Mondays

I just decided that, in case anyone does actually still read my blog, I should change the name to something about teaching. That is kind of the biggest thing in my life right now. 

So last Monday was indeed a snow day and I was very excited. But I ended up spending my whole day studying for the exam I had on Tuesday, and didn't focus too much on preparing lessons for my new groups. I went in Tuesday, slightly unprepared in my opinion, and pretty sick. After a day of that I called it quits and stayed home on Wednesday to give my body some time to rest. Thursday and Friday were still pretty tough and made me realize I still don't quite know what I am doing with the new schedule.  To my delight I found out on Friday that for the next two weeks I would not be teaching, but will be testing all of the ESL students in the school. What fun!  Although I was a bit stressed about this endeavor as I left Friday afternoon, to my surprise it is not actually that difficult and gives me lots of extra time. 

Today, as it should have been a snow day but wasn't, many students were absent and I tested maybe half of the students scheduled for today. In our spare time, my colleague and I went over the tests before giving them out, enjoyed a relaxed lunch, and prepared for other tests we have to give later in the week. Although I do have many tasks at hand right now with these tests, I have high hopes for getting my room into order for the new schedule that will start again in a couple weeks. (And then be stopped again so I can proctor other state mandated tests. Gotta love No Child Left Behind!)

All this being said, I joyfully left school this afternoon quickly after the kids did, as I had no lessons to set out and get ready for tomorrow. Being home a tad earlier than normal I made some brownies along with dinner. Now its 7:18pm and I have already finished my homework for tomorrow's class and am not quite sure what to do. Ya, sure, I could post on blackboard for my other class, but the last time I did that on a Monday my posts were deleted by accident. I should go read some manuals for my new lessons at school, but that won't start back again for two weeks. Maybe I will go watch some TV and go to bed early. What a great Monday! 

Oh where does the time go? Its a bit harder for me to come up with good reasons to post on here nowadays, since I am living in America. But at the same time I see this as kind of a journal (although very public) and I always enjoy looking back and reading my old posts. 

I have been teaching in the public schools now for four months, and just as I was thinking I was getting the swing of things, everything is changing. I walked into another teacher's classroom the other day to let her know I had a meeting and would not be taking her students. This meant she now had 6 extra students in her class that she hadn't expected or prepared for in the final lesson of the day. She laughed and commented that when you become a teacher your middle name changes to "flexible." I laughed along with her as I knew my whole schedule was about to change.

I took home many new manuals this weekend and have made up my new blank lesson plan sheet. Now its time to make sense of the new curriculum and figure out exactly what I am doing. I heard there is a slight prediction for snow on Monday, I am thinking the timing is pretty good for a snow day, or at least a delay. 

update with photos

Wow, its been awhile since I posted.

So I bought a little whiteboard for my classroom, and I put it on the side of my desk, with a note above it that says "Write a note to Miss Kobus here."

This is what was left after a really tough day:

(names removed for security)

Here is a picture of the sunrise the day after a snow storm. (day before was Snow Day #9)


And last but not least, some photos of my favorite person in the whole wide world: