I've held off on writing this post because I wanted to give myself a little bit of time to digest all that's occurred this week.
Monday marked my first day at my new job. As I've mentioned before, I went into it with a bit of trepidation - mostly because I wasn't feeling particularly prepared, but I was also excited and ready to start.
So, I show up, go over to the cafeteria where snack was being served and begin to round up my first graders. On day one, I had about 9 of them. We walk (and I use this term VERY loosely) over to the classroom and get settled into the new room. I introduce myself and the program, the kind of stuff we're going to be doing and take attendance. So far, so good. I pass out some paper and crayons and ask them to draw a picture of something they're good at. Now, this is lesson #1 for me. I meant, draw a picture of something you believe your good at doing - trying to get at their strengths, interests, etc. They (of course) think I mean draw something that they're good at drawing. But hey, that works too. This kept most of their attention for, oh, let's say 10 minutes. Great, only 2.5 more hours to go.
Suddenly, all h-e-double hockey-sticks breaks loose. I've got two kids chasing a third around the classroom. I've got one punching the crap out of another. I've got one crying. I have one pulling on my arm pleading with me, "I want to do my homework!"
Using the loudest voice I have, I announce we're going to play "Simon Says." This is met with mostly cheers and the majority of the kids join me on the carpet. There are still a few running a muck, but hey, I'm doing what I can. Simon Says worked for maybe 5 minutes until the kids in the back decided that piling all their coats on the floor and jumping into them was way more fun.
Oh, and I've still got the one kid attached to me crying about wanting to do his homework. I tell him he's welcome to do his homework, but of course he can't do it on his own.
And so the day goes. We played every game I could come up with, but mostly the kids just ran wild. I yelled, I begged, I pleaded, I reasoned - all to no real avail. Mostly at 5:45 I was just glad they were all still alive and mostly in one piece.
I left that night thinking, "Yeah, this is not gonna work." But I was assured there would be a teacher with me the next day, so I came back on Tuesday. This may have been a big mistake.
Somehow on Tuesday I ended up with 32 kids. But having learned a few things, I managed to get them over to the school in a little bit more of an orderly fashion (well, until we were halfway there and they all broke into a run.) At this point I was still hopeful I would have a teacher waiting for us in the classroom, but... not so much. However, I did get all of them into seats and get test booklets passed out. (That's right, on day 2 after a full day of school, we wanted 32 first graders to take a math and reading placement test. Right....) But no sooner had I gotten the tests passed out then I realize, we don't have any sharpened pencils (as had been promised.) In the 20 minutes it took to manually sharpen 32 pencils, I had lost complete control of the classroom.
I had kids jumping off of desks. I had kids escaping into the hallway. I had kids jumping on each other. All in all, I think I sent 5 kids down to the office for medical attention (2 busted lips, two poked eyes, and 1 broken open scab.) Oh, yeah, and the kid that was being bounced on that puked.
I take full responsibility for obviously not having control over my classroom, but c'mon! I'm not a certified teacher. I really don't even have that much experience with this age group. I asked for help at least three times and was basically told that I needed to get stricter. I seriously spent 3/4 of the time threatening, yelling and sending kids to the principals office. I'm really not sure how much stricter I could be.
At the end of the night I pulled the site manager aside and said that if something didn't change I wasn't coming back the next day. We talked for a long time and I finally agreed to stay with the program if I could assist a teacher in a classroom rather than be the teacher. So I'm now helping out in a class of 6th and 7th graders.
All in all, it's going much better now. My first graders still run up to me in the cafeteria to give me hugs and tell me they want me to be their teacher. My 6th and 7th graders are slowly warming up to me. They're harder to win over, but easier to control. I actually got to help a few kids figure out one of their assignments yesterday and that felt good. Definitely more what I was looking for.
It's still not the best place ever, but I'm willing to keep giving it a try and see how it works out.
Monday I'm in charge of leading a drama class. Hmmm. We'll see how that goes. Wish me luck - I think I'll need it.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Oh Christmas Tree
I went on a very fun date last night which included touring this little block of row houses in Baltimore that go a little Christmas crazy. The camera phone doesn't quite do them justice, but it's the best I could do. :-) I think it was mostly impressive because there really aren't any other decorations around - just this block. Quite the eye-sore! It reminds me a little of my old neighborhood with the halloween decorations.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The whole nine yards
Where to start? It seems like it's been a long time since I've given any real updates on my new life out east.
Picking up where I believe I last left off... I had the house to myself for a few weeks (well, the dogs were here too.) Those few weeks went very quickly and were, for the most part, good. I got a little bored and stir-crazy here and there, but it pushed me to take a little more active initiative to meet some new people which has worked out nicely.
Carl, Kathleen and Lily all returned to Baltimore about two weeks ago, and the last two weeks have been, well, a whirlwind. Carl's been flying out for interviews, studying 12 hours a day for this big test he took today. Kathleen has, of course, been working everyday and somehow squeezed a day trip to Kansas City in. Lily turned two and is, well, busy like a two year old. I've been enjoying all the action, but I will admit, it was a bit like a tornado hit after having two pretty quiet weeks of basic solitude.
After 1.5 weeks of trying to be really helpful with the baby, house and dog, I decided I wanted to take a little break, so I took off this past Saturday for a pub crawl in Canton (a nearby part of Baltimore county.) This pub crawl started at noon and I just couldn't fathom beginning to drink that early and being able to stay out very long. I left the house saying, "I can't imagine I'll be gone longer than a few hours." 8 hours later, my big brother finally called to check up on me. :-)
It really turned out to be a lot more fun than I thought it would be. The group of people that were having the pub crawl is called "Meet 4 Fun Maryland" and has an age range of about 22 - 62. Now sometimes this can be a bad thing, but I have to say, this was fun. It was so entertaining to hang out with people from so many different age groups, so many different walks of life. There's just something that will forever seem entertaining to me about watching 50 year olds flirting. With two single parents some might think I'd be used to this, but I guess I just don't get the opportunity to see it so close up usually!
Anyway, the day turned out to be a lot of fun and I think it was just what I needed to feel a little more in touch with my less... homemaker side. I think I also gave Carl a bit of a "what did I get myself into when I agreed to let her move in" scare, but I don't really intend to make it a habit. I'm still working on the balance of family time and going out time, but I think it will kind of work itself out - especially once I start my other job next week.
So, speaking of that other job, many of you know I ended up moving out here in a bit of a rush, because the job I really wanted to take started on October 13th. When I was fully packed up and halfway out the door (on about October 11th), I found out that the position wouldn't be starting until the end of October or possibly even until November. I decided to go ahead and move as planned, because I a) didn't have anything left in my apartment, b) had already rented my apartment and c) knew Kathleen needed some help with Carl being in St. Louis.
As luck, and the Baltimore public school system, would have it, the program got even more delayed and is now not starting until next Monday. The nice thing is this gave me some time to get settled in, get into a bit of a routine with my DBSA job, and just relax. I think this is particularly good because I have a feeling this new job is going to bring a lot of stress to my life. At least for the first few weeks.
When I first found out about the position and the organization I was completely excited. It's an afterschool program that focuses on schools who are below proficiency rates in reading and math. The program has an awesome curriculum and really goes beyond your standard book learning.
After going through training, orientation and a month of back and forth with the office here in Baltimore I'm still psyched about the curriculum, but the organization.... not so much.
I know I'm someone who likes to have a little more structure in life than most. I like to know what I'm walking in to - I like to have things planned out. But this is just crazy. Pretty much every question I've asked has been answered with, "In a perfect world, this is what would happen...." Hmmm. Well, I can understand that this isn't a perfect world, but I would like to have some basic, little tiny idea of what I'm walking into on Monday. Instead of telling me what it would be like in a perfect world, let's try, say, this world.
If for no other reason than - I'm working with 1st graders. I need to have some idea of how the afternoon is structured. I need to have a few plans in place so they don't eat me alive. First impressions with kids are sooooo important. Yes, I'm confident I can win them back, but, man, wouldn't it be easier if I could just look like I kind of knew what I'm supposed to be doing off the bat? There's nothing like trying to keep 1st graders focused when you have no idea what you're doing.
Regardless though, I know this is going to be a good learning experience and I am excited to get started and see what it's really going to be like.
In other news, Grandma Murphy and my mom got here Monday night, immediately broke open a bottle of wine and we've all been having a grand time ever since. Lily is most impressed by the idea that this is me and Carl's mommy and her mommy. She just gives us this look like.... "hmmm, I don't know what you're trying to pull over on me here...." But we're all definitely enjoying each other and looking forward to turkey day tomorrow! Gobble gobble.
Picking up where I believe I last left off... I had the house to myself for a few weeks (well, the dogs were here too.) Those few weeks went very quickly and were, for the most part, good. I got a little bored and stir-crazy here and there, but it pushed me to take a little more active initiative to meet some new people which has worked out nicely.
Carl, Kathleen and Lily all returned to Baltimore about two weeks ago, and the last two weeks have been, well, a whirlwind. Carl's been flying out for interviews, studying 12 hours a day for this big test he took today. Kathleen has, of course, been working everyday and somehow squeezed a day trip to Kansas City in. Lily turned two and is, well, busy like a two year old. I've been enjoying all the action, but I will admit, it was a bit like a tornado hit after having two pretty quiet weeks of basic solitude.
After 1.5 weeks of trying to be really helpful with the baby, house and dog, I decided I wanted to take a little break, so I took off this past Saturday for a pub crawl in Canton (a nearby part of Baltimore county.) This pub crawl started at noon and I just couldn't fathom beginning to drink that early and being able to stay out very long. I left the house saying, "I can't imagine I'll be gone longer than a few hours." 8 hours later, my big brother finally called to check up on me. :-)
It really turned out to be a lot more fun than I thought it would be. The group of people that were having the pub crawl is called "Meet 4 Fun Maryland" and has an age range of about 22 - 62. Now sometimes this can be a bad thing, but I have to say, this was fun. It was so entertaining to hang out with people from so many different age groups, so many different walks of life. There's just something that will forever seem entertaining to me about watching 50 year olds flirting. With two single parents some might think I'd be used to this, but I guess I just don't get the opportunity to see it so close up usually!
Anyway, the day turned out to be a lot of fun and I think it was just what I needed to feel a little more in touch with my less... homemaker side. I think I also gave Carl a bit of a "what did I get myself into when I agreed to let her move in" scare, but I don't really intend to make it a habit. I'm still working on the balance of family time and going out time, but I think it will kind of work itself out - especially once I start my other job next week.
So, speaking of that other job, many of you know I ended up moving out here in a bit of a rush, because the job I really wanted to take started on October 13th. When I was fully packed up and halfway out the door (on about October 11th), I found out that the position wouldn't be starting until the end of October or possibly even until November. I decided to go ahead and move as planned, because I a) didn't have anything left in my apartment, b) had already rented my apartment and c) knew Kathleen needed some help with Carl being in St. Louis.
As luck, and the Baltimore public school system, would have it, the program got even more delayed and is now not starting until next Monday. The nice thing is this gave me some time to get settled in, get into a bit of a routine with my DBSA job, and just relax. I think this is particularly good because I have a feeling this new job is going to bring a lot of stress to my life. At least for the first few weeks.
When I first found out about the position and the organization I was completely excited. It's an afterschool program that focuses on schools who are below proficiency rates in reading and math. The program has an awesome curriculum and really goes beyond your standard book learning.
After going through training, orientation and a month of back and forth with the office here in Baltimore I'm still psyched about the curriculum, but the organization.... not so much.
I know I'm someone who likes to have a little more structure in life than most. I like to know what I'm walking in to - I like to have things planned out. But this is just crazy. Pretty much every question I've asked has been answered with, "In a perfect world, this is what would happen...." Hmmm. Well, I can understand that this isn't a perfect world, but I would like to have some basic, little tiny idea of what I'm walking into on Monday. Instead of telling me what it would be like in a perfect world, let's try, say, this world.
If for no other reason than - I'm working with 1st graders. I need to have some idea of how the afternoon is structured. I need to have a few plans in place so they don't eat me alive. First impressions with kids are sooooo important. Yes, I'm confident I can win them back, but, man, wouldn't it be easier if I could just look like I kind of knew what I'm supposed to be doing off the bat? There's nothing like trying to keep 1st graders focused when you have no idea what you're doing.
Regardless though, I know this is going to be a good learning experience and I am excited to get started and see what it's really going to be like.
In other news, Grandma Murphy and my mom got here Monday night, immediately broke open a bottle of wine and we've all been having a grand time ever since. Lily is most impressed by the idea that this is me and Carl's mommy and her mommy. She just gives us this look like.... "hmmm, I don't know what you're trying to pull over on me here...." But we're all definitely enjoying each other and looking forward to turkey day tomorrow! Gobble gobble.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Drivers get younger every day
I had the pleasure of picking Lily up from school today and she decided she wanted to do the driving. She had it down too. But the best part was when she looked at me and said, "Climb in carseat, Inrin. Lily's driving."
Monday, November 12, 2007
A day at the park
Lily and I went to the park yesterday while Carl and Kathleen caught a movie. Lily had just aquired a new baby doll, so of course the baby had to go with us. Normally this wouldn't even catch my eye, but the thing is - this baby she picked out is UGLY. To be fair, it's really not that ugly until you take off the hat and then.... ugh. I just don't understand the designers of this doll. They created one chunk of long stringy hair coming out of the baby's head. and there's these weird wrinkles like something happened in the manufacturing of the doll.
Now, Lily clearly loves this doll, so apparently the designers know something I don't. I'm afraid we may have another Zander on our hands. As a little kid, he was always big on picking out the ugliest items as well. Like shriveled up, gnarly pumpkins. Guess it's just that underdog mentality. Someone has to love these things I guess.
Anyway, here are a few pictures from the park and the ugly doll. :-)
Lily loved sending the baby down the slide and then following it down.
Lily wasn't all about the swing when we first got to the playground, but before long she wanted to and then we spent a good 1/2 hour just swinging. She kept telling me, "Lily's baby swing! Whee!" This is a shot of her giving the ugly baby a kiss.
Now, Lily clearly loves this doll, so apparently the designers know something I don't. I'm afraid we may have another Zander on our hands. As a little kid, he was always big on picking out the ugliest items as well. Like shriveled up, gnarly pumpkins. Guess it's just that underdog mentality. Someone has to love these things I guess.
Anyway, here are a few pictures from the park and the ugly doll. :-)
Lily loved sending the baby down the slide and then following it down. 
"Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy."
When I got a little bored and started wiggling the teeter-totter back and forth I was told, "No, Inrin. Bouncy, bouncy." Guess she told me.
Lily wasn't all about the swing when we first got to the playground, but before long she wanted to and then we spent a good 1/2 hour just swinging. She kept telling me, "Lily's baby swing! Whee!" This is a shot of her giving the ugly baby a kiss.
See the chunk of hair hanging down the doll's face? I mean come on... why?
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