A conversation with one of the (Caucasian) kids about the reading corner: “Ms. W, you have a book with Tupac on the cover.” “Hmm? Oh, yes. The Rose That Grew From Concrete, it’s a book of his poems.” “He was a rapper, you know.” “Mmhmm.” “He’s black, you know.” “Yeeess?” “I think he’s alive.” “Okay.…
read more »This year, since I am teaching English, I decided to try to put together a fully fledged reading corner and classroom library for the first time in my teaching career. I have documented my efforts in gathering books from various locations this summer already, but last week has really been the week that everything came…
read more »Thus far in my first week of teaching this year: My 4th block gained nine new students, necessitating the emergency procurement of extra desks. I still have no access to my work email. The phone in my room spent two days re-routing my calls to some poor woman’s house (one of my students’ parents it…
read more »Well, school being two days in and that desks having (finally!) arrived last Friday, I thought I’d share some pictures of my room this year. Here’s where we started: Here is a view of the back of the room: Mostly we’re looking at my desk (complex) and the reading corner. As far as the reading…
read more »7:54am – first day of school. Kids arrive in 21 minutes. I have a paper cut and I can’t find my index cards. Wah.
read more »Work days until school begins: 3; Desks currently in my room: 2 Work days have begun with a vengeance. I didn’t realize how hard it was going to be for me to set up my walls this year. Most of the things I have gathered over the past three years are strictly Social Studies related.…
read more »I had a meeting yesterday that felt quite worthwhile (for a change). TFA ENC had its first professional development of the school year and I was able to go to a special lunch session on Alumni in Teaching. 05s and 06s who are still teaching in the region met to discuss what a teaching alumni…
read more »Yesterday, while I was up at school for professional development, I took the opportunity offered by one of the breaks to run up to my room to check on the desk situation. You may remember that, as of last week, I had exactly two (2) student desks in my room. The others were old and…
read more »Wanna know what I did today? Professional Development! (Where I learned a lot…obviously) We had an “in service” day at my new school today (work days start in earnest next week) the ostensible purpose of which was to prepare the faculty for the upcoming switch to block schedule. Keep in mind that school starts in…
read more »Facebook and gmail are both down for maintenance at the same time. What is a girl to do?
read more »The promised room arranging post has been put on hold for some time now due to the fact that I still have no student desks in my room. I’m finding that I’m having a hard time placing my other furniture without the desks. This year I’ll have more desks (and larger classes) than I’ve had,…
read more »"Donta what *are* you doing back here?" "Not much, Ms. W, just chillin."
