Christine Breaux's blog

Failure

Failure: I sometimes feel like that word defines my first year of teaching. There are many stories from my first year of teaching that can fall into the category of failure. I think that I failed to be the best/most effective teacher that I could have been. There are no excuses for this, yes, I was overwhelmed, but that shouldn’t have changed the effectiveness of my teaching.  I failed at being organized, which led to management problems. I failed at the positive attitude, which I had promised myself that I would keep all year. I failed at becoming friends with my co-workers. I failed at contacting parents. As you can see, I had were MANY failures this year.

My biggest failure was the lack of communication that I had with my inclusion teacher. We started the school year hating each other, and ended the school year hating each other. Her presence in my classroom brought me to be a bitter person. I think that I could have learned something from her, but we both didn’t allow ourselves to put our egos aside.

There have been many blogs this year written about my inclusion teacher, and hopefully this will be the last blog that I ever write about her, but the lack of respect that she had for me made our communication problems escalate. By the end of the year, she gave the SPED kids the answers to my final exam because she “didn’t want to have to deal with them next year.” I FAILED at doing the right thing in that situation, but because I didn’t feel like fighting with her I turned a blind eye and allowed her to give answers.

Also, I failed at using her in my classroom, which would have made my year much easier. She literally did NOTHING all day, everyday. She sat in her corner while she helped out the one kid that sat by her. It really didn’t matter if that student was SPED or not, kids wanted to sit by her because they knew that she would give them answers to all of the assignments.

            My inclusion teacher and I were in a silent war all year. I confronted her once, in the 1^st 9 weeks, because her excessive whistle blowing, but that was the only time that I told her how I felt about her behavior. I know that the students were aware of our silent war, which is a FAILURE! Students are only there to learn, not to get stuck in some ridiculous drama that their teachers are in. My inclusion teacher would talk to me behind my back to students, and I know this because my students would tell me.

            Overall, I think I did an OK job in dealing with my inclusion teacher, but she was my biggest failure. I hope that I do not have to see her at all next year, but if she is in my classroom again I can only hope that we can get along, and that I gain all of my patience back this summer, I’ll need it. 

Failure

Failure: I sometimes feel like that word defines my first year of teaching. There are many stories from my first year of teaching that can fall into the category of failure. I think that I failed to be the best/most effective teacher that I could have been. There are no excuses for this, yes, I was overwhelmed, but that shouldn’t have changed the effectiveness of my teaching.  I failed at being organized, which led to management problems. I failed at the positive attitude, which I had promised myself that I would keep all year. I failed at becoming friends with my co-workers. I failed at contacting parents. As you can see, I had were MANY failures this year.

My biggest failure was the lack of communication that I had with my inclusion teacher. We started the school year hating each other, and ended the school year hating each other. Her presence in my classroom brought me to be a bitter person. I think that I could have learned something from her, but we both didn’t allow ourselves to put our egos aside.

There have been many blogs this year written about my inclusion teacher, and hopefully this will be the last blog that I ever write about her, but the lack of respect that she had for me made our communication problems escalate. By the end of the year, she gave the SPED kids the answers to my final exam because she “didn’t want to have to deal with them next year.” I FAILED at doing the right thing in that situation, but because I didn’t feel like fighting with her I turned a blind eye and allowed her to give answers.

Also, I failed at using her in my classroom, which would have made my year much easier. She literally did NOTHING all day, everyday. She sat in her corner while she helped out the one kid that sat by her. It really didn’t matter if that student was SPED or not, kids wanted to sit by her because they knew that she would give them answers to all of the assignments.

            My inclusion teacher and I were in a silent war all year. I confronted her once, in the 1^st 9 weeks, because her excessive whistle blowing, but that was the only time that I told her how I felt about her behavior. I know that the students were aware of our silent war, which is a FAILURE! Students are only there to learn, not to get stuck in some ridiculous drama that their teachers are in. My inclusion teacher would talk to me behind my back to students, and I know this because my students would tell me.

            Overall, I think I did an OK job in dealing with my inclusion teacher, but she was my biggest failure. I hope that I do not have to see her at all next year, but if she is in my classroom again I can only hope that we can get along, and that I gain all of my patience back this summer, I’ll need it. 

Success

As hard and demanding as my first year of teaching was, I did have some successes. I have a few students, in reference to academics, that come to mind. Although I feel as though I was not as an effective teacher as I could have been, I still had many students tell me that they learned a lot about English in my class. (I hope they weren’t just trying to be nice.) The success doesn’t come from those students, but instead it comes from the students that showed me how much they learned.

            There is one particular academic success story that comes to mind, a kid named Kenneth. (K.J. for short) I had this student in 6^th period, one of my rowdiest classes, also, one of my classes that was split half way through the year. In the beginning of the school year, when K.J. was in the bigger class, he wouldn’t ever participate, and his grade was a low D. He sat in the back and acted “cool” while the rest of the class would participate in the activities. When I would talk to him about his work and his grades he would just shrug his shoulders and reply, “Well at least I ain’t got no F.” This behavior continued all of the 1^st 9 weeks, and half way through the 2^nd 9 weeks.

            Then, one day, my principal told my students and I that a new English teacher was hired and some of my classes would be spit in half. While I was jumping for joy, my kids were not happy about this. They were just getting settled in their new high school routine, and they didn’t want anything to mess that up. When they day came to spilt my classes, I said goodbye to my students with the last names A-L and rearranged my seating chart for the remaining 13-15 students I had left in those classes.

            Smaller class sizes proved to be beneficial, not only for myself, but also for my students. The classes that were divided had an overall higher average than the classes that had 26+ students. K.J. was one student that benefitted the most. As I said earlier, K.J. did not care about his grades, as long as he didn’t have an F, but as soon as his class size changed I noticed a huge improvement in his participation, and grades. In the third nine weeks, K.J. managed to get a high C in my class. I was very proud of him, and told him that he should push himself by trying to get and A in the 4^th, and last 9 weeks. He gave me his big smile and said, “We’ll see Ms. Breaux.”

            K.J started the 4^th 9 weeks off on a bad foot by not turning in a project and receiving a 0. He wasn’t happy about it, and swore to the class and I that he would pull his F up to a B by the end of the year. I was hoping that he was right. He proved to me that he was, he started doing really well on his tests, averaging an 80 or higher.

            When exam time came, he studied the hardest in class and outside of class. I could see his determination to achieve his goal. After he completed his exam he was incredibly antsy for me to grade it, as was everyone else. K.J. ended up getting the highest grade on the final for his class, with a 90 A. When I told him what he got he jumped up for joy and the rest of the class applauded his efforts.

            K.J. did achieve his goal in my class, and got a B in the 4^th 9 weeks. Seeing his smile when he received his test grade made me realize that was what teaching is all about, having kids meet goals that they think are impossible.  

Success

As hard and demanding as my first year of teaching was, I did have some successes. I have a few students, in reference to academics, that come to mind. Although I feel as though I was not as an effective teacher as I could have been, I still had many students tell me that they learned a lot about English in my class. (I hope they weren’t just trying to be nice.) The success doesn’t come from those students, but instead it comes from the students that showed me how much they learned.

            There is one particular academic success story that comes to mind, a kid named Kenneth. (K.J. for short) I had this student in 6^th period, one of my rowdiest classes, also, one of my classes that was split half way through the year. In the beginning of the school year, when K.J. was in the bigger class, he wouldn’t ever participate, and his grade was a low D. He sat in the back and acted “cool” while the rest of the class would participate in the activities. When I would talk to him about his work and his grades he would just shrug his shoulders and reply, “Well at least I ain’t got no F.” This behavior continued all of the 1^st 9 weeks, and half way through the 2^nd 9 weeks.

            Then, one day, my principal told my students and I that a new English teacher was hired and some of my classes would be spit in half. While I was jumping for joy, my kids were not happy about this. They were just getting settled in their new high school routine, and they didn’t want anything to mess that up. When they day came to spilt my classes, I said goodbye to my students with the last names A-L and rearranged my seating chart for the remaining 13-15 students I had left in those classes.

            Smaller class sizes proved to be beneficial, not only for myself, but also for my students. The classes that were divided had an overall higher average than the classes that had 26+ students. K.J. was one student that benefitted the most. As I said earlier, K.J. did not care about his grades, as long as he didn’t have an F, but as soon as his class size changed I noticed a huge improvement in his participation, and grades. In the third nine weeks, K.J. managed to get a high C in my class. I was very proud of him, and told him that he should push himself by trying to get and A in the 4^th, and last 9 weeks. He gave me his big smile and said, “We’ll see Ms. Breaux.”

            K.J started the 4^th 9 weeks off on a bad foot by not turning in a project and receiving a 0. He wasn’t happy about it, and swore to the class and I that he would pull his F up to a B by the end of the year. I was hoping that he was right. He proved to me that he was, he started doing really well on his tests, averaging an 80 or higher.

            When exam time came, he studied the hardest in class and outside of class. I could see his determination to achieve his goal. After he completed his exam he was incredibly antsy for me to grade it, as was everyone else. K.J. ended up getting the highest grade on the final for his class, with a 90 A. When I told him what he got he jumped up for joy and the rest of the class applauded his efforts.

            K.J. did achieve his goal in my class, and got a B in the 4^th 9 weeks. Seeing his smile when he received his test grade made me realize that was what teaching is all about, having kids meet goals that they think are impossible.  

1st year reflection

I’m not even sure how I feel about my first year of teaching. Do I love teaching? No, absolutely not. But, do I love my students? Yes. (At least most of them) I have always been a firm believer in the saying, “find a job you love and you will never work a day in your life.” Teaching, for most of the year, felt like work to me.

 

My Monday- Friday daily schedule is as follows:

5:10 First alarm goes off to wake up

5:19 Second alarm goes off, I get out of bed

5:20-6:00 Get ready, eat breakfast, make lunch

6:05-6:50 Drive to Byhalia

7:00-3:45 Stuck at school

3:50-4:40 Drive back to Oxford

5:00-6:15 Workout

6:20-7:45 Shower, eat dinner, hang out

7:45-9:00 Prepare for the next day (if applicable)

9:05 In bed

9:30 Asleep (hopefully)

 

I am so sick of my schedule from 5:10-4:40. I’m tired of waking up so early, and having to stay at school so late. I’m tired of students asking “What page that on?” after the 5^th time of “135.” I’m tired of my inclusion teacher sucking the fun out of everything, and giving all of the kids answers on tests. I’m tired of feeling like I am not making the difference that I had initially intended on making. I’m tired of kids trying to cheat on tests. I’m tired of teaching. Everyone says that it’s because of my drive, and because of the kids, and in a different environment my life would be so much better and easier as a teacher. I find that hard to believe. Kids are kids. Anywhere you go there will be some type of problem that a teacher has to deal with. There is no perfect school and no perfect classroom.

 

I want to be excited to go to work in the mornings. There are many nights when I dread waking up the next day because I know that I have to teach. There have also been many times where I want to be sick, so I can have a day off. I am literally wishing illness on myself so I have an excuse not to work the next day.

 

Strangely enough, I do come to school everyday for the kids. There are some who brighten up my day with their smile, and I really love my students. I would do anything for them, even the ones that make me want to pull my hair out.

 

My first year had ups and downs, as everyone’s did. I think this year has made me a smarter and stronger person. I am interested in seeing how next year will work out. I may be moving up with my kids and becoming their English II teacher, which has another level of stress, but I am glad that I might be with my same students. Hopefully, I’ll be a more consistent, organized, and overall better teacher next year.

1st year reflection

I’m not even sure how I feel about my first year of teaching. Do I love teaching? No, absolutely not. But, do I love my students? Yes. (At least most of them) I have always been a firm believer in the saying, “find a job you love and you will never work a day in your life.” Teaching, for most of the year, felt like work to me.

 

My Monday- Friday daily schedule is as follows:

5:10 First alarm goes off to wake up

5:19 Second alarm goes off, I get out of bed

5:20-6:00 Get ready, eat breakfast, make lunch

6:05-6:50 Drive to Byhalia

7:00-3:45 Stuck at school

3:50-4:40 Drive back to Oxford

5:00-6:15 Workout

6:20-7:45 Shower, eat dinner, hang out

7:45-9:00 Prepare for the next day (if applicable)

9:05 In bed

9:30 Asleep (hopefully)

 

I am so sick of my schedule from 5:10-4:40. I’m tired of waking up so early, and having to stay at school so late. I’m tired of students asking “What page that on?” after the 5^th time of “135.” I’m tired of my inclusion teacher sucking the fun out of everything, and giving all of the kids answers on tests. I’m tired of feeling like I am not making the difference that I had initially intended on making. I’m tired of kids trying to cheat on tests. I’m tired of teaching. Everyone says that it’s because of my drive, and because of the kids, and in a different environment my life would be so much better and easier as a teacher. I find that hard to believe. Kids are kids. Anywhere you go there will be some type of problem that a teacher has to deal with. There is no perfect school and no perfect classroom.

 

I want to be excited to go to work in the mornings. There are many nights when I dread waking up the next day because I know that I have to teach. There have also been many times where I want to be sick, so I can have a day off. I am literally wishing illness on myself so I have an excuse not to work the next day.

 

Strangely enough, I do come to school everyday for the kids. There are some who brighten up my day with their smile, and I really love my students. I would do anything for them, even the ones that make me want to pull my hair out.

 

My first year had ups and downs, as everyone’s did. I think this year has made me a smarter and stronger person. I am interested in seeing how next year will work out. I may be moving up with my kids and becoming their English II teacher, which has another level of stress, but I am glad that I might be with my same students. Hopefully, I’ll be a more consistent, organized, and overall better teacher next year.

three teacher skills

I am considered a “nice” and “fun” teacher, which I like, but I need to be much more consistent in the implementation of my rules and procedures.

 

My four rules this year were:

1.     Raise your hand to speak or stand.

2.     Keep your hands feet and legs to yourself.

3.     Come prepared for class.

4.     Respect others

 

My four consequences were:

1.     Warning

2.     Writing Assignment

3.     Parent contact

4.     Office Referral

 

By the end of the year, the kids disregarded ALL rules, and I was not consistent in giving any of my consequences. To tell you the truth, I never contacted parents. EVER.  So, the first “teacher skill” that I must work on is being consistent and staying with my rules and consequences. This is especially important during summer school because I have to be consistent with the other teachers in the classroom so our class will run smoothly for the first year teachers.

 

I also want to get back to random questioning. I was doing a great job of that in the summer, I made and used popsicle sticks to call on students for answering questions. I found that during the real school year I tended to call on the same kids, the smart kids, because they were paying attention to what I was saying, and they knew the answer. Calling on these kids helped with the flow of my lessons. I need to get back into the habit of random cold calling, so the kids will have to stay on their toes and have to pay attention to my lessons.

 

The third “teacher skill” that I need to work on is walking around  and monitoring students during independent practice. Many times I will give my kids work to do and I will go straight to my desk and begin working on something else that I need to do. I just get tired of walking around all day, especially when I can be getting other things done while the kids are working. But, walking around does have its benefits, when I do walk around the kids are much more prone to ask me questions and I can monitor how each student is comprehending the lesson. Hopefully I can get back into that habit while teaching summer school.

 

I think that it will be easy to work on these three things during summer school, mainly because summer school is less stressful than the regular school year. I will have to stick with the rules and consequences, because I am sharing a classroom with other teachers, so the kids have to have some type of consistency between all of the teachers. Also, it will be easy to cold call, because I only have a handful of students, so I only have to make a few popsicle sticks. And lastly, it will be quite easy to monitor the students during I.P. because I will only teaching for one period during the whole day.

three teacher skills

I am considered a “nice” and “fun” teacher, which I like, but I need to be much more consistent in the implementation of my rules and procedures.

 

My four rules this year were:

1.     Raise your hand to speak or stand.

2.     Keep your hands feet and legs to yourself.

3.     Come prepared for class.

4.     Respect others

 

My four consequences were:

1.     Warning

2.     Writing Assignment

3.     Parent contact

4.     Office Referral

 

By the end of the year, the kids disregarded ALL rules, and I was not consistent in giving any of my consequences. To tell you the truth, I never contacted parents. EVER.  So, the first “teacher skill” that I must work on is being consistent and staying with my rules and consequences. This is especially important during summer school because I have to be consistent with the other teachers in the classroom so our class will run smoothly for the first year teachers.

 

I also want to get back to random questioning. I was doing a great job of that in the summer, I made and used popsicle sticks to call on students for answering questions. I found that during the real school year I tended to call on the same kids, the smart kids, because they were paying attention to what I was saying, and they knew the answer. Calling on these kids helped with the flow of my lessons. I need to get back into the habit of random cold calling, so the kids will have to stay on their toes and have to pay attention to my lessons.

 

The third “teacher skill” that I need to work on is walking around  and monitoring students during independent practice. Many times I will give my kids work to do and I will go straight to my desk and begin working on something else that I need to do. I just get tired of walking around all day, especially when I can be getting other things done while the kids are working. But, walking around does have its benefits, when I do walk around the kids are much more prone to ask me questions and I can monitor how each student is comprehending the lesson. Hopefully I can get back into that habit while teaching summer school.

 

I think that it will be easy to work on these three things during summer school, mainly because summer school is less stressful than the regular school year. I will have to stick with the rules and consequences, because I am sharing a classroom with other teachers, so the kids have to have some type of consistency between all of the teachers. Also, it will be easy to cold call, because I only have a handful of students, so I only have to make a few popsicle sticks. And lastly, it will be quite easy to monitor the students during I.P. because I will only teaching for one period during the whole day.

Letter to the 2nd years

Dear 2^nd years,

 

I didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I began this program. I had the assumption that the members of this program would be lame, but I was quickly proven wrong when I showed up at our first get together at Northgate. When I saw Sealand, Patrick, Parks, and you others with beers in your hands I knew I would be alright.

Thank yall for making this summer so fun. Many things made last summer amazing: Thursday night karaoke, daily volleyball, crazy weekends, end of summer awards, speed training, etc. I wish I knew what I know now, that summer school is a joke compared to the regular school year, and had hung out with ya’ll more last summer. I will admit that I don’t know many of you as well as I would like; There are only a handful of 2^nd years that I feel like I really know. I do want to give one person a shout out though, my mentor, Ryan Bolland.

Ryan, even though you think that you are a terrible mentor you have helped me out a ton this year. Thank you for being there, mainly on Gchat, to listen to my bitching with open ears. You are easy to talk to and have given me great advice during this year. I hope (if anyone picks me to be a mentor) I am as effective of a mentor as you have been to Connor and I.

I am pretty jealous that all of you 2^nd years are so close to being finished with the program, and teaching. Part of me wishes that I could be in your shoes and part of me is ready to tackle my second year to see if I can change the things that I know I did wrong this year.

Some of you may appreciate this note, and there are some of you who probably don’t even know which 1^st year I am, but I want to wish all of you luck in the future. Whether you are sticking with teaching, going back to school, or finding another profession, I think you are all better people because of the two years that you put into Mississippi. We will miss you this summer, mainly during volleyball. I hope that I can be as good of a mentor as many of you were to me.

 

Thanks again,

 

Christine Breaux 

Letter to the 2nd years

Dear 2^nd years,

 

I didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I began this program. I had the assumption that the members of this program would be lame, but I was quickly proven wrong when I showed up at our first get together at Northgate. When I saw Sealand, Patrick, Parks, and you others with beers in your hands I knew I would be alright.

Thank yall for making this summer so fun. Many things made last summer amazing: Thursday night karaoke, daily volleyball, crazy weekends, end of summer awards, speed training, etc. I wish I knew what I know now, that summer school is a joke compared to the regular school year, and had hung out with ya’ll more last summer. I will admit that I don’t know many of you as well as I would like; There are only a handful of 2^nd years that I feel like I really know. I do want to give one person a shout out though, my mentor, Ryan Bolland.

Ryan, even though you think that you are a terrible mentor you have helped me out a ton this year. Thank you for being there, mainly on Gchat, to listen to my bitching with open ears. You are easy to talk to and have given me great advice during this year. I hope (if anyone picks me to be a mentor) I am as effective of a mentor as you have been to Connor and I.

I am pretty jealous that all of you 2^nd years are so close to being finished with the program, and teaching. Part of me wishes that I could be in your shoes and part of me is ready to tackle my second year to see if I can change the things that I know I did wrong this year.

Some of you may appreciate this note, and there are some of you who probably don’t even know which 1^st year I am, but I want to wish all of you luck in the future. Whether you are sticking with teaching, going back to school, or finding another profession, I think you are all better people because of the two years that you put into Mississippi. We will miss you this summer, mainly during volleyball. I hope that I can be as good of a mentor as many of you were to me.

 

Thanks again,

 

Christine Breaux