In My Wildest Dreams

Mufti Circus

Well, that's weird. I know I updated this thing last week, but it's not shown up. Anyway, who knows what I was rambling on about. Frustrating.

Let's see... last week in teaching: Still teaching the unit on native birds. Last week our homeroom had tech and cooking in the morning when they usually have English and Maths, so we had Block 1 free for planning and marking work. That was nice since there was a lot of marking to be caught up on before the end of the term. I really like the marking system, though. Students complete all classwork in notebooks that they keep in our room in a basket. That way, no student shows up without his/her papers. All activities are glued into the notebook. Plus, notebooks are marked at the end of each three-week cycle-which is pretty much what I did all last week, which gives teachers time to really go through the student's work and give more effective feedback (as opposed to trying to collect and grade every day or couple of days--overwhelming). Additionally, the organizational system allows you to really evaluate how a student is doing as opposed to how well they are able to keep up with all their papers. Homework is only given in maths and English and is marked with the homeroom teacher, so we really don't ever have any science homework to grade except for one research assignment given per cycle.

Well, last week in science class was another typical challenging week and set of behavior problems, but no major dramatic episodes or anything. Just the usual lunch detentions, (sometimes empty, I must admit) threats, names on the board, etc.... However, now that it is mid-cycle I'm getting to know these students better and I really enjoy them--and all their quirks... "A" who really thinks he's a gangsta--constantly asking him to remove gang-related clothing items, "S" who could not figure out how to draw lines for his bingo card to save his life, "Ann" who might as well have Terrett's Syndrome given the nature of her largely uncontrollable and randomly inappropriate comment making in class, "L" who put his head down for nearly fifteen minutes b/c someone told him he had marker on his face, and the generally chaotic atmosphere that pervades most Block 4 classes in the afternoon. I sometimes have to step back and chuckle, wondering whether I'm running a classroom or a circus training camp. Really. The thing is, although at times it's chaotic, I'm getting more learning out of these students as they get to know me and trust that I really do have their best interests at heart. Unfortunately, the next cycle may be an entirely new set of three classes.

Friday the kids had Mufti Day and a disco. Mufti is when they don't have to wear a uniform. The disco lasted about an hour and a half during Blocks 3 and 4. A complete nightmare for the teachers--600 students in the gym dancing (well, some), another 50 or so outside running around--but a well-deserved reward for the kids' hard work during Term 1.

I had a good weekend, too. Friday just went to boxing and learned a couple of new things from my marvelous trainer. He's such the ideal boxing coach. He has a full-time day job at a painting business, but he and his wife run the boxing gym in the evenings. You can tell he's just in love with the sport, and that makes him a great coach. He knows his stuff. He tries to develop each individual boxer's strengths instead of making everyone fight the same.

Saturday I went to the Barbie party as...well... Flinstone Barbie, I guess. I like to call it "Cheap Costume" Barbie. We had a lot of fun. I danced my butt off and then we all went out to Celsius, a local club, and danced some more until about 3:30 in the morning. Sunday was a sleep-in day and grocery shopping day.

This week I've just got two days left and then a two week break. Looking forward to it. Today I confirmed all my reservations for my week in the South Island. After that, it's off to Sydney for a week. I will be staying with a friend of a friend. Will be nice to save $$$ on lodging since the South Island is a bit on the pricey side.

Miss you all.

Love,
Me

posted by Sara @ 1:56 AM