A Colorful Glimpse Into the Soul -- Kyle

How can I reconcile the sheer number of possibilities? How much fun can I have trying to mix and match the limitless options? How many of my students will think I’m crazy because of my choices? These are just a few of the questions that plague my mind every morning when I start to plan out my day. But am I talking about all the instructional decisions I have to make over the course of a day? Don’t be silly! I am, of course, speaking of deciding what to wear to school everyday.

Each day I wake up, confront my wardrobe, and coolly pick out an outfit, which will invariably be described as some member of the animal kingdom as soon as I walk into my room. “Mr. Minner, you look like a turtle today.” (Green shirt, orange tie) “Today you look like a dolphin!” (Light blue shirt, periwinkle tie) “Hey, you look like a blue jay. But a brown one. Yeah, you look like a brown blue jay!” (Gray shirt with multicolored stripes, blue tie, and a brown sports coat). And you know what? I love it! I revel in trying to be as flamboyant and colorful as possible every day without seeming like a crazy person. It brightens up my day when I feel like I’m having fun just because I’m wearing fun clothes. Even if my day is on the brink of disaster, I simply have to look down, admire the unique choice I made, and smile.

Having an interesting wardrobe has more benefits than you might think. Not only does it ensure that I enjoy at least a small part of every day, my students are able to see a part of my personality. They are able to know me as a person, not just as their teacher; so far, this has resulted in increased motivation, a safer classroom environment, and an overall sense of jollity and enjoyment in my room. Having a personality and, most importantly, showing it to my students makes me a real person—a real person who they like. And from my experience thus far, if students like you, they are much more likely to work for you. They are much more likely to enjoy being in your classroom. Most of all, they are much more likely to learn from you because they want to pay attention.

Of course, I do not believe that everyone should suddenly start wearing neon green and bright pink (now there’s an idea…), but I do believe that your wardrobe should mirror your personality. If you can give your students just a small glimpse of yourself, your time in the classroom will be much more enjoyable—especially if you go out and get a brand new seersucker sports coat.

How to Handle a Million Things At Once, or, the Life of a Normal Teacher --Clifton

This past week I was in the middle of planning a lesson when my CT says, "Stop whatever it is that you are doing and get these done." He drops a pile of papers marked confidential on the desk in front of me. Progress reports for all our students with IEPs. Immediately I start second-guessing myself. Does this student have preferential seating? Have they been using it? Or whether or not one student took tests in small groups. A large part of my nervousness is from this being a new task. But I also realize that I was not as familiar with these students' needs as I thought I was.

Later last week as our class draws to a close, and I tell a student that he needs to "pick up the pace," because he needs to turn work in. As I start to move on, the student says something that makes me turn around: "What do you mean?" I don't know what to think but answer him anyway. "You need to work faster because class ends in five minutes and you need to turn that in." As I walk away he says in a joking sounding voice, "Figures of speech won't get you anywhere with me." I remember that this student has Asperger's Disorder and so has trouble understanding figurative language.

I might not always understand when a student is telling me how they need me to teach them. This is not a straightforward task. It's hard to tell what a particular student needs. It is difficult to teach each student in the class the way they learn best. I have been trying to provide students with a variety of different tasks so that they can take advantage of their strengths. No one expects us to be experts yet, but it is frustrating to be constantly confronted with my own shortcomings as a teacher. I'm ready for spring break. The break will give me extra time to think about how I can accomplish everything that I need to in my next unit.