Oh! Such a long week!
Wow! This week has been so long! I'm very glad it's over! It started on Monday with a normal day but then I found out a classmate had been injured in Iraq and was paralyzed. First knowing that a friend of mine was injured was hard but to understand how difficult it must be to learn that you are paralyzed was also very overwhelming. It also made the war in Iraq more personal to me. It was just a rough day.
Then on Tuesday morning I woke up sick and also found out that one of my closest friends dad had had a serious heart attack and was in the hospital. I was worried about him but also feeling for my friend because she is so far from her famly right now and not really in a place where she could get back home to see her dad. (Please continue to pray for these people. I'm not using their names for their privacy although if you live in Blairsville you can probably figure out who I'm talking about).
Tuesday was a very rough day. I was very sick and just wanted to go home but I had a parent/teacher conference that I really needed to have and not reschedule so I made it through the day and then went home and crashed.
Wednesday morning I was feeling better but by the afternoon I was not and I left a staff meeting early to go back to bed.
Thursday morning I was still not feeling well but I made it through school and a meeting about camp. Then I went to buy my plane tickets home! That night though when talking with mom I found out that Berry was sending me notices of an overdue payment on my student loans. I have made my payments on time but then spent time on the phone and on the internet with Berry trying to fix the problem. It was quite stressful because I knew that I had paid them on time and I had receipts from them but I didn't have all my papers at home because I took them to school when I moved so that they wouldn't get lost. I went to bed knowing that I had paid them but still unsure of what Berry had down.
Friday good news was waiting for me. The computer software at Berry had started calculating my loans on a monthly basis instead of a quarterly basis so they had taken the overdue notice off my account and got everything settled again! Friday was a good day at school and I was glad when it was over. I went with Emily and John over to Tim Wong's house for dinner. It was a good night but by 8:15 I was dragging. It was a high stress and long week and I was glad that it was over. I slept in until 11 on Saturday as well.
Like I said this week was a long week. In the middle of all of this I have been teaching and giving my first tests and quizzes for the year. I don't even have them graded yet :( (I really dislike grading.) I have also had parents emailing concerned that some of the homework has been marked and that I don't give enough time for students to study for quizzes and tests. I am honestly doing my best and have tried to explain this to the parents but I still have one concerned parent. Our curriculum is fast paced in order to meet all of the requirements that the administration wants us to meet (especially in Science and Social Studies). I do not give more than a day or two notice for quizzes but that is mainly because I use it as a source of feedback of how well the students are understanding the material. I try to give about a week's notice of tests though so that students can begin to study for those earlier. I'm mainly concerned because this one parent is concerned. I honestly feel that the students are getting time in class with the material and time to practice applying their knowledge before a quiz. I do feel strongly about not grading practices and not assessing until they have had time to practice but I also don't feel that the students should need days to study for a quiz. If they don't understand it then the quiz will show me and I will go back and work with them on this material to help them understand. I know that some students will need extra practice.
Okay I'm going to stop there now because I don't need to make my case through the internet. I just need to keep working and reflecting as I go. I know that things will change and that there are always things to be improved. This might be one area but only time will tell for now. Right now I need to grade so that students will know how well they did as will I.
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! Congratulations to Carrie Buchanan on her wedding on Saturday! I wish I could have been there to celebrate with you!
Then on Tuesday morning I woke up sick and also found out that one of my closest friends dad had had a serious heart attack and was in the hospital. I was worried about him but also feeling for my friend because she is so far from her famly right now and not really in a place where she could get back home to see her dad. (Please continue to pray for these people. I'm not using their names for their privacy although if you live in Blairsville you can probably figure out who I'm talking about).
Tuesday was a very rough day. I was very sick and just wanted to go home but I had a parent/teacher conference that I really needed to have and not reschedule so I made it through the day and then went home and crashed.
Wednesday morning I was feeling better but by the afternoon I was not and I left a staff meeting early to go back to bed.
Thursday morning I was still not feeling well but I made it through school and a meeting about camp. Then I went to buy my plane tickets home! That night though when talking with mom I found out that Berry was sending me notices of an overdue payment on my student loans. I have made my payments on time but then spent time on the phone and on the internet with Berry trying to fix the problem. It was quite stressful because I knew that I had paid them on time and I had receipts from them but I didn't have all my papers at home because I took them to school when I moved so that they wouldn't get lost. I went to bed knowing that I had paid them but still unsure of what Berry had down.
Friday good news was waiting for me. The computer software at Berry had started calculating my loans on a monthly basis instead of a quarterly basis so they had taken the overdue notice off my account and got everything settled again! Friday was a good day at school and I was glad when it was over. I went with Emily and John over to Tim Wong's house for dinner. It was a good night but by 8:15 I was dragging. It was a high stress and long week and I was glad that it was over. I slept in until 11 on Saturday as well.
Like I said this week was a long week. In the middle of all of this I have been teaching and giving my first tests and quizzes for the year. I don't even have them graded yet :( (I really dislike grading.) I have also had parents emailing concerned that some of the homework has been marked and that I don't give enough time for students to study for quizzes and tests. I am honestly doing my best and have tried to explain this to the parents but I still have one concerned parent. Our curriculum is fast paced in order to meet all of the requirements that the administration wants us to meet (especially in Science and Social Studies). I do not give more than a day or two notice for quizzes but that is mainly because I use it as a source of feedback of how well the students are understanding the material. I try to give about a week's notice of tests though so that students can begin to study for those earlier. I'm mainly concerned because this one parent is concerned. I honestly feel that the students are getting time in class with the material and time to practice applying their knowledge before a quiz. I do feel strongly about not grading practices and not assessing until they have had time to practice but I also don't feel that the students should need days to study for a quiz. If they don't understand it then the quiz will show me and I will go back and work with them on this material to help them understand. I know that some students will need extra practice.
Okay I'm going to stop there now because I don't need to make my case through the internet. I just need to keep working and reflecting as I go. I know that things will change and that there are always things to be improved. This might be one area but only time will tell for now. Right now I need to grade so that students will know how well they did as will I.
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! Congratulations to Carrie Buchanan on her wedding on Saturday! I wish I could have been there to celebrate with you!
posted by Caroline at
12:13 PM
1 Comments:
We missed you being at the wedding. It went off without a hitch thanks to a lot of help from your mom. Many of my guests asked if she directed weddings for a living!
Hang in there. It sounds like you are doing a great job at school! Debra
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Anonymous, at 8:54 AM
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