Day 141: Six Mondays Undiscovered

I’ve been a terrible blogger this spring...it seems like school and baby preparation have pretty much taken over, much to my chagrin.  One of my wonderful English coworkers sent me this email today, which got me thinking that I needed to write:  

Hey, just a head's up - your oh-so-curious AP kiddos are searching tirelessly for your blog. They won't get the info from me :)

While my students were showing her my teacher website, she asked aloud if my blog was linked there, alerting them to the presence of such a blog...they didn’t find it, but now they have a purpose, and I know they most likely will discover me eventually.  Since I started writing last year, I’ve been picturing a Harriet-the-Spy-esque showdown when my students discover I’ve been writing about them, and suddenly all my friends turn on me, but Rosie O’Donnell will be there to tell me telling the truth is the most important virtue...but I digress.  Rereading some posts from this year, I do think I am much more complimentary of my students than last year...and this knowledge satisfies me very much.  While I haven’t had as much time to reflect on my year as I did last year, year two has been much more successful than year one. I know this has much to do with the addition of my Advanced Placement students, but I also know I have been able to implement many of my year one lessons into my teaching this year.  

I met with my assistant principal today to go over my teacher evaluations for this year.  Last year, I felt I had issues with my giving feedback (especially when students were failing), expectations for student work, and staying on task in the classroom.  This year, my primary area where I felt like I needed improvement was getting essays graded fast enough; I feel like my classroom is run much  more efficiently and effectively than last year.  Students know what they are expected to do, and they know where to look if they are confused.  I was able to focus more on WHAT I wanted my students to learn and get out of class, rather than freak out about getting together the material and making copies and entering grades.  Not counting today (I mean, it’s already practically lunch time, so who would?), and since we don’t go to school on Memorial Day, we have six Mondays remaining to this school year.  It seems like it has flown by, and while we have a lot more to accomplish yet this year, it has been a good year.  Next year, with the addition of baby Spartacus to my little household, the adventures will only get crazier, I’m sure!