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This post contains my Year 9 teaching journals.
[6th year at same high school.]
August 26, 2013
Today marks the first day of my ninth year of teaching…incredible. I have a few very specific goals:
1. Learn if each student has siblings or not. Learn 1 hobby of each student.
2. Give out birthday candy to students.
3. Acknowledge staff birthdays.
4. Learn names of staff members I do now know when I encounter them.
August 27, 2013
I just analyzed my AP scores to see if my final grades were any indictor as to how the students would do on the exam. What I found was that my students who earned high A’s got 5’s, but not all of them. Some earned A’s and then only earned 3 or even 2’s. Some students earned 5’s on the exam but earned B’s and C’s all year. Most discouraging, though, is that a lot of students who I thought should have passed only earned 2’s. That was disappointing. 60% of my students earned passing scores, but I think I should be able to get that number to 75%. A lot of my 2’s should have been 3’s. At least 11 of those 16 kids could have scored 3’s, so I want to remedy this. What will I have to change this year?
More timed writings
Harder readings
More building of background knowledge.
Overall, I also have to accept that I will have to be harder on them. I am not really prepping them to earn college credit for all of their hard work.
September 10, 2013
We are officially in our 3rd week of work. Work week doesn’t really count. The first week doesn’t really count either because we are just playing name games, but now it feels like we are really into things. I feel like I am starting over again this year because I have a new prep.
I want to live in other places, but I don’t want to leave until I get a few years to enjoy all of the hard work I’ve been putting in since 2008…5 years. It has been nonstop. I had one calm year, like, 2 years ago? But I’m still working on my credits and teaching new classes, so it has not been calm for a long time. I can’t wait to have more time to spend with family and friends. Right now, I am just barely getting things done.
Today I co-planned with Layla. It was helpful because we had the same ideas and basically got to divide up the work. I guess there are people that I can work with, despite mostly feeling like it is a bad idea.
September 12, 2013
The writing prompt for today is “What motivates me?” That is a complex question and the answer for everyone is different. I definitely have fear, and that motivates me in a lot of ways, but I also have goals, and they motivate me and keep me focused in a positive way.
This prompt made me realize that I lost sight of why I became a teacher in the first place. I love books and all, but really it was because I wanted to support students whom I felt were like me: not the brightest but willing to work. My favorite teacher in high school didn’t do anything that anyone else couldn’t do –he simply made time to listen, observe, and problem solve. I’m still working on my patience.
It was really nice to come in this morning and already have my copies done. It made my day feel not so hectic.
This year I am trying to learn the first name of coworkers that I encounter that I do not know. It’s actually harder than I thought it would be because it’s embarrassing. Sometimes people have worked in the building for 2 or 3 years, and I do not know their names. So I spend most of the time swallowing my embarrassment. I have not recognized student birthdays yet. I need a stash of lollipops, ribbon, cut paper. That is easy.
September 13, 2013
I am sleepy, but at least I do not have crazy chest pains and I am not shedding hair like last year. I am a bit worried over starting my graduate classes, but I really want to finish my +30 so I can get a raise. After that I will take a break.
September 16, 2013
My AP class is cute. I am worried about Sid. He still doesn’t have supplies. I will have to keep an eye on him. He’s trying to make “the jump” from grade level to AP classes, so I have to help him.
September 18, 2013
Went to bed early last night. Feel normal this morning.
Goals:
1. Continue learning about my subject… I have so much to learn about grammar and writing.
2. Continue learning about writing.
3. Figure out grammar.
My AP class is coming along better this year. I am really happy to have that first year under my belt and over with. Things are still choppy, but I feel better. I am aiming for a 70-75% pass rate on the exam, which I think is a reasonable goal for the kids I have.
I am almost done-like actually almost done with my credits. I am not sure if I have made any money back from earning all of these credits yet, but I think one more year and I should notice a difference.
When I get busy with school I lose all interest in dealing with the house, so it’s a good thing I planted those tress awhile back; they are growing in as I finish up my schoolwork.
Sept 24, 2013
We are starting Rationalism today. We are going to start with Ben Franklin, and I’m trying to work on not just the writing aspect of the class, but the “big picture,” thematic stuff. I feel like I have two new classes this year. I put in time, but they are still not the best lessons. Year 3 is usually a good spot for me, but I am trying to cut that time back to two years (haha). I’m also trying to sleep, which makes it hard to get all of my lesson planning done.
10th graders are fidgety. I’m still getting used to them.
September 25, 2013
Back To School Night last night. Went fine.
September 27, 2013
Do I really want to spend my life dinging 15-year-olds on reading quizzes? Is teaching them how to read like this useful/helpful outside of English class? If it is useful-good. If not, then I should rethink.
October 9, 2013
This AP class is hard to teach because it is mostly a writing class, and some of the analysis skills that I need to teach I have never learned myself. If I don’t know it well then I definitely can’t teach it. I found a book to reference that I think will help me. It’s expensive, but I may have found one for a reasonable price.
[This is the book I was referring to: Writing With Clarity and Style]
This job always makes me feel stupid, but one lesson I learned from playing lacrosse is that it is better to be a small fish in a big sea because you learn a lot more and grow a lot more even if you always feel behind or worse than everybody else.
October 12, 2013
Tired of coming home to hours of schoolwork.
October 15, 2013
I am making the students write all the time-yay!
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