Sunday, December 19, 2010

Weekly Wrap-up for December 19, 2010: Teaching, Readalongs, and Holiday Plans.

What. a. week.

I feel like I haven't gotten a chance to catch my breath the last few days, but now I have two weeks until another commitment comes up, so hopefully I can spend it relaxing and getting ahead on some reading and blogging.

In case you missed my post of crazy on Wednesday, I got a phone call Wednesday afternoon that told me the teacher I am long-term subbing for was told by her doctor that she was done teaching. Wednesday afternoon was spent in a flurry of finding outfits for the next two days and mini-freak out attacks as I got ready to start teaching on Thursday.

Thursday and Friday were spent at the school and learning the ropes in the two days before the kids are on a two-week break. It was awkward and weird for the kids, and a little rough, but we made it through and I am feeling great about my upcoming time teaching. The teachers and staff were so welcoming and I already feel pretty comfortable in the building. The kids will get used to me and my style of teaching eventually and since I already had to put my foot down with two classes (I actually held 5 of my sixth hour class after school to give them a chit-chat about respect), I think that come January, we will all be better off for me having been there before break.

I also got to bring home some resources I wouldn't have seen until January, so a goal for these two week is to get the month of January planned and organized. I already have the first week done, so this shouldn't be too bad.

I am very excited to teach a unit on satire to my three senior English classes. I am going to bring in some pieces from Gulliver's Travels, which I read last summer, as well as some short essays from TheOnion.com. Satire is a little tricky, so hopefully I can come up with some great ideas for them.

So because of teaching, my schedule has been off from normal. I only got about 3 or 4 hours of sleep Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights, so I am super exhausted and unsurprisingly, not feeling good today. I am dragging and feeling like crap (complete with a small fever), so I am going to spend the rest of my evening reading and catching up.

I am currently in the middle of The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham (recommended by Amanda) and I am loving it. I also need to finish Barchester Towers still, since I completely missed my Classics Circuit post on Thursday.

Posts are up for the January readalongs. War and Peace was actually up last week, but both Rebecca and The Woman in White were put up earlier this afternoon. Please spread the word and sign-up!

I am sure this week will be a little crazy as Christmas draws near and bloggers travel to visit with family and friends. I am still planning on posting most days as a head's up. With two weeks off and 6 books waiting for their posts to be put up, I need to. :)

I hope you all have a great week! See you next Sunday!

7 comments:

  1. Glad to hear that your teaching went well and that you're loving The Painted Veil!!

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  2. Allie I am so happy that everyone at the school has been inviting and helpful. That makes such a difference. And also, I am super jealous that you are bringing in the onion to teach satire (I don't know if my 7th graders frontal lobe would be able to grasp that one yet!). I wish my HS teacher used more cultural references.

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  3. I think having those two days before break with the kids will make a huge difference! Especially since now you get some prep time. Back in my teaching days, I started a long term subbing job the day back from winter break (the well loved teacher had died over the holidays :-( )...boy was that a rough transition! But, unlike you, I had no lead time, and no support. Good luck...sounds like you have some fabulous ideas!

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  4. Hooray for the early teaching going well! My January is super full already, but I so want to join BOTH of your readalongs. I'll have to think about what I can realistically handle. Either way, they're both books I hope to read in 2011!

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  5. Despite all the hectic scheduling it sounds like teaching a bit earlier than expected worked out. Love Gulliver's Travels and maybe the kids will be more interested with the Jack Black movie coming out soon (which looks awful...but you know...). :)

    Hope you have a lovely holiday Allie!

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  6. No worries about the CLASSICS CIRCUIT. I saw your post that you were starting teaching and thought "no way is she gonig to have time for a post too!" I'm glad teaching is going well, and I think THEONION will be great for a class like that. How fun.

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  7. I'm glad to hear that teaching is going well so far! And I think bringing in The Onion is a fantastic way to teach satire. Wish my teachers had thought of that!

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