progress report

well, i have now almost made it through 4 weeks of the school year...1/9 of the way through! so far, so good. my feet are hurting less, though still hurting, and the 6am wake up call is getting somewhat easier.

you may recall that my afternoon classes had a substitute last week while i had a curriculum development meeting. i surprised my last period class by returning early and were they glad to see me! they, being my torturous class, were not behaving all that well (though my other classes were perfect angels and the sub told me their behavior reflected highly on me) so i had to whip them into shape. i had to assign my first 2 lunch detentions because this was the somewhat severe consequence i had set up for any misbehavior for the sub. friday afternoon when that class returned they came in and were sitting there smiling, so glad to have me, their beloved teacher back...they were the most well behaved they have been all year so far. but monday they were back to their usual selves.

i continue to be more strict than i would prefer to be...i insist on the highest level of respect for all people in the classroom. today a young girl raised her hand (as is appropriate for anyone who has a question or comment) and informed me she had a paper cut. in my most sincere tone, i said 'i'm sorry' and continued on. but i did not turn away quickly enough to miss the nasty mocking 'i'm sorry' that she whispered to herself. i calmly asked her to step outside for a conference. i then informed her that the number one rule in our classroom is respect and she had broken it. i asked her, what exactly, she wanted me to do for her paper cut, to which she replied 'nothing'. so i explained to her that since i couldn't do anything for her, i had replied with the most respectful comment possible to let her know i was sorry it had happened to her. her disrespectful response was disappointing and absolutely unacceptable. and besides, i added, it hurt my feelings. and i sent her back inside. if i had it to do again, i might give her a piece of tape to put on it, b/c this is just as effective as a band-aid on a paper cut b/c its the air that makes it so painful. i'm serious. try it out.

i had also informed my students that i didn't want to lend them pencils and pens anymore b/c i didn't want to take the time out of class to track student's names who borrow materials and they were not being returned to me. they knew that my super cool pink, purple, and blue pens had been given to me by my sister and they really enjoyed borrowing them. they started to disappear and i occasionally see a student writing with a suspiciously similar pen in my class, but i refrain from confronting them. this morning between classes 2 girls that i have later in the afternoon came excitedly up to me with one of my purple pens that they had found on the floor of another teacher's classroom and they wanted to make sure i got it back. so kind! i am also starting to feel like somewhat of a celebrity as i walk through the halls as choruses of voices call out to greet me. its silly, i know, but it does make one feel loved. if not by rude secretaries, nurses, teachers etc...at least by 12 year olds.

believe it or not i actually teach math amongst all this classroom management issues. i am finally feeling like we are getting through some important material. progress reports went home today, which has lit a fire under some students hineys. tomorrow and friday the students will be taking a district landmark test that i really hope they are prepared for. then monday morning we start a 7 week unit focusing mainly on FRACTIONS. everyone's fave. i'm looking forward to it actually.

this week i learned an important lesson. last week i introduced rounding of decimals with an elaborate story of how i spent my birthday check from my grandmother when i was in middle school that contained, among other fun things, information about drinking dr. pepper through sour punch candy straws (amazing! by the way). the kids were falling out of their seats excited...literally. after them mentally rounding my prices of my birthday purchases, i showed them the rounding rules and made the connection that these were the same answers. we had a great friday afternoon of rounding. on monday i got a little less enthusiastic about introducing a couple of dry methods of estimation. i read the definitions, did examples and did some guided practice. monday was okay. tuesday i attempted a very similar lesson with a slightly different method of estimation, and i had more distracted/restless/talkative student problems that day than any other day of the year. lesson learned. creative lessons regarding fractions...coming right up.