“I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?”

Well, I wish I could just be whelmed.  Sadly, after reading the Reluctant Disciplinarian and after our first subject meeting and after our last class where we ran down all the due dates, its needless to say that I feel overwhelmed.  I have been waiting for this moment to arrive and it has.  MTC has not made me cry yet, but I feel like the flood gates may open in the coming weeks.  The thing is, we just finished week three of summer school, and the thought of what we have to do in the next TWO weeks is just, well, overwhelming! The thing is though that I spent four years at Georgetown doing this exact thing.  Each semester finals would roll around and you would have a final one day that is worth 60% of your grade followed by a 15 page paper due the next day and another final two days away.  But somehow, I made it.  I always survived.  Finals never killed me.  Sure it stretched me thin, but I always rebounded.  And that is what I have to keep in mind.  Take each day as it comes and just know that I will make it through...

Those were my immediate feelings after closing the book.  But I do have general thoughts about what was discussed.  

• As with many things, these are all suggestions. What works for one person, may not work for everyone.  Just like at summer school. You absorb it all, but at the end of the day, its up to you and how you want your classroom to look.  I feel like the “What Does Work” section should have been entitled the, “What Worked For Me” section instead.  I just find it hard to believe that this guy has found the perfect calculation for what is necessary to be a good teacher.  For instance, if I did everything he said, I still think I would have many issues!  Teaching is unique because two people can have very different classrooms but equal success.  
• Start with traditional methods - use textbook and other traditional forms of assessment for the first few weeks of school.  Using traditional methods is how students define a good teacher.  This idea was new to me and caused me to stop for a moment and think about it.  I can see the benefit in doing this.  Students are use to text books and the traditional way of teaching.  However, I wonder if that then causes them to think that the teacher will be just as bad as the last teacher they had? Either way, I think this may be something I experiment with.

“Learn to find the truth in any advice” - this was the take home point for me.  Overall, I enjoyed this book.  I think I will read it again closer to the start of school and I will pick a few things that I want to focus on.  Yes its true there were a lot of antidotes in this book, but what’s the alternative? Reading a traditional boring education textbook?? I think not.  Rubinstein did a good job of getting the same points across in a much more interesting format. 

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Oh! How Time Flies!

I hate blogs. Its just that simple.  How are they ever suppose to convey how I am feeling?  I mentally started this blog a week and half ago.  Since then, it has morphed into something completely different.  And still, as I type, something different from what I planned is developing.  How am I suppose explain to the world what is going on in my life? I am not very poetic, but even those that are, I doubt they can even convey all their emotions.  So I am not quite sure I understand the point of them because I paint the picture that I want you to see.  With that in mind...

...We are rounding out week three of summer school! We only have 2 more weeks to go and I can hardly believe it.  Where to start? In general, things are going well. I have my time management down better so I am not up late lesson planning anymore.  In the classroom, time management is a different things :) But I am working on it!  I really appreciate teaching a subject in summer school that I will be teaching in the fall.  I didn’t think much of it at first, but now I realize I will have lessons already prepared and worksheets pre-made (with the answers!) So in my algebra one class, I am generally quite content.

Drama club, is a different story.  I don’t hate clubs at all.  In fact, I think they are brilliant.  They allow kids to associate school with something positive and fun and a little more hands on.  But this only happens if they are implemented correctly.  This did not happen and so clubs are a complete disaster at summer school.  Ask almost any first year and they will tell you their day is always going fine until 11:55 when club starts.  Here is where I think clubs went wrong: It wasn’t clear to first years that they would be basically running clubs alone.  If Quentin and I had known this, we would have taken our club in a different direction.  This is by no means the fault of second years.  They don’t come every day which then leaves the club in our hands really.  My point is that it should be made clear to first years from the start that the club is all theirs to run.

School aside, life is still good.  Living situation for the fall is questionable.  I have traveled to Greenville twice now and I believe I am headed there this weekend as well -- hopefully to sign a lease? I got into a fight with my printer and the printer won.  Its kind of all in all very reminiscent of college. Oh wait, except I wake up at 5:15 AM every morning.  Its actually not bad anymore.  Its just really hard to get enough sleep. But let me tell you, you can surely feel when you have sleep 6.5 hours compared 7 hours. 

Tomorrow is the second years last day.  I am sad to see them go but excited for it just to be Blake and I in the classroom.  I am interested to see where things go.  Lots and lots of work to do ahead of me.  All I can say is: BRING IT!

peace.

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In the end, we are all the same.

Among us first years, we have people from the North and from the South.  We have city slickers and small town homebodies.  We have people who went to small private universities and those that went to state schools.  Some of us are super athletic, others, not so much.  Some of us come from families that are well off, others relied on financial aide to make it through college. Some of us want teaching to be our career, others are just taking a "break" before heading to law/med school.  Some of us are black and some of us are white.  But in the end, we are all just human.  We are all the same.

This is the one thing that I have noticed recently.  In college, these same people existed, however, Georgetown was just big enough that you could pick who you wanted to associate with.  Here in MTC, were our class has but 23 people in it, you have to associate with everyone.  You have to talk to one another because really, you wont get very far otherwise.  No one else understands quite what we are going through except each other.  We can call out families and friends as much a we want.  We can run away for weekends in Memphis, but really at the end of the day, the only people that can even slightly understand what we are talking about our our fellow first years.  

So we must put aside our differences.  That is what I am learning to do and I think a lot of people in this program are being tested on this aspect as well.  

I hail from Northern Virginia, from a house that has a touch of English and Indian heritage.  So obviously Oxford, MS is introducing me to some new things.  For instance, I am learning that gentlemen hold doors open (and get mad if you don’t let them!) But interestingly enough, you know what does get under my skin? I know you are going to roll your eyes and say, “THAT is what bothers you?!” But the general lack of recycling around me is slightly irritating.  I am certainly not generalizing to the entire South, because that would just be ignorant.  But I am use to a recycling bin next to just about every trash bin.  I am use to separating my glass and cardboard from the rest of the trash in the house.  Here I don’t do that.  The general lack for the environment in this sense, is quite irritating...

BUT that is not my point! My point is that we all come from very different backgrounds, but something brought us here.  And that is the one thing that we all have in common (although there my be others). I think that it is crucial that everyone in this program remember that.  Forget the petty fights and squabbles.  Its going to be hard to put the next two years into words.  So we have to count on each other.  We need to be able to just look at one another and in that look, we shall just understand each other.

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The Art of Questioning

Questioning is actually a little harder than what you would expect.  How do you ask a question and get students to respond? How do you ask a question that the students understand?  How do you ask questions that make the students think a little harder and not just recall facts?  How do you make sure every student is heard and not just 1 or 2 who love to participate?

These are all questions that I have contemplated over the past week or so.   I have had two problems with my questioning.  First of all, I have two brilliant students who are always willing to answer questions, but the rest of the class is much more timid.  And then my other problem is asking questions that cause the students to take the knowledge that they have and take it a step further. 

The other day I sat at lunch with both the students who love answering all the questions and they said something to me that I didn't expect to hear.  They said, "Ms. Jones you discriminating!" Baffled I replied, "Excuse me?" And they said, "Yeah you never call on boys! Only girls!"  This completely caught me off guard.  I stopped to think about it and realized that no I was calling on everyone but these two boys want to be called on every time.  Of course I couldn't do this.  There are 32 other students in my class.  I can't just focus on two students.  Its a constant battle back and forth  about calling on them and asking them to wait a second and let the others try to figure out the answer.  And that is when the brilliance of cold calling (randomly pulling names from a cup and calling on students) comes to my rescue.  If these two students see that everyone gets the same chance of being called on, its not just me "discriminating" against the boys.  Its simply the luck of the draw.  Plus it helps involve the other students.  I am for sure pro-cold calling! 

I also tried muddy questions with my class.  I handed out notecards at the end of the period and asked them to write down what was difficult.  95% of the class said they were confused with what we just went over. I kind of read those and tossed them to the side because there was a new topic introduced that period and it would be continued in the next one.  But there were 2 or 3 cards with brilliant statements.  The one that said the most intriguing thing sadi "everything is confusing because you go to fast and I don't understand."  Now this is the nature of summer school.  You just have to push forward, but I appreciated knowing that some students just weren't keeping up. Hell, I have a hard time keeping up.  MY head is spinning 90% of the time as well so I can only imagine how the students feel.  I have mixed feelings about this one because 95% of the class wrote something that was obvious (perhaps I need to choose a better period to do them?) but I can't ignore the few cards that gave me a bit of insight as to how the students were actually doing. So I will have to try this one again before I make any final decisions on it.

Questioning.  Probably one of my weakest points.  I plan to start writing in my lesson plans with higher level questions already included.  Therefore I can glance at them rather than just rapid fire question the class with whatever is the first question to pop into my head.  

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Delta Autumn: So much information in such a small book!

Reading this book was extremely overwhelming, but interesting.  It seemed like each chapter discussed something completely different. There was so much information to take in at once.  I think it was all very useful information, but hard to dissect it all at once.

The first thing that hit me, was the list of things to do, people to meet, and supplies to buy at the beginning.  Although some stuff seemed obvious, there were so many small things that a complete list like this will come in handy.  Not too mention that the beginning of school is going to be stressful and busy, so a go to guide like this will be almost necessary to make sure you don't forget anything.  I have to say, I didn't think about EVERYTHING that you need to have ready.  Come Aug. 1. I will be looking back on these pages for advise.

Another chapter that I will have to definitely come back and look at once I know my class is the special ed one.  As I started reading I started to think about how classroom management will be hard and all the things I would have to change.  I have actually worked with special ed students, but I just feel like there are so many other things going on during my first year that I want to be able to give everyone attention.  We will see how that goes...But once I see who is in my class, I will definitely start with Delta Autumn as far as tips go for how to adjust your classroom.

The final chapter that really stuck out to me was the one about figuring out how to get additional money.  First of all I didn't realize till I came down here that there were options for funding.  I just assumed it would be out of pocket.  So its really exciting that that there are various ways to fund things. My next thought was, "Oh my! I picked the right subject!" It seems that mathematics gets more money than most other subjects other than the sciences.  I am really thrilled about this! I plan to use as much as I get.  My only question, which I feel like the book hardly talked about, was how to acquire this money.  They say ask your department head or principal, but honestly what do you do? Walk up and say "Hi I am a new teacher here, but give me my money damnit!" Although it may not be in those words exactly, the point still is that talking about money is always so awkward.  I am going to start with second years and see what they did, but that will only get me so far. At some point I am going to have to waltz up to someone and be like "Give me money!"

In sum, I would advise all new teachers or even teachers in general to read this book.  I feel better about everything now that I have.  I probably took in only a small portion of it, but its comforting to know that its there.  I have a checklist already made. I just have to open the book again in mid-july.  

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Week one down, two years to go!

Well the first week of MTC flew by so fast, I can't believe it is over.  Much has happened to me in the past 2 weeks with graduation and moving down here.  It is hard to process it all.  But what I do know, is that I am settling in well, for now.  

The first few days were expectedly awkward.  There are 24 of us and most of us don't know each other so it only makes sense that conversations seem forced.  Plus, this is a new place for many of us.  Not too mention that there was so much information thrown at us.  It was all very overwhelming, but we went through it together.  This has bonded us.  Although at times things are awkward, we are much more relaxed with one another.

As far as orientation and getting down to the nuts and bolts of what we are actually here to do, the past week has been a blur.  Like I said before, it is really hard to not only be meeting new people, but at the same time, trying to figure out the logistics of everything.  I was very happy for Friday afternoon to come around mainly because I wanted a chance to take a deep breath and actually figure out everything that I am suppose to be doing.  I think that weekends this summer are going to be like little treasures.

This week has also caused me to think a lot about what I am excited, nervous, and just plain scared of in respect to the coming two years.  This may seem ridiculous, but I am scared of tornados! I have been thinking of it a lot recently, and well I know they happen out here.  I am just not an extreme weather kind of gal.  Slightly more important than tornados, I am nervous, really uncertain, of my classroom management plan.  We have received a lot of great advise over the past week, but as far as classroom management goes, I have heard a lot of conflicting thoughts.  Some say start really strict and then if the class responds to it and can handle being a little more laid back, then it is acceptable.  Others have said the complete opposite.  Don't try and be their friend, but also do not go in there stone faced and really strict.  I have had a few years of experience lesson planning, so I am not as concerned about that.  But at this point, I am really unsure of how I want to run my classroom.  I see the benefits in both starting off strict and not starting that way.  The question really is whether or not I can be that strict teacher even though that is not how I am naturally.  I suppose that is why summer school teaching is so perfect. It gives us time to experiment with how we want to do things ourselves.

But overall, I am just really excited! I feel like we wont really understand the things that people are saying regarding teaching until we are actually in the classrooms ourselves.  That is why I went with an alternative teaching program.  I wanted to learn about teaching while teaching at the same time.  I learn by doing, so I think just jumping into it all will really help clarify things for me.  I suppose we shall see how things unfold in a few short days.

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