Tomorrow is my prep day, so I only have an exam hallway coverage for an hour, and then I have the rest of the day to prep for next semester - lots of copying to do - course outlines, student info forms, lab safety manuals, safety quizzes, diagnostic tests to see what chemistry they remember, periodic tables, wow that's a lot, and it's only 3 days worth of stuff!
Exam done by 10:45, marked by 1:00, report cards done by 2:00! It was a productive day!
Tomorrow is my prep day, so I only have an exam hallway coverage for an hour, and then I have the rest of the day to prep for next semester - lots of copying to do - course outlines, student info forms, lab safety manuals, safety quizzes, diagnostic tests to see what chemistry they remember, periodic tables, wow that's a lot, and it's only 3 days worth of stuff!
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Marked my chemistry ISUs....those were not fun - very long. Lots of tests and assignments and labs and exams to make in the next week - it's going to be nuts. Once again it's my own fault because I did nothing before Christmas. Oh well - it's been a great break with 3 days left! Going to enjoy my last day of 2010 and then go crazy this weekend with work.
PS - Congratulations to a coworker, Melanie, who got engaged this week out west on vacation! Can't wait to hear all the details when we go back to school on Monday! :) This week was rough - busy with 2 sections of frog dissections, an electrochemistry lab, quizzes, tests, the usual, but it seemed a busy week for all my classes. I was run down and frustrated with everyone and tired, so I took a "mental health" sick day on Thursday. I really wasn't feeling great, but I also just needed a day to catch up on my life! I slept a bit (8 AM is really a sleep in considering I usually wake up at 5:15), did the laundry, washed the bedding, tidied my house, did some marking, made an ISU for my chem kids, made a few lessons for my ten's for optics, and watched a hell of a lot of HGTV. All in all, quite a productive day, and I really felt so much better in the end.
Came back to school on Friday refreshed and in a better mood, and all was well. And now it's the weekend. Lovely! PS - neglected my vocal kids on Thursday, however, and practice was a bit crazy on Tuesday - but I'm hoping to get back into it this week! I was very nervous on Tuesday with my first vocal rehearsal, but thank goodness for Music and his piano skills - they helped a lot little exercises and parts they were struggling with. We started with "Prince Ali" and worked on some of the melody and overlay. Continued that on Thursday with some reprises as well. Our Jafar is awesome - such a deep voice and perfect for the part! I was much more relaxed on Thursday, and now that I have my aunt's keyboard, things are much better. I can practice at home and am better prepared for the rehearsals.
This week it is "Arabian Nights" which is a bit different than the movie, with multiple parts and reprises. Will be more of a challenge for sure. We already had to replace a narrator because one of them couldn't make all the after school practices. We started with 61 and we are down to 50! I hope not too many more drop out of our chorus - it's so powerful right now - it's incredible! All these kids are so talented. Sat in for a bit of the choreography for "Friend Like Me" on Friday too - Marta with her pregnant belly protruding as an orange pumpkin was dancing around with them and getting them in step - so cute! It's all coming together and I keep getting more and more excited! Now my only challenge? Devoting as much time as my daily courses compared to the after school stuff - I still have to keep the science and chemistry going strong! I went in to school on Tuesday afternoon - lugged a ton of stuff up to my room, got my keys, and that's about it. I didn't have enough storage so my desk was a disaster. Headed out to Staples and loaded up with supplies, and got some clothes for the fall - nothing crazy - just basic Smart Set stuff - going to head to Banana soon to get the good stuff!
Wednesday and Thursday were mandatory days. so I was in bright and early. Staff meeting, mass, basic intro stuff on the first day, and government stuff yesterday, but we had some time to set up and copy and get organized. I did most of my work today - I went in really early and did a ton of copying, got my computer setup, cleaned every surface and all the boards in my room, and got all my copies ready for the first day. Should be good to go for the first few days - a few things I still need to bring and do on Tuesday morning, but nothing too crazy. I have all my class lists too, which is good. So glad to be back at the same school!!! Today in the mail I got my `back to school` letter from my principal. It was nice to hear about the teachers who became permanent who were LTO`s last year, and even just teachers on LTO who are back again. I`m sad to see that some are not there, but hopefully they are at another school! That`s the trouble with teaching right now - it`s tough and I keep remembering that I am lucky to have secured a permanent position so early in my teaching career. Good luck to those still interviewing and looking - like my brother`s girlfriend, Jessica, who is such an incredible person, and I just know that she will make an incredible teacher one day too. Good luck Jess!
I also got my timetable. The first semester is amazing - it is pretty much the same as last semester. Grade 10 academic period 1, prep period 2, lunch, Grade 12 college chem period 3, and Grade 10 academic period 4 - ALL IN THE SAME ROOM! That was a great happy surprise. Second semester is ok. Grade 11 university chem period 1, grade 10 academic period 2, lunch, grade 10 applied period 3, and prep period 4 - ALL IN DIFFERENT ROOMS! I am used to the morning before lunch in one room and the afternoon after lunch in another, but not used to having to change rooms between classes. That is going to be tough. I guess I did it at my old schools, but I have been spoiled at my own school! At least I`m not teaching science in a religion room like last year - so every little improvement is good! I`m a bit excited to be back into the teaching routine and stuff, but I`m sure if I read this post in a month I will think I was nuts. I`m also registering for my chemistry honours specialist this fall. I`m taking it through U of T (OISE), and its all online, starting Sept 27th and going to Dec 10th. Nice and short, but I`m sure its a lot of work in those 11 weeks. At least when it`s done I will be bumped up a pay category and my pay will go up! Not sure if it will go up right away, but at least it will be retroactive for whenever I finished it. That will be a big help this year for sure! Now to get some motivation to get my back to school documents updated and ready to go for copying next week...*sigh* I probably won`t do it until Monday! Typical teacher procrastination! Next Wednesday I have to go back to school. I'll actually probably go back on Tuesday, but I MUST be there next Wednesday and Thursday. Good ol' mandatory PA days before school starts - this is the second year for this - not sure why it is still happening with our board but not any others. Oh well, I would have gone in next week anyway to do lots of prep and setup.
This week I cleaned out the den, and about half of that work was organizing binders and school stuff. I came home in June and dumped a whole bunch of stuff in to the den. Then I came home from teaching summer school in July and dumped even more. I was finally able to focus on the wedding stuff so I didn't even care about the mess. Once I cleaned, I realized I had no more room for binders or anything. So I spent yesterday going through binders and clearing out duplicates, and making things a bit more organized. I also took all the courses I won't be teaching this year (civics, careers, math), and put it all in a box to go into the storage locker (sidenote - I should really clean the storage locker). Now my binders actually fit on my shelves, although I could use a lot more room, and I have a pile of stuff to go to school with me next week. I have to do a run to Staples for the usual supplies (but NOT page protectors - after clearing out my binders I have now have 2 2-inch binders only filled with page protectors), Ikea for a new cabinet for my desk (I switched desks so I don't have as many drawers now in the department office), and Costco for a giant supply of Carnation Breakfast Shakes and Power/Granola Bars (I hardly have time to eat in the day and these would be a great help). The rest of the week I'll make sure the first few days of school stuff is organized, and start planning units. This semester I am teaching 2 sections of grade 10 academic science, and 1 section of grade 12 college chemistry, and I have section period as my prep (with Marta!). I've taught these all before but there is a new biology unit in grade 10 - body systems (it used to be ecology, but now that's in grade 9) - so I'll have to look that over. Next semester I have 2 sections of grade 10 applied science, and 1 section of grade 11 university chemistry, with last period as my prep (my favourite prep time!). The 11 U is a new course for me (I've taught parts of it twice during LTO's, but not the whole course from start to finish), so it will require lots of prep. I looked at my class list for that and about half of the students I taught in grade 10 so that will be good. Looking forward to the year and being at the same school again. Such a relief not to learn so many new staff and routines. I still don't know a lot of people, but it will be an easier first few weeks for sure! We'll see if people adjust to the name change for my first married teaching year! |
MissSecondary school chemistry teacher, makeshift vocal director, behavioral therapist & all around life coach Archives
April 2011
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