Teach them, don't chase them

“Don't try to fix the students, fix ourselves first. The good teacher makes the poor student good and the good student superior. When our students fail, we, as teachers, too, have failed.”
-Marva Collins

I’ve been skeptical about writing about my teaching gig for fear that it might evaporate into thin air. But here goes… in January I will begin a long-term substitute position for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade computer science classes. I’m guaranteed to be there for eight of the nine weeks period (and it’s only a 9-week curriculum!), and there’s a chance I might be needed even longer than that. I will be teaching middle-schoolers how to type, search the Internet, and use universal programs like Word and PowerPoint.

I’m gearing myself up to manage a classroom of often economically disadvantaged middle-schoolers who have a lot more on their minds than typing with their fingers on the home-row keys. I’ve been practicing scenarios in my head, trying to figure out how I would deal with an unruly student, a bratty student, or a student who just isn’t as challenged in the class as the rest of his peers.

And, the night before last I had my first nightmare about teaching. It was the first day of class, and when I arrived in my classroom, over half of the computers were gone. The bell rang immediately afterwards, before I could figure out where they went or how to rearrange the classroom. I tried to jump right into my agenda, but it took twice as long as I had planned, and I didn’t get to cover nearly half of what I had hoped—including the classroom rules.

As the end of the class neared, the students became increasingly disruptive. I was trying hard to remain strict with them—as the one piece of advice that I’ve received over and over again is to start off firm and make sure they know you mean business. One girl, in particular, was causing quite a commotion, and as I approached her to try to calm her down, she darted out of the classroom and into the hallway. With those words of wisdom echoing in my head, I made a split second decision to run after her. As I dashed out of the classroom, I knocked over and rumpled the hair of three other girls who had not been causing a problem. By the time I got to the hallway, the girl I was chasing was long gone, and all I could think about was, “I should have just let her run!”

So, come January 5th, if you see students running out of my classroom, know that I will not be chasing them.

O Tannebaum

“The perfect Christmas tree? All Christmas trees are perfect!"
-Charles N. Barnard

My favorite part of our new house… the front windows in our dining room. Which, without dining room furniture, makes the perfect place for our Christmas tree. Instead of unpacking boxes last weekend, this was on my to-do list.
Never mind, that this is what you see when you turn around.
And the best part… you can see the twinkling lights from the street as you drive by.

Ornament Swap

“From home to home, and heart to heart, from one place to another
The warmth and joy of Christmas, brings us closer to each other.”
-Emily Matthews

Our first annual family handmade ornament swap is well under way. A small group participated for this inaugural year, but I think this is a tradition that is here to stay. This is the ornament that I sent out:
I went through several (I mean, like 10) iterations of the pocket, trying to get it just right. Sometimes I settle for imperfections, but this time I just wasn’t happy with “almost” and “really close.” But now I’m really pleased with my sewing success.

So what’s inside of the little pouch, you ask. The core of the idea came from the Stories in Hand class and the notion of recording even the mundane. Hidden in the pouch is a small Christmas journal for this year. It includes prompts, such as “with who,” “best gifts given,” and “taste of christmas.” I hope my swap partners are just as excited as I am about this Christmas memory keeper.

Tidings of us

“A little smile, a word of cheer, A bit of love from someone near, A little gift from one held dear, Best wishes for the coming year… These make a Merry Christmas!”
-John Greenleaf Whittier
I caught an early penny per print sale at Snapfish back in October, took advantage, printed our untraditional Christmas cards with a lomo-like photo of the two of us at the Grand Canyon, and backed them with cardstock leftover from wedding projectes. Couldn’t resist the boast to tell everyone that we did indeed travel to the Grand Canyon this summer—I've told myself that that’s got to be less annoying than a three-page newsletter, detailing our super-awesome lifestyles. Although I have to admit those are always my favorite types of Christmas cards to receive, even though I could see how one might disagree with me.

Good enough to eat

“Put on your yarmulke, Here comes Hanukkah! So much funukah, To celebrate Hanukkah! Hanukkah is the festival of lights. Instead of one day of presents, we have eight crazy nights.”
-Adam Sandler
Going to the grocery store hungry last night = enjoying Hanukkah cookies for lunch today.