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Return to Teaching
location: Home
mood: 
tired
tiredI managed to get showered and ready by about 7am this morning. I didn't need to leave until 8:15, so this was fantastic! I nursed Ellie several times and managed to pump about 6oz to leave with Aaron in hopes that she would take the bottle in my absence. The bottle has been quite a battle for the past several weeks. We introduced it a bit too late, and she has been persistent about not liking the bottle. She has screamed her adorable round head off for 30 minutes straight when Aaron tries to give it to her. Not every time, which is perhaps more frustrating. Sometimes she will take a few sips of the bottle and then scream. Other times she will scream at the sight of it. Needless to say, I was pretty nervous about whether she would eat in my absence. As I pumped the bottle, I talked with her about it. After I pumped, I let her touch and smell the bottle. It seemed to help because she apparently took the bottle with little trouble today. Yay!
The first adventure of the morning happened after Caleb ate his oatmeal. Aaron was scooping up the last bit when Caleb proceeded to expel his stomach contents all over himself. We cleaned him up and he seemed completely fine. No fever, but no appetite. Hmph.
My drive to campus was uneventful. I listened to NPR without any interruptions or complaints. It was lovely. I do remember thinking that it was strange not to be meeting my friend for coffee before teaching. He used to teach on Sundays, but now he has an internship which makes Sunday morning teaching impossible. Otherwise, I had a peaceful drive. I stopped for hot chocolate and a muffin and head up the hill to campus.
Campus was a madhouse. Understatement really, but I can't come up with a better description. I signed in and could hear someone fighting with the mail room copier, and it was not even 9am yet. I went to the office to get various supplies, and I could barely walk through the crowds. The administrator extraordinaire was at her wits' end, and I never see her flustered. Students were registering at the last minute, and it turns out that at least 10 students enrolled in the school THAT MORNING. WTH? Nice advance planning there. Anyway, I had to cut this butcher paper for my 3rd period class, and what a nightmare. No place to unroll this gigantic roll other than blocking the hallway where there were too many people. I had to cut twelve 6ft long strips of the stuff. What a PITA. I apologized to people for blocking the hall, asked people to take the other stairs, and still people literally walked over me. I left the paper in a semi-safe place for my TA to bring to 3rd period, and I rushed off to my distant classroom (different building than the office).
I walked into my classroom at 9:29. Class starts at 9:30. Most of my students for 1st period were late - yay for first day confusion. While I caught my breath, I realized that it was about 85 degrees in the room. I can't adjust the AC in the room (it's controlled elsewhere) and there are no windows. I left the door open, but by the end of 1st period, I could feel sweat dripping down my back. The upside? Maybe I'll lose those pesky 20 pounds that don't seem to come off on their own after giving birth. ;)
I have just over 100 students between my 4 classes on Sunday and my 2 classes on Wednesday. My Sunday classes are large by Prozdor standards. I get a lot of repeat students, which actually is a good thing. Students get to choose their classes at Prozdor, so having repeat students means students actually want to take my classes.
First period, 19 students, was quiet, and so I'm going to have to find ways to make that class come alive. I'm teaching Jewish symbols (Signs of the Times: Jewish Symbols of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow), and today's class was a bit too abstract. I felt like we needed to have a working definition of symbol and of Jewish symbol. I really didn't do a great job with either definition, but I'm not going to worry too much because next week we start looking at actual symbols. I'm excited about this new class because I've tried to infuse magic into it. That is, I want to show how many Jewish symbols started out as magical objects.
Second period, 19 students, was spunkier. I teach one of the sections of 8th grade Bible Core. We learn different approaches to reading biblical text (sounds boring, but really it's pretty fun), and the class is supposed to function as a "homeroom" for the 8th grade students. I've been teaching this course since I started at Prozdor, so I feel really comfortable with the curriculum even though I didn't design it. And I've grown to appreciate what the course tries to accomplish. Next week we get to work with our first text approach, but this week was just intro stuff.
During the break, I begged for chairs from another teacher who has a ridiculously huge classroom for the number of students he teaches. I needed more chairs for my 4th period class. 30 students in a room that is not meant for 30 students.
Third period, 21 students, was another new class for me. Prozdor started a new program for 6th grade this year with one of the local synagogues. I teach the 6th grade core class, Jewish Personalities through the Ages. New program, new curriculum, new students. It's a bit overwhelming when I think about it. Anyway, I enjoyed meeting the kids, and I hope this may be a chance for me to make up for my first 6th grade teaching experience years ago. The kids all know each other since they come from the same synagogue, and this is different from my other classes where the kids are from all over, so community building should be reasonably easy. Hopefully the material will interest them.
Fourth period, Current Events, 30 students. Oy. I've taught this particular class a handful of times. It's designed as a discussion/seminar-style class. How do I have a discussion with 30 students? Well, not everyone gets to talk when they want to, and we don't get to go as in-depth with news articles as we might if there were fewer students, but somehow the kids keep signing up even when they know the class is HUGE. A girl came up to me at the start of class and asked if she could sit in today because she wanted to add the class. I had to tell her to go to the office to add the class officially and that I had 30 students enrolled already. I explained that the class was capped at 30 in order to leave some hope for discussion, and yet she still added the course later. Crazy. I have several repeat students in this class, and I'm absolutely delighted to see their cheerful goofy faces again.
At the end of the day, I apologized again to the Adminstrator Extraordinaire for the butcher paper mess. I can't store it at home or in my car, and there isn't really room at the office for it. *sigh* I made an appointment to talk with the Special Needs Coordinator about my students because I always end up with a huge number of kids with individualized education plans. Then I spoke briefly with the director about discussing career direction "stuff." I love this teaching thing, but I don't know what to do with it. Do I go back to school (again) for some advanced degree in education? Do I just enjoy the part-time thing and ignore the fact that I don't have a more directed life purpose? Life purpose is a different post for a different day. Sleep awaits me.
Many changes at the school this year, and those changes feel somehow "off" to me. Several of last year's teachers did not return this year; one of the most beloved staff members moved on to a greener pasture. It also does feel strange not to be the "new kid" any longer. I'll need to think more about that to figure out why it feels strange. All in all, a good though frantic first day.
frustrated