I'm tired. This 6 AM thing is killing me. I have to start going to bed at 9 PM or something.
I had a decent day today. Except for eighth period, the kids didn't seem very awake. They worked so well. Eighth period (the last period today) was a little wacky, but they were still good. I had to tell some students in one class to stop making this weird noise, which was not a good sign. I have this horrible fear that all of my classroom management skills will go right out the window, which is really bizarre because aside from student teaching no one has ever accused me of not being good at classroom management.
Here's what I do want to know though? How do you get the kids to stop talking when other kids are talking? I did this group sharing thing and it is so difficult to keep them focused and listening to each other. It's fine if I'm talking and they are talking because I just stop and wait and give the evil eye and all of that. But it gets really hard to stop the kids each time someone makes a comment to someone else about whatever. Sometimes I do say something like, "Hold on, Charlie, some people are being very rude right now." But it's hard...
I feel more confident that I can teach the kids something this year, but at the same time I have this mental block against figuring out what I should teach. It's driving me crazy. I don't have past Wednesday planned, and I wanted to have the whole week planned this Wednesday. I don't think that going week to week is bad, but I hate the idea of going day to day. Maybe once I can figure out my overarching plan I will fill better. Why am I having such a complete block?
I honestly hate the first part of the year because I like getting straight to the part where I love the kids and know them. I can't stand not knowing them yet, and I can't stand not knowing what will make them laugh and what will make them want to throw their paper to the floor in disgust.
We had a long talk in my homeroom about what we needed to do to improve our fire drill practices, and the kids gave me some good insight about why it was so chaotic. Hopefully when we next practice we will get it right. I told them I was sad and embarrassed that we were one of the last classes ready. They seem like good kids. They really all seem like good kids. I also had my first day of teaching study hall (yeah, what a life, right?) and it was really good. They took the point system very seriously and I only had to deduct a point from three people's scores. Tomorrow it should be even better because I have a new seating chart made up for them.
My sister is going on an semester program to England and I am so jealous. Why, oh, why, didn't I do that in college?
Since Justin was gone, I had Mexican food for dinner. I am such a nightmare. It was really good, though. I love how many cheap Mexican restaurants are around where I live.
I just have to say that my Shaggy calendar is sort of grossing me out right now. I love him, but the bottom part of his shirt is all unbuttoned in the picture and is shows his HAIRY BELLY. YUCK!!!! I'm not much into hairy bellies, what about you?
Oh, one more thing. They need to figure out how to make lockers easier to open! For the first time in my life I have become the person-who-you-go-to-when-your-locker-is-jammed. This is no easy task. I've started to tell them I am simply not strong enough (well, I'm not, because I can't get them un-jammed). I feel inadequate. I also do not know what to tell them when they ask if they can bring their water bottles into class. If it were up to me: yes. The official school rule? I have no idea. Number 4354534 on my list of things to find out.
