Random Tid Bits

If you've been reading my blog for a long time now you may possibly remember me bitching complaining about my students a few years ago. Last year I had wonderful students, this year I have great students in first year for the most part, but I have the students back that I complained about before. Yep the ones I complained about were in first year when I struggled with them, I don't teach in second year, but I have them back in third year.

1. Girl that's uber talented hasn't shown up for 3 and 1/2 classes. We're into week 7. That means she's missed 1/2 of my classes. We have class 1 day a week. I can't even find her to talk to her. 


2. Boy that's uber talented I did talk to. Me, "Where's your work? You did great on your logos, but I haven't seen any of the campaign since week 2." Boy, "I have to admit I've just been slacking. That's all I've got." 


3. I also talked to the boy that sleeps in lecture, and in lab. Me, "Get up to walk around, exercise before class, eat right, get something to drink, or do whatever you need to do to stay awake." Boy, "Ok." So now he's taken what I've said to the max. He leaves to walk around, and is hardly in lecture. I found out that he closes his Mom's restaurant. That's great, but it's not helping his grades. He has literally fell asleep under his desk, and I could hear him snoring in class. I asked him to leave. 


4. Mr. Negative boy I haven't talked to. I'm worried I'll push him away, and won't get him back. Students like him I could use advice on. He brings not only himself down, but others as well. He is talented. He misses most mornings, and I see him in the afternoons. I said all chipper like, "Good morning!" to him when he comes in. He complains about other teachers, and probably complains about me when I'm not around. I've also hear him complain about tuition - it's as if he's bitter about it, but let's be honest the school was up front about costs every year he's come in. He got his Associate's Degree, but came back for his Bachelor's Degree. If tuition bothers him so much, why did he come back? More importantly, Why wouldn't he make the most out of his day? I'm a firm believer that if you're going to complain, you need to be making the most out of things before the complaining starts. That would be like me complaining about one of my son's swimming lessons, but only showing up for half of them. Would I be justified in my complaints? I don't think I would be. Maybe I need to talk to him in private, in a black and white way. I just fear that he'll take my conversation wrong, and will be all the more negative. I just can't take the negativity. Our school is small. Negativity feeds negativity. 


5. Lastly is a student in first year. Oh he's talented. He works S.L.O.W. I talked with him last Friday. He barely looked me in my eyes. Here were my tips:

• Paint like a 72 dpi image, and build up to a 300 dpi image. Basically paint like crap just blocking the image in, and bring the control back in the end of the piece by painting good. 

• Look up YouTube videos on graffiti artists. Watch how they start by blocking things out. Then he can work in his own style after he's blocked things out.

• Stand up to work. Sitting down is way too detailed.

What's random in your week?

Random Tid Bits

1. Isaak: "Mom I've had my period before." Me: "What?" Isaak: "You told me I must have my period because I was in a bad mood." I should watch what I say! 


2. Me: "So Mica do you feel any older?" Mica: "I feel like I'm entering that stage where I can't wait for you guys to leave. Then I'll have friends over, and trash the house. I would never do that. It's just a stage they talk about in literature." Say what?!?! Party at the Apel's house.


3. The first week of class has come and gone. The students have Orientation 1 hour a day for a week. My handouts and my presentations were ready, but I wanted to go over everything one last time. I knew I'd have that hour to read over the class material.
   
   Oh but wait...the Director came into my office at 8:20 saying, "The Education Director is still not here. She's the one doing Orientation this morning. Go ahead, set-up and talk. She'll have to do Orientation at 9." That really through me off for some reason. I can roll with things, but I don't like last minute surprises.
   
   The Education Director rolled in at 9:10 to talk saying, "Sorry I'm contracted to be here at 9." As if this this my problem. Later on I called the Director saying, "Ok this is the second year the Education Director was late for Orientation. Let's just have Orientation at 9 when she's contracted to be here. Then it doesn't throw anyone off." I hate when I have to solve problems that are not really my problems to solve. 


4. The boy's first day of school was yesterday. Isaak woke up with a sore throat. I've been giving him Zytec and probiotics. I have no idea if it's fall allergies or some sickness. Until he has a fever, I'm not going to worry about it. As you can see it's impossible for him to keep his talking mouth shut:








5. I was an ass without meaning to be one. I said to a student: "I just love your short hair. Were you like me, and had longer hair, and kept cutting it shorter and shorter?" She said, "I did have long hair, and lost it all because I have Leukemia. I just said, "I'm sorry to hear that. I still love your hair though." What's something awkward that you've said in the past?

Random Tid Bits

1. Part of me thinks everyone should work retail at some point in their life. Even if it's just a summer job. 

You may be wondering why I'm saying this?

I learned how to deal with people more when I worked at ShopKo behind a jewelery counter for a summer, than I have as a teacher. I'm talking about how to deal with rude people. As a teacher I have some rude students, but it's nothing compared to working retail. When I have rude students I think I deal with them in way as if to turn that negative energy into a positive.

We have a few people that work right inside the front door at my work. I walk in and say, "Hi!" :) or "Good morning!" :) All I get back is silence. I know their desks just happen to be there, but if they worked retail in the past they'd know that it's nice and important to say, "Hi!" to anyone that walks in the door. At first I thought I did something to piss them off. Other people have experienced the same thing. I know it's not me. I'm the type that says, "Hi!" when I see someone. I say, "Bless you!" when someone sneezes. I walk in the door at home and say, "How was your day?" Life is too short just to be grumpy. I find it awkward when people are silent. How do you feel about this? Part of me wonders if I over analyze things though. 


2. I have to say that I'm ready for the semester to be over. I have one student that is very demanding. She doesn't make decisions on her own. It's 50 questions kind of a day. Yes my job is to teach her. It's just that I start to feel like she's taking up other student's time. I have politely said, "Can you go back to your desk; just while I answer this next student's question." I'm not alone in feeling this way. So far I've been VERY patient. I feel like I should answer any question a student has. Students pay a lot to go here. I should be helpful.

One other teacher was in the classroom last week, and got super irritated by this same student. He snapped. Rule number 1 in teaching: Don't snap. If you need to discuss something important with a student call them into a different room to discuss how you feel with them! It was so awkward after that moment in time.


3. I have another student I discussed absences with. Her's are high. That's compromising her work. She said, "I think I should be given a break. I don't have a car, and can't get here on time, all the time."

Rule number 2 in teaching: Don't laugh when a student is serious. I didn't laugh, but I wanted to. I felt like saying, "Be ready early. I'll pick you up at 7:30 AM. That's right before I come to work." I didn't say that of course. Instead I said, "Maybe you need to talk to the Director about this." Somehow what's a student's problem becomes my problem.


4. Rule number 3 in teaching: No surprises. I work at a small school. We have the ability to print off their grades. This time of year I print off grades at the beginning of class day, and at the end of the class day. I don't want them to have any surprises on their grade when the class is officially over. I remember being in school, and really not knowing how good, or bad I was doing. 


5. I love teaching, but I have to say that I'm happy to have some time without them. I still have to be here over the summer. I teach summer school, and get prepared for the fall. There comes a time when students and teachers want a chapter to be over with. That time has come.

Random Tid Bits

1. I'm happy to say that I love doing dishes, and laundry. Odd I know! When our water was turned off I hated using paper plates. I don't like wasting things! We had dishes covering the counter. I had two baskets full of laundry. Last night I did the dishes, and separated out the laundry. It felt good knowing that I could take care of them.


2. Giving is a wonderful thing! My first year students all got brand new MacBooks. I didn't buy them. I got to help hand them out. It's so fun seeing the look on people's face when they get something they've wanted for awhile! 


3. I have one student that whines as much as Isaak does. I'm not joking. It's really sad when a college student whines as much as a 5 year old does. She's either whining because she doesn't get how to do something, whines because she's not as good as other students in the class, or whines because she hasn't gotten an award for a competition that they students enter every year. I feel for her, otherwise she wouldn't come to me to whine. At the same time I tell her, "If this stuff bothers you do something about it." Then her eyes fill up with tears. I just wish you could install confidence in some people. Other students are too conceited. Those students I wish I could knock down a notch.


4. Another horrible thing happened this week. A little 5 year old girl named Payton was sitting eating breakfast with her mom and brother. A bullet went into their home, hit the girl and killed her. She's the same age as Isaak. The brother that was at the table is only 4 years old. No one knows who fired the shots. I'm just heart broken for this family! The area they lived in is the rough part of town. It doesn't matter. No one should worry about eating breakfast, and have a bullet enter their home! The family is trying to celebrate her life instead of grieve over it. They are strong people. Their only hope is that gun violence stops!







5. To end on a happy note Isaak created a fun drawing I want to share. He spelled everything out himself. 

Random Tid Bits

1. Daddy was talking to me about how his co-workers think he's not being the husband he should be because he doesn't get me flowers for Valentines Day, birthdays and so on. I've told him that if he gets me flowers consistently I will be annoyed. I don't like him wasting our money on things that are going to die. He is really wonderful and makes me jewelery sometimes. That's much more unique, and special in my mind. Plus he has gotten me flowers a few times. Because it's infrequent, it's much more special. I don't like when people tell someone how they should be. It's like someone telling me how to discipline my children. If I want your advice I'll ask for it. 


2. My students in one class are working on a campaign for a nonprofit organization of their choice. They have to do a flyer, a mailer of some kind, a billboard-bus bench-environmental graphic {one of their choice, not all of those}, and a blog. It needs to look consistent. Once their design is done for one thing, they carry that same look throughout. I've been showing them things with their blog weekly. They have to make more than one page for it. The additional page is the nonprofit's mission statement. They have to have the nonprofits social media buttons that link up, 5 to 7 posts, a banner, a share button, and a disclaimer at the bottom saying that it's student work. Anything that they share from the actual nonprofit they have to source. I've shown them how to do each thing more than once. I record the lectures, and put them on the server for them to watch. I had a lot of them wait to do a lot of things with their blog until the last minute. For some reason there is a vast difference of students in the class. We have very smart workers, students that don't try that hard and on top of it do not ask questions, and a needy student that doesn't try at all to figure things out for herself, but wants A's. Let's just say after that day I was tired!


3. My sister that is pregnant decided to go with a name I picked out again! I love picking out baby names. I picked out Emerson. His name is from Ralph Waldo Emerson. The new baby's name will be Edison. My Dad had an uncle named that. Old names are coming back. My Brother-in-law is one of those people that wants all his kid's names to start with the same letter. I think that would get confusing.


4. Each time I'm done with something, I think of something new I have to do. I can see why people get stressed during the holidays. I always feel a lot better after finals are done. I'm not stressed, I'm just super busy! 


5. People were complaining at work about how it's so cold out. The temperature took a dive. I said, "I don't care what it's like outside. I'm just happy that Travis "Daddy" cleaned the garage out. My car now fits in it!" :)

Midterms

I've been wanting to post lately, but I've been so busy. Last week I took nearly 1/2 a day off to go on a pizza tour with Isaak's preschool class. This week is midterms at where I teach. I have a stack of illustrations to grade, another stack of papers to grade, and exams to finish writing.

Two things annoy me about midterms and finals time: 1) The Education Director keeps wanting to add points into the exam. I know it's college, but I have them for computer art classes. To me their work is what matters; their tests should be a side note. Here I am adding questions to their exams. 2) I get students that tell me they have appointments every year on Friday. That's the day I have my class. They want to take the test early. When one student does that, others want to follow. Of course I'm a bit*# if I don't say, "Yes." For some reason it's only 1st year that asks to take an exam before it's time. I hate giving exams out early because there's a possibility that they can talk about the exam to others in the classroom. At least this semester they have computers; that means I can give them a test on a program that randomizes the questions, and I don't have to hand grade a stack bigger than a phone book!

I have a student this semester that keeps crying on me. It's nothing I have personally done. I really truly think something is wrong with him. He's a bright 19 year old. He gets really emotional when students are loud around him. Noise isn't a problem when I have class on Tuesday; it is a problem on Friday. Everyone is rearing to go on Friday. They so want the week to be over with. I've watched the student in concern nearly blow up because he was trying to concentrate, while a girl was tapping her pen against the table. I really don't think the girl was meaning to be annoying. She didn't even realize she was bothering anyone. I saw the boy student's face get all red; like he was going to freak out. I quickly tried to ease the situation before it got out of hand. I said, "Whoever is tapping, could you please stop? I'm trying to grade up here." She was apologizing. I knew she didn't mean to annoy anyone. I was just trying to prevent the boy student from having a melt down. Instead of asking the girl himself nicely to stop, he'd blow up. Well many things like that have happened. I notice he taps his own desk when he's aggravated, his face turns red, he cries and he asks really random off topic questions in class. Questions that barely relate to what I'm going over. Nothing is in his chart from his previous history. I just feel for him. Much of me thinks he has Aspergers Syndrome. I'm not a councilor; I'm not even supposed to council the students. Our school is too small to have a councilor. I moved his desk; like he's a little kid. Now he sits in a quieter part of the room. Part of me has sympathy for him; another part of me wants to be real, and treat him like anyone else. He'll be in the work force in a few years. If I hold his hand, am I doing him any favors? Uggg!

He's not the only student with issues this semester. I could go on. I have an adult student that is one of the more needy ones in the class. He wants an A on everything, but doesn't want to spend the time to get an A. I have a student who's boyfriend cheated on her with her best friend; then held a knife up to her. Another student who's house burnt down to the ground. Seriously there were just ashes left. :( At lease his whole family is ok. It's been a rough year.

Right Now I Just Need to Do Thinks That Require No Thinking!

I went to the doctor yesterday. What do I have? Nothing. It's allergies at their worst. I'm on some meds that are supposed to boost my immune system. I'm taking probiotics as well. I'm drinks LOTS of water and trying not to talk. At least I know I'm not contagious. It's crazy because I have 2 co-workers that have had similar symptoms as I. Then Mica was snotty, headachy mess a few weeks ago.

I did try and write a post earlier today. Then I read it back and it made no since. Does that ever happen to you?

It's finals week for my students. Today was interesting. My co-worker has a megaphone. I decided to borrow it. It worked. Even if I whispered. It just sounded creepy. I had fun with that in the classroom.  Do you want to know a great way to make students panic? Just whisper in the megaphone that you can't wait to hear their speeches in the afternoon. They weren't even supposed to give speeches. My students didn't panic though. They know me way too well. Even when I don't feel good, I still can have fun!

Source

What's even more fun is that the megaphone plays marching band music! I played a few songs just to liven things up in the classroom. Not while they were taking their test!

Back to not making any since. I had 100 questions on the student's final exam and 3 didn't make since. I swear I read that thing over and over again! Writing a test, while being under the weather should be outlawed. I couldn't yell out, "Ignore question blah blah blah." I couldn't yell. I have no voice. I didn't think about using the megaphone that was sitting right besides me! I just sucked it up and addressed with a whisper to each student as they came up to tell me the same 3 questions made no since. Later I found out one question I didn't mark an answer for at all, the other two I had false when they were true. It's times like today where I wish I could fast forward to make all things right. I don't like messing up. Who does? No one.

Speaking of messing up, I have one student getting a 30% in my class. That's not bad for a full class. Only one failing. Well ever since midterm break I told her that there is no way for her to pass my class. The math just will not work. At the school I work for, once midterm break rolls around, the students can not make up anything from the first 1/2 of the class. She was getting a 12% then. Even though she knows she's not passing, she's still showing up, did the exam, argued with me about her attendance and told me about the 3 questions were incorrect {I already knew that one}. My co-workers and I were talking about how there's a time to really PUSH yourself. There's also a time to GIVE UP. When you know something is not possible, why keep doing it? She could show up to my class and spend that time on her other classes. Classes that she won't fail. I just do not get the logic. The thing is, is I actually like this student. She's polite. She's just never there, late with everything and never talks to any of her teachers. I have a couple students like that in my other classes. Just late on everything. They don't seem to care when I tell them that they are failing my class. They actually look at me blank faced. I print out their grades once a week and tape them to the wall. There should be no surprises.

Students like these I'll get in summer school.

I'm just glad that I only have one more day of teaching left. My doctor said after a day on these meds I should start to feel better.