sick sick sick

I am miserable. I know it could be worse, but having a cold is so blah. My students all made fun of me.... asking me why I'm crying, telling me I look like Rudolph,  lame lame lame. I'm exhausted and I think I'm going to bed now so I can be ready to go for LOST tonight. 

Let me just say that I'm somewhat terrified of my new teen leadership class. Instead of sixth graders, they're mostly 7th and 8th now. And they're so big and scary! How am I going to effectively teach the big ones when I'm so used to the little ones? There's a HUGE difference in maturity levels between them. Now that I have all three in a class, I'm worried about how I can cater to them individually while maintaining classroom control. I have some of the 'bad kids' but I don't want to put them in a stereotype without getting to know them. Then I have full-time ESL kids... so needless to say it will be quite the experience this 9 weeks. Dear Lord, please let me make it through!! 

Off to bed. 

January.

Life is so good. I haven't updated since we found out Mike's dad has leukemia, so for a quick update... he is doing very well, is back at work, and all he has to do is take a pill everyday. Praise God!!! We had a wonderful first Christmas... went on a road trip, spent a lot of time with family... yeah, it was nice. It's hard to update even though it was only two weeks ago. It feels like eternity has passed already! I feel like a different teacher going into the second semester. I am confident with the minor details (like paperwork and administration stuff) and now I am excited about creating better lesson plans. We are finishing up elements of fiction (which equals lots of short stories) then doing a novel study on "Hoot" (which is a fun book!) Then they'll finally learn how to write, and lastly we'll do a novel study that I can choose! I am really happy about being able to choose, although it's a pretty monumental task. What book do I choose that will 'speak' to my kids as a whole? Do I pick an action-packed book or one with a deeper meaning that will *hopefully* have a profound impact? Can I pick a book that tackles tough subject such as race relations or themes that have the potential to be 'sticky,' or do I stick with the 'safe-stuff?' It's a tough but awesome decision. Let's just say that I have a lot of reading and planning to do over the next couple of weeks. 

My heart aches.

This afternoon Mike and I got some news that shook up our whole world. Mike's dad has been diagnosed with leukemia pretty much out of nowhere. He's been sick with what was though to be a cold or bronchitis for the past month, and when it didn't get better, they took an MRI and figured out what it was. I seriously can't believe this is happening. All day I was out of it at school as I awaited a phone call. Fortunately I didn't find out until after school.

My teachers are beyond incredible. What a support system I've got there, from both them and my principal. They were beyond the normal 'sympathetic' and i truly felt like their hearts broke for us. Nancy even started crying for me, which really touched my heart because I know that they care about me. Two of them battled cancer a couple of years ago while another two lost their parents around the same time, so they basically kicked me out of school and told me to take care of my husband. My principal even said that she'd go in and teach my classes if she had to. They're amazing. I know that I will be able to lean on them as Mike and I support each other and edify his family through this difficult time.  

First formal evaluation!

I had my first eval a couple of weeks ago, and I finally got to talk to my principal this morning. It was truly an awesome experience and I am super thankful for my wonderful school. My lesson plan was borrowed from my mentor teacher: we read Helen Keller's autobiography then they attempted to sign into each others' hands to see how hard it would be to be blind and deaf. It was fun.... my principal was impressed. She had great things to say about the observation, and I'm not writing this to brag but so I will always remember this positive experience! She noted:

-how my response time was excellent (new teachers don't tend to wait long enough for students to respond because they feel awkward.) Good thing we specifically practiced waiting for forever in grad school

-how I was good at multitasking when people walked in the room to interrupt 

-loved how the students were engaged, worked together grading each others' papers, and 'popcorn' reading

-she suggested that I could develop 'higher order thinking' questioning skills to really get them to dig deep 

She also suggested that I should get middle-grades certified for job security. I was so encouraged by her words, especially when she told me she wants me around forever! What a blessing to be at this school around incredible mentors who are so nurturing. I am where I am supposed to be, and I praise God for his grace with my life decisions and His goodness in placing me in the perfect school. I love my job! AND I get to read middle school books all the time. What could be better?

I heard a story about a teacher in Charlotte who is suspended for saying something like "I teach at the most ghetto school in Charlotte." Isn't that crazy? Although I know I don't talk trash about my school/students, it does make me hesitant to keep a blog online for everyone to see. I just feel like I could accidently say something really dumb that could get me in trouble without meaning to. I think I've said a couple things in the classroom accidently! Ooops. 

Thanksgiving was wonderful, and it's nice to be back to the kiddos. I am really growing fond of them and enjoy watching them have 'a-ha' moments. It makes me want to do so much more for them, and I feel like my teaching is boring and never good enough. What more can I do? How can I better prepare myself for lesson plans? It helps to keep in mind the purpose... the students won't remember much, but they will remember the activities and what made the information stick in their brains. 

Interims just came out and the grades aren't so good. They got a little lazy and stopped doing homework, plus they're losing their classwork before it gets turned in. Not acceptable! I'm not sure what to do with kids who didn't turn in projects ( i have 3 or 4...) So I'll pretty much be grading 100 boxes for the rest of my life. Hooray. The majority are great, though, and as a whole I am proud of them. While projects are great, I can see why they're kind of a hassle. It's draining to talk about every day (I think I need a better system for answering questions!) And it's hard not to be too subjective. I like concrete rubrics so I'm not sitting there analyzing how many points should be taken off and comparing it to another project of equal effort. 

Well, three weeks until Christmas break. I think we're all looking forward to it, and hopefully we all won't get too squirrely leading up to it :)