Eighth grade Social Studies. This is the age where the boys seem to feel a need to be cool. They still arrive to class with combs in their pockets. Whether or not they like Justin Beiber, these boys still have bangs that hang over their face, trying to keep their hair as straight as they can - they comb and comb and comb.
As the first class enters, I read over the short "teacher should know" list. Students may not leave the classroom for the first 20 minutes of any class. So of course, at exactly 20 minutes into the class time, up comes the first student with her pass for me to sign so she may go to the bathroom - students may only leave class a certain number of times per week. Kind of like an old fashioned dance - when your card is full, it's full.
Our assignment for the day, to watch The History of Christianity - I am to watch the same movie, for the same length of time, for five period of class. The students have to take a specific number of notes while they're watching. ** Important reminder to self*** When using a SmartBoard, please be sure to move the computer mouse periodically so that the computer screen does not lock up in the middle of the movie, causing you to have an interruption to class. The movie holds their attention for the first 20 minutes. After that, the hard plastic seats begin to emit heat and they increase in hardness as time passes. Even without a daily class schedule, I could tell when the period bell was about to ring because one by one the the kids would rise and stand in a line at the door looking up at the clock as it ticks off one more minute....It's a bit Pavlovian...All I was missing were the dog treats.
As you might imagine given the title, the movie was not quite riveting enough for this class of 8th graders. And as may be typical of some at this age group (and as WAS evident in this particular class), there was giggling and laughing while the movie showed Rubenesque paintings - as the kids called out "boobies." On the other hand, you could have heard a pin drop when they talked of the Church's changing views on circumcision....Hmmmm... We get a break just before lunch and its Directed Reading time. How nice to see the whole advisory class enter the room carrying a book. They eagerly sit down at their desks and read for the next 30 minutes before heading off to lunch.
When working off the routine schedule, chaos may sometimes ensue and often times there are shenanigans when a guest teacher comes into the classroom.. Core Project class begins immediately following lunch. This term the entire 8th grade is working on creating and building Solar Cars. A really nice project the kids seem to be excited about. The science teacher brings into my classroom the paper, paint, and water; and indicates that some kids will be coming in to work on their cars. Since kids are at different stages of development in this project, I don't really know how many will be in the classroom. Some have finished construction and will be outside doing trial runs. Some are just attaching their motors to the chassis while others are putting the finishing paint on their car bodies (or also, tossing paint at each other's faces and putting paint on their clothes). I looked over at one group and was quite surprised to see smoke rising from one of the tables - is someone smoking??? No, but actually, they are using a soldering iron to attach one metal piece to another...And just how might the administration think I am appropriately trained to oversee this number of 8th grade boys and girls to use this tool in close quarters in a social studies classroom without instruction - or at the very least, without rules of operation??? I ask that they unplug the iron and bring it to another classroom where a tenured teacher could have the responsibility.
Oh my, one more opportunity to oversee a class watching the movie before the final bell...."For Whom The Bell Tolls" Hemingway may write, but what I want to know is - is it for the student or really for the teacher?? Tomorrow's another day...
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