My grandmother always said, "Sal, if you don't have anything nice to say...don't say anything at all." And for the last 2 weeks, I haven't had anything nice to say. So silence is what I am giving you. Not the silent treatment kind of silence. Don't get confused. I am just trying to keep in my disappointment and anger. So there.
PS. Sal is what my grandmother called...who knows why. But I loved it, and I still do :)
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Lessons Learned
As a 2nd year teacher, and 1st year general ed teacher, I learning so many things. Today one thing smacked me right in the face.
I've been too nice. You read that right...I've been TOO nice.
Teachers are supposed to be nice, right?! Wrong. When you work in a low socioeconomic school, you must be stern, forceful, mighty, LOUD, never back down, brave, and mean. And nice occasionally.
I started the year being stern. I became nice too fast. I should have been stern much longer, but my kids were so good. I must have forgotten the end of last year. I learned last year that kids get restless, as do the teachers. And right now, 21 days away from testing, my kids are restless. They are loud, think everything is funny, want to play more than work, and could care less if they please me.
Trust me, I didn't try to let it be this way. I requested that they get out their books and turn to page 64. 2 minutes later, I had 4 kids who had done that. The rest of the class was talking. Did they care that I was mad? Did they care I was going to talk to their parents? Heck no.
Tomorrow I am walking in as a different teacher. They better buckle their seatbelts becuase they will be in for a ride!!
I've been too nice. You read that right...I've been TOO nice.
Teachers are supposed to be nice, right?! Wrong. When you work in a low socioeconomic school, you must be stern, forceful, mighty, LOUD, never back down, brave, and mean. And nice occasionally.
I started the year being stern. I became nice too fast. I should have been stern much longer, but my kids were so good. I must have forgotten the end of last year. I learned last year that kids get restless, as do the teachers. And right now, 21 days away from testing, my kids are restless. They are loud, think everything is funny, want to play more than work, and could care less if they please me.
Trust me, I didn't try to let it be this way. I requested that they get out their books and turn to page 64. 2 minutes later, I had 4 kids who had done that. The rest of the class was talking. Did they care that I was mad? Did they care I was going to talk to their parents? Heck no.
Tomorrow I am walking in as a different teacher. They better buckle their seatbelts becuase they will be in for a ride!!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Ahh...
Well, it's been while since I've blogged. I'm not sure why. I've just been really busy doing not much. Here are some highlights:
Valentine's Day- I am not much on celebrating this silly holiday. But, I received the most beautiful roses I've ever seen from my sweet, sweet brother and his fiance.
Yes, you read that right. My brother is getting married and I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am. We are so excited for her to join our family.
But, back to Valentine's Day. One of my boys brought me a heart shaped sucker. When he handed it to me, he put his arm around my shoulder and said, "Ms. Cormack, happy valentine's day. I love you." :)
As we are getting ready for state testing, the pressure is on at school. It's 21 days away. And I can't wait to get it over with. In the mean time, I am spending everyday, all day teaching reading and math. I am not worried about the math portion of the test. My kids love, love, love math. But reading is a different story.
This wonderful springy weather is spoiling me. Thursday was Jessica's birthday and at 6:00 it was nice enough for me to have dinner outside! We went to workplay to celebrate with Ben Rector. If you haven't heard of him, you need to listen to his music. It was great. And I don't even like music like that typically.
At school on Thursday, my kids skyped with Kate. I got permission from the technology people at the board to use skype as virtual fieldtrips. They loved it and so did I!!
Valentine's Day- I am not much on celebrating this silly holiday. But, I received the most beautiful roses I've ever seen from my sweet, sweet brother and his fiance.
Yes, you read that right. My brother is getting married and I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am. We are so excited for her to join our family.
But, back to Valentine's Day. One of my boys brought me a heart shaped sucker. When he handed it to me, he put his arm around my shoulder and said, "Ms. Cormack, happy valentine's day. I love you." :)
As we are getting ready for state testing, the pressure is on at school. It's 21 days away. And I can't wait to get it over with. In the mean time, I am spending everyday, all day teaching reading and math. I am not worried about the math portion of the test. My kids love, love, love math. But reading is a different story.
This wonderful springy weather is spoiling me. Thursday was Jessica's birthday and at 6:00 it was nice enough for me to have dinner outside! We went to workplay to celebrate with Ben Rector. If you haven't heard of him, you need to listen to his music. It was great. And I don't even like music like that typically.
At school on Thursday, my kids skyped with Kate. I got permission from the technology people at the board to use skype as virtual fieldtrips. They loved it and so did I!!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Jordans
This is a good one...
Yesterday we were sitting in the lunchroom. I am eating my lunch, talking to the kid across from me. I hear, "Ms. Cormack...hey, Ms. Cormack." I turn and it's the girl two seats down. So, I say yes... and wait for what's coming. Here's the conversation:
"When you were in the 3rd grade did you wear J's?" (Jordans are shoes that ALL black kids wear, incase you didn't know.)
"No maam, I didn't. You know how we talked about culture in Social Studies? Well, J's are a black cultural thing. White people don't typically wear J's." And I was proud of myself for tying education to this...
"Ms. Cormack, you aren't white!!!"
So, I pull my sleeve up and show her that indeed I am white. All the while, I am thinking what in the world?!
"Oh, but Ms. Cormack, I don't think of you as white. You don't have a color."
Now, on one hand this made my heart happy that she feels like this. I don't want them to see color and I don't want them to think I do either, but really... sister, I am white!!
Two days ago, counseling was canceled. I downloaded a clip of the Oceans Discovery movie for my kids to watch. They really do like the documentary stuff. :) I had 2 boys come to my table to finish a test and while they are sitting there, one of them picks up my keys.
"Hey, Ms. Cormack, is this a zebra."--Boy 1
"Yep. Kate, remember me telling you about her? She brought that back from South Africa this summer."
"Oh, because you like zebras so much?"--Boy 1
"Yep."
Boy 2 turns to Boy 1 and says, "But her favorite animal is a bat. Remember she read that book to us about bats and we watched that movie."
They continued talking about bats. I sat back and smiled. The fact that they know my favorite animals makes me happy. They DO care about me after all :)
Yesterday we were sitting in the lunchroom. I am eating my lunch, talking to the kid across from me. I hear, "Ms. Cormack...hey, Ms. Cormack." I turn and it's the girl two seats down. So, I say yes... and wait for what's coming. Here's the conversation:
"When you were in the 3rd grade did you wear J's?" (Jordans are shoes that ALL black kids wear, incase you didn't know.)
"No maam, I didn't. You know how we talked about culture in Social Studies? Well, J's are a black cultural thing. White people don't typically wear J's." And I was proud of myself for tying education to this...
"Ms. Cormack, you aren't white!!!"
So, I pull my sleeve up and show her that indeed I am white. All the while, I am thinking what in the world?!
"Oh, but Ms. Cormack, I don't think of you as white. You don't have a color."
Now, on one hand this made my heart happy that she feels like this. I don't want them to see color and I don't want them to think I do either, but really... sister, I am white!!
Two days ago, counseling was canceled. I downloaded a clip of the Oceans Discovery movie for my kids to watch. They really do like the documentary stuff. :) I had 2 boys come to my table to finish a test and while they are sitting there, one of them picks up my keys.
"Hey, Ms. Cormack, is this a zebra."--Boy 1
"Yep. Kate, remember me telling you about her? She brought that back from South Africa this summer."
"Oh, because you like zebras so much?"--Boy 1
"Yep."
Boy 2 turns to Boy 1 and says, "But her favorite animal is a bat. Remember she read that book to us about bats and we watched that movie."
They continued talking about bats. I sat back and smiled. The fact that they know my favorite animals makes me happy. They DO care about me after all :)
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