Finally Grown Up

Last week, I worked at the same school for two straight days. I saw many of the same students. My experience on both days can be described as night and day.

Class one was a math class. The students came in loudly and took a while to find their desks. They took even longer to get math books from under their desk. I tried to take attendance while yelling over the loud voices. I told the students their math assignment and it was clearly written on the whiteboard. Most students did not even crack open the book and continued to talk like it was social hour. I even had a student ask what he was supposed to do midway through the class period. This happened through the rest of the day.

Class two was a world history class. Students walked in the door talking with normal inside voices. They walked over to the cupboard and obtained a copy of their history book. A few students retrieved a second or third book for another student. Students looked at the whiteboard for their assignment, opened their books, and began their assignment. The bell rang and I took attendance. The class remained quiet for the whole class time. This type of behavior was in every class period of the day.

The teacher in class A obviously does not have control of her class. The students think that they can get away with anything. The students behaved very poorly with a substitute teacher. The teacher in class B has complete control of his class. The students behave the same way for a substitute as they do for their teacher. They know there will be punishment for any bad behavior.

Remember, there were many of the same students in both classes. The students behaved differently in both classes. This shows me that all students can behave themselves. The key to great students is that the students need to know what is expected of them and the teacher needs to stay strict to all rules and procedures to every student every day.

Lesson Learned!

My 6 month old daughter has a stuffed animal moose that she plays with all the time. The other day, Jane was holding the moose and dropped it. I do not know if she dropped it on accident or on purpose the first time. She looks on the floor and her sister picks it up and gives it back. She drops it on the floor again. This is when she starts laughing hysterically. She keeps dropping the moose and laughs louder each time. Soon, the whole family is laughing. No one can make her laugh like her big sister.

I feel like I am becoming an adult. In reality, I have been an adult for a long time. I have been married for almost 10 years and I have three beautiful daughters. The problem is that I have not started my career yet. Since high school, I've had many different jobs. These jobs include: McDonalds, dishwasher (4 hours), Imperial Electic, Stage Stop gas station, Steve Humphrey's Painting, Post Office, Kmart, Rosie Sweet Shoppe (family business), and Mojave and Tehachapi Unified School District as a substitute. None of these jobs is what I call a career.

These past few years while living in California, I have been going to college to find a job that I will enable to support my family. My first idea was an accountant but I did not see myself sitting behind a desk all day. My second idea was to become a X-Ray tech but was one course short to enter the program so I worked on my Business Management degree. The career that I have finally decided upon is an Elementary school teacher. I currently have a masters degree in education and I am a certified teacher. I am looking for a teaching position as a K-6 teacher.

AM I A GROWN-UP YET? No- I am not but I am getting close. I hope I do not ever become completely a grown up. What I want is to have a career to be able to support my young family. Being a elementary teacher will help grow up a bit but not too much.

Come along on my jouney as I become a grown up!