Summer Activities

So, for the last week I have been working at OHS, doing a "credit retrieval" summer school of sorts. Pretty much, we take freshmen who earned around 55% in a core class and give them time, space, and tutoring to do enough assignments to get it up to a passing grade, 65% or so. I was in charge of the science group, which meant organizing lab materials, photocopying tests and packets, and of course brushing up on my own chemistry and physics skills. Very rusty.

The next project is to study for my standardized math test to add a 6-8 math endorsement to my license. I am hoping that will improve my chances at getting a full time job next year!

The total so far ...

105.5 days of subbing!

We have 2 days to go ... but does anyone call a sub the last 2 days of school??

Science!!

Half day today, filling in for a science teacher at OHS. I can't remember if I wrote about her classes before, but I did sub for one day about a month ago. It was block day, and I got her 3rd period freshman science followed by her 5th period, which was the same curriculum but sheltered for English language learners. Long story short, it was a "simple machines" lab where students experimented with pulleys, see-saws, etc and recorded results. 3rd period was terrible. Uninterested, uncreative, unresponsive. 5th period was amazing - students from 5 different countries working together to build an elaborate pulley system to raise a jug of water that 3rd period couldn't budge.

Anyways, today they were working on their final project, which was to use simple machines to build a wacky Rube Goldberg type device. It seemed really fun and reminded me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w

Which I let some students watch online for inspiration.

Winding down ...

This has been the second-to-last full week of school and man, have things been sloooooow. Just one booking, for today, at AHS. A lot of jobs at the end of the year are covering for teachers who are chaperoning the end-of-year field trip, and this was no exception. Small classes, no fancy lesson plan, it was pretty nice.
It was also nice to see one of my old students from OHS. She came to AHS because a picnic she was attending was rained out and AHS kindly offered up it's cafeteria. The picnic was for graduating members of the Teen Parent Program - yup, a cafeteria full of unwed teenage mothers, their guests, and offspring. Actually, I shouldn't say that, we actually have several Somali refugees who are married and having babies, but still in high school. Anyways, I was one of this girl's teachers when she found out she was pregnant in the fall, had her in class all the way up to practically her due date, and then continued to communicate with her during her maternity leave as she somehow recovered, parented, and did classwork at the same time. She really is amazing, she now has scholarships and is college-bound and her daughter is adorable. I'm not really a baby person, and I'm really not a baby-in-high-school person, but if anyone can make it all work it is this young woman.

On a personal note ...

Today is my cat's SIXTEENTH birthday!! (Well, adoption anniversary. We just figure if he was 6 when we got him, then each Memorial Day he is definitely one year older.) Still going strong.

Multiple Endorsements?

Well, the job search is still freaking me out. I hear too much and too little gossip about who's retiring, transferring, getting hired, getting cut ... and come up with way too many chess-like strategies for how to get a spot in the district. So I think it's time for a REAL strategy - getting more endorsements on my license so I can teach multiple subjects.

Time was, (and I'm a young'n, so by that I mean, two years ago,) to get real job security you added a special education or ESL endorsement to your pedigree. I resisted, because while I love my special-needs students, I like having them mixed into a regular class, adding variety and diversity, not cooped up in a room doing slowed-down curriculum. I just don't work at that speed. And it seems that may have been the right move, because the district is announcing all sorts of "restructuring" to the delivery of SpEd and ESL content, which is a fancy word for "cuts." Some of the best teachers at OHS are getting cut to half time or cut completely. So there goes that theory of job protection.

So, I've been thinking about getting a middle level math endorsement (that would let me teach up to Algebra.) I think it would open up the number of jobs I could apply to or, if I get a job and then get cut, the number of jobs that the district could re-assign me to. And while I don't want to teach math forever, it could be a nice touch to an application for an art post: maybe instead of a study hall duty period they give me "Math Support," or again, if cuts are proposed they share me between art and math.

Does this sound like a solid plan? Do any of you have multiple endorsements?

My, how they've grown.

One of the main things that I miss about being a classroom teacher is the bonds and relationships one forms with their students, and the opportunity to see those students grow. Sure, I get to go to OHS and check in on my former charges, but I am not experiencing the growth with a fresh batch this year.

Even as a substitute, though, you can see some growth. For example, I was at AK-8 today, with the Wednesday kids that I used to see weekly in the fall. The eighth graders today came in, were relatively polite, mostly did their work in a non-messy way, noticed the time, cleaned up completely, and headed back to class! Color me speechless! Now, of course I can't take credit for more than a tiny percentage of their education, so at the end of the day I went down the hall and complimented them to their teacher. She said that's the third compliment she's gotten today - they went on a field trip and were praised by the Courthouse staff and the city bus driver who took them there. So they really are growing!