I am so sick of hearing myself talk.
That's one of the things I hate about the first few days of school. I feel like all I do is hand papers at kids and talk and talk and talk and talk. It's boring as all get out, but It Must Be Done.
On Friday, the first half day, we handed out and discussed all the school paperwork - fee lists, supply lists, fee waivers, free and reduced lunch forms, emergency cards, bus information, student information sheets and on and on and on.
Today was the first day I had all of my classes, not just my homeroom. Today it was all the stuff about science class - the parent letter, the science lab rules, the Science expectations sheet (how I run my class, basically), class do's and don'ts, and our first study guide. Of course I had to go through each thing and explain it, but show them around them room and on and on and on. Here is how we do homework, here is what the new workbooks look like, here's where you find my vocabulary podcats.
Yawn.
By seventh period I was pretty darn sick of hearing my own voice, my throat hurt and I'm sure the kids were wondering when those stupid buses were going to show up so they could go home.
And my feet hurt. No surprise there, they always hurt the first week or so until I get used to standing all day.
Tomorrow will be better...I don't do all the talking.
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9 comments:
Not just my feet, but my voice always hurts the first week. You're right, though, it's boring to do all the talking, but you've got to do it. No way around it, really.
yay!! heres to a good year for you! you deserve it based on last years hell, you did your penance lol.
your title reminded me of the charlie brown teacher... the one you can never understand lol
Another thing I don't like...thanks for reminding me. I usually lose my voice for the first few weeks because I'm not used to talking so much. Maybe the audio enhancement will be working.
I really hate how slowly the first few weeks go as we are getting routines in place and reassessment completed. So boring.
I try to break up the leads-in and how-tos with some subject matter: it keeps me sane, it gives my voice a rest (because, oh how I hate that, too), and I get fewer glaze-gazers.
Notice how I said "try."
I hear you, no pun intended. So nice to come across your blog! I teach English in Beirut, the Middle East but had taught in Canada before. Now things have really taken a different flavor for me, even my voice (yes, the accent too?) seems different in the classroom.
Like you, I'd like to believe I'm out to change the world one kid at a time, I hope I have enough air miles for the job!
Pleasure, again.
Q
Mrs. Bluebird-
The phrase "vocabulary podcast" caught my eye. Can you provide further details on this. I really want to focus on vocabulary more this year (Texas 7th-grade science), and this may be one method I employ.
Thanks and have a great year! (Our kids start back in one more week.)
Yesterday, I had my students do a geography search by using the two big world maps on my walls. They did all the work, and I sat back and didn't say a word. Quite a refreshing break from all the rules and procedures I have been stuffing into their brains.
Hello! I will be starting school next week and I too was interested by the term "vocabulary podcast". I teach in a high school in which 90% of my class are ELL, so getting a handle on the academic language for the subject is a killer. I do know that MOST of them have ipods, so this is something I am very interested in.
Yikes, the flashbacks! Every fall has begun with the same sore throat and calves from standing up and talking so much. As others said, I started actually teaching something useful the first day and got into the real content as soon as possible just to prevent myself from talking to much.
@busy-busy-busy: It's not that hard to do. You just have to record it and make it available online somewhere for students to download. Here's a guide I found:
http://learninginhand.com/podcasting/create.html
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