Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Things I've Done This (School) Year That I Never Expected to Do

Taught kids how to play Euchre (Random poll: do you know what Euchre is? If not, where are you from?)

Comforted a crying sixteen-year-old boy who failed his ECA... it was totally heart-breaking because he only missed it by five points

Spent way too much time printing personalized certificates for Drama Club awards

Was labeled during my final evaluation as "one of those that's on the borderline of 'Effective' and 'Highly Effective'" which is "pretty good for a third year teacher"

Made a bet with one of my struggling students stating that if he passed the ECA I would make him a personalized Nutella cookie and bury a little plastic truck in it (Brad loves going muddin')

Made a Nutella cookie and buried a little plastic truck in it :)

Got crushed in a hug from a kid who never thought he'd pass the ECA and he did

Danced hip hop in front of the entire student body

Gave out more than fifty homework passes (which students earn by getting a 95% or higher on a test)

Helped 94% of the students in a struggling class period to pass the ECA

Actually enjoyed grading 72 I-Search papers (totally worthwhile research paper assignment)

Felt like I was student-teaching all over again while teaching English 10 for the first time (*shudders* Didn't enjoy that feeling much...)

Dramatically flipped myself over a chair and landed on my back... which hurt like hell

(Finally) took on some more leadership roles within my school building

Wrote and directed my first cabaret, which seemed to be a great success

Helped this year's sophomore class create a scrapbook for a teacher who is leaving

Hated teaching Julius Caesar and vowed to figure out my own method of doing it next year

Missed more days of work than ever before, but none of them were sick days. In fact, most were professional development days.

Cried in front of my drama club kids

Sang... a lot... in front of my drama club kids

Went to my first conference since college

Felt guilty every.single.day. the first semester for teaching English 10 when another teacher wanted it so badly

Took in $6000+ for our drama department

Was labeled as a student by a local news station(!) (maybe it's the freckles?)

Learned The Wobble (courtesy of some students)

Watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail for educational purposes :P

Chaperoned Prom and had an awesome time

Received tons of thank you letters, cards, gifts, etc. throughout the year

Signed on board for a conference next school year

Received the Silver Stapler Award from a friend and colleague who I greatly respect - an award that the teachers in our building share with each other once a month as a way to recognize awesome teachers (morale booster at its finest)

Turned down an excellent job offer my husband received, largely because I love my low-salary teaching job so much and I would have had to quit

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Wow! What a crazy year! It's no wonder I'm so tired. The 2012-2013 school year wrapped up today (well, technically it wraps up tomorrow, but today was the last student day) and it's kind of funny: I'm completely relieved that it's over and we're moving on to summertime, but I'm already looking forward to the 2013-2014 year and making it better than this one!






P.S. - Stay tuned this weekend! I'm planning my first blog giveaway. Teachers won't want to miss it!