Skip to main content

Figuring It Out



Last night I got a call from Tony after he had taken a nap. His spirits were up even though he still had nowhere to live. There is something to be said for the healing that sleep can bring. Not only sleep, but a wonderful first day of work. It is his story as to how it is going in New England, but it did my heart good today to hear how he is clicking with everyone there. He still has not found a place to live and we do not yet know if Sana will be accepted into the school. However, we believe it will all work out the way it is meant to.

Patti started school in North Carolina today! She goes to the same school I teach at. Much to her chagrin, I am not her teacher this year. However, she is making many friends and seems to be happy for the most part. We learned today that one of my students lives just a couple of houses down from us. She has someone to hang out with. This is a good thing because Patti is not used to being an only child. She has always had someone to play with. I do not make a very good playmate. (An area I need to work on for sure.) In the meantime, we are both learning to adjust to our new living situation.

I love planning lessons and finding fun ways to present information to the students. So much so, that I have been saving materials for the last 17 years. When planning a unit, I have resources and books to draw on and to adapt for the class I am working with. My greatest challenge here in the classroom is not the students or even the testing. It is not having my resources. I have no books to draw from. No stories to copy and use to teach a concept. I am a first year teacher all over again developing my library of tricks. Over the weekend, I did not get the planning done that I needed to. What I did get done, I emailed to myself at school. Only to find I couldn’t get into it. (I am happy to say, 30 minutes later I was finally able to do what needed to be done – make copies.) After almost 10 years of having technology at my fingertips, it is no longer available to me as readily. And when it is, it has been giving me trouble. I was finally able to do my thing with the students and get myself to my prep period. I had 90 minutes to get some work done.

First on my list of priorities was to contact one of my students that has not been in school the last few days. (She announced to the class on the first day of school that she was on probation for skipping school so much last year.) Every number I have for her has been disconnected. When I asked around about how I could reach her, I was told this was not uncommon for her and she was a girl with attitude. What I had seen the first couple of days of school was a girl with leadership. An intelligent young lady. Now, to figure out a way to get her to school. I never was able to get in contact with her, but I will be trying again tomorrow if she is not in school. She has spunk. I want to help her learn to redirect it in a more positive way.

All teaching here is done to the test. EOG (End of Grade) tests are talked about on a daily basis. Talking to another teacher, she told me that’s just the way it is. As of yet, I have not been told I have to teach in a particular way. Until then, I will do what I do – build students’ confidence in their writing ability and teach them to enjoy reading. Through both of those activities, I will teach them to think. I will do this using the term EOG less then five times during the school year. With any luck they will understand school is about the joy of learning and not the pain of preparing for a test.

My test revolves around soccer coaching. Today it was good to find out that I am not the only sucker. Today, one of my colleagues offered to help me with coaching. “Only thing is,” he said. “I don’t know the first thing about soccer.” What a good sport! We began practice running with the boys. I knew enough to bring my running clothes. He was in a long-sleeve, black shirt in 90 degree heat. The boys were amazing and a lot of fun. My team (that sounds so funny) has some incredible talent. I am looking forward to working with them and watching them grow. Practice over we hung around and waited for parents to show up.

Patti and I finally made it home at 7pm. By the time supper and dishes were done, it was 8pm before I started working on my lesson plans. Some how, some way, I need to find a way to make this work better. My day began at school at 7am. It is now 11pm and I am just now getting ready to head to bed. There has been little to no down time in my day. I must figure a way to get some if I am going to stay sane. Gym membership here I come.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Aging sucks.....or does it?

Upon first thought, watching a parent age sucks. Unnoticeable at first. A bit of a stoop, some creaking in the knees, whitening of the hair. The doctor’s visits begin, as do the pills One for high blood pressure, another to thin the blood, and a handful of vitamins to top it off. The signs are there, but it is easier to see him as he has always been. My father, a pillar of strength. Until my pillar was knocked off-kilter. A simple surgery and the mortality of my father looked me square in the eye when the drugs took hold of his brain. Amidst his fidgeting and confusion, I realized…AGING SUCKS! And then….enlightenment dawned upon me….AGING IS BEAUTIFUL Wrinkles tell of smiles while silver hair speaks a life of memories. Knees creaky after years of kneeling in prayer, offering up a lap, and climbing up the stairs for one more kiss goodnight. Almost forty-eight years of memories nestled in my heart. Memories of my father. Taking us to church each Sunday Building and fixing ...
2 comments
Read more

The Challenge of Five

Living alone is easy. Add one more person to the equation and it becomes a bit more challenging – especially when that person is a 13 year old. But in time, we figured it out. Somewhere in there, Beatrice joined us. With Thanksgiving came the joy of the five of us together for the week. And then reality set in as Tony and Sana began their trek back to New Hampshire. Our household of two was now a household of three as Sean made himself a home with us.   For the first five years of Sean’s life it was just he and I. How difficult could it be to have my 22-year-old son living with me again? A mother couldn’t ask for a better son. He is loving, kind, intelligent, and hard-working. He has grown into a fine young man who has lived on his own for the past three years. He has his own way of doing things.   I have my way of doing things. Needless to say, the two clash a bit. I tend to go with the flow and do things (supper, adventures, etc) as the mood strikes. He likes to plan eve...
2 comments
Read more

I Got the Call!

I began the day a bit down in the dumps. (As is very evident from the earlier blog entry of the day.) I was missing my family. Wondering about the risk we took. Uncertain how it would all work out. My brother, Jamie, insisted that Patti and I join his family for a Braves game. He bought us $1 tickets and told us to get to Turner Field. The great thing about Atlanta Braves games on a hot Sunday afternoon is that the turn-out is not very good. We followed Jamie toward his seats on the third base line and sat in a couple of empty ones about 20 rows back. By the end of the game, I was in the first row! Apparently it was too hot for many of the fans. The Braves trounced the Dodgers, 13-1. (Newly added to my bucket list: get to as many of the major league baseball parks as possible. I have been to three this summer alone!) Upon returning ‘home’ I decided to check out the possibility of more jobs. Curiosity led me to Manchester’s website. (Manchester is about 30 minutes away from whe...
3 comments
Read more