Office Monkey

I used the face this week in class! TOTALLY WORKED! it was my first day teaching a new class, first period, and just as O Canada was starting, the teacher stepped out of the class and immediately these two clowns at the back tried to goof off… i put on the face and started walking towards them and they simmered down real quickly. WOOHOO! My face is stone cold mean. tight lipped and it says, “how dare you even *think* about trying to disrupt my class.”

Didn’t have as much success with yesterday’s Gr. 11 class. I had a crappy lesson plan and so lacked the conviction to get the class to engage in a lesson that we all knew was busy work. They were still well behaved but i think i made a poor first impression and will have to work hard to earn their respect. And i think i caught a student *almost* giving me the finger. very hostile. But it’s all good. I have them again tomorrow and we’ll see how it goes…

So I’m doing my practicum. Totally lucked out. The school’s a short walk from my apartment, the students are great, all the classes i’m teaching are histories, and my associate teacher is totally cool. Other students are either doing long commutes, aren’t teaching subjects in their teachable, or have jerks supervising them.

The relative awesomeness of my placement has made me realize how anxious and stupid i am. Cuz i still freak out and get negative. It’s just worry worry worry. In the mornings i wake up and feel like throwing up. I actually feel physically better when i’m running late because i fall into that guilty yet more manageable feeling of despair or resignation that i’ve fucked up but atleast it’s now out of my hands. When i’m actually on time or early, i find i’m a much worse wreck.

D suggests that part of it might have to do with the fact that i am often unprepared for my day. This is true. I need to work on that. Like now for example, I have to teach 3 classes tomorrow and have yet to complete the lesson plans. It is 2am. all nighter tonight. which i don’t mind. cuz my day’ll be done by 2:35. just a little more than 12 hours away. wow. scary. i’m gonna go do some work.

One strategy of classroom management is to give students “the face” when they’ve crossed the line. Our ed psych prof can do it on command. Cracks us up every time. It’s pretty hilarious. Basically my prof’s version of “the face” involves tilting the head just a bit to the left, relaxing all the muscles in your face and staring directly at your target. You basically get this slightly open mouthed look of displeasure, disappointment and stand-offishness… like he’s about to say “come on, smarten up.” He suggested that we all practice making “the face” in the mirror which provided me with a good 10-15 minutes of giggling and amusement. Maybe he was just joking about the practicing. But i’m working on my own variation. Definitely close mouthed for me. At the moment, mine’s got more of a “pissed as hell” quality. My face would probably say “what is your goddamn problem!!? You’re 18, you barely have 6 credits, you’re failing this class and yet you fuck around and disrupt class everyday!? what are you thinking?! are you thinking?!”

I’m working on trying to send a more positive message. Maybe i need to raise an eyebrow.

So unlike my text heavy blog, many others seem to have a much better handle on this “multimedium.” Some blogs/sites of friends are found in the bottom left hand corner of my site but i thought i’d highlight an entry i found particularly amusing. Check it out.

So for english class we just got our next assignment. Once again, she handed us an activity we can use with our students which we will also be doing ourselves. We’re making “poetry anthologies” where each group member will submit a biographic poem, a poem that they personally enjoy, and the script from the compiled quotes from our short story assignment. BLARGH!!!