Monday Morning: This and Last

Starting out my second week of teaching with Abbey getting up at 4:40am. Yeah, that's early. I'm not nervous about teaching believe or not. After my first day, which was last Monday, things have gone smoother. That day was nuts. I knew I'd have a sub for a couple of blocks. I started out the first block nervous, making some mistakes but not awful. The second block is the "excel" class (fyi these students would barely qualify as "average" students in Fulton or Oswego let alone a school like FM) but they are good kids. I realized that my introduction to my unit was too short and things got a but wild with students having nothing to do. Ms. O'Connor was gone with most of the students in our AVID class for third block and I took the rest to the library (AVID is a class for 20 students in each grade identified as having potential of some sort and the district works hard to help them succeed).

Then come 4th block, the class I knew would be a challenge. The class that reminded me of Lean on Me and Dangerous Minds. And the sub says the vice principal was taking him out of the classroom because there was no teacher in the science room. Which is illegal actually. I knew I had to adapt and adjust. I was nervous and confidence is what you need to handle this class. A few girls were really bad, wondering, ignoring, talking back. Most of the class talked a lot. About 15 minutes before the block ended, I knew I had to do something. I used my best mom voice and finally got their attention. i gave them a worksheet and told them it needed to be done by the end of the bell and it was for an actual grade (most of the work in this school is graded on "effort"). And I made sure they knew I meant it. Most of them worked and tried and I was surprised at how well it worked. It boosted my confidence and helped set the stage for the rest of the week. I felt a bit overwhelmed when it ended, but I held it together and didn't whine or complain. That comes with age. I just knew that stuff happens sometimes, it was over and I needed to move on.

Now I'm already exhausted....argh got to get myself moving and get ready....three weeks down, four to go in this placement... Monday mornings do suck.