Up and down and up and down...

Teaching is a constant roller coaster. I went from a day like yesterday that was amazing to a day like today. Today was tough. It was the same lesson with a vastly different result. Some classes were outright hostile and others were completely apathetic. I think the apathy is harder to deal with than the outright hostility. I ended the day feeling dejected and drained. No matter what I did or said today, I simply couldn't get them to stay focused or care. Days like yesterday make me want to keep doing this. Days like today make me want to simply give up.

I wonder and sort of dread what tomorrow will bring...

What can I do...?

As a teacher, I love my content, and that is most likely true for most teachers. I am an English nerd. I love a good story, a well written sentence, a gorgeously chosen word. I think it is important for my students to have an understanding of how to communicate effectively both through speaking and writing. I hope to help my students learn to, if not love, at the very least enjoy reading. But more than any of that, I hope to help my students build character and broaden their view of society and the world.

We're starting The Crucible this week. For the past month or so I've been mulling over how I want to approach this play and make it interesting and relevant for my students. I decided that I would approach it as a mirror for high school, social groups, reputations, bullying etc. To start us off, today I had my students write a journal response about reputations and then we had a class discussion.

From the get-go, my students surprised me with their thoughts about reputations and social groups. I had predicted that students would care a lot about what their peers thought of them and about their reputations at school. To my surprise, almost everyone said they worried more about what their teachers thought of them than how their peers viewed them. It was a reminder to me that even the most stubborn and difficult of students still wants their teacher to think well of them. Now, of course, this will not apply to every single teenager that crosses my path, but it was a good reminder to me the majority want to do well.

My 4th period blew me away. In the course of our discussion on reputations, a student made the observation that there is a double standard when it comes to girls and boys. Up until this point I'd been mostly moderating the discussion, but letting the students take it where they wanted. As the class continued to talk about reputations and gender, I noticed it was, with one exception, the boys talking about the girls' collective experience. I found it interesting that the female students in my class had, in essence, surrendered their voice. They were allowing their male peers to describe their female experience. I let it continue for a few moments before I stopped the conversation and asked them two questions.

• Who was doing all the talking? (the boys)
• What/who were they talking about? (the girls' experience)

The class was silent for a few moments before the boys started chiming in and explaining why girls don't speak up. The most vocal of my female students continued to attempt to share her thoughts, but her voice was drowned out by her male peers.

Again, I stopped the class. I told the boys that for the next five minutes they weren't allowed to talk. I wanted to hear from the ladies in the class. Even at that point only two-three girls spoke up out of 10. One girl said she doesn't speak up because people don't take her seriously. She said a guy can make the same comment that was dismissed when she makes it, but is praised or considered when a boy makes it She continued to say that boys often don't let girls finish their thought or will shut them down right away. 

Up until this point, my male students were seriously struggling to not speak. They were raising their hands and I had to remind them multiple times that it wasn't their turn to talk. One student stood and faced the wall to prevent himself from talking. When my female student made the comment about getting shut down, a male student couldn't contain himself anymore and interjected "We do not!" quite vehemently. While that got a few chuckles from the class, I was so impressed by my students' willingness to discuss these issues AND to honestly consider their complicity in the accepted sexism of our culture. I think some of my male students were truly disturbed and they wanted to know how to fix it How can they change it? That lead to an interesting (student-led) discussion on privilege. 

Sometimes the weight of the responsibility I have to these young men and women presses down on me. At the end of class one student, a young man, looked at me and asked (expecting an answer), "What can I do?" 

I'm not sure what I told him is the right answer. I mean, what is the fix to the gendered bias and sexism of our culture? I told him to be aware of privilege in all its forms and to stop and think about those who are silent. Why are they silent? Can you encourage them to to speak? I told all of them - male and female - don't let people take away your voice. Don't let anyone take away your truth.

And lest anyone think that we didn't talk about the content, I was able to  nicely tie the entire conversation back to The Crucible. We talked briefly about the Madonna/whore dichotomy and they got a crash course in feminist literary theory. We didn't talk about the historical and contemporary context of the play - but I think it was an hour well spent. 

Summer reading list...

Earlier this week a student of mine asked me for a few suggestions for summer reading. She was currently reading The Scarlet Letter and wanted to know which "classic" she should read next. IT was actually quite fun to put together a list of books that have stayed with me. Some of them I want to now go back and reread.

I started with a regular sized post-it note. Three post-its later I realized that was illogical and switched to a large, lined note card. When it became apparent that wasn't going to work, I typed the whole mess up. Since posting about this on Instagram (because that's how I roll...) I've had several people ask for a copy. SO, what follows is what I gave to my student. And I'm proud to say that yesterday she came to class, fresh from the library, toting a copy of Anna Karenina under her arm.

I'd love to get suggestions from ya'll of books to add or that I may have forgotten to list.

**********************************************************

So, I may have gone a little overboard, but I started writing titles and I would think of another title, then another and another... It was sort of a domino effect. Not all of these titles are “classics” in the sense that they’re really old, but they’re classics in the sense that they’re good books.

Classics – European

*Anything by Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice or Persuasion are my favorites)
*Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
*Villette – Charlotte Bronte
*Wives and Daughters – Elizabeth Gaskell
*The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
*The Moonstone – Wilkie Collins
*The Importance of Being Earnest – play – Oscar Wilde
*Lord of the Flies – William Golding
*The Scarlet Pimpernel – Baroness Orczy
Pygmalion (play) – George Bernard Shaw (the movie My Fair Lady is based on the play)
*Night – Elie Wiesel
*The Four Feathers – A.E.W. Mason
*Anna Karenina  - Leo Tolstoy (Russian – Russian authors can be hard, but good story)
*The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
*Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens

Classics –  American

* My Antonia – Willa Cather
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass- Frederick Douglass
*Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
*Short Stories of Edgar Allen Poe
*The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
Narrative of Sojourner Truth – Sojourner Truth (memoir)
*To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
*Animal Farm – George Orwell
*The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
*East of Eden – John Steinbeck
*Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou (African American Literature)
*Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston (African American Literature)
*A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith
Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison (African American Literature)
The Things They Carried  - Tim O’Brien (contemporary)

* Books I have already read. The others are on my list to read. Many of these books have film (sometimes multiple) adaptions. Many of these may also be available for free download or from Barnes and Noble classics series for $3-$5 apiece. The county library will definitely have most, if not all of these titles.

Pardon the dust...

So, I have most definitely fallen off the blogging bandwagon. Sorry, folks. Life just sort of has a way of taking control. So in true, Kelly fashion, we're going with a list today. I do love my lists...just ask my husband.

1. We're so, ridiculously close to the end of the school year, without it actually being the end of the school year. We're all getting a little trunky - and the deceptively, gorgeous spring-like weather we've been having as of late, is most definitely not helping with that.

2. Scott and I have been married for four months - that seems a little crazy for several reasons. It feels like we've been married for much longer than that, but then occasionally something will come up that reminds us that we're still figuring this whole being married thing out. There have been some bumps and bruises along the way, and we definitely don't have all the answers, but being married is awesome!

3. I am officially teaching 11th grade IB/Honors English next year. The IB Program is somewhat similar to AP classes in that it is an accelerated, rigorous program, but that's about where the similarities end. I did AP when I was in high school, so I'm excited to learn about the program and take on a new challenge. It also doesn't hurt that I get to go to Seattle for a weekend in March for training. I also "get" to go to Texas next October for the second training series. I'll still be teaching regular 11th grade English and I'm pretty happy about it all. The transition to the high school hasn't been smooth sailing...far from it, in fact...but next year is definitely looking up.

4. Scott's mom is coming to help take care of the children of some friends while the parents are out of town. She'll be here for about a week and we'll get to spend some time with her. It seems a little odd that we haven't met yet, but unfortunately circumstances just haven't aligned for us. It'll be a crazy week for me with school responsibilities and such, but I'm very excited to finally met her!

5.  Also not helping with the feeling trunky is the trips we've started planning this summer. I am most definitely ready for summer to be here and to go have fun! Scott's family lives in Washington State near Portland and we're going to visit for the 4th of July. He proposed to me on the 4th of July at a lake near his parent's house, and our first date of sorts was to Cannon Beach. I'm beyond excited to go back and visit where this all started for us. He'll also get to show me around a bit more than he did last time we were there. We're also going to do a long weekend to Denver and possibly go to Cedar City for the Shakespeare Festival. That last one is a bit of a long shot, but it would still be loads of fun.

6. In our effort to keep a to a better budget, I've been doing quite a bit more cooking than I have done in the past. It was definitely hit and miss at first. Turns out I didn't really eat meals before I was married. I'd have a big lunch at school and then just sort of snack my way through the evening. We're starting to round out our meal rotation. I just need to give a shout out to whoever the genius is/was that invented the crockpot. We have two and they are in constant use. I've also started to freeze meals. It sort of makes me feel all grown up - funny considering I'll be 31 in a few months and I've been on my own for about a decade, but there you have it. I may start sharing some of the recipes we've done that we love...because dang...they're yummy and super easy. Most have 3-4 ingredients that you probably already have in your cupboard.

7. One of my most favorite things about Scott (and there are many) is that he enjoys reading. We've read books together. That was actually one of the things that first made me fall in love with him. The last one we finished was Unbroken. This weekend we started the first book in The Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher. It's definitely not something that I would have picked up on my own. It's sort of ancient-Romanesque fantasy adventure...? I don't know how to describe it, but it pulled me in within a few chapters. It's been fun to share different books with him and I can definitely see this continuing when we have children.

8. Valentine's Day was this weekend and it was low key. We went to Ihop and a movie. That may sound strange, but Ihop was our first date - of sorts. It was that or Buffalo Wild Wings and we decided to go for Ihop. I hope that becomes a tradition of sorts. We talked about the day we finally met face to face and what was going through our heads and just how far we've come. Like I said before, being married is pretty awesome.

Life goes on...

For the first time in I'm not sure how long...every room in my apartment is clean. It's an autumnal miracle! With Scott moving down here in a couple of weeks my mind has turned to organizing and purging. We'll be consolidating everything in just a matter of months and suddenly I feel the compulsive need to purge. I did a first pass with my clothes, but I think I'll take another go. I'm going through purses, shoes, scarves. If you're nearby and would like to take a gander at what I'm getting rid of before it's sent to DI, feel free. I've moved so often that sometimes things just get shoved into a box and they're moved from place to place and I may or may not ever use them. There's a possibility that we'll just stay in my current apartment after we're married. It's small - 500 square feet...we'll be cozy, for sure. But you just can't beat the rent, location (for me) and laundry is provided for free. So, we'll still look around, but we may stay here. And because it's such a small place, it's time to purge. I may even box up some of my books. My friend, Shannon, has graciously offered the use of some of her garage to store a few things.

In other, non-wedding(ish) news...I love teaching high school. It's a bit of a culture shock going from the amazingly supportive faculty to, what I imagine is, a normal high school faculty. It hasn't been the easiest adjustment, but luckily I've met some really nice people, and Steph is around to rant to. I love seeing my students from last year wandering the halls. I'm enjoying getting to know my new students. I think we have fun. We work hard, but we also have a lot of fun doing it. I had an interesting conversation with my admins yesterday about the next couple of years. I really feel like I can build a very solid, rewarding and successful career at OHS. I'm excited to see what the next five years bring.

It's definitely been a year of transitions and major life changes...and we still four months to go! It's been bumpy and I never really thought I'd be where I am at this point last year. It makes you think about the year to come. Hopefully there won't be quite as many changes as I've had this year, but I'm very excited to see what comes.

Count your blessings...

I am feeling incredibly blessed tonight and I just needed to share it with the interwebs.

• I've finished my first week at my new job teaching high school. There were, of course, some ups and downs but I seriously love what I do. I love working with my students and helping them learn. I love the ridiculous things they say and how silly they are. I love getting to know them, and helping them achieve their goals. I had forgotten how exhausting the start of a new year is. It's a shock to your system - mental and physical. My feet and legs ache at the end of the day, my voice is a little raspy after talking all day, my legs are definitely feeling the three flights of stairs that I take multiple times a day. I'm a little brain dead today. But at the end of it all...I love it. Moving to the high school and leaving behind my security net of friends was a big move for me. I was nervous and unsure I had made the right decision, but after this week, I can say I'm so happy to have made the switch. I have the best job in the world.

• Even though I'm at a new school I still get to see familiar faces. All my students from last year that are 10th graders this year are roaming the halls. They stop me in the halls to say hi. My football players run up to me and give me bone crushing hugs. Girls that gave me attitude all year stop to talk about their day. I think it's a comfort to both of us. We're all starting a new school and, let's be honest, it's a little intimidating. It's good to see friendly faces in the halls...even those students that were a pain in the rear last year. It reminds me why I do what I do.

• I have such amazing friends. With all the ups and downs of the past four-ish months I have had a whole cadre of wonderful and stalwart friends from every part of my life step up to support me and encourage me. Friends are something that I've always struggled with. Historically, it's been difficult for me to make friends. Through school I'd typically have one really close friend and then various acquaintances. Never before in my life have I been surrounded and supported by so many strong, loving, kind, intelligent women. Thank you. You have gotten me through the past three years...most especially the past six months. You all inspire and amaze me with your individual talents and strengths.

• I'm not sure just how to articulate this one...Vlad is...well, he's the best blessing. He's a man that isn't afraid of hard work. He's a man of quiet strength. He works so hard to improve himself and he's constantly, without realizing it most of the time, challenging me to do the same. We've been apart for about a month and a half and it's gone by quickly yet agonizingly slow. The best part of my day is when I get to Skype with him before going to bed. We're still waiting to hear back from his interview last week, but we're definitely feeling hopeful. If he gets the job, he could be here in 2ish weeks!!! How amazing would that be?!?!

• And finally, and most importantly, I am so thankful for the guiding hand of my Heavenly Father in my life the past year. It hasn't been an easy path that's lead me to my current happy situation. There have been lots of ups and downs, and at times I was ready to give up hope. I am so grateful that He never gave up on me. I have seen His hand and His love in my life in ways that are so undeniable it's almost laughable. I am blessed and grateful...so very grateful.

Ready or not...

The school year starts tomorrow...what??? I've had very little stress leading up to tomorrow. It was far easier to move into this classroom than any other classroom. My classes continue to fluctuate, but I know a good number of these students - I taught them two years ago in 9th grade. I'm sure some of them saw my name and had a few choice words. I wrapped up my plans for the week and couldn't think of anything more that I needed to do to be ready for tomorrow, so I went home at 4:00. I left with the feeling that I'd forgotten something but I have no idea what. Needless to say, I'm a little anxious about tomorrow. It's probably partially due to the unknown of teaching high school. I'm still not 100% sure on some things - as far as school procedures are concerned. I've asked about things that have popped up, but I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

In other news, Vlad had a phone interview on Friday for a job in Salt Lake...as in a mere 45 minutes from where I currently reside. That is a vaaaast improvement over the current 10-13 hours (depending on your route) that we currently "enjoy". He felt the interview went well and there are multiple openings. We're trying not to get too excited, but it's difficult not to. It's incredibly similar to what he is currently doing and would get him in the door with a great company. We're cautiously optimistic. He was told he should know by the end of this week. I seriously hope they don't keep us waiting that long. If he is offered the job, he'll put in his two weeks at his current job and be down here by mid September!! Gah! How crazy is that?! So, we're keeping our fingers crossed...and praying. If you're so inclined, we'd really appreciate your prayers and good thoughts! If he doesn't get this job, we know there are other jobs out there, but this would be so great!!

One smart cookie...

I just have to toot my own horn a bit (feel free to ignore this post). 

I will be as non-technical as I can in explaining all this...

There has been a lot of stress and anger at work in regards to our district mandated interim tests. I have no issue with testing students periodically throughout the year to see where they are and to make sure we're all making progress towards the CRT at the end of the year. Our district has purchased a testing software as well as a curriculum for both Math and Language Arts. It's been a huge headache to get these two aligned so the test is actually testing what has been taught. There's a lot more going on with all of this but I'll just leave it there.

The teachers had been saying (rightly so) that the test wasn't aligned to the curriculum. It was frustrating to teachers and students alike. The district couldn't figure out why the test wasn't aligned as they were working with the information from our curriculum. On Friday I was able to figure out the missing puzzle piece about why the test we thought was aligned wasn't aligned to the test. I'm just that smart...

...actually, I figured it out completely on accident. It was just as likely someone else would have figured it out or no one would have figured out. Still...I felt pretty good about it.

Are we there yet...?

*Disclaimer* 

I love my job, really I do. It has simply been a very long, very stressful, very emotional week for me. Most of the time, the good stuff far out weighs the bad stuff. The two lists may look disproportionate, but the value on the good will always outstrip whatever difficulties I may have faced.

Reasons this week needs to be over...

1. Parent Teacher Conferences - two 13 hour days back to back, need I say more?
2. Unexpected Admin observation
3. One student flipped out at me in class. He later apologized and told me a close family friend had been involved in a gang shooting the previous night. The family friend was in critical condition at the hospital and not expected to make it.
4. Another student refused to work and was really upset. Turns out his mother may have cancer, he had heart surgery in the last six months and lost his father when he was 6. 
5. Bus duty...worst after school job ever...
6. Grading essays for 6 classes
7. Grading short stories for 37 students
8. Trying to get time in the computer lab and failing miserably
9. Having a minor meltdown in front of a co-worker
10. It's supposed to snow during the morning commute tomorrow
11. Tension headache won't go away
12. Students could not/would not listen and follow directions all week

This week wasn't all horrible...

1. During bus duty students all laugh, joke around with me and say goodbye. An admin commented on how much the students seem to like me
2. Struggling students (two mentioned before) were able to discuss issues with me - this wouldn't have happened with them last year
3. Ending each day with a happy, fun class
4. Two self-proclaimed anti-readers, wanting to take home Night to read it over the weekend
5. I work with awesome teachers and we watch out for each other
6. Monitoring the hall during passing periods and getting compliments on my dress

Good Golly, Ms. Molly!

This may be a record for me on this old blog. It's a bit dusty, yes? Well, gentleman #3 and I did date for a brief little while. Things got pretty serious fairly quickly. And, as many things do when they develop quickly, once I was able to catch up to what was really happening around me, I realized this was not the relationship for me. I hope he finds what he wants, unfortunately, that was not me. So, I am still on the hunt for my Betty (as in Betty Crocker Brownie - you can credit Lisa with that one!)

School started almost four weeks ago and it's so crazy to think that! We're slowly coming out of the honeymoon phase and starting to show our true colors to each other. My 8th period somehow managed to get me to teach for almost 45 minutes using a ridiculous southern accent. Okay, let's be honest, it didn't take too much convincing. I'm surprised by how well they actually listened. My 3rd and 7th periods are a trial. I am doing my best to be kind yet firm. It's hard when you just want to knock their heads together.

Creative writing has been fun, but I think the novelty is wearing off for some of them and they're ready to be done with it. Unfortunately for them, they still have half a year of the class before they're done with me. It's a mixed grade class, so it's given me a chance to get to know students that aren't in 9th grade. I've been with the 9th graders since I started and they were in 7th grade. Each year I've changed what grade I teach. I think, I hope, I've settled on 9th grade. I'm really enjoying it. For the most part, I love my students and haven't had any serious dust-ups.

I've gotten some wonderful feedback from admins and district level folks that have popped into our school for various reasons. It balances out how horrible I feel after I leave my ESL class. The class itself isn't the most interesting or engaging but it covers a myriad of strategies for English Language Learners in my classroom. Considering how the vast majority of my students fall into this category on some level, these are strategies I should be using. Suffice to say, I need to do better.

In other random tidbits...

• One of my students insists I look like UFC Fighter Miesha Tate. If you're like me and had no idea who she is, here's a visual. Other than the fact that we're both women and have long hair, I don't see it. (And yes, that is super red carpet in my classroom)

• Lisa came for a quick weekend visit. Yay! I love it when Lisa comes. We saw Austenland and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. Both were a lot of fun in completely different ways. I read Austenland after I had my surgery in 2007-ish (?). I don't remember it being as funny. It also doesn't hurt that this manly hunk of beauty plays one of the heroes. Go see it!
  
• I'm so happy that it's finally cooling down a bit! No A/C 90+ weather and no windows/outside doors, makes for a very hot, hot, hot classroom!

You know you're a nerd when...

I uploaded a few educational apps to my phone and was probably a little too excited about them. I mean, who wouldn't be excited to have the Utah State Core on their phone? Or an app that will tell you the reading level and difficulty of any book simply by scanning the bar code?

I discovered itunes U and decided to take a course on the French Revolution. Why not? It's always fascinated me.

Perks of being a teacher

1. (and the most obvious, in my opinion) Summer break. Three months with a steady paycheck, but I don't work. It's pretty great.

2. discounts at various stores, you'd be surprised the placed I get a discount!

3. I can claim quite a few legitimate work-related expenses on my taxes each year.

4. Incredible incentives for buying a home...as in 50% off list price of HUD homes. No, you didn't read that wrong and no, I didn't add in a 0 where I shouldn't have. Under the Good Neighbor Next Door program, police officers, TEACHERS, firefighters, first responders and other qualifying public employees, are eligible for a discount of 50% off the list price of qualifying homes.

Now, I'm not quite ready, at least I don't think I am quite ready, to purchase a home. But, I do on occasion peruse what's out there and this morning I found this one. I've only ever seen the pictures, so for all I know, it could a complete disaster and a dump, but doesn't it look cute??

My world...

Here's what's been happening in my world:

1. It all really started to get funky with this.

2. Which lead to this situation.

3. This one didn't even get a vote and all it required was a grant signature.

4. And this one happened on Friday.

In a conversation with my fellow teachers someone said something along the lines of "The district is being run like a business and you cannot run public education like a business. You can't QC the end result. You can't just throw out a bad batch".

There's been so many other, smaller issues that have popped up. Needless to say, we're all a little on edge. It seems like every time I look at the Standard Examiner there is another story about my school district and the Superintendent has done something else.

I had a dream last night that I was fired from my job....let's just say I didn't take it well.

Though she be but little, she is fierce

This quote has been running through my mind quite a bit the last month or so. At first it was because I felt fierce. I felt like I had everything under control and I could do anything. Now, it's because I feel very little but not quite so fierce. In the past several weeks, there have been some changes in my school district and my school that just seem to have knocked the wind from my sails. My support group is breaking up and moving on to other things. The overall feeling and morale at school is anger, desperation and fear. No one feels safe. We're all worried that one wrong step we'll be next on the chopping block. How can we do our jobs when we're all afraid to be bold?

On top of all of that, my best friend and sister is moving to Idaho. I knew this was coming and I know it's for the best, but that doesn't make the impending separation any easier. I'm moving in with an old roommate, but I'm not sure how long I'll be there. I'm not sure where I'll end up next year and that makes me anxious. There are some promising opportunities on the horizon, but they'll be big changes.

In the coming weeks I need to pack an apartment, complete my EYE (Early Year Educator) portfolio, search for a new job, manage/supervise rehearsals for "Rapunzel", open/close "Rapunzel", manage/entertain squirrelly teenagers...

It doesn't help that my back is reacting negatively to all this added stress. I'm on muscle relaxers, which I can't take during the day because they knock me out. I also have to get 60 minute deep tissue massages every other week for the next two months. Sounds like fun, right? It's more than an hour of someone digging into your muscles with their fist or elbow, trying to work out all the knots and kinks.

There's a lot to deal with in a short amount of time.

Teacher tid-bits

It's been a while since I've shared any student stories. I always seem to have several when I get home for the day, but they don't seem to make it here. And now that I'm taking the time to blog, I can't remember anything particularly humorous. But here are a few:

1. Today several girls had written on themselves in bright green paint/pen. I didn't look too closely because students are often covered in ink. They draw on themselves with they get bored. However, I was sitting next to a student and got a better look at what they had written. One had "F*** You" written on her neck in one inch letters. Both of them had STFU (Shut the f**** up) on their knuckles. The class was quite astonished that I knew what STFU meant. Of course, I made the girls wash it off.

2. Several weeks ago a student was suspended for a day for calling me a slut. Upon his return, this student has been cranky, surly and rude...when he deigns us with his presence. One day two weeks ago, he was being discussed in the faculty room at lunch. I was asked about his behavior in class today. I replied, he's absent today. The other teachers said he had been in their class. I made a little visit to his next class and wouldn't you know it? He was actually there and decided to go to lunch twice. After a nice little "chat" in front of his buddies and with two of his teachers I went back to my class. He hasn't sluffed once since and has had a personality transplant.

3. Two of my 8th graders were particularly squirrely and would not sit still. So, I made them do wall sits for a couple of minutes. The PE teacher happened to be walking by and made sure they were doing them correctly. Then the school resource officer came in and showed them how to do it. They didn't last two minutes...

4. We're 48 days until the end of the year, 10 weeks....not that any of us are counting, right?

All I ever talk about now...

It seems all I ever talk about now is my job. Yes, I have become that person. I don't really socialize much these days, so I don't have friend drama to discuss (thank heavens!), my family is my family... I guess if you don't want to hear about the crazy things my students do, stop reading now.

January was a difficult month and I was not sorry to see it go. I was sick for about a week, we had several really nasty snow storms, and my students simply did not want to work. Somehow, we all made it through the month. Not only have we managed to make it through the month, we have reached and passed the halfway point of the year. It's kind of crazy! With the semester change, student schedules changed a bit. The majority of my classes are the same, but there was a little bit of shuffling. 

I got a student from honors...we'll call him Sammy. Sammy is very smart but has a horrible attitude. He talks back, distracts his peers, frequently swears, complains, whines, and is just generally obnoxious. I have another student we'll call Steven. I've had Steven all year. At the beginning of the year he had major behavior problems. He still does. He gets suspended for fighting frequently and has gang ties. Yet, where at the start of the year he was initiating it all, now he is defending his friends and people he cares for. I'm not saying his behavior is appropriate, but I think he's definitely improving. In the past month or so, Steven has made huge improvements. He's passing all his classes for the first time this year. I've been working really closely with him and the 8th grade counselor to work on his behavior. I have so proud of all the work Steven has done, especially considering where he was at the beginning of the year and how difficult it was to work with him.

Anyway, the reason I'm giving all this history is because these two had a little run-in on Friday afternoon. There was an assembly and any students with tardies that week couldn't go to the assembly. Included in this group was Sammy. He wasn't happy and started swearing at me and being a general delight. As Sammy was being escorted out of the room, Steven got up out of his chair and started walking towards Sammy. He said "You don't talk to my teacher that way!" and "Don't you talk to her like that!" 

I talked to Steven after the assembly to let him know he couldn't threaten students. His response was, "I'm not going to just sit there and let him talk to you like that. He needs to show you respect." I swear, that boy almost brought tears to my eyes. I was surprised that he felt that way. I told the 8th grade counselor and she told me that Steven now includes me in his circle of protection. Honestly, I'm not sure how to feel about this. He has been working so hard and has come so far. He's still got quite the road ahead of him, but if he keeps on in the direction he is, I think he'll make it. 

Lesson Learned...

I have been sick since Saturday night with a nasty bout of flu. My parents are shocked and dismayed I didn't get a flu shot this year. I have never gotten one in the past and was just fine. However, now I work with a bunch of germ incubators in the form of junior high students. I have learned my lesson...I will definitely be getting a flu shot next year.

Snow Day!

Winter Storm Gandolf. Can we all just take a minute and talk about that ridiculous name? There were all kinds of Lord of the Rings geeky (and somewhat witty) comments there were all over Facebook about it last night? "It must be Gandolf the White" or "YOU SHALL NOT PASS"...were just a few gems.

Anyhoo...I woke up this morning hoping for a snow day but prepared to make the trek into work. I dutifully checked and sad times...no snow day for my school district. Now, the school district in which I live (which is not the district in which I teach), the charter schools, university and other government agencies in the city in which I teach called for snow days. But my district, no such luck.

So, I hurried through my morning routine to make sure I had plenty of time and bundled up. I made the trek through a foot of snow to my car and scraped the ice and snow off my car. I slid around a bit on the surface street in an attempt to get to the freeway. I thought the freeway would probably be more clear...uh not so much. I was on the freeway long enough to get off at the next exit. It took me about 20 minutes to make a 5 minute loop in my neighborhood to get back home.

So, I called in. I am now comfortably bundled up in a blanket, with a book and some hot chocolate. I've got a stack of grading that I'll work on. And just maybe, I'll take a nap later this afternoon.

Down for the count...

Life is hard...really hard sometimes. I had an incredibly difficult day at work today. Somehow when I was in my program and listening to my professors describe all their crazy stories, I didn't ever think that my crazy stories would be quite that crazy. As it is, I have already started a collection (granted, it is a mental collection) of some pretty humorous stories. Yet, today crossed the line from humorous into straight...seriously??? territory.

I love the teachers and staff I work with. I love the fact that our administration is pushing us to be better. I love being a part of something exciting and important, because what we do every day is important.

And yet. . .

And I'm not leaving that thought unfinished to be intentionally vague, ambiguous and irritating. I honestly don't know what comes after the "and yet..."

And yet. . . there it is.

Triumphs..

My 9th graders finished reading Night by Elie Wiesel last week. One of my students, self proclaimed anti-reader, said he loved the book. He told me, "Ms. Buie, this is the first book that I was excited to read and I want to read it again."

That is why I teach.