Surviving

Well, my first day went really well. I was worried about not having enough material, but it turned out to be the perfect amount. I had an extra journaling idea lined up just in case, but of course we got nowhere near needing it.

Today, the second, was a little rougher. Students were giving their bag-presentations today and I found two very different reactions throughout the day. During some periods, the students were so quiet, barely talked during their presentations, or in showing interest in their classmates. Other classes were so rowdy that just getting through the presentations was a task (i.e. they took my direction to "ask each other about their items" way too seriously, and asked ridiculous and pointless questions just to be silly).

I'm going to have a big problem with one particular class of 9th graders. They are delightful and vibrant, but have no concept of being able to calm down. There are a few very strong personalities in the class, and it is 85% boys. They get so riled up, which in some instances is okay, but then trying to get them back on task is impossible. I can't even move their seats to separate them because there aren't enough girls to do so. I'm going to make an effort to harness and stop this behavior immediately, by having an individual silent activity in place for tomorrow. I can't let them get the attitude that our class is always going to be rowdy and fun, because I can already see they're driving the girls nuts. They're funny, but... just too much. I was trying to think if it was something about the way I presented myself or my rules on the first day to give these kids the wrong impression, but I did the same thing every period and the others are fine. I think this one particular class is just a different kind of group.

The other problem with today is that we completed bag-presentations much quicker than I had anticipated. Therefore, I had to come up with something to do tomorrow. I don't want anything too major because we still have a few bag-presentations/intro activities to complete, and because the next week is pretty broken up by various school things (picture day, library orientation). I think with the 9th graders I'm going to have them do a journaling activity so I can see their writing skills, and also as a way to get them into "class mode." With the 10th graders, I'm going to begin with background information on the history of America in 1850-1900, Naturalism and Jack London. We're going to read part of "To Build a Fire" in class and they will finish it over the weekend. I think that's a torturous story to start off with, but that's the curriculum... I think after reading London, I'm going to use some Stephen Crane poetry to reiterate the basic beliefs of Naturalists, but to show that not all of them have to be as dry and lengthy as London.

I feel unprepared for tomorrow. I spent most of tonight just talking with my Lit-major roommate about the topics, just to get myself thinking of things to talk about and jotting notes. I have a general idea of what I want to do, but not nearly as fleshed out as I usually do. I hope it goes well... I hate feeling so disorganized, but I can't make definite plans for anything because our schedule changes so rapidly based on interruptions, how far we get, etc. I feel like, after being such a planner, teaching day-in day-out is going to teach me how to better be flexible and sort of "go with it" in a little less anal-retentive manner...