Emma had a health quiz today. She was the only one who made 100. She said one of the questions was about melatonin...."So easy! I learned about that from watching Stargate SG1!"
; )
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Learning...?
"What is essential is to realize that children learn independently, not in bunches; that they learn out of interest and curiosity, not to please or appease the adults in power; and that they ought to be in control of their own learning, deciding... for themselves what they want to learn and how they want to learn it." ~John Holt
Teaching (or I should say, *trying* to teach) has taught me that unschooling is TOTALLY the best way to learn! lol
I already knew it was awesome...don't misunderstand me...but being in a school setting every day and hearing what the kids say about school reinforces my beliefs every. single. day.
Today (or maybe yesterday) a girl in my 11th grade class said "I used to like to write, until we had to start writing for school." BLEAH! And I'm being a PART OF THIS?!?
The kids are so overwhelmed...some of them have jobs, *and* school, *and* sports, *and* are trying to have a social life.....I can't demand homework from them on top of all the other things they do! Homework in my class is mostly a suggestion...unless someone "above" says I have to start grading it...and it pleases me absurdly when they do it, but I don't take it personally if they don't. ; )
I wonder how long it will be before I get fired? lol
I've felt that I'm not doing a good job teaching, but today left me wondering if it's not me, but that the kids aren't listening....I certainly don't blame them for not listening. My gosh...direct objects and objective compliments and subordinating conjunctions and reflexive pronouns....it's enough to make your head swim! It's extremely difficult for them to listen, too.....people talking, poking each other with pencils, wishing they were SOMEWHERE ELSE, wishing the cute boy next to them would notice, hoping the cute girl *doesn't* notice the zit.... (and of course she does, and it doesn't matter, but who can tell a 15 year old that?)
So they're not listening, and I can't make them do homework, so I give them very detailed study sheets for the tests.....oh. my. gosh. don't even get me started on how many freakin' tests there are!...and hope they can memorize a few answers the night before the test. Then I give the test orally before I give it written, so they can go over the answers. And so far all my students are straight "A" students. I'm so proud. :,)
har de har har
Teaching (or I should say, *trying* to teach) has taught me that unschooling is TOTALLY the best way to learn! lol
I already knew it was awesome...don't misunderstand me...but being in a school setting every day and hearing what the kids say about school reinforces my beliefs every. single. day.
Today (or maybe yesterday) a girl in my 11th grade class said "I used to like to write, until we had to start writing for school." BLEAH! And I'm being a PART OF THIS?!?
The kids are so overwhelmed...some of them have jobs, *and* school, *and* sports, *and* are trying to have a social life.....I can't demand homework from them on top of all the other things they do! Homework in my class is mostly a suggestion...unless someone "above" says I have to start grading it...and it pleases me absurdly when they do it, but I don't take it personally if they don't. ; )
I wonder how long it will be before I get fired? lol
I've felt that I'm not doing a good job teaching, but today left me wondering if it's not me, but that the kids aren't listening....I certainly don't blame them for not listening. My gosh...direct objects and objective compliments and subordinating conjunctions and reflexive pronouns....it's enough to make your head swim! It's extremely difficult for them to listen, too.....people talking, poking each other with pencils, wishing they were SOMEWHERE ELSE, wishing the cute boy next to them would notice, hoping the cute girl *doesn't* notice the zit.... (and of course she does, and it doesn't matter, but who can tell a 15 year old that?)
So they're not listening, and I can't make them do homework, so I give them very detailed study sheets for the tests.....oh. my. gosh. don't even get me started on how many freakin' tests there are!...and hope they can memorize a few answers the night before the test. Then I give the test orally before I give it written, so they can go over the answers. And so far all my students are straight "A" students. I'm so proud. :,)
har de har har
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Mottoes...
Yesterday Emma said her math teacher had "mottoes" she writes on the board when the kids act up.
She said one of the mottoes is "All liars will go to hell". She said Luke was lying in class, and the teacher wrote it on the board and underlined "All", then when he lied again she underlined it again.
She asked me why I don't have mottoes.
I said, "You want me to tell kids they're going to hell?"
Hubby said, "Oh, boy, a field trip!" lol
She said one of the mottoes is "All liars will go to hell". She said Luke was lying in class, and the teacher wrote it on the board and underlined "All", then when he lied again she underlined it again.
She asked me why I don't have mottoes.
I said, "You want me to tell kids they're going to hell?"
Hubby said, "Oh, boy, a field trip!" lol
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Day Three
On Day One I was extremely busy after school until I dropped exhausted into bed at 11:30.
On Day Two I was extremely tired from not getting enough rest on Day One.
Now that it's Day Three, I feel awake enough, and have enough time, to blog about my first three days.
The school day goes by very quickly.....which is nice. ; )
My first class is 12th grade....two students, one of which my little brother. We spend most of our class time talking, because they don't have their books yet. It's a nice way to spend the morning. ; ) Since he started driving and has a job and ball practice and games, and a girlfriend it's nice to get to spend a little bit of time with him before he graduates.
Second period is a study hall....with three kids from my 10th grade class. I don't know where the rest of the class is, but, hey, three is okay. ; ) They work on their homework from their first class, and talk quietly. I generally make copies for my classes that don't have their books yet. Hopefully the other books will come in soon and I won't have to do that any more.
Third period is ninth grade....and I have Emma in that class. It's my largest class, with 9 students. It's also the only one I had to make rules for so far.
After third period I go to lunch.
After lunch is eleventh grade, then sixth and seventh grade together, with Anna in that class, and tenth grade is my last class.
I really feel that 10th grade is getting the dregs of the day.....I'm tired, they're tired, and I seriously dislike their book. The other classes have Abeka, 10th grade has BJ. I've never liked it before, and I like it less now that I've used it for three days. ; )
Yesterday I was so tired the day was dreadful....last night I went to bed at 9:30 and slept like a log and today I was much more cheerful. I'm learning how important a good night's sleep *really* is.
Emma had a hard day today. She came up to my classroom during gym class and cried but still hasn't said *why*. Hormomes no doubt, and being unused to someone yelling boot-camp-style at her to do leg lifts and jumping jacks and run around the gym......that and not eating lunch. She's a bit embarrassed to eat lunch in front of the other kids, so tomorrow she's packing her lunch and eating in my classroom with me. I'm learning that gentle parenting is even *more* important with them in school.
As far as the book-work goes, neither has had a problem keeping up (yeah, I do realize it's only day three), and they actually know more about some things than the other kids who have been in school forever. (In Emma's class I asked who knew how to write a summary, and only one other student besides her knew (she took 10th grade English last year, but for some reason is in 9th this year....no, I don't get it either...), but we discussed summaries during the summer at some point...and since she *wanted* to know about it when we discussed it, it "stuck".)
Seriously, one student is in both English 9 and English 11. When I get a chance I'm going to ask why.....if she's passed English 10, why not just give her credit for English 9? What's the point in making her go "back"? If you just wanted some sort of "work", why not have her do a paper or somesuch? There actually are several students doing things I think are nuts...almost my entire 10th grade class did Abeka 10th grade English last year, so this year they're having them do BJ 10th. ???
Both my kids say they don't like Math and Geography/History....whether it's the content or the teachers I don't know yet. They both seem content to stay in, though....I really wondered if they'd be quitting by the end of the first week. They're more resilient than I thought. ; )
On Day Two I was extremely tired from not getting enough rest on Day One.
Now that it's Day Three, I feel awake enough, and have enough time, to blog about my first three days.
The school day goes by very quickly.....which is nice. ; )
My first class is 12th grade....two students, one of which my little brother. We spend most of our class time talking, because they don't have their books yet. It's a nice way to spend the morning. ; ) Since he started driving and has a job and ball practice and games, and a girlfriend it's nice to get to spend a little bit of time with him before he graduates.
Second period is a study hall....with three kids from my 10th grade class. I don't know where the rest of the class is, but, hey, three is okay. ; ) They work on their homework from their first class, and talk quietly. I generally make copies for my classes that don't have their books yet. Hopefully the other books will come in soon and I won't have to do that any more.
Third period is ninth grade....and I have Emma in that class. It's my largest class, with 9 students. It's also the only one I had to make rules for so far.
After third period I go to lunch.
After lunch is eleventh grade, then sixth and seventh grade together, with Anna in that class, and tenth grade is my last class.
I really feel that 10th grade is getting the dregs of the day.....I'm tired, they're tired, and I seriously dislike their book. The other classes have Abeka, 10th grade has BJ. I've never liked it before, and I like it less now that I've used it for three days. ; )
Yesterday I was so tired the day was dreadful....last night I went to bed at 9:30 and slept like a log and today I was much more cheerful. I'm learning how important a good night's sleep *really* is.
Emma had a hard day today. She came up to my classroom during gym class and cried but still hasn't said *why*. Hormomes no doubt, and being unused to someone yelling boot-camp-style at her to do leg lifts and jumping jacks and run around the gym......that and not eating lunch. She's a bit embarrassed to eat lunch in front of the other kids, so tomorrow she's packing her lunch and eating in my classroom with me. I'm learning that gentle parenting is even *more* important with them in school.
As far as the book-work goes, neither has had a problem keeping up (yeah, I do realize it's only day three), and they actually know more about some things than the other kids who have been in school forever. (In Emma's class I asked who knew how to write a summary, and only one other student besides her knew (she took 10th grade English last year, but for some reason is in 9th this year....no, I don't get it either...), but we discussed summaries during the summer at some point...and since she *wanted* to know about it when we discussed it, it "stuck".)
Seriously, one student is in both English 9 and English 11. When I get a chance I'm going to ask why.....if she's passed English 10, why not just give her credit for English 9? What's the point in making her go "back"? If you just wanted some sort of "work", why not have her do a paper or somesuch? There actually are several students doing things I think are nuts...almost my entire 10th grade class did Abeka 10th grade English last year, so this year they're having them do BJ 10th. ???
Both my kids say they don't like Math and Geography/History....whether it's the content or the teachers I don't know yet. They both seem content to stay in, though....I really wondered if they'd be quitting by the end of the first week. They're more resilient than I thought. ; )
Monday, July 20, 2009
Basketball Article
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lukas/090128
Link to a news article about the basketball team last year...my little brother is #3! : )
Link to a news article about the basketball team last year...my little brother is #3! : )
Transitions
Transitions this year, as we leave the comfortable, safe world of homeschooling we've been living in, and enter the world of....school!
I'll be blogging about my experiences of figuring out how to teach high school English classes, and my children's experiences of figuring out how to change from the unstructured homeschooling life we've lived to a structured school life.
Should be interesting! : )
I'll be blogging about my experiences of figuring out how to teach high school English classes, and my children's experiences of figuring out how to change from the unstructured homeschooling life we've lived to a structured school life.
Should be interesting! : )
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