So since I haven't blogged in awhile you all may have missed some of the more comical parts of this school year. Ill share my favorite five....really I can only remember about five
1. The day one of my students with downs ran away and I chased her. LORD HAVE MERCY SHE WAS FAST. So I knew there was a fire drill that day, I just haven't taught a lot of students with special needs. Prior knowledge would have led me to notifying her parapro that there was a drill so that she would be prepared....but I didn't have the prior knowledge so whatever. So we get outside and I'm lining up kids as I see a dash. All of sudden I'm like OH NO and I take off behind her. I'm wearing Cole Haans...barely broken in Cole Haans. So I start behind her but I realize that she is not giving me regular run, she's giving me Harriet Tubman give us us free track star running. So I'm like ok let me really run. So I switch into track star mode and catch her. The whole time everyone is WATCHING me run after her by myself. FOR REAL? Yall not trying to help me? She was running straight to the woods. If she made it in, she would have been a goner because I don't do the woods. I surely wasn't going to email her parents either. Then the one of the other kids tells me (as im out of breath because I'm no longer in shape) that it was time to go inside. When I tell you I was on the verge of cursing him out! I told him, "we go inside when I say we go inside. I know you see me out of breath".
2. My black kids play "Beyond Scared Straight". I really don't know how to explain this to yall at all. Just know there is a warden...a lot of yelling...a lot of marching. Befuddles me every recess
3. My students like to play me like I'm old. I am but that doesn't mean we talk about it. Here is how I shut it down once
#ooms- Mr Stanley you are old
me- Oh you obviously like 5th grade enough to do it twice
#endscene Don't come for me like kids.
4. I will never forget when #ooms I call my Spanish thug came up to my teammates and I and said "I have a friend with benefits". Talk about the most awkward moment in life. None of us knew what to say but we couldn't just leave it. So I went in for more details. Needless to say it wasn't as bad as I thought but it was kind of close. SMH
5. Last but not least....Charles and Mr. Stanley have been doing a lot of merging in the classroom. While that may sound like a good thing...its not. Charles is ratchet. Mr. Stanley is not. Im teaching a math lesson and somehow integrated "started from the bottom now we here", beefed it up, and used the saying "we don't die, we multiply" all in one class period. Gots to do better.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
TCAP...not the predator kind
While it is yet spring break, the daunting horizon of the TCAP is just three weeks away. Normally I do not stress about stuff like this but it is really important for me to see how well I am at getting results. Last year, I was able to lean on the crutch of not teaching my students an entire calendar year but this year....don't really have any excuses. To make matters worse, we have a widening achievement gap in the 5th grade (the largest gap in the building). My fear is that our classroom setup has made me better at teaching the kids at the top which is an exact flip of my results from last year. Our classes are ability grouped (don't ever consider that idea for an entire school building...not sure what idiot created that research but they should have been more specific about where to apply said research). I really want to see all of my students at proficient but I don't know if that is completely possible. Couple that with being unhappy with my job and it becomes that much harder to produce results. I love my kids, I love teaching 5th grade, I love my coworkers, but the structure of our school building and the culture of our school has had me in the worst slump ever. Now that I know I'm going on to new adventures, I will have the drive to push out some major moves in the next three weeks. We'll see though.
Whats in da new chicken wraps?!?!?!
What's good everyone?!?! It has been a minute since I have posted to this and mainly because of two reasons
1. I don't know what kind of thumb you call it when all the computers you touch malfunction but whatever it is, I had it. I was kind of down and out and without and grad school was here so that's that.
2. I've honestly been really dissatisfied
I'll dwell on 2 a bit longer and in the end, I will tie this back to my crazy title. In January of 2012, I transferred schools and for all the right reasons in my opinion. Working with the someone who doesn't like you nor you them but not being the advantageous one in the situation is just not healthy. So I left. However, when I left, I didn't quite realize what I was leaving. Originally, I was making a point and a statement. That point being: I'm the shit and you need me more than I need you. Hey, I was young and proud what can you do. I realized though that I was leaving kids who were like my own children. My students respected me as a parental figure minus calling me dad because that's just weird and awkward for an 8th grade girl to call her male teacher not much older than her. After moving to my new school, I lost that feeling. I truly didn't know the impact that would have on my satisfaction with my job. I love teaching and I truly think I am gifted at what I do to a certain degree. My forte comes with relationships that I build with kids. However, my authoritarian demeanor doesn't necessary match all kinds of kids but it does a certain demographic. That's when it hit me....I really do not like privileged children. As harsh as that statement sounds, hear my rationale. At my old school I provided the stability, structure, discipline, love, guidance, etc because many of my kids did not get it in large doses at home. My parents didn't call me and email me 5 times a week with concerns but I liked that because my students needed me in a deeper way than my students now. I truly miss that. One of the reasons I ventured into the classroom was because my teachers reached out to more than the academic piece of me when I needed it the most. My teachers were my lifesavers. I like life saving. I like helping and being needed. So how does this relate to my title....well....Mary loves chicken....chicken wraps....so she did a commercial....with lots of passion....about chicken wraps. Most people hated that commercial and she tried to deny she was here for it but she was. So in the same fashion, I'm returning to what I love.
1. I don't know what kind of thumb you call it when all the computers you touch malfunction but whatever it is, I had it. I was kind of down and out and without and grad school was here so that's that.
2. I've honestly been really dissatisfied
I'll dwell on 2 a bit longer and in the end, I will tie this back to my crazy title. In January of 2012, I transferred schools and for all the right reasons in my opinion. Working with the someone who doesn't like you nor you them but not being the advantageous one in the situation is just not healthy. So I left. However, when I left, I didn't quite realize what I was leaving. Originally, I was making a point and a statement. That point being: I'm the shit and you need me more than I need you. Hey, I was young and proud what can you do. I realized though that I was leaving kids who were like my own children. My students respected me as a parental figure minus calling me dad because that's just weird and awkward for an 8th grade girl to call her male teacher not much older than her. After moving to my new school, I lost that feeling. I truly didn't know the impact that would have on my satisfaction with my job. I love teaching and I truly think I am gifted at what I do to a certain degree. My forte comes with relationships that I build with kids. However, my authoritarian demeanor doesn't necessary match all kinds of kids but it does a certain demographic. That's when it hit me....I really do not like privileged children. As harsh as that statement sounds, hear my rationale. At my old school I provided the stability, structure, discipline, love, guidance, etc because many of my kids did not get it in large doses at home. My parents didn't call me and email me 5 times a week with concerns but I liked that because my students needed me in a deeper way than my students now. I truly miss that. One of the reasons I ventured into the classroom was because my teachers reached out to more than the academic piece of me when I needed it the most. My teachers were my lifesavers. I like life saving. I like helping and being needed. So how does this relate to my title....well....Mary loves chicken....chicken wraps....so she did a commercial....with lots of passion....about chicken wraps. Most people hated that commercial and she tried to deny she was here for it but she was. So in the same fashion, I'm returning to what I love.
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