November 2011
24 posts
4 tags
An art teacher articulately writes what most... →
This almost brought tears to my eyes. It’s so painful to listen to the public hate on teachers when I work my ass off every day at a job that most people I meet raise their eyebrows at and say, “I could never handle that job.”
Nov 30th
365 notes
The kids were almost as amused as I was.
missbstories: To begin my PowerPoint presentation about Shakespeare, I opened with a big picture of his face and the text: “This guy invented the word ‘puking.’” Then I clicked.  Shakespeare’s mouth opened, vomit appeared, and a puking sound played, simultaneously. I cannot tell you how excited I am for this unit. This sounds amazing! Must respectfully replicate. :)
Nov 30th
6 notes
4 tags
Thankful for Thanksgiving Break!
This break was so needed and so effective. I cannot WAIT to go back to work tomorrow. :) I’m caught up on grading (mostly), ahead on lesson planning, and my bathroom is CLEAN. Also, I just have one more thing to do for BTSA.  I even tried to make homemade mac-n-cheese tonight for my lunches this week. I made it a couple weeks ago and it was amazing. Tonight though, I wasn’t paying...
Nov 28th
How Millennial Are You?  →
teamteachers: Free quiz from the Pew Research Center. I’d love to see what score you all get. Here’s mine: Interesting! I got 90. I’ve always wondered what our generation is called. I like Millenials better than Gen-Yers.
Nov 23rd
20 notes
4 tags
“A teacher in New York was teaching her class about bullying and gave them the...”
– (via heyitspeej6) I did this with my freshmen last week for our school’s Anti-Bullying Week. They were amazed.
Nov 21st
18 notes
4 tags
To be sure, there is no substitute for a good... →
The former journalist in me wants to have Thomas Friedman’s journalistic babies. This is for all the parents who complain about teachers without ever making the time to call US to see why their kid is failing. I understand that times are tough and some parents have to work many hours a week to keep food on the table, but so did my mom, and we found ways to communicate through notes left on...
Nov 21st
Novice Teacher: Letter to Tumblr →
novicephoenix: Dear Tumblr, I’m posting this letter to anyone who might be able to help. I realize that I have no right to ask, but please bear with this letter for now. I am in the process of creating a classroom library for my kids. I work in a high needs district where over 80% of my kids are living at or… Help a teacher out by contributing to her classroom library!
Nov 20th
385 notes
2 tags
Things I had time for today since I have all of...
- cleaning out old clothes from closet - dusting - made Mac n Cheese. From scratch. Thank history for Thanksgiving break.
Nov 20th
“But when a saga popular with pre-adolescent girls peaks romantically on a night...”
– NPR’s Linda Holmes reviews Twilight Breaking Dawn, Pt. 1 (via diandrabird) Linda Holmes is great. (via iamlittlei) Word.
Nov 19th
18,391 notes
Team Teachers: Time for a Tumblr Teacher Dare Day! →
teamteachers: How it works: Reblog the announcement! Ask one question related to education on your tumblr for your followers to answer. Post the responses in one single post later. Ask at LEAST 2 of the tumblrs in the education community a question in their ask box. It does not have to be related to…
Nov 19th
119 notes
6 tags
Random
Me: OK guys, get out your reading journals and turn to page 3 in the book. Student: Ms. G, have you ever eaten Spam? Me:
Nov 18th
5 tags
Happy Wednesday!
Wednesdays at my school are typically crazy for me. We have PLC meetings in the morning, so the kids have a late start day. Also, the people in my PLC are somewhat insane, so the meetings can be frustrating. The schedule obviously shifts a bit, so the 15-minute break I usually get between my courses in different classrooms is shifted up, so I race from one room to another. We also have an extra...
Nov 17th
2 notes
1 tag
positivelypersistentteach: Once it is dark out, I lack all motivation to move. I need to pack my gym bag for tomorrow, but I can’t seem to move. Um, yes. Every day. I keep waiting for my body to adjust and be able to work when I get home, but if that hasn’t happened by now, I don’t think it will.
Nov 16th
8 notes
4 tags
One more week ... before a week of Thanksgiving...
Today I: - graded all the things - planned the week - created a lesson plan using the Smart Board software that I’ve been avoiding. Time to integrate that bad boy into the curriculum. Yeah. - though, by lesson plan, I mean Reading Journal to guide the kids as we start our new book. So, not amazing, but it’s a start. - had lunch with a friend (NOVEL CONCEPT) - had dinner and...
Nov 14th
3 tags
Veterans Day means...
I’m grateful for our country’s veterans. This year, I’m especially grateful for a day off after the worst week of the school year so far. Yesterday was especially stressful. But today is a day of cuddling with my dog on the couch and relaxing. And I’m getting my hair cut and re-purpled in a bit. Then spending the night on my couch with my dog. Yeah. Couch+cutest dog...
Nov 12th
5 tags
So excited!
My Journalism students’ newspaper website goes live tomorrow! Our first issue. :) We don’t have a print version yet, which is nice because fixing and changing a website is so much easier than putting pages together. I will be willing to do that in the future, but launching a website has been enough work for this first-year teacher. :) Anyway, information forthcoming! 
Nov 10th
2 notes
9 tags
The worst part of being a first year teacher
is that sinking gut feeling I get when I realize the way I’ve been teaching something is just wrong and there’s a better way to do it. It just feels like I’ve been wasting my students’ and my time. Gah!
Nov 8th
5 notes
5 tags
If you're in a giving mood, the family of the... →
Because really, what family saves for a funeral for their 14-year-old? I know this kind of takes away some of my desired anonymity, but it is what it is. There’s another article on the newspaper website that thoroughly explains the incident and the grieving. Today was OK. Better than I expected, really. I think after a weekend of straight tears and grief, the kids were ready for some...
Nov 8th
21 notes
5 tags
Hard time
I’m having a hard time finding the motivation to do any grading. Everything we’re doing in the classroom seems trivial compared to what my students are dealing with this weekend. The death of a classmate. The injuries of other classmates. How am I supposed to teach tomorrow? How are the kids going to discuss the background topics for their Of Mice and Men presentations tomorrow? ...
Nov 6th
29 notes
‘Teacher for a Day’ Energizes Students | Teaching... →
positivelypersistentteach: Ok, if you have followed me for long you know that I love reciprocal teaching, reader response, vocabulary, and teaching students to be tolerant of others.  So this article was right up my alley.  I also thought it is an interesting teaching tool to discuss in light of the conversations we have had on Tumblr on how teachers are people too, and kids can bully teachers....
Nov 6th
18 notes
I'm in shock
I just got a call from one of my principals telling me that there was a shooting in my school’s town last night. One girl died. She was my student last year, and I just said hi to her on campus yesterday. Her cousin is in one of my classes this year.  Two girls were injured. Both were my students last year, and one is my student this year. The one who is my student is in stable condition,...
Nov 6th
1 note
1 tag
It's very possible I got up at 8:15...
… and have been recumbent on the couch for 4.5 hours. Grading and planning? What grading and planning?
Nov 5th
Into the Strenuous Briefness: A Friend and Some... →
iamlittlei: So I have, I believe, finally reached friend status with M, who teaches Gifted Earth Science. We often chat after school now, and today she stopped by to see me when we were both working late and we talked for quite a bit. It feels a little childish to say, “I made a friend!” but that’s a big… Omg. My department head is crazy too! I so get this. I had no desire to be a...
Nov 4th
2 notes
6 tags
Two kids broke my heart a little today
And one of them I don’t even know. I was getting some materials from my department chair during lunch and she said, “Read this. It’s a great example of showing instead of telling.” It was an amazing narrative essay that illustrated the night his parents split up. The writing was amazing; the topic was depressing. After school, a student came to me to talk about an...
Nov 2nd
24 notes