Playing Catch-up!

I've been pretty tired/busy the past few days and drove home this past weekend, so I haven't really had time to update very often. However, I will post the few notes I've taken down (more elaboration on these skeletons to come soon) from the past couple of days' events.

Friday & Monday, February 28, 2010

“Remember: Try Not to Stare.”

This is a very trying time in the semester when everything and everyone is high pressure and high stress – especially when it’s TAKS season and the kids are getting restless because Spring Break is coming up.

It doesn’t seem fair that I have to censor myself and watch my actions in order to accommodate the needs of a problematic student that aren’t addressed in any official documentation or paperwork, but I suppose I’m still learning and I shouldn’t completely dismiss the idea. However, I do need to sit down and talk to her because the problem can’t continue to be ignored after the fact that I took disciplinary action. One of her close friends is super sweet to me, and it’s just odd to see her give me the cold shoulder deliberately when her friend is standing there sucking up to me and playing nice. I honestly really just need to sit down and talk with her one-on-one so we can clear up any misunderstandings and really swipe the slate clean so we can both succeed. Angelina made a really great suggestion that I ask her to jot down three things/ways I can do to help her succeed in our class. I wrote it down on my penguin pad and hopefully we can open/close our conversation with that.

I was telling Jessica about my day and entire apprenticeship experience, which pretty much dwindled down to a big whopping sob fest, but I’ve come to the realization that I can’t take things personally and the only person I can control is myself. I told Angelina that I had already had my first stress cry. (I’d actually been holding it in for a few weeks now.) I just feel like I’m having to live up to (as Jessica put it so eloquently) my predecessor, and I can’t really get a grasp of where I stand in with everyone – the students, fellow teachers, administrators – and I’m trying to figure out where exactly that is. I’ve had a series of unfortunate experiences and encounters with other people, but it may have simply been a case of the Mondays.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

“If only I was half the Student Teacher you guys are/have been…”

I was running a bit late (I didn’t get up out of bed until 7:05 and typically leave between 7:30 - 7:45a.) and texted Missy to let her know. I was expecting it to be another crappy day, but I walked in two minutes before 8:15 and immediately started with a couple one-on-one conferences with students who needed a bit more guidance on the assignment due in class today while Missy had a meeting with a few fellow staffers. It felt great to interact with students and provide them with the push they needed, but a student lingered around a bit and was characterized as “needy.” I feel more connected with students who are willing to ask questions, but I also feel that they should already have the skills and knowledge necessary for working independently. However, sophomores are a great grade because they’re still young enough to be aware that they don’t know everything. However, my Pre-APs are still pretty teacher-reliant, which makes me feel good to know that I can help, teach, and learn from them, but the purpose of teaching is to ensure that the student can function successfully without the help of the teacher.