The end really is in sight

-

 Yesterday was the dreaded 4A class. I didn't have a lot for them since it was review day. I thought we could review and then watch a video. Well believe it or not they wanted to play Blooket - a review game. And they wanted to play it twice. Unreal. Also, it was the most fun class I've had with them all year. There were a number of people absent and that helped. But some students that I didn't expect actually did their work and were able to participate it class. It was amazing. So I like to say I bring my own weather, well in this case it's really true. 

So today is Thursday. One more day of review and then it's all finals. I'm only in Monday and Tuesday. Bella is having surgery on Wednesday so I'm taking Wednesday and Thursday off to be home with her. Plus, Monday and Tuesday are the essay parts of the final, so that will give me two days to get them graded and ready to  enter. Wednesday and Thursday they will have a sub and take the multiple choice part of the test. So that will be super easy to grade on Friday and get my grades all entered before 5pm on Friday. Yay!!!!

It feels good to be at the end of the semester and a break to look forward to. It's nice to have fall break and spring break, but those happen in the middle of the semester and I really don't get a break because there are things that need to be graded and entered and blah, blah, blah. At Christmas break, everything has to be done by Friday so there is no grading or anything hanging over our head. I love it. Of course, I have work for myself. I'm going to get the notebooks all ready for next semester. I would like to have them laid out for a large part of the semester. I also want to have it decided what will go in the notebook and how. I know that's a big order, but I'm hoping that if I devote a couple of hours to it every day I can accomplish it. I'm going to lay out my notebook in pencil until I'm positive that is what is happening, then before class I'll put it in pen. I can do it. I just need to devote the time and buckle down and do it. I'm thinking of doing it in the morning when I get up. That seems to be when I'm most productive and also Hubby won't be up and I can work undisturbed. I also want to ready this book: 


I've had it for years and I'm not sure where I got it. I'm pretty sure I got it for my teacher program 13 years ago, there were some ancient notes in it. But I have not looked at it in years. Years!!!! So it came up in a teacher group I'm in and I said, wait - I have that. So I dug it out and am going to read it over the break and institute some of the ideas. I'm kind of excited to reinvigorate my teaching. I think I had fallen into a real slump and 2020 is forcing me out of it. Also, having this freshman class is forcing me out of it and making me examine my teaching. 

Okay, time to get ready for my final review day. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A lot has happened

-
 After my last post, I sat and went through the modeling curriculum and worked out that I was in Unit 6 of modeling. No worries, I just jumped right in. We did a lab, always a good way to start things, and next week we work on naming compounds - that should be fun. Anyway, the point is I feel much more comfortable with the curriculum. I know what I'm doing and I'm able to guide them to the correct answers. We went back to whiteboards at the tables instead of the standing at the whiteboards. We presented and did a power clap and it was good. Classes went much smoother and I was much happier.  It really did wonders for my mental health too. I was not completely exhausted by the end of the day. I had energy when I got home. I actually felt like doing things. It was amazing. So I can conclude that my total exhaustion was most likely due to mental fatigue. Well, I'm sure starting working out again helped a lot.  So things are a whole lot better. I am taking next Monday off and I
Read more

1st day done

-
 Yesterday actually went very, very well. Initially I was worried how they would respond to the whole notebook thing, but they actually did pretty well. And 4th period??? OMG, that class was awesome. Absolutely awesome. A couple of students were moved out of that class and I had a very well thought out seating chart and man it made a huge difference. So that was good.  Now I was another story. I was so tired. Sooooooo tired. My feet hurt, my legs hurt, my back hurt. I was a wreck. Then I came home and had to walk Mavy, ugh!!!! I did get things done though so that was good. But man, I was tired. Slept like a log last night.  The great thing about block schedule is that I get to do all that again today. Yay!!! The problem is that I get better and  better at it, so by the time I get to my last class, which will be the 6th time I've done that, I will be good and we will finish early. So I have to watch that.  Other than that, things are good. 
Read more

And we're back.....

-
 Today we are back to school. It's weird, this is my 13th year teaching and yet I still get the first day jitters. I kept waking last night and thinking about school today, usually things that could go wrong. It's just so funny that after all this time I still get nervous. Someone once said it's because I care and I guess that could be true. I do care about my teaching. It is something that I enjoy and take pride in and so yes, I care about how I do it and ultimately the outcome.  Today will be an easy day for them, and hopefully me. We are doing a sketchnote bootcamp. I want them to take ownership and pride in their notes and so we are going to spend the first day getting back into school and into sketchnoting. It will be good for most, but I know that I am going to get pushback from a few and that's okay, they can take the L when it comes to the notebook.  I'm not looking forward to the return only because it's work. We went to a friend's house yesterday f
Read more