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