Hopefully the title of this entry gave you an idea as to what is going on in my life right now!
Semester #1 ended on January 13th. We had two weeks to boost grades and get kids passing all of their classes. It was a bit of a mad rush and I am still tweaking things to be more efficient and help my students be more proactive and motivated when it comes to doing their homework (and classwork...you'd be amazed how many teachers tell me, "I give all of the answers in class, but he/she just sits there!). We helped a lot of students barely pass their classes, but it was a little too close if you ask me.
Now I'm going to throw a little wrench in the happiness that came with the end of a semester. Last Friday, POWERSCHOOL crashed. PowerSchool is the online grade book that Provo School District uses. The problem didn't stem from Provo School District though. It apparently was a huge server crash that can be traced all the way back to the big creators of PowerSchool. We were told that they weren't sure how much data could be saved, so we were all freaking out that the grades we had put in for all of Term 2 were gone! If you didn't back up your grades on something else on your computer or keep a hard copy in your teacher planner, then you were in BIG TROUBLE.
Thankfully they recovered all of the data from Term 2 with the exception of the last week of term. This was a relief, but in Resource Learning, the last week of the term is crucial because we are still running around like crazy getting our students to hand in missing assignments and late work. Hopefully teachers remember who handed in what and when!
Because PowerSchool has been down, Resource Learning is a bit tricky because I rely heavily on what is on PowerSchool. It's fun when you have a class based on homework help and you have to hope that your students are just bringing their homework and telling you what they need to do. (They should be doing this all the time, yet it rarely happens. Usually we are harping on them to get out the packet from history/science or finish that math assignment or study for this test...it's like nailing jello to a tree - very difficult!)
Moral of the story: technology is fantastic, but totally freaky when it doesn't work...
When the semester ended, I could hardly believe that the first half of my first year of teaching is over. Where in the world does the time go?! If the first half is already over, then I might as well start planning my summer because the school year is over. Another testament to how fast time goes is the fact that January is almost over. Seriously - time just flies by!
Second semester started after the three day break that came with Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Friday before, I had checked my schedule and what do you know, my 3rd period had students...but only two! All of last semester, I was technically signed up for 3rd period Writing Skills, but there were no students assigned to the class. Therefore I had two prep periods. I relished those two prep periods. I could run errands for other Special Ed teachers (do observations, testing, etc.); observe other classroom teachers; take a break and get hot chocolate in the faculty lounge, EAT A SNACK BECAUSE I'M ALWAYS STARVING BY THAT TIME; etc. Imagine my dismay when I found out I was reduced to the alloted one prep period that every other teacher has. Thank heavens it's a Writing Skills class. Writing Skills isn't too difficult of a class to teach and I really enjoy it.
BUT ONLY TWO STUDENTS? They added five more students to my 6th period Writing Skills, but somehow only put two in my 3rd period. How did that work out? Oh well. I never realized how exhausting it is to teach for that many periods in a row, but I'm finally getting used to it. I certainly have to be more on top of my preparation because I have no breaks in between to plan a lesson or print off materials. It's been a good change and I'm excited to see how I can help these students learn to write better!
-Ms. Damron-
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