short and sweet

I am trying to get a good start on my TWS in order to form a habit. I do not want it to be October 18 with nothing completed, because it is a bear. Not to mention, the faster it gets completed the more fun student teaching will be because the major part of it is over.

If you really want to know just what the TWS is, you can go here:
http://www.uni.edu/stdteach/TWS/TWS%20Information.htm

Let's just say that it is not the actual content of the education classes at UNI that make it such a great education school. It is the amount of time that prospective teachers spend in the classroom prior to student teaching combined with the unspeakable TWS that they require of their student teachers in order to receive a diploma. It is pretty intense---I was describing it to the other SS teachers at my school and their mouths were on the floor. Each said something along the lines of, "Mine was nothing like that, I just taught the lessons that my CT had planned," or, "There is no way in hell I would do that." Chalk one up to UNI! That must be why there are mass amounts of UNI grads working for this school district. Word on the street is there are a few people that interview teacher candidates that absolutely love UNI grads.

Speaking of loving UNI teachers, this morning on the way in from supervision duty the principal stopped by. He had been by our classroom yesterday and seen me in front of the class. He mentioned how impressed he was that I was in front of the students already taking over some responsibilities. So bonus for me. Now I need to start planning my unit so I can decide which lessons I want to ask him to come observe. Definitely need those letters of recommendation.

Overall today went well. I taught 2 of the 7th grade classes and got a bit annoyed after I felt like all I did was yell at 5th hour to be quite, sit down, pay attention, be quiet, be respectful, blah, blah, blah. On the plus side, I'm hoping that by being firm with them they will soon realize that I do not take crap from anybody. I like to have fun, but you have got to learn to SHUT UP!

So that was my day, in a nutshell. I topped it off by spending time after school in the non-air conditioned gym judging 8th graders who were trying out for the volleyball team. I won't say it was fun, necessarily, but I'm glad I did it. Round 2 tomorrow with the 7th grade hooligans.

I leave you with a paragraph long quote that I got from my ST coordinator. At orientation she handed us a list of quotes and asked us to choose our favorite and share with the group why we liked it the most. Everyone else chose ones like "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act, but a habit." (That's from Aristotle, if you're wondering). I, however, chose the long, somewhat obscure one. I think it spoke to me after spending all summer engrossed in the very individual histories of middle America.

"Some will say our hope lies in a nation; others, in a person. I believe rather that it is awakened, revived, nourished by millions of solitary individuals whose deeds and works every day negate frontiers and the crudest implication of history. As a result, there shines forth fleetingly the ever threatened truth that each and every person, on the foundation of his own sufferings and joys, build for all." ----Camus