25 Book Campaign

Our school district does a reading campaign for every student to read 25 books each year. Our principal came around yesterday and told the teachers to make sure their homeroom students have a book to read and if not, take them to the library to check a book out. All my students now have books but a few are not strong readers. They don't enjoy reading because they struggle with it so badly. I try to model good reading by reading a book during homeroom too. However, sometimes I need to use that 15 minutes to prepare for the day. Does anyone have any good tips to motivate the kids to read? The students have to read a book, do a book review on a prepared form, and get me to read the review and sign off on it. When they have reached certain goals (4 books a month, 10 books total, etc.), they receive some sort of prize from the librarian. I am really trying but feel I am failing miserably!

With the Thanksgiving break so late in November, I am feeling pressed for time. We just found out today that our nine weeks test are going to be next week and the semester tests will start the following Tuesday. OH I AM STRESSED!!! With grad school classes winding down, final exams and papers due, and trying to make study guides and tests, I feel like I am slowly losing my mind. Every little thing is aggravating me and I am starting to take it out on my husband and kids! Plus, there are only 22 shopping days left before Christmas and I have two weddings, three parties, and a baby shower to attend! What happened to this semester? Is anyone else feeling the stress from lack of time? I am usually a very organized and detailed person, but I am at a loss here. I have decided that one of my New Year's resolutions will be to stop, take a breath, say a prayer, and shut down every day for at least 30 minutes. I have got to stop beating myself up and pulling out all my hair! I just hope that this 3o minutes of shut down does not come during a class or my principal will have me fired! HA!

Dazed and Confused

My principal came to me this afternoon and asked me to prepare work for a student who dropped out after the first nine weeks. She wants me to get enough work together for the second nine weeks for this student to do the work independently. He is twenty-one years old and is a 6th year senior. Something is not right with this picture! How does one student get to do his work from home and not all of them? He has no special circumstances that I can see other than he smokes pot on a regular basis and cannot stay clean and out of jail long enough to come to school. Has my principal not heard of a GED or has she lost her mind? Is it wrong of me to be asking these questions? Is it wrong of me to feel like I am the one being punished by having to take extra time to prepare work that he will probably never finish! Politics in school--UGH!

After School Tutoring

We offer after school tutoring for our students who did not make proficient on the state tests. Actually, some students are required to attend. However, I only have 6 students out of 24 who actually show up regularly. One teacher makes cookies for her after school kids but she only gets about 10 regulars. She is single and has time to do that stuff. But I don't have time to bribe my students. We have two forty-minute sessions with 3 kids showing up for each session. It is becoming difficult to teach 3 students for that long. I have talked with the administration about making one session for all students in literacy and one session for all students in math (maybe on different days?) but they don't seem to want to listen to logic. I just feel as if my time is being wasted and there are three literacy teachers that tutor after school from 3:30 to 5:00 every day but Friday. It seems kind of ridiculous for three teachers to be paid for 12 students attending. I am just getting frustrated!!

Next Class Novel

Seeing as we only have two more teaching weeks left in this semester, I am considering introducing a new novel to my eleventh graders before the break. I chose the novel "Into Thin Air" off the district's novel list. I have not read this book yet and was planning on reading up on the notes and reading most of the book in the next week. I was planning on introducing the book to my students and handing out their copies before the break so they can read ahead if they choose. I have the most unmotivated eleventh graders and I am just wondering---should I let them watch the movie first? I usually wait until we finish the novel so they will actually read but that didn't even work the first time around. Or my other choice is to buy the movie and allow them to watch each part of the movie as we read the chapters? Does that sound like a better option? I just need some advice on how to approach the subject of getting them to actually read. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Thanksgiving Break

I am so thankful we are out of school for the holidays. I love my students and I love teaching but I think they were tired of me too! When I first decided to become a teacher, I didn't realize all the dedication it was going to take but I am hanging in there. Veteran teachers have been telling me that the second semester is much easier, but I am planning on spending my Christmas vacation planning for the next term. UGH! It has not been terribly bad but I am just now getting used to being in a classroom all day. I hope everyone has a wonderful break and just think---only 3 more weeks and we are out for Christmas!

Progress Reports

Our progress reports are due to be mailed this week for any students with a D or F. I have quite a few students in my English 11 class who are failing due to suspensions or absences. Our district has a policy that does not allow students out on suspension to make up missed assignments. This poses a problem for me because I want to give these students a chance to do the missed work but I don't want to go against the school's policy. Does anyone have a similar situation? My intentions are not to give grades but I do want every student to have the opportunity to complete missing assignments. Also, my students who are absent know the procedure for finding their assignments in the Make Up Binder. We are only supposed to give them one day to make up work but I give them until the end of the week. I have a couple of students who will not get their work from the Make Up Binder. It is almost like they don't care. I remind them sometimes that they have work and one time, I even got it out of the binder for them to be completed. Then, they didn't turn it in. How am I supposed to get the students to understand how much they need to make up this work when they don't care?

Nice Break!

Our district was closed this past Thursday and Friday for AEA days. So I have had a 4 day weekend. It was great and I got an early start (early for me) on my Christmas shopping. However, I am ready for Thanksgiving break. This semester seemed to fly by and now I am wondering if I have covered everything that should have been covered in the first semester. With my seniors, I feel pretty confident in all they have learned the first semester. But I am still struggling with my juniors. Somedays, I feel like I don't get any teaching done because this class of eleventh graders are so rude and disruptive. I have to constantly keep on them to stay quiet and keep on task that most days, I feel like I have just finished a day of babysitting. Other days, they are very good at participating and I think they are really grasping the content. I have so many different people coming into my classroom all the time that I don't know what they want or why they are there. We have a consultant from Elbow to Elbow that comes into my class one day every two weeks to help the students with open responses and writing prompts. It is in the middle of the week, so I have to start them on something on Monday and Tuesday and then we pick it back up on Thursday and Friday. It gets confusing! Also, these chunk tests are crazy! They test the students once every 4-6 weeks and then we have to spend a day going over the results with our students. I think it will help them know what to expect on the state test but it is very hard not to get discouraged. The state department does not want us teaching to the test but what else is there? From August to March, the test is all my juniors know! AARGH!

It has been crazy!

Two weeks ago was Drug Free Week. Last week was Homecoming Week. This week we are only in school for three days. My students have been crazy! I am going to enjoy my long weekend because I came close to losing my mind today. We had a "gun scare" today. Supposedly, one of our students fired a gun in the air or something in between classes. I think it has been concluded that it was a firecracker. But that was after they had us on lock down for 50 minutes and came in to search our students with a metal detector. Needless to say, teaching after that mess at 10:30 this morning was pointless!

How do you get the students to really get into a novel?

We are reading "The Great Gatsby" in my English 11 class and I am having trouble getting the students to engage in the reading. They love it when we discuss the chapters and talk about what is happening with the characters. But getting them to read on their own outside of class is a real booger.

Is everyone ready for week two?

Just wondering if everyone is recharged and ready to go again?