Sunday night blues...

Ok...so it's only Sunday morning; however, the Sunday night blues are sneaking in early this week. My confidence is still a bit shaken from "the Friday from hell" which is what the end of last week will be known as from now on.

My answer was to settle in for the weekend with movies such as Stand and Deliver, Freedom Writers, and Dangerous Minds in hopes that I would become re-inspired, re-energized, and confident before I headed back on Monday.

It worked a little. I've regained a sense of hope that next week could be better. In addition we will be revisiting some classroom procedures. I've also decided that they will no longer have time to work on homework in class and I'm going to be calling home like a maniac. These kids are out of control and it needs to stop.

Goals this week:
1. Be in bed by 9pm every night this week
2. Present rules, consequences, and rewards in class this week
3. Hope that my next review will not state "loose classroom management that did not improve later in the day"

On another note...Michigan beat Notre Dame today! Woot! That made my weekend as well as spending quality time with an old college friend who helped to lift me out of my grading burden as well.

I don't want to live this year surviving day by day...but the more I google tips on first year teaching all I find are "survival tips" "stress reduction" and "work life balance" articles. Almost everything talks about surviving the first year so that you don't quit the profession...at least I'm not alone in feeling a bit distressed.

It has to beg the question...what the hell is wrong with kids these days...or more accurately the adults that are failing to raise them properly.

Learning...

I'm convinced during the first year of teaching the teacher is learning more then the students.

The third week of school is coming to a close and I think I'm finally learning how to manage things a bit better. Today I would say 3 out of 4 classes went well...and I really question how accountable I can be held during my last hour. I have no special education training so I just don't feel nearly as bad when lessons go a bit awry.

Things I learned today:

1) The teacher who had her students stand in a straight line in a hall before letting them is not crazy. She is a genius. If I let my kids have two minutes to chill in the beginning of class my life is a nightmare. We stand in a line now.

2) It is possible to ask your superior what to do about kid x and get the response "I'll call the parents to check on meds" three times in one day...how medicated is this generation

3) Conversations like this will happen:
Me: "Are they always this loud?"
Other staff: "Yes"
Me: "Do they get more quiet as they mature?"
Other staff: "No, this is the hood. You're not from the hood are you? It's loud." hahahahahahahahahhahahahahahaha

p.s. My new nickname by my female students "Ralph Lauren"...at least I know they look at me sometime during the hour.

Irritation of the day...

I understand that the U.S. does not have an official language. However, there are a lot of rules that aren't actually written that American's follow...i.e. how far away you stand at the ATM, elevator behavior, and traffic habits.

HOWEVER...if I need to run to the bank and deposit a check it should not take me 30 minutes because all four people in front of me cannot speak English and need to play charades with the teller.

Honestly, I don't care what you speak in your home or among your acquaintances, preserve your culture all you want, but you are interfering with my business with your lack of language skills in public settings.

So annoying.

rant over.