Usually when it's nice outside, the kids will go out during the tail-end of their lunch periods. But since there is a tornado watch, they all stayed inside today. They seemed extra rowdy because of that. I was monitoring during 6th and 7th grade lunch, and both were out of control. It was pretty exhausting to keep the kids close-to-sane. Yikes.
Also, here's a reiteration of my girl-crush on Diane Ravitch's writing. This article speaks volumes on current ed reform. I especially like her astute observation that "[d]ata mean nothing when your mind is made up." How true. Damn stubbornness.
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Is it spring yet?
Oh this crazy DC weather.
The third quarter ended Thursday (hard to believe) and there was no school on Friday. To celebrate, several staff members (of which I was one) participated in a basketball game against another middle school. It was a lot of fun, doubly so because we won. And surprisingly, I was not only a starter, I got to play about half the game. And actually did pretty decently. Hooray! Then everyone went out for nachos and beer afterward. Hooray for bonding with colleagues!
Anyway, as usual I have nothing to do so far today and thus read the WaPo ed section. Great articles, including this one, arguing *against* standards. While I somewhat agree with the authors, I am all for national education standards. However, I think standardized tests are not the way to go about achieving them.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this article. It is incredibly poignant and accurate. Everyone should share it with everyone they know. Maybe then this stupid "test 'em until they're dead" movement will die out.
The third quarter ended Thursday (hard to believe) and there was no school on Friday. To celebrate, several staff members (of which I was one) participated in a basketball game against another middle school. It was a lot of fun, doubly so because we won. And surprisingly, I was not only a starter, I got to play about half the game. And actually did pretty decently. Hooray! Then everyone went out for nachos and beer afterward. Hooray for bonding with colleagues!
Anyway, as usual I have nothing to do so far today and thus read the WaPo ed section. Great articles, including this one, arguing *against* standards. While I somewhat agree with the authors, I am all for national education standards. However, I think standardized tests are not the way to go about achieving them.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this article. It is incredibly poignant and accurate. Everyone should share it with everyone they know. Maybe then this stupid "test 'em until they're dead" movement will die out.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Scheduling is Hard, Dude
In addition to filling in for people during the day, I have the added responsibility of running homework club twice a week and then taking those students to intramurals. Yesterday was quite the clusterf*** when it came to these tasks.
About twenty kids showed up for homework club, which was ridiculous enough in itself, and half of them weren't doing homework and/or distracting others from doing their homework. I had to deal with it completely by myself. Hooray real world experience! So that was a little crazy, but not too bad.
But then (and the taking the kids to intramurals is a very recent thing. So recent I started doing it yesterday), another teacher who was also supposed to help with intramurals on Monday helped me lead them to the field, where there were already students along with another teacher. Apparently this teacher does soccer every Monday and has been doing so for years. Whaaaaa? Why did the activities director assign three teachers to one activity that one teacher has been able to handle for years? Wasn't a huge deal, as I was still getting paid for my time (as, I presume, so were the other two), but that is a misuse of resources, I feel. Mr. M., who was evidently in charge of intramural soccer, said having all three of us there was overkill. Way to make me feel useful...
Today was a little better. There were half as many students in homework club and all of them were doing work. There was also (ironically) another teacher in the room. That was probably why they were all doing work (I think that the students don't really think of me as a real authority figure yet). There were two activities for intramurals. The other teacher lead flag football while I led soccer (of which I actually know something about) so I actually felt useful this afternoon. Hooray!
About twenty kids showed up for homework club, which was ridiculous enough in itself, and half of them weren't doing homework and/or distracting others from doing their homework. I had to deal with it completely by myself. Hooray real world experience! So that was a little crazy, but not too bad.
But then (and the taking the kids to intramurals is a very recent thing. So recent I started doing it yesterday), another teacher who was also supposed to help with intramurals on Monday helped me lead them to the field, where there were already students along with another teacher. Apparently this teacher does soccer every Monday and has been doing so for years. Whaaaaa? Why did the activities director assign three teachers to one activity that one teacher has been able to handle for years? Wasn't a huge deal, as I was still getting paid for my time (as, I presume, so were the other two), but that is a misuse of resources, I feel. Mr. M., who was evidently in charge of intramural soccer, said having all three of us there was overkill. Way to make me feel useful...
Today was a little better. There were half as many students in homework club and all of them were doing work. There was also (ironically) another teacher in the room. That was probably why they were all doing work (I think that the students don't really think of me as a real authority figure yet). There were two activities for intramurals. The other teacher lead flag football while I led soccer (of which I actually know something about) so I actually felt useful this afternoon. Hooray!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Lunch Monitor!
The cafeteria is a craaaaaaaaaaaaaazy place! It's amazing how much my views of it have changed since I was in school. Today, I was put in charge (bwahaha) of monitoring the snack bar, which contains a (barely used) salad bar, chips, cookies, and other such junk. Man, kids eat a lot of crap! Why does the school even offer such things? No wonder there is an obesity problem in this country.
I was really surprised during 7th grade lunch to see kids actually using the salad bar. But then several of them (plus others) came back to grab cookies and/or chips. None of the 6th graders got salad. But, and this surprised me, every child had the option of going to recess for the last 10 minutes of lunch. Apparently all grades get recess every day unless it's cold, rainy, or snowy (so that means November to March is basically out). Even though it's only for 10 minutes, it's nice to see that they get a chance to exercise and be outdoors. Plus, standing in front of the snack bar, into which only five kids are admitted at a time, made it clear that I was an authority figure and not some random girl wandering the halls looking for something to do.
Oh, middle school. Strangely, how I have missed thee.
I was really surprised during 7th grade lunch to see kids actually using the salad bar. But then several of them (plus others) came back to grab cookies and/or chips. None of the 6th graders got salad. But, and this surprised me, every child had the option of going to recess for the last 10 minutes of lunch. Apparently all grades get recess every day unless it's cold, rainy, or snowy (so that means November to March is basically out). Even though it's only for 10 minutes, it's nice to see that they get a chance to exercise and be outdoors. Plus, standing in front of the snack bar, into which only five kids are admitted at a time, made it clear that I was an authority figure and not some random girl wandering the halls looking for something to do.
Oh, middle school. Strangely, how I have missed thee.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)