Week 8; Still Learning, Still Teaching, Still Loving it.

The days are getting longer, the sun is getting stronger, my hair is getting curlier. Spring is here and I'm in my ninth week at Mac high school. The learning curve is still nearly as intense as the humidity.

#1. I can eat my lunch in less than 4 minutes. On Tuesday I moved through content faster then I expected in my equine science class. Thankfully, this class breaks in the middle for lunch, so I could plan and find more information while the students were in the cafeteria. After the first day of eating my lunch in a few short minutes, I realized how productive these 30 minutes could be. By the end of the week I was entering grades and writing a test while simultaneously eating my apple. It's official, nearly every part of my day is devoted to student teaching. I reflect on my day and lesson plan in my car on the way home, I think about the day while I'm getting ready in the morning, and I decide what to wear based on what we will be doing in the shop.

#2. Practice makes perfect...AND a lot of smoke. These last few weeks we have had everyone in the welding classes working. Every day we have two or three grinders working, two O-A torches, a MIG welder, and four or five Arc welders going at the same time. That might not seem like much, but without an exhaust system it gets a little hazy in the shop. And when you add the humidity in the Houston air these days the haze turns into a thick fog. The students are all on task these days and its exciting to see welds increase with practice. These three hours are quickly becoming my favorite my class periods. AND a brand new exhaust system is being installed this week.

#4. There's no big picture when you're 17. Every day I try to get students out of their desk and involved in the lesson in some way. This is ridiculously challenging in my equine science class. When I ask students to write something on the board, work in small groups, or present their poster to the class you'd think I was asking them for a kidney. The eye rolls are are so dramatic I worry they might get dizzy and fall out of their chairs. I usually respond with something like "I know, I know, you don't want to, but think about me-- I don't even like horses and I have to teach this stuff. We're all suffering." I try to casually coax them to the front of the room with subliminal messages about how handy public speaking skills, presentation skills, working in small groups, etc, will be in college or a workplace. They're not as concerned with these life skills as I am BUT we are seeing improvement. I once told them if there was a reality show on our class NO ONE would watch it, and it's not just because we talk about horses all day everyday. That got some laughs and for the first time a little expression in their voice. I'm already preparing for the postcard I'll get in my golden years thanking me for developing the skills they need in their current job.

#5. Students are hardworking, just not in the obvious ways. There were times when students would walk into class late and I had to work at not letting myself look annoyed. I would tell myself that students are different today then they were when I was in high school, that they aren't responsible, and have no respect for the clock. Recently, I got out of my rocking chair and stopped talking like I was senile 85 year old (no offense to the geri-s who might be reading) and looked at things a little differently. I realized that some students deserve a round of applause for showing up to school at all, and that it's not at easy as it was when I was in high school. I applaud the student who returned to class a short week after her brother was shot and killed, I'm exhausted for the teenage girl who's an obvious 17 months pregnant but still walks the halls everyday, and I sympathize with the student who works two jobs after school and on the weekends. (I thought lesson planning in the evenings was tough). Students are different in Aldine than they are in Iowa and it's not my job is not to harp on them for not getting their homework done or being late to school. My job is to make sure every moment of class is educationally significant because when the bell rings they're not my students anymore. They're not students at all.

#6. Do, Reflect, Apply. These last few weeks I've started channeling my inner Kolb, especially in welding class. When a student approaches me with a welded piece of metal I try to facilitate a discussion about what they did, how they might improve their skills, etc. The most obvious way for students to improve their welds, in their minds, is to grind it as opposed to practice. We are working on practicing.

#7. The Houston Rodeo = the Iowa State Fair of Texas. The last two months Arkadie and others have been preparing me for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. They go into how big it is and how much food there is and how many people attend and I always say, "I get it, I'm from Iowa. We have the best state fair in the entire land, please save your propaganda for someone who hasn't tasted a fried oreo." Well Rodeo Season is officially upon us and I'm excited to report the Iowa State Fair is still better. The only thing keeping the Rodeo in the running for second-best festival of all time are ALL the cowboy boots, and the cowboys in them.

#8. Relationships are like rollercoasters. My feelings for my students falter between adoration and disgust nearly daily. If they didn't act so mature sometimes I wouldn't be disappointed when they act like children, and if I didn't know how sweet they can be I wouldn't care that their attitude can be so sour sometimes.

#9. Agriculture is everywhere in Houston, even on the street. Today I got to school and Arkadie told me had gotten an email from one of the assistant principals. Apparently, earlier in the morning there was Shetland pony and goat walking down the street in Houston so a couple of police officers in the area coaxed them to Mac's ag barn. I looked at Arkadie, who was not nearly as amused as I was. He had just gotten all the students to get their livestock out of those barns and now we running a boarding house, or barn, for neighborhood strays. Each class today was prefaced with "before we get started does anyone know anyone with a Shetland pony and a goat?" Tomorrow I'm going to try to convince Arakdie that the pony probably needs new shoes. (In equine we are discussing horse hoof care and nothing is better than a live demonstration).

#10. It's never going to slow down. I thought once I had a few lessons under my belt with my name in the back of it (really embracing the Texas thing these days), or once the livestock show was over, or once the days started getting longer, or once I got more adjusted to the school, schedule, traffic, etc, things might slow down. But they really aren't. Spring is coming in at full force, TAKS test are pressuring both students and teachers, and spring break seems like a million miles away. My roommates and I are convinced all the lesson planning, reflecting, and writing won't be so bad when we can do it by our pool (which will hopefully be next week!).

#11. It can't get much better than this. Texas has been, so far, one of the best experiences of my life. Even on the worst day, it's easy to laugh with my roommates about something funny a student said, what we saw on our way home from school in this crazy town, or how different this experience will be from anything we would have experienced in Iowa. Half price sushi, a walk on the boardwalk, and two-stepping are just some of the perks of this 14-week adventure. As early as 5:00am is, the day flies by. As long as it takes to think through a thought-provoking, interesting lesson, having student act interested and engaged during class makes it worth it. I secretly hope someday my students think back on their high school experience and say "remember when that white lady came from Ohio and had us write children book about beef breeds?" (To most students Iowa, Ohio, and Idaho are the same state).

There's so much to look forward to this week and I'm excited for my parents to be visiting this weekend. Pack your short-pants, dad, and your cowboy boots. You won't even look that ridiculous wearing them at the same time.