You are lucky, getting two posts in one day. I think I won't have a lot of time to write tomorrow and if I don't I want to keep you up to date on the correction.
I finished the entering of marks from my student teacher and I also finished the year 7 marking. That just leaves the year 8 stuff to sort out!
I will be getting to work early so that I can actually sit and correct for a fair while. I am actually picking up another teacher who is going on year 7 camp tomorrow. Half the year are there already and the remainder go tomorrow. This teacher loves to get to work before 8am if possible (why?) so I thought it would be a good chance to get some work done.
The only day of the week that I need to get to work early is Thursday which is when I teach a theory class to all year levels. Sometimes there are 5 there and other weeks there are over 15. It is intense as we are learning to write cadences at the moment. They are undertaking AMEB 3rd grade theory and some are finding the going tough. Many haven't really studied theory before - they have played but not taken much notice of the written stuff.
My favourite two students are non-English speakers. They are struggling with words such as semitones, accidentals and key signatures. Both girls are delightful but they are really in such a mess with this subject specific language. We have had some interesting moments, outside of the class, where I find new and innovative ways of defining these words.
I will use tomorrow morning to get on top of the year 8 assignments - I think.
It was fantastic today when I took over my year 8 class that had my student teacher for the last few weeks. I wound up the super bitch mode for one delightful cherub who came in chewing gum like a cow with its cud, sat in the furthest seat away from me and put his chair into full recline mode. He also started to 'tinkle' with the keyboard and tried to backchat me. Silly boy - I am not a 21 year old student teacher. I have been in the classroom for over 15 years and I have had some GREAT disruptive students. (One day I might dedicate a blog to them!) The look on his face was hilarious as it dawned on him that I knew he still had gum in his mouth, had a fresh packet in his pocket, asked him to speak to me in a tone that reflected how he wanted me to speak to him and that he should follow the directions I had given. After a good ten minutes outside the door - while I went through work with the other kids - he apologised and came back in. He was lovely after that. I wonder why.
I am gaining the 'naughty' class tomorrow. I seriously wonder how many kids and how long it will take to get them back to where I want them. This particular class had children in it that really didn't behave in the style of the students at the school for my student teacher. They manipulated him, particularly one girl who found an amazing whining tone that she has never used on me. Another student was sent to the front of the classroom where he sat on the floor beside me. The boy got bored so he lay down - who can blame him, I was bored!
Then there was the 'fun' with the keyboards. These keyboards have great sound effects built in. Most kids, by the end of year 7, have worked out how to slowly turn the volume right down and put the sound effects on. If the teacher doesn't react to the ever so quiet gun shot, applause or dog bark they turn the volume up. The class I gain back tomorrow have really perfected this skill over the past few weeks.
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