Wednesday, August 09, 2006

First days of school...

Well, I have officially been teaching my own students in my own classroom for 3 full days now. It seems like so much has happened in such a short time. My first day was quite the experience. I had mentioned in previous blogs about my teaching sessions at Holly Springs and how great they were. I think I need to go ahead and make it very clear that our class was awesome; I got spoiled waaaaay to early. I think I just assumed that we were really that good at teaching. Anyways, back to my first day of school. Well, after a fairly smooth first two blocks of teaching, my third and final block of kids gave me quite the warm welcome. I think I lost control of the class after about 20 minutes of going over rules and procedures. I've never had to repeat myself that many times. By the end of class, I was furious. I was so frustrated with myself. It just seemed like no matter what I punished them with or what I said, they basically just said...."thank you may I have another." I left school that day feeling defeated. However, after talking with my roommates and my dad, I went back in the following day a little more prepared and ready for whatever would be thrown my way. The result....these past two days have been really good. I know I've still got a long way to go, but it felt so good to see some improvement. I just hope we stay on this upward slope.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Meelk and cherry caoke

Well, today was the first day under contract for me at my school. We began the day with a three hour seminar over the student handbook followed by lunch and afternoon off in order to work on our classrooms. I found out my classroom is actually in one of the portable trailers on the backside of the school. I think it actually could be kind of cool. It's like I am my own building....I need a nickname for my classroom....suggestions....please post. Right now I'm leaning towards "The Box", "The Birdcage", or "The Rock". The one bad thing about the classroom, however, is that my airconditioning unit isn't in the best shape. They recommended that I bring in some fans of my own....just to keep myself cool...and the students ofcourse.

The living situation is going really well. Landon's girlfriend came over this past weekend to stay with us. Her accent is hilarious.....I'm talking it's about as Mississippi as you can get. She's definitely a hit with our house. She made us a couple of meals as well....I think that's really why I like her....I like to eat.

On a more serious note, I'm actually starting to get nervous about school starting up next week. I'm just nervous about the first week of school. Everyone puts so much emphasis on the first week, and I'm worried I won't lay a good foundation down. Ahh, I'll be glad when the first day just gets here. It's like the locker room time before a big game. You're ready to go play, but you're forced to just sit and think about the task ahead of you.....and that's the reality. I'll post again soon; I'm just tired.

HT