Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Diagnostics, iceboxes and germs

Today marked my fourth day doing diagnostics. We're so finished. I have 13 kids between my three classes who haven't finished due to absences, being new students or generally just taking forever. Tomorrow they get to test in our content specialists office because I have to teach a lesson before I go insane. My Pre-AP kids blow my mind. These are supposed to be the kids who are really accelerated. Granted they were accelerated in the test taking (they all webbed their essays and highlighted the reading sections), but in simple tasks after the testing they are so difficult. They don't want to read. All I'm asking them to do is pick a book off my library shelf and read. I can't get my fourth hour to put the books down and I can't get these kids to pick them up. I've sent Mark to the silent work station twice now and he still looks at me like I'm the lowest life form on earth when I ask him to do some menial task. Victor is so smart and also likes to look at me like I'm speaking Ukrainian. Most of the girls are pretty good. I have 29 of them in that class, so it's by far my biggest management area to work on. In my third hour (my biggest challenge) I have 26 and they keep adding and in my fourth hour I have 19, but they're all babies, most of my lower level learners and so chatty. They did another official head count today, which means they're getting ready to level off classes. Basically they send in their official head count to the state at the start of school, this decides their funding and then they go and move classes around so that they aren't leaving people in class rooms with 15 kids. While a 15 student classroom would be kind of amazing, that's never going to happen at McReynolds. I'm just worried that come Friday they're going to hit me with a ton more kids. I'm not trying to be a baby about it, but I'm a first year teacher and this is a double TAKS year for my content area. I need smaller classes! Keep your fingers crossed.

They finally got someone to come fix my air conditioning. Now it works... a little too well. The kids have gone from sweating to sticking their arms in their shirts to stay warm. I don't leave the house without a blazer. It is really frigid in there now. I've heard this nasty rumor that other teachers can control their air conditioning. I have a control, but it doesn't seem to do much at all. Interesting. I find myself walking really slowly in the stairwells to warm myself up. I wonder if my kids do the same. That's probably why they're always tardy.

I only blame my new cooler of a classroom on my current health situation. Despite my best efforts (Lysol and anti-bacterial hand stuff) I have picked up one of the millions of germs crawling all over my kids. I've been sick since Sunday and I feel awful. I don't know how my teachers did this. My throat is so hoarse I can barely talk and yet I have to teach for 90 minutes a pop. I'm so tired and just feel so gross. I blame my kids. I caught one of my boys wiping his nose on his hand and then handing me a paper today. EWWWW. Go wash your hands! What is wrong with you? No wonder I'm sick.

I gave out class manager positions yesterday and I already got five applications back. YESSSS!!! My kids want to volunteer and I want to let them volunteer. You take roll, you pick up the papers, you keep track of the clock. Hopefully I'll get some good applicants by Friday so this weekend I can set up my new jobs.

Tomorrow is our first half day. I'm wondering if this is how it was in my classes in high school. Half day equals nobody pays attention at all. Here's hoping not... tomorrow we start narration. Wheeee!

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