Changing it up

So I suddenly realized that my blog was easily searchable by Google (and therefore my students would be able to see me talking mad smack about them). So I decided to change the name of my blog, but don't worry, it will still be the same ol same ol from before. Buckle up and ENJOY the next step in my TFA experience: 1st day of school Aug. 10th.

Here is a recap of my old blog in case you wanna keep up!


Friday, July 31, 2009
I be done.
Wow. I never thought that this day would come. The day where I can say that I survived Institute. The day where I can say that I gave 20 kids the gift of knowledge. The day where I might get more than 4 hours of sleep. But I also know that this won't last long.

Right now I am so so so emotional. I had one of the most amazing last days of school with my favorite students. My first students. The students that have taught me so much more then I have taught them.

I am exhausted and cannot think straight, but I know that I have emerged this experience a different woman in many ways. But don't let me tell you, I'll show you next time we see each other. Moving back to the Bay tomorrow to begin the journey that I call Teach for America.

<3 Ms. Quane

Pictures!!
http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=110310914722&view=all#/album.php?aid=2539616&id=2522238&ref=nf
Posted by Ms. Quane at 5:51 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
"Fresh CMA Of Animio High(Theme Song)"
"Fresh CMA Of Animio High(Theme Song)"

Now, this is a story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down
And I liked to take a minute
Just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the teacher of the school FAR from Bel-Air

In west Los Angeles scared and dazed
On the computer is where I spent most of my days
Freakn' out teaching' looking like a tool
And all correctin some HW outside of the school
When a couple of kidos
Who had the look in their eyes
Startin throwing trashcans much to our surprise
I broke one little knee cap and my CMA got scared
She said 'You're movin' down to pre-novice if you just don't care."

(cut to scene with him in the taxi cab)

I looked at my CMA when she came near
The blond curls said crazy and she was a teach with no fear
If anything I can say this chick is rare
But I thought 'Damn she cool' - 'Yo help me out here.'

I pulled up to the school about 7 or 8
And I called to Ms. Ryan 'Yo girl your amazing'
I looked at my group
We had finished our Goals
Sittin in the classroom, teachers at Animo.
Posted by Ms. Quane at 6:15 AM 0 comments
Monday, July 27, 2009
Emotional Rollercoster
Even after last nights complete fiasco of writer's block (where Katie, my CMA group director, thought my brain had turned into mashed potatoes) I am back in the game. I do not know what happened last night and I just hope and hope that it will never happen again. I was so unnecessarily stressed all day long that I made myself feel ill. Even so, today was significantly better and things went smoothly. ONLY 4 MORE DAYS (then an entire year of this....but whatever, small victories).

I just wanted to fill in some comments that my students wrote on their class activity today. Basically, here is the lesson plan: We are studying Mao Zedong and his little red book. I put quotes from the Little Red book around the room and the students had to walk around and write little notes about what the quote means, if they agree with it, etc. This is what happens when you let the kids get creative without strict monitors. The following is verbatim.

"To tell you the truth Im just write w/e to get credit LOL!!! Haha!!!"

"Let there be war betch!!"

"Nico says go to hell!"

"With great power cums great responsibility."

"Dumb"

"WTF!!IDKMann???"

"I like this quote b/c its kewl."

Just a few little gems from class that make me realize that its all going to be okay.

<3
Posted by Ms. Quane at 6:09 PM 1 comments
Writer's Block
I woke up today and I knew something was wrong. I knew that today was going to be a challenging day. WHY? Because I had a serious case of writer's block. The term, "writer's block" never seemed as scary as it does to me now. I woke up at 8am and worked periodically until midnight on ONE SINGLE lesson plan. Before today I disliked Mao Zedong and his communist ideals, but now I absolutely DESPISE him for making my life so difficult tonight... and contributing to 20 million deaths. What a jerk. Even as I write now I have to stop ever couple of words because i cannot think. GNight and good riddins, only 5 more days of this crap.

<3 Ms. Quanes got no brains
Posted by Ms. Quane at 12:22 AM 0 comments
Sunday, July 26, 2009
My last Sunday
Today is my last Sunday here at institute. I cannot believe that I have almost made it through. For some reason I felt like institute was some kind of twilight zone that would never end, but amazingly, it will in 5 more days. And at the same time, I do not want it to end for a few good reasons: a) I am going to miss seeing all of my good friends from LA, Minnesota, D.C. and Vegas who are living just down the hall, or up a flight of stairs, b) I do not feel ready to take on a full blown classroom yet by my lonesome, even though I start teaching in less than a month. c) I don't feel like I have had enough time with my student here at summer school aka their test scores are looking pretty dreary, d) I have no housing in Oakland yet and will be bumming it at other CMs houses, e) I am going to go through FroYo withdrawls.

Recap from last week:
Last week was by far my more challenging week at Institute. I am not going to go into great detail (because I realized that my kids can Google my name and this blog pops up) but I must say it left a chip on my shoulder and a bitter taste about teaching. After Tuesday, things were looking up. Thursday I had 2 awesome lesson plans that the kids loved and I felt like they learned something. My most challenging student C said mid-class, "How come I never learned this stuff before?" I wanted to break down to my knees in tears of joy because this student actually learned something. But instead, I just smiled and tucked that little comment into my memory forever. Then, Friday rolled around. It was just one of those days where I knew that chaos was going to break loose from the beginning of class. I think teachers get a sixth sense when they are in the classroom. Even if our back is turned, we know that those kids in the back corner are talking and the girls are checking their text messages. When the class walks in restless, you knew that something is going to go down. Basically, long story short, it was a rough day academically and emotionally, but I learned a huge lesson about behavior management.

Now I must go and prepare for my final week here in LA. It is not going to be a walk in the park, but I think that the nostalgia will kick in soon and make me remember why I am here: it is all for the kids.

<3 Ms. Quane
Posted by Ms. Quane at 9:47 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Worst day yet.
It is amazing how one day can break you. One class. One kid. That is what happened today for the first time at institute. It was the final straw that broke my back and made me reevaluate what I am doing. That one kid... I only hope that tomorrow we don't have to have a battle over the masking tape, he doesn't compare the class to prison, and maybe, must maybe, he will do some work after the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd time I ask. Maybe.

Posted by Ms. Quane at 9:10 PM 1 comments
Monday, July 20, 2009
Half way through, and its only getting harder (TWSS)
I have officially survived the 3 weeks of Institute, 2 weeks of teaching, and 1 day of extended teaching periods. I am exhausted, yes. I have been beaten down. But no, I am not broken. I will survive this, even if it means gray hair and a caffeine addiction. I am only giving myself a 10 minute break to write before I begin the evening routine of lesson planning for the next 6-7 hours. So here is the latest update for all of my blogging fans (cough cough mom).

My kids
I have 20 crazy kids, 9 in the morning, and 11 in the afternoon. I know that teachers, like parents, are not allow to have favorites. But give it up mom, I know you love me the most. Although my favorite student fluctuates day by day, today I will have to give it up to J., my skater-dude student with 2 lip rings, an attitude, and an amazing mind. Seeing his transformation over the past 2 weeks has been unbelieveable. From wall flower to class leader, he has impressed me with his confidence and awesome assessment scores. So cheers to you student who will make this 7 hour study session worth doing.

10 minutes are up. One of my goals this week is to improve on my time management so I don't run over into the next class period. Yes, I am now the teacher with the stop watch counting down the seconds. So sorry, my time here is up!

<3
Ms. Quane
Posted by Ms. Quane at 6:49 PM 1 comments