#ToBeHonestTuesday: All the things I'm afraid of...

I got the email today about signing up for New Teacher Orientation, which is basically where I go in and sign my contract, sign up for insurance, review policies/procedures, yadda yadda yadda... So, I signed up for my orientation and requested to pick up my paperwork early to go over my options with my husband.

But just getting that email threw my mind into a whirlwind of ideas and tasks that I should be doing. I should order a thick and detailed (which just means $$$) teacher planner, figure out what kind of filing system I should be using, lesson plans (?!?!), and eight thousand other things that I've put on my Wunderlist. I need to come up with some sort of lesson on what it means to be in high school (I'll be teaching 9th grade world history), go over school expectations and procedures, go over my expectation and rules (which I'm pretty sure I will center about RESPECT), and do some kind of "get to know you" activity that doesn't suck. It has been 6 years since I've been in high school. I'm not going to pretend I know what is "cool" anymore. Also, there's only so much Kid President students can take in one day.

My absolute top concern is cell phones. Kids (and honestly everyone) are attached to their phones. They rarely leave their hands. I have this terrible fear of a student having a phone out while I'm teaching and when I ask them to put it away, they don't. Then I have to confiscate it and they refuse. If I leave it alone then I lose credibility and if I battle with the student then I've lost everything, too. It's so stupid because I know that I am capable of building community and relationships with my students based on mutual respect, but that doesn't mean that my students will always find my class and my lessons a priority over the latest gossip or personal drama. My first inclination would be to ask the student to step out until I can get the class going on an assignment and deal with it at that point. But is that even right?!

I'm afraid that my students won't take me seriously because I look like a student. Although I never had these issues substituting, I have been shown texts from when I was student teaching about students talking about me being attractive. Of course, being called attractive is not a bad thing, but when it comes to being taken seriously, you really have to look the part, act the part, and teach the part. Silly or not, I've seen this get to another teacher in the school. She dresses well, she's attractive, and she's young. Students respect her and get along well with her, but she does end up being part of sexual jokes around the school. It's just a fine line that makes me nervous teaching in a high school. 

I don't even know where to start for lesson planning until my department chair responds to my email (It's been 24 hours already!!). I just want to start working on things! I only have 68 days, 10 hours, and two minutes.

Tomorrow I will hopefully have a ton of other things to worry about like insurance costs and such.

But for now, I'm just going to sit on my couch and watch HGTV while I save teacher memes to my computer.

[Yeah, and I want my students to keep their cell phones off whenever they're in my classroom, and I want to dress well and be attractive without my students noticing. Also, interactive and meaningful lesson plans falling into my lap would be nice.]

Yeah. Good luck with that...

            Zilla

She Wears Short Skirts, I Wear Professional Knee Length Skirts Because I'm an Adult...

As I get older and begin my transition into the adult world, I find myself dressing more and more modestly. I know that people-- females especially-- like to gossip and I don't want to end up being that teacher that dresses more like a student than an adult. We've all seen them...

I have been really peeved about what I've seen and heard about on Twitter and from my friends who have logged hours in a classroom. Short skirts, plunging necklines, sheer material, too-tight pants (or shirts!), sweat pants, yoga pants, or anything that looks better on your students than on a mature adult such as yourself.


Example: Ladies, Cameron Diaz can do no wrong... except in Bad Teacher. The dress is so cute and fashionable but it is not right for school. You are a professional female in the workplace. When you bend over you should not be watched in case something were to sneak out. Not to mention what would happen if you picked up something and had no extra hands to make sure you can keep the dress from riding up. If you are a high school teacher like I am, then the bend and reach test is crazy important! And this dress is a FAIL (at least during the school week).

Example 2: Do I even need to discuss the fact that this is not a dress but a shirt (and that's a BIG maybe)? It is, however, still too low on her torso and she is still showing too much skin. I have seen too many beautiful girls wearing dresses without sleeves or straps or a cardigan! You don't see professional women without their skin modestly covered. And before anyone thinks I'm picking on women, you don't see men wearing tank tops or shirts unbuttoned this low! It's about showing you're an adult and one that is dressed for a professional work environment.

Example 3: For both genders... Say it with me: FLIP FLOPS ARE NOT WORK APPROPRIATE. Ever. Just like wearing six inch heels to teach in all day is probably a terrible idea unless you're like Cameron Diaz (and there are some people who can pull it off-- I'm just not one of them). Ask yourself how you would pace your room and manage your classroom all day long in 6 inch heels. Ouch.  Remember that you are going to be on your feet for 90% of the day. Be good to your feet.

Anyway. Those were just a few of my pet peeves.
Do yall have any others that really grinds your gears about teachers ignoring professional dress code?
Let me know in the comments!



            Zilla

Day One of the Obsession

I got the call yesterday morning. The man on the other end wanted to officially offer me my dream job at the school where I student taught… and coached… and substitute taught at from January to June…

If we’re being honest, I couldn’t imagine anyone else filling the position. I bonded so well with the faculty and the secretaries and the students. I loved the sense of community within the school. It was my dream job and I landed it. I know I’m a lucky girl. 

But ever since I got that call, I’ve been going insane! Anyone who knows me or follows my tweets (@TheMrsZilla)  knows that when I’ve got a project I turn into one of those obsessive one-track-mind people. I want to do research, I want to ask questions (ASK ALL THE QUESTIONS). So when I settled into bed at 9pm I made sure to pick up some light reading, a highlighter, and my phone with the WunderList To Do app open and ready (if you don’t know what that is, look it up. It may save your life!).

So far, my to-do list is 21 items long – not counting sub tasks within those items. I’ve tagged at least ten pages with those little mini post-it notes. I’ve day dreamed about writing assignments and group projects, and even (GASP!) creating tests. This book is really just about the basics, but it has given me so much to think about that I’ve spent most of this day reading Love, Teach Blog (loveteachblog.com).

That blog (along with The Monogrammed Midwesterner @ monogrammedmidwesterner.com – THANK YOU SO MUCH, LOVELY!!) gave me the courage to start documenting my own experiences as I deal step into my first “big girl job.”

So... what do I need? Everything.

Mostly shoes that look professional. More teacher clothes. Ticonderoga pencils (for student use), cute stapler, cute tape roll, paper, notebooks... I could go on and on. I need STUFF. 

But I don't even know if I have a room yet... So, if anyone has a time machine that could just fast forward to next week, I would appreciate it.

For now I will just continue to dream about seating arrangements, posters, and my new teaching planner. If any of yall have any suggestions on teacher supplies, advice for the newbies, etc let me know in the comments!

            Zilla

Once upon a time...

This is my introductory post. 

This is where I’m supposed to show my readers how bubbly and organized and how completely and utterly prepared I am to step into my own classroom (I'm not.). But I did graduate from one of the best education universities in my state last December after an amazing experience student teaching. I love challenging them to analyze motivations and think historically. I learned that I thrive in the classroom with my students and that building community and relationships are things that I am good at-- things I should continue to prioritize in my classroom. But I also learned that I need to work on a LOT of things.

1.       There are a lot of things I still don’t know about history. I  can’t recite every little detail about The Roanoke colony or each pharaoh that ever ruled in Egypt.  And I learned that students will be able to sense that and then they will ask you about something minute about that subject that doesn’t matter at all in the grand scheme of things and you will research ALL of those pesky Egyptian pharaohs only to get asked about some other random factoid that you are also not prepared to teach. It's a gift they have. 

2.       It is okay to tell your students that you’re not sure about something. As soon as you try to BS your way to an answer, one of your brilliant kids will pipe up. And that, my friends, is so incredibly awful in all the ways. You lose credibility in front of your students and you feel like a failure the rest of the week. Trust me on this, just be honest with them. Your students will respect you so much more.

3.       Make sure you’re in tune with your needs as much as your students’ needs. I found myself at school from 6:30am to about 5pm every day (this is in the off season when I’m not coaching) trying to make my presentations better, trying to make sure I felt prepared to take their questions (I’m hoping I eventually get this part), and trying to keep up with my student teaching portfolio as well. I actually got points taken off of one of my observed lessons because my cooperating teacher (who I LOVE) let it slip that I was working harder than she had seen anyone work in the department. I’m still bitter, but I digress…

Those were my big three that I knew I had to have a plan for going into my future position. I knew I wanted to end up at the school I did my student teaching. So when I graduated in December, I automatically applied to become a substitute in the county. I began to lean toward teaching high school students instead of middle school and took a job coaching girls’ JV softball at that school. I was able to book a job almost every day from January to June. I got to know a lot of the faculty members and most of the department in which I wanted to work. I was very lucky.

And then I got the call from the principal herself… and there begins my journey into my first year as a teacher. J

 So, all my lovely readers, how was your student teaching experience? What did you feel most prepared to handle? What did you feel a little lost in?

Let me know in the comments below!

Wishing everyone a relaxing summer!

            Zilla