Pike's Pique
Munsters marathon in my room tonight ! I also need to clean my room again and make an effort to either have fun or get work done. Don't have enough energy for both. I finally finished reading God Hates us All which was a fucking SHAM. I'm slowly giving up on modern fiction, maybe I need to stick to well written biographies and the ol'graphic novel. I have dandruff. Herman Munster is so so charming!
At work, I found out that one of my students that has been extremely disruptive is in the crossfire of his parent's nasty custody battle. It took four e-mails and some prodding about the student's "lifestyle" for this to be revealed to me by his mother, who only sees him on weekends. As teachers, we often get caught up in this belief that our class should be our student's focus. When students say they have to go to band or soccer practice at the end of the day, I often find myself saying things like "Not until you see me about x, y, and z concepts." I have lost sight of the fact that these kids have LIVES and that they really want to just be kids sometimes. This weekend, I want to really take the time to think about developing more simple lesson plans that will still accomplish the objectives I have in mind, but also, limit the stress my class most likely induces. I've been assigning tons of homework (almost all of them do it, and do it well) , quizzing and testing like crazy, and doing some awesome shit in the classroom that EVERYONE needs to be alert for.
This has it's benefits -- students are doing really well, students are improving their study skills, the parents are really enjoying my open door policy and how i keep the lines of communication open and active, etc. At the same time, the majority of my existence is so devoted to work that I'm letting everything become personal and I'm an emotional bundle of nerves. Not good. In the words of Choking Victim, there's "got to be a better way"
At work, I found out that one of my students that has been extremely disruptive is in the crossfire of his parent's nasty custody battle. It took four e-mails and some prodding about the student's "lifestyle" for this to be revealed to me by his mother, who only sees him on weekends. As teachers, we often get caught up in this belief that our class should be our student's focus. When students say they have to go to band or soccer practice at the end of the day, I often find myself saying things like "Not until you see me about x, y, and z concepts." I have lost sight of the fact that these kids have LIVES and that they really want to just be kids sometimes. This weekend, I want to really take the time to think about developing more simple lesson plans that will still accomplish the objectives I have in mind, but also, limit the stress my class most likely induces. I've been assigning tons of homework (almost all of them do it, and do it well) , quizzing and testing like crazy, and doing some awesome shit in the classroom that EVERYONE needs to be alert for.
This has it's benefits -- students are doing really well, students are improving their study skills, the parents are really enjoying my open door policy and how i keep the lines of communication open and active, etc. At the same time, the majority of my existence is so devoted to work that I'm letting everything become personal and I'm an emotional bundle of nerves. Not good. In the words of Choking Victim, there's "got to be a better way"