A Novice in Planning

I've got to be perfectly honest: I haven't seen much "novice" in my lifetime. But, after 8 days of teaching, I'm sittin' pretty comfortable in the bottom tier of the "Teach For America- Teaching as Leadership Grading Rubric." Or so says my advisor. Apparently this is normal, but it still just feels gross and disheartening after planning and preparing 6 hours for one 45 minute lesson...so naturally I've been feeling a little defeated...and a little sorry for myself. The rubric, created by TFA, grades on 1. Setting big goals, 2. Investing students, 3. Planning purposefully, and 4. Executing Effectively. You may not be too surprised to know that I am rocking the goals and investment parts; an "exemplar" student, if you will. I'm not worried about sounding self-righteous announcing that, because I will quickly follow with the stone-cold truth that I am struggs at planning and execution. (Note: "struggs" is the slightly derogatory, but well-intended word corps members use to label struggling students.....) Planning is a skill I have never really mastered and upon noticing this missing link, my corps member advisor suggested I start planning my days in 30 minute increments using the TFA Daily Action Plan template. Critically thinking about where I'll be and what I'll be doing at 2:56 the following day has stressed me out more that it's helped, but my lack of attention to detail is what is keeping me from cranking out the stellar lesson plans my bosses expect to see. As far as execution, this encompasses classroom management and culture, an area of extreme growth for me. I walked into my classroom with a very clear idea of how I wanted it to feel: warm, welcoming, fun, relaxed.
Yeah. Right.
I learned real quick that these kids need far more structure than I initially wanted to give. I don't need to be their friend, I am just another frumpy adult to my students and I don't need 30 new 12 year old buddies. I'll gossip with them at lunch, learn to do the "stanky leg" in the parking lot, but when they walk into my classroom, it's an entirely different story. I don't play. These kids are at a critical point in their academic careers and what happens in my classroom could impact the rest of their lives...so it's no game. They don't sass me anymore...they know better. We'll joke around and relate percent decrease to Miley Cirus' music career in 5 years, but one hint of attitude and I will not hesitate to call their mama and relay that message. It's amazing really, I think they love me more as a hard ass as they did as a pushover, because now they respect me and they know I'm serious about their ability to achieve. So hopefully, I'll be moving from novice to proficient in that area the next time I'm observed...because I am now the master of my domain ;)

Anyway, the little shits took their midterm assessment this morning. My co-teacher and I had to create the test ourselves, have it approved, then administer it to our class halfway through summer school. Today was hump day. I was so incredibly nervous. Not only do I want the students to pass, I selfishly needed validation in hard copy that I wasn't failing these kids. It was the longest 2 hours of my life, waiting on the result to come in... but the anticipation was well warranted. They did me proud. Two students got a perfect score, a PERFECT score, and many others got 80's and 90's. We had a couple unfortunate souls score in the low D range, but, and I hate to admit it, I could have predicted the names of those kids before they even got their hands on the test. I'm wrestling with how to get them into the "resource"(special ed.) class for math, because they just don't have the basic understanding to thrive in a regular-paced class. But to focus on the bright stars, the majority of my kiddos did absolutely amazing and I'm rejuvenated knowing that I must be doing something right. They are fabulous, sassy, but fabulously brilliant...and I just love them.

Just one more anecdotal teacher thing: It was like Christmas morning yesterday when I found out I could have access to an overhead projector for my class. Instead of making the routine 5 frilly, decorated posters for notes and key terms, I could actually work problems out with my students on transparencies and have a more efficient way to show notes and steps. So, I prepare 3 transparencies with all of my key points on them before class begins. Now, time and pacing is ALWAYS a serious issue for me and the day I actually finish a lesson in its entirety will be the day I stop sweating in class.. So I check the overhead, so get my kids from outside, get them settled, ready to take notes, place my transparencies on the projector, flip the switch and.....nothing. Absolutely nothing. The bulb has just burnt out. So a roomful of sassy 7th graders are just staring at me, waiting, anticipating an epic fail. My shaky plan was shot, and because I'm a "Novice" at planning on the Teaching as Leadership rubric, I had no backup plan. So, long story short, I did a lot of hand motions and signifying body movements to represent exponential expressions, supplementing a theatrical performance for a more traditional note-taking method. Just a day in the life...