Passing on my Love of the 90's

My apologies for not posting yesterday; Katie and I were gone nearly all day because we went to Phoenix. There was really incredible book sale put on by the Phoenix public library and I got 11 books for $8! We spent three hours there and did not even get through all the books. It was pretty amazing.

Last week, was my first full week of teaching all of the 8th grade language arts classes. I was really nervous about taking on this challenge, but after the first week, I feel pretty hopeful for the next few weeks. The students have developed some pretty bad habits and they are difficult to change. However, we have really started using a system they used last year and it is proving to be fairly effective. They use integrity cards; if, the student is misbehaving or is irresponsible, then they receive a hole punch in their card. If, they do something outstanding, then they receive a sticker on their card. They also need it in order to get into dance, sport events, and other activities. If they have too many punches, then they will not be allowed to attend the events. At the beginning of the year, we really did not use the cards much and we are now using them a lot. This seems to have improved their behavior.

This week, we also began a unit on suspense/scary stories. We are currently writing our own scary stories and my students are really excited about them. On Friday, a few of my students asked if we were writing and when I told them no, they were visibly disappointed. It makes me incredibly happy and excited that they are actually looking forward to writing and not rolling their eyes every time I tell them to get out their draft books. This also makes me hopeful for the readings we will be doing in connection with the writing piece.

Also on Friday, I showed my students an episode of "Are You Afraid of the Dark?". I was excited to realize these episodes are on Youtube and they are completely relevant to what we are learning. I love everything about the 90's and loved this show as a child. My students were completely enthralled with it. At this point in my life, I do not really find the show very scary or creepy anymore, but they were still pretty creeped out by it. I suppose they are still young enough that they do not notice the cheesiness of the show.

Even with the stress and extra amount of work involved with teaching all of the classes, I am hopeful and excited for the remaining weeks. And after such a successful week, it really makes me feel much more confident about my abilities as a teacher and what my future will hold. Let's hope this week does not change all of that.