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Unexpected Leisure
This is such an unusual occurrence that I am moved to commemmorate it by writing an entry. The sixth graders have an all day field trip today to the Redwood groves of Marin County, and every single kid went. Therefore, as I teach both 6th AND 7th grade Language Arts and Social Studies this year, I have two periods entirely to myself in the middle of the day. Well to myself except for the presence of two Teaching Assistants, students who opted out of an elective to work one period with whichever teacher would accept them.
The 2013-2014 school year is winding down very quickly. 24 more school days (I still mark the day off the moment I park my car, so today is day 25). The year as a whole has gone very well; in some ways just because I am more relaxed since I am finally on the every-fourth-year evaluation schedule and do not get evaluated this year, or next year either. In some ways I've been a good teacher this year, especially with incorporating some amounts of technology into my teaching (nothing compared to an actual teacher of tech/computers, hat tip to Miss Sabotabby). In others, teaching both grade levels has made me somewhat less rigorous in BOTH grades, because I am constantly inventing new curriculum for the sixth grade class.
New stuff for this year: a cool class blog with Pinterest Boards and curated sites for students; creative extra credit projects for EVERY quarter, for both grade levels, for ELA (English/Language Arts) and Social Studies; two organized Art History lectures (PowerPoint, which is ancient, I know, and stupid, but which works well for just plain old Art History, allowing huge, clear images) one on Japanese ukiyo-e, specifically prints by Hokusai and Hiroshige, and the other, which I just showed and lectured through today, on the contrast between Medieval and Renaissance art, and how Renaissance art looked back to the Classical period. Oh! And the introduction of Socratic Seminars as a teaching tool; that has continued to be cool, though there is one I didn't get to with Dragonwings this year. I wanted to do one on the problem of drug use (opium) for characters in the novel, not only in a complex way, addiction versus legal recreational use (which could clearly spark some controversial [for middle schoolers] discussion on our own insane War on Drugs, but also in context as a result of Britain's Opium Wars in China... I need to find some excerpts from primary sources for the latter.
I have my iPod plugged into my computer speakers, which are good ones belonging to me rather than to the school district. I'm listening to my own playlist (of Folk Favorites) rather than their choices, which I also have a playlist of. Ah, the lunch bell has rung, and my afternoon seventh graders are arriving to deposit their belongings before going off to eat and run around outside. It's amazingly relaxing, this giant break in the middle of the day. God, I wish that the work week was four days long, and five hours each day, same pay. TWENTY HOUR WORK WEEKS. That's enough for modern levels of productivity.
The 2013-2014 school year is winding down very quickly. 24 more school days (I still mark the day off the moment I park my car, so today is day 25). The year as a whole has gone very well; in some ways just because I am more relaxed since I am finally on the every-fourth-year evaluation schedule and do not get evaluated this year, or next year either. In some ways I've been a good teacher this year, especially with incorporating some amounts of technology into my teaching (nothing compared to an actual teacher of tech/computers, hat tip to Miss Sabotabby). In others, teaching both grade levels has made me somewhat less rigorous in BOTH grades, because I am constantly inventing new curriculum for the sixth grade class.
New stuff for this year: a cool class blog with Pinterest Boards and curated sites for students; creative extra credit projects for EVERY quarter, for both grade levels, for ELA (English/Language Arts) and Social Studies; two organized Art History lectures (PowerPoint, which is ancient, I know, and stupid, but which works well for just plain old Art History, allowing huge, clear images) one on Japanese ukiyo-e, specifically prints by Hokusai and Hiroshige, and the other, which I just showed and lectured through today, on the contrast between Medieval and Renaissance art, and how Renaissance art looked back to the Classical period. Oh! And the introduction of Socratic Seminars as a teaching tool; that has continued to be cool, though there is one I didn't get to with Dragonwings this year. I wanted to do one on the problem of drug use (opium) for characters in the novel, not only in a complex way, addiction versus legal recreational use (which could clearly spark some controversial [for middle schoolers] discussion on our own insane War on Drugs, but also in context as a result of Britain's Opium Wars in China... I need to find some excerpts from primary sources for the latter.
I have my iPod plugged into my computer speakers, which are good ones belonging to me rather than to the school district. I'm listening to my own playlist (of Folk Favorites) rather than their choices, which I also have a playlist of. Ah, the lunch bell has rung, and my afternoon seventh graders are arriving to deposit their belongings before going off to eat and run around outside. It's amazingly relaxing, this giant break in the middle of the day. God, I wish that the work week was four days long, and five hours each day, same pay. TWENTY HOUR WORK WEEKS. That's enough for modern levels of productivity.