Hurry, Hurry, STOP

Hurried, hurried rushed day.

Let me start by saying--this was actually a good day. Except for 7th period. By 7th period, I am tired. My off period is 1st. This is not a good off period for a morning person. My 7th period class is also , shall we say CHALLENGING. No, lets face it--they are slightly MORE than challenging. Every seat full when everyone is there. Today--everyone was there. And today in BCIS we are doing one of the hardest lessons of the year--Excel formulas and functions, and explaining absolute and relative cell references. We have about 12 pages in the book to get through in 45 minutes.

All is going well in the land of formulas and functions. It is one of those days when we are blowing and going EVERY period right up until the bell rings. Let me also explain--because I am off 1st period, I spend 2nd period "practicing" my lesson. Poor 2nd period. I get better in 3rd. I am amazing by 4th. Then I have lunch and a different class all together for 5th, so I get out of my groove. 6th period--bless them, requires me to slow down to snail speed. We never quite get done in 6th period! Grr--I want to get done! So here comes 7th. Loud, noisy, BIG 7th. And I am really tired of teaching formulas and functions by now.

7th period decides we will have one of those days when we just question EVERYTHING. LOUDLY. Without raising hands. We also think we already KNOW everything there is to know about formulas and functions, because after all, we talked about that FRIDAY (for 5 minutes). Mrs. Clayton is getting more and more fed up by the minute, especially when she has a limited amount of time to get through everything. Hurry, hurry. Mrs. Clayton looks at the clock and realizes she has 5 more minutes and two more concepts to get through before the bell rings. Unfortunately, her class also realizes there is 5 more minutes and instead of listening and following along, begins to log off the computers and shut their books. And talk to their neighbors. LOUDLY. All oblivious to the fact that Mrs. Clayton is still teaching an AWESOME lesson about formulas and functions! So Mrs. Clayton gets angry, throws a teacher hissy fit, and refuses to let them out of the classroom when the bell rings. She actually stands in front of the door so they can't leave until they do what she has asked them to do (put away books in proper location, pick up papers, save their work). In reality, she releases them approximately 1 minute late. This after being told by one student that it was his "constitutional right" to leave when the bell rang (same student who felt it was his "constitutional right" to attend a pep rally despite being told "no" earlier in the year). NOWHERE in the Consitution does it mention bells OR pep rallies, so I think I am pretty safe in the assumption that I am within my rights. So when Mrs. Clayton finally DOES let her angry 7th period out of the classroom Mrs. Clayton is ALSO angry and not in the mood to see any more of her darling students any more today!

Enter one of said darling students from 6th period-bless them. She is here to take a make up test after school. She is sweet, shy, special needs, and trying to graduate on time. I am the final class she has to pass to graduate. She is not passing. After spending a long time staring at the test, she asks me if she can come another day--this is too hard and she doesn't understand it. No-she has to take the test today--the grading period ended and I must have the grade in for report cards Wednesday. I am a little short with her since I have had such a bad 7th period, see above. Also, I am in a hurry. I have been in hurry mode ALL DAY, and I want her to HURRY and finish her test so I can get it in the gradebook!

I look up and see her face. It is bewildered. She spends a lot of time looking bewildered. I breathe. I stop. So for the next hour and a half--yes, hour and a half--I go and sit right next to her, read her the test out loud, and coax her through it. She KNOWS how to do the test. She just does not have confidence that she knows how to do it and is afraid to do something wrong. She gets a 91! By this time--I am almost in tears--her face lights up when I show her the grade--and she says I NEVER GOT A 91 ON A TEST BEFORE!

I kind of forgot about 7th period now.

Who else is sitting in my classroom that never got a 91 on a test before because she didn't think she could? Who else am I writing off because he has never passed, and I think he never will? What am I missing be being in a hurry? What are my students missing?

Tomorrow--another day......I think we'll slow down :)

Distractions

It has been a week-actually several weeks-of "distractions". The distractions began with possibly the BIGGEST distraction-our principal left very suddenly (overnight)leading to rumors, anger, more rumors, sadness, more rumors, meetings, happy hours to say goodbye, meet and greets to say hello (new principal). Just exhausting. Oh-and yes, I still teach there AND have a child who is a student there so I got to be exhausted as a staff member and exhausted as a parent. Distractions.

Distraction number two which has nothing to do with my professional life-I was fired via e-mail from a volunteer job. Then I was unfired. Then I think, but I'm not sure, I was fired again. Maybe. LONG story, still ongoing. Rumors. "I heard that..." phone calls. Trying to explain things to deaf ears. Having decisions made that have an effect on me, without my input. Distractions.

Distraction numbers three through six-a controversy. An investigation. A paranoid parent. Having to explain myself and being cautioned "NOT" to explain myself. Being a teacher is a hard job? You betcha!

So we have all had weeks like this.

In the middle of all of these distractions--I take a look at my students. Now-anyone who has EVER been a teenager knows that being a teenager is a series of distractions. Who is wearing what, who is going out with who, who broke up with who, who said something about you, where is the rumored fight going to be, can I get a ride to the fight, what is for lunch, is the new principal going to make us wear uniforms. Some have even more serious distractions-an ill parent, having to work at two jobs after school to support a family, someone in the family going to jail. So amidst ALL of these distractions, they have a job to do, which is go to school and do their work and learn something. And teachers EXPECT this to occur in spite of all of these distractions. Being a high school student is a hard job? You betcha!

So we are all the same. The distractions will always be there. What to do? How to cope? I don't have the answers. But it has helped me to see that I am going to have successes in the classroom and failures that have to do with outside forces beyond my control. Change is inevitable. Distractions are inevitable. It is how I react to those changes and cope with all of those distractions that influences my teaching. Learning, still learning........