tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27913787106349687362012-01-16T21:21:56.129-06:00This is where I get to rant about education as I go through a career change from research scientist to high school teacher!Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.comBlogger741100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-63735145515469316632009-01-17T10:32:00.006-06:002009-01-17T10:45:16.475-06:00

Yesterday the kids were at the Club ALL day because the teachers had a planning day to get 2nd nine weeks grades calculated. This of course means I was there at 6:30am. Teenagers should not be encountered before noon without the gear that handlers wear when training police attack dogs. Additionally, we decided to have another lock-in since the kids love them so much and have been begging for

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-35731838310854364352008-12-13T13:10:00.004-06:002008-12-13T13:37:29.818-06:00

One of the sixteen year old kids called me "mama" yesterday by mistake while pleading for a ride home to obtain some athletic shorts.Ride was not given.We lost Delicate Boy for about 20 minutes yesterday. I was sitting in my classroom working on winter decor with a small group of kids and monitoring video game usage. Delicate Boy came in off the bus, put his things away, said good afternoon to me

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-2843140553668179002008-11-18T18:25:00.003-06:002008-11-18T19:03:36.887-06:00

Things have been busy even after summer session concluded and we only have the kids four hours a day. I got employee of the month for the region at one point. I'll just do some highlights of what's been going on. There is no way I could make some of this stuff up.The day after the drama mentioned in my last post I had to play drill Sargent all day and make the kids clean. They were cleaning the

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-44709426867208412022008-08-13T18:35:00.002-05:002008-08-13T19:07:14.335-05:00

Today's rant in brief:I walk in and the kids are watching a bootleg DVD that my coworker brought in without first watching it herself.I had to explain the definition of "bastard" to a kid whose parents were never married.After taking my break I was met at the door of the Club by about 5 kids who had snatched my list of award nominations from my coworkers and were miffed about what I had or had

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-69781232250440407832008-08-09T18:28:00.004-05:002008-08-13T19:09:43.660-05:00

A lock-in is an event wherein adolescents are locked into a facility, usually a school, gym or church, all night and are allowed to stay up all night with fewer rules and regulations than they are usually subjected to.We had one Friday night. I was supposed to work from 8:30 until midnight and then be relieved by a coworker. I finally got to leave at 2am. I am ashamed to admit that my boss, who

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-27896805724134279172008-07-29T14:42:00.002-05:002008-07-29T14:53:14.817-05:00

I am not amused.Yesterday the kids trashed the bleachers at lunch time for the last time. They had already lost their snack bar privileges and that didn't seem to stop them from throwing refuse on the floor under the bleachers so today they were not allowed to sit on the bleachers and there was much grumbling about eating lunch while sitting on the floor. The really disgusting part was that there

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-53290097103081099752008-07-27T16:47:00.003-05:002008-07-27T16:48:33.586-05:00

The other day one of the kids told me I was "like his second mom". Fortunately it was one of the younger kids, it would be extremely disturbing if it were one of the older ones. By younger I mean 13 as opposed to 16. Ugh!

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-82168366546885721002008-07-25T17:48:00.002-05:002008-07-25T17:53:34.763-05:00

I was shot today....twice!The local law enforcement agencies have been doing training to practice their response to a Columbine-style school shooting. The kids were invited to help with the training by role-playing the victims. They handed out cards to the kids, and staff, and then turned them loose in one of the local schools and sent in the officers with no information other than that there had

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-24828698636066833622008-07-24T13:33:00.002-05:002008-07-24T13:33:02.059-05:00

1. Look in the mirror before you leave the house. Ok, this one is kind of lame because it actually says that in some of the state-endorsed new teacher propaganda I am subjected to. However there is actually a grain of truth to it. Lately I have been acting as the dress code matron and I am not shy about telling young ladies to cover it up. There was also the incident with my coworker

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-83322542698120386662008-07-24T08:37:00.002-05:002008-07-24T08:42:30.609-05:00

A parent reported that she had found lice on her daughter over the weekend and taken care of it. My boss was then obligated to check the other kids and found another case, which was of course on one of the girls that always comes up to hug me or lay her head on my shoulder multiple times a day. My boss got to check me for lice too, fortunately I appear to be louse-free.Immediately after the lice

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-20551496462740025012008-07-14T13:01:00.000-05:002008-07-14T13:01:01.264-05:00

Stop making simulated orgasm noises or I will write you up!You are too young to know what an orgasm is!That's ok, my day is not complete until I have been hit by a basketball...My dear, you need to cover up your hooties...Son, you are wonderful and I adore you but I will NOT be your Mrs. Robinson, now go play basketball!My dear, the only reason a 19 year old man is friends with a 16 year old girl

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-84917514446730541632008-07-11T12:44:00.002-05:002008-07-11T12:44:12.639-05:00

In my former life I spent hours looking down a microscope. Now apparently I am under one. There is practically a riot if I part my hair a different way, wear jeans, get new shoes or...gasp....actually wear make up! Several young ladies nearly hyperventilated when they realized I wasn't wearing my engagement ring (it was being resized). The length of my socks, my choice of footwear, my sun hat, my

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-35948608148968646122008-07-04T12:40:00.002-05:002008-07-04T12:43:24.071-05:00

Yesterday was water day. Imagine approximately forty, wet, half-naked, screaming teenagers armed with water balloons, silly string, and squirt guns with no intention of obeying my coworkers, myself, or even the unit director.*much shuddering and flinching from the crowd*On a positive note: at least I had the foresight not to shower before work.... I will be asleep until New Years Day.

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-79106321559466516832008-07-04T12:30:00.002-05:002008-07-04T12:39:03.835-05:00

advicewarningsband-aidsrefreshmentstern lookscomfortpunishmentsthankssupportlectureshugsdirectionsencouragementpencilsreassurancehigh fivesmy perspectivepaperrewardscandymy timesecond chancesan examplecomplimentsopportunitiessafetya push in the right directionlove

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-63329790716176261662008-06-26T10:52:00.002-05:002008-06-26T11:02:53.543-05:00

Yesterday morning I was enjoying a quiet sunrise shift with just a few of the usual suspects gathered in the education room working at the computers. A student brought me money to add to their snack bar account so I went into the adjoining office to get the notebook where accounts are recorded and three boys closed the office door behind me, shoved a chair against it, sat in it, and refused to

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-40587298202096456112008-06-23T19:35:00.002-05:002008-06-23T20:21:25.013-05:00

I realize I have been remiss in regard to posting lately. I also noticed I have had a lot of hits from all over the world so I guess I had better post an interesting update. I'd love it if somebody signed the guest book. A lot has been going on at work and with my Teaching for Dummies class so I just really have not had time. Many interesting things have happened however so I will post the

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-35341217696109520092008-05-19T19:26:00.002-05:002008-05-19T21:22:41.081-05:00

Thursday, my day off, my coworker had a health complication that was initially thought to be a heart attack or stroke. Friday was Movie Night. We told the kids they could bring a guest. We had open court for awhile after school then we switched them to board games and the teen lounge to help them settle down before dinner. Some nice man in the community brought his giant grill and cooked about a

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-28023357158362573962008-05-13T18:23:00.002-05:002008-05-13T18:35:09.244-05:00

Today the kids came in and were rough-housing. Instead of yelling I got about six inches away from the faces of each perpetrator, made my eyes really big, raised my eyebrows, and stayed that way until each kid left the room. Then two rather beefy sixteen year old boys threatened to forcibly relieve me of my shoes unless I gave them up voluntarily. I told them to try me, I was tougher than I

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-11678490589571372172008-05-08T09:35:00.003-05:002008-05-08T09:46:56.710-05:00

This week when the mother of one of my students came in to register him for the summer session she mentioned to me that he is failing math and she would appreciate me keeping a close eye on him during homework time. He's a freshman and loves to run his mouth constantly but is otherwise a great kid. He is not enthused about me pulling the homework Nazi routine on him and making him sit in the

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-30428769394783696382008-04-26T18:08:00.003-05:002008-04-26T18:23:59.032-05:00

The week before last my boss handed me a packet of papers and said something of the effect of "Here, pick four kids and go to this, you can pick any that you want..." Well another somewhat local Club was holding a sort of Academic Olympics so I started trying to recruit kids. The phrase "academic" of course scared all my homeworkphobic darlings away so I resorted to black ops tactics: I asked

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-83660705510189669972008-04-17T08:01:00.003-05:002008-04-17T08:39:19.275-05:00

The honeymoon is over but I still like my job very much, in fact I think it is the best job I've ever had. Do YOU get paid to play dodgeball with kids? I didn't think so. We are doing better about having more structure and it, usually, as a positive effect on their behavior. We rearranged the ed. room and they were exceptionally good on Monday during homework time. Yesterday was report card day

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-1751593550711256112008-04-05T11:28:00.003-05:002008-04-05T12:23:14.110-05:00

Yesterday was the last day of spring break, which meant no break for me because the Club is open for twelve hours every day and last night it was open until ten because the local cable company sponsored Movie Night.I will be doing something very very bad if I ever find out who exactly had the brilliant idea of having the Club open for twelve hours straight without a number of structured

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-43544184042446895942008-03-28T22:07:00.002-05:002008-03-28T22:18:32.093-05:00

Educators: Please add your very best to the list...1. This is NOT an appropriate place to discuss "booty" or goat testicles, please refrain from discussing these topics or there will be a disciplinary consequence (yes, I really did say this to a thirteen year old today... more than once)2. Do not make monkey noises, my headache just went away...3. One of the reasons you aren't allowed on Myspace

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-38214187974692680282008-03-28T21:47:00.004-05:002008-03-28T22:03:39.260-05:00

ATTENTION DR. J.C.: IF YOU HAPPEN TO FIND THIS BECAUSE OF FASCIST TURNITIN.COM PLEASE KNOW THAT I ATTEST THAT THIS IS MY OWN WORK AND ABSOLUTELY WAS NOT PLAGIARIZED. IF YOU WILL TAKE NOTE OF THE DATE YOU WILL SEE THAT I HANDED THE ORIGINAL ASSIGNMENT IN WEEKS AGO. ADDITIONALLY, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO HAVE A LOOK AROUND MY BLOG BUT I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IT IF YOU WOULD PROTECT MY ANONYMITY EVEN

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-45558687838536678192008-03-28T18:36:00.004-05:002008-03-28T18:54:39.506-05:00

Whomever had the idea to have the kids at the Center for 12 hours without many structured activities will be feeling my wrath on Monday. Especially if it was the same person who scheduled me to work a split shift from 9-2 then 4-6 but forgot they were leaving with a group of kids to do a fund raiser at 2, so I got about thirty minutes to cash my check and grab a sandwich and did not get to pick

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-31480852065296049642008-03-27T11:09:00.004-05:002008-03-28T18:54:13.429-05:00

The kids were really good yesterday, it made me very happy. We did have some interesting drama though:One of the fifteen year olds, who happens to be on probation for something violent, has a lot of issues but he really likes me for some reason. He came in a little early and was all excited about fixing this broken necklace and wanted me to help him. Apparently it had been in the school

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-40264008885132979372008-03-15T11:47:00.003-05:002008-03-15T13:09:46.318-05:00

Your Linguistic Profile:70% General American English20% Yankee5% Upper Midwestern0% Dixie0% MidwesternWhat Kind of American English Do You Speak?I found this while reading Hipteacher's archives. While it wasn't as thorough or accurate as the other dialect analyses I like to play around with it did provide me some code so I could stick it in my blog. I catch myself referring to the kids as "y'all"

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-41382033043521355132008-03-14T19:49:00.002-05:002008-03-14T20:04:15.878-05:00

My last two days with the English class went very well last week. I did end up confiscating one cell phone during a test but only one cell phone in three days is a new personal best. Several students professed their love for me. I ended up alone teaching the thirty minute tutoring session for the Stupid High Stakes Test and the sophomores predictably hellionish. They were good for the telling of

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-71544784789923192442008-03-05T16:22:00.007-06:002008-03-05T17:45:08.448-06:00

The teacher I am subbing for is a VERY young English teacher who frequently makes typos in her notes to me and today on the test I was administering. She has issues with "aloud" and "allowed". The funny thing is that she seems to be quite bright, despite being local, and the state university here is quite good.The ferrets were good today. They were taking a test so they kind of had to be. It may

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-37642688234506661792008-03-04T18:30:00.002-06:002008-03-04T18:35:58.664-06:00

Lately I have been reflecting and feeling the need to email my high school teachers. I have been able to locate a lot of them and amazingly some of the older teachers are still in education. Here is one of the latest exchanges.Mr. English Teacher, I doubt you remember me but I am a former student and I would like to thank you. You were my English teacher at RHS when I was a

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-62036561970433403542008-03-01T08:21:00.003-06:002008-03-01T09:37:51.591-06:00

Yesterday I taught Intensive Reading, which I teach all the time, and fortunately the teacher adores me and so do the kids...most of the time. Yesterday everybody had a bad case of "Fridayitis".A little background on the Intensive Reading program for those not in-the-know: if the kids are ESE, have major issues passing English, or fail the reading portion of the Really Stupid High Stakes State

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-50603640295558298832008-02-28T12:53:00.002-06:002008-02-28T13:15:40.453-06:00

Yesterday I subbed for Spanish II and ESOL, which is always a pleasure. I know all the kids faces and quite a few of their names. They were working on presentations and webquests so I spent the whole day in the library and they didn't do anything embarrassing. I also covered ISS for about half an hour, during which we had a tornado drill. Last year a number of students at a nearby school just

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-24255050782238507032008-02-26T14:39:00.010-06:002008-02-26T14:48:25.854-06:00

My ferrets behaved wonderfully today! The principal didn't even come in. It must be some law of physics that dooms me to be caught in embarrassing class management situations by this principal. I had three blocks of English consisting of mostly sophomores with a few advanced freshmen thrown in. I am beginning to really loath freshmen and there is nothing I can do about it, that's just the grade

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-61545481848616226482008-02-15T16:26:00.006-06:002008-02-15T17:46:58.285-06:00

I have decided that students are more like ferrets than weasels. Weasels have a sense of sleek nobility and wildness (probably because they get made into royal garments in some parts of the world). Ferrets do not. Ferrets can be cute when they are little and interesting as they grow up. They can even be fun to play with, as long as you can give them back to their rightful owner when they start

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-86235807604668707222008-02-05T18:25:00.000-06:002008-02-05T18:35:36.923-06:00

I have officially contracted my first student-borne illness. Last Tuesday the obviously sick weasels (our professor said not to call them kids, she didn't say anything about weasels) chose to sit right next to me. Sunday night I developed a fever and raging post nasal drip. Monday I felt like death warmed over but was able to do a couple chores. Today I am the mucous fountain (some of it is

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-23409047681395511742008-02-01T18:34:00.000-06:002008-02-06T10:11:55.888-06:00

This is my first attempt at writing a philosophy of education for an assignment in my How-to-be-a-real-teacher class. It was supposed to be two pages, double spaced, and touch on the following issues: role of the teacher, role of the student, role of the parent/home, physical classroom environment, and what instructional materials and technology you might use. The purpose of a public school is

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-7954801060931605572008-02-01T17:32:00.000-06:002008-02-01T18:15:04.081-06:00

Today I went back to the first school I ever subbed at. I haven't been there since last May and it wasn't a particularly nice experience since it was Senior Prank Day. I subbed for the English teacher that I often sub for and I asked him point-blank how rowdy his classes were this year. He warned me that fourth block might give me a hard time. This teacher always seems to have the "bad kids". I

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-67573047361312093592008-01-31T13:17:00.000-06:002008-01-31T14:07:15.493-06:00

Here are some of my assignments from my educator prep class. I enjoy doing the case studies and I'd like to share them. I don't know how many people read my blog but feedback would be lovely!Summary and Reaction Chapter 8 Case Study: Michael Watson Mr. Watson is a first year teacher at Raddison High School with a background in mathematics and business. He began working with young people as

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-8190299583766158782008-01-30T10:15:00.000-06:002008-01-31T14:37:44.731-06:00

I really don't have a coherent theme/rant for the day, just some anecdotes for the month of January. I'm feeling a bit run down today because a.) I have to get up at 5:30am to work at the school I like best b.) I haven't been getting home until about 9 or 10pm between educator classes and the current vehicular situation, and c.) yesterday the kids that were obviously sick insisted on sitting

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-80282632744520205922008-01-24T13:23:00.000-06:002008-01-31T13:29:12.358-06:00

I have begun my education classes that are supposed to enable me to pass the Professional portion of the state teaching exams. The idea behind the program is that it is designed to be an accelerated alternative certification program to get career changers into critical shortage teaching areas such as math and science. It is supposed to be a "blended" format meaning that we have a four hour class

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-88618902517796074082008-01-16T14:10:00.000-06:002008-01-31T14:18:12.242-06:00

This was one of the first assignments in my first educator preparation class: Professional Foundations. I did edit it a little for privacy reasons before posting it here but the idea was to write about your educational and professional experiences that brought you to the EPI program and it was supposed to be two pages, double-spaced, or less... Nothing pleases me more than to understand the

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-57928701740485741792007-12-25T15:10:00.000-06:002008-01-31T14:09:18.825-06:00

This is a questionnaire I had to complete as part of my application to the Educator Preparation Institute. 1. What is it that interests you in the teaching profession? Education has always been important to me. My educational philosophy is based on the premise that understanding the world is essential to being part of it. This premise is not limited by scale and encompasses everything from

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-24766785857334465702007-12-22T20:11:00.000-06:002007-12-22T20:25:39.922-06:00

Apparently the following piece has been misattributed to Bill Gates. I got it from another teacher who hands it out to his students. He's kind of a cynical teacher. I am choosing to repost it because I think it makes some good points and demonstrates how touchy-feely liberal muzzy-headedness has blurred the line about what kinds of things should be learned in school and outside of school. Now

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-18339654911580902142007-12-02T12:02:00.000-06:002007-12-02T12:09:41.815-06:00

You know those little sprayers people use to mist their houseplants or to discipline their pets? You spritz the cat when it gets on the table or the dog when it is barking unnecessarily. The teacher I subbed for Friday has one that she uses to wipe off her overhead transparencies. I sat and stared at it obliviously all day until fourth block. My last class is a well-behaved class but they were

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-48005941870283270442007-11-20T18:55:00.000-06:002007-11-20T19:38:32.000-06:00

School is now a social club. The last bell rings at 8am and immediately there is the Pledge of Allegiance (illegal in it's current incarnation), moment of silence (also probably illegal and if not at the very least an effort by the fundamentalists to push their views on everybody else and reintroduce prayer into public school) but let's rant about those issues at another time and get to the root

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-81912229868516476642007-11-06T10:57:00.000-06:002007-11-06T11:41:56.870-06:00

Yesterday was just about the most boring day subbing ever. I suppose that's what I get for subbing for the art teacher. Nobody was bad and I only had to remind them to be quieter three times throughout the entire day. I almost fell asleep during the last block. In the morning I had a planning period so I went to the office to help out. Apparently this school doesn't have a separate attendance

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-9361063056302059952007-11-04T09:42:00.000-06:002007-11-04T11:43:33.037-06:00

Teaching is a profession that requires exceptional, or at the very least steadfast, bladder control, especially elementary teachers. If you are a high school teacher and really forward thinking you can exit and lock your room immediately following the herd of students when the dismissal bell rings. You can then run to the nearest restroom (which is probably a student restroom, not a faculty one)

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-84822118019412070372007-11-02T13:47:00.000-05:002007-11-04T10:18:09.860-06:00

I was lazily perusing the news via Yahoo just now and encountered, surprise surprise, yet another teacher-as-pedophile story along the disturbingly common trend of young female teachers molesting or abducting their male students.Frankly I have had enough!As much as I don't like kids I wholly feel the need to protect them, even in a non-maternal way. With the current hiring system in this area,

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-62176159566919643942007-10-31T17:47:00.000-05:002007-11-04T12:50:12.401-06:00

I am making my teaching blog public again because the way Blogger is set up it is too difficult for my friends, who do not wish to have a Google account, to read it.There is a certain level of confidentiality associated with teaching and professionalism within teaching. I have re-read all of my entries and I don't see that I have breached any confidentiality. I used to work for Sylvan and another

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-19572161719693019672007-10-16T17:12:00.000-05:002007-10-16T17:16:58.961-05:00

The school year has started once again and I am still subbing. I have been quite busy lately and I have new and amusing anecdotes but I don't feel like writing anything witty or entertaining at the moment. I have decided that I may start posting the instruction letters teachers leave for me along with the notes I leave for them about behavior. I realize this is mildly unethical but if I change

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-47979916148364928492007-09-06T14:08:00.000-05:002008-12-11T05:54:29.029-06:00

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-68611224959310200622007-07-17T13:56:00.000-05:002007-11-02T16:48:20.644-05:00

I had my first "real" teacher interview today at one of the outlaying high schools . I assume they are exceedingly desperate to fill this position since their teacher in-service starts on August 12 or 13 and because they actually called me despite my obvious lack of experience that is evident even on paper. I initially thought there were only three applicants so I was somewhat optimistic but

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-40773341416505540252007-07-13T13:47:00.000-05:002007-11-02T16:49:14.641-05:00

I got called for an interview for a REAL teaching job. I subscribe to a couple of web sites that help teachers find jobs and I got an alert at the end of June about a high school science job in one of the nearby rural counties so I submitted an online application through the site. That particular site is nice because it also caters to school districts and allows them to view applicant credentials

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-52942939031209307542007-05-21T11:31:00.000-05:002007-11-02T16:50:32.060-05:00

School is OUT until August!My first two classes last Friday were good but my fourth block class behaved like a bunch of little heathens. I confiscated TWO footballs, a personal record. I do NOT like ninth graders, they are exceptionally immature in this area. I think I like juniors best so far because they are more reasonable and don't quite have senioritis yet, besides around here, if they

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-58391091991566283562007-05-10T11:30:00.000-05:002007-11-02T16:54:58.518-05:00

Today was English I for three blocks. My first class was atrocious! Unruly and bouncing around. I wrote one kid up and kicked him out for being insubordinate. The resource officer came down and glared at them and they behaved for about five minutes. Then I had two boys get into it. I'm not sure what happened exactly, one is the butt of most class jokes because he is bigger and older than the rest

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-123098205171467202007-05-04T11:26:00.000-05:002007-11-02T16:55:32.437-05:00

That's all I have to say about today for now......

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-51404748696718212802007-05-02T11:25:00.000-05:002007-11-02T16:57:20.329-05:00

The kids behaved like a dysfunctional tribe of psychopathic cannibals for the last two blocks today. There was one kid who I started to actually write up but then he decided to behave when I got his name on the referral slip. Then I had a fight in my last block. I am now welcoming suggestions on how to torture the little maggots on Friday when I have them againI'm actually not in that bad of a

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-82715758401856952432007-04-25T11:24:00.000-05:002007-11-02T16:58:44.637-05:00

Well I am off to school to teach English for the second day this week. The English department at the high school is pretty loyal to me now that they know me. Most of the teachers are about my age. Today I have the class that was my first sub assignment again. I swear that teenagers are psychic vampires because they suck ever last ounce of my mental energy even on good days. I will write more

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-2156281264957614872007-04-13T11:23:00.000-05:002007-11-02T17:03:29.020-05:00

Yesterday I was a bit "off" when I got to work. They say kids can "smell blood" like sharks and it is indeed true. I was fully aware that they do this, I had yet to witness it firsthand though. I can honestly say I learn something new every time I teach.I started with a couple of little kids, including the crier, and they were OK but once the Marauding Middle Schoolers arrived I was toast. They

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-63935875163289383852007-03-23T11:22:00.000-05:002007-11-02T17:05:16.306-05:00

I finally made a student cry!Last night my first two students were second graders. I don't especially like working with such young children but these students are quite self-contained and generally a pleasure to interact with. One of them just flew through all of his work and I had to resort to making him practice his cursive writing for the last 10-15 minutes of his session. We are strictly

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-84618641488255190952007-03-21T11:21:00.000-05:002007-11-02T17:11:22.357-05:00

So I had a student a couple of weeks ago who was the epitome of obstinate. He is at about the third grade level and had been scheduled for two hours of tutoring on a Saturday. Two hours is too much for kids that age in my opinion. He was a little hyper but that certainly was not the problem. He just plain refused to do work. He sat there and said no. He wasn't being "bad" he just wasn't working.

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-38493043838865738442007-03-10T11:20:00.000-06:002007-11-02T17:18:08.137-05:00

I would like to begin my discussion on conformity with yet another guilty confession:I have finally succumbed to vapidness and purchased.........CAPRI PANTS!(my male readers, such as Toby, who may be rolling their eyes need to continue reading...it gets better I promise)I once vowed that I would never ever wear Capri pants, yet here I sit, typing fervently, wearing pants that would be considered

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-21194368682897159892007-02-27T11:19:00.000-06:002007-11-02T17:22:01.741-05:00

Today I subbed for one of the high school science teachers. Her morning block was planning and she teaches grades 9-10, who happened to have the FCAT reading test today. I loitered around the office and helped the guidance staff distribute snacks and beverages to fuel FCAT-impoverished minds during their break. I was able to see more of the school doing that and meet a few more teachers.

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-58509149288227555372007-02-15T11:18:00.000-06:002007-11-02T17:27:56.867-05:00

Let's start with a short poll:Can you find the square root of 144 without a calculator or do you know the procedure?Apparently I don't know how to do either. I am practicing for the general knowledge exam and I got a question wrong because I didn't know how and I guessed. What I SHOULD have done was this: I was working on a word problem involving a right triangle. I did all the arithmetic

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-89551879350661407812007-02-07T11:16:00.000-06:002007-11-02T17:34:01.373-05:00

6AM-Get sub call from grade ten English teacher7:20AM-Arrive at school and sign in7:50AM-Find teacher who has lesson plan, video, and rostersVCR doesn't work.Get another one.No dice.FINALLY!Students are being pretty well behaved despite the hullabaloo.When they came in I tried the standing at the door and staring them down thing. Didn't work. It hadn't occurred to me that sophomores are the same

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-40360863204259486682007-01-26T11:13:00.000-06:002007-11-02T17:26:19.424-05:00

Single sex classrooms in public school: NO! Big no! This is a SECULAR country where we do NOT separate the sexes, except for urinary segregation, which in light of the unacceptable level of cultural pedophilia might actually be a good idea. ANYWAY males and females need to learn how to interact appropriately in a professional setting and school is the closest to that for kids. If we encourage

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-85506091184524149102007-01-18T19:04:00.000-06:002007-11-02T17:37:34.425-05:00

I just checked the Dept. of Ed. webpage for the seven billionth time and they have approved my application! This means I now have an Official Statement of Eligibility. To further translate that means I can apply for real teaching jobs and if I am hired I will be issued a Temporary Teaching Certificate. I also met with the head of the accelerated educator certification program at the local college

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-50573161874356172592007-01-13T19:03:00.000-06:002007-11-02T17:39:24.296-05:00

I've done about twenty hours of training so far and as of Thursday they are going to turn me loose to teach on my own. Yikes! I've been mostly focusing on teaching reading to second graders and up but I'd also like to teach study skills and writing and maybe a little math to younger kids. I guess it depends on what areas they need me for.Despite my preference for more mature children I like

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-53304906307973677612007-01-07T19:01:00.000-06:002007-11-02T17:40:56.260-05:00

Thursday I did some more observation and tried to pay attention to how different teachers administered lessons. The kids were all wound up. It was misty/rainy out and probably a low pressure front was moving in. I will keep this in mind next time and try to show a correlation or something. Anyway, while they weren't really being evil little terrors they weren't exactly on task with shining halos

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-56739463087634753162006-12-29T19:00:00.000-06:002007-11-02T17:42:49.810-05:00

I did about five hours of training last night. I sat in on other teacher's instructional hours to observe their different styles and I helped with the kids a little bit. I observed for two hours last week and they told me to jump right in with the kids but I'm really not used to working with children yet so I abstained. This time was better. I got to observe a little of everything: study skills,

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-90653425495807831902006-12-17T18:59:00.000-06:002008-01-31T14:38:37.810-06:00

I ashamedly admit to watching the film "Mean Girls". I am admitting this because it made me think about something:Why is it that obnoxious adolescent social posturing, the "mean" behavior the film derives it's title from, ceases upon entering college?Now I am generalizing here because I believe this sort of behavior does continue in "Greek" factions at universities large enough to have them, but

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-42960458359509886392006-12-11T18:58:00.000-06:002007-11-02T17:46:14.778-05:00

I have submitted my application for my temporary teacher certification and I am now waiting for them to process it. When they send me back my statement of eligibility they will tell me exactly what I need to do to obtain my professional teaching certificate. Since I am a "career changer" (read: become a teacher or bag groceries such is the local economy) I will have a fair amount to do. In this

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-85511407137608925182006-12-08T18:56:00.000-06:002007-11-02T16:44:31.132-05:00

I am presently transitioning to teaching since my science career is going nowhere. The other day I was feeling rather like a charlatan for abandoning scientific research and high academia but then I had another thought....Academics want to work with the best and the brightest young people but WHO trains the best and the brightest youth in America? Who helps them learn to write and speak properly,

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791378710634968736.post-28132327200061723662006-12-03T19:55:00.000-06:002007-11-02T16:42:23.088-05:00

OK I am in the process of getting my temporary teaching certificate, which is good for three years. According to the rules in this state I am eligible to teach 6-12 Biology if I have a BS that includes 30 credits of biological sciences with labs where I got a C or better. No problem. I am sending in my application and they send me back a thing called a "statement of eligibility", which is the

Ms. Jheenoreply@blogger.com0