After a nice long vacation I am back to work. I left last year thanksgiving weekend and finally made it back to start this school year. I did not know what things were going to be like with teacher cuts, but I have been there long enough that I should be pretty safe from the cuts. Now I just hope they don’t cut our pay.
I never know what my schedule is going to be like when I return. They always change my prep and what grades I teach. I like to teach the 6th graders a little more because they like the games I come up with. 7th and 8th get lazy and can be so low energy that I don’t feel much like doing things with them. They just want to stand around and talk. This year I have two 7th grade classes, one 8th, and then two 6th grade classes. I have 3rd period as my prep. All different from last year. I guess change is good.
The first week of school we just take roll and make sure the kids get their clothes and lockers. The second week is all about Social Skills. Getting to know the class and working together. I like to play crazy fun games with the kids. My co-workers always laugh when they see me putting stuff together. As my co-worker says,” You have to be a little off to teach middle school.” That might be true. I always end up blowing up a ball that is over 6’ X 6’. It’s a monster. I have to fill it outside since it won’t fit through the door. I don’t know why I am the only teacher that uses that ball. The kids love it. I also crack up watching them bounce off it. Then there are the giant doughnuts. Yep, you heard me. I laugh all day long when I have my class working with them. Don’t ask me how I came up with this, but I have my class do races with a giant doughnut. Half the time they start off running and in a flash they tumble. All you see is feet in the air. Or a student falls down and you see this kid pop out from under it. Everyone is laughing and having a good time. Again, I am the only teacher that uses that stuff. I get sick of soccer, football and so on. I like the track and field unit, tumbling, rugby, and paddleball. I like to change things up.
Here are some pictures of my classes I took today. We did mod. pull ups. Today was an easy one for me. :-) I just had to demo how to do them all day long. lol I missed taking a picture of my last period of the day. A group of 56, 6th graders. Oh and my class sizes are always weird. I normally teach about 230 kids p/day. This year I am down to the low 200. My first period has only 12 kids. What can you do with 12? Ok, 6 on 6 again today. There are not enough kids to change it up. They finish everything so fast. I would like about 40 in each class. That’s a good mix. The most I have taught in one class was 72 students. I was then given 3 soccer balls. What do you do with that? Stupid. That may be why I am always looking to create something out of what I am given. What games can I make out of this? I came up with a game that my students love. After seeing my class do it other teachers are now doing it. How cool is that. To create a game just by looking out at some trees and then it works well enough that the kids like it and so do other teachers. You will find me standing in the equipment room just looking around. I try to think of things I can do and try for fun. I must be a little off to come up with the things I do. Lol
Enjoy a day with the teacher. What, no apple?
Ugh, I forgot the pictures of the kids in the doughnuts at work. Dang, they are pretty funny. I will have to add them tomorrow.
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