Ms. Roedner in the Big Easy: Weekend and Back to Work!

Today was a pretty good lesson – we got to play with bright colored fraction magnets I made, which I think I was more excited about than they were, but oh well. The math dork strikes again. My kids are great though, even when they need to be asked to do things multiple times, or don’t turn in their homework. By and large they are doing well with the material, though there are a few who are consistently struggling. Getting them to come early or stay after for help is a challenge – if they take the bus there isn’t much time, or if they have a class after ours they only have 15 minutes. Our schedule also does not allow for much time for one-on-one help, so we’re figuring out how to make that work. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, my students were the highlight of the day. Otherwise I get frustrated that I have 15 minutes to eat lunch and the time/space we have to work on lesson plans and other various assignments they give us is not conducive to how I work. I need silence to accomplish just about anything, which has been a pain in the neck all through college (ie me studying in Starbuck’s like the rest of GWU would never happen!), but is really stressing me out now when my work time is not maximized.

Yesterday was my interview with a school principle from New Orleans. It was for an upper-level math position in an alternative school (if I get the job you’ll get more details!). I think it went well, though it’s tough to say since it was my first one. I really liked the principle and would love to work for him, so I am hoping I will get the job. And the level of math would be exactly what I would feel most comfortable teaching. TFA said within two weeks we should hear about jobs, so I am going to be anxious!

We had a workshop last night on classroom management in New Orleans, which was extremely helpful. I have heard numerous times that the kids in Phoenix are much easier to manage than they kids in New Orleans, and the explanation we usually get is because discipline is different between Hispanic and African-American culture and because of the generally negative or even hostile feelings toward authority, and specifically the education system, in New Orleans. So my (almost) perfectly well behaved kids will not be my kids in NOLA! We went over behavior tracking plans, consequences, etc. as well as how to deal with threats, students cursing at you, and fights breaking out in class. Apparently these are all common occurrences, especially in the first weeks of school. That session was definitely a reality check!

Some pictures are posted from my weekend – a (early) night out with the girls and the Diamondbacks-Angels game.