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187days · 5 hours
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Day One Hundred Thirty-Three
Teaching a lesson "move when ready" style worked for the past two days of Global Studies, so I decided to do it again today with all four sections. They had to read their books, then- if they had time- they had to check my feedback on the writing prompt they'd done last class and revise if they hadn't earned full credit. If they still had time after that, they had to make up any work they owed me. A lot of students really took advantage of that, and- as they say- locked in. It was great for their learning. Odds of me doing this again tomorrow? High.
Tom White walked in as I was wrapping up my second section (because he was guest lecturing in my APGOV class), so he heard the tail end of some banter about cell phones and TikTok and whatnot. Then the bell rang, the GOV kids came in, and for the next eighty-ish minutes he taught them about the eugenics movement, how it's tied to both the American white supremacist movement and Nazi Germany, how it influenced policy, what echoes we hear in the discourse today. It's shocking history, and, well, my students were shocked. They had some great comments and questions, though, and were really receptive to Tom's closing message, which is that hate didn't win, and that, so long as they stay engaged and aware, hate cannot win.
It's a powerful lesson, and one I look forward to recapping with them tomorrow.
It's still gross, rainy, and cold, so the sprinters ran hallway repeats and did some agility drills today. We're going outside no matter what tomorrow, though, because the traditional Easter egg hunt must occur!
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187days · 1 day
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Day One Hundred Thirty-Two
Juniors took SATs this morning, so our bell schedule was adjusted (Blocks 1 and 2 were about fifteen minutes longer than usual, we didn't have flex time) to accommodate the testing schedule. I was worried that might make the day squirrely, but it really didn't.
I taught the same Global Studies lesson I'd taught yesterday, and I think it went even better this time around. Students in these two sections really took the time to write well, and had me check over their work to make sure it was thorough enough, and I was generally pleased with the effort they put in. Plus, since they did have extra time, a lot of them made up work they owed, or did homework for other classes. One boy who'd been working on a science lab report told me he was proud of himself for accomplishing so much, and I think that's awesome.
My APGOV lesson today was a serious history lesson about Nativism, racism, anti-Semitism, and other prejudices that were incorporated into white supremacist ideology prior to the civil rights movement. I focused specifically on the points when those prejudices were being reflected in US policy as I talked my way through a set of lecture notes. My students added detail, too, because they'd researched particular topics for homework (The Chinese Exclusion Act and the Geary Act, Jim Crow, Birth of a Nation, the lynching of Leo Frank, the Tulsa massacre, the immigration acts of 1917 and 1924, Henry Ford and The Dearborn Independent, etc, etc...) and were able to explain them and fit them into the larger picture. Tom White is coming to class tomorrow to explain how the eugenics movement plays into all of it. I'm curious what my students will think; I know it's a part of history they're unfamiliar with.
At practice, the sprinters did 40m repeats, and The Head Coach had me time (using our electronic system) the final 10m to get a sense of their top speed. One of the ninth boys pulls up short during his third sprint, so, of course, I asked if he'd gotten hurt.
He shouted, “F*CK YES, BRUH!” Then he froze, blinked, and said rather sheepishly, “Uh, I mean... Sorry, Coach, I pulled a quad. Can I see the trainer?”
It's not funny that he got hurt, but its hilarious that's how he reacted. I had to struggle hard to stifle my laughter.
I swear, sometimes they forget I'm me.
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187days · 2 days
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Day One Hundred Thirty-One
Some of my Global Studies students did not appreciate the lesson I'd planned for today- at least, not initially- because I was using it to push back at some of the poor habits I've noticed creeping in lately: rushing through work, not listening or reading instructions, not paying attention to detail. This lesson required them to go slow, read the instructions carefully, think critically, and really stretch themselves academically. It was also a "move when ready" lesson, so they were all working independently, no relying on their friends to help them.
First, they had to read their books. They all have different page goals to hit, so I told them to come to my desk and get the next assignment as soon as they'd hit theirs. Said assignment was a writing prompt that asked them to use information from the articles they'd read last week- which is one of the things a lot of them rushed through- to explain how their books connect to major historical events, and also to explain what the conditions are like currently in the places their books are set. So this was me making them go back and really take in the information from these articles, and articulate what they've learned.
Was it hard? Yes. Were their complains? Sure. Did some of them try to get me to just give them the answers? Absolutely.
Did I refuse to let them give up? You bet.
And, you know what? They got it. It took some of them a few tries, and there are some who have to finish writing outside of class, but they're on track now. So it was a good lesson, I think.
I taught a good one n APGOV, to. First, we ate mini-cupcakes (IYKYK) and took a look at some specific scenarios related to civil liberties to determine if violations had occurred or not. After that, I asked them what they knew about civil rights, and, more specifically, the civil rights movement. They threw out a few things- Martin Luther King Jr, sit-ins, Rosa Parks, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, schools being desegregated, the 1950s and 1960s- and then got into a discussion about how there are things before and after the time frame they had in mind that are related to civil rights. That gave me a perfect segue to showing a clip from Documenting Hate to establish that there is still work that is ongoing, but also to point out that, while the white supremacist movement is fringe now, there was a time before the civil rights movement when its ideas were being mainstreamed. We'll be looking back at that history next class.
It started raining as GOV was happening, and didn't stop all afternoon, so the sprinters stayed indoors for practice today and did a stair workout. The Head Coach had to leave early for a rules meeting, so I was left in charge of overseeing that. It was a solid workout, and everyone's looking good. Plus, we had two rookies join us today- switching sports, the both of them- and they've got some serious talent, so that's exciting!
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187days · 3 days
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Day One Hundred Thirty
Tis the season when folks without tenure find out if their contracts haven't been renewed. Usually, it's Mr. B who talks to them about deadlines to submit resignation letters instead, etc, etc... but this year I had to do it. And, wow, I am bad at it. I guess there's really no way to be good at it, but note to self: be less excruciatingly awkward in the future.
At least it's done.
And the rest of the day wasn't bad. I mean, track practice was vaguely tragic because of all the snow (over two feet) we got on Saturday, but we made the best of it. We always do. Most of the team went outside in spite of the snow- it was sunny and not terribly cold- but the sprinters stayed inside for some timed 40s and block starts indoors. It was a bit crowded in the halls since other teams can't get on their fields anymore either, but we made it work.
Teaching went well today, too. I did reading conferences with students during Global Studies, and was able to help a few who were falling behind get back on track. In APGOV, we chatted about the recent budget deal to start (there will be mini-cupcakes tomorrow since it didn't happen until after the deadline). Then I introduced the new unit on civil liberties and civil rights. I had students read some slides about the Bill of Rights, which were full of supplemental links they could check out as needed (stuff like CrashCourse, Hip Hughes, Kahn Academy). Tomorrow they'll be trying to apply what they've learned to some specific scenarios, which will tell me how well they understand everything.
What else?
I walked out with The Principal, who was on his way to back-to-back meetings, and we chatted about how much I never want his job. Heh. We also talked about my department, and the track team, and some other stuff. I appreciated the check-in.
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187days · 6 days
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Day One Hundred Twenty-Nine
Today was probably one of the best teacher workshop days we've had in a while. The whole faculty met in the library, The Principal thanked us for our hard work over the last two late nights. Dean 1 shared some data (state testing results, school discipline, attendance). Then we split off the do work in our departments.
We had a series of tasks to complete. The first for my department was looking at our P/F rate on the citizenship test and discussing steps would could take to improve in the future. The second was responding to an admin request for information about our late work policies. The third involved the development of pathways (referring to the state department of labor's career clusters to recommend courses students should take based on what they want to do in the future); for that, we identified the transferrable skills in our required courses- getting at why they're relevant no matter what someone wants to do in life- and made suggestions about which of our electives fit which pathways.
We had five hours to do all that, we finished in just over two- and that was with us going on tangents, me pausing to nag The Principal about a couple of things, Dean 1 coming in to see the work we'd done. The going joke is that my preternatural speed is contagious.
It meant we all had the rest of the day to do curriculum work, grade, plan, etc... And we were able to relax during lunch, which was graciously provided by a local restaurant, no feeling like we had to rush to get back to work. I know other departments took longer, had more to do, etc... But in mine? Everything was really awesome. I'm so grateful for that, too, and I made sure to say so.
And then basically the whole staff- and everyone else in town- ended up at the grocery store to get the shopping done ahead of what could be a massive snow storm. We'll see how wintery it is come monday!
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187days · 7 days
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Day One Hundred Twenty-Eight
Today was a short day for my students and a long day for me; they were dismissed at 11:30, we held parent-teacher conferences from 12:00-5:30. I did make the most of my shortened class blocks, though. My Global Studies students read their books. My APGOV students finished the tests they'd started yesterday, I graded them, and then we went over common errors. So that was productive!
After that, I grabbed lunch and coffee from a local shop, and got ready to meet some of my students' parents. I only had nine sign-ups and one drop-in because a lot of the ninth graders' parents had already met me in the fall. But some hadn't been able to make it then, and some did come back for a second time. And, since my current APGOV class is new this semester, some of those parents came in, too. Bonus: one of them works at a local bakery and she brought me a cookie!
I thought all of the conferences went well, and I think the conversations I had with parents were productive and worthwhile. I also got some really nice compliments, which I appreciated! And, when I wasn't in conferences, I was able to use the time well: sending emails (to parents who weren't there, mostly), doing some lesson planning, nagging The Principal about a variety of things, and writing my department's agenda for tomorrow's teacher workshop day.
It was a solid afternoon of work!
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187days · 8 days
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Day One Hundred Twenty-Seven
Whew, today was a long one. I just got home a few minutes ago because Eighth Grade Open House was tonight, so we were welcoming the Class of 2028 to our building for the first time. For my fellow ninth grade teachers and I, that meant giving room tours and answering questions, but the night actually started with a presentation by our admins down in the auditorium, some performances by our dance team, band, and drum line, and information from school counseling about how to sign up for courses. There was also an extracurricular activities fair in the gym, a photo wall, and other fun stuff. So it's a cool experience, and I'm glad we do it.
I am going to use my combined union rep and department head clout to argue that we should get paid for it. Right now, it's one of those non-mandatory things, but folks feel like they have to go (despite me saying otherwise) or else it looks bad.
But anyways.
Before open house, I had track practice (timed 40m repeats in the halls for the sprinters because it was wicked cold outside today). And before practice, of course, I was teaching my classes.
My APGOV students had a test today. It's a long one, so they're going to finish it tomorrow (which is an early release day for students, so the blocks are shorter than usual- it's going to be the perfect amount of time). They say it's "pretty chill," though, which I'm glad about. This particular group tests very well, albeit more slowly than past groups of students I've taught. It's interesting that they're so different, but, hey, not going to complain when they're doing well!
I had the students in my two "B" sections of Global Studies doing the same history lesson their peers did yesterday. It went fairly well in the first section, and extremely well in the second. For whatever reason, students were just locked in. They had no trouble understanding what to do, produced excellent work, and even finished ahead of schedule. So that was unexpectedly awesome!
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187days · 9 days
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Day One Hundred Twenty-Six
So, if you've been reading my entries, then you know my ninth graders are reading books about various current/recent events, and that I keep saying that pretty much everything in current/recent history can be traced back to four things: colonialism, the World Wars, and/or the Cold War. So today, since I had full block classes for half of my Global Studies students, I had them read about the history of the country in which their book is set in order to prove my point. They each got a one-page article to read, and they had to highlight references to any of those aforementioned four things, and answer a set of questions.
Does that mean I spent a lot of my prep time putting together articles for over two dozen books? Yup!
The Principal, who decided to come observe my first section, was impressed with the work I'd done, which was good. I think he was bemused by my students' behavior because that particular section has the boys who shout out stuff like "skibidi toilet" and "Ohio" at random. I've taken to replying with stuff like "fabulous dishwasher" and "Nevada," which mostly gets them to stop. And, y'know, I think it all went well. I had to help a few students who didn't follow the instructions (despite me reading them, writing them down, etc... that sometimes happens), and encourage a few who insisted they couldn't find answers, but everyone wound up doing decent work and a lot of them shared what they learned when asked. It did go better in the other section- no issues with the instructions, a lot more on task- but it's all good.
In APGOV, we chatted about environmental and energy policymaking (because I'd had them read about that for homework), then did a bit of AMA-style test review, and a bit of practice on AP Classroom because they have a test tomorrow. So that was a solid class, too. And even though I obviously put a lot of work into planning the lessons for both courses, the actual teaching felt pretty effortless, which is how it should feel.
I was happy about it.
And, despite the fact that it was windy and cold, I was happy about track practice, too. The sprinters did 300m repeats, then headed inside to do some flexibility and mobility drills with the low hurdles. It's a really awesome crew, and they worked hard today. Can't ask for more!
I had to hop on Zoom right after practice for the tail end of a union board meeting. I didn't have a ton to contribute, but it's still important to be there. Meeting all of my professional obligations can be a real balancing act during track season, and now I've got the added demands on my time that come with being a department head, too. But I've done it before, I'll figure out how to do it again!
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187days · 10 days
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Day One Hundred Twenty-Five
Hey. Guess what? It's track season.
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We've got a big, talented team and a mostly clear track, so we're off to a great start!
But, of course, before I went and coached my team, I taught my classes. They were very chill today. My freshmen were just reading their books, which meant I was reading my book, too. My seniors had a vocab quiz followed by reading about environmental and energy policymaking. Then they capped it off with some test review on their own. They're all accustomed to multi-tasking, so they kept up a conversation while they worked. They asked me for updates from the Senate re: banning TikTok (not much to report yet), chatted about sports, etc... Like I said: it was chill.
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187days · 13 days
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Day One Hundred Twenty-Four
An unusually high number of my students were absent today- and for a variety of reasons- and, boy, did that change the dynamics in all of my classes. All four sections of Global Studies were quieter than usual, which is to be expected when there are five to seven fewer people in the room, and they were also super locked in on their reading. A bunch of students blew through their page goals for the day, including some of my more reluctant readers, which was awesome to see.
Even more surprising- one of my most reluctant students, period (for all manner of assignments, not just reading), asked to talk to me during the bell change, and said he wanted to improve his grade. So I identified some missing or incomplete assignments he should prioritize, he thanked me, and then sat and read for my whole class. Then, during flex block, he started chipping away at the stuff I'd told him to work on. By the end of the day, I had a couple things to grade, and I think that's solid progress.
I have no idea what caused a switch to flip, but I'm definitely all for it!
My APGOV class is small when they're all present, but today it was three students. Two had a sports thing, one had an appointment, the others were sick. But the ones who were there got to ask me all the questions they had about the US-China trade war, which they'd read about for homework, and then we watched some of the recent House debate over the bill that would ban TikTok if Bytedance doesn't divest it. We discussed that and its broader implications, as well as a few other things that have been happening recently. It was a really fun, relevant class, and I enjoyed teaching it a lot.
So it wasn't exactly the day I thought I'd have, but it was a good one!
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187days · 14 days
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Day One Hundred Twenty-Three
I started my day in a PLC meeting with the other ninth grade advisors, which went so well that we finished in half an hour, and I got to spend the remainder of the time getting my grading done. Then I had my prep time do parent contacts, talk to Mrs. C about one of her students, and get a bit of lesson planning done.
That was nice.
Two out of my four sections of Global Studies were also nice- students read their books, we discussed their historical context, I fielded questions, everything was good. As for the other two sections? One was actually all right, I've just got a student who's taken to coming in everyday and announcing that he hates my class, which doesn't really hurt me but it does bring the mood in the room down. I've been ignoring it because what he really wants is a response, but I'm not sure if that's what I should continue to do. I definitely couldn't ignore the fourth class because a fight almost broke out at the end of the block. There were a handful of friends picking on each other, one of them crossed the line and said something that actually made another angry, various people stormed out actually getting made at each other- so I yelled really sharply (and effectively, since I so rarely raise my voice) for them to stop and separate, and then stood between them until the bell rang.
Whew!
APGOV was a welcome relief from that. I had one student who'd been absent, so she presented her project today, and then we went back to studying policymaking. I asked them about the articles they'd read for homework (related to economic policy). Then I pivoted to explaining national security policy: what it is, who has the power to do what, etc... They're reading about sending weapons to Ukraine, and about the US-China trade war.
Fun fact: every time I teach this stuff, I'm amused because students are fascinated by tariffs and subsidies. I don't know if it's because they're sweet summer children who never thought about how markets can be manipulated, or something else, but they always have a ton of questions. Can't complain about that, though!
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187days · 15 days
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Day One Hundred Twenty-Two
Today Mrs. T had to come see me because the research some of my students were doing in Global Studies- same assignment as yesterday- got flagged for sensitive content. Said research is related to the books they're reading, and these are sometimes heavy books; topics include terrorism, white supremacy, child exploitation, PTSD, and so on. When Mrs. T saw the content of the searches, she was pretty sure it was all for an assignment, but, of course, she had to come confirm that. The timing was funny because she walked in right after I'd spoken to a student who thought his search (on a suicide bombing in Afghanistan) would get flagged. Like, I'd just said, "Someone will come and ask me if it's for an assignment, and I'll say yes."
So, y'know, they got to see that the process happens the way we say it does.
And in APGOV I fomented rebellion. A bit.
Students presented the projects they'd done on major Supreme Court Cases, one of which was Tinker v. Des Moines. After the student who was presenting explained the Supreme Court's ruling, another student said they should cite it in a effort to convince the school board to revise the dress code, an idea which the rest of the class thought was pretty solid. I don't know if they'll actually run with it, and I don't know if it'd be effective if they did. But.
I certainly didn't discourage it.
Presentations took exactly the amount of time we had in class before lunch. Then, after lunch, we started to get into how the branches interact to create policy. I lectured on economic policymaking, as a specific example, and gave them some articles to read (one on Covid stimulus, on on the Fed's interest rate hikes) to see what it's like in practice. We also took a bit of time to track the stuff going on with TikTok, which I'll come back to as I teach about natsec policy later this week. Seizing the teachable moment!
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187days · 16 days
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Day One Hundred Twenty-One
One of the more amusing things about teaching both freshmen and seniors is when their paths cross in my classroom. Course selection is happening right now, and students need their current teachers to sign off on recommended courses for next year, so a lot of the freshmen came by during their lunches to ask me to sign their forms. That's when I'm teaching APGOV, so when they got to my door they just froze. Even when I ushered them in, they hovered near the front of the room, watching my seniors (who, at that point, were working on their Major Cases Projects and jamming to Ariana Grande's latest album) as if they were predatory animals who might strike at any moment.
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In reality, since their projects are due tomorrow and they were locked in to get them done, I'm not sure they even really noticed the freshmen there.
Anyways.
The freshmen weren't my only visitors during that block. Both The Principal and Dean 1 came by to talk to me about a course selection issue related to economics (whether or not to open it to juniors as well as seniors), and get my opinion as department head so they could inform the rest of the faculty (I told them not next year due to staffing, but probably the year after). The Principal stuck around for a minute to ask the students about their projects, and chat about what they were learning, which I appreciated.
I signed a lot of course rec forms during Global Studies, too. I told students who were ready to get my signature to put their forms on their tables, and then went around and signed each one while they were reading. After they read for thirty minutes, I had them use the remainder of the block to do some research on events or issues that had come up in their books. The first time we did this (two weeks ago), I suggested topics; this time, I let them decide whether to continue with those or research something new (I'd say it was about 50-50). Then they shared what they'd learned, asked questions about things they still weren't clear about, asked questions about what other students had researched. It was cool.
I had a faculty meeting in the afternoon, and ended up talking to Mrs. T for a good long while afterwards, so then I just hung around until it was time for the winter sports awards. There was a big gathering in the auditorium first so that the major award winners could be announced, and then the teams went to different classrooms for the awarding of certificates and varsity letters. We had a great time celebrating our big, fun, record-breaking season. I'm not sure if I'll ever coach one quite like it again!
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187days · 17 days
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Day One Hundred Twenty
It was my grandmother's birthday over the weekend, so I traveled south to celebrate with my gigantic extended family. I anticipated getting home late (accurate), so I took a personal day today. My students are all in the middle of things- books for the ninth graders, projects for the twelfth graders- so it was a fairly easy day for the sub.
At least, I didn't hear otherwise.
I did go up to the school in the evening for spring sports sign-ups. The Athletic Director started by giving a presentation to go over some general information before everyone broke off for team meetings. I was a little bit stung because he forgot to put my name on the slide that listed all the spring coaches, but then I reminded myself that my worth doesn't come from him anyhow. And Coach T, who noticed what'd happened, made sure to give me a really nice introduction during our team meeting. That was really nice.
And our team meeting was excellent because there are a ton of rookie athletes out for the team as well as a solid crew of veterans, and we're coming off a huge indoor season, and the energy is good. It's exciting. We're looking forward to a big season!
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187days · 19 days
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Bonus Day
It's the end of Spring Fling Week, but winter decided to come back with a vengeance, so a snow storm hit right as tonight's dance was getting underway. Now, I knew it was going to snow, so I came prepared; I wore a cute dress and ballet flats, but I packed a sweatshirt, track pants, snow boots, and fuzzy unicorn socks (those got many compliments) to change into after the dance was over.
Chaperoning a dance that goes well is always a fun time, and this one went extremely well. I think the weather impacted turnout a bit, but the gym was still pretty full, and everyone seemed to have a good time. It was fun to see how they interpreted "semi-formal," as well. For the boys, it ranged from khakis and a hoodie to a full suit and tie. For the girls, it was everything from t-shirt dresses and leggings to backless bodycon dresses to poofy floral gowns. Green and purple were in, glitter was very in. And the most common dance moves seemed to be either jumping up and down or hitting the gritty. The exception was when "Cotton Eye Joe" played because they pretty much all know that dance, though I did see one girl adorably attempting to teach it to her date.
I was standing near the back of the gym, keeping on eye on the exterior doors, so it took a while for my students to realize I was there. Once they did, a bunch rushed over to say hi (and since we don't allow dress shoes in the gym, this was a rush over in socks on those hardwood floors, so it was a whole lot of skidding). That made my night.
So, yeah it was good. There were no incidents, just fun, and that's the way it should be!
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187days · 20 days
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Day One Hundred Nineteen
I realize that I haven't written much this week about the fact that it's Spring Fling, so there have been dress-up themes everyday (today was color wars), fun after school events, and- of course- today there was a pep rally.
That meant shorter classes (35 minutes for the half block classes, 70 for the full block ones), and I spent the first two of mine (two sections of Global Studies) in an IEP meeting while Mrs. R covered for me. Students were just continuing to read their books, though, so it was easy for her. And the meeting was a really good one- super productive, super helpful- which was awesome. After that, I read with my other two sections of Global Studies, then tackled a few different subjects in APGOV. First, we watched and discussed SOTU highlights, then bounced back to the regularly scheduled lesson on the judicial branch. We talked Article III, Fed. 78, and Marbury v. Madison. I also introduced the project they'll be doing next week on some of the major cases that are required knowledge for the AP exam.
And that was that!
Students went to their advisories, and then were dismissed to the gym for the pep rally. Since they sit by class, and each class had a color to wear, it looked really cool. The Principal gave a hype speech, the band and drumline performed a few numbers, and there were a few hilarious games. There was a tic-tac-toe relay, the traditional and intense musical chairs (I played, of course, and finished a respectable fifth- after withstanding an attempt by a junior boy to pick my chair up out from under me and dump me, so I'm a legend now, heh), and a knockerball tournament.
Now, everything during a spirit week- dressing up, attending events, winning pep rally games- can earn points for one's class. It's expected that the seniors win, but- upset of the century- the freshmen actually won it this time! It was pretty fun to be sitting in their section when that was announced.
The week ends with a dance tomorrow night, which I said I'd chaperon. Stay tuned!
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187days · 21 days
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Day One Hundred Eighteen
A thing about ninth graders- and I've written about this before- is that some of them are very bad at being quiet. Like, I could be in the middle of a sentence, and they'd still think it's a good time to turn to their friend across the room and yell something about Fortnite. But if one of my APGOV students is in the room making up a test? They all turn into mice- silently supportive mice who give encouraging golf claps and thumbs ups.
It's hilarious and also kind of sweet.
I mean, I still wish they wouldn't yell about Fortnite while I'm teaching, but we're working on that.
Another thing about ninth graders is that a lot of them go through massive growth spurts and have no idea how to handle their limbs, so when they decide to play fight in the hallway they end up clocking one another with fists and elbows totally unintentionally. That's why one of my students arrived at my door today with his hand over a bloody nose. He was actually going to casually walk to his seat and set his bag down before going to the nurse. I was like, "No, dude, I'll take your bag! Just go get that taken care of!"
Ahh, ninth grade...
The actual class was extremely chill, though: reading time, followed by some quick writing about the major events/issues being referenced in their books. APGOV was chill, too. I had a couple students who needed to finish up their tests from yesterday, so I made today's lesson "move when ready" style: finish the test as needed, log on Classroom and read my lecture slides about the judicial branch, read Fed. 78, we'll talk tomorrow.
Since I wasn't instructing and I grade at lightspeed, I was able to hand back their tests before the end of the block (obvious exception: the student who was absent, but came in during Global Studies and got my ninth graders to be silent in support of his test-taking efforts). That meant I got let them know right away how pleased I was about their results. I mean, they really crushed this test, and this the one students have typically struggled on the most, so something is going really, really well this semester.
Yay for that!
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