The Meet & Greet

So from the training the other night I decided I was going to try to greet more students at the door. This was not an altogether new strategy for me, but after the first couple weeks of school it sort of fell by the wayside. I was trying to get the boards erased, the warm up (which is on the TV screen) reset and the classroom back together before my next class came in. On Thursday and Friday I decided not to worry as much about that or to use the first 1-2 minutes of the passing period for that, then moved towards the door and greeted each student.

With finals looming and the end of the tri near, most of my students have tried to refocus their efforts and have actually behaved pretty well. However, I'd like to see this continue through next week, and through the first week of the second trimester. I would say that greeting most of the students at the door definitely helped. The one or two students who came in in those first two minutes of the passing period I'd casually go over to their area of the room and say hello. I'm gonna try and keep up with this and see how it goes.

The end of the period has been a bit more difficult for me but I've actually had some success in that I've been able to physically be near the door as they all leave, so even if I don't say bye to each I'm in the area and can make eye contact.

I will say that no matter how in the way I am they all seem to push through the door with no more than about an inch between them and so it's hard and sounds very fake when I try to speak to too many in a row.

Last Meeting & a little update

So I thought last meetings incorporation of technology was pretty cool. Personally, I would have used the Rocky vs. Drago training montage as opposed to the Matrix one, but maybe that's too old. The one the I've found, in your trainings, our weekly professional development, and every other event I've been to is that the people always run out of time for the 'cool stuff'. Typically, it goes like this:

"So today these are our goals and how we will accomplish them..."
25 min later...
"So we're running short on time so we're going to skip the cool stuff and just give you the info as fact as we can to get it in"

I don't mind this, and happen to learn well whichever method but I know a lot (maybe most) don't learn as well when the "cool stuff" is skipped. I run into the same problem in my class often when I plan something. I think some of it will be solved with experience, but given the fact that I see it across the board at all events it's apparent that it's a struggle for everyone. Anyways, those are my two cents for the day.

The trimester is half over and I've experienced more firsts than I thought I could possibly experience in the first month and a half. First test given, first parent unhappy with their child's grade, first parent teacher conferences (I like to call it the parent teacher buffet), first failed lesson plan, and a whole lot more. Still I feel like I'm hitting some sort of groove and haven't been caught off guard in the last week or two.
I entered the district wide professional development for the math departments and am excited about the opportunity for improvement that that will provide. And I can't say that the extra cash is a bad thing either.
I've also broken up my first fight and dealt with my first habitual behavior problem. I've been relatively happy with how I've dealt with each of these firsts, though think there is probably something minor that I might change the next time I encounter each situation.

Two Weeks and counting

So I've come up with a few bits of info that will help me going forward. While I had been told, warned, or educated in most of these areas expectations have changed quite a bit.

1) The kids at the school ROCK!!!
2) This job is both physically and mentally exhausting
3) Don't assume anything (about habits, knowledge, motivation, how to do my job, etc.) Because the kids will immediately prove your assumptions wrong.

I can honestly say that these have been a couple of the most challenging weeks for me. At the same time there isn't a place I'd rather be or a profession that I'd rather be working in. While there may not be enough hours in the day to do everything that I want I do my best to use the hours I have to work making the students experience in my classroom a bit better than it was every day.

I love the support system that I have and have already tried to take full advantage of them. I've been able to get at least a couple bits of info out of them every day and I'm pretty sure that by the end of the year I'll owe them at least a nice dinner out for all their help. So for now, thanks to those who have helped for getting me going.

3 new ideas - reflection

From my first day and a half in the new teacher induction workshop I'll definitely take the following things.

1) explanations do not equal caring. This will be useful because I often tend to be willing to explain. I think this will create more time for learning.

2) I've learned more and more about the Kagan strategies which I'll use all the time.

3) I've also got some great new ideas about what I really need to do on my first day of school. Specifically, the way that I'll set up my classroom to be welcoming yet consistent and structured.

My new blog

My name is Ted Boddy and I'll be a new math teacher this year. In fact, I'm not only new to my school but new to teaching in general. I've worked as a substitute and lacrosse coach in several schools in the past and am thrilled to be in a school full time this fall. This blog will hopefully be a great way for me to reflect and learn throughout this year.
I'll be updating this with lots of fun stuff about my teaching ideas and experiences but for now, here's a bit about me. I graduated UNH in 2005 and had been substitute teaching while going to school out there for a couple years. That's when the itch to teach started but I until recently assumed I'd go back to school at some point prior to teaching. I've been working as a lacrosse coach for a couple years now and through that was introduced to the alternative license program that is available. Having worked with a portion of the students at my school already I am extremely excited to meet, teach and learn from them and many more students in the classroom setting this year.