Let the Laughter begin!

I have started another school year, and this time I have decide to keep track of the funny things that happen during the day.
I am teaching at a Junior High in Payson, UT.  It is full of 7th-9th graders and I am lucky enough to have most of the 9th graders in World History, but also in Spanish classes.  Today in Spanish II I was crying...because I was laughing so hard.
    I remembered a game that Senora Pennington played with us at GHS so I played it with them for the last 5 or so minutes of class.  It was simple...I tell them to do something in Spanish and they do it.  So I tell them to stand up.  Then to put their finger on their nose, then to put a foot on their chair.  And then I told them all to sit down.  All of the sudden one of my students just dies laughing...and he goes "SHE DIDN'T SAY 'SIMON SAYS'" Apparently, he was under the impression that we were playing 'Simon says.' So there he is, standing up with his finger on his nose, a foot on his chair, laughing hysterically...it was a great moment, and the release I needed...what a fantastic way to finish the first week of school :)

It's all gotta start somewhere

Once upon a time I started this blog.
And today I'm actually writing on it, the miracles never cease.
It has been a very intense past couple months full of many adventures.  My first semester of teaching officially ended. With it came one of the most stressful weeks of my life.  I honestly don't really remember anything like that before.  I didn't have very much time for really anything.  And I also learned about myself that when I stress I tend to be a bit introverted...and I don't talk a lot. Who knew?
Well finals ended grades were put in and then BAM! Powerschool, that lovely data collector that holds the information for well everything at the school crashed.  And all grades put in after January 10 were lost (meaning that whole stressful week was a bit pointless) and that also means that my rolls for my new classes are still a bit messed up.  BUT the aftermath wasn't too bad and it's all good now...minus the fact that I will have students coming in to see me saying their grades are not what they should be. (such is life)
However, this post is going to focus on the new classes.
I have no idea what it is, if it's me or them but this round of students is different.  Maybe I just have a better idea of what to look for...or maybe I just have a different caliber of students, who knows.  But what I do know is that this semester is not going to be EXACTLY like last semester and I still have a ton of improvements to do.
One of my hardest classes is a freshman geography class. Don't get me wrong, I truly enjoy working with all of these young people.  Sometimes, however they just do not know when to stop.  I had to be "bad teacher" today, and I hated it.  I did pull a few students aside and made a "deal" with them...If they are good for the entire month of February they are going to get a treat.  And good means I do not yell at them more than 2 times a class period.  One of them I had to send out of my classroom today because he is just plain crude.  This is a new twist to my adventure.  I've usually been pretty spoiled at Timpview High, very respectful, behaved students who know when it is ok to talk and when you need to tone it down.  Well this young man....let's just say my goal for the semester is to help him be better....not sure how I'm going to do it but we'll see.
Ok...that's enough rambling for today.  Tomorrow is a full day of World Civ. and it's a modern day.   Should be fun.
Let the learning continue.

Too long...

So it has been ridiculously long since I've written anything in here.  In my defense I've been super busy and right now I should probably be doing something more productive, but that's just the way things are :)
School has been good but so overwhelming.  Treading water doesn't even begin to describe what I've been doing to survive and stay on top of things, but it's the closest I can get to it. 
Teaching is still an adventure.  I am doing all that I can to learn and grow and not mess up.  But many times that is just unavoidable.
BUT after 3 months or so together, the students and I get along great...Until they say something they shouldn't.  Their favorite game is either 1 Ask Random questions to get me off topic, or 2 Ask whatever they can about my personal life.  Half of them think I have a boyfriend, Half of them think I'm single, and who knows what everyone else thinks. And then there is the guessing game of my age.  Nothing tops the comment about me being like her Mom (37) but usually I get pinned with 26 or so...And then their favorite topic: "Miss Brady, are you married?"--Sometimes I think they don't know the difference between Miss and Mrs.--but I tell them the truth with the married thing.  The other day one of my students asked me that and then followed with "Well you should get on that..."---thank you sir, glad I can get that from school as well as other places.  But after I tell them I'm not married they turn right around with "Well, do you have a boyfriend?" and that is when I turned deaf and mute.  I've gotten very good at changing the subject.
And THEN there's the deal when they have a boyfriend....the other day a girl came in for class and goes "Miss Brady, I just love him so much" "No, you don't" "Yes I do!" "No you don't.." "Ok so I may not love him, but I really REALLY like him."...hormonal teenagers are so fun.
And then there are the rough days when they are still trying to figure themselves out and deal with social life and family problems, all of these things...I do not miss being a teenager at all.  But my heart does go out to them, and I can't help but be frustrated sometimes, mostly because they just don't get it! They will though, eventually.
Ok...time to get back to work...and try and not just tread water but enjoy the waves too.
They took tests

You know your work is your life when...

You know your work is your life when
   You dream about grading papers
   You come up with lesson plans while you sleep
   That day that you are supposed to "take a break" you are constantly thinking about what you are going to do with your classes.
   You go into stores and look at movies that only have to do with history
   Your new best friend is wikipedia
   You want to randomly start speaking in spanish because your brain doesn't like English, because you use it too much.
    You take books to read to the gym that are non-fiction
    Eating is the perfect time to study up on the next days lesson
    The only way you will do something is if you can rationalize that it is good for 1-your students, 2-your lessons, or 3-completing objectives
    And you often find yourself talking to people in the teacher voice...or giving them the teacher eye when they are doing something kind of obnoxious.

Parent-Teacher Conferences, Jimmer Mania, and Nunks

So last night I was at the school until 8 oclock, not something that I usually do, but it was for a special reason.  It was time for Parent-teacher conferences! When I first heard that it was going to be from 3-8pm and I would be sitting in the commons waiting and talking...I wasn't all the excited. In fact I was pretty honest.  Maybe it is because I am in high school again, or surrounded by all of these students that are a little paranoid whenever an authority figure comes around (I love it when they realize I'm right by them and they go "What?? I wasn't doing anything..." and I wasn't even going to reprimand them for anything)...No matter what the reason was, I was definitely more than a little nervous for Parent-teacher conferences.  They went really well actually and I even learned a few things...
1-if you don't have anything to say about a student...figure it out fast.
2-the better you know a students name, the better it goes and you're not freaking out or beating yourself up because you forgot a student's name.
3-The next day in class...you really do see results.
4-positive reinforcement is the best invention in the world.
Now ahem...on to the next topic...

Jimmer, Jimmer, Jimmer...let's be real I love BYU basketball.  I really do.  I have my favorites just like the next dedicated fan.  I witnessed the whole Jimmer-mania take BYU and Provo by storm.  And silly me...I just figured it would die down a little bit since he's now graduated.  Wrong again.  Once upon a time I'm sitting in my classroom during lunch with some students that are makeing up work and on the intercom they announce that Jimmer is running 15 minutes late...WHAT? -oh also...they told everybody that wasn't a student to get out of the school.
Apparently Tonight is a fundraiser Jimmer "All-star" game and Jimmer deemed Timpview High School students worthy of some free tickets.  And (putting together the stories from my students) he came with some other NBA buds and made an appearance.  WELL he's a part of the tweeting community and tweeted that he was coming to Timpview to hand out tickets...I'm not quite sure what the rationale behind that was, but I guess it's Jimmer so you just enjoy it :/ anyway, so there were a whole bunch of people that showed up at the school and they weren't supposed to be here....I had about half of my class on time ready to learn and then everyone else slowly trickled in later, blaming it on Jimmer like it was excusable.  Oh Jimmer, I'm glad you are happy with life and doing well...but Please please, PLEASE work on a few of the details next time...I'd appreciate it a lot. Thanks! (side note, I thought it was hilarious when one of my students goes "He's not even that cute!"---I love working with High School students so much :)

AND last but not least....Nunks
Funny moment of the day:
   We are talking about Buddhism and we talked about some of the rules that go with the lifestyle of Buddhist Monks.  We were discussing that there are nuns as well.  So a student raises his hand and asked if Monks and Nuns could marry each other and have children.  Another student jumps in, before I can answer and says..."Yeah, they call them Nunks!"

I laughed.

On a serious note, it has been interesting as we've talked about Buddhism and monasticism, how hard it seems at first for most of these students to understand that for some people, living a life as a monk or a nun is where they believe they can find complete happiness and peace.  I know it will be very interesting as I graduate and move on to another school in another state or even another area, to teach in a place where the culture is well...not Provo, UT.

I really do love my job.  And although I love it, I am so grateful it is a 3 day weekend :)

Just when I was getting kind of comfortable...

So it's been almost a month since school started...crazy how time flies.  My world Civilization classes have tests on Thursday and Friday and my Geography Class has their first test next Tuesday.  And I was kind of getting into the swing of things...I still have no idea what I'm doing but it is a more organized feeling of confusion and craziness :) And then...What must be thrown into the mix? My mode of transportation, the beloved van that my wonderful parents decided to loan me...has died.  Meaning? Now after school today I get to go over, my old bishop is going to try and use his AAA to come and get my van-because it's in his neighborhood- and then we're taking it to his mechanic and see what the diagnosis is.  After talking to Papa Brady Automotive extraordinaire and Brady Children go-to-man...the outlook is a bit...not happy but we'll see. Until then...I get to play the fun game of "How in the world do I get to there." I guess I was just too spoiled. Oh well, all part of the grand adventure.

"I'm, like,...Asian!"

Once upon a time we were talking about Ancient China, Yellow River Valley... When it comes to Civilizations there are 5 characteristics of civilizations that students are keeping track of in a chart.  One of these is Record Keeping.  Because of this, we had a slide that talked about Chinese writing.  I have a student that could read and speak it.  Another student was shocked "Wait, you can read that and speak it??" He looked at her kind of funny and said "I'm like...Asian!" Needless to say I never explained why the sudden burst of laughter happened...but it did :)
Which leads me to something that I've noticed over the past few weeks...Students say the darndest things.  I just graded their daily journals and I loved it! There are so many aspects of their personalities that have shown through and once again I feel the weight and responsibility of not letting them down.  But seriously it is a blast and I feel grateful that I have met so many wonderful students thus far.  The learning never ends...and neither do the mistakes. But I'm working on it :)