(Almost) Monthly report

I'm up early again. It is rare that I'm able to sleep in on a Saturday anymore. 5:30-5:45 a.m. is my usual weekday alarm, and so it extends into my own time as well. I've been laying in bed for 20 minutes, and all I can think about is my to-do list. I like my new job for the most part, except when I have the kid I want to just shove into his desk (no I don't take this action, I just think about it sometimes after hours of disrespect shown to me.) I digress...

Where was I?

Oh yes. Where did my own time go? I haven't even been able to get to the grocery store in 2 weeks. And the list still isn't made either. The coupons are cut though! And last week, Wallace decided to eat my expensive teacher dress shoes, and I can't find time to get to the store to replace them. Then there's Saturdays. I rarely used to work on a Saturday, but this year is another story. In fact I had professional development last Saturday and today (btw, every Saturday btwn now and Jan 31 is booked with work except during the holidays). During the week, school is out at 3:45, but I'm lucky if I get out of the building before 7, and then I still have work to do when I get home. Especially now because week before last they added another prep to my load. Now I'm teaching 4 IPC classes, 1 sheltered IPC (kids new to the country), and 1 biology class. And then to be working all that time and still be behind... it wears at me. But I hold on to the fact that they say it gets easier with time, and it's all really worth it once you have "the moment." The moment when you reach the unreachable kid.

It happened yesterday.

He's a 3rd year freshman. Yes, that's right. He's 17 and in the 9th grade because he chooses not to do any work in ANY class. I don't want to say too much because this is still a public blog, but yesterday, in my class... he WORKED THE WHOLE TIME! I put them in peer study groups to review their 6 weeks exam. Groups of 4, matched according to high, medium and low scores. The high scoring student was assigned as the tutor, and they were not allowed to ask me a question unless no one in their group could figure out the answer. It was a marvelous break for me too since I wasn't the one doing the teaching. I just had to keep them on task. And for this kid, I wasn't the one telling him to get to work, it was his peers. And he was slightly motivated by thinking he would get back a magazine I had taken up the previous class. That wasn't my agreement though. I want to see more work first.

So yes it's worth it, but it is a hard job.

One last note: Sorry I have been a bad blogger. Just plug me into to your RSS reader. I do hope to get back more often eventually. I still read all of your blogs through Google Reader during lunch and before I fall asleep.