Aisha - Day 2 (3/7)

A Week in the Life of a Teacher (Day 2)- 

Tuesdays for some reason are more tolerable than Mondays but I'm struggling to get up today. Gotta be the motivator for my children, so at 6:30 a.m. I'm waking up sleepyheads and at the same time, pondering today's lesson, which is a continuation of yesterday. 

8:00- 8:15 a.m.- I'm complaining to my teenager daughter that she's got to do better getting ready for school in the mornings. She is dragging her feet and I offer to drive her to the bus stop. After I do so, I hurry off to work. 

8:35 a.m.- I'm late to work and feeling a bit flustered but my co-workers are greeting me with their warmest welcomes. This relaxes me and suddenly I feel grateful that I made "said copies" yesterday. Therefore, I mediate for a few minutes, tidy up the room, write the agenda, homework, etc on the board and mentally prepare for my 1st period students. Thanks to Zyrtec, I am feeling physically better than I did yesterday. 

8:50 a.m.-10:30 am- Once I'm done, I go outside to do hallway duty, while Ms. VZ, my co-teacher, gets the students settled for the day and hands out their warm-ups. I watch students go by in the hallway and gently remind those who have their head phones, ear buds, or hoodies to take them off, thank them, and wish them a good day. I see my student J coming down the hallway (the girl that broke down in the hallway yesterday) and observe as Mrs. K is already giving her one of her best hugs. As she treks down the hall towards me, my other student A and I give her a great big hug and J's face lights up . She is herself again although I still sense a tinge of sorrow emanating from her. I vow to check on her throughout the class period. The class is really wound up today and it is difficult getting them settled into their chairs. Again, we have no bells and no pledge and the students are off their game. I review the warm-ups and take attendance. Just as the timer goes off, one of the admins "hand delivers" a student, one of my ESL students who is a frequent skipper. I welcome him to class and review the warm-up with him. He already seems unmotivated and admin stays a few minutes and observes the class to make sure they are on task. I feel a little uneasy as I begin to review the warm-ups with the students. Most are engaged, following along, and participating. A few have their heads down and I muster the courage to get their attention by tapping on their desks and whispering words of encouragement. The vice principal discreetly speaks to a student who would't comply when I attempted to "wake" him up and then leaves seemingly satisfied. I go over the homework with the students. They moan and groan about having to cite evidence but are grateful for the review, especially those who didn't do their homework last night. Ms. VZ continues reading aloud to the students "Diary of Anne Frank" and she has a lively discussion with the students about Anne and the problems she is facing. Afterwards, the students work in groups to complete their graphic organizer for yesterday. As I have some struggling readers, we split the small class in half. Ms. VZ takes one group, and I another. I reprimand two students for throwing little yellow paper balls in the room and I again review the classroom expectations. The students have to find examples from the text for "STEAL," what the character says, does, thinks, etc. They are stuck on finding examples so I review the task and give them page numbers that illuminate examples of these items. Some of the students were done in time before the bell, others needed more time. I informed the class that they will have a few extra minutes to finish tomorrow and will review the work with them. As they were feeling the time constraints, I hear sighs of relief at that announcement.

10:30-12: 00 p.m.-I immediately reprimand a student for walking through the door, with her chips in hand, and stuffing her face. I remind her of the expectations (no food and drink in class). She apologizes and chooses to "hang out" with me outside the classroom as I do hallway duty again. The students are trickling in, greeting me at the door, and a few of the boys "fist bump" my hands. I immediately think of the teacher video I saw about the teacher who learned handshakes for every student and realize that I'm not that cool. I greet my students as the "imaginary" bell rings, review warm-ups with the students,and take attendance. The students quiet down and get working. What a beautiful thing to witness every student on task and diligently working on their assignments! When done, we review the bell ringer, their homework from last night, and read aloud some of the entries from "The Diary of Anne Frank." I have a few students off task and realize that they need a brain break. I ask the students to stand up and we do some stretching exercises. When done, I ask students to clear their desks and take out their phones. Their faces light up as they realize we are getting ready to play a "Kahoot" game. I remind them that they must write their real names, not crazy names on the game board. They enter the pin and before long the students are answering the questions. They are very competitive and I hear cheers for those who are winning and jeers from those who are losing. At the end, I claim the winner and tell them they have "won" 10 extra points on the next vocabulary test, and 5 points for the students who were runner-ups. We do a ticket out the door and soon the students are on the way to 2nd. I remind them to continue reading Anne Frank and rest up for their benchmarks tomorrow.

12:00- 2:00 pm- Grateful for no cafeteria duty, I utilize my planning time to check emails, grade papers, and eat my lunch. I only bought soup today which isn't enticing. Overhearing a colleague mention she's going to order Jimmy Johns, I ask her to order something for me. I give her the money. She was talking about a student who broke down in her arms and how she tried to comfort the student. She admitted that it left her feeling anxious and worrisome for the student. I told her that it was great that she became a shoulder to lean on for the student. Sometimes, there are no real answers to problems that are seemingly out of our control. I actually love this time with colleagues, where we talk, share, collaborate, and have some down time. I'm inspired by my colleagues every single day.

2:00- 3:40 pm- As I am doing hallway duty, I have one of the students pass out the bell ringer for the day. I see a colleague in the hallway and ask her how her day is going. She claims it should be Thursday and not Tuesday and how it feels like it's going to be a long week. I offer words of encouragement and enter the classroom. I survey the room and notice students are missing, especially two gentlemen who always cut up in my class. Mr. D calls for me to send work to one of my students in ISS. I send a student who is not feeling well today to run the errand for me, giving her an opportunity to get some fresh air. She thanks me for sending her. Meanwhile, two of the "gentlemen" I mentioned earlier trickle into class with unexcused late passes. They are giggling as they arrive and I give them a stern look that suggest they are interrupting instruction, They get the hint and become silent. I review the warm-up which I call "Appetizers," review homework, and have students clear their desks. I ask them to take out their phones. Those who don't have their phones must partner with another student and the students play "Kahoot." They are just as competitive as the other class.They are cheering, hooting, jeering, and laughing all at the same time. I can tell they are enjoying the game and everyone is engaged except the two students who arrived late. I think to myself, how can I motivate these students to want to be here. When done, the students work on their characterization graphic organizer, which they don't finish by the end of class. I ask them to finish it for homework and remind them to rest up for the benchmarks.

3:40-4:40 p.m.- This is usually my tutoring time but I have a scheduled conference with a parent. I tell a few students who show up for tutoring to work in the media center and come back after 20 minutes so I can work with them. I meet with the parent about her son who is disruptive in class and always on his phone. The science teacher shows up to the conference in my room and explains her concerns. As the father couldn't show up, the mother has him on speaker phone and we discuss what is going on. The parents are supportive and apologetic about their son's behavior. They quickly offer solutions and have admitted that they revoked their son's cell phone privileges until his behavior improves. After the conference, I tutor the two students who patiently waited for me. They promise to attend my Thursday tutoring session and leave. I make some copies that I will need for the next day and head out the door. I"m exhausted and pray that the day was as productive as it seemed.