Deadline Challenged...

It's funny how this blogging thing works... I get the urge to write, to share something and I go to the blogger dashboard, as it is called, sign in, and start writing.  The last few days thoughts have been swirling around in my head and I thought that maybe there would be a blog post or two mixed in there somewhere... and there is.. or are... depending...

I got an email today from my aunt, Donna, who I have often written about here... I thought of her today as a teal harley motorcycle came through my lane at the tolls... only she will know why, but I figured I would share anyway... her email was checking in on me... noticing that this blog and the kayaking blog have been dormant for a bit... It is me that should have been checking on her... but that's the way things go sometimes... and then there is Jill who was very harsh with me tonight about not blogging in a while and leaving the 'depressing dream post' up... and directed me to add a new post... so the fact that I am in fact blogging tonight, will stroke her ego. 

Okay...

So... school is in full swing... well...close anyway... this week felt like a long week.  The beginning of the year is always stressful, always so much that can be done beyond what I already do... but there is also a point at which I have to stop and tell myself that tomorrow is a new day.  Last week was very busy.. I had three meetings that involve a lot of paperwork...that I still need to finish..and have two more this week to prepare for... We had open house, on a day where I had a different kind of meeting after school... so that day I was at school from 6:45 a.m. to 7:15 p.m.... I am enjoying getting to know the kids... more on that later.. but there is still a huge part of me that is cognisant of the fact that I am in a job I was hoping to not be in... but... I am confident that eventually, I will be in a new job.  Which reminds me... the principal of the school where I had interviewed, called me last week.  After my interview and learning that I did not get the job, I had emailed him and had asked if he could, at some point offer me some feedback, and he told me he would.  He had asked me to call on a certain day when he thought he would have time to talk.  I called...and left a message... and heard nothing back.  Until this week... he called and we chatted for about a half an hour.  He gave great feedback... my resume is great... my reference letters, great... my interview, great.... he said I was articulate, professional, and that in the interview I came across as I did on the phone, positive and passionate... He asked me how I felt the interview went... and I told him that honestly I felt that the questions did not lend themselves well to showing my potential... that I struggled with how to share things about my skills, about what I could bring to their school, because the questions had specific focus.  So he gave me some ideas or how to do that in my next interview.  He shared that he was in a situation, being a new principal to the school... with several new teachers necause many had retired the previous year, as well as new secretaries (who we all know TRULY run the school)  seemed overwhelming and he needed to make sure whoever he hired would be someone who would require little supervision.  And because I do not have any experience... that part did play against me.  I felt great about the conversation... and sill use it to help me in my next interview... which is not yet on the horizon... so that was good.. so back to the kids...

My homeroom kids last year were 6th graders... this year my homeroom is filled with 8th graders... so that has been an adjustment for me... I like it because it is a bit more challenging.. 6th graders are easily impressed and still very much want to please their teachers... 8th graders... not so much... I am going ot have to work for the relationships with these kids... more than I did last year.... and I am looking forward to it... I have 14 kids in there... and while I want to connect with all of them... there are two... well... three.. okay four who REALLY need some attention... first is a kid who is... a stereotypical redneck jock... let me rephrase that... he SEEMS like a redneck jock.. but...there is so much more to him than that... It is a stereotype under which he is way too comfortable.  He is a big kid, fairly tall... and uses his size to play the unintelligent laid back tough guy... but... I think there is a sensitive guy in there... and as someone of size myself... I will help him see that he can be himself... without having to be the 'big guy.'... if that makes sense... okay five.. just thought of another... back to her in a sec... the second kid ... is painfully quiet... sits alone, away from others... doesn't engage unless he is spoken to.  At the end of the day I have dismissal duty in the hallway and take my kids with me.  11 of the 14 kids socialixe with each other... three hang with me... this kid is one of them.. unlike the other two who hang with me because they are not sure yet how to socialize with the other kids in our homeroom (but will soon!)  and they are more comfortable talking to me at this point... this kid... stays with me to avoid other kids... to stay isolated... the other day though, Friday, I got him to smile and this was a victory for me!  A small victory, but a victory none the less!  The other two kids who hang with me... are walkers.. which means they are dismissed after the kids who ride the busses... so they get to hang with me even longer... the other day after the bus kids left, there was something on the floor... joking I said...Oh No... dead monkey.... because kids in my homeroom had been referencing monkeys... don't know why.. well ironically, the object on the floor was a flat rubber-like monkey that I assume had been on smoeone's backpack as a keychain...I picked it up and put it in a window that is fairly high... and kind of hid it... the three of us decided that we would leave the monkey there to see if that area ever gets cleaned.... so far... it has been there 3 days... so.. on Friday this quiet kid... was going to walk instead of taking the bus.. and I asked the other two kids if we should let him in on our secret... saying that I thought we could trust him.  I asked him if he wanted to know and he did... which was a good sign!  When we told him... and he looked up and saw it.. he smiled.. and laughed a little... Yahoo... a connection... something that we can chat about, daily if needed... at least until the window gets cleaned... IF the window gets cleaned... ok... kid three that is on my radar.. is new to the school.. I wrote about him here before... the kid I made speak instead of having his mother speak for him... he is going to be a challenge... but we are setting the boundaries... and he still seems to not hate me... even after I threw his books and binders one day and his backpack and sweatshirt another day, into the recycling bin... (He hates lockers.. so he stores his stuff in my classroom, but I have limited him to two shelves, large shelves.  I have told him that anything of his that is outside of the shelves will be recycled... and that will only last for a little while before things go into the garbage... the recycle bin is just paper, so getting things out of there is no big deal.)  He grumbled a bit each time, but the first time said, I didn't realize this counter space was off limits, and the second  time he said he didn't realize that the floor counted as being out of the shelves... and now he knows... he has bonded well with the fourth kid in my homeroom who worries me... not worries me too bad, but.. he has a lot going on outside of school... this is a kid who... well... just wants to be loved.  I think he is in a supportive family situation, but there are pieces about it that are complicated for him... he too is looking for boundaries... the fifth kid that popped into my mind above is a girl... she is a pretty popular kid... but I think she puts a lot of pressure on herself to perform well at all that she does... on Friday, we did a lesson about 9/11, watched a video about kids who lost their parents... and when I asked if anyone could relate, she raised her hand... she shared that while it wasn't about 9-11, her mom was at Columbine, working on the day of the shooting.. and had to hide under a desk... the girl got very emotional about it... I think she holds a lot of things in... and then when things come out... they are intense... she was upset for a long time... gotta keep my eye on her... she will make everything seem like she is okay... gotta ensure that it is... truth is... there are things about all of the kids in my homeroom that I could write here, things to give me cause to raise an eyebrow... and I love getting to know these things about my kids... MY kids... I say that sometimes and it strikes me that I don't have any kids... per se... but these kids... really mean a lot to me... So that's just my homeroom...

Jill is probably kicking herself about now for asking me to write... ha! careful what you wish for... so ... beyond the kids I have in homeroom... there are also the kids to whom I provide instruction... I have some kids with whom I have worked before... and some new ones... I have some sixth graders... who seem to defy the desctiption of 6th graders I gave above... this crew... wow.. are going to give me a run for my money... ther is a kid in there who is a last word-er... he has to have the last word about things... and that includes saying things that are not encouraging to his classmates.. he and I,  I foresee,  will be spending some lunches together... or even some after school time...talking about the code of conduct...They are negotiators... or think they are... I gave them homework this week... the first night I had them do 10 problems in math... not too hard, but not too easy.. didn't want to give too many incase they did them wrong... they asked if they could do 5 problems instead.... I told them I don't negotiate.  They then said please, c'mon, cant we do like 5 or 6... I said... oh okay.. you want a different amount of problems for homework, I can do that... how about 15?  They all suddenly agreed that 10 was a very fair number.  The next day, everyone came in with their homework done.  The next day similar situation and they came in with their homework completed ... Thursday I was at one of my meetings so I had a sub fill in for me.  I had left an assignment for them to do for homework... writing 5 word problems due Friday.  And, if they had it done for Friday, they would get to participate in math game day... Word problems are hard for kids to write... especially kids who struggle with reading, writing, and math... a few of the kids had it done.  The rest, led by the last word-er, said he never heard the sub give homework.  I asked each kid individually if they had heard the sub give those directions... and one of the boys looked at me.. after he said he just didn't get it done... looked at last worder...and said, he had not heard the sub... I asked him if he was being truthful and he said he was.  I don't belive that.  So... The kids who had finished the problems for homework... got to play games with me... and the kids who had not done the five homework problems.. had to sit and write ten word problems as they watched and listened to the fun games being played.  I know.. I am so mean... I am, in a way, thankful it worked out that way... in that class is one of my Aspergerians... smile... and playing a game with him (he had done his homework) and a couple of other kids and me... allowed me to play with things.. to see how he responds to stress when he is not winning, to tease out his sense of humor... and to see some ofhis skills get demostrated in a more relaxed setting than just giving him a test... I learned a lot about him that will help me work with him this year. 

Then there is a student who is new to me this year... she is on my caseload... an 8th grader... also an Aspergerian (a term I now use to reference people with Aspergers...)  What an amazingly interesting young lady... I am sooo excited to work with her this year and am so hopeful that our work together will help her tremendously.  She is highly intelligent.  Probably one of the top five percent of the kids in her class, academically... if you base it solely on standardized testing... however... being able to show that intelligence is very hard for her.  Partly because she is a perfectionist... handing something in that is not the quality she wants it to be will not happen... so I will have to work on that.  I had an opportunity to chat with her the other day... and asked her if she understood why she recieves special education services... with a very serious face and tone, she said that she 'supposed' it was because she is an "Aspy."  And quickly told me Aspy is a name in her house, given to people with Aspergers.  I told her she was correct and then we talked about the goals she has in her individual education plan... which pertain to organization.  She informed me in our conversation that it is not time management that is her issue... she told me very matter of factly, that she is "deadline challenged!"  Deadline challenged?  I love this kid!  We then talked about other aspects of school that are hard and she shared with me, pardoning her french, that middle school is 'hell.' She feels that way because of the social piece.  I asked her if she would like help making friends and she said that my help in trying to increase her friendships would not be the goal, that the goal would be to help her decrease the amount of enemies she has... because in her words, she has a tendency to sometimes say what comes into her mind without taking time to think about what it is that may come out of her mouth which often lands her in trouble.  At which point I asked her if she was a glass half empty kind of a girl... and she assured me that not only would she concur, but that her mother would also agree with  me.  So... for her... my goal for her (outside of her education plan...) is to help fill her glass...  So that's an intro to some of my students...

Other school stuff... I have signed myself up for more responsibilities at our school... being mindful of adding things to my resume. So... while I am not taking classes this semester... I will be busy... and I also am thinking about taking another class in the spring...I know I just graduated in May... but... I am lucky enough to be in a district that pays for classes... so I would be foolish not to take a class... my debate... do I take a class towards another certification, like an athletic director.. or... do I take a class that would be strictly for my enjoyment... like photography...or painting...

So that is the school update.... more to come about other things.... soon... maybe even later today...