Today was a good day because it started off with me full of job insecurity and resentment and uncertainty. But being backed into that corner, having to face the very real possibility that I will be on the job market (I should look at it this way--I am on the job market, regardless--why settle for where I am), I found that I was more uninhibited in the classroom.
To wit: I made a catastrophic technical error that led me to show the students that I'd had a tab on my computer open to an article entitled "What Porn Addiction Crisis?" My geometry students had noticed I had a lot of tabs open, so I was like, "Let's see what we have here."
It was catastrophically embarrassing, just over the top horror show. And yet ... I was able to acknowledge the awkwardness of the moment, try to explain it, and then save it by noticing that, since Edjoin was open in another tab: "Well look--see this was where I must have predicted this horrible moment would occur, and so I started looking for another job." Lots of smiles and laughs all around.
I am trying with not much success to press toward some semblance of preparation for tomorrow. I was barely ready today. And I think much of what I might have had prepared would be in my notebook at home, and not on this laptop.
That said, I am going to finish this blog. Period Two Algebra, I started off the period with a few awkward steps, and then a question: "Could I have some feedback around my presentation? Start me off with some compliments, and then give me some criticism!" I had just gotten finished criticizing myself for: 1) not always finishing my sentences; and 2) ... well, there was no 2, or I forget what it was. But so one student amicably raised his hand and said that I was comfortable in front of the class. And then, after a minute, he offered: "Finish your sentences!" Another couple of students participated, one saying I was passionate, the other that I was engaging. A third said, "you stutter a lot." I left open the possibility that it was maybe a compliment, but ... no, probably not. Some people go to speech therapy for stuttering, but for me, it's kind of an affected thing, a product of indecision. Anyway, the ice was broken.
I went over the rules of radicals--with which they quickly became bored ... And so toward the end of class I switched gears and played the great Vi Hart's "Pythagoras" video, which I think shows a good context for square roots. We started using white boards at the end of class, and so though it was kind of a slog--some frustration and boredom--there was also a moment where I looked up and thought that it had gone by kind of fast. I was not ready for it to end when it did.
Fourth period of course had the porn addiction moment (just ... wow) and maybe the least confident moment of the day, since I let them work a section ahead (or tried to work a section ahead with them) and had them doing problems that I had not yet done ... So that was kind of frustrating because ... that's ALWAYS frustrating when we take on new problems and then I don't like the problems or they're not as easy as I hoped they would be (or as hard as I'd hoped) ...
Then, sixth period! Sixth period was memorable, as I had decided abruptly yesterday to buy three extra sets of monopoly, and so we played four games of monopoly. The students took to it, although some of them clearly don't know how to play--and I will be testing them on that this week. (I just decided). They must play correctly, dammit! Still, I was happy to have 100% participation (for the first time in months--in anything) in that class. After an hour, I did hear one kid use the dreaded phrase, "This is stupid--I'm not playing anymore!"
Then my induction program coordinator showed up--she had told me she'd be out of town this week so her arrival was a surprise. But she gave me one thing to think about: That I could have "called a timeout" to PRAISE the students when the game-playing was going well. As it was, not having done that, most of my comments at the end were negative, about those who weren't doing well. So ... that's something we'll definitely want to talk about tomorrow.
Another note: I noticed Period 2 that the end of class can be very rough. Having a beginning-of-class ritual is great, but my lack of an end-of-class ritual can make things a bit of a struggle for me. So, something to think about.
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