I'm Sick and The World Keeps Spinning

Well the second week of school just finished and the students really appreciate the notes that I hand out in class. So therefore I'll keep it up since it helps with my prepping for class everyday. It's already Monday and I've got a bunch of homework and tests to grade for the week, but I'm sick currently thanks either to the "fun" of school or maybe from some of the students that I interact with.

This entire weekend I went from bad to worse with today being the worst day yet. Luckily I had two test to give out in two classes and the other two classes were mostly review. I only had to really teach Physics but then again I almost tripped on a skateboard I brought to class. Ugh, that didn't help at all. Anyways, I was really tired and decided to leave school right after my seventh period was dismissed and basically slept for the remainder of the afternoon and most of the evening. Actually I'm writing this so I can wear myself out and go to bed. Sorry readers.

This week I'm starting up a new program to help students succeed. It's called the EARLY MORNING HELP HOUR and it's on every Monday, Thursday, Friday at 7am in my room. Today I had a session but only one student showed up. So I'm going to make a flier and hand it out. I just have to choose the right color paper to make copies on...I think it's going to be really helpful to the students who work on the previous night's homework and need some extra time to finish it and get some tutoring by the teacher. Hopefully this will also reduce the amount of time in class that I spend "going over" the homework from the previous night.

Also, I'm starting to notice that some students are really struggling with the math and are too afraid to ask for help or simply don't care. Today I had one student who couldn't finish her test and hardly answered any of the questions correctly. She was using the wrong formula for the problems and was not understanding what she was doing. I told her that we could work together on this, but she still didn't seem confident enough. She told me that when we do homework in class she feels confident enough to do it, but when it's on a test or at home she just doesn't understand. I think she knows what to do but doesn't have the confidence to do so. She's nervous that what she is doing is wrong. Although sometimes that's true, that's not true in every case. I'm trying to bolster her confidence, but I think it's going to take some time.

Also, I've noticed that some students turn in homework but leave answers blank. I even give them extra time in class to finish last night's homework and to come to me to ask me questions but they would rather turn in the homework and then go work on another subject or talk with their friends. So today I let the students turn in their homework and then they started doing their own thing. I was rummaging through their homework and notice that one student left two problems blank. I then went up to him to ask if had trouble understanding the concept. He said, "Oh yeah. I just didn't understand and wanted to come talk to you." Well, okay, Mr. Student, that's what this extra time is for. I'm here and you're here with your homework. Let's go over some of the missed problems. Initiative seems to be a problem but I'll keep making announcements in class that I'm always available to meet their needs when understanding the problems. They just have to get that in their heads!

On a really positive note today, a student mentioned in class that what I taught her last week was important on the ACT exam that she took. She said that it helped her out a lot and that she understood what the question was asking for. HOW AWESOME! That was a real encouragement to me and it let me know that what I was teaching is relevant and that the students are listening. Now that makes me excited! :-)

P.S. Here's a random clip art for Robert so that it makes the post more interesting.