I've been Twilighted!

I've been sucked into the obsession. I've spent all day reading Twilight and have moved on to New Moon. Dear Lord, what have I gotten myself into? I don't have time to be doing this!

When they can write what they really think...

I gave each student a survey to fill out on the first day of class. Here are some of the questions and answers I received. 

Q: What is your biggest fear entering high school?

A: how big it is and not having the courage to ask for help; 

Q: Who was your favorite middle school teacher and why?

A: Ms. Javidpour because... she understood us students...when I needed help she was able to help me when I needed help...she challenged me to do my best...

Q:What profession are you interested in?

A: Pharmicist, police, engineering, Be a CEO of something like Microsoft; Musician; geologist or archeologist; 

Q: Who is your favorite singer/band?

A: Demi Lovato, Michael Jackson!; ACDC; Selena

Q: What qualities do you like in a teacher?

A: Make class fun; nice, fair, helpful, and non neglecting; I hate a push-over; that doesn't yell; 

Q: If your life were a movie, what would the title be and why?

A: Conspiracy theory because I believe everything is a conspiracy

Q: If your movie had a soundtrack, what would one of the songs be and why?

A: It's all a lie because as I said everything is a lie and the government is out to get me

Wow. There were even more but I can't enter them all. I really love learning about my students. I am still having trouble putting names to faces, but that has always bee a problem of mine! 

Highs and Lows

I'm almost half-way done with week 2!  Here are some highs and lows:

Highs: getting to know my students, being called "miss", text messages from my kids, the VP sharing my bathroom pass policy with the other teachers as a great system, reading the essays my students wrote and laughing periodically when they write things like "Pop goes the embryo" and other musings, getting paid.

Lows: lack of sleep, lack of internet at school on sporadic occasions, loss of my computer's hard drive and all of my music, pictures and documents.

At least my highs is a longer list than my lows! As long as that trend continues I know I'm in a good place. 

Everyone needs to check out Wyeth's blog: wyethlarson.blogspot.com. It's all about his Sweden adventure and he puts up some really pretty pictures.

I think I'll be back in Oregon for a short time in September for Garrett and Ariel's long-anticipated wedding. I can't wait!

Love you all tons!

First Week = DONE! Ha!

It's Friday, and I am still alive. In fact, I had a very successful first week! I have met every single freshman, and I can say without a pause that the class of 2013 is going to be the class to beat. They are such a polite, focused and curious group. I can tell who the class clowns are, and who is going to need some extra encouragement to participate, and I want to be the best teacher these kids have ever had!

I gave each of my students a survey on the first day, and the answers I got back were often halarious, and sometimes frightning. I've learned a lot about my kids through this survey, and their answers will be indispensible when it comes to helping them grow as learners. One student said he had really low self-esteem, and many say that they struggle with organization. It's these types of things that I want to help them with!!!!

Everyone has been so supportive this week! Everyone is always asking how I'm doing, and if they can do anything to help. It has been such a good week, that there is nothing that I can complain about. Alright, there is one thing... You see, most teachers teach three classes a day and have one period to prep. My schedule is a little different because the teacher I replaced wanted to do things differently. On "A" days, I only teach two classes (my Honors classes) and then I have two preps. On "B" days, I teach for all four periods, with my only break being lunch. And sometimes I'm on lunch duty during lunch! Whenever someone hears about this schedule, they can't believe I have to go through that! It's amazing how much that one class off helps you regain focus and your sanity. So on that note, I went to bed at 8 pm yesterday because I was so exhausted! I had a horrible headache coming home and then fell asleep on the couch. I wasn't even hungry because my headache was so bad. It was pretty crazy, but I felt so much better this morning! 10 hours of sleep will get you into a good mood faster than anything else I've found!

Now I have a mountain of grades to enter into the gradebook, and some lesson plans to make for next week! Yikes! I hope I find some time to relax this weekend. I need to get in some serious pool time since my tan is fading fast. And I miss seeing my girlfriends, so a girls night out is in order I think!

I'm missing Oregon a lot lately. Wyeth leaves for Sweden tomorrow and that makes me miss everything from Oregon even more!

Cheers,
Danielle!

Woah. 1st day, almost done

I'm sitting at school in my prep period (one of two on "A" days) and I have no more classes today. I survived! The students I have all seem so great, and there are some real characters. The student survey I had them fill out is really telling me a lot about them, so I'm glad I did that.

I was really worried about timing today, but everything went smoothly! I even gave my kids homework today (I know, I'm THAT teacher). And it was a 5 paragraph essay on whether they agree with the idea of malleable intelligence. I'll do the same thing again tomorrow since I have more world geography kids.

I'm going to try and hammer out some stuff for the rest of the week. I need to make my diagnostic! Ahh!

Ciao!

I have my very own classroom!

So I am finally posting pictures of my classroom. I spent all day yesterday trying to get my room situated. I was lucky in many ways in that the teacher whom I am replacing left me tons of resources. Unfortunately, I have never been good about making decisions when I have many choices, so trying to figure out what to keep and where to put it turned out quite difficult. With that in mind, I think I have it mostly figured out. My bulletin boards don't have anything on them yet (I'm thinking a map would be a good idea),but other that that, it's about where I want it! Enjoy!

This is the view when you enter my classroom.

This is my view when I stand up front.

This is my desk! It looks a little disorganized right now, but that'll change when I find my system!

As you can see, it's a big room, and it has tables instead of desks. Also, it is painted that lovely...greenish/yellow color! I'm so excited to get some kids in there!

I'm at a training right now for all new KIPP teachers in Houston. There are a few other TFA people here which is a welcomed sight, and the gentleman giving the training is a TFA alum. Wish me luck as I plan out the first few days of class!

Cheers,

D.

The Countdown Begins!

Wow! I cannot believe that I am almost a real teacher! This is so unbelievable! I was in inservice all day today and met the rest of the Social Studies faculty and the rest of the staff at KHHS. Everyone is so incredibly nice and supportive! I am the youngest on staff, but not the only TFAer. There are two '08 corps members and a couple of veteran TFA people on staff. I know that they will be a great help to me since they all said how nervous they were when they were in my spot. I just can't wait until I am as confident as they all were today. Each of the them has at least a year under their belt and has learned from their mistakes.

Oh, and I have homework. On top of my unit plan and classroom management plan and syllabus that I need to create by this Friday, I have to think of 2 professional goals for the year and complete the following sentences: I am at my best in the classroom when______, and I am challenged in the classroom when ________. I knew my personal goals since I had thought about those a lot during my last year at UP. I want to start and maintain a lot of contact with parents this year and I want to be very diligent about documenting and tracking student progress. The tracking is super important to TFA because we need to have hard numbers to show student growth, and I know that contact with parents and guardians will essential to success for my students - I have to fight this war on two fronts! Well, not that I think this will be a war. My experience is going to be very different than normal TFA experience. I'm at a school where the students and parents sign a contract about their behavior at KHHS, and want to be there. They are all working towards college, and the faculty all seem to be on the same page. My fellow corps members will mostly be in schools where the faculty and staff aren't on the same page, and the students are often overlooked and where no one signs a contract showing their commitment to excellence.

So as a new teacher without my first paycheck, I am keenly aware of how expensive it is just to be a teacher. KHHS provides me with a lot of supplies, but there are some things that they can't pay for. Their budget was slashed over $1000 per student. That is over $500,000! So I need to buy decorations for my class and who knows what else later down the road. This brings me to a little plug: if you ever want to help a teacher (and probably me in the future), I urge you to go to this website: www.donorschoose.org. This is such a cool website! On this website, teachers can post items they need for their classroom, and then you can donate however much you want to towards their supplies. When the total needed to fund those projects or supplies is reached, the supplies will be shipped to the teacher. I know one girl who has done this already. She is a kindergarten teacher and didn't have a rug in her classroom for her kiddos to sit on. What's a kindergarten classroom without a rug?! So she found one that would work and posted on the website. Within 2 days the amount had been donated and the item was shipped. Now her students have a rug to sit on when they learn about numbers and letters and sharing and all the fun stuff you learn at that age. So take a look around - you can donate as much or as little as you want!

Well, I need to get back to working on my unit plan and classroom management! EEK! I miss you all so much!

Cheers,

D.

Why I love and miss Oregon

Have you ever heard of the website www.textsfromlastnight.com? Well, the premise is you send in texts messages that you either received or sent, maybe while intoxicated. The funniest of funniest end up on this website. You can search for texts from your area by area code. Well, I was killing time last night when I couldn't sleep, and ran across this one... "I just fired a shotgun out of the back of a pickup going 60. I'm going to miss Oregon".  I nearly fell on the floor I was laughing so much! If there is a better snapshot of an Oregon stereotype, I don't know what is. Well, maybe this one: u know ur in oregon when the cop tells u to keep the beer cans he made you pour out so u can recycle them.  Oh yes, that is PRICELESS!

Other news... I was in MY classroom today, getting a lay of the land and signing paperwork!  I completely forgot my camera and really wanted to take pictures, but I'll do that later this week. But take a look at my commute::

View Larger Map

Without traffic, it takes about 15 minutes. But let's get real - this is Houston. The only time there is no traffic is at 3 AM. So I will be expecting a 30-40 minute commute each way. And those who know me know that driving is not my favorite activity and there is one point on this commute where I know I will be pretty stressed out. It happens on my way home, where I switch from one freeway to another. The closest thing I can relate it to is the 405 split in Portland. But instead of over a mile of warnings of which lane to be in to go on either I-5 north or South, there is no signage and cars come to a sudden stop. On the freeway. Where the posted speed is 60 mph and the agreed upon speed is closer to 70. I nearly had a heart attack today. I've learned what lanes to be in to make this transition as easy as possible, but that still doesn't make it an enjoyable experience.

I cannot explain how excited I am to get started in my classroom. The teacher I am replacing is a TFA alum and she left me with TONS of resources. I got my paws on a textbook today, so I can start to look through that and figure out how I want to arrange my units. I also got the low-down on my salary (larger than I was originally told. yay), the computer I will be given, and the cell phone that each teacher is given and how to set boundaries for your students and calling you. I think I will set a "text-message only unless it is an in-depth question" rule. Oooh, and I need to go to a fabric store and buy some cool fabric to decorate my classroom boards!

Aaah, I need to go grocery shopping. I guess I need to eat something besides waffles and ice cream sandwiches!