not sad

one of my old kids e-mailed me today. i gave a couple of them my e-mail before i left because i don't really object to random e-mails from kids, and it beats giving out my phone number.

i can't even tell if i miss them. i feel like i should. they were my first real class and on the very rare occassions i had a chance to interact with some of them one-on-one or at least in a smaller group i thought they were some amazing kids. but i still am not sad i'm gone. not at all.

i knew i kept earplugs in my purse for a reason

i work in one half of a full-size classroom that has been divided by bulletin boards in the middle. they come up half-way between the floor and ceiling so kids can't see what's going on on the other side, but you can hear everything. this is not a problem during the day, when there usually isn't class on the other half of the room. after school, though, there is apparently a drumming class. they put sticks in the hands of elementary school students and an instructor plays out phrases and then 10-or-so kids pound out the same rhythm.

over and over and over again. while i'm trying to grade papers and write lesson plans. over and over and over again.

luckily, i keep earplugs in my purse at all times.

after only 9 weeks

when i was a student teacher i happily stayed after school until 7:30 and was never satisfied with my lessons. when someone once asked me if i planned on having kids someday i said "yeah, probably. although, i can't really imagine putting anything before my classroom. i know if i had kids i would have to put those kids before my students. i have a hard time imagining that."

now, after 9 weeks at horner where i gave as much as i could and barely got anything back, i can imagine caring about a lot of things more than i care about my students, which makes me really sad. i don't want that. i really hope that 9 weeks couldn't kill me as a teacher. i'm hoping that this next week in my new job will bring some of that back. but i'm worried.

behavior disorder frequencies

i kind of wonder if i have one of those voices that kids with behavior disorders just can't hear, because they act like they can't hear it and they're pretty good at it...

what's up first day?

apparent requirements for teaching special ed in chicago public schools:

possess a teaching certificate.

um. that's it.