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Neologism
Today was pooptastic. I’m not sure if I am the first person to use that word or not, but I’m claiming it as my own. Hence the post title. Today was absolutely, 100% USDA Grade A, pooptastic. Today, I hit a breaking point. I could no longer tell myself to breathe and wait patiently for Continue reading
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Breakthrough
This weekend was one of serious reflection and introspection. After the fight broke out in my class last week I spent a lot of time questioning my classroom management routines and set-up. I knew something needed to change. Nothing was being taught and nothing was being learned. Students were constantly talking, no matter who was Continue reading
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TGIF
It’s been a busy couple of weeks here at school. Today was especially draining because my EL class is testing my classroom management skills and today a fight broke out between two students. It’s mentally and emotionally draining to constantly be dealing with disruptive behaviors. When I consider that I have also been busy with Access Continue reading
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Access Testing (Again)
Every year, the state and federal government requires that we assess the proficiency of all ELLs in our district. At the high school level, this can be a nightmare to schedule, especially with such a large, populated building. However, this year we decided to run an experiment: to test all students on a day already Continue reading
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How many times will I need to remind myself?
I don’t know why, but the theme for this year should really be Half-Ass. I honestly don’t even know where to begin with what went wrong today. Ok, yes I do. It all started with not understanding the direction of the lesson plan that my student teacher had set up. I could try to pass Continue reading
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Residual Trauma
It’s hard to describe to someone who has never taught in a public school the burdens of working so closely with students who have faced trauma. The heavy weight of knowing a student’s story and trying to balance that with the burdens of teaching can take a toll that is rarely discussed. Today, that toll Continue reading
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What’s working. What’s impractical
Today was a solid reminder of how teaching is 99% assessment. I am constantly assessing something, especially the situation I find myself. I have now tried several ideas in the math class for getting students to settle down into a routine. The problem is that I have yet to set a routine. Having CM gone in Continue reading
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Post Valentine’s Day
Sometimes school is so busy that finding the time for writing can be the hardest task to keep up with. That isn’t to say that there weren’t many occasions which I found that were important enough to keep track. It’s just that work has been utterly exhausting. Between one of my co-teachers going into labor Continue reading
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Repeating Lessons
I’m not sure how long it will take me to finally learn this, but I really need to stop running lessons that are untested. I say this almost every time I tell a new teacher about my biggest mistakes, but I keep on making it. Sure, I could say that today was officially not my Continue reading
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Thesis Testing
Yesterday I tested the software that I will be using to collect data for my thesis. Boy am I glad I did a test run. There are so many new variables I need to consider now that I had never imagined would be necessary for this type of study. The first problem I encountered was the Continue reading
The Life Argotic 