Year 5, Day 9: Small wins and losses
My Facebook newsfeed lit up yesterday with first day of school pictures of my friends' kids, and I sigh because I'm going into WEEK THREE of school! We start too early, y'all! And shockingly, I am behind on my grading!
Small win: my freshmen classes drafted and turned in their first essay on Friday, for which they interviewed another student in the class and then wrote a 450-600 word biographic essay on him or her. In my first period, EVERY SINGLE STUDENT in my 24-person class turned in their draft on time. Now, I haven't actually graded them yet, but this was an exciting milestone on which to start the year.
Small loss: Despite my best efforts, I already am two essays behind on grading - a narrative essay my AP kids turned in Tuesday of last week (that I tried to grade too early) and the interview papers my freshmen turned in Friday. I'm hoping to get the latter done tonight, so they can use tomorrow to make changes and submit a final draft. I don't know when I'll get the AP papers done. Oh well - if I'm not behind on grading, then I must not be doing my job as an English teacher.
In July I took an Old Testament class online through Concordia University-Portland to begin my colloquy program to be a rostered teacher in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. This month I'm in a New Testament class. Classes begin on the first, and close on the 25th of each month. The entire program is eight months long, and I've been working hard to try to finish my NT requirements by Thursday. However, I've decided to push pause on the adventure until sometime next year; when I signed up in the spring I didn't know I was having a baby, and I certainly didn't realize just how much time it would take when the hours between 5 PM and 8 PM are taken up with feeding, bathing, and holding a basket for a two-year-old while he tries to dunk a rubber ball like Michael Jordan.
BIG win: This morning when I left the house it was 57 degrees, which means my classroom is a comfortable 72 with all the windows open - learning can finally take place!
Small win: my freshmen classes drafted and turned in their first essay on Friday, for which they interviewed another student in the class and then wrote a 450-600 word biographic essay on him or her. In my first period, EVERY SINGLE STUDENT in my 24-person class turned in their draft on time. Now, I haven't actually graded them yet, but this was an exciting milestone on which to start the year.
Small loss: Despite my best efforts, I already am two essays behind on grading - a narrative essay my AP kids turned in Tuesday of last week (that I tried to grade too early) and the interview papers my freshmen turned in Friday. I'm hoping to get the latter done tonight, so they can use tomorrow to make changes and submit a final draft. I don't know when I'll get the AP papers done. Oh well - if I'm not behind on grading, then I must not be doing my job as an English teacher.
In July I took an Old Testament class online through Concordia University-Portland to begin my colloquy program to be a rostered teacher in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. This month I'm in a New Testament class. Classes begin on the first, and close on the 25th of each month. The entire program is eight months long, and I've been working hard to try to finish my NT requirements by Thursday. However, I've decided to push pause on the adventure until sometime next year; when I signed up in the spring I didn't know I was having a baby, and I certainly didn't realize just how much time it would take when the hours between 5 PM and 8 PM are taken up with feeding, bathing, and holding a basket for a two-year-old while he tries to dunk a rubber ball like Michael Jordan.
BIG win: This morning when I left the house it was 57 degrees, which means my classroom is a comfortable 72 with all the windows open - learning can finally take place!
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