Wow! September has really flown by, but that's quite alright with me. This week was fairly uneventful. Several little staff meetings here and there, went to zumba, you know, taught a couple of classes haha. I did have my meeting with the principal to discuss the lesson he observed. The "thing" he said that I did that I didn't know I did was to incorporate all parts of the learning cycle (which he discussed in a presentation to all the teachers at the beginning of the year). Basically it's drawing upon what students already know, teach them something knew so they "learn" something, and then apply it in a different context so that it becomes "knowledge." On the observation sheet there are check boxes in all different areas of teaching and the evaluation is based on S "satisfactory" NI "Needs Improvement" NO "Not Observed." I got all S's, which is good, but he definitely observed one of my better behaved classes...so we'll see how future observations go. He said my lesson was very simple and that he liked that I didn't do an elaborate lesson with all the bells and whistles "just because he was there." We also discussed my master's degree...oh goody :)
The principal and I unfortunately got to spend some more time together later that day due to a student's behavior. There's a lot of details that went into this event but the short version is that a student was disrupting others, I had him step out in the hall and I flat out told him if he wants to mess around and get a bad grade that's his choice, but to not disrupt others. He didn't like that idea because he wasn't the "only one" being disruptive. I tried to have him look in the class to show him that everyone was working silently, but he's a tad stubborn and wouldn't look. I asked him how he was going to behave when we went back in the classroom and he said "the same cuz that's how everybody is" So I said okay we'll stay out here until the attitude goes away. Minutes pass... and we agree to go in and try it. Within 5 minutes someone asked him what I'd said and he was mocking what I said, so I told him he had a detention and he chose to serve it tomorrow. I wrote up his detention slip (which one copy goes to student, one to office, and one to principal) and kept it until the end just in case. He worked well for the rest of the period until ...the bell rang. I could tell he wasn't going to pick up his slip so I met him at the door and handed it to him. He took it, crumpled it up right in front of me and tossed it in the trash. Aren't they lovely? :) I told the principal what happened and he ended up getting ISS for it. UPDATE-the next day this student brought me a piece of paper and left without a word. It was an apology note that said something like "Ms. White, I'm sorry for being mean yesterday. It won't happen again. I was just having a really bad day." Now, every fiber in my body is trying to give him the benefit of the doubt that the apology was his idea. He's always caused me trouble, and caused everyone trouble, so I know it wasn't just a "one day" thing. However, it was his handwriting and he owned up to writing it whether it was his idea or not, which is a huge step for someone who has trouble with authority.
Let's see, Thursday I went to the girls' volleyball game, Friday went to the football game against the Hershey's rival "St. Pats" We lost 27-0. Saturday I took tickets to the volleyball tournament and then watched it (we won by beating all three teams) and then I stayed at the school and graded a LOT. I still have more to grade today and then planning...once that's done I HOPE to go to the mall, get some coffee from good ol' Starbucks and maybe get a TV, but there is much to be done!
Until next time, with love,
Sarah
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