My week...the highlights....

Tuesday - Former student who is now in the chemistry class next door has a seizure and his new teacher did not know of his history.   Another student whose Mother is also a teacher at the school I am at chews me out b/c she wants her son moved from honors to standard level chemistry.

Wednesday - Faculty meeting where I am recognized for my National Board achievement. Coincidentally the superintendent and the head of high schools for the county is there. Get an email from my head principal about 10pm that the earlier mentioned teacher/mother wants a conference the following afternoon.

Thursday - No alarms went off. Woke up at 6:02am. I am usually awake by 4:45am and at school by 6. Receive several emails in response to gradesheets I sent home earlier in the week. Have conference with teacher/mother after school. She was late to the conference but did apologize for snapping at me earlier in the week. The world's greatest administrator was there with me and lead us through a very successful conference. I felt very relieved.

Oh, and I am working on learning my Jazzercise workshop set for becoming an instructor. My head continues to spin. I wonder what tomorrow will bring for me. 

Trying not to blame myself....

Maybe it is just my nature. Or maybe somewhere in some education class somewhere I was told it is my responsibility.....

It is exam time here. My students have a nine week exam and a semester exam w/i a week of each other. Today was the nine week exam. I am partially finished grading them but to combat the verbal comments of "It wasn't that bad" the grades are THAT BAD! I cannot figure out what else I could have done to help. I have seriously been teaching my little heart out. I have been "leaving it all in the classroom" (as opposed to the pep talk of leaving it all on the field...). I even gave them study guide material (which I said I wasn't b/c I felt the test study guides along with the tests which I went over in addition to all the papers I look for in the notebook collection wad plenty to study from. But I did it any way. Around the room I posted sample questions which mimic the exam questions. I may use a sodium instead of a calcium or other things like that but essentially I gave them the exam questions AND when they lift up the poster, the answer with the work! What else could I have done?  Sooooooo depressed.......

Seriously? It has come to this?

Last night I woke up from a vivid dream where I was continually trying to explain to my students how a single replacement(displacement) reaction works while balancing an equation. Ugh! Now I am teaching in my sleep? 

Perusing Teacher tube

Cool (?) way to start the school year?



This would be very fun to make.....I'm totally geeking out, I know



Not as good as a recently submitted student rap about atoms I have (will post later) but kind of fun in its own right...


Hmmmm.....


This has been circulating the FB


Admin walk through...


Powerpoint how NOT to


If some people got this idea......