Middle School

So, I now have almost two years under my belt teaching middle school. Why is it that I am still so surprised at how different one day can be from the next? I will have a day or days where I feel such a strong bond with my students, feel so lucky to have my job, and think that maybe I'm getting the hang of this teaching thing. Then, the very next day I am convinced that I am the most inept teacher, the students aren't learning a thing, and that they must be out to get me! Fortunately, I now know enough to not get too discouraged because it can and will turn around just as drastically in a positive way.

I've also found myself surprised by the degree of care, concern, and love I feel for these "tweeners." I quite vividly remember the awkwardness and volatility of my own middle school experience, and I think that this helps me relate to my students. At times I am also amazed by how entertaining and funny kids this age can be. Even on the down days I end up laughing more than I ever did in any other workplace. I believe their humor keeps me youthful- in my mind at least. Where else can you get this as part of your benefits package?

Spring...

...Is on its way! I can feel it. It has infused its way into my every thought, even into my curriculum planning. As I was at the store buying seeds and peet starters for my own garden, the thought came to me to bring my love of growing living things into the classroom. For such a unit the vocabulary options are endless, higher level thinking skills ingrained, and instant engagement almost guaranteed. Why not? I started searching the internet for lesson plans and projects related to plants. There are tons: plant parts, cells, functions, life cycle, forcing blooms, greenhouses, and bird houses, oh my! I will easily be able to pull and adapt those that will fulfill the standards I still need to incorporate this year. I am going to collaborate with the science teacher so that I can reinforce the concepts my ELA students will need for that core class. I'm looking forward to sharing my excitement and love of learning about plants with my students. I know how greatly my own enthusiasm affects theirs.

Ooops! I just looked outside. Snow. Lots of it. But, I am not going to let that dampen my bright, sunny thoughts. Come on spring...

Argh!

What a frustrating week! On Monday, I was fully prepared after spending hours over the weekend finalizing the lesson plan and creating the model video for our theme project. I had the computer lab booked, and the set up instructions on the eboard for students to create their own accounts at masher.com. As usual, it took a while for the students to create their user names, passwords, and in some cases mailinator e-mail accounts, to successfully register with the site. I have 17 students in this particular class. Once they were all up on masher the trouble started. "Mrs. Blick, Mrs. Blick, it's not working," "Mrs. Blick, I can't hear anything," "Mrs. Blick, it's frozen!" Yes, the site must have been overloaded and only a few students had functionality to work on their videos. The following day I separated the students into two groups and had one group work on an alternative activity in the hopes that fewer students logged in would free up the site. However, there were still several students whose applications ran far too slow and they were unable to make any progress. So, after 3 hours in the lab working on this project we have very little to show for it. And with CSAP coming up, I'm hesitant to spend any more time on it. What have I learned? Well, that even the best laid plans don't ensure success every time!