Survived One Quarter

I survived one quarter of teaching! This is a great moment to really reflect on what has happened in the past 9 weeks. I cannot believe where I started and where I am currently. I am constantly learning on the job and constantly developing as an educator. I have had lessons that were complete failures and lessons that were absolutely incredible. The roller coaster ride of teaching is something that I am now comfortable with--I embrace the successes and work hard to fix the problems. I am constantly adapting. Here are my top 5 moments of the first quarter:

5. Dominating ping-pong and basketball during lunch. I met many new students and got show them that I was indeed actually human.

4.  First day of school. I was nervous, but excited and really felt for the first time that I was a teacher. I met 64 of my kids for the first time.

3. Hispanic Heritage Month Assembly. This was my first assembly as a teacher. It was weird being the old guy telling people to be quiet and to sit still and be respectful. Just 5 years ago I was the student wanting to talk about things others than the assembly.

2. Senior Class Committee meeting. This was very memorable. My class was full of 50 seniors arguing about where they should have prom. There was anger, hostility, yelling, shouting, laughter, and disagreement. Most of the seniors want prom at a D.C. night club. I had to be a voice of reason. Being the committee advisor will allow me to teach these 18 year olds how to be professional and present requests to administration. I also signed up for the faculty vs. seniors pep rally basketball game. Should be fun.

1. I gave my SAT prep class an end of course survey (the course is only 9 weeks) and they all told me what a great job I did and how I was a great "motivator." Many said that they have never had a teacher like me--caring, demanding, and young. Most said they want me for another class and are sad that they have to leave me. My favorite line: "Mr. Athmer, you cared. Thank you."

Taking on More

Now that I have found a "groove" in my new teaching career, I have agreed to take on more responsibility outside the everyday classroom. I am going to be the SAT afterschool program advisor in which students can come to my room after school and receive tutoring for the SAT reasoning test. I already teach a SAT prep course, so I will be able to use my experience in that class to  provide a helpful informal program after school.

Perhaps the more fun role will be that of Senior Class Committee advisor. I was sort of just the default option, as I have many seniors and a room conveniently on the first floor. The Senior Class Committee is in charge of making decisions about where to hold prom, how to organize pep rallies, and in what way to raise funds to pay for all this stuff. So, I was politely asked by one of the members if they could use my room to hold a meeting and I obviously said yes. What I didn't realize is that about 50 seniors would be arguing about where to hold prom and frustrated with how everyone was interrupting each other (welcome to my life, students!). They didn't accomplish anything productive, so they asked me if I could be an actual facilitator. I am absolutely going to help them out--they need to develop skills in organization, professionalism, and presenting. This is a forum for me to teach them how to act in a professional way when it comes to making decisions and making proposals to the administration. It should be interesting.

So, those are two new roles I will be taking on effective immediately. It should be interesting and fun. I'm also going to play on the faculty team in the November pep rally that pegs us old teachers versus the young, overconfident seniors. I don't think they realize they are like 17...

Hope all is well.

Ping Pong Celebrity

This past week was a rather unconventional week at school. We had Monday off because of Columbus day, Wednesday was PSAT day where students tested the majority of the day, and Friday we had an assembly and many teachers were out for Advanced Placement training. So, the week had a rather relaxed feel to it as all this "stuff" was going on. That means that I did not have to frantically race around the school getting everything ready for every period--my schedule was pretty well set for me.

Given that I had more time, I decided to play ping pong in the main hallway during the students' lunch periods. The tables are set up so students can remain active and let all that energy out. I hadn't played in a while, so I was rather concerned I would embarrass myself in front of all these 16 years olds. I did not disappoint, though. I played like my old self and all the students surrounded the table and hooted and hollered about how Mr. Athmer was taking everyone down. It was a blast and I had the opportunity to meet more students and forge more relationships. I also went outside and played basketball with some students. They just couldn't believe I would take my lunch time to hang out and play with them. I saw the smiles and I forgot for about an hour that my seniors cannot add fractions. It really makes you put things into perspective. The academic support is the reason I'm teaching, but forging understanding personal relationships with the students show you actually care about them as individuals--something that can maybe make more of a difference.

Little Successes

I have found that I need to take pleasure in the little successes throughout the week. Teaching is a roller coaster ride where I might have 20 great minutes followed by 10 minutes of whining, limited engagement, or complaining about whatever it is they are doing. So, I have gotten better at embracing the little things in those 20 great minutes:

One of my students is close to 20 years old and has failed almost every class he has ever taken at Bell High School. He has three children and has a fourth on the way. He works most nights until his restaurant closes, which is around 2 a.m. He still comes to school, but simply wanders the halls and socializes. He has told me he is "popular and must keep his reputation solid." No teacher really cares whether he comes into his or her class. I do, however, and have kept him after school on several occasions to talk about things. I have grown frustrated because he NEVER turns in his homework or acts like he cares about his education. Yet, I continue to get on him during my class and never give up on him or his ability to complete work IN class. So, I talked with our special education case manager and she says that the student never does anything in any class (refuses to take quizzes, tests, etc.). So, I have taken pride knowing that I have a folder of work that the student has completed IN my class. Every day he does the work IN my class and continues to put it in his "mailbox folder" which is used by me to pass back student work. I just allow him to put his materials in there since he doesn't bring anything to class. I spoke with him in the hallway about this realization--that he never does any work in any other class--and he confirmed it. He said "I like your class."

So, I take joy in the little things. No, he is currently not passing my class; and no, he is not living up to his full potential; and no, I am hardly satisfied. But, I know that if I continue to give him attention and continue to accept no excuses in my classroom, something may click with this 20 year old senior wonder.

Donor's Choose Project Funded

Another quick weekend has passed. It is amazing at how fast time is flying. I am constantly working for my students, so it just seems like there isn't enough time to get what I want to get done, done. I find myself always just trying to stay ahead of where I need to be. It is already October!

In other news, my Donor's Choose project was funded in just a few days. I did not expect it to be funded so quickly. Donor's Choose is a website where teachers can request resources for their classrooms. People are able to go to the website, browse through all of the requests and donate money to help pay for the requested resources. I had overwhelming support from friends, family, and anonymous donors. With their help, I will be getting personal dry erase boards, markers, and erasers for ALL of my students, so they can show me their work quickly and effectively. Too often I am unable to view the progress of all of my students at once. With the white boards, I will be able to give them a problem, have them work it out on their own personal dry erase boards and then have them hold the board high up in the air. I will then be able to see with one sweeping look around the room if the majority of my students "get it" or don't. It is a fun way to do math. So, thank you for all the support.

In classroom news, my students are doing fairly well. There are still too many of them that do not do homework every night. This is a problem in that they are not receiving the easy points, so I have many students with really low grades. They have time to bring it up, and we have more projects and tests to come, but we are already in October--they need to pick it up. That means I need to pick it up with them. I am going to be making phone calls all week to parents updating them on their child's progress. Hopefully that will add some extra gas to the tank.

In life outside of school: nothing much happening. I am still working 70-80 hour weeks and that does not leave much time for play. I am planning a trip to Pittsburgh and Youngstown soon, so that will be a nice break.

Hope all is well.