Confessions from the Couch » Ask me a question

Ask me a question

Without cheer, I guess I don’t have much to talk about everyday. My lessons aren’t very exciting. As a matter of fact, it seems my students are falling asleep in class more and more. And I’m not even waking them up, like I used to. We are in survival mode.
It is funny because my principal walked into class the other day, just to observe (its annoying b/c Principal wasn’t observing my instruction, Principal was making sure students were wearing their uniforms appropriately and ID badges). I have a Spanish speaking student who speaks NO, NADA, ZIPPO English. I don’t know how to help him (the school didn’t even give him a Spanish textbook–It like they just trust him to learn to swim in this sea of English without any support.) So, I put him in the back of the room with another Spanish speaking student to translate when necessary. Most of the time while I am lecturing, he sleeps and I let him. He participates in other activities, but during instruction he’s stuck and so am I b/c I don’t speak Spanish. Anyway, my principal walks into the room, specifically looking at the students. Principal walks from the front door ALL the way to the corner in the back of the room to wake up my Spanish speaking student. When Principal left, the students were even baffled. They were confused. On student started laughing uncontrollably which of course spread to the whole class. I giggled, too.

I just think it is strange that Principal would walk to the back of the class disrupting my instruction to wake a kid up. Why didn’t Principal ask me about it? Why disrupt the class for that? Why not write me up and conference with me about sleeping students? I got to say it really makes me look incompetent the way Principal did it. But I’m not hurt, this is one of the things that Principal does. . . and that the teachers do not like. Principal’s behavior is one of the things people question me about when I say I teach at “my school.” I have a friend who is an awesome Spanish teacher and was looking for a new position, but because of the rumors about Principal, she didn’t apply for the opening at my school. Despite all of this, I still say that I teach at the best school in “my city.”

We have about a month left of school and the student’s were shocked Monday when I passed out a guided reading for them to complete. I heard groans and sighs and students say things like “But, its the end of the year.” And so I gave them a choice: You do the work that I assign and stop complaining or go to the office and explain that you are finish working for the year. This shut them up and got them working. Nevertheless, I think my students and I have an unsaid agreement: “It’s the end of the year. Lets not do anything to tick her off AND lets just survive.”

Okay, when I started this post, I thought I didn’t have anything to write about. . . .but I guess I have plenty. Anyway, the point of this post was to have my readers ask me questions that I could then blog about. I have seen other bloggers do this (Lara, Joel) and thought this was a good idea. It was fun. And I got to know about the blogger, their personality. . . etc. Why not let my readers find out more about me? You can ask what ever you want . . . and I will reveal as much as I can without identifying myself or saying things that will get me fired. So ask me a question, any question and give me something to write about for the next few weeks.

The Teaching Profession, a personal life? | Miss Teacha | April 24, 2008 5:06 am

11 Comments

By Margaret, April 24, 2008 @ 4:35 pm

What made you decide to become a teacher?
And–what happened on AI that made you want to boycott?
By Betsy, April 24, 2008 @ 4:56 pm

What hobbies do you have?

Besides a social life, what are your career and personal goals for Year 4?
By Lara, April 24, 2008 @ 6:00 pm

where do you hope to be (not just physically, but in terms of the progress of your life) in 10 years? how about 50?
By Frumteacher, April 25, 2008 @ 1:38 am

The previous questions were all on my question list. I can’t wait to read your answers. Here are my questions:

1. On a tough day in the classroom, who or what gives you the strength to continue?

2. What are the three most important things your students taught you?

Looking forward! You are right, these question/answer posts are great! So was your answer to those students who didn’t want to work, by the way
By David, April 25, 2008 @ 8:21 pm

Interesting post. My question is a simple one, i ask it of my teaching certification students that I teach at night:
“If you could wave a magic wand and fix any one thing about your school… what would it be?”

What are you teaching right now? I am covering WWI and WWII and my students LOVE it. It is their favorite part of the year – by far. The “delight in destruction” plays a part, but also because I show a lot of video, emotion and there are some pretty crazy things I do.

Monday we will re-inact trench warfare. Basically they push their desks to form two trenches on either side. I tell the students to take out 2 sheets of paper. Then crumple them both up. Then I explain – “This is your amunition.” Then I explain that this side is the Alliance and this side is the Entente. They take their places in the trenches and it is on.

They have about 2 minutes of fun throwing paper at each other, but the best part is after we discuss what Trench Warfare is really like – as we discuss what our paper battle was like. There are lots of similarities. Some kids try to leap across “No man’s land” and are mowed down by paper balls. Others hide under desks – cowering. And they end up surviving the battle. Other students develop ’strategy’ and we discuss whether that would ahve worked had the paper balls been bullets or cannon balls instead.

I am going to video it this year and put it into my year end video. Should be interesting. But, we certainly don’t ‘run out the string’ of days at the end of the year. It is a lot of fun. And I really do enjoy my time with them now.

Oh yeah, on Monday I will also be showing a video by metallica – “One” which is about WWI. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j39ABZyzek

When I am in the teacher’s work room and others are talking about how rough the end of the year is… I just smile. I love teaching World History.
By OKP, April 26, 2008 @ 1:36 pm

Hope the Clean Desk challenge is still on!

Hmm…did you ever have a situation that almost broke your will to go back to the classroom?

And much more upbeat: describe a time you felt most exhilarated.
By Frumteacher, April 28, 2008 @ 9:32 am

David~ I understand that re-inacting the trenches can add something to the understanding of your students of the despair and the senselessness of this war, but I am not sure if I agree with the way you make students pretend to be a soldier and have them throw ammunition at each other. I don’t like the Holocaust museum for the same reason: it puts people in a historical situation, which not only might be a frightening experience for some of your students, but which also gives them the (wrong) impression that they now know ‘what it was like’.

I personally prefer to teach WWI through the famous war poems. To me, they speak volumes.

(Sorry if this sounded harsh…! I didn’t mean to.)
By David, April 28, 2008 @ 10:39 am

I totally understand what you are saying Frumteacher. Teaching is an art. What will work for one teacher may not work for another. My approach is more hands on in this manner because I have found that the mere mention of 700,000 men dying in Verdun does not mean anything to these kids. It’s a blur and something they can not comprehend. I am hoping that even for a brief minute they can experience an ounce of the anxiety that someone experienced in one of these trenches.

I don’t want them to get the ‘impression’ entirely. That would mean they are at war and having to exerpierence war. I hope all of my students understand enough to know that war is not the answer – diplomacy is.
By Mr. Maestro, April 29, 2008 @ 10:06 am

a) If you hadn’t been a teacher, what do you think you would have done for a living?

b) Describe the most inspirational teacher from your own education.
By Kary, April 29, 2008 @ 5:31 pm

Who or what keeps your grounded? If you had to choose another career what would it be or if you could do it all again, knowing what you know now would you still be a teacher?