Halfway there

Happy Hump Day! Today marks the halfway point of institute. I am learning to assert my authority as an instructional leader. 11 instructional days to go.

Teacher Moments of the Day
1. Lesson planning and worrying about the difficulty and appeal of reading a poem and finding figurative language. While listening to Jason Mraz. “I’m Yours” starts to play. HELLO? Perfect for a lesson plan on figurative language. Run upstairs and make copies of lyrics. Bad news? 20 pages of Ralph Pomeroy’s “Corner,” wasted. I’m sorry to all the trees I have killed/will kill as a teacher.

2. Having my quiet, ELL student make a move to participate today.

3. Jerry, the ADHD chatterbox of my classroom whom I secretly love and want to laugh with (on his good days), calls out numerous times. I refuse to give him participation points. “Well, Miss, then you can just take my participation points sheet because I’m not gonna get any. I’m too lazy to raise my hand!” I give him the teacher stare. “Jerry, laziness is not an excuse.” Next time, and the time after that, and the time after that, he raises his hand. Three participation points for Jerry today.

4. TFA moment of the day – We read a passage by Amy Tan. Discuss conflict and acceptance of culture. My prompt: Why is the author embarrassed? One student’s written response: “The author is embarised by her people. The Chineese.” That is correct – “her people.”