Day 2: What teachers do all night (and you'll be surprised....)
So today was an easy Day 2 since I spent about 30 minutes only with three groups of students. I did roll call, handed out the biology course outline and talked about myself a little - three things I can do very well. My strategy is to get them to like me. Somehow.
I was amazed at the level of detail you need to feed the students. If you mention that a binder will make their lives easier, then they want to know what size (1 or 2 inches?), how many index separators are required, if they will be allowed to write on the handouts I'll be distributing throughout the year. I could have mentioned a preferred color for the binder, I'm sure they would all have gotten just that color. I could get used to this kind of power...
My last 8 years of school were university and so I'm thinking like a university student, not a high school teacher. I wonder why that is...hmmm... maybe simply because I AM NOT A REAL TEACHER!!!
I got further proof of this unfortunate fact when two teachers were discussing how little sleep they got last night:
Teacher A: "I got two hours of sleep last night. You would think this is my first day teaching - I've been at it for 25 years and I just could NOT sleep."
Teacher B: "Don't worry about it - it's like that for me every year since I started... I tossed and turned all night."
What I did NOT add to this conversation was that I slept like a log (us people with kids do not use the expression "like a baby" because then we couldn't complain about the sleepless nights, now could we?). I don't want to stand out too much.
After doing my "thing" in the third class this morning, I overhead one girl say to another as they were leaving the classroom "I like her" - and I'm thinking she may have been referring to me...
I was amazed at the level of detail you need to feed the students. If you mention that a binder will make their lives easier, then they want to know what size (1 or 2 inches?), how many index separators are required, if they will be allowed to write on the handouts I'll be distributing throughout the year. I could have mentioned a preferred color for the binder, I'm sure they would all have gotten just that color. I could get used to this kind of power...
My last 8 years of school were university and so I'm thinking like a university student, not a high school teacher. I wonder why that is...hmmm... maybe simply because I AM NOT A REAL TEACHER!!!
I got further proof of this unfortunate fact when two teachers were discussing how little sleep they got last night:
Teacher A: "I got two hours of sleep last night. You would think this is my first day teaching - I've been at it for 25 years and I just could NOT sleep."
Teacher B: "Don't worry about it - it's like that for me every year since I started... I tossed and turned all night."
What I did NOT add to this conversation was that I slept like a log (us people with kids do not use the expression "like a baby" because then we couldn't complain about the sleepless nights, now could we?). I don't want to stand out too much.
After doing my "thing" in the third class this morning, I overhead one girl say to another as they were leaving the classroom "I like her" - and I'm thinking she may have been referring to me...
