What a couple of weeks it's been. My husband, W, points out that every year I have anxiety about what is going on, that I question what the heck I'm doing, and that things work out. I know that I'm exhausted every September, but this year is not feeling the same.
We have been plagued with technology problems. The school was rewired in August, ready for the fiber optics that are just across the road. I asked our tech folks to move the computers I have in the library to another location, and when that happened, nothing worked! To say that I was shocked was an understatement! It was a relative quick fix when our once-a-week tech guy arrived. Yes, that's right; our tech support is once a week, and the work list he had was huge! There are classrooms that still don't have computer access, and for teachers who use technology the way we breath air, that is very frustrating. Then, no wireless. The room where the hub or router or whatever it is is located got too hot, and melted the wires. Good-by, wireless, and so long three iPads, three Netbooks, and one MacBook. Six devices and one teacher station unavailable unless connected. The part - and tech support - is supposed to arrive on Monday.
My psychology class. It has a totally different feel to it. It's the kind of feeling that causes things like rashes, bumps, and things that require ointments and salves. I was spoiled. I'll be upfront and honest about that. This year, I have the usual mix of sophomores, juniors, and seniors. I also have three kids with IEPs, three boys with eligibility issues, two exchange students with varying degrees of English proficiency, and me, the teacher who is aging rapidly. Kids in tears over being homesick, being frustrated, having anxiety and anger issues - it makes issues such as gum, hats, and I-need-to-listen-to-music-so-I-can-concentrate seem pale in comparison. My usual approach is not working. The quality of written work is all over the place. One girl is a beautiful writer, analytic, articulate. One boy, who is one of the eligibility guys, is brief to the point of writing something akin to a list. Without bullets. Capital letters? Who needs those? Why write a paragraph when it can be done in three very long sentences? Why submit the assignment via the Journal feature of Moodle when it can be emailed to the teacher? Etc. Etc. Etc.
Oh, you poor Mrs. F. I know - get over it, right? I know that's what you're thinking, because honestly, if this wasn't my own post, that's exactly what I would be thinking! This is the stuff we face Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly, Decade-ly (is that even a word?!). I got it. I've been spoiled, or lucky, or something. So now I get to quit whining, go back to the drawing board, figure out how to work with these kids so the content gets through, the communication and collaboration takes place, and we all learn a little something about Psychology and still earn a Social Studies credit that actually means something.
My response to this week was to go to bed early, and get up feeling refreshed. In class, it was to pull over the kick stool and stand on it so I could be taller than the tallest kid as we discussed why I don't want him listening to his music, and yes, we were both smiling. I can make this work!
2 comments:
I don't feel you are whining at all. Even though I teach a different age group, I've had similar feelings about this year's start up. In my case, my problems have not been related to technology but to having others teaching in my room. Some years you get students that have a lot more needs, and I guess it was my turn for that this year.
Demands on teachers to cure society's ills is increasing, and if you aren't in education, I think it is difficult for people to understand the tremendous pressure teachers are under now days, even family members.
I like your positive attitude, and it is important to be well rested, so continue taking good care of yourself.
I'm seeing a lot more behavior issues with my new class than I have experienced in a while. Even though I'm in an urban school district, I'm spoiled because we are a school of choice, and most of our kids are usually pretty well behaved. I am finding that this group doesn't know when to quit.
This morning I decided that I have to be a lot more explicit about what my expectations are about how they are to conduct themselves and how I want them to spend their time when I am working with other students. So I'm going to do some reteaching about classroom behavior and work expectations this next week. I'm going to spell out exactly what I want to see every step of the way.
Here's to hoping that both of us have a much better week coming up.
I am not sure that I would/could tolerate someone else teaching in my room - I had to ignore the para who was brought the class to the library yesterday. She stood too close to me as I was speaking to the class about library expectations and routines. She was basically in my teacher-space, if you know what I mean. The kids knew exactly what the expectations were. I can work with the para, if indeed she will be bringing the students down instead of the teacher, to let her know what my routines are.
My morning thought process was much like yours; more explicit directions, more tasks to be done, more thought into posts instead of "I'm done! Now what do I do?" - and this from big kids!
We can - and will - do this right! We owe it to owe students. Thanks for the thoughtful comments.
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