5:25. I meet my "running partner" via FaceTime. I'm in my basement on the treadmill, she's at her house down the street on the elliptical.
7:15. Time to get out the door. I grab the chocolate chip cookies I made last night. They'll be doing what chocolate chip cookies do best . . . bribery. All week student council (I'm the sponsor) will be asking our students to donate so that we can buy gifts and Christmas dinner for families in need. I'll be exchanging cookies for donations.
7:25. My commute. Note to self: Clean windshield.
7:40. Deliver cute little girl to daycare.
7:48. Arrive at school. Students are waiting for me at the door. One needs to work on test corrections, another needs help catching up, a third has questions on his calculus assignment. I open my email, but there is no time to read it. A girl comes in with posters she made advertising our student council fundraiser. The student council president has a question for me, and another girl needs to take a makeup test.
8:10. My principal walks in. Would I mind attending a panel discussion this morning? Our school is having some type of efficiency/improvement review and they need teachers to talk with the visitors. I am willing, but surprised and unprepared. Thankfully, this isn't typical at all. I quickly write out some notes for my colleague who will be taking my class.
8:18. My first hour class begins. I give them quick instructions and record their assignments that were due. Thankfully the lesson involved a self-guided sheet. Students were reviewing horizontal and vertical translations of parent functions and discovering the "flip" transformation.
8:30. Off to the meeting. I grab a few items to copy in case I have time while I am in the office.
10:00. Meeting over. It lasted longer than expected and my planning period is now over. I make a few quick copies, quickly finish a student council fundraiser display in the teacher's lounge, and head to my third hour class.
10:07. Bless their hearts, they started without me! I am thrilled to find that students are already working on the bell work when I arrive. I walk around recording assignments, checking bell work, and signing off on check points on the new lesson.
10:53. Sit down at my desk. Prepare envelopes for donation collections, take my first glance at my agenda for the day, notice the email from my principal asking if I'd go to that meeting this morning . . .
10:58. Advisory class. They have AR time. I catch a breather, record some test grades, collect my thoughts, and check a couple of items off the to-do list.
11:28. Calculus class. Implicit differentiation review.
12:16. Lunch. Chef salad.
12:51. Physics class. Discuss work and kinetic energy.
1:45 - 3:25. Two more Algebra 2 classes.
3:25. School is over. Several students come in for makeup work and extra help. A few of these are regulars. I am really proud of how hard they've been working.
3:45. I count the donations collected that day and email the total for tomorrow's announcements.
4:06. I have so very much to do, but I have to pick up my daughter so it is time to call it a day.
I am thinking that math teachers have disproportionately cute kids.
ReplyDeleteYour daughter is adorable. Oh and teaching stuff is impressive too ;) How many different preps do you have?
ReplyDeleteI love the day in pictures idea!
ReplyDeleteDo you teach a lot of the same students physics and calculus? I too have taught both math and physics -- the connections are so much fun. Just this week, I was doing resistors added in parallel and telling another physics teacher about teaching combined rate problems in math (Marsha and Timmy painting a house together, for instance).
Thanks, Marshall and Tina! In my completely unbiased opinion, I think she is pretty cute. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Megan! I wish I had remembered to snap more pictures throughout the day. Maybe next time.
I have three preps right now: 4 sections of Algebra 2 and 1 each of physics and calculus. In the spring I will trade one of my Algebra 2 classes for a fourth prep -- math strategies. These are students who did not pass the state assessment and are needing remediation.
My physics and calculus classes are the only ones offered in our small school, so I do have a lot of the same students in both. I love those classes so much, mostly because the students are amazing!
I do my best to make connections between the two courses. I always feel like I am a much better math teacher than a physics teacher, but I do love the lively discussions we get to have about physics. I promise them that physics will cause them to see everything differently. If they get mad at me because they can't turn a corner without thinking about inertia, or they envision force components while sledding, etc. . . Then I feel like I've done my job.
Can totally relate to getting an email about a meeting after said meeting has completed!
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to say, your pictures description idea stuck with me enough to circle back and take a look today, now that I had the time. I think you did a pretty good job of it! The setup of your classroom looks pretty modern, IMO. Also, yeah, sometimes it doesn't take long at all for plans to get changed, does it - glad that's not typical.
ReplyDeleteI love your idea of FaceTime for a running buddy...gotta try that!
ReplyDeleteI came across your blog today and was excited to see you taught for a small school as well. Honestly, it was the picture of your drive that caught my eye, as I have similar pictures. Thank you for sharing!
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