Necessary evils

Well, parent-teacher conferences are over and I've made it through my first set of (hopefully) many of these. Now to finish up report cards and write comments on them. I thought I was done working both weekend days, but here I am on a Saturday evening with more work to be done that I'm saving for tomorrow morning. Ah, the life of a teacher... working 70 hours a week on things that take 120 hours to finish. Which reminds me... I still need to outline my schedule for next week and plan out my lessons.

This brings me to my next thought... why do we have conferences AND report card comments? I guess we need to record that we are informing parents what their child excels in and what they need to work on, but I find myself writing much of the same things on the report card that I just spent the last 4 days talking to parents about. I love this job, but there are parts of it I could do without.

Mean ole' Mr. Lin

Machiavelli had it right - if you had to choose between the two, it is better to be feared than loved. I used to think that I had a good balance - the word on the street was that I was cool, but really strict.

Over the past week though, I think the kids have gotten too comfortable in my class - they are borderline insane, and they are also not focused on their own learning. As much as I want them to have fun while learning, they need to realize their main goal in school is to LEARN, not to have fun. I once told my girlfriend that I was going to tell my kids that I was mean...


Me: "I think I'm going to tell my kids that I'm really mean. I don't want my kids thinking they can walk all over me."

Her: "They'll never believe you."

Me: "Why not? I can look mean."

Her: (Blank stare)


I guess we're going to find out! As much as I love having fun with my students, I care too much about them to allow them to not be focused on learning. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to be mean ole' Mr. Lin. Stay tuned...

Mr. Lin's 5 Minute Club

For the record, I believe in positive reinforcement - rewarding and acknowledging positive behavior in the classroom is the best way to encourage students to behave appropriately. However, this one was supposed to be a negative consequence. Kids who misbehave in a minor way I punish by having them sit with me for the first 5 minutes of recess. These minor punishable behaviors range from horsing around during class time to not having their agendas set up properly. For some reason or another, I began calling it my "5 Minute Club." It has worked out pretty well - the kids know that if they join my 5 Minute Club it was because they have done something they weren't supposed to. At the same time, they know that their behavior isn't as significant as forgetting their homework, not respecting another student, or being disruptive in class. On any given day, I'll have 3-5 students in my 5 Minute Club.

Today however, the strangest thing happened. I got a written request by one of my students to join my 5 Minute Club. Think about this: a student ASKING to sit out for the first 5 minutes of recess. Spending the time to WRITE A REQUEST to join my 'club.' ASKING to be punished. For no reason. It's all about how you package the punishment I guess! My sales background will serve me well in this job after all...

The best birthday EVER!!!

Yesterday was my birthday, and my gorgeous girlfriend decided to surprise me and come to school and have lunch with me. She was early - which is in itself pretty amazing and a testament to how much effort she put in - so I still had students when she arrived. The kids that I had were inside for study hall instead of enjoying the 80 degree weather... but the instant she arrived it was like they had won the lottery. I stepped out to talk with her and take her to the teacher's lounge, and when I came back I was barraged with questions and comments.

"Is that your girlfriend?"

"She's pretty, you should keep her!"

"Can we meet her?"

"Is she here for your birthday?"

I told them to quiet down and do their work, but since there was quite a buzz going around the room, I relented.

"OK fine, class. That's my girlfriend. Now stop talking and do your work," I said.

A loud cheer went up. Seconds later, they were hard at work with smiles on their faces. It's amazing the things that can motivate kids.

78 divided by 6 is...

It's been a hectic few weeks. We're already halfway through the quarter... where does time go??? I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water. My team and my mentor have been very encouraging, and they told me that I would feel like this. Interesting thought - my mentor said that a first year teacher goes through the stages of anticipation, then survival, then disillusionment. Following these three stages come recovery, and then back to anticipation. I am definitely in the survival mode, and hoping to skip disillusionment.

Funny anecdote of the day... one of my math students who doesn't understand division answered in her homework 78 divided by 6 equals... Mr. Lin. Hilarious.