february eleventh

today was just another day at the office.
the kids are giddy and ready to be on their break

We will have to hold off on my paper mache lesson until after break because of their giddiness, and mostly because we haven't gotten to a point in what needs to get done to do that lesson yet. It will be soon, but also it must be well planned. It's good that I get some extra time; it will give me some time to think about what I want a room to look like when I teach as well as prepare myself mentally.

I know that I want to teach, it's just not going to be easy that first time. Thrilling, but not easy at all.

Today I visited both Ms. Ohle's classes and Mr. Cohen's classes, both of which are filled with students ready to jump out of their skin with anxoiusness to sleep in, go skiing or go to the beach for the next week. I don't blame them it's just difficult to know what to do with all that giddiness. How do you turn the energy into something constructive for class? Short of taking your class bungee jumping, there's not much that can be done to salvage your students--the warp of winter vacation has already sucked them in. You could always take them outside, or have them write about what they're excited about. The vacation next week is the elephant in the room--you can ignore it, or you can channel it into something positive.

february 4th

i'm preparing to teach any time now. currently, the students in Mr. Cohen's class are reading a book called "Haroun and the Sea of Stories" by Salman Rushdee. The book addresses the common question of "what is the point of stories that aren't true" that I even struggle with as an artist and a writer. The book is really imaginative and plays with language.

In that book, there is something called "process to difficult to explain" or a P2D2E. Next week, or the week after break, when a few things clear up in class, we will be building some of those out of paper mache.

First class (Cohen): I find that I really observe everything differently and perhaps a little more closely when I know that I'm going to have to be up there speaking soon. Today the class was really rowdy, as I'm sure they often are around this time of year when everyone is restless for a break. They had a double period. I just don't know how much can be done for a group of students like this--what can you really get out of it? Short of playing tag, is there anything you can do to channel that energy into something useful? Not even productive, but just useful?

Second class (Ohle): There was a substitute teacher in class today. Students really do a lot to try and get the substitute teacher to give them more of a break, but less so in middle school than in high school. Today there was grammar followed by the start to a new class book called "Cheater" by Michael Laser.