A Whirlwind of a Week

I survived my first week of teaching.

Actually, I more than survived my first week of teaching. It was actually a very successful (and, dare I say it, FUN) week. My classes are great so far, and I haven't encountered attitude problems... yet! I have a few "interesting" students, so we'll see how that turns out. Open House is this Thursday, and I think I'm more nervous about that than I was the first day of school.

I gave my kids a quiz on the first day of school and a "test" on the second. They probably think I'm the meanest teacher ever.

Actually, probably not. They all seem to like me even though I am very strict with them. But I'm also really goofy too. I want them to enjoy coming to math because not a lot of kids like it.

I'm teaching an 8th grade math block. That basically means I'm teaching 6 kids who failed or almost failed the math TAKS. I was pretty nervous about teaching it when I found out about it, but now it's one of my favorite times of the day! I know that this is why I went into teaching. I have such a passion for teaching small groups of kids who don't understand math. The most satisfying part of my day is when the light bulb goes off and they all exclaim, "OHHHHHH!" It's so much fun.

The other day we had "carpet time" like you do in elementary school. They LOVED it. We all sat in a circle (myself included) and, with a deck of playing cards, added and subtracted integers. They also love to play "integer war." I really hope I can help make a difference in their lives because they are such awesome kids!

My 7th graders are pretty amazing too. They're just still in that "6th grade cute" phase. They stress out about not understanding a concept or the amount of homework I assign. In fact, I got an email from one of my students this weekend saying that he left his homework in his locker and was wondering if there was any way he could get into the school to get it. I don't accept late work and if the kids come to class without their homework, they have to fill out a "Missing Work Report" stating why they don't have their work and what they're going to do to fix the problem. I hope this idea hold them accountable and I don't have too many problems with kids not turning in their homework.

All in all, I love teaching so far. I even got my first paycheck on Friday! And I get to enroll in insurance benefits! Yay! I love my math department teachers... they are so fun, helpful, and friendly. And my mentor is awesome. She is the other 8th grade block math teacher so she basically does all the plans for me. It's pretty great.

On that note, I need to go import next week's lesson plans online! And I should also enter my grades in the gradebook (Katy is pretty awesome that they have all the stuff accessible online so you can get work done at home!).

I hope everyone fairs Gustav well!

-Ashley

Start the Countdown.

Exactly one week from now, I will officially be a math teacher. How crazy is that?

For the past two weeks, I've been in different sorts of workshops and inservices and meetings. Today we had "Bear Olympics" at the school. It was basically a bunch of team building challenges that were at some points very frustrating, but still fun. We also got the afternoon to work in our rooms. My room has been a disaster for about a month because teachers keep bringing me all these resources (that I'll never get a chance to look at) and setting them all over my student desks. But I'm pretty much finished with hanging things on the wall.
Tomorrow I need to rearrange my desks because I didn't take into account that we're getting Smart Boards and I have nowhere to put the cart that holds the laptop and projector. So that should be an interesting challenge.

Speaking of interesting, during lunch today a car caught fire in the school parking lot! One of the parents of a student stopped by the school because her car was smoking and she thought that a parking lot would be a lot safer than at her house (which is true). Well, while she was inside calling around to get ahold of whoever could help her, her car burst into flames! And from what I heard, it wasn't just little baby flames; it was like someone lit a can of hairspray on fire. So, the principal called the fire department and they came just in time. The fire was traveling very fast and was causing the tires to explode, so it was a good thing that it didn't get as far as the gas tank. I saw the car after the firefighters had put the fire out, and it was completely torched. Thank goodness no one was hurt.

Well, I think I'll go get ready for bed and finish some laundry. I'll post some pictures of my classroom when I get it finished. I think it looks cute so far! :)

Night!
-Ashley

Oh, Johnny Boy.

As promised, here are some pictures from the John Mayer concert that was... amazing!

This was pre-amazingness. We had really great lawn "seats" but that wait was almost unbearable because it was SO hot. But, of course, in the end it was totally worth it.

My favorite "bear" Teresa and me pre-concert.

The fianceed couple at their norm.

Colbie Caillat! She is so adorable and her band is pretty darn awesome!

Colbie and her "dread headed" ukelele-er.

I think she was playing one of her new "not-so-heard-of" songs, and it was really great!

IT'S JOHN MAYER (!!!)... in all his shirtless glory? I suppose he's not used to the Texas heat like we are. I actually thought it was pretty pleasant around this time since the sun had gone down. Haha.

One of my favorites. I had my mini-binoculars and I could take pictures with my camera through them and they came out pretty good.

He did a lot of improv-jam session stuff, and it was-what else?-AMAZING!

Not only did he play the guitar behind his head, but he played it one-handed, and then he laid it on the ground and completely rocked out. I'm pretty sure my jaw was on the grass.

Another one of my favorites.

He and Colbie played "pranks" on each other that night because it was their last night on tour together. So, during her set he totally snuck out (like, no one even saw him on the stage whatsoever) and started singing her song "Realized" with her. When I heard his voice I thought he was backstage or something, but there he was wearing a plain old white tee and some regular-looking shorts. Then they "dueted" "Your Body is a Wonderland". Sweet!

I hope you're not tired of seeing these pictures. Almost finished...

This was right before he sang "Gravity"- my absolute favorite song of his. I was actually really surprised he sang it because it's not like one of his most popular songs, so as soon as I heard the guitar intro I totally screamed... like a little school girl. Yes, that's right, I admit it. I have a huge school girl crush on John Mayer. Sue me.

So, there's my pictorial of the John Mayer concert. I hope you felt like you were there with us, although, it was a sold out crowd so there really wasn't much room to groove. But it was totally fine with me!

Now I really must go continue studying for the GRE. Only a few more days until it's all over with!

-Ashley

Best. Concert. Ever. Seriously.

John Mayer was absolutely amazing. Colbie Caillat was amazing. We had amazing "seats." John Mayer was shirtless the entire time which was amazing.

Amazing.

That's pretty much all I can say right now.

I took lots of amazing pictures.

... which I will post at a later date because the GRE study guide is beckoning me.

-Ashley (amazing!)