I don't know why, but most of my students were exceptionally well-behaved today; I hope whatever happened today continues to happen every day! I know, I know - fat chance!
Today was an early-release day as well as a day without BBL, so it was a pretty easy day. After the students were released from J.A., we spent some time planning for the FCAT pep rally next week, and then I left a little before 5:00 so I could get to church on time for the Ash Wednesday service. Unfortunately, the service was long, and it is now 10:00 and I am still waiting for my dinner to finish so I can eat it and go to bed!
-Aly
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
1,208.25 Hrs.
Happy Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday!
Since today was Fat Tuesday, I took paczkis into school to share with my R. R. Moton team. Since I only just found out a couple of days ago that most people don't know what they are, I did some research about the paczki and found out that they are Polish and are popular in Poland (obviously), as well as in Michigan. ( Who knew?) A paczki is kind of like a jelly- or custard-filled donut, except that it has a whole lot more calories. They were orginally made on the Fat Tuesday so people could use up all of the things such as sugar and butter that they would not be allowed to use during the next forty days of Lent. I have eaten quite a few during my lifetime in Michigan, and I was delighted to be able to get ahold of a few to share with my team, and they were much appreciated!
The FCAT is in just two short weeks, so things have been coming down to the wire. Everyone at school is stressed out, and I can only imagine how the students are feeling!
-Aly
Since today was Fat Tuesday, I took paczkis into school to share with my R. R. Moton team. Since I only just found out a couple of days ago that most people don't know what they are, I did some research about the paczki and found out that they are Polish and are popular in Poland (obviously), as well as in Michigan. ( Who knew?) A paczki is kind of like a jelly- or custard-filled donut, except that it has a whole lot more calories. They were orginally made on the Fat Tuesday so people could use up all of the things such as sugar and butter that they would not be allowed to use during the next forty days of Lent. I have eaten quite a few during my lifetime in Michigan, and I was delighted to be able to get ahold of a few to share with my team, and they were much appreciated!
The FCAT is in just two short weeks, so things have been coming down to the wire. Everyone at school is stressed out, and I can only imagine how the students are feeling!
-Aly
Monday, February 23, 2009
1,199.25 Hrs.
As I asked just recently - how does time go by so quickly? How is it already Monday again?
Today was a very busy day for me because I had a lot of things to plan and very little time during which I could do that planning. Also, a lot of the people on my team seemed to be having a bad day today, so their emotions kind of wore on me as well. I also had to give one of my students a detention today, which put further unnecessary stress on me. I only like to give out detentions as a last resort since I really do not feel that it is my place to give them (contrary to what the teachers tell me), but I told the student that she would have to have a detention if she talked back to me again, and sure enough, that was enough to provoke one more final sarcastic remark from her and thus earning herself the detention.
I am glad that I was never interested in a career in education, because I really do not think that I am cut out to teach. When a student just stares at me blankly when I am trying to teach him something, I become frustrated if I can think of no other way to explain myself. I lot of times, for things such as the multiplication tables, I only know what I know because I have memorized the information over many years. How many ways can I find to explain to a child that 9 x 9 equals 81? I do always try my best, though.
-Aly
Today was a very busy day for me because I had a lot of things to plan and very little time during which I could do that planning. Also, a lot of the people on my team seemed to be having a bad day today, so their emotions kind of wore on me as well. I also had to give one of my students a detention today, which put further unnecessary stress on me. I only like to give out detentions as a last resort since I really do not feel that it is my place to give them (contrary to what the teachers tell me), but I told the student that she would have to have a detention if she talked back to me again, and sure enough, that was enough to provoke one more final sarcastic remark from her and thus earning herself the detention.
I am glad that I was never interested in a career in education, because I really do not think that I am cut out to teach. When a student just stares at me blankly when I am trying to teach him something, I become frustrated if I can think of no other way to explain myself. I lot of times, for things such as the multiplication tables, I only know what I know because I have memorized the information over many years. How many ways can I find to explain to a child that 9 x 9 equals 81? I do always try my best, though.
-Aly
Friday, February 20, 2009
1,181.5 Hrs.
Thursday, I spent most of my day in the office instead of at R. R. Moton. This is because I was preparing today's Daily Briefing. The Daily Briefing (D.B.) is a kind of newsletter that is distributed to the corps at each Friday morning Unity Rally. I was asked to create the DB we used today.
Today, half of the corps, including myself, was supposed to help build with Habitat for Humanity. They actually ended up finishing the house early, though, so today we just helped reorganize their warehouse and store. My team had to sort and move thousands and thousands of hurricane shutters. For those of you from the north who don't know what hurricane shutters are, they are corrugated pieces of thin but sturdy metal that is placed over windows in preparation for a hurricane. Some of them are just made out of tin, but some are made out of steel and are very heavy. My team's job was to sort them into piles according to length, which wasn't very easy since it seemed as every single one had its own unique length. After sorting them, we had to put them nicely back on the shelves. This took us about seven and a half hours, but we were finally able to finish. I have never been so exhausted in my whole life.
I was embarrassed because I was apparently too weak to effectively move the shutters, so I was put on my own "special" project. This project consisted of me picking up all the tiny shutter pieces and putting them into a bucket. : ( That only took me a little while, though, so I made sure to try even harder to be helpful when I went back to the original project! Why am I so pathetic?
Tomorrow is a Young Heroes Saturday, and we will be learning about the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Sunday, I plan to recuperate from the past week and rest up for the week ahead.
-Aly
Today, half of the corps, including myself, was supposed to help build with Habitat for Humanity. They actually ended up finishing the house early, though, so today we just helped reorganize their warehouse and store. My team had to sort and move thousands and thousands of hurricane shutters. For those of you from the north who don't know what hurricane shutters are, they are corrugated pieces of thin but sturdy metal that is placed over windows in preparation for a hurricane. Some of them are just made out of tin, but some are made out of steel and are very heavy. My team's job was to sort them into piles according to length, which wasn't very easy since it seemed as every single one had its own unique length. After sorting them, we had to put them nicely back on the shelves. This took us about seven and a half hours, but we were finally able to finish. I have never been so exhausted in my whole life.
I was embarrassed because I was apparently too weak to effectively move the shutters, so I was put on my own "special" project. This project consisted of me picking up all the tiny shutter pieces and putting them into a bucket. : ( That only took me a little while, though, so I made sure to try even harder to be helpful when I went back to the original project! Why am I so pathetic?
Tomorrow is a Young Heroes Saturday, and we will be learning about the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Sunday, I plan to recuperate from the past week and rest up for the week ahead.
-Aly
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
1,164.25 Hrs.
How do the weeks go by so quickly? How is it already Wednesday again?
My mornings seem so empty now without my first graders. Instead of starting work at 8:45 a.m., I now don't start until 9:30 a.m. (although I still arrive at the school around 7:45). That extra time I am now able to use as planning time.
In one of my small groups today, I was speaking with one of my students who is always goofing off and not paying attention, and she finally confessed to me that she acts the way she does because the work is to hard for her. After promising her that I am here only to help her and that I will help her with anything any time she needs it, her attitude changed drastically for the better. : )
With my first grade small group today, we made flashcards. The kids loved using the markers and notecards! When I was in grade school and college, I made flashcards for EVERYTHING - that was my main study method, and I bought 3x5 cards by the thousands. Now that I am teaching lots of kids and have an extremely limited income, getting ahold of even ten notecards is a luxury! Today, the notecards I was using were provided by the kids' classroom teacher.
The rest of my day was packed since Wednesdays are early-release days and also because this week is one of the weeks we do a BBL lesson.
The kids in my after-school program couldn't stop talking today! I had to yell over them for an entire two hours, and now my throat hurts like crazy.
After work, a couple of my teammates and myself stayed to clean our classroom. What a mess!
-Aly
My mornings seem so empty now without my first graders. Instead of starting work at 8:45 a.m., I now don't start until 9:30 a.m. (although I still arrive at the school around 7:45). That extra time I am now able to use as planning time.
In one of my small groups today, I was speaking with one of my students who is always goofing off and not paying attention, and she finally confessed to me that she acts the way she does because the work is to hard for her. After promising her that I am here only to help her and that I will help her with anything any time she needs it, her attitude changed drastically for the better. : )
With my first grade small group today, we made flashcards. The kids loved using the markers and notecards! When I was in grade school and college, I made flashcards for EVERYTHING - that was my main study method, and I bought 3x5 cards by the thousands. Now that I am teaching lots of kids and have an extremely limited income, getting ahold of even ten notecards is a luxury! Today, the notecards I was using were provided by the kids' classroom teacher.
The rest of my day was packed since Wednesdays are early-release days and also because this week is one of the weeks we do a BBL lesson.
The kids in my after-school program couldn't stop talking today! I had to yell over them for an entire two hours, and now my throat hurts like crazy.
After work, a couple of my teammates and myself stayed to clean our classroom. What a mess!
-Aly
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
1,156.75 Hrs.
Going back to work today was easy since I did not have my first graders to wear me out first thing this morning. At the end of the day, my boss was super nice and let me go a minute early, which meant that the public transportation schedule would allow me to get home an hour earlier than if I had left work a minute later than I had.
The best moment of the day today was when one of my students told me that Harriet Tubman invented slaves.
-Aly
The best moment of the day today was when one of my students told me that Harriet Tubman invented slaves.
-Aly
Monday, February 16, 2009
1,149 Hrs.
What a day!
My plane took off from the Detroit Metro Airport at 2:30 p.m. today, and I was definitely not ready for my trip to end. I got home around 7:00, and I have been trying to grocery shop, do laundry, clean, and do other various chores and errands since then. I can't believe I have to go back to work tomorrow!
-Aly
My plane took off from the Detroit Metro Airport at 2:30 p.m. today, and I was definitely not ready for my trip to end. I got home around 7:00, and I have been trying to grocery shop, do laundry, clean, and do other various chores and errands since then. I can't believe I have to go back to work tomorrow!
-Aly
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