Sick: The term my kids use to describe anything cool.. which I am also known to use outside of school to my friends (e.g. “dang those kicks (shoes) are sick“). Sick: A term I think of when I think of the growth my students have made this year so far. They are KILLING science. Optional…
read more »It’s crazy how the time passes when you are a teacher. Every day, I wake up at 5AM. I’m at school by 6:30, the kids get there at 7:45 and then wham….the day begins and its a roller coaster ride until 4:30 when they leave. Sometimes, the ride is fun and invigorating and I’m super…
read more »I feel old when I teach. These kids are too young for some much of what they are getting into. But that’s really just me impressing my judgement on them. Several of my students are in gangs. One in particular is very involved and tells me daily he, “doesn’t care.” He misbehaves in several other…
read more »When instructed to write a life timeline (with events at their ages): “1- Dropped on my head/parents fought 2- Uncle Dale woke up I had drugs all around me and on my face/parents fought 3- Parents fought 4- Put in a dryer and it got started/parents fought 5-8- Parents fought 9- My parents got divorced/parents…
read more »Urgh. How many times do I need to tell them: “I DO NOT WANT YOU OUT OF MY CLASSROOM. I WANT YOU IN IT!” They continue to get suspended (generally before my classes, so I don’t get them). Frustrating when many of your students have missed almost 2 weeks of school. I won’t suspend my…
read more »I think teaching might be a little like how I envision learning to water ski. The first time out you can’t get going for more than 3 seconds without crashing, the second time out you’re thrilled you stayed standing for more than 10 seconds at a time, and only after about 3 or 4 times…
read more »A collection of vignettes: -We did a thumb war lab to determine if it’s more beneficial to have long or short thumbs when battling with them. K, one of my more difficult students, didn’t think I could hear if my back was to him, and let me know that, ”I have a long thumb, and…
read more »Student S is in 7th grade. He got a 108% on my first quiz. I called his mom to let her know her son got the highest quiz grade out of all my classes, and she informed me he took college classes this summer and wants a 4.0 this year so he can go to…
read more »My class is still going well, although I can sense the kids getting more comfortable with testing my rules. Their hallway behavior, however, indicates that there is also a ton of character work to be done this year. 11 kids were discovered (and one more was turned in this Friday) huffing keyboard duster in the…
read more »Knock on wood before I jinx myself, but so far I have become a believer of the magic that mysteriously happens between the end of your first year and start of your second. It’s almost the end of the 2nd week of school, and my 7th day with our 8th grade kids, and my goodness…
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