Getting a Little Less Stressed

[Full Disclosure: I wrote this yesterday and forgot to post it. Whoops.]

This blog has arisen out of pure procrastination at school. I got my stuff done for week, and I’m just not feeling it right now. It might be because of the sadly cold Wisconsin weather right now. (It was 30 degrees when I left for school this morning). Ugh. Or maybe it’s just a hump day burnout. Ew. I hate the phrase hump day.

So here are some highlights of what I’ve been up to:

• I finished the EdTPA!!!!! (I CANNOT emphasize what a relief this is.)
• I started teaching the Great Gatsby.
• I am showing the Twilight Zone to Sci Fi next week.
• I’m generally stressed and having a mental breakdown all the time. (But I’m working on it)

Seriously, words cannot express how happy I am to be done with the EdTPA. After hours of video recording and writing, I have finished my big project for the semester. For those of you who are not familiar with EdTPA, be grateful. It’s a new student teacher assessment from Pearson that requires pre-service teachers to plan a lesson, video record it, collect assessment, and write about 25 pages on all of it. I have a problem with it because I work with really challenging students, and I don’t feel that this assessment was able to objectively portray my abilities as a teacher. That’s not to say I do stupid lessons with them, but engaging my students often takes more than this assessment has the capacity to show. Luckily for me though, Wisconsin has not officially adopted this assessment yet, so mine will be scored at UWM instead of sent out to be score nationally. Either way, it’s over. THANK GOD.

My latest venture in teaching has been to teach a whole novel. So far, it’s going fine. It’s fine. Some days are really good. Some are a trainwreck. Unfortunately, many of my students are at very low reading levels, so the act of simply reading can often be very time consuming. I do offer students the option of listening to an audiobook, and that has been really helpful for many of them. I’m coming to terms with the fact that it’s going to be a slow process. I’m actually worried we won’t finish it before June, but I’m going to try!

Overall, kids are pretty down Gatsby though. They love the drama and love triangles of it. (That’s sort of how I hooked them.) We also love talking about how much as asshole Tom Buchanan is. They have surprisingly insightful views on the characters so far, and I absolutely love it. Today, my tiny morning class drew pictures of the Valley of Ashes, and it was super fun. I did a model on the smart board, and they drew their own. Ok, there were only 3 kids in my class today and one was sleeping, BUT the other 2 drew amazing pictures. I’m super proud.

Check out how amazing this is…

Random interjection – my school just went on lockdown, and I have to go to the bathroom. What’s a student teacher to do?!

In other news, student teaching is getting a little less stressful. Now that EdTPA is over, I just have to focus on teaching and getting a job. I’ve been meditating and making lists among other stress management approaches. Staying sane and healthy has become really important throughout this whole process. So anyone out there embarking on student teaching, please take care of yourself! Your mental health, your physical health. All of it. I recommend this article from edutopia on preventing teacher burnout if you are looking for some suggestions. Teaching is hard, so stay healthy so you can stay happy. And sleep. Always sleep.

Well I will leave you with that. Hopefully I’ll be back sooner rather than later. Wish me luck job hunting!

The thing I blog about makes me too busy to blog…*sigh*

To the view dear readers I have,

I am sorry.  Things have been quite busy for me, keeping me from my blogging duties.  Although throughout all this stress, a goal of mine has been to try to keep sane by doing things I enjoy, so I’m going to take a break from necessary duties to divulge myself a bit.

Sincerely,

Joz

Let me start out with some things that made me happy today.

1. I had a realistic conversation about going to college with a student.  I told him about how long I’ve been in school, and how great it feels to find something you really want to do. (He also told me, I should be getting paid for teaching…ugh don’t I wish.)

2. My students had fun with writing prompt cubes for journals today.  I actually forgot to come up with a journal, so I used these writing prompt cubes I got as a gift from my old co-op.  They are dorky writing starter that are meant for younger kids, but they had fun with them.

• One example of a prompt: “When I went the zoo, I saw…”

3. The bonus point question on my literary style assessment was the best.  I asked students to spell my last name, or at least attempt to spell my last name for a bonus point.  And here’s the kicker, I’ve been writing it on the board next to our learning intention everyday. So I have been subliminally teaching them how to spell it.  Anyways, I gave points for valiant efforts.  Please see the example below:

(For the record, its Zbichorski)

Overall, this week has been sort of hit or miss.  I was not very patient this week.  I tend to not want to be mean, but this week Ms. Z got kind of mean.  Ok not super mean. I have to remember that “mean” for me, is still pretty nice in the scheme of life.  BUT, I got way more work from students. YAY! I think having a few very serious, almost yelling moments kind of whipped them into shape.  I know it’s important to not hold those feelings with me for the rest of class, so being able to be strict, then shake it off for the next activity seemed to work pretty well.  I struggle with establishing my presence sometimes, but this week felt like I made a small step forward.  Sometimes being a little mean can go a long way.

Ok, I am getting a little tired, so I want to briefly rant about something I am really excited about.  First off, I have felt a little burnt out on my Harlem Renaissance unit for my two American Lit sections, which I have been teaching since the semester started.  Things take wayyyyyy longer than I can ever plan, so it gets a little wearing on both me and my students.  They have really been into the subject matter, but it’s time for a change.

This leads me into next week’s lesson. I am teaching one of my all time favorite poems!

I think my students are going to have a pretty good time with it because the poem is really short.  We also just learned about literary style, including imagery, so they have the skills ready to delve into this imagist poem.  I created a powerpoint, a guided reading activity, THEN students get to write their imagist poems. I think this is going to be a really meaningful, easy, and fun lesson to fit in before spring break.  I will let you know how it goes.  I have high hopes.  I’m going to attach my resources in case you would like to look at them. 🙂

1. ezra pound worksheet

2. Writing your own Imagist Poem

Shout out to my boy, Ezra Pound though.

Well goodnight my fellow student teachers! Until next time!

P.S. – It’s Fitzgerald’s 3rd birthday today. He’s very excited to help me plan my Gatsby unit.

Let’s backtrack a minute…

Well, here I am feeling rude because I have forgotten to introduce myself! First things first: here is a little bit about me…

1. I am a post-bac student at UW-Milwaukee, and I got my BA from there in English.
2. I am becoming an 6-12 English teacher.
3. I taught 8th grade ELA last semester.
4. I am currently teaching 2 sections of American Lit and 1 section of Science Fiction.
5. I have 3 cats named Fitzgerald, Henry, and Olivia. And yes, Fitz is named after the great F. Scott Fitzgerald. He’s a gin addict to boot. (Just kidding…or am i?)

I started my placement on January 26, and it feels like an eternity ago.  I’m on my 5th week of teaching high school with 3 and half months left to go.  I already have a countdown till the end the school year. That’s not because everything is terrible and I want it to be over all the time (even though sometimes that’s true), but I CANNOT wait to have my own classroom.  Floating around in other teachers’ spaces is really hard.  My life is crammed into a tiny desk and plastic bins I haul around the school.  If only I had a classroom of my own to decorate and keep my things in. Ahhh, a student teacher can dream.

My beautifully organized plastic bins.

My tiny desk space

Another interesting quality about my school is that it is alternative school.  That means that it serves a lot of at-risk students who have not succeeded in what is deemed a “traditional” school setting.  I have tiny class sizes, my largest tapping out at 19.  And yeah this sounds cool, but in a district with poor attendance, it actually makes it hard to teach sometimes.  I am often spending well needed class time catching up and backtracking.  This is also made worse by our M/W and Tu/Th block schedule (100 mins classes), twice a week.  So I go a span of about 4 or 5 days without seeing my students.  It makes teaching really rough.  I mean how I am supposed to reinforce anything when I seeing my students, at best, twice a week? It seriously sucks.  It also means that sometimes I only have like 3 or 4 kids in my class, especially during first block. (7:30-9:15).  But it does give me time to play with my smart board…

I said this in my first post, but this is the hardest thing I have ever done.  Student teaching is riddled with feelings of self doubt and total aimlessness.  But I have my cohort to help me.  DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE SUPPORT OF YOUR PEERS. TEXT THEM EVERYDAY. POST RIDICULOUS STUFF ON FACEBOOK. SEND THEM PICTURES LIKE THIS WHEN YOU HAVE A CRAPPY DAY. (OR JUST CAUSE IT’S MONDAY.) If there is one thing I’ve learned, it that me and every other student teacher feels like they are going to explode or collapse most of the time.  For example right now, I want to take a nap more than anything in the whole wide world.  Plus Fitz is curled up next to me, so perhaps it’s time to wrap up this post.

One thing I am trying very hard to do is see the positives in my day.  It is very easy to be consumed with stress and negativity, especially since teacher moral is not exactly the best in MPS right now.  I find myself believing in students that other teachers constantly complain about, and it’s hard.  I wonder if maybe I should be more realistic, but then I remember that if no one else believes in them, maybe I have to. I also need to remind myself of things I do well and that make me happy.  So I am going to try my best to think about 3 things everyday that make me happy/that went well/that I a grateful for.  I will share them with you as much as I can, but it is something I am doing for my own sanity. (And something everyone should probably do for themselves.) This is my first shot at this “3 positive things” thing, so here goes…

1. I didn’t have to wait for more than 5 minutes for the bus today in -10 degree weather. (to and from school)
2. My 1st block American Lit class did an awesome job of analyzing Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit.”
3. I successfully operate the photocopier today with my massive Teacher’s Edition textbook.

Hey also check out my twitter!

And we have lift off…

So I’ve decided to attempt blogging again.  I have had a couple of blogs for classes in the past, but I have to see any really take off (aka keep them up after class is over).  I admit I love the internet, so if anything this is sort of an online journal.  I hope that perhaps my trials and tribulations can influence those who come after me.  I realize that all the advice in the world doesn’t make student teaching easier, but I hope you understand that you are not alone.  Cause, holy crap, sometimes it gets lonely out here in student teaching land.

 

Straight up honesty: student teaching is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.  Like I have never known stress like this.  I think I’m going to have a mental breakdown every other day. This is basically reality: 

 

But in the midst of the fiery, terribleness that is constant stress, so are my amazing students. Sometimes it’s awesome stick figure drawings that make a whole entire day worth it. Like come on, I love these kids…

 

 

A month in, and I have experienced a ridiculous range of emotions.  From wanting to quit to being amazing at the intelligence of teenagers.  There are days when I feel defeated.  I feel like I poured my heart and soul into a lesson just to have 25 snap chats sent during what I thought was an amazing discussion.  But I’m slowly (and difficultly) learning that is the nature of the beast.  Remember when you were in high school? Remember when you didn’t care? Yeah I do sometimes.  Even though I was the kid who decided to be an English teacher at age 14.  Even my overachieving brain phoned in high school a lot of the time.  Whose didn’t?

 

Ok, so those are my general musings on the subject.  But I hope to use this as an outlet or resource for other student teachers.  Know that it is the hardest thing you will ever do, but if you love it, you will find a way.  Details of my insane placement are to come, but just know that if you are a good teacher, you will survive.  Not only will you survive, but you will learn a whole lot.  About teaching, but mostly about yourself.  I feel like I’ve been at my high school for a million years.  It’s been a month.  It’s an odd and scary feeling, but it’s good, too.

 

So stay posted.  More adventures to come…

 

Till next time, happy teaching.