Hedgetoad Teaching

no, not basketball... just rain, darkness and doom. Dare I write it? It was a dark and stormy day. Every day. March is when I loose my cool, my sanity and spend hours daydreaming of warmer climates where spring clothes can actually be worn in spring, instead of August (the only warm month). I actually attempted to ban the word "seriously" from one of my classes because it was driving me nuts. The word, not the class. This, of course, meant that for the next 20 minutes every student asked me "seriously?". Only the non-verbal headed my warning. Depressed and jaded as they are, there are days I love the non-verbal teen more than anything in the world. Thank heavens for Spring Break. No one has asked "seriously?" for last 48 hours. I've also not had to ask any one to: stop talking stop gossiping stop putting on makeup stop bringing food in the class stop throwing paper stop calling others names give me the food give me the cellphone give me the note get th...

Yup, it's that time of year again. Although I have to say that this round has been fairly easy. I don't have to proctor any tests and I'm getting some actually done.  Still working on getting my video re-done on Friday.   I've also started to read ACCESSing School by Jim Burke. So far, it's pretty straight forward and well organized. There is a bit of "philosophizing"... but mostly either practical information or personal reflections from various stakeholders in the program. We're still in the process of trying to figure out what to do with our low readers next year. Scheduling makes it hard to put them strictly leveled groups and we don't have tons of students who need the lower level  - budgets being what they are, it would be a hard sell to pay a teacher for a class of three. However, my RtI instructor keeps harping on "behavior problems only arise when there is a bad level placement"... kinda reminds me of "if you planned your...

there is no sound on the video. Thank heavens that Take One! participants have another month to get everything together.... meanwhile the write up is coming along. In another eight days I should know if I received a scholarship to pay for the whole enchilada. I know that tons of people are applying, so please rub a Buddah's belly for me.

Now I just have to figure out how to transfer it to a DVD, get it watched by someone else (who won't look at it and freak out because it's so bad), finish the write up and I'm done.   Oh yes, I have to figure out a way to explain why all of my students in the video are wearing casts, slings, braces, band-aids and using crutches (and a walker!). Today is "fake injury" day for the spirit week dress-up. It probably looks like I'm teacher a class full of school bus accident victims... or in a personal-injury lawyer's waiting room.