New classroom management

I actually give out a tangible reward!

I make it rain raffle tickets for participation. This is crucial since I require 100% participation every single day in my classroom. As a foreign language teacher I need to hear my students attempt to speak the language to gauge how they're doing orally.  To reward their bravery for trying they get tons of verbal praise and raffle tickets.

And I do a class raffle every two weeks with 3 winners from each class period.

Off to a great start

Reasons why this school district is better than the last one

1. the vision statement is catchy. “All students will be successful”. I didn’t bother remembering the vision statement was at my old school because it was too long. 
2. they gave us paper to start the school year! 
3. my kids can read (most of them anyways)
4. I get a break for lunch (last year I had to escort my kids to lunch, walk them through the lunch line, sit with them, and escort them back from lunch)
5. school starts at 8:00 instead of 7:30
6. there’s no snack time (seriously why do high school students need snack time?)
7. I’m "in civilization" (still no target though)
8. I’m teaching an elective instead of a core subject (I get to teach whatever I want however I want to teach it)

Inspiration

These three signs will be featured in my classroom this fall since it is my job to encourage and inspire young people to stay on task and do their work. 

Things you can only enjoy in civilization

One of my favorite productions

You may only enjoy the luxury of seeing the fantastical musical Wicked if you are in/traveling to New York, London, Louisville, Salt Lake City, or Winnipeg.

What will I see the next time I venture into civilization?
Aladdin? Chicago? The Book of Mormon?

The possibilities are endless!

Random things students ask/say...

1. What you is?
2. How you get your hair like that?
3. You natural, aint it?
4. Where you from?
5. You Spanish, aint it?
6. May you please give me a pencil?
7. We aint never learn this!
8. I need for to go to the bathroom. 
9. We must finna go. 
10. You got kids?
11. How old you is?

You never know what's on the mind of a teenage student.

The exodus

As I look back at my time spent in the county, I can definitely say that living there has helped me appreciate the little things in life such as the following:

• paved roads
• a grocery store
• shopping malls
• movie theaters
• Chick-fil-A
• Starbucks
• Target
• Walmart
• Kroger
• Belk
• Gap
• diversity
• education
• integration

Every cloud has a silver lining

You never truly appreciate the privilege of having a real Walmart (all Walmarts are not created equally) less than 10 minutes from your house until you have to drive an hour to get there. 

Nonsensical...

In the teaching profession it is imperative that teachers attend workshops and seminars in order to get continuing education units (CEUs). Teachers need these CEUs in order to keep their teaching license active.

Here in the county, the school board doesn't see the value in paying for teachers to go to professional development. As a result, certain faculty will not be able to renew their teaching licenses.

It would be one thing if the school board lacked sufficient funds to pay for said professional development, but this is not the case. The school board just paid to send the principal to an Asian country for 5 days to recruit new teachers. This includes airfare, accommodations, and transportation. Guess how many teachers our fearless leader brought back?

What is more cost effective; an all expense paid trip to an Asian country to recruit teachers that need visa sponsorship, assistance with green cards, and continuing education units, or paying for less than 100 teachers to go to at least one workshop or conference per year?

The struggle is real...