Quarter 1

Well, today was the first day back at school after fall break. I had a full week off of work and technically got paid to have it! :) I say technically because over the course of the first quarter, i have been working 15 hours per day to keep up! So, in retrospect, I guess I had an "unpaid" week off.

I took home 4 letter size file boxes full of worksheets, lesson plans, and lab experiments to review and organize over the break. I planned to get the entire quarter 2 planned with activities and lessons, and got about 2 weeks actually planned. But, I did get the 4 boxes organized!

This week offered me a much needed opportunity to reflect on my first 9 weeks as a teacher. My successes, my downfalls, and my accomplishments. I decided that I am going to do away with a lot of the stuff I have been doing. I realized that I have been teaching 5 classes as honors classes when these poor kiddos are reading at a 3rd grade reading level. The Physical Science textbook I am teaching out of is meant for a 4th grade reading level for heaven's sake! So, I am now planning to do away with a lot of the wasted paper, wasted time, and frustration.

I have a new plan of attack. For my Biology class, I am doing away with the study packets, and vocabulary assignments as the students do not do them and I am wasting paper and time trying to get them to do it. So, no more! I am following my Science Department's request to have them use a bound journal notebook we will keep as a lab notebook to keep track of laboratory assignments. I am also going to cut back on the number of labs I am doing. I was trying to fit in a lab activity for each daily objective we were doing and that is just driving me crazy. First of all, it is a lot of planning! Second, it is physically and mentally draining to repeat myself fifteen times a class period on what is due and when (keep in mind they don't actually turn stuff in). So that was pointless.

Physical Science I am learning to be more organized. As a first year teacher, I am dependent on the textbook. So much of what the district wants them to learn is not even in the textbook so it falls on me to teach it. Physical Science is a lot more math than I was prepared to teach and I am still struggling with that to this day. I am not a math teacher. Some of these kids do not even know how to use a calculator! So, changing some things there!

All in all, I have decided to stop worrying about my class averages and grades, and just start having fun. I now have a better idea of how to plan the lab activities and how they need to be modified to meet the academic ability of my classes, so that will help a lot! :9

With the first day back, I have lost even more students. Some have dropped completely from school, and some have dropped to transfer to another school. My problem student in 5th period who cussed me out twice is still enrolled - but he didn't show up today. I am going to stop worrying about him too! Instead of freaking out that he isn't here, I am going to mark him absent and not give it another thought. (Let's see how long this philosophy lasts)