TGIF
Well, tomorrow is Friday. We have something called "Curriculum Delivery Day" tomorrow in District 8 - kids are off for the day and we teachers have to go to the district office for PD. *JOY*.
I'm kind of happy though, it's a chance to get out of the classroom, but more importantly, this week was the full moon and the kids are CRAZY. Chatty, hyperactive, inattentive.. etc.. all the teachers have been feeling it... and it seemed to hit harder this time round because their behaviour is starting to improve.
Anyhow. Saturday is the 30th anniversary of CCANB. I'm not sure how many more tickets are left, but last I heard there were about 200 (out of 700). The performance is going to be magnificent. Although it was completely what I or others thought it was going to be, I have to admit that I was pretty blown away at the dress rehearsals. The costumes are extremely colourful and the dances are really very visually appealing. We are also having a Chinese minority costume parade which is great because the costumes are really, really nice. I think that's always been my favorite part of the whole show (well, at least it was for the 20th anniversary).
I'm going to be working backstage.. in fact, I had to drive down on Tuesday night just for the dress rehearsal at the playhouse. Man, was I exhausted on Wednesday or what. Can't say I want to do that again. I was actually extremely reluctant to do it because I knew I had to drive back at either a very late hour on Tuesday or a very early hour on Wednesday. I ended up taking a BTIP (Beginning Teachers Induction Program) day (we get 4 days for a supply, usually to plan, attend a PD session or maybe go to another teacher's classroom to observe) just because of my dilemma. I may add that I DID use a good number of hours to plan - in fact I worked 10 hours.. so don't get any ideas :P
Anyhow, I'm really tired now.. so I'm off to bed. Lots more to write about, but perhaps another day. Ciao.
Honeymoon is Over...
As a fellow teacher said "after 6 weeks, the honeymoon is over.." in response to me telling her it was painfully difficult to roll out of bed each morning throughout the week. I'm not sure whether it's because of the exhaustion settling in or whether it's because of my body fighting this cold.
Anyways, last weekend, Turkey weekend, I went to Ottawa. Flew out on Friday at 5pm and returned on Monday around 8pm. It was TOO SHORT! It was odd.. perhaps I was just tired, but I felt like I was going to be back in Ottawa in a few short weeks?! Anyways, it was wonderful to see everyone and to be back in Ottawa. It's funny though, everyone has lost weight and either we were just plain tired, or everyone is getting OLD. We were all yawning like crazy by 10pm on Sunday evening. Ha! We also intended to go to the Casino in Hull (spoke of it multiple times), but didn't get anywhere near the casino. Oh well. I did get to go to the few places I was hoping to go (MEC, Ikea, Thousand Villages, etc..) Too bad we didn't have more time.. there is plenty to buy in Ottawa (well, compared to Saint John!!!)
With this new teaching job, I wonder about where I will be situated in the future. If I leave, the cons are that I may not be able to land another teaching job, price of housing is crazy and commute to and from work may be more time consuming. Cons to staying are that Saint John is not the diverse community that I want to live in, there is not as much to do in terms of recreation (not pubs, but things like culture, restaurants, events, etc.), it's expensive to fly ANYWHERE, and I don't want to live in such a SMALL city for the rest of my life! (Perhaps I'll think differently if I live in a larger city and experience those previously mentioned cons for a number of years..)Anyhow, that's all for now. I was checking out a couple of other people's blogs and it inspired me to post. So there you go. I'm also sharing some new classroom pictures - enjoy!
A Long Short Week
It feels like the work load is getting lighter.... it just FEELS that way, but it's definitely not. In fact, added to the load of planning (short & long term), is a professional growth plan that I need to run by my principal.. plus an upcoming evaluation at the end of Sept. = STRESS
To be honest, all of the stress from the first month has sort of become faded. I'm just plain TIRED now. I haven't gone into the downward spiral (studies show that 1st year teachers just go downhill after September and things don't look brighter for them until about February) yet.. I'm hoping I am not the typical teacher who had a very "cloud 9" impression of teaching. When I thought of my first teaching job, my thoughts were not fluffy and pretty, but I don't think they were anywhere near what I'm dealing with now. To be more optimistic, I'm seeing some small improvements in the behaviours of the kids.. so it's getting a little bit better.
My biggest concern is not being able to create a positive learning environment. Since I'm constantly watching over a couple of my kids, I feel like I'm not really providing a very positive environment. Calling them out on their actions is questionable - if you do it, it makes them accountable for their actions and lets the rest of the class know that it's not alright; if you don't call them out, does it mean that you are letting the class believe that they can get away with anything? Or are you making another student feel unsafe because they think you may call them out and embarrass them someday? It's a conflict of philosophies and ideas.. so, so, SO many of them!!!
Another small dilemma I have is the whole idea of "rewards system". I don't believe that students should be rewarded for good behaviour. I think it should be expected of them. I don't know how many teachers have suggested using a rewards system with my behaviour kids.. so far, I'm still holding out on trying different things and I really hope I don't cave. It's just really hard to say to someone, "Well, I don't believe in rewarding students for good behaviour." when they have just told you about how they do that in their class.....
Alright. That's it for now. I'm really tired. It's bed time.
