Cleaning

Today I spent several hours cleaning my apartment. I have gotten in the groove of cleaning the bathroom every Saturday and I still don't know how bathrooms get so dirty in one week. I have much much more respect for the house keepers at Southwestern now with how many bathrooms they clean everyday. But I am still sticking to my story, that I really do not like cleaning. I also cleaned off my dining room table. It is not really in the dining room, but more in the middle of my bedroom. I can actually walk now without wondering if I am going to break any of my movies because I picked them up. However that caused a dilemma because I didn't know how to categorize them. Although the apartment is not as clean as it could be, I am happy with the space at least right now. After church tomorrow I will probably clean more and post some pictures of the apartment and the surrounding area (La Verne and Claremont).

This week marks the finish of my third full week teaching. The last two hours of the school day are the best because I get to be with my girls. I did have a problem this week with the substitute assistant. We don't see eye to eye on the point system that DMH and Joan Macy uses for the girls. I will have to do what I was trained to do and self advocate because I am the teacher and I want what is best for my girls. I see them as teenage girls and having the privilege of being a teenage girl once, I think that (at least for many people that I know) math was not the fun part of the day. Plus, teenagers in general don't like doing what the teacher wants them to do. And these are the girls that HATE math, so of course they don't want to put effort because it has been so hard for them in the first place. Anyway, I don't want the girls to associate me with negative check marks because they will associate less points with math and then will not choose to participate and try to understand math. I guess it is a long process. But so far I am very much enjoying my first year of teaching.

I am sad that I will not get to attend Semester of Support at the SU Homecoming. SOS is a program for the teachers that just graduated and we get to rant about whatever and talk about how to make the SU program better and so we know that we have people who understand what we are going through. However I must say that as sad as it is, I don't need that group to rant to. One I have this blog and two I have my parents who over the years have, I believe, gotten very fond of my ranting!!!, plus one or two fantastic friends!

all for now! grace and peace

Just another post

Hey everyone, I haven't posted in awhile, so I thought maybe now was a good time. Plus, I was told it was time for a new post.

Anyway, this past weekend, I drove out to Hemet (about 60 miles east of La Verne). To get there you have to drive throught a lot of dust and dairy farms. It sort of seems like it is out in the middle of nowhere. I went out there because while I was still at training I got an email from the lady in charge of getting speakers for the United Methodist Women Riverside District Meeting. So like usual I waited until the last minute to prepare, but I think it went well. Most of the churches in the Riverside District (the district that David and Margaret is in) support DMH in someway or another. Many of the women come out here at some point during the year. Plus, DMH is a National Mission Institute, so that means that we are somehow supported by the UMWs. I told them my story and how I ended up at DMH and what I am doing. I also made sure to tell them that I would LOVE to come and talk to any units or circles or committees at their churches to get the word out about the US-2 program. I had several takers (so we will see where that leads.

Sunday I attended the inaugural meeting of the Inland Valley Chapter of Progressive Christians United. I guess I will see where that takes me. They only have big meetings once a quarter, but there is a program that works with high school students and also a group that works on college campuses, so maybe I can get my foot in the door through one of those groups.
When I got home from the meeting I decided to look on the SWTX website (my home church conference) because I had done an interview for the paper at the beginning of the month. Amazingly I found the article (http://umcswtx.org/news/witness/witHtm0922/swt/ccum.htm). It is a very well written article. I doubt that will happen many more times, but I am happy that the program is getting out in SWTX because most people there don't know about the program (in my experience).

Monday I had to go to the DMH Board Meeting so my big boss here could introduce me and I could tell them about myself. While I was there I got another invitation to speak and a few more were interested. I think they just seemed happy to find out who the US-2 is that is working here.

That is really all I have to post. I do have some prayer concerns. My MIRYAP (missionary in residence for young adult programs), otherwise known as Lauren, my boss in New York, found out at the end of last week that her uncle was killed in a motorcylce accident. Also, my teaching assistant, Omar, will probably be becoming a father sometime this week. It is his and his wife's first baby, so he is a bit nervous.

All for now,
grace and peace

Yippee!

So today I had my first student tell me that my class was her favorite class because she feels like she is actually learning something.
Just thought I would share that with everyone!
grace and peace

First Full Week! (a bit of bragging)

So this past week was my first full week in the classroom. Let's just say that school and student teaching really doesn't prepare you for the "real" classroom. But needless to say, I think I did very well. I told the girls on the first day that one of my biggest rules is respect. I will respect them and they will respect me and their classmates. Yeah I know that is pretty vague, but amazingly it works (at least in my classroom). I have a class of 10 8th-10th graders that are at an average 4th math level. You might think having ten kids in a class would be a piece of cake, but it isn't. For 55 minutes, I don't sit down or stop moving. Now teachers and other people might think that a good teacher wouldn't do that anyway. But in "normal" classes the teacher is not barraged with questions for the whole class period. I do have to say that the feeling is amazing when a student knows you are the teacher and wants your help, even though they know that you aren't good at math. (Yes I told them on the first day that I am not a math teacher, but they don't seem to care.)

Everyday we start with a warm up (as most math classes that I was ever in started with a warm up). This week we did word fractions -- the first 2/5 of flour and the last 4/6 of shower (flower) --this was incredibly difficult for these girls and sometimes even confused me. But by the end of the week, most of the girls could do them on their own with minimal questions. Earlier in the week, I gave them fraction bars, so they could write the words in the bars and figure them out that way, I thought it would be a hit, but it only was with some students. I told them that we wouldn't get to fractions for awhile, but doing it this way will help when we just use numbers, that made it a little better.

I stole an idea from one of the girls in my cohort at SU -- Good News. Good News is a time at the beginning of class where we go around and say something good that has happened today or in the past week. I told the girls that we will do this once a week on any given day, it could just be random, or if I read the shift report from the day before and it seems that many of the girls were not in a good place the night before. Doing Good News is great because it gets the girls to think about something positive. We did it for the first time yesterday and there was one girl who actually wanted to go first! Many of the girls said that they were glad that they got good grades for the week. Good News would be a good starter or ender for many group meetings!

So at Joan Macy (the school) we have Room 22. This is essentially a time out room. If the teacher just can't tolerate a student anymore they can send them to room 22 for 5-10 minutes. While sometimes a Rm. 22 is needed, I have found that many times the girls are just being teenage girls and the teachers send them to Rm. 22. I am proud to say that I am the only teacher that did not send any girls to Rm. 22 last week. I also only gave one zero because my TA made me (one girl didn't turn in her homework). I don't think that warrants a zero for the day, but I guess those are the school rules and the TA has been working here for much longer. Anyway, going back to respect. My dad says that the girls know what is expected of them and do it because of how they are treated in my class. I try not to treat them like they are at some residential center. Yesterday, three of my students were in Rm. 22 earlier in the day and once they got to my room they did what they were supposed to do. They also know they have a choice in my classroom. Sure they don't have to participate in the game, but they can't just sit and do nothing they have to do problems out of the book. And so far they have all chosen to participate. It is also interesting the power of the words please and thank you. I have a feeling that other teachers just bark out orders, but many people don't respond well to that especially teenage girls and especially teenage girls that are in residential treatment. So just something for all of you reading this...say please and thank you.

In the research project I was a part of, we found that Procedures are key. That is what I worked on this week in the classroom. I have different procedures than the other teachers. Many of them stand at the door and collect homework and daily pointsheets. Yes I stand at the door, but that is not a time to do secratarial things. By the end of the week, the girls would come in put their point sheets in the correct basket and get started on their warm-up with out having to be reminded. (It is amazing!!)

Well anyway, I started working out with a trainer this week. Oh my goodness, I have never been more sore in my life. Friday, I could barely walk, but I guess no pain no gain!! Sorry there isn't much funny stuff in my blogs, but right now my life is just working. And working with girls that are on probation or have been taken away from their families and placed in residential treatment just doesn't provide for much comic relief.

grace and peace!

The Kitchen, Visit, & Beginning of School

So, now that I have left the picture with all of the kitchen tools up for awhile, I guess it is time to write about it. So last Saturday (the day I was anxiously awaiting) I got up and puttered around. I had these bugs in my kitchen that were getting on my nerves and multiplying exponentially overnight. Everytime I had my kitchen door open they would fly into my bedroom. I liked this even less than having them in my kitchen. So I decided to shut the door and go on a rampage. For those of you who don't know. My kitchen is in between my room and the "Quilt" room and both sets of locks are on the room side. I keep my side locked all the time so if someone went into the quilt room and decided to come into My kitchen, they at least come into my room. And for the safety. Well...as you can guess from the picture...I shut the door and moments later tried frantically to open the door. NO luck. There is a small window and I opened it, I live essentially on the 1st and a half floor, and there is no ledge below me. I thought well I could jump out, but no matter which way I tried, the outcome wouldn't have been good. Yes I tried to get the hinges off, but they were stuck -- good. So I looked in the drawers. I found the spoons, knives, and luckily I had brought the wonderful kitchenaid knife. I had to go about it very carefully, because even though I am now first aid certified, knowing what to do if I sliced my hand open wouldn't help because I was in the middle of two locked doors. I also really didn't want to break my toes or fingers by being violent and hitting the door. Eventually I worked that hole into the door. I was very proud of myself. I didn't panic. Altogether, I was in there for about two hours. I knew that one year of girl scouts and 2 years of campfire stayed with me all of these years!

That weekend my parents came!! We had a great time. My apartment now looks like I actually live in it. And it actually is sort of set up like my room at home, so it gives it a feel that I know. They also saved me from having to get locked in again. My dad changed the quilt room door around so the lock is now on my side. We spent some good family time together minus peter. On Monday (Labor Day) we drove down to the San Juan Capistrano Mission (the one where the swallows go). It was interesting to see what a mission in California looked like because we have the Alamo, which doesn't look like a mission anymore. That day we took a long drive and drove to Long Beach and saw the Queen Mary ship...it was huge. The day was mostly driving, but fun nonetheless. It was very nice to have a stress free weekend. While they were here we signed me up for a membership at LA Fitness! I now have a reason to leave my apartment. We went to Claremont UMC, second time for me, and it was once again interesting. I am willing myself to get into the sermons. I will next see my family in November for Thanksgiving in Phoenix, so that count down has begun.

That week school finally started. It is very weird for school to start so late. The first two days were boring, because I was in other people's classes doing nothing. Friday I finally had my first class. I realized that when they said that these are the girls that will have the hardest in math, they weren't kidding. I think you have to get math. These girls don't get it. and when they don't want to do something they just shut down. Neeless to say, this class will be very interesting. I am not going to get any help from the other math teacher, but at least I am finally getting a little support from the principal.

This weekend I had my first training session at LA Fitness and man am I sore, but that means that my muscle is building!!
Today in class I had the girls take a pretest, because they are scattered all over the place in what they are able to do. I had a girl this morning come into the office and say that she was not coming to my class. The behavior assistant brought her in a few minutes after class and she was crying. She cried all class period. None of the girls wanted to do the test, but they all did as much as they could, which I was proud of. I thought that maybe I wouldn't have to start at the beginning, but as Rodgers and Hammerstein cleverly put it...Let's start at the very beginning, the beginning is a very good place to start. I now realize more than ever that I was not trained as a math teacher. Now I have to do my part and research the best techniques to help these girls learn. I hope that tomorrow is better, once we start learning and they can see they are making progress. I guess we will see.

I am glad that I finally have things to do at work and I am just not sitting around at work or at home!
grace and peace!

Just call me Ms Macgyver

Let me call to your attention all of the instruments that helped me make the 3 inch x 3 inch hole in my kitchen door. A bent carving fork, a Kitchenaid Santoku knife, a pair a titanium scissors, a broken dinner knife and a large serving spoon. I will let everyone ponder this picture and I will blog about the incident in the near future.