AuburnChick's Adventures

Someone please tell me where the week went!!  First it was Monday, and then all of a sudden it was Friday!

Ok…maybe if I take a look at my pictures, I’ll be able to reconstruct the week…

Oops.  Houston, we have a problem.

I don’t have a picture from Monday.

Oh dear.

Perhaps my classes didn’t do anything?

Nope.

If I’m not mistaken, on Monday, my ninth through twelfth graders worked on their technical manual instructions.  My sixth graders began reading a new story – The Ghost of the Lagoon.  Their new vocabulary words came from the story.

On Tuesday, we had an internet safety assembly.  A member of the local sheriff’s office came in and presented half of the information, while an FBI agent came in and gave the second half.  The students asked a lot of questions.  I kind of think they were stalling for time…not wanting to return to class.  I can’t say that the teachers discouraged them.  😉

Despite that, I still managed to get a tiny bit of instruction taken care of in my second period class…

My sixth graders continued reading the short story they had begun the day before…

Now, when Wednesday arrived, I was psyched!

I think I’ve mentioned that four of my classes are reading The Seventeen Second Miracle.  Well, Wednesday, we had our first “book club.”

Students had to answer a set of questions prior to coming to class, and they also had to write reflective journals.  If you’re interested in my lesson plans, please click here.  I uploaded the file to Google Docs and made it public.

Well, I am happy to say that the discussions went very well.  The first week covered the Prologue and Chapters 1-11.  I really feel as if students are, for the most part, enjoying the book.  A couple of my students differed in their opinions of the opening chapters.  One felt as it was boring, but another said that she kept reading the book precisely because of the opening chapters.  It was very interesting to listen to them discuss the merits of the book.

There is a lot of predicting going on, which is higher-order critical thinking.  As teachers, this is something we should strive for.

We’re not going to have the book club next week due to standardized testing, but after that, we will meet one day a week during class time.  I am ready!

My sixth graders, however, are not reading the book.  They continued to work through their short story.  They really seem to like the story.  A couple of students had read all the way through it before coming into class.  It is always good when you can get students interested in reading.

On Thursday, I had to teach my mentor’s class for my education certification field experience class, so I got a substitute for my kids and left instructions on the board…

Then, it was Friday!

April Fool’s Day.

Um…yeah.

I’ve never been one to play practical jokes, but as I began writing the day’s schedule on the board, a little imp jumped into my body…

See, I was supposed to give my students their vocabulary tests…ALL of my students.

I decided to play a little joke and left the evidence on the board.

My first period class…my seniors…walked in.  One of the girls looked at the board and yelled out in relief.  It would seem as if she had not studied for the test, despite having the words for nearly two weeks.  She’s got a lot going on right now.  She was so psyched.

I started feeling guilty at that point, but I managed to keep a straight face.

I went over the stuff at the bottom of the board, which was no joke, and then I confessed that I had played a trick on them.

Oh.

My.

Word.

They did laugh about it, and they promised not to tell the juniors, who would be coming into my classroom next.

For that class, only three students arrived on time.  The other two girls had to make a pit stop first, and because we only have two minutes between classes on Fridays, I did not mind.  Meanwhile, my three students looked at the board, and their jaws dropped.

Still, I managed to keep a straight face.

One of my students got angry, though.

He was frustrated because he had studied.

Oh, I felt so bad that I confessed on the spot.

Still, those three students agreed to keep mum when the other girls entered the room.

They were shocked when they saw the board and couldn’t figure out how Usually-Organized-Mrs-AuburnChick would forget her stuff.

teeheehee

Finally, I confessed, and everyone took the test.

I left the board as it was for my sweet little sixth graders.

They at first suspected it was a joke, but again, my marvelous acting skills were put to good use.

I managed to convince them that I was serious, and they breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, I dashed their hopes…gently, of course.

They were good sports and laughed it off.

The scenario repeated itself for my last two classes.

It was quite fun.

I don’t think I’ll be able to pull off this joke again, though.

And so Week 31 of my first year of teaching ended.  Next week will be long in some respects but short in others.  I’m sure you’ll be waiting on the edge of your seat in anticipation.

😀

Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: teaching, the seventeen second miracle | 2 Comments »