Umm. . .

Does anyone else have those days when they are annoyed by everything? Perhaps I shouldn't be admitting that as a teacher, but I think part of being a decent teacher is realizing your flaws. I mean, I realize that I have to try to "step above" the crankiness and go on with my days. But, those little irritating things like whistling the same pitch over and over again, slamming lockers, whispering, all those things. . .some days its like they're magnified at least a hundred times. I guess in the end we're all human, even teachers. As much as I try not to have those days, they're going to happen. All I can do is learn from it and move on. It just comes down to a day with a short fuse.

Hopefully (well kind of) people could agree with what I'm saying. . .if not, I just seem like a whiny piece of crap! :)

Hockey

So, I'm beginning to think of my other favorite unit throughout the year, which is hockey. We don't teach hockey until the end of our year (when the playoffs are in full swing!!!), BUT I need sticks. Alex and I had the idea of just getting old regular wooden sticks to convert into PE sticks. Why? Well, we did it last year with a couple of sticks kids brought in. They worked WAY better than those crappy flimsy ones from any of the companies. All we did was cut off the blade if it was bad and replace it with one of those replacement blades. They worked wonders. I asked my hockey team I play for if they had any used sticks they were retiring to let me have them. So far, all I've gotten is a goalie stick. Some of the team uses wooden sticks, but mostly their of better quality. At any rate, if you know of anyone who wants to unload some of their old hockey sticks OR of any company willing to donate or make a cheap offer, please let me know. I'd definitely appreciate it!

Finally!

Alrighty then, we finally got to play an actual GAME of football. I realize that it seems I've been on this unit for awhile, but with the random 2-hour delay we had (church fire down the street) and so many other school day disruptions, our unit lasted longer than I wanted it to last. So, finally we are done with the football unit. My first period did the best with the actual playing. It was awesome though! We used flag belts and to see the girls running plays and playing defense and being successful with it was awesome! Some of the girls asked why we went over all this stuff for 2 days of actually playing. But, we had a team practice in there so the girls could get used to running the different passing routes and using the terminology to help them remember and make the game play more exciting. I replied to them with the question: "Do you think if we just jumped right into playing football, it would be as fun or would it be confusing and boring?" To which they replied (shockingly I might add), "Oh, I guess you're right. It would have been annoying if people didn't know where they were going."

So, even though it took longer than I wanted it to, the days of team competition was a blast! Woot. Woo.t :)

Proper Attire

So finally the fall weather is upon us and no matter how much I preach about bringing the proper clothing to class, I still get the student that is cold. I even tell them to bring a jacket, borrow a hoodie, or knit a scarf before coming to class because we ARE going outside regardless. I could understand if I taught elementary or even middle school (sort of) that they might not understand how to dress themselves accordingly. However, I teach high school and I have issues with students not being able to plan ahead or figure the weather out. Heck! just step outside! Anyone else find that students are sometimes incapable of bringing warmer clothes to class? Oh, and one of my favorites is when they tell me they're cold, so they're going to sit out of class. And, no matter how much I try to convince them that sitting out will only make them colder, they assure me I'm wrong. :) I do believe that's why I have found some gray hairs lately. Even though I voice my frustrations. . .I still love me job, let us not forget this fact.

Exhausted. . .

I just read a couple of people's blog about them extending themselves with school, classes, coaching, etc. etc. etc. I'm 25 and while other people have families on top of school, masters classes, and coaching, they can get it done and 99% of the time I feel like I'm just keeping my head above water. I have stuff written on calendars. I get home around 10:30 and I'm exhausted. Volleyball has finally ended, which is odd, but good, so I'll have a bit more time. I'm excited about the extra time, mainly because it comes at the end of the semester when everything is due. I think the saddest part is, that I could have SWORN that I wrote a blog yesterday. And, I look today, and I apparently am mistaken. I never wrote one. Or, it never saved. Oh, and the best is that I keep doing work, turning it in, and getting emails back that it won't open. Then, I go to resend it. . .AND IT IS GONE!!!! :( Just keep swimming. . just keep swimming. . .just keep swimming. . .it'll be over soon.

Data Analysis

We had an Act 80 day on Monday I forgot to mention. Interesting day actually. We basically looked at all the 4-Sight testing data from the past 2 years. Its obviously new to our district and we're trying to gather information about the students and this Act 80 was reserved strictly for incorporating the analyzed data into our own personal curriculum. I didn't have a difficult time trying to decide what our students needed help on or how I was going to incorporate it into my curriculum, it was how I was going to carry out the process. I saw we had issues in the open ended questions in math, therefore, I wanted to give a problem such as: Measure the area of a basketball court. What percentage of the court is covered by the keys on the court?

Here's the problem, the open ended question just turned into a geometry, algebraic functions, measurement, etc. etc. etc. problem. So, the one day lesson I was going to try to incorporate, turned into about a 4 day lesson. I talked to some of the math teachers and they said, unfortunately, the kids are not retaining lessons previously taught, whether the day before, the week before, or the year before. Therefore, without given formulas to use whenever necessary, they often find themselves stuck on a problem. Which, proved true when I did my heart rate lesson last year. It was just trying to teach heart rate, I found myself having first to teach simple functions like "foil" and such.

Are we expecting less out of our students and lowering our standards? I don't know. . .

Football Unit Revisited et al.

Sooo. . .its amazing what football does to people, especially females who never get to play it. We start simple with throwing and catching (its amazing how many people don't know how to throw either!!!). On top of that, we also started putting in passing routes as well. The girls responded really well to it and its exciting to see.

We started talking to our principal today about completely recharging our PE program. He was all for it and excited. We have such great support at our school from the administrators. We're definitely lucky. I'm excited for our meeting we set up and can't wait to get started on our "plan." The funny thing is, every time Alex and I start talking to someone about it, its like we're 5 years old talking about Christmas!!

Football Unit

This week I'm starting my football unit. Oddly enough, the girls really like this unit (for the most part). I try to teach them some terms that are most commonly heard when they're watching football on TV or on Friday nights. Also, we obviously go over positioning. The everyday PE lends itself well when doing units like this. I can spend much time (within reason naturally) on the unit and make sure I teach it well. Plus, if weather doesn't cooperate, I can always move the lesson back a day. Anyways. . .my point is that I'm excited to be starting the football unit. I think the only problem I'll run into is that since there is no separation between a 9th grade PE class and a 12th grade PE class, some of the girls will already have learned thee material last year. So, my question is this. . .what are some ideas that I could cut down on the repetition? Perhaps I can do peer groups. . .but. . .I don't really like that idea mainly because I have issues trusting that they'll provide the completely correct information.

Driver's Safety

This past week, one of our graduates from last year got into a serious accident. He was speeding, texting, and not wearing a seat belt. He was thrown threw the windshield and is in an induced coma in Pittsburgh. Eerily enough, he's in the same, exact room that one of our students was in last year. When they bring him out of the induced coma, he can move his arms and legs. His heart rate rises when familiar voices and faces are in the room. The fact that he's still alive and fighting, is an absolute miracle. He's an amazing kid (young man), and its just tough to see that happen.

My point is. . .hopefully our students realize the dangers of not only speeding; the importance of wearing a seat belt; and especially the dangerous combination of texting and driving.