My adventures as a teacher

That was today. The school I work at has a weird schedule, or at least weird to me. It runs on a 6 day cycle and each day is different. So today, as the first day of school, was Day 1, tomorrow is Day 2, Monday is Day 3, and so on. Then on next Friday we start over at Day 1. Each day the students, and teachers, have a different schedule. In my case I teach chemistry and pre-algebra and I see both classes four times in a cycle. This year we also changed the schedule so it’s closer to block schedule. Each class is an hour long and there is no built in passing time. In other words the classes do not end 5 minutes before the next one starts, they end when the teacher is done. This is good because it keeps the students from telling you every 30 seconds that class is almost over. It’s bad because the teacher has to keep a closer eye on the clock.

Today being a Day 1 I had both of my pre-algebra sections and one of my chemistry sections. I planned for this day to be basically going over the rules and expectations, reviewing the syllabus and telling them what they need tomorrow. Actually for pre-algebra it will be tomorrow but for the chemistry section it won’t be until Monday. Tomorrow I see the other 3 sections of chemistry.

Last year I had a whole presentation of rules and things that I went over and ended up throwing out after a few weeks. So over the summer I sat and revamped it trying to include things I really wanted in there and get rid of the things that didn’t work for me anymore. As I was giving the presentation today I found some more things that I ended up dumping on the spot. I also realized, as I was giving the presentation, I realized that some of the stuff I had there needed to be held for a later date. My pre-algebra classes are only 7th grade and I need to go over procedures with them at the time. I adjusted my presentation on the fly today and gave the overview of the routines but quickly realized that I will not only have to go over them again and again, but introduce new procedures when we need them.

Overall the first day went okay. For chemistry I had them do a little activity to show how easily things can be contaminated without them even knowing it. It was fun and I think it made the point. It also got them out of their seat and moving which is always good.

Tomorrow the 7th graders will start putting their notebooks together and I will make the presentation to the rest of the chemistry sections. It should be a good day.

I am exhausted this week. I am super glad that tomorrow is Friday and am looking forward to the weekend.

Back to work on Monday, and let me tell you it was hard getting up and staying up all day. I had gotten into the habit of sleeping in a little (1 hour) and napping in the afternoons. The worst part was I’d gotten into the habit if staying up late. That was the problem. On Sunday night I could not go to sleep so Monday morning was hard. Monday night though I fell into bed and was out in record time.

Monday was meetings and going over the stuff. They do this every year but I guess people forget/overlook things and it’s a good idea to go over them again. They covered things like the school policies, changes in personnel – who handles what, stuff like that. Tuesday was primarily a work day. We had to set some goals for the new school year and we had to establish some expectations, Tuesday was primarily devoted to that. There was lunch both days and on Tuesday there was beer. I love my school….

Today was student orientation. The staff got their ID cards at 7:30, then it was orientation for the different grade levels or divisions. I am in the sophomore division so us 5 teachers met with them. It’s just a chance to introduce ourselves, hand out the schedules, and get to know the students a little. Then they head off to get there ID pictures taken. The rest of the day was spent getting ready for tomorrow. I spent the time getting my classroom fixed up and copies made.

In my classroom I bought 2 rolls of plain wrapping paper to cover the front boards. One side is bright green. This board will have any announcements or notices I need to post. The one by my desk I covered in blue paper. They both look great. I also set up a little reading corner with all the books and the comfy chair. I went through all my dry erase markers to make sure I had some that worked. I got my desk reorganized and put the stuff the students can use on the other side of the room. I made sure that my syllabus were posted online and that my PowerPoint were ready for tomorrow. It was exhausting.

I don’t have classes the first mod for 3 of the 6 days. I’m liking that. Tomorrow I have no first mod, my first class is homeroom at 9am. Sweet!!! During that time I have to get my seating charts done. In my chemistry classes are 3 of the most disruptive students ever. I have got to make sure I have seating charts ready, I can not let them pick their own seats.

Okay, tomorrow I will check in and report on how everything went.