Stress!!!

I think the kids have already left on Christmas Break, they just haven't told their bodies yet. I can clearly see the minds are going blank very quickly. My afternoon classes are large and rowdy. Come to think of it, I think all afternoon classes or just 7th grade classes in general, are large and rowdy. I have block classes along with English across the hall. We decided today that something has got to change in those classes. We switched several students and put them in the other class hoping that would signal a change. I'll be sure to let you know the outcome so stay tuned :-)

Christmas anyone?

Although I have enjoyed my Thanksgiving break, I am kind of ready to return to school. I really enjoy my classes and after this nice break, I feel refreshed. There are only 3 weeks remaining until Christmas break and this has to be my favorite time of the year. The kids are ready for Christmas and so are the teachers :-) I really want to finish the semester on a good note and get the students prepared for their final!

Thanksgiving Break!

It's almost here. We have one more week left until our Thanksgiving Break begins. It's nice because my school gives us the whole week of Thanksgiving off as long as we have our 60 professional development hours. It is a much needed break! Happy Holidays :-)

Autism

I think it was fate that we recently had a staff meeting where we discussed autism. I have an autistic student in my class and lately he has been having more and more outbursts in class. I have tried to remain calm and reason with him because arguing with him is pointless. I really enjoy having him in class but sometimes it is a challenge to keep him calm as well as the rest of the class. I know that he gets frustrated sometimes and I try to remember that when I am handling the situation so that I handle it, always keeping his best interest in mind.

Student Intervention meetings

Something that our team does throughout the year is conduct student meetings. After the end of the first quarter, we each look through our homeroom kids and determine students that are not performing up to their abilities. We bring them in, show them their report cards, and talk to them about stepping it up, working hard and showing strong character. It works for some and not for others but it shows we are reaching out to them and trying to make a difference. It lets the kids know we aren't giving up on them and they still have a chance.

What does that word mean?

Every month, we have a new character word at our school. The word for October is courage. As a Friday bell ringer, I wrote on the board, "Write 1/2 page about what courage means to you." This activity went just fine in my first two classes. We talked about their meanings and then I read the dictionary definition to them. After lunch, my sixth period class came in and several kids whined that they didn't know what the word meant. I told them that I wasn't going to explain it to them because I wanted them to think about and figure it out for themselves. After a few minutes, I heard a student try to pronounce the word. He said "mu, mu.... I'm thinking to myself, "the word courage does not start with an m!" I look up on the board and see that someone has replaced the word courage with the word mutiny! No wonder they didn't know what I was talking about. I went to the board and changed it and told them they needed to write about courage not mutiny. A few minutes later, one of our coaches came in and asked "have any good definitions for the word mutiny?' HAHA! I told him "nope," they didn't have a clue :-)

What a scare!

Last Thursday, one of my students from last year was hit by a car! She was going to McDonald's before the football game with a group of students and they tried to cross three lanes of traffic. One car stopped and motioned the group to cross but the other lanes of traffic didn't stop and she kind of glanced off the car door. One of the other teachers at our school witnessed the accident and was the first to respond. Luckily she is ok and had only a minor foot injury. It really scared me as a teacher hearing a story about one of my students.

Things that make you laugh....well me anyway

I've said before that 7th graders have a mind of their own... today they proved it! A girl walked up to me and asked me my first name, to which I gave my normal response-Ms. She said well I was reading this book and the character's name was Erin Bennett and I just wondered if that was you. Huh? Do I look like a fictional character??? To which another student replied, her name is Ms. Barnes (who actually teaches next door to me) and "I said no my name is Ms. Bennett." He said your name is Ms. Bennett?" Yes, we've been in school 4 weeks now and that has been my name the whole time. Well I couldn't help but laugh. These kids are great!!! What a cool job :-)

Time for Parents

So parent teacher conferences are next week and i'm trying to pump myself up. I do enjoy meeting with parents because it really gives you an insight to where the kids are coming from. It always puts things into perspective for me. One thing that makes me laugh, is thinking about my first p/t conferences. I went back to my old high school and subbed for 3 weeks while they were looking for a full-time teacher. During my second week there, I was asked to hold p/t conferences. I didn't even know the kids nor could i explain the reasons for their grades, but i was reassured that i could do it. During one conference in which i was confident of the student's name, the parent asks me "do you even know my child's name?" I confidently replied, "why yes, that's John." To which she replied, "his name is Brandon." I have never been more embarrassed. But I survived and I definitely smile everytime conferences comes back around.

HUH?

7th graders are definitely a different breed :-) As a basketball coach, I have to have physicals from all of my players before they can participate in athletics. After telling a girl I still need her physical, she replies by asking if she has to go with her mom when her mom goes to pick it up? ummm..... thats a yes!

And so it begins...

We are now done with the first 2 weeks of school and so far so good. I have a new group of kids and totally different personalities than last year. We are all still learning how to mesh together but it seems to be working. This year is different for me in that I'm coaching 7th grade girls basketball as well as teaching math. I've always wanted to coach as well as teach and now that's happening. I'm trying to get used to the time demands but I can already tell it is going to be a rewarding experience :-)