All I have to say about today is that it should AT LEAST be Wednesday.
Something I forgot to mention about the lazy-ass computer teacher from yesterday:
When she was done "teaching" (in this case meaning "doing absolutely NOTHING) my class, she just walked out. Not one word to tell me she was leaving. Good thing I looked up from the paperwork I was doing to catch her rounding the corner out of my room or I would have never known she'd left and that the period was over. Grrrrrr!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Computers in the Classroom
Okay, I'm going to do my best to stay calm while writing this.
Every day when I enter the building, I check "the board." "The board" is a white dry-erase board in the office where daily announcements are posted for teachers. It usually includes information about who has morning duty, classes that are canceled, or meetings we might have that day.
Today it said, "Ms. B's computer classes will be held in the classroom." Okay, I thought. I'll get some work together in case there's a sub or something. Then I saw Ms. B with my own eyes, so I figured that since she was here, I wouldn't have to get anything together for the kids to do during her time. Can you see where this is going? (For your own information, the computer lab was being used for some kind of technology event).
At 9:45 (she was supposed to be there at 9:40, btw), Ms. B comes in my classroom. I instruct my kids to put away their vocabulary, clear their desks, fold their hands, and wait for instructions from Ms. B. A dialogue begins:
Ms. B: Oh, I don't have any work for them to do. You're supposed to have that.
Me: I was not aware of this.
Ms. B: I see you've never had computers in the classroom before.
I'm sorry, BUT ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME???? If you can't come up with something meaningful for them to do, can't you even put together a word-search of computer-related terms. At the very least run off something for them to color?! I mean really!
So my kids got independent reading or writing time for the next 40 minutes. They were happy (they're nerdy like that...I LOVE it!). Hell, it's more educational than what they do when they're actually in computer class.
Every day when I enter the building, I check "the board." "The board" is a white dry-erase board in the office where daily announcements are posted for teachers. It usually includes information about who has morning duty, classes that are canceled, or meetings we might have that day.
Today it said, "Ms. B's computer classes will be held in the classroom." Okay, I thought. I'll get some work together in case there's a sub or something. Then I saw Ms. B with my own eyes, so I figured that since she was here, I wouldn't have to get anything together for the kids to do during her time. Can you see where this is going? (For your own information, the computer lab was being used for some kind of technology event).
At 9:45 (she was supposed to be there at 9:40, btw), Ms. B comes in my classroom. I instruct my kids to put away their vocabulary, clear their desks, fold their hands, and wait for instructions from Ms. B. A dialogue begins:
Ms. B: Oh, I don't have any work for them to do. You're supposed to have that.
Me: I was not aware of this.
Ms. B: I see you've never had computers in the classroom before.
I'm sorry, BUT ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME???? If you can't come up with something meaningful for them to do, can't you even put together a word-search of computer-related terms. At the very least run off something for them to color?! I mean really!
So my kids got independent reading or writing time for the next 40 minutes. They were happy (they're nerdy like that...I LOVE it!). Hell, it's more educational than what they do when they're actually in computer class.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Fun with Fonts
Yesterday was the deadline for my students to hand in their Young Authors books. Young Authors is a writing competition for which students have to compose an original informational, narrative, or poetry book, "bind" it, and hand it in. I then read all of them (from my class only, thank god), pick the best one, and enter it into the schoolwide competition. Then 3 are chosen from there and sent on to the citywide competition, and so on.
While we worked on the books in class, I assigned the bulk of the work to be completed over winter break. We simply do not have enough time to devote to such a big writing project in school. (I feel very sad writing that). About 3 weeks before winter break, I assembled a packet explaining exactly what had to be done, how the book was to be bound, how it was going to be judged, etc. The only thing I failed to mention in the packet was...
the font that was to be used if one was going to type their book.
Big mistake. If you don't tell a nine-year old to use Times New Roman or something plain like that, you end up with a paper written in fonts that blogger won't even let me cut and paste into here, like the one that looks like old English or the one that looks "scary," like there's blood dripping from it. While those are fun to use, have you ever tried to read an 8-page paper written in fancy script with all its loopty-loops? It's not fun. One of my kids got smart and chose a font that uses all caps so he didn't have to worry about capitalizing proper nouns or the beginnings of sentences. (Extra credit for cleverness?).
So another lesson learned. Fonts will from now on be limited to what my kids call "the boring ones."
While we worked on the books in class, I assigned the bulk of the work to be completed over winter break. We simply do not have enough time to devote to such a big writing project in school. (I feel very sad writing that). About 3 weeks before winter break, I assembled a packet explaining exactly what had to be done, how the book was to be bound, how it was going to be judged, etc. The only thing I failed to mention in the packet was...
the font that was to be used if one was going to type their book.
Big mistake. If you don't tell a nine-year old to use Times New Roman or something plain like that, you end up with a paper written in fonts that blogger won't even let me cut and paste into here, like the one that looks like old English or the one that looks "scary," like there's blood dripping from it. While those are fun to use, have you ever tried to read an 8-page paper written in fancy script with all its loopty-loops? It's not fun. One of my kids got smart and chose a font that uses all caps so he didn't have to worry about capitalizing proper nouns or the beginnings of sentences. (Extra credit for cleverness?).
So another lesson learned. Fonts will from now on be limited to what my kids call "the boring ones."
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Being Happy
Was the word "gay" always so funny? I mean, when my kids hear the word "gay" as in "happy," they just think it's the funniest thing in the world.
While reading aloud to them, I read the word g-word and half of them could barely contain themselves. The more mature students (a.k.a. girls) just rolled their eyes and whispered to the gigglers, "'Gay' means happy, idiot!" I just kept reading and eventually the chuckling died down.
I wonder when the word ceased being funny for me. Or was it funny at all? I can't remember. I think I was part of the "more mature" eye-rolling team.
I do remember, however, when I would use the word in this capacity: "That is SO gay!" That wasn't that that long ago and I remember thinking, "Hey, I actually know gay people now, so that probably isn't cool." I stopped.
I also try not to say that things are "retarded," but that one slips out every so often. Hmmm...I guess I should try not to say that things are "lame," either. Geez, maybe I just should talk anymore! Don't worry, I promise not to become one of those uptight, ultra-PC people.
While reading aloud to them, I read the word g-word and half of them could barely contain themselves. The more mature students (a.k.a. girls) just rolled their eyes and whispered to the gigglers, "'Gay' means happy, idiot!" I just kept reading and eventually the chuckling died down.
I wonder when the word ceased being funny for me. Or was it funny at all? I can't remember. I think I was part of the "more mature" eye-rolling team.
I do remember, however, when I would use the word in this capacity: "That is SO gay!" That wasn't that that long ago and I remember thinking, "Hey, I actually know gay people now, so that probably isn't cool." I stopped.
I also try not to say that things are "retarded," but that one slips out every so often. Hmmm...I guess I should try not to say that things are "lame," either. Geez, maybe I just should talk anymore! Don't worry, I promise not to become one of those uptight, ultra-PC people.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Damn Snooze Button
Saturday night I didn't go to sleep until about 1:00. I got up around 9:00 and was dog-tired. I figured, okay, this is good. I'll be tired enough to fall asleep early tonight since I have to wake up early tomorrow (Monday). Sounds good on paper, right? Wrong!
I could not fall asleep last night. While I didn't look at the clock to see what time it was, I laid in bed a good hour and a half before I actually fell asleep. I'm thinking it was around midnight. Grrrr.
This morning, I woke up 1 minute before my alarm went off. This happens frequently. I actually felt quite refreshed, but for some stupid reason, I hit snooze to get an extra 9 minutes in bed. When the alarm rang again, I was no longer feeling well-rested! I felt like I needed another 2 hours. How is this possible? How can 9 extra minutes of sleep make you more tired? A riddle of the universe.
Damn you, snooze button, damn you! Because I know tomorrow I will hit you again.
I could not fall asleep last night. While I didn't look at the clock to see what time it was, I laid in bed a good hour and a half before I actually fell asleep. I'm thinking it was around midnight. Grrrr.
This morning, I woke up 1 minute before my alarm went off. This happens frequently. I actually felt quite refreshed, but for some stupid reason, I hit snooze to get an extra 9 minutes in bed. When the alarm rang again, I was no longer feeling well-rested! I felt like I needed another 2 hours. How is this possible? How can 9 extra minutes of sleep make you more tired? A riddle of the universe.
Damn you, snooze button, damn you! Because I know tomorrow I will hit you again.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Return of the Past
It happened. I was at Jiffy Lube yesterday getting my oil changed (duh) when the woman ringing me up asked me if I used to work at X X school. Immediately I went into observation mode. I studied her eyes, her voice, anything that might give me a clue as to who this person is. I got nothing. (I give myself some slack though. I worked at that school from 1997-1999).
I told her yes, I did work at that school. She replied with, "You were my fourth grade teacher!" I asked her her name and it did sound familiar. I got home and looked at my file of class pictures (yes, I kept them all) and there she was. 1998-1999. Which makes her 19 or 20 years old right now. She looks exactly the same. Okay, taller, but mostly the same.
As I look at these 2 years of pictures from this first school I ever taught at, I'm surprised at 2 things: how well I remember some students and how little I remember other students.
I remember Lauren because she once wrote on her desk that I'm a bitch.
I remember Jihad because he was the first person who observed Ramadan that I'd ever met.
I remember Mark because he was a pain in my ass for an entire year.
I remember Shirley because she was brilliant and could have probably handled 8th grade work.
I remember Adrienne because she witnessed her mom being murdered (true story).
I remember Stanley because his mom was mentally ill and he was pretty much neglected.
If I think about it hard enough, I remember something about every single student. I may not be able to identify each one on sight, but each one of them is in my memory somewhere when I see their picture.
I guess that's why I kept them all.
I told her yes, I did work at that school. She replied with, "You were my fourth grade teacher!" I asked her her name and it did sound familiar. I got home and looked at my file of class pictures (yes, I kept them all) and there she was. 1998-1999. Which makes her 19 or 20 years old right now. She looks exactly the same. Okay, taller, but mostly the same.
As I look at these 2 years of pictures from this first school I ever taught at, I'm surprised at 2 things: how well I remember some students and how little I remember other students.
I remember Lauren because she once wrote on her desk that I'm a bitch.
I remember Jihad because he was the first person who observed Ramadan that I'd ever met.
I remember Mark because he was a pain in my ass for an entire year.
I remember Shirley because she was brilliant and could have probably handled 8th grade work.
I remember Adrienne because she witnessed her mom being murdered (true story).
I remember Stanley because his mom was mentally ill and he was pretty much neglected.
If I think about it hard enough, I remember something about every single student. I may not be able to identify each one on sight, but each one of them is in my memory somewhere when I see their picture.
I guess that's why I kept them all.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
I am So Screwed
School starts again on Monday and I am SO SCREWED! I am barely dragging my ass out of bed every morning at 9:30, and I mean dragging. I am seriously prying my eyes open with, uh, some kind of prying tool (?) and pulling myself up even though my body is screaming for more sleep. Then I walk around like a zombie for the first 30 min. of being "awake." What the hell am I going to do on Monday when I have to wake up at 6:15?
What's weird is that until yesterday, I was getting up without any problem. I would get up at 8:30 or 9:00 and feel refreshed and ready-to-go (even though I had nowhere I needed to be). But all of a sudden, yesterday morning I felt like I was hit by a truck.
Hmmmm...maybe it's the pregnancy, but why now? Why does this happen a handful of days before I have to go back to work?
Like I said, I am SO SCREWED. I'll let you know what happens on Monday.
What's weird is that until yesterday, I was getting up without any problem. I would get up at 8:30 or 9:00 and feel refreshed and ready-to-go (even though I had nowhere I needed to be). But all of a sudden, yesterday morning I felt like I was hit by a truck.
Hmmmm...maybe it's the pregnancy, but why now? Why does this happen a handful of days before I have to go back to work?
Like I said, I am SO SCREWED. I'll let you know what happens on Monday.
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