187days

[187days]

Bonus Day

The weather was finally wicked nice, so it's awesome that we had the first of two home meets on our track today!

We invited seven teams, and an eighth asked if they could jump in (of course, The Head Coach said yes), but it's spring break, so no one's at full strength, so it wasn't as big a meet as you might be thinking. We were able to finish in under three hours, and our girls and boys teams both picked up wins!

We weren't necessarily expecting it, especially with so many injuries on the boys side, so that's awesome. I had a feeling about midway through, though, that we were going to do it because I was out on the field for the whole meet and got to see a lot of results come in. That's because I was on the mic making calls as well as clerking running events.

One thing we pride ourselves on is that we don't need to ask visiting coaches to do anything but coach their own athletes because we have people to handle everything. Our athletes took care of the hurdles and blocks, and we had alumni, friends, parents, local people who just enjoy helping to run each event. Coach T was our runner because he likes that. And, like I said, I had the mic!

We had to work a few kinks out of our meet management early on-nothing major- and then everything went really smoothly. And one of my favorite traditions happened at the end of the meet. The team gathered on the last curve to do the wave for the 4x400m runners. I think a lot of the parents who are new enjoyed it, too; I saw a lot of phones and cameras out to capture that. And then, of course, we stayed out there to cheer on our buffalo relay runners, who passed. a blue rubber chicken as a baton this time, and had so much fun.

Winning is a good time, but, really, it's that kind of thing- the joy the team has being out there- that makes me love being a coach.

#coaching #track #spring break #so much fun #so much joy #bonus day #high school #Coach T #The Head Coach

[187days]

Bonus Day

I was watching the morning news while I ate breakfast, and the local weather man referred to the 38-degree temps and the 15-20mph winds as "a bit breezy," which tells you everything you need to know about where I live. Heh.

So, no surprise, we had a cold, windy practice this morning! I did remind the sprinters who wore hoodies with shorts that it's their legs they need to be chiefly concerned about keeping warm, but, for some reason, a lot of them don't like to run in pants or leggings. This is one of the mysterious teenage things I don't bother trying to figure out.

At least it was sunny.

There's a meet tomorrow, so it was a short workout. They did eight strides with a jog in between, and then practiced block starts. I taught the 200/400m dashers how to angle their blocks for the curve, and cracked jokes about how their math teachers would thank me for the geometric understanding they were gaining.

We're still dealing with some injuries on the boys team, but the ones who are healthy should do well, as should the girls as a whole. We'll see!

#coaching #high school #spring break #track #bonus day

[187days]

Bonus Day

It's spring break, but it's still track season, and there was an invitational on the Seacoast this morning. So everyone who's not away on vacation got on the buses at a vaguely unpleasant 7AM sharp to go compete at their first really big meet of the season.

I like a big meet early on because it's a good experience, particularly for our rookie athletes; it's better if they learn how to manage themselves for this kind of meet (when to warm up, how to stay hydrated, etc...) now rather than trying to learn it during the post-season.

It was a decidedly mixed day for us. Some of our athletes had some big wins, two set meet records, and a lot of them PRed. But one of my sprinter boys pulled up short with a hamstring injury (not too bad, thankfully), a few others didn't do as well as they'd hoped... But that's what happens in the early part of the season sometimes because the training isn't super consistent yet, the learning's still happening, there's room to improve.

My cousin was running for her team, so I spent most of the meet- any time I wasn't making sure the sprinters were warming up- with my uncle, cheering for her and for my own athletes. We'll compete against each other again in a couple weeks, and then, of course, at championships.

Our next meet is at home, which will be nice. Stay tuned for more about that in my future entries!

#coaching #track #high school #spring break #bonus day #cousins

[187days]

Day One Hundred Forty-Nine

I taught the last lesson in the APGOV curriculum today (all about the media and its role as a linkage institution), so that's exciting. Today was also the last class day my Global studies students had to work on their book papers.

Did some of them still try use things an AI wrote or things they found on Google, despite me catching their peers and calling them out yesterday? Did they try to fake the citations for their books by putting down random page numbers, just hoping I wouldn't actually check them? And did I very dryly respond to these things by saying I was offended that they thought I was dumb enough to fall for them?

Yeah, that happened, but most of the papers I got to read were awesome. So I hope the students who read challenging books and worked hard to write so well are proud of themselves, especially if reading and/or writing doesn't come easily to them. I'm certainly proud of them.

And now we're on vacation!!!!!!

We'll have one more unit after break (on current world issues, which several of them have said they're excited about). My APGOV students will have one more unit, too, but first they'll prepare for the AP exam, which is on May 6.

And, as always, track season will go on throughout spring break. We had a light practice this afternoon, and we've got a big meet tomorrow!

#teaching #teachblr #teacher #education #edublr #high school #social studies #coaching #track #spring break #ap exams #reading is life #day one hundred forty nine

[187days]

Day One Hundred Forty-Eight

We have sensors in all of our bathrooms that detect smoking, vaping, loud noises (that could be fighting), and so on. A couple boys tried to break one of them today, and, uh, that did not go well for them. Honestly, I was expecting there to be more stuff like that today because we're so close to spring break, and that can make things squirrely, but it was actually a pretty quiet day.

I had a bunch of seniors come in during Block 1 to take the citizenship test. They told me they'd studied together over FaceTime the night before, and it paid off because they all passed, which they were super excited about- especially if they'd taken it before and failed. So that was a good way for me to start my morning, being able to congratulate them for being one requirement closer to graduation.

When I was teaching Global Studies, a couple more students came in to take the citizenship test. Plus, I had two of my APGOV students finishing the FRQs from their last practice test because they'd been absent. In the past, it's been a bit of a challenge to get some of my ninth graders to stay quiet while there are test-takers in the room, but today it was easy. They've got book paper drafts due, so they were grinding on those, and maybe- just maybe- there's some maturity kicking in, too. They worked hard, and didn't disrupt each other, and made awesome progress. I proofread their writing and gave feedback comments as it was turned in, and I was pretty impressed.

Did I have a few attempt to turn in Googled summaries of their books? Yeah. But, when I called them on it, they went back to drafting properly. So... minor win? Turnaround? Something.

APGOV was the only block that wasn't quiet. We discussed campaign finance law, I showed them how to look up contributions on the FEC website (blew some minds with that), and then I had them poke around OpenSecrets. After lunch, I did a lecture on interest groups, which led to a discussion about hyperpluralism. So that was a solid class.

Six more seniors came to take the citizenship test after school, so I missed most of practice, but The Head Coach knew I was going to. I made it out in time to stretch with the sprinters, chat a bit, and then I figured I should mind my own training. So I threw down two miles on the track, finished just before it started to rain. Good times!

#teaching #teachblr #education #edublr #high school #social studies #teacher #coaching #track #conversations about current events #citizenship test #cue the music of triumph #the head coach #day one hundred forty eight

[187days]

Day One Hundred Forty-Seven

I went back to college today! Specifically, I went to Plymouth State University (which is where I attended graduate school part time during my second, third, and fourth years of teaching) with a group of about twenty freshmen. My most embarrassing moment: having to ask the driver to stop at a gas station so I could use the bathroom. So awkward!

But it wasn't actually a big deal, we made it to campus with time to spare, and it was a gorgeous day to take a tour. There was a presentation by the admissions office first, followed by some Q&A, and then a delightfully energetic senior English major took us on a tour. Admittedly, I was bit worried about students' behavior because some of the kids in this group are still extremely immature, but they did pretty well. There was one minor incident (knocking on dorm room doors when they were being shown a model room) that was quickly dealt with, and one boy did try to wander off with his sister- a current student at the college- but I was able to intercept.

Lunch was hilarious because a college dining hall is nothing like a high school cafeteria, to the point that the kids were amazed by it, and a handful of boys definitely launched an eating competition. I sat with a crew of girls who I teach in Global Studies, plus a few I don't, and chatted about college life with them (and about the mango sticky rice we all decided to try, which was fire).

We got back to the high school about twenty minutes before the afternoon bell, I went up to see how the students who weren't on today's trips did with my sub, and then I went to practice. It was a short one- strides and agility work for the sprinters- since we had the meet yesterday, but it was good to get out there in the sunshine!

#edublr #teaching #teachblr #education #high school #teacher #social studies #coaching #track #college visits #day one hundred forty seven

[187days]

Day One Hundred Forty-Six

It's college visit time for our ninth graders (we take them to tour a big university, a small college, or a trade school- their choice- to get them thinking about life after high school), which meant half of my students were gone today and the other half will be gone tomorrow. The ones who were present were in the middle of drafting book papers, so they just kept going. I proofread drafts as they handed them in, we chatted about life, it was mostly awesome.

I did have one student outright refuse to do anything, which was both frustrating and sad (sad for the student, not so much for me). Nothing I try works, so I don't know what to do anymore.

So that's hard, but I'll keep trying to figure it out.

Ont he other hand, APGOV was super smooth. I lectured on political parties, we examined party affiliation over time, they read about the election results in 2018, 2020, and 2022, we discussed it all. That was a solid class.

After that, the track team was dismissed for an away meet. A funny thing is that The Head Coach doesn't like riding the boys' bus, so I always do it. If I haven't yet mentioned how hilarious it is to be the female coach of high school boys, well, it is. There was lots of banter about their music (I told them none of them are gangsta enough for what they're listening to), my age, and so on, which kept me entertained. There was also a collective freak-out over a BMW, the girl driving it, or both. That, I just rolled my eyes about.

The host team was my cousin's team, so I also got to see her run, and chat with her coach, who is a good egg. And he meet went pretty well for us- girls and boys both placed second of four- and it was a beautiful sunny day, thank goodness! The one heartbreak moment was when two of the 4x1 boys dropped the baton on the hand-off. They picked it up and finished, to their credit, and they shook it off well. Other than that, it was a day of big Ws and PRs, which should be a confidence boost going into this weekend's big invitational.

#teaching #edublr #teachblr #education #high school #teacher #social studies #coaching #track #cousins #day one hundred forty six #the head coach #college visits

[187days]

Day One Hundred Forty-Five

Today was a very Monday-ish Monday. It seemed like everyone showed up to class feeling a little bit tired and/or discombobulated- including me!- but most of us managed to rally.

My Global Studies students were in the middle of drafting book papers, so they just picked up where ever they'd left off. Some of them needed a bit of advice from me on how to keep going: how to transition smoothly, how to link back to the thesis, etc... but that, of course, is what I'm there for. I've got some model papers posted, so I'd look at those with students, ask them to talk me through what they saw those authors doing and how they could apply it to their own work. I think it went well!

One thing I did have to call out in a big way today: the pattern of misbehavior and gaslighting being exhibited by a handful of students. I'd literally watch them doing something wrong (ie- giving a classmate the finger) and they'd straight up deny it, or insist that I was mistaken about what I saw. Rather than get into a back and forth of "I didn't do it" and "yes, you did," I put my whip-crack tone to good use and told them to stop lying. It worked and I'm thinking it's because they've been called out so rarely.

Here's hoping the effectiveness continues!

My APGOV students are onto their final unit before the exam: political ideologies and political participation. We started today with a bit of Crash Course, then I had them retake the Political Typology Quiz they'd taken on the first day to see if their results had changed at all. The answer was yes for about half the class; some got more liberal, some got more conservative. I said it was indicative of the fact that political views are malleable and they're at an age when theirs are still being formed.

So if any of you ought there thought I was turning all of my students into leftists or something, well, clearly not. Or, if I was trying to, I'm not very good at it. Heh.

So we did that, and then talked about how ideology and party affiliation aren't the same thing, but that we do have one major party that is more liberal and one that is more conservative, so people tend to align with one or the other even if the party's positions aren't a perfect match for theirs. We read the preambles to each party's platform, too, to see what they emphasize, and discuss their differences in tone and substance. That was a cool discussion.

I was hoping track practice would be a bit warmer than it was, but the sun was out and I had appropriate clothes for the wind that was blowing through, so I can't really complain. It was a short practice anyhow because there's a meet tomorrow: strides, blocks, baton, the end!

#edublr #teaching #teachblr #education #high school #teacher #social studies #coaching #track #day one hundred forty five

[187days]

Bonus Day

We finally had a track meet!

The weather was crazy because it kept changing. We'd get twenty minutes of warmth and sunshine, followed by a rain shower, followed by cold and wind, followed by warmth and sunshine... I kept taking my jacket off and putting it back on, and, at one point, I even put my gloves on! But we got to go racing, and that's the key, because we weren't able to this past week. It's so exciting to be at a meet!

This meet was fun, too, because it was a relay meet with some unique events (co-ed shuttle hurdles, the DMR, etc, etc...), and, of course, a buffalo run at the end (our team passed a baguette as their baton and then ate it afterwards). I think everyone did well, especially considering how difficult it's been to train, but, man, my sprinters were on another level. We took wins in both 4x100s, and the boys SHATTERED the school record.

The end of the meet dragged a little because there were a ton of entrees int he field events, so there was a delay in getting the overall boys results, but while I was waiting for a last few athletes to pack up, I saw the officials doing the tallying and begged The Head Coach for five minutes. I'm not sure he really wanted to give me those five minutes, but I had a feeling- and so did Coach T- that the boys were going to win the meet.

AND THEY DID!

It was so fun to come onto the bus carrying the trophy because, yeah, that was worth waiting for. And they were psyched about it, especially the rookies, because it's their first meet and first win.

This was awesome.

#bonus day #coaching #track #relay meet #so much fun #so much joy #high school #the head coach #coach t

[187days]

Day One Hundred Forty-Four

Today was another gross, rainy day, and all the ninth graders were asking if we were going to get out early (it happened once because town was literally flooding, and now they think it's going to happen every time there's a hard rain), but everything went surprisingly well. Once students got all their complaints and wishes for an early dismissal out of their system, they locked in and did some really awesome work on their book papers.

One hilarious moment: at the start of my third section, I got a series of questions about upcoming school events, none of which I knew the answer to. After about the fifth time I said, "I don't know," I apologized for being distinctly unhelpful. That earned me a laugh.

I was helpful with the papers, though! I gave tons of pointers, and proofread parts of drafts, and went over how to do proper in-text citations, and so on.

In APGOV, I did very little because my students were doing the FRQ section of their latest practice test (actually, I did most of the prep for the next unit). There was a lot of dramatic sighing, but they did well and I'm super happy with their scores.

So, yeah, it was a good teaching day. Coaching day? Ehhhh. It was so-so. We've got our first meet tomorrow, and it's a big relay meet, so practice was all about baton hand-offs. We can enter multiple teams in each event, so The Head Coach took A team 4x100s to practice, I took the B and C teams and the 4x200s. We stayed inside and did the handoffs in the halls, which isn't ideal, but we made it work. I'm good at teaching hand-offs, so I was having fun, and I think most of our athletes were, too, But, for some, the stress of competition overtakes the excitement, and manifests as a poor attitude. I get it, and I don't take it personally, but it's still unpleasant.

I think once those kids actually compete tomorrow, though, they'll realize how fun it is. Fingers crossed that the season will roll smoothly from here.

#teaching #teachblr #edublr #education #high school #teacher #social studies #coaching #track #the head coach #day one hundred forty four

[187days]

Day One Hundred Forty-Three

Mr. D: Guys need concealer, too. Me: I mean, you can borrow mine. Mr. D: But I don't know how to put it on. I need instructions. Mr. N And it needs to be in, like, a steel case. And call it 'man paste.'

These are the kinds of conversations that occur after 7AM PLC meetings. Or, at least, they do in my world with my Cacophonous friends. The meeting itself was fine; it was just early, and the weather's rainy and gross today, and we're all feeling a little desperate for spring break. So the dark circles are more noticeable than usual, I suppose.

I assume we all rallied to actually teach our classes, though. I know I did for mine, not that I actually had much direct instruction to do. I gave my Global Studies students some pointers for starting their book papers (and also gave many high-fives to students who proudly announced that they'd finished reading their books- something some of them doubted they could do at the start of this unit), and spent the remainder of each block offering feedback and fielding questions as they worked on their drafts. Some students were really on fire, and were so proud of how much they got written today, which was great.

Meantime, my APGOV students took the MCQ section (full 55 questions this time) of a test today, and they'll do the FRQs tomorrow. This will give them a good sense sense of the time they'll have on the actual exam. We'll do one more full-sized practice test after spring break, and then they'll be as ready as can be for the real thing.

The rain got worse as they day went on, so the sprinters stayed indoors and fought for hallway space with every other spring sports team to do timed 40m dashes and starting block practice. It's not ideal, but it works. And, hopefully, we'll have our first meet on Saturday!

#teaching #education #teachblr #edublr #high school #teacher #social studies #coaching #track #Mr. N #Mr. D #PLC #day one hundred forty three

[187days]

Day One Hundred Forty-Two

Not every state has a system in which townspeople vote on their school district's operating budget, union contracts, etc... but New Hampshire does. Yesterday was voting day here, and the budget didn't pass, meaning we're left with a default budget (this year's budget plus any expenditures that are mandatory) that's about $1.2 million shorter than what the district had wanted. The admins say they're "exploring all options," but the likely outcome will be the closure of an elementary school.

The school board already voted to close one in the 2025-2026 school year, this just speeds it up by a year. There was much debate at the deliberative session about why we didn't just speed it up a year, so I assume that's what voters had in mind when they made this decision.

As you can imagine, it's causing a lot of emotions for parents, teachers, kids, etc... So that's rough.

It's not rough for me personally, though. I don't have kids, for one thing. And, as a high school teacher, my job is in no danger; plus, the high school may actually benefit because the paras, custodians, etc... at the elementary school can be transferred up here where we're desperately short-staffed. I'm not pointing that out to anybody who's upset, of course, because that'd be a jerk move. I'm just writing it here because, well, it is what it is.

Anyways.

Today was also an early release day, so some of my students didn't come to school (that's less of an issue than it used to be because the district's taken steps to address the importance of attendance, even for short classes, with parents, but it's definitely still an issue), and some of the students who were in attendance got a talking-to about utilizing the time as opposed to packing up ten minutes early and playing on their phones. It wasn't a super stern talking-to, just a gentle one, but I think it was effective because a lot of the students I spoke to returned to their seats and to their work. So that's a win.

It's a "B" day, so I was doing the same thing I did with the other half of my ninth graders yesterday. First, they took a content quiz, and then they either read or, if they'd finished their books, worked on their papers. My APGOV students also had a quiz- a vocab quiz- and then we played a rowdy game of Kahoot to prepare for their next test. We finished right at the bell, so some of my ninth graders got to witness the (very loud and jubilant) ending of that. That was fun.

We had a faculty meeting in the afternoon and worked on some curriculum mapping stuff in interdisciplinary groups, which wasn't bad. After that, I met quickly with my department to go over some information and get their nominees for our academic awards. That left us all with about 45 minutes of time to work on our own. So I did a bit of grading, wrote a scholarship recommendation letter, and then it was time to go!

#teaching #edublr #teachblr #education #high school #teacher #social studies #letter of recommendation #early release #faculty meeting #department meeting #meetings meetings meetings #voting #kahoot #day one hundred forty two

[187days]

Day One Hundred Forty-One

My Global Studies students had a quiz today. it's an open notes quiz they've known about since the start of the unit; they've even had the quiz questions since the start of the unit. Anyone who prepared for it breezed through it, anyone who did not- and, thankfully, there were very few students who did not- had a tougher go of it. I suspect some of them will retake it later on, and that's find. I reminded them that there's one more unit- and therefore one more quiz like this- so they can take the lesson they've learned (to prepare for their content quizzes) and apply it then.

Students returned to their books once they finished taking their quizzes. I love seeing the progress they've made, particularly my more reluctant readers. I know some of them, by their own admission, haven't finished a book since they were in elementary school. Some were able to finish today and get started on their papers, which is great.

My APGOV students and I had a terrific discussion about Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and Malcolm X's "The Ballot or the Bullet," which are two really interesting texts to examine in conjunction with one another. To prepare, I had them generate eight discussion questions- four on each text- and today I just let them go. No one had to raise hands, they just asked their questions, offered their responses, came up with follow-ups on the fly. I sometimes interjected, but I mostly just listened. Some of my students are quite quiet, so it's really cool when they get to talking in this kind of an assessment. And, yes, it is a graded assessment, adds some variety to the ways I check their understanding. It's going to be a high grade for all of them because they did so well.

I had to go to a faculty meeting after school before I went out to track practice, but, luckily, it was short since we have in-service tomorrow afternoon. The Principal mostly just wanted to go over some of information in preparation for that. Then I was able to put my sprinters through a ladder (300m-200m-100m) workout. We were originally supposed to have a meet today, but- unsurprisingly, given the weather we've had- it was canceled. It was a glorious, sunny day today, though, so it's a bit of a shame. But it was a good practice.

When it ended, I went to vote because all the local voting happened today, and that includes the school budget and so on. Polls closed about thirty minutes ago, so now I'm waiting to hear how everything went!

#teaching #edublr #teachblr #education #teacher #high school #social studies #voting #the principal #faculty meeting #track #coaching #day one hundred forty one #confidence is catching #martin luther king jr #malcolm x #the ballot or the bullet #letter from birmingham jail

[187days]

Day One Hundred Forty

We were in the 95% totality range for the eclipse today, and there were hundreds of thousands of people headed through the area to get to the northern reaches of New England to get 100% totality. What did that mean for us?

Well, The Principal, who was a science teacher once upon a time, was geeking out completely. I told him I did eclipse trivia with my advisory students, and he was delighted about that.

Someone donated eclipse glasses to all our students and staff, so there were kids wearing them in class, wearing multiple pairs in class, figuring out how to sell multiple pairs to the tourists...

And, in order to get our student drivers, buses, parents, etc... off the roads without snarling up the aforementioned traffic even more, we got out an hour earlier than usual. That meant my ninth grade classes were about half an hour long, which was actually a perfect amount of time for them to spend reading their books and preparing for the unit content quiz. APGOV was about an hour, which was almost perfect. I ran out of time while fielding questions about post-civil rights movement history, but I can continue next class. It's no big deal.

And eclipse-watching was fun! I hope our students thought so, too!

#teaching #teachblr #teacher #edublr #education #high school #social studies #the principal #eclipse #day one hundred forty

[187days]

I've been following your blog for a few months. I'm a substitute teacher at middle schools in a district that is extremely different from yours. It's been interesting learning about the different ways schools work. I'm just if you have any tumblrs by teachers that you follow. Thanks!

Hi anon! I'm glad my blog's been an interesting read, and I'm curious how your school experience is different!

I scroll through the teachblr tag on a regular basis, so that's my recommendation for picking up other blogs to follow.

#ask #anon #teacher #teachblr #teaching #edublr #education

[187days]

#teaching #teachblr #teacher #edublr #education #pew research center #intriguing

[187days]

Day One Hundred Thirty-Nine

The storm passed this morning, but it's still so messy- and so much of the region is without power or passable roads- that we had another day of remote learning.

My freshmen had to finish their current events write-ups and keep reading their books. I also suggested that they take some time to prepare for the unit content quiz, which I'm going to give next Tuesday. I originally planned to give it after they wrote their book papers, but there are some things going on the week after next that will mess with the schedule, so this is easier.

Adaptability and flexibility!

I posted an article about voting rights for my students to read- history from the Seneca Falls Convention, to the ratification of the 15th and 19th Amendments, to the Mississippi Summer Project- and also posted a powerful excerpt from PBS' Freedom Summer (about the murders of Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney) for them to watch. We'll talk about it, and about what happened afterwards, on Monday.

What else did I do? Graded all the work that came in, finished drafting my department's schedules for next year, planned a few upcoming lessons. It's quieter and slower-paced than a day in my classroom, but it's still productive!

#edublr #teaching #teachblr #education #high school #teacher #social studies #pbs #freedom summer #remote learning #day one hundred thirty nine