First Week is over

Up one day and down the next.

So yesterday I felt like a real teacher. I had three classes (that’s all I have but they are double periods) and I administered an exam and collected homework. Real Teacher. I think the kids are great and they figured me out quite quickly. I don’t put up with giggling at other peoples mistakes. I don’t put up with picking on other people about anything, and I especially don’t like it when people touch my things. Thursday was a lot of fun for me and I left with a smile

However, things change quickly. Today… Friday. I had 1^st and 2^nd periods free so I planned/prepared a great lesson for seeing data put into a table. I was going to do this with my 7^th grade class. The 6^th grade class came in and I had my first teacher issue. One girl Annie accused Pasha (names have been changed) of stealing her eraser during the time we passed papers out. There are four people in the group.

I took all four out into the hall with their back packs and no one had the eraser. Pasha claimed not to have touched Annie’s eraser and certainly didn’t take it. Hmmm…. I told Annie I was sorry and we’d try to sort it out. When Pasha asked to go to the bathroom later in the class, the others at the table looked in Pasha’s desk and found the eraser. So I confronted Pasha in the hallway (I have a second teacher in the room) and asked her to think wisely before she answered my question. I asked her if she had touched Annie’s eraser (I had it in my hand which I don’t think she knew) and she admitted to picking it up and looking at it but did NOT take it. So, I gave her the thank you for being honest this time, but you lied earlier speech. I told her she was in trouble for lying and NEVER accused her of stealing the eraser. She just didn’t get it. I asked her, nope, I told her to apologize to Annie about lying. In order to make sure she had the right words, I asked her to tell me what she was going to say. She said, “I’m sorry the teacher found the eraser in my desk, I didn’t take it.” That was interesting and I instructed her that an apology was about something you did wrong yourself. It took MANY minutes to rehearse with her what she was to apologize about. OH MY!

Annie took the eraser and told Pasha some good things, like, “My mom works hard so that I can have school supplies.” She was a good kid in a bad spot. So… I took care of that one. Then…

My homeroom class was with me for 5^th period for what is usually small groups of 10 for break They couldn’t control themselves and I ended up giving the entire class lunch detention. OMG. That means that I didn’t get a chance to eat lunch. So they just wouldn’t settle down and I felt inadequate as a teacher to give them detention on day 4 of school. It turns out that they wouldn’t behave for my partner homeroom teacher either. That made me feel better. And where did they have to go after homeroom? MATH with me. I was with them from 5^th period to the end of the day. I did get the control I needed during our math class. I just started putting names on the board with warnings. It worked. Oh… then

Then….

We had a fire drill. 7 flights of stairs down and back up, with this same group of students. I was exhausted. I am so glad to be home. I was nearly in tears after they all left.

So it wasn’t the worst day in my life. It was frustrating and I made it through. I got the most difficult class in the school (it turns out). Oh well. We’ll all figure it out.

Math note. I collected summer packets from the students. The sixth graders were asked why math was important in life. EVERY single student mention money. They didn’t mention problem solving or logic or other jobs, just the knowledge to make sure you get the right change at the store, could pay your bills properly, and could calculate taxes and discounts. NOT ANY OTHER thing mentioned about math.

So, since you can do all that math by the end of 4^th or 5^th grade, these students wouldn’t need to take math seriously by 7^th or 8^th grade in their mind. How to let them know that math is more than money.

I need to go get my dinner. NYCity Pizza. Great place down the street. I’ll pick it up tonight.