Spring Break Day 1 - What I Managed to Accomplish

1. Wake up without an alarm.
2. Feed breakfast to masses of hungry children. (Okay, it was just Bug & Bird, but they seem to eat so much for breakfast that I feel like I've fed hoards of hungry lumberjacks. Minus the flannel.)
3. Start GRE practice sets of questions on the computer. (GRE is the SAT for grad school/master's degree. They send you a free little practice program that you can use to practice on the computer.)
4. Complete 3 sets of practice questions on the computer while handing out periodic snacks because the bowls of cereal + a banana aren't enough food to last little Hoovers until lunchtime.
5. Everyone takes a bath or shower.
6. Teach Bug & Bird how to play Twister.



7. Do more practice questions from Official Practice Book that I got at the bookstore. (More portable than the computer, and certainly far more helpful!)
8. Feed children lunch.
9. Play more Twister. Note that Bug is still in his pajamas. But at least he's wearing sunglasses inside.



10. Complete 3 more sets of computer questions, have program completely quit working, and realize you didn't like it anyway.
11. Park kids in front of movie.
12. Pay bills online before the end of the business day.
13. Dole out more snacks.
14. Do more questions out of practice book.
15. Remember that Husband isn't coming home for dinner tonight & realize that I should probably feed the seething masses of hungry children before their little tummies turn inside out & begin munching on the other internal organs to receive sustenence.
16. Believe it or not, play more Twister.
17. Clean up the toys & get ready for bed. The kids, that is.
18. Tuck away children & mostly clean the kitchen.
19. Finish really hard practice questions.
20. Husband finally gets home around 8pm.

21. Realize that I've answered 200+ math & verbal questions today, and that didn't count any of the questions my own kids asked me.

22. Stopping now, very thankful that the test is tomorrow morning & I then I won't have to think about it anymore. I hope.

What I Got To Do For School Yesterday

Perhaps my favorite field trip (I'm ignoring the fact that it's my ONLY field trip!) is where I take my physics class to a theme park to study all the different types of rides. We look at the roller coaster, carousel, free fall, and a water ride, take all kinds of measurements and then do all kinds of calculations. It's a great review of all the things we've been learning all semester. (And perhaps the best way to review for the semester exam!!) This time of year is perfect - the park was practically empty since it's early December.

This is the third year I've done the trip, and I've always booked it through an agency that puts together the entire program for us. However, the facilitator they sent yesterday was lousy, and I had to keep explaining to the kids what we were doing and why we were doing it.

Which made me realize a couple of things:
- I actually HAVE learned more physics than I thought I had, and
- I'm ready to put all my own stuff together and run the whole trip myself.

Well, not entirely by myself! Me & the other teacher who goes with me (who was an engineer in her former life and used to teach physics before she took a sabbatical & I got stuck with it and when she returned she didn't want it back!).

I am ready to stand on my own two (and our collective four) feet.

Because I need more work like I need a hole in the head!!

Thoughts on Excellence

Each week, I have a quote of some kind (usually from a scientist, but not always) on my board. My first year students have to write a response to it. This week, it was "Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude." Instead of a specific directive, I simply told them to respond to the quote. I thought some of their thoughts were interesting.

Excellence is something you have and are, not something you do.... it cannot be obtained magically in exchange for temporary achievement.

Excellence starts with your attitude. You must be in the right frame of mind.

If someone is only doing their best some of the time, then they don't have an attitude of excellence.

Excellence is something that means different things to different people. (really?! oh the relativism!)

I suppose it was inevitable that someone went Bill-and-Ted on me:

I think he means you should try to BE excellent, not achieve excellence.

In Which I Salute Scotland

It's Homecoming Week round these parts, and that means we have all sorts of weird dress up days at school. Yesterday was the Ultimate Sports Fan Day, the idea being that you dressed up to support your favorite sports team.

Ahem. I don't really watch sports. I don't even pretend to LIKE too many sports.

So, I started thinking it would be really fun to support a sport that is not all that common in the US. After some chatting, another colleague came up with the idea that we could be caber tossers.
After finding a "kilt" at Goodwill, some knee socks at Target, and grabbing a pool noodle from my backyard, I was ready to go!



I also drew a picture of the Scottish flag on my board, and played bagpipe music inbetween all my classes.

If I wasn't in their heads as being 'colorful' before, I bet I am now.

Wordless Wednesday - Colored Fire

At the thought of fall, some people's minds turn to autumn leaves and pumpkins.

My mind turns to lighting chemicals on fire. Seriously, some compounds on fire are simply beautiful.



I am in awe.

It's Not all Relative

Imagine the scenario: a student (not mine) disobeys a teacher (not me), and the teacher writes him up. The principal disciplines the child - i.e. talks to him & doles out the consequences. The parent of the child then calls the principal - to ask if he fully investigated the events leading up to the infraction. Because, you see, her child is normally such a good child, and he was just frustrated by what was happening, so he acted out.

Did you catch it? The parent was justifying the child's disobedience simply because he was frustrated. It was okay, just this once.

Except it's not. Disobedience and disrespect are just that, and they need to be dealt with appropriately. I can guarantee you that if I were frustrated with my superior and disrespected him, the consequences would be a lot greater than demerits or detention.

Frustration is part of life. At some point, we all have to deal with people and/or situations that frustrate us. Usually more than once. It does not excuse or justify misbehavior. As parents, it's our job to help equip our children to deal with these situations in an acceptable manner, not to try and get them out of the consequences.

Toot, Toot!

My regular chem class is a little surprising this year - there are only 15 of them (my Honors is bigger, for once. 25! eek!), half of whom are seniors. It makes for interesting dynamics because a) they're chattier, and b) their work is... haphazard at times. I'm glad they decided to challenge themselves in their last year of high school, but it does keep me on my toes!!

After class on Monday one of my senior girls asked me if I remembered a former student. I did (yay! memory still intact); I taught him chemistry, and then he was in my very first section of physics. I mention this because that first year of physics was a class that kicked me to the curb - content wise. There were so many days I told them I'd get back to them with answers to their questions, run home, get Husband to explain it to me, and then go back and explain it to them.

Anyhow, to make a long story short (too late?!), she told me about a conversation she'd had with him. She told him that she was in my chemistry class, at which point he told her, "Pay attention to everything she says. You will never again hear anybody explain anything so well."

Wow.

The Rest of the Week

I seem to have forgotten that this is MY blog, and that occasionally I do like to talk about MYSELF. Because, quite frankly, it eases the need to endlessly talk off other people's ears about me.

I have all sorts of jumbled thoughts in my head, yet they seem to be unable to come out in a coherent format. The reason for that will eventually become apparent. Therefore, we will revert to a bullet-point list. Without the bullets. Hopefully not without points.

* My first day of school went quite well. Even with five completely different classes. I managed to maintain the light-yet-serious tone, conveying that they are about to have their heads spun in all kind of direction, but that they would love it. Or at least tolerate it.

* Amazingly, I have not lost anybody from my roster during the past week once said speech was made. (The two who dropped before they even got to class don't count.). We are nowhere near the end of add-drop yet, though.

* In an unprecedented move, I convinced a student to JOIN my regular chemistry class. I am still reeling with shock.

* Thursday & Friday were the high school retreat. Once we have the business of Wednesday out of the way, it allows us time to grow together as a group, dig a little deeper, and try to lay a strong spiritual foundation for the year.

* Translated: Retreat involves lots of group games, potentially gross stuff, and lots of bonding because the groups are comprised of students from all four grades. We also have lots of worship times - singing & listening to a speaker.

* Friday night, I chaperoned the all-night senior party, as they needed another female chaperone. At one point, we went bowling. I still have it!! *bragging warning* Scored a 147, 164, 156, 167, and 135. I was pretty tired by the last game. Wondering if I can somehow use bowling skills to start hustling on the weekends.

* I managed to grab about 4 hours of sleep this morning, but even I can't rationalize sleeping past 11am.

* I am continuing to feel very positive about this school year & the new administration. This next week will be the true test of us all, and I know it will be painful. But it has to be done.

* I am not looking forward to doing lesson plans tomorrow. Ouch.

First Day

The morning started off like many others - dark and quiet. I heard my alarm clock for the first time in a couple of months. Can't say that I liked it, but it was necessary or I never would have gotten out of bed!

By 6:15 I had woken up enough to see if Bird was up yet - by some small miracle (or is it Murphy's Law?) she was still sleeping in her bed. Naturally, I spent a moment watching her breathe (even though she's five, it's still as pretty as when she was an infant) before pouncing on her.

Amazingly, when she's waking up she still stretches just like she did as a baby. And when I whispered in her ear that "Kindergarten starts TODAY!", she was sunny side up in an instant.

Everything about the day seemed bright and sunny to her. She even ASKED me to take pictures, rather than run from the room screaming "No more!!" A bit concerned over the size of her tote bag, she complained it was too heavy. I suspect the straps are still so new they are slippery, since I'm pretty sure she can handle carrying 10 pieces of paper.

It was very strange having someone in the backseat all the way to school, considering that normally I jettison the kids off partway. But it was nice having someone to talk to.

When we got to school they had the red carpet all rolled out and the music playing. (Really, they did! We try to celebrate the first day as much as possible.) The school mascot was out & roaming about, and we took our picture with him.

The elementary school has a tradition of starting the first day in the gym - it's the only place that will hold all the kids and at least one of their parents. It was neat - we pledged to the flag and sang a few songs together.

Eventually, they began dismissing everyone to their classrooms. They save kindergarten for last. Mainly because they ALL had parents, and we were all armed with cameras.

I was allowed to go with her as far as her classroom door. She had no problems waltzing right in.

I'm amazed at how one can feel joy, pride, and pain simultaneously.

It's Either a Really Big Clock or my Heartbeat

Tomorrow is the first day of school. I'm not sure if I'm more nervous about teaching, or about bringing Bird to kindergarten. Pretty evenly split!

To quote the song from Les Miserables that's been stuck in my head all day:

Tomorrow we'll discover what our God in heaven has in store.
One more dawn...
One more day....
One Day More!!!!

Leaders

Part of the 'fun' of preplanning is all the wonderfully long faculty meetings to catch up on policy, protocol, and general information. This year is no different in the sense that we have had a meeting every morning, yet the way in which they are conducted has drastically changed this year. We have a new principal, and the difference between this guy and the last one is.... amazing. Night and day.

It's made me realize how lazy I've been in certain things. Okay, I knew I was lazy, but didn't care - and nobody else did either.

It's made me realize several things about good leaders:

- Leaders create teams, naturally fostering teamwork.
Yes, we all work well within our departments. And yes, many of us are friends across 'enemy lines.' But this guy has us working even harder to improve communication amongst each other.

- Leaders have information, and they share it with you.

We all have questions. He actually has ANSWERS! Sometimes, he even has answers before we ask the question. Not only that, he shares them with us. Honestly, it's nice just to be respected as professionals.

- Leaders do not want busy work.

Paraphrased quote: Do this (yes, he was more specific then) with your lesson plans. If I find I'm not reading them, I'll let you know & you can stop.

Furthermore, our meetings have agendas, and although he is not truncating helpful discussion, he is on a mission so that we can get back to our classrooms and get some work done.

- Leaders ask you to do an incredible amount of work.... and you find yourself WANTING to do it for them.

Seriously. We received quite a pile today, and nobody has complained. Including me!

I have incredibly high hopes for this year. We have a school culture to improve, and it seems like our ship finally has a captain.

Another Beginning

It's that time of year again: Preplanning - preparing for another year of school. No, I have no idea why we HAD to come back to work on a Friday; I would have preferred one more uninterrupted weekend, to tell the truth. One less day to wake up to my alarm clock. But that is not to be.



I thought this picture (which I found here) was singularly appropriate. Mainly because of the 8 tentacles, and how I sometimes wish I had 8 hands of my own. (or should that be 6 hands and 2 feet? whatever.)

Over the summer I learned that I will be stretched in an entirely new direction this school year - mathematics. In addition to the 3 different chemistry and 1 physics class that I already teach, administration has seen fit to "gift" me with a section of Algebra I. Never mind that I have never taught math. Never mind that I really don't understand why people don't understand math. (that's the part that actually concerns me most.) Never mind that without this class, I will not be classed as 'full-time', even though I taught the same classes (and the same number of sections last year) and retained full-time status.

I could start off the year bitter and worried. Truthfully, I feel neither. Not to say that I haven't been angry at the situation, or felt little more than a doormat at times as this mess unfolded, but the situation isn't changing. Therefore, I must change the way *I* look at and deal with it.

I am a teacher. Although I never purposefully set out on this path, it is where I have been lead, and I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that I am in the position I am SUPPOSED to be in. For whatever reason, I apparently need to brush up on my algebra skills. This is not a bad thing. I also need to acquire some algebra teaching skills, but that will come. My prayer is that they do not come at the expense of me teaching my other classes well.

I do look forward to today - there are plenty of friends that I have not seen over the summer, and it will be fun to catch up. We have a new high school principal, and although I have met him once, I want to see more of how he acts in groups. There are plans afoot that I wish to know more about.

Besides, there are not many jobs in which one receives a fresh slate once a year. It's my duty to create the masterpiece upon it.

I'm Free!!

School may have ended last week, but after today post-planning is finished as well!! After lunch, I'm free!!

Bliss

One of the best feelings in the world is to do all your normal Sunday stuff (church, grocery shopping, laundry), and then realize that it's the first Sunday of SUMMER BREAK, and that you don't have to do one stinkin' thing for work today. HA!

(and yes, I am still a little in denial about having to do postplanning this week. but it's without students, so still no work for today!)

Graduation

Last night was graduation. Another year finished. 55-ish more students head out into the world.

The ceremony itself was lovely - since we are a smaller school, there are all sorts of lovely personal touches. After the valedictorian & salutatorian speeches, the graduates go into the audience to distribute (pre ordered) carnations to their loved ones. I happened to receive two from 2 of my AP girls and almost started crying on the spot!

After the flowers they play a video in which each senior thanks their parents & express their love for them. Lots of laughter, tears & memories.

This year seems especially poingant to me considering that my own children will start down this path next year as Bird goes off to kindergarten. These past 5 years seem to have taken an awful long time yet I suspect that the next 13 will not be so slow. Thank heavens for journals & cameras so I can hope to remember some of the journey.

In other random news - I've managed to keep this blog going for a year now!! Happy belated blogaversary to me!

It's Summer!! Woo Hoo!!!

Today is the last day of school!!!




Alice Cooper and the Muppets. Clearly, the Muppets can perform with anyone!

The Countdown is On!

1 day of real classes
+ 3 days of final exams
+ 1 day of graduation
+ 4 more days of post planning

= 9 work days until I'm free for summer!!!

(not that I'm counting or anything!)

Today's the Day

At 8am this morning (EDT), my AP Chem class will begin taking their official AP exam.

This is a picture of them from the beginning of the year. I know it's the beginning because they're still smiling.



I kid, of course. They were still smiling yesterday.

"They" say you never forget your first. And I hope that I never do forget this group of students. This was the third year I have have the privilege of teaching this particular bunch, and my first year ever teaching AP. Although they are rather chatty, we still have managed to learn a TON about chemistry. This has not been an easy road for anyone. Over and over again, I have been impressed with the amount of work and learning and critical thinking produced by these students.

This morning, I pray their thinking remains focused and their minds remain clear, that they may fully complete the task set before them and finish the race strongly.

How Should I Celebrate? I Just Went to DisneyWorld!!

I have to say, April is turning out to be quite the month as far as school stuff is concerned!! Yesterday was the big awards assembly at my school. For the most part, it's all stuff for the kids (as it should be!), but the 2nd award (after recognizing the yearbook staff) is the dedication of the yearbook.

This year.... (drumroll) it went to ME!!! That's right, my yearbook photo was projected on the super gigantic screen in the gym! (the horror, the horror!!) And it will be plastered all over the beginning pages of this year's yearbook.

They made me climb all the way out of the bleachers and onto the stage to receive my plaque.

Okay, it may look a little weird with all that identifying information erased. And yes, it has a typo. But it's for me!!


I would be lying if I said I wasn't incredibly touched. There was lots of cheering & clapping as I made my way up there. And a big hug from the editor himself. I didn't stop smiling for quite a while.

This is Dedication

Once a month the school has a fire drill. The Powers that Be tend to scatter these things throughout the day, mainly so that no one period loses that much time. And to keep all of us on our toes, I'm sure.

This past month, it went off during my AP Chem class. Ordinarily, this would have delighted them. This time, however, it was during a quiz. A couple of them mentioned they were worried they wouldn't finish. Jokingly, I said that if they were that concerned, they were most welcome to take their quiz & something to write on out to the football field.

The next thing I knew, ALL of them simultaneously grabbed their books & pens & took them out to the field.


Yes, they kept working. No, they didn't cheat. And yes, I really do take my camera everywhere.