It has been a challenging few weeks to say the least. I have enjoyed my time at PMHS immensely. I really like the students and the staff and the fresh, clean appearance of the school. This is the type of place I want to teach in one day. Keeping everything straight in my brain has been the challenge. From deadlines for school to deadlines for my kids, to learning how another teacher runs his classroom to running my own, entirely different classroom.
I had the opportunity to be a part of a collaboration on professional learning day where teams of teachers reviewed every single high school students performance for the first 5 weeks of school and came up with an individualized strategy for success. It was a wonderful experience. Too often in large schools it is easy for a student to get overlooked, but this approach was refreshing and gave me great insight in to the way PMHS works.
I have become particularly attached to Mr. Williams 2nd period class. I enjoy all the students, but this particular group has a few "challenges" in it that keep me on my toes but are also particularly rewarding. One student's name is Matthew. Matthew is tall, African American, and wears name brands. When he was young, his mom lost custody of him because of drug use and he was adopted by a local preacher who tried to "get his life right." Matthew talks a good game, but he really just needs a little encouragment and some personalized attention. I know he is a special education student based on his homeroom teacher, but that is the extent of what I know about that. I am not sure what his accomodations are. Every class period I sit with him for a little while and made sure his work is good before he turns it in for his grade from Mr. Williams. I can't tell if he is just being a little lazy or if he is having a hard time understanding the instructions on the handouts we give him. He has some trouble following detailed directions like inputting the formulas in Excel and such.
Another student is Ahjayne. Ahjayne started out by telling me that she didn't need my resume writing lesson because she had a job...at the local fast food joint. I quickly broke down for her how long $7.25 per hour would meet her needs (especially since she plays step mom to her boyfriend's two kids) and ever since I have had her rapt attention in resume writing and job application processing. They even asked for mock interviews.
Tomorrow, my other school is on break, so I am coming in to PMHS in the afternoon to experience middle school keyboarding. These middle schoolers have quite the reputation in the school for being rowdy and disrespectful. Looking forward to bringing back strict Ms. B and her classroom management skills to see if I still have it!
I had the opportunity to be a part of a collaboration on professional learning day where teams of teachers reviewed every single high school students performance for the first 5 weeks of school and came up with an individualized strategy for success. It was a wonderful experience. Too often in large schools it is easy for a student to get overlooked, but this approach was refreshing and gave me great insight in to the way PMHS works.
I have become particularly attached to Mr. Williams 2nd period class. I enjoy all the students, but this particular group has a few "challenges" in it that keep me on my toes but are also particularly rewarding. One student's name is Matthew. Matthew is tall, African American, and wears name brands. When he was young, his mom lost custody of him because of drug use and he was adopted by a local preacher who tried to "get his life right." Matthew talks a good game, but he really just needs a little encouragment and some personalized attention. I know he is a special education student based on his homeroom teacher, but that is the extent of what I know about that. I am not sure what his accomodations are. Every class period I sit with him for a little while and made sure his work is good before he turns it in for his grade from Mr. Williams. I can't tell if he is just being a little lazy or if he is having a hard time understanding the instructions on the handouts we give him. He has some trouble following detailed directions like inputting the formulas in Excel and such.
Another student is Ahjayne. Ahjayne started out by telling me that she didn't need my resume writing lesson because she had a job...at the local fast food joint. I quickly broke down for her how long $7.25 per hour would meet her needs (especially since she plays step mom to her boyfriend's two kids) and ever since I have had her rapt attention in resume writing and job application processing. They even asked for mock interviews.
Tomorrow, my other school is on break, so I am coming in to PMHS in the afternoon to experience middle school keyboarding. These middle schoolers have quite the reputation in the school for being rowdy and disrespectful. Looking forward to bringing back strict Ms. B and her classroom management skills to see if I still have it!
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