"Don't tell me you care?"

I was notified that one of my students was suspended for 10 days pending a tribunal. Since this will be his 2nd tribunal there is a great possiblity that the school will not let him return this year. I have worked with this young man all year trying to keep him on track. He is so smart and very respectful to me. He never gives me the first minutes trouble, does all his work, is the first to volunteer for everything we do and has a B average. Pretty good for a kid that normally stays in trouble with all of his other teachers.
As I was signing in the other morning I overheard one of our Resource Officers talking to a teacher about this young man. I then heard him say that the boy probably wouldn't be
back because he was still in jail. Well, of course my mouth dropped and you probably already know that I had to ask. I just couldn't imagine him being in that much trouble. So I told the office that I taught the young man and asked what was going on. I suppose I had that "concerned mother" look because the officer gave me the oddest look and said, "don't tell me you care about this kid. You look like you could cry." Well, I wasn't going to cry and I told the officer that I was just surprised that the young man was involved in the situation. I told him that he was a wonderful student. His response was, "we must be talking about two different kids"
So why is so surprising that I would care about a student? Are we only to care about the fine, upstanding, All American student? Are we only to care about the ones that are in the IB programs or the outstanding wholesome athlete? After all isn't that a part of being a teacher?
Why wouldn't I be concerned or upset? Why shouldn't I care?

A long, long, long lunch

Does any of you have a 50 minute lunch period? Our administration has announced that they are contemplating (code for we are going to do it) having one 50 minute period for lunch where all students eat at the same time. They took away the 10 minute break between 1st and 2nd because we were having too many fights. The reasoning was that the students had too much free time. If they cannot handle a 10 minute break how in the world can they handle 50 minutes with nothing to do? One of the reasons for the All Student Lunch Period is that they feel most students will utilize it to make up work and get some extra tutoring. Are you kidding me? Not this student population. The teachers will have "duty" during this time as well as be available to students and somewhere in there eat lunch. I just think it is a bad idea to try and fit the entire student body into a cafeteria that is normally full each of the 3 lunch periods we currently have. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think this is just trouble looking for a place to happen. It's going to be a long, long, long lunch.

Has anyone seen my Spring Break?

Has anyone seen my Spring Break? I know I was scheduled to have one but I don't seem to know where it is.
I cannot seem to enjoy my spring break because of all the deadlines before me. Is Spring Break not our own? Can we refuse and ask to postpone those deadlines til after the break? Do I have to give up some of my break time for my job?
Well, I didn't refuse, I did "their" work on my time and consequently did not accomplish anything on my "to do" list. So did I really have a break?

Speechless

As the week began, our focus has turned to next week GHSGT. I have never proctored the test before and didn't think I would be given that duty as I have 2 classes during testing time. They always use teachers during their planning. When Tuesday morning came around, a counselor was in our mailroom waiting to give out proctoring assignments. As I started to leave this counselor said, Ms. Vansant, you will need this information. You will be proctoring since your classes are smaller and you don't really do anything.....Well I was totally shocked and couldn't even respond to her. Maybe she didn't mean it the way it sounded but neverthesless she said it in front of my peers and that was so unprofessional.....well at least I thought it was. Her comment really hurt and I have carried it with me all week. When I go to interview a counselor for NTI, I am going to interview this very counselor. Maybe we can get to know each other a little better and she will find out that we indeed work in my classroom. It's worth a try.

Where do their brain cells go?

As much as I needed a week off to catch my breath and recooperate from pneumonia, I am not sure that a week off was the best idea for our students. Maybe I came from a strange world where education was important to my family. My mother made my brother and I read and review during every break we had from school, summer included. There was absolutely no forgetting what we had learned allowed.
Upon returning to classes on Monday I was greeted with blank stares as I reminded my students that "in our last class we discussed........". I was shocked. What had they been doing over break? Did they give one thought to their studies knowing that they would eventually return to school? So I spent a class period reviewing......no reteaching.....because not only had they forgotten eveything but they couldn't find their notebooks or their notes to refresh their memories.
As a Healthcare Science teacher and one that has a fairly good grasp of Anatomy I wonder.........Where do their brain cells go?

Let go and let the students teach

This week was a really hard week because I have been so sick. After my sub trouble, I just couldn't bear to leave my students unprotected with another sub. But the longer I stayed at school the worse I felt and the more I lost my voice...for 3 days I just could not talk. To my amazement, my students stepped up to the plate and volunteered to teach what I had planned. They were great and actually went over and beyond what I had planned to do. The natural leaders took charge, dividing the lesson up among the class with very clear instructions to each group on exactly what should be taught including objectives. This happened in every class. Staying on task was not a problem because they were "helping Ms. V". The students took their new roles very seriously. What a joy it was for me to watch the students have so much fun learning the material they were assigned to teach. I have a new appreciation for lesson plans were and what a valuable lesson for me:
Great things can happen when I learn to let go and let the students teach.........

Proud Momma

I have had great difficulty getting into this blog since Friday but I persevered and here I am.
I have also attempted to post this 4 times but have been unsuccessful......I hope 5 times is the charm.

Bronchitis and sinusitis reared its ugly head and attacked me with a vengence. After teaching for a week and getting sicker by the minute I finally gave in and took Monday and Tuesday off. But getting a sub is often more trouble than it's worth. And what do you do when the sub does not follow your lesson plans and chooses to do their own alternate assignment? Why take the time to even write them?

Speaking of substitute teachers. I had a sub again on Friday in order for me to take some student to our Region SkillsUSA Competition. School begins at 7:30 and we were not leaving until 7:50 so I was busy getting last minute details for the trip handled during that 20 min period of time. My sub arrived right at 7:30 (the same sub I had Mon and Tues), I greeted him and he began looking over the lesson plans and assignments I had left for my classes. I continued doing what I was doing answering student's questions regarding previous assignments and getting my team ready to leave. During this time I turned on the TV to our school's Friday broadcast of the Blue Devil News and handed the remote to a student to control the volume.
The sub called me out into the hallway and began to question whether I needed him or not for my classes that day. I was a little confused as to why he was asking me this so I explained why I was there and that I would be leaving shortly. He proceeded to reprimand me stating that I was undermining his authority in the classroom by turning on the TV. As I picked my lower jaw up off of the floor I again explained that I was getting ready to leave and did not have time for this conversation. He still wanted to continue the reprimand of me but I just walked back into my classroom, gathered my things and marched myself to the Administrator's office. I felt bad about reporting a sub as they are so hard to come by, but I felt that sub or no sub while I was present I was still in charge of my classroom. Admnistration was very supportive but this was not a great way to start my day especially when I was trying to stay upbeat for my competitors.

Now on a more positive note.....
My Health Knowledge Bowl Team won 2nd place in our Region SkillsUSA Competition.
They worked very hard in spite of several obstacles.
I feel like a proud momma!!

An "Ooie Gooie" Day.....

For the past two weeks I get sick on my stomach thinking about that Observation Day. And this is not because I have had a previous bad experience. Mrs. M has been so encouraging and always hightlights the positive things. I guess I just want to have that "perfect class" when she comes. So I tried out my lesson on a different class period this week. Can I just say that students love "ooie gooie". While teaching them to don and remove gloves I had them contaminate their gloves with an "ooie gooie" concoction. After they got over the initial "you've got to be kidding me" look, they moved into the "oooo this is so much fun" phase but quickly focused on the real issue at hand: remove these yucky gloves without getting it all over me and everything else. And focus they did. For some it was an easy task but for others it took some time to master. The joy for me was that they never gave up. There were a lot of "high 5'ves" that day and rightly so. Now I look forward to that observation day, not so much for the observation but for seeing those students have fun learning............

Is Running Away An Option?

While I love to email and IM, this blog assignment was just "one more thing" to add to my plate. But then I caught myself acting just like my students; judging the activity before I even began it. So I decided to have a positive attitude (that employability skill) and try to look forward to learning something brand new. Since blogs are firewalled at my school, I am depending on my "dial up" internet and that is frustrating but again a positive attitude will get me through.

OK....why DOES administration think that as teachers we are just sitting at our desks waiting for yet another "project to be completed TODAY"? This is more than being able to multi-task. Trying to give everything 100% of myself is becoming overwhelming.
We are completing the textbook adoption process and receiving new textbooks which have to be inventoried (in my spare time). And the curriculum map we submitted last year to accompany that adoption was not detailed enough so a new map needs to be created now (again in my spare time. )
As we have received full Title 1 status, money has been found for us to spend and our request for large equipment needs to be submitted YESTERDAY. We do the research. (in my spare time)
We are also in the process of adopting the Middle Years Program (and I still don't understand all of that). But I do know that it doesn't apply to my particular class but nevertheless it still affect me and what is expected.
I have to create a brochure for my class including pictures, mission statement and careers students can pursue after taking my class. This sounds great but I am a nurse not a graphic artist. Maybe they will accept one with stick figures drawn in crayon. (Oh...and I will do this in my spare time)
Now we have been told that we have to create a display of some sort for 8th grade registration that will occur in the next couple of weeks. This sounds like fun (in my spare time)
SkillsUSA region competition is in a couple of weeks and I must continue to prepare the students. We've come too far to slack off now and administration does expect this to be done in my spare time.
Yes all this and teach with that positive attitude.

Is running away an option?........................

Seriously, teaching would be so much fun and incredibly rewarding if it were not for the other expections placed on us. So I dig down to find that positive attitude with which to greet each day.
I find myself looking forward to Tuesday nights to receive that encouragement, that confirmation that I am not alone in this, that what I do WILL make a difference. And to know that I may never see the results of my efforts but that is OK