Long Time Gone

It's been a long time since I updated my little blog here but I figured it was time! This one may be a bit lengthly. Keep reading though. I have a few success stories to tell you about!

It's been a very blessed day here in C-U. I am finally seeing the fruits of my labor in connecting with students and seeing learning sink in. At least in my Law class. And it all started with a scantron quiz.

Let me first say that yesterday ended on a frustrating note. I am a planner and not a procrastinator, but with spring break and Easter coinciding the last 2 weeks, I'm not as ahead as I would like to be. That means, I am probably ahead on planning than most new teachers but not enough so that I feel wholly comfortable. To paint a picture of my schedule, I teach periods 1 through 4 in an 8 class-period day. I may be the only one who does this at the school but it works well for me. I tend to eat lunch 5th period and then either visit my student worksites during 6th-8th periods or do some grading or lesson planning at my desk. I have 35 students to visit at work (twice a semester) and most of those visits occur between 5-8pm due to student work schedules. Many days I sit working until 3 and then head back out to jobs in the evening. This week alone, I have visited 10 students in 3 days. 

Yesterday, I checked my mailbox and found a letter stating that 2 of my students would be out all next week and they needed the homework and worksheets for the entire week. Being a little behind, I had ideas on what I wanted to teach next week but nothing written, let alone copied for my Coop class. Law, thankfully, is a semester class and I was able to quickly pull those items out from fall semester for one of the students. But Coop, that was another ballgame (my subtle reference to the start of baseball season which is being relived on the news as I type this).

What I had planned to be a 6-7th hour grading session and an 8th hour worksite visit turned into a frantic rush to put worksheets together and copy textbook pages for my Coop student. Her absence occurs in the midst of a unit I am creating about Stereotypes in the workplace and the Changing Role of Women at work. It is given just 3 pages of text in our book. Pretty heavy stuff, since these kids have probably never thought of it and so I have pooled resources from books I read in college and from online. I've got some great ideas including a 1955 article from a magazine that describes what the proper wife should do while her husband works. I'm hoping it shocks my students. That will be followed by a few letters/speeches written by women in the 1890's when the women @ work movement began. We'll then look at race and equal pay before diving into the final weeks leading up to their final projects, which I'll detail in another blog.

All this to say that yesterday resulted in my getting absolutely no grading done and job visits pushed back between 3:30 and 6:15. I sat on the couch last night after the visits refusing to work. I was fried. So when I checked my email during my 1st period study hall this morning, I was pleased to see an email from one of my inquisitive Law students saying I was her favorite teacher and wondered why I never reply to her emails. (She's been sending me links to various law cases and stories she's heard about to which I always respond verbally in class). 

Today, my law class took a quiz over Employment Law. I was worried, as I think this is a tough unit, with a load of laws to memorize and understand. The average was a 90% though, the best on a quiz I've given all year. I was pleasantly floored. Were these both signs of success?

Later in the afternoon, I had to run a worksheet downstairs for next week for another student who would be absent. In the classroom was another of my law students who saw me and gave me a big hug. I guess I've been more engaged with my students this week and we've talked about different types of humor people have (somehow this stemmed from a discussion on right vs. wrong). Teachers are told not to be personal with students. I disagree. Sharing a little makes connections, just like it does in any other relationship. 

I often wonder if I've been doing the right thing here. I came from a job where I wanted to be cool, have prestige and be noticed. There is a small part of me that wants that but I've washed most of those feelings off in the shower of career change. Right now, I just want to have students learn. (Having them act mature and respect each other would be great too, but thats going to take longer). I know I'm getting through to them but the outward display of such penetration hasn't happened yet. It was refreshing to know that just by laughing a little and getting off topic just a tad yesterday, my students are feeling a little more comfortable with me. 

The ones who are not doing well, I'm pulling aside and encouraging them. I even made one of them smile today. He's been a tough nut to crack, because he wouldn't ask questions. Wouldn't take notes. Wouldn't try. In the last 2 weeks he has taken notes, asked questions when there is time in class to do work and turns his stuff in. SUCCESS! Another student that I visited at work today, has had a rough home situation and hasn't been very focused at school. He's going to college for music and I told him that just in the last week, he's been more attentive and trying and that's great. SUCCESS! I told him to tap into the music for a little bit when home but that the work has to happen too, until graduation. I told him his D should be an A. He's got the smarts. His actions over the last week or so are a success that he is overcoming the problems in his life. I think he needed to hear that. And for me, one of the things I do best is encourage and tell people I'm there for them, that I'm on their side. I told that to my job student today and I hope it will bring him around to be a bit more dedicated to his studies.

I know this was a long composition, but after 3 months, I think you can afford me a little grace. It's been a good day. There are only 40 or so days lefts in the school year. Hopefully I can report on a few more of them over the next 8 weeks.

Take care folks.

KB