On My "Own"

So, I wanted to write a post about how I handled myself in Tim's absence before it got too far from my memory.
Overall, I think I did really well. I think the kids took me pretty seriously, for the most part.

Ups

• I had a sense of freedom
• Friday's announcements were one of the best all year. They showed me that I didn't have to consistently be down their throats.
• I had a GREAT visit with Terry, see other post.
• The kids got to know my personal style better.
• Some students still came to eat lunch and socialize with me during my prep, which made me feel good.

Downs

• I probably should be working more with the Web Design kids. I still don't recognize all of them, like I do in my other classes.
• My 2nd period started acting like a gang of wild animals on Friday for about the last 20 minutes of class. They were play fighting nonstop and instead of actually yelling at them, I tried to play it off like they were immature and I told them they weren't in elementary school. Which worked for about... oh, 15 seconds. I should have been far more stern but at some points it's too easy to give up. I mean, who is it hurting if they're playing around for the last 10 minutes of class? Which actually brings me to a whole seperate point that should be mentioned elsewhere, see Work Night.
• I still have a hard time with pacing during 4th period. I'm easily distracted by a good story, which is what about 90% of class on Thursday was. I had the students share their ideas for the Historical Fiction pieces and I probably spent way too much time on it. But I truly do love to get into their heads and see their processes of writing. They are so interesting. There were so many AMAZING ideas. (Which is also a "Ups")

Yesterday was Work Night. I had to stay until after 8 to finish up the newsmagazine. It blew my mind how much had to be done and how many little things can add up to a time consuming mass. There were a lot of kids who stayed after but there were definitely some that were absent that should have really been there.

Also, there was an issue with some stories not getting placed. Which brings up the issue of responsibility. I feel like the staff doesn't feel responsible for each other and don't hold each other credible for mistakes or being lazy. I don't know if we have to work on team building or what but something has got to be done. For example, a student was working on his spread for a few days and just pointed out last night, mere minutes before he left that the page before his had NOTHING on it.

What?!? Are you kidding? I wanted to yell, but I kept my cool, laughed it off and finished the page.

So when I say "Oh, who is it hurting if So-and-So doesn't do his work?" It actually turns out that it is hurting me. And should be hurting the others, IF they had a sense of credibility.

Goals: Build credibility. Remind them that this is a team publication and should be treated accordingly.

Work on INTASC standard 5:

"MOTIVATION AND MANAGEMENT

The teacher uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation."