Patience

Well there are only 12 more days of school and I have run very low on my patience. I know it's the end of the year, but the students are annoying me more everyday. They have decided that since "testing" is over they are done with school. Unfortunately this is definitely not the case! I have been fighting their lack of motivation for over a week now and I have completely lost my patience! I need to stop and try and be positive everyday, every period, every minute but it is sometimes too difficult. So I am asking for all of you to pray for me to have this patience with my kiddos for the next 12 days. Without this help, I might say something that I will regret!

Why I love teaching...

So this week has been a little bit of a rough week with my students. We have started testing and I know their brains are fried, but then again so is mine. So I have been exhausted all week and my patience was running thin. Today I went to my box (where you find all sort of things for you) and found a green paper with my name and the schools name. It was stapled shut so I was curious as to what it was.

It read:
Dear Ms. Recendez,
This past week we watched the movie Tuesdays with Morrie. It made me think about some of my past teachers. I wanted to thank you because not only were you an excelent teacher, but your class showed me that you can express yourself, have a fun time, and learn a great deal of work. As I thought back to all my classes and teachers yours is the one that stood out to me the most. I am also glad that I was in your class right before high school because it prepared me a lot for these four years that are now soon going to end. Thank you again.

This was a great thing for me to get after this week. It makes me feel good to know that I have influenced someone's life. As a teacher it is difficult to know if you are making a difference in someone's life temporarily or permenantly. This student was from my first year of teaching. For those of you that know...that was one rough year! I was still able to make a difference! :)

Testing...

So testing has begun...the CST has finally arrived! I am still stressing out about it since I am not done reviewing in my Algebra courses, but I'm hoping they will suprise me and do awesome! Well not suprise me, but do me proud! I have been reviewing and reviewing and reviewing with 7th grade math which has made my life boring for the last month and a half. I am ready to start teaching again and I can't wait until testing is done.

F0r the first time ever I am not testing my own students. This was difficult for me to put my head around since I have always had my own students and I feel that sometimes they do better with me in the room. I know I can't help them and they know that too, but it puts them at ease that I am in the room. So I am testing my friend Renee's 7th grade honors class and it is an experience. Not only do I not know their names, but I do not know their personalities either.

It has been a fun three days of testing (2 days of testing & 1 day of testing block). The last two days they were actually testing for Language Arts. Today though was a different story. I was to entertain these students for 135 minutes! Yikes that's a long time. So I decided that we would do missing work/extra credit first. This worked out since most students finished at least one assignment. Then we were going to play Jepardy. I made a math one for first semester concepts and we played this for the next 45 minutes. Now I should have paid closer attention to the schedule and my math skills on counting time because we were only at an hour and a half (roughly). So I thought the students were about to leave my class when I looked at the schedule and realized YIKES, they have another half an hour with me. What to do what to do?!?!?!?

Well I decided let's play "Heads up, seven up!" They played this for the next 20 minutes when they started to get restless. A student asked if they would play "4 corners" and then they did this for the next ten minutes. All in all today was not too bad with these students that I do not know very well. It was a fun 2 hours and 15 minutes. :)

6th Period Mammogram

Ok so I have started teaching and I already have a hilarious story. If I ever decide to write a book with all of the funny things that happen at work this one would enter it.

My 6th period class is a honors 7th grade math class. I was giving notes on rational numbers when a student raised his hand and told me, "Ms. Recendez did you know Mr. Bush taught his class how to do mammograms?" Of course I look at the kid like he might be crazy and I say "Mammograms?!" and he says "Yes". I of course am looking at him like he's crazy when he then says, "And they are doing it on each other!!" Oh my! I am now looking at him like he really is crazy or Mr. Bush is crazy. I think to myself, Mr. Bush can't be teaching about mammograms...right?! When he then procedes to get his pencil and tap, tap, tap....tap, tap on his desk. I then look right at him at say "MORSE CODE?!?!?!" He states, "Morse code, mammograms, same thing". I then put my head down in my hands and start laughing. I couldn't help it. Just when I think the conversation is over, a girl raises her hand and asks "Ms. Recendez...what is a mammogram?" Oh my...how in the world am I going to explain this now?! So I then procede to say, "Its something 40 year old women get". This then causes a little giggle around the classroom. AND THEN, I use my hand in a clockwise gesture from my face to my belly and saw, "In this area". This causes a great giggle to pass across the classroom.

A little later when the boy tried to say something in my class again, I told him "SHHH! I can't take anything else from you...Mr. Mammogram!"

Who knew I was going to have to teach some life science in my 7th grade honors math class?! I now have a great story for this school year. Let's see if anything can top it!