Robbie - Day 4 (3/9)

A week in the life of a very tired public school teacher...

Day 4 - Thursday 3/9/17

7:36-8:55 A student comes into my classroom to put his stuff down. I think he has figured out that I get here pretty early, and he likes to have a place to put his stuff. He asks me several questions about the homework assignment. He is a perfectionist and gets very anxious when there is any ambiguity. I answer his questions and again remind him that he has a 99.8% in my class. He expresses his concern about his grade. I tell him that he could basically do nothing in the class for the rest of the year, and he would still get an A. This doesn't seem to calm him down much. I think a lot of his anxiety comes from his parents and the pressure they put on him. I walk down to my mailbox in the office and find the test from my student who tests in a separate setting - it is unfinished. I find the 504 plan for my new student. The student who was here earlier returns to ask me if I can play an instrument. We talk about my 7 years of piano and how I can read music... slowly. I respond to a student email about how she can make up the Venn Diagram presentation. She was absent. I hadn't considered this yet, so I come up with an alternate assignment. When students are absent and we are asked to "provide work", it can be difficult since it's hard for me to recreate my classroom experience. My class is not just worksheet after worksheet, so I have to think of something that serves the same purpose and meets the same objectives of what we did in class. I grade a makeup quiz from French 4 and notice the class average in that class is a 96. I feel like my French 4 class is too easy. Then again, all the students are really strong, and most of them would cry if they got a B. Still, I feel like there should be more of a range of grades. Maybe that's an old fashioned idea. I don't think anyone would ever complain about grades being too high. I look over my lesson plans for today to see what we're doing and if any special materials are needed. It's a B Day, so I teach 3 new lessons. Tomorrow, I'll just repeat (and improve) the lessons I did today. I print another roster for my class with the new student but realize I selected the wrong printing orientation, so I have to walk all the way back to my classroom and print again. In the remaining moments before class starts, I work on grading some French 3 tests.

8:55-10:25 French 1. A student comments on the word "voilà", which turns into a discussion of people who pronounce what I consider to be a silent H in the words "what" and "when". It reminds me of the beginning of Beowulf in Old English, which I recite for them, and they ask me what Beowulf is. Then we talk about how English is weird because "what" is pronounced with a silent H and "who" is pronounced with a silent W. I tell them it's a good thing we're learning French because English is hard. Our lesson is on the partitive article, which is super boring. I try to make it as fun as possible, and they seem to like some of my jokes. I also can't resist making a Trump joke (English has the most words. It's the greatest language. We have the most and best words. Also, I am orange.) because it's fun. They work with a partner to translate some sentences, which we learn in foreign language methods is a BIG NO NO!, but I think it's needed sometimes. It helps them get it. I walk around with my clipboard while they are working because I think they think I am making notes about participation points. I'm not, but it helps keep them on task in the lower levels. At the end of class, they write a paragraph based on their food restaurants. One girl does not have a favorite restaurant. I tell her to make it up, that it's okay to lie when doing writing activities in this class, but she doesn't want to.

10:30-12:00 French 2. During the class change, I respond to an email from a student who says she is sick and who wants to know who is in her group and what the assignment is. I'm really pleased that she has taken the initiative to email me. The students coming in are complaining about a bad smell that I assume is leftover from the French 1 class right before them. French 1 students are smelly. A student asks me if she can put her head down because she isn't feeling well, and I let her because she is normally very attentive, so I know she must feel bad. In this class, we are making foldables to practice vocabulary for congratulating/reprimanding someone (students will later have simulated conversations about their report card with their parents). This is a somewhat complicated 2x3 double flap foldable, and a few students don't quite follow the directions and need a new paper. I show them the Twitter hashtag #foldablefailure that one teacher started after attending my SCOLT presentation on foldables. The students seem amused. They start working on their simulated conversations and ask to watch a YouTube video of a song reviewing numbers. I let them because the song is funny and they're a good class. After the song, they work in groups on the conversation and seem to be on task.

12:05-1:05 French 3H. A student complains that today's journal entry is too similar to another one from the past. That entry was "which animal would you be and why?" and today's is "if you could ask an animal 5 questions, what would you ask?". The class agrees that the questions are different enough and they write their journals. I talk to a student who is leaving at 12:45 about what she will miss after she leaves. A girl is coughing constantly and not covering her mouth while doing so. I go over and say something to her privately suggesting she cover her mouth, but later in the class she continues to cough. It's ridiculous and annoying. I've never had to send someone out for coughing before but I'm considering whether I should do so. We are going over the vocabulary homework assignment; a few of the words involve food, so students ask if they can have a food day. I'm glad the French 1 and 2 students don't ask me about food days. Before lunch, I explain their group project but the bell rings before I finish saying everything I need to. I feel like I'm going to have to repeat everything I said after lunch. Right as we dismiss for lunch, I see that there is an email asking me to send work down to the office ASAP for an absent student. I can't very well read my email while I'm teaching, so I figure it's too late to send work, but I send it anyway.

1:05-1:35 Lunch. I arrive to lunch and complain about the coughing girl and the last-minute request for work. I leave lunch early because I'm stressed out and the paper I printed before lunch didn't make it to the printer, so I have to go back and reprint it.

1:35-2:05 French 3H, continued. Students ask if they can choose their own groups for the presentation. I really don't like students to choose their own groups because they generally don't make good decisions. Two students in particular ask if they can work together because they have never had a chance to this year. I don't usually put them in the same group because they are the top students in the class and I want to "spread the wealth" among the other groups. But I understand that they want to work together and let students choose their groups. This means there will be some really strong groups and some really weak groups. I observe that some students (again, in French 3) are completing the assignment in English, and I am completely puzzled as to why they would think that's okay... in mid-March... on our 58th instructional day of class.

2:05-3:40 Planning. I am overwhelmed by my to-do list. In addition to normal things (grade papers, plan lessons, respond to emails, contact parents about concerns, make copies), there are many items that seem to perpetually stay at the bottom of my to-do list - they're important, but I have to prioritize them below the other things, and since my time is not unlimited, I never seem to get to them. Here is a sampling of some of those items:

--Look at sample textbooks from FLANC/ACTFL
--Make new version of passé composé example folder
--Put up proficiency posters in classroom
--Look at student ideas for games
--Make plans to incorporate remaining 2 ASW objectives (French 2)
--Think about incorporating Snapchat assignments (weekly?)
--Interview successful students about what they do in French class to share with other students
--Make YouTube demonstrations for foldables
--Sort through school related screenshots on phone (teaching ideas)
--Look at Trotro ed puzzles
--Investigate new resources to try: letsrecap, lindaegnatz.com, didou train, mysimpleshow
--Follow up with assistant principal about removing unneeded workbook sets from classroom
--Email Professor Norm Sandridge to thank him for his class and making me read 1984

Since I don't have time for any of those things today, I grade papers, plan lessons, and make copies. Then it's time to go home.