Sunday, November 28
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Karen, You're Hired
[journal]
I forgot to mention this but my sister was hired at Vidal Sassoon to work as an apprentice. For two years she'll be working at minimum wage. You can think of it that way (working for minimum wage) or you can think of it as getting paid to learn. I sure as hell wouldn't have minded getting paid at my placements. I am very very happy for her because she is doing what she loves and what suits her.
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Saturday, November 27
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My First Very Good Lesson
[journal]I'm making good progress with the grade six core class. I started a novel study. I'm doing the first book in A Series of Unfortunate Events. My goal with this book was to introduce them to literary concepts (such as main problem, climax, setting etc...), new vocabulary, reading and writing curricular goals and enjoyment of reading.
To make the literary concepts and curricular goals more fun I decided my assignments would immerse the students in the author's, Lemony Snicket's, world. When the orphans in the story had to make dinner for the antagonist, I made the students create their own recipe for the antagonist too. When Violet makes an invention to save her baby sister, I will have the students create their own invention too. I already did the recipe (an example of procedural writing) assignment, but added a twist by telling the students they could make it a revenge recipe. Of course there is always that student who takes it too seriously and wanted to put in diarrhea and sperm.
Vocabulary is a particularly mundane activity for the students so I decided to call them "Excuse Me" words, instead of "Vocabulary. Every chapter I read, I have five vocab words that I want the students to look up and record in their language arts notebook before I read the chapter. As I'm reading the story the students have to listen to me carefully (this worked so well! they were actually quiet) for the Excuse Me words. Let's say one of the five words is Troupe. If and when I say the word, the students would chorally say
"Excuse me Mr. V, may we please interrupt your story for one brief moment?"
"What manners! Of course you may (I pause and look to see who's attentive) Dilara."
Dilara stands up and says "By troupe do you mean a company or group, especially of touring actors, singers, or dancers?"
"Yes indeed. Thank-you very much Dilara."
As for the enjoyment of reading, I wanted to show the students that reading could be fun, so of course I had to reach deep down back to my I only have three voices skills and do character voices. I was embarrassed as hell doing the female voices, but everyone had a good time including the teacher watching me and myself.
One time, I fumbled by doing a girl's voice for the boy's and on-the-fly I smoothly switched the "he said" to "she said" to cover my mistake but then I laughed my head off and no one knew why. |
Thursday, November 25
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The Bad and the Ugly
[journal]So here is the bad. I made a student cry today. I gave her detention and didn't take any juvenile excuses from her when she shoveled them at me. I countered each excuse with something she couldn't defend and then she did what I didn't think the tough girl would do: she cried. I felt like crap. I brought a 12-year-old to tears. I felt like a small man. I asked her what I could do to help her focus more. How could I help her? I made a deal that I wouldn't tell Mrs. R, her real teacher, what happened if she understands why I have to isolate her from certain friends.
And now the ugly. A long time ago our family went to Vietnam together but we never got around to converting it from miniDV to VHS or DVD, so we have never seen it. The only problem is the person didn't just straight convert it like I had wanted. He thought he was doing us a favour by editing it and putting in whiny music and amateur special effects. The whiny music muted some essential parts that he didn't think was essential, like the sound of our Thailand tour guide's voice. The tour guide, to me, wasn't a face, he was a voice. Or the editor left long strips of other people in like some Vietnamese show where people were playing instruments, but took out scenes of the family just joking around or saying/doing stupid things. What pissed me off the most was that he edited out the "nasty stuff." I was livid. Our family is not sugar and angels. We had so many classical family arguments over the most trivial things. Those arguments epitomizes us way more than some of the stupid stuff he decided to leave in. Please, I wish he didn't try to decide what is important to us.
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Sunday, November 21
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What is the point?
[journal]What is the point of a blog if it is not to tell the truth? There are a few people I just don't want to know about certain things in my life, namely parents and brother. It is not that they don't love me, but it is because they don't know how to support certain problems.
Said problems have led me to feel sort of hung out to dry. The sort of symptoms that is familar to depression. Food does not taste as good. Sleep is hard to come by. Tiredness is day long (wait, I always had that). And most salient, at least to my family, is moody, anti-social behaviour. Then I go to my placement and the kids give me a hard time. Then I come home and my sister is away on vacation. Then I open my agenda book and see hours of homework. And I finish it, short on sleep, short on food, short on self-esteem. As I mentioned in my comments, I finish it with my eye at the end of the road. Four more weeks and then I have a month and a half vacation, which includes an all inclusive cruise.
Four more weeks or 20 school days....
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Saturday, November 13
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About the Updates
[journal]If you read this post a little earlier, you would have read about my lack of omph and how I wanted to go into another semi-retirement. However, although I am indeed lacking the aforementioned omph, I think it may be theraputic to continue to post, even if it is more sporadic and less inspiring. Below is the story that went along with my retirement post.
On Novemeber 11, I had very little sleep. I mean very very little. I got to school in one of those states that those who stayed up at a rave all night can relate to. I was cracked out and sleepy. I got to the staff room and drank two huge cups of coffee and then I was just cracked out, jittery, and grumpy---but no longer sleepy. If you remember from my other posts, I have not been the best at classroom management. The students have been taking advantage of my soft-spoken nature. Not on November 12th. November 12th I was a grumpy fucking teacher. When they acted out I was snappy and mean and believe it, oh my, they listened. I ended up having a great day with regards to disciplining. Should nice teachers not be in middle school? Should I get less sleep? Do these kids deserve better?
ps I was still nice to the nice students. I just had a short temper for misbehaviour.
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Thursday, November 4
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Organization
[journal]I have so much stuff to complain about, because I realize middle school is not my niche. However, as carthartic as it would be to complain, no one wants to read about it. Instead, I'd rather focus this entry on something positive.
In only three days, I've managed to incur a heavy load on my shoulders. I developed a hopelessness feeling stemming from too much work and not knowing where to begin. Finally I've chipped away at this overwhemling feeling by developing some sort of organization into my life. I started using my palm pilot as an organiser and I got one of those 12 slot file folders and labeled all of them appropriately: all my classes, urgent items I'm working on, miscellaneous, and college paperwork. Now that I have structure, the work -- although just as daunting -- seems a little more manageable now.
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Monday, November 1
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The difference
[journal]I just got back from my first day at the new school and I am utterly exhausted. The difference between middle school and primary couldn't be any more stark. I really have a lot to learn about how to interact with the students. Right now I'm the equivalent of a pansy and the kids are walking all over me. All those weeks adapting and reverting to my soft-spoken nature have to disappear and I have to reach deep down for that stern part of me.
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