many teachers are out of work right now. Another story for another day.)   Alright, time to stop thinking about work.  I’m determined to have a life outside of my occupation this year.   Thanks for reading!  Deuces!

This week was Mid-term week.  My students took our chemistry mid-term on Tues and Wed.  Since there was a mutual agreement among the teachers to keep work light during the week when your mid-terms were done, I tried to find something easy yet engaging for my kiddos to do.   After browsing around online, I decided we should do a slime lab, where we made slime for glue and borax.

I was a little worried for 2 reasons

1) I thought my kids would think the activity was too basic/corny.  Because most people I know did the slime lab in elementary school.

2) Whenever we do labs, it’s often mass chaos and confusion with the lab area left looking a hot mess.

Fortunately neither of those concerns turned out to be a problem.  First, I addressed the issue of order and cleanliness by telling them if they didn’t leave their lab station the way they met it, that would be an automatic grade of “zero”.  That worked like a charm.

Secondly, they didn’t find it corny at all….they LOVED the activity!  Kids were coming back all day long, trying to make more.  The periods from later in the day came in excited and ready to go. “Miss, I heard we’re doing something fun today!!!”  Lol.

Also, got a lot of positive feedback such as “This was the best lab I’ve ever done!”  ”We should do this everyday!”  (False!)   or “I love you, Miss!”.  (I’ve concluded that saying I Love You is their way of saying that they enjoyed today’s lesson or something that I did for them.  Being forward/direct when it comes to academic-related compliments is not their strong suit.  lol)

The only thing I’m worried about is how I might have vexed the other teachers.  I told my students not to bother their other teachers and play with their slime in other classes.  Obviously I know my babies well enough to know they weren’t going to adhere to that.  I heard they were playing with the slime during their other mid-terms.  And that in one class the teacher asked where they got it from and what the teacher’s name was.  :-/

Other than that, I think it was a great way to end the week before our long weekend (President’s day off on Monday!  :-D)   Next week we start a new (and more challenging) unit and I’m going to be changing a lot of things around in terms of classroom culture/management as well as lesson and content delivery.  So I’ll be working on all that this weekend.  Deuces!

(The title of this post is kind of an insider, btw.  I’m not being weird and sending a greeting to slime.)

It’s currently testing season in my world of teaching high school chemistry.  A unit exam {FINALLY} coming up. i say finally because we’ve had so many snow days….well only 3 in the past 2 weeks but that’s defnitely enough to throw everything off schedule. Also have the 2nd marking period benchmark coming up this week. And then in 2 weeks we have mid-terms.  *Whew*

My kids are about to be worn out with the massive amount of review we’re about to do.  Shoo, I am too.  Reviewing/reteaching is going to be a challenge to me.  I think it’s because I’ve never done it yet.  Hopefully it goes well and my Program Director from TFA has some good advice to offer me.

I have a lot of lesson planning to do before bedtime, so I’m just going to debrief on some of the recent highlights in my teaching adventure:

-Recently I performed a short rap I made up for some of my classes….CRAZINESS.   It honestly wasn’t that great.  But they LOVED it and were so hype.  ”Miss, that was dope!”   “Miss you’re my favorite teacher now!”  Lol.  Their favorite part was when I remixed a line from a Drake/Nicki Minaj song: “We learning a lotta things/they just tryna ruin it/ Shout out to the fact that I’m the youngest teacher doin it!”    :-D

-It’s supposed to snow AGAIN on Tuesday! If we have another frivolous snow day, I’m not ever going back!  J/k.   But I will be really irritated.  Honestly, it’s bittersweet.  I like the sleeping in and getting paid to lounge around my apartment part of it.  But I dislike how behind we’re getting and the idea that we’re cutting into our summer break.  -_-

-The science department (made up of ALL the high school science teachers in the DISTRICT) has decided to use some new computer program for grading the district assessments.  Our supervisor chose 1 person from each building to be responsible for learning how it works and doing the grading for all the science exams in that building.  And, surprisingly, she chose MOI to be in charge of it for my building.  I was really shocked.  It’s not that big of a deal, but it’s my first real sense of “responsibility” and accountability as a teacher.  This will definitiely help me overcome my insecurity of being the youngest teacher.  Seriously, I feel like a little kid when I’m around the other teachers.  O_o

-My wish for this week: That 4th period drives me off the wall only 2 days or less this week.  :-/

Anywho, I realized I need to have a way to document my teaching experience when this is all done, so I know I promise to update my blog more often each time I post and I never do….I reallly will this time!!  lol.

Here’s to an awesome work week!

I was asked this by a student yesterday when introducing new material.  It got me thinking about how much you take for granted all of the knowledge you accumulate in your area of study.

It’s been over 2 months since I’ve updated! O_o   I guess the whirlwind of being a 1st year teacher just took a hold of me. So much has happened since then.  I was looking back at my post from the 1st week of teaching.  A lot of what I said still holds true.  Some of it I had to laugh at.  Like when I said I could tell my kids would be a bunch of characters…Boy was that an understatement.  My students are something else.  But I love it. As much as they can annoy the heck out of me sometimes, their personas definitely keep me on my toes and make things interesting.  If only they embodied the scripture from Ecclesiastes Chapter 3—there’s a time and place for everything….

This is especially true for my 4th period. I really like the students in there as individuals.  Some of my favorite students are in that class.  And most of them in that period are just in love with me.  (This is inferred from end of quarter surveys as well as public professions. lol).  But overall as a class…I cannot STAND them.  They’re so loud, obnoxious, annoying, unfocused and just overall extra.  *Sigh*.  I just don’t know what to do.  I strongly forsee myself just exploding at them one day and doing a restart, in terms of management.  On Thursday, my Program Director is coming to video tape that period so we can pinpoint areas for improvement.  It’s going to be super weird seeing myself teach.  Lol.

In my last post, I also said that overall, I thought it was going to be a great year….I still believe that even though I’m not exactly seeing it come into fruition right now.  I feel like they still have so far to go with academics and maturity.  Sometimes I just feel like a horrible teacher.  But what worries me the most is how low the standards around me are.  So often I have my other teachers telling me how they’ve heard great things about my classroom or students tell me how they love my class and the way I teach. And this worries me.  I’m concerned about what the norm is for my students’ educational experience, if what I’m doing as an inexperienced teacher walking blindly in the dark is so “amazing”.  :-/

But that should be no surprise.  I already know my students have been severely disserviced by their school system.  And that’s why I’m here.

Ok, I’m out.  I will try to update more often.  *Pinky swear*

So I finallyyyyyy got approved and called in to the classroom by my school district.  It only took missing three weeks of class with my students.  I was so worried that by this time, they’d be so over my class and not be willing to take it seriously.  But it was in fact the complete opposite.  They were SO hype to finally have a real teacher and not just a substitute.  My first class even ended with them giving me an applause.  They were just being silly, but it still made me feel grand.  lol.

Overall, my students are a great bunch.  They can be really chatty and restless, as I witnessed today as I adminstered a diagnostic exam.  That’s going to have to be something to work on.  However, I’m not complaining too much; especially when I hear horror stories of how the other students in the school are.  Apparently there was a food fight in the cafeteria TWO days in a row.  One of these times, the superintendent was present and supposedly almost got knocked over.  :-O

I should probably mention that there are tons of logistical and administrative issues at my school.  One of which is the fact that all vice-principals, disciplinarians, and administrators were cut from the staff.  So as far as management goes, it’s the prinicipal and the teachers, with minimal security guards.  It’s kind of messy right now as we go through some growing pains.

And get this: even though they cut the staff, someone thought it was a good idea to add even more students to the building.  Soooo…that means on the first day (and even now, still) I have a lot more students than I expected.  Out of my five classes, four of them have on average about 30 students.  Let’s talk about how I only have 23 real desks in my room though, most of which are really janky and broke-down.  :-/   I’m trying to make do but it’s so cramped and students are not in proper conditions for doing academic work comfortably and efficiently.  I’m def not feeling it.

As I stated earlier, I’m sitting here trying to lesson plan.  But I can’t focus because I keep thinking about how I’m going to get the copies I need for tomorrow’s work.  It’s not that I procrastinated.  I was just naive and assumed that submitting a copy request 48 hours in advance at the main office, as instructed, meant that I would actually get them in time.  Another teacher didn’t seem to optimistic about this.  So now I’m worried they won’t be ready by tomorrow morning.  Which means I’ll probably have to rush to Kinkos after Open House tonight to spend bookoo money that I don’t have on copies.  (Oh, and don’t even get me started on the unfourtante  financial/payroll circumstances my district has me facing.  Smh.)

But I really like my kids, so that makes up for whatever vices I have towards how the school is run.  I can tell they are going to be a bunch of characters.  And they are so excited about doing labs/experiments.  Now the pressure is on for me to find them fun ones to do that won’t let cause them to lose their eyebrows.  I believe, overall, it’s going to be a great school year.

One last rant:  So, this Back to School thing tonight….Yeah, I have no idea how it’s going to be run. All I know is “teachers should be here by 5pm”.  Idk where exactly “here” is though…and 5 o clock is in 15 minutes.  *Sigh*

Oh, and I’ll end with the funny story of the day (let me preface it by reminding that the theme for my class is “All We Do Is Win” and I usually put it at the top of handouts):

So we’re taking the diagnostic exam and the students are supposed to be silent and doing it individually.  I ask one group of students who are talking if they are finished.  One of them replies “no, we’re on #30.”   I’m like “What do you mean ‘we’?? This is not group work. ”    He goes “Well, look at the top of the paper!  it says ‘All WE do is win’!!! “    And then I died.  lolol.  It was too funny. I played myself with that one.

It was really great.  It was for all of the new teachers in my district.  There were 5 other TFA folks there with me out of like the 30 or so that was there.  And, surprise, surprise, each of the Corps Members is placed at a different school.  So not only are we the first TFAers ever to work in the district, but we have to do it independently.  This should be an adventure.

So, the first half of orientation was comprised of presentations from the superintendent, Human Resources, Tech Specialists, etc.  It was pretty interesting.  The other CMs and I realized how similar the district’s vision and strategies were to TFA, in terms of being very data-focused and results-driven.  So that could be a good thing.  At least we all see eye to eye on how to foster student achievement.

After the presentation, we went to a restaurant and had a luncheon with the Teacher’s Union.  It was pretty nice, except for towards the end….Things got kind of heated when the Union members started talking about the ridic stuff the governor was doing to NJ public education, none of which was conducive for teachers and student success.  But yeah, it got kind of awkward, but I understand their passion towards the issue.  I’m sure I’ll understand even more after I get more immersed in the teaching field.

Finally, after the luncheon we went to our individual schools to visit and meet the principal.  This was my favorite part. I was kind of nervous at first, because I didn’t know what to expect.  Would the principal even know about me? Would she know I was coming? Who do I even report to? Where the eff is the main office? (I spent like 5min wandering the school, trying to find it).  But alas, everything was just dandy.  My principal is so cool.  She was very helpful and kind-hearted.  Gave me a lot of advice about being a new teacher and answered so many of the burning questions I’d been having.  (Of course I thought of even more after I left, but I can ask those when I go back again next Tues, which is the 1st day for all of the staff to be there). And best part of all, I got to see my school for the first time!  And my CLASSROOM!!  It was sooo exciting.  So my classroom is pretty old school.  We have the traditional black top tables from science classrooms (boo!).  A chalkboard. (boo!).  No LCD projector (boo!).  But there is an overhead projector (*bright side*).  And at least I get my own classroom.  I’m grateful I’m not a traveling cart teacher.   But I do have to share with another teacher.  I feel like I have the room the majority of the time.   I’m going to meet with her on Tues and collaborate on the set up of the room.  Hopefully she won’t have a problem with the posters I’m planning on making and posting.  :-D

I FINALLY got the chemistry curriculum for the district, as well as the Chemistry textbook.  I also got my schedule.  So I know what periods I’ll be teaching, when I have lunch, prep, and teacher duty, etc.  My class sizes are actually pretty good.  Most range from 12 to 23.  However, my last class of the day is listed to have FIFTY students.  She said they could probably cut that down to about 30.  I have a feeling that’s going to be my toughest period.  And I just randomly thought: What if on the first day they forget to adjust that roster? There’s no way 50kids can fit into my room…that would be an interesting scenario.  Also, when the science dept supervisor interviewed me, she told me I’d likely have mostly 10th graders.  Sooo not true.  My principal told me they’ll probably be mostly 11th graders.  So, not a huge difference, but juniors are at that stage where they think they’re grown because they’re finally upperclassmen, as my roommate put it….Let’s see how this works out.

So, today was an overall great day.  The only thing I’m worried about is whether or not the district received my Fingerprint records.  Because, if they haven’t by next Tuesday, then apparently I’m not allowed in the classroom on Wed, the first day.  :-O   Here’s to hoping everything works out.  Because I’m wayyyy too hype after today to not be in the classroom next week.  Wow this was a really long post.  But I just really wanted to share my day.  I finally feel like a teacher.    And you know what? It’s actually an amazing feeling. (<<–Or insert your own corny but inspiring ending here)

-All moved into my new lovely apartment with my lovely roommates

-I’ve been placed!!  I’ll be working for Elizabeth Public School District here in Jersey.  I don’t know the exact school yet.  Especially because their district is kind of through some new weird changes.  It was originally just one large high school for the whole city.  So it had over 5,000 students enrolled and split up into specialized academies. I believe it was one of the largest high schools in the country.  But recently they have divided it up to make each of those academies its own separate entities.  So, I have a feeling dealing with this logistical and administrative change should make for quite an adventure during my first year of teaching.  Anyways, I am likely to be in any one of those umbrella high schools….well except for the one designated for gifted students since veteran/tenured teachers are very unlikely to give up their position there,  according to the Department head who interviewed me.  But I def don’t mind.   Being with the under-achieving students is where I want to make my impact.

-Another strange thing about my new placement home: So the first day of school is next Wednesday after labor day.  But then we have off on Thurs and Fri for Rosh Hoshanna.  That means I’ll only see my students once that week on Wed and then not again until Mon.  Crazy right?!?!

-And yet another funny tidbit: I’m still not technically hired yet.  I have orientation this week and everything, but I still have to do a plethora of things before I can be in the classroom.  These include, but are not limited to: being officially appointed by the Board, get my fingerprints and criminal record transferred, get a whole bunch of shots and blood tests (i HATE needles!) .  So obviously there’s a lot that goes into allowing someone to be around children.  Lol.  I’m not mad at it though.  Got to keep the kids safe….and the District out of legal trouble.   So, I’m praying all of this can get done before next week so I can be in the classroom on the first day.

-I’m super duper excited.  And excitement is turning into anxiety when I think about all that I have to do.  I’ve been watching videos of TFA secondary classrooms, been browsing the Resource Exchange, where corps members post things they’ve used which includes  everything from lesson plans to diagnostics.  I’m going to see my relatives this weekend for Labor Day, so I will be recruiting my artistic siblings/cousins to help me make posters.  And I’m going to spend all day tomorrow revising the Big Goal, Management Plan, and Investment Plan for my class.  I’ve also ordered on Netflix The Wire: Season 4 (focused on Urban Education in Bmore) so that I can get my mindset prepared for what I’ll be experiencing.  So, so much to do and think about before my first day!!!!  let’s go, God!!!!

P.S.  Duke had its first day of classes today.  i MISS my alma mater!!! luckily i have tfa to keep me preoccupied from nostalgia.

Anyways, the point is while conquering all the organized chaos that makes up Institute, I didn’t even realize how {seemingly} quickly it went by.   This was definitely one of the most challenging, educational, inspiring, stressful, and adventurous experiences I’ve ever had.  I think I can say I loved every minute of it…..actually, I’ll be real and say every other minute.  It wasn’t all gravy.  Being up before the sun everyday wasn’t the most pleasant circumstance.  Neither was being away from my family during difficult times.  Speaking of which, I can honestly say that the hardest part about institute for me was having to go through it while dealing with the lingering grief from my mother’s passing.  I also kind of felt like I didn’t make as many new/close friends at institute because of this.  I wasn’t exactly in the mood for even more change in my life.  So I pretty much spent my weekends going off campus to visit family or Duke friends.  I know this isn’t necessarily a good thing.  And I did get kind of lonely sometime during the week.  But it is what it is.  :-/

Overall, I’m so so proud of myself for beating the monster that is known as TFA.  Now it’s time for the next phase of my new life as a teacher.  I feel so inspired and am sooo ready to get things rolling in my placement school this fall….as soon as I find out what it is.  I’m still praying for favor with the interviews we’ll be having in mid-August.  I’ve been kind of concerned because of hiring freezes that have impacted the NYC region negatively as well as educational budget cuts happening in NJ.  Also, my college gpa is not the best and I hope principals don’t hold this against me.  But I try not to worry about getting hired because I know God will see me through.

Tomorrow I’m being forced to move out of St John’s.  Fortunately I got the keys to my new apt in Nwk and for my new car this week!  :-D   So I’ll be going back to MD for about a week before we start Round Zero.  This is basically the period where we start getting ready for the beginning of the school year.  I’m kind of excited about this.  I’ll be even more hype when I get my placement school and can start making specific plans.  Oh! And I have decided the theme for my classroom this fall……which I share & elaborate on in my next post.  Right now, it would behoove me to start packing.  My 1st independent road trip is tomorrow! Send up a prayer for me! And thanks for reading!