It’s been a couple years since Tina talked us into doing one of these but I think it’s time again. I want to be clear: this is not a normal day. I am 24 hours away from the opening of the school play which I am the director of. Yep, I teach math and drama. Okay here we go
5:45- wake up before the alarm, toooo many things in my head. Put the final touches on the program.
6:00- stupid alarm, shower, get dressed, become a person
6:45 – leave for school
7:00- get to school. god I love my commute.
7:05 – Print sample program. Check for the last time. Print more programs. In fact, print 300 of them. Also, print modified version of the 9th grade test I am giving today.
7:50 – set up tables for testing. Sing very loudly alone in my classroom.
8:10 – Standing meeting – everyday we do this in the morning at our school. It’s about 10 minutes. Today we looked at a diagram discussed it and then did announcements (I plugged the play) and talked about what we were doing in advisory. We ended as we always do with “Students of Concern.” It’s a really nice tradition.
8:30 – Oh hai, first period. My first period is quite something. I love them so much but it took me almost the whole year to get a handle on them.
8:35- like 5 kids are missing. announcement over the intercom that the traffic light down the hill is out and everyone will be late. We review a little more before the test.
9:45 – bye first period. See you not tomorrow (I am out for a drama preview thing.) It’s nutrition break. I have to go to the theatre to return the wheelchair we borrowed and to pick up a pair of pants one of the actors spilt yesterday while diving on stage. I am hoping the teacher who helped with costumes can fix them. Also in this 23 min break I deliver my sub plans to the front office and make copies.
10:08: Second period. These guys are less of handful. We review a bit. Apparently I agreed to play “Eye of Tiger” before the test. I play it as I pass them out. A student says, “I feel so determined!” As they test I prepare for third. We are discussing prejudice and racism. I’m hoping as a lead in to barriers to access to jobs and colleges. We are looking at statistics and discussing if we believe them or not. What makes a good study/survey was part of our curriculum so we are picking that up in this unit. I am using Moses’s stuff as a guide but it feels more aimed at white kids which does apply to most of mine.
11:23 Third period- I greet the kids at the door. Sometimes I torture them by not letting them in the minute passing period starts but honestly I just need a minute between classes. We are doing a “social justice in education” unit that I will write a whole post about. Today we talked about unpacking the invisible knapsack and what that means.
12:46 – Lunch. I ran tutorial today cause my afternoons are a little full at the moment.
1:16 – This is my prep. Today I was interviewed by a group of students who are doing a project where they have to find a system that is broken and fix it. These kids were trying to fix LGBTQ support and pride on campus.
2:39 – Advisory. We voted for school site council (well the kids did). Then we went to the gym and I hosted a giant game of dodgeball.
3:32 – Oh school’s out cept drama starts in 28 minutes. I open the theatre and start to get things going.
4:15- Kids are in make up, programs are folded and we are running the show! (we open tomorrow). It looks like a play. Gosh I love the Children.
5:00- Drama Parents bring dinner it’s baked ziti and it is amazing. We do notes from the first chunk of the show change out of our costumes and eat!
5:45- and we’re back! We run the rest of the show. I think it’s going to be a play!
7:00 – We do notes again. We make choices for the student preview for tomorrow. We run a few cues that don’t work.
8:00 – REHEARSAL IS DONE. We clean up and head out. I am so tired.
8:20 – Last kid gets picked up and sent home
9:02. – I finish typing this and post without checking for typo. I am about to watch New Girl til I pass out. Okay, really, I’m about to pass out.
a brand new line. 