End of first semester

Today marks the last day of the first semester. We took the freshmen to see The Nutcracker in Poway. I think that was a nice treat; more so for me because I had never been. Today went very smoothly. We got them all there on time, we were seated promptly, there wasn't too much commotion during the show and we all got back safely. Job well done. It was a great way to end the semester.

Being the last day of the semester, grades are due soon. It also means winter break starts next week. I'm excited about that. Although winter break is next week, I will be earning a little extra money working intersession. Then I will get the remaining two weeks off.

I wanted to share some highlights/accomplishments for this semester.

1) I was introduced to the world of International Baccalaureate.
Guajome is an IB school. IB really makes you think when you plan projects and assignments. I created one unit plan according to the IB guidelines. I can't say that it is very good, but it's done.

2) I climbed a pamper pole and jumped to a trapeze 50 feet in the air.
It took me half an hour, but I did it. I was pretty scared and tired towards the end. Actually, I'm pretty afraid of heights. I was only able to climb to the top with the encouragement of the rest of the staff.

3) I overcame my fear of calling parents because of my limited Spanish-speaking abilities.
I practiced a little bit and looked up some vocab words because I knew I was going to have to call sooner or later. I was even able to talk to them face-to-face. Speaking to parents in their native language yields better results. They feel as though they are being conversed-with rather than being talked-to. I plan on having a lot more Spanish-speakers in the place I am going to work next year.

I will also share some things I need to improve on.

1) Projects: I had them turn in the last project during the last week of school. I think I gave them ample notice, but I could have worked with them a little more. I also thought about moving the due-date up so they would have time to upgrade if necessary. I plan on integrating AOI's more in my projects next semester.

2) Quizzes: I had three quizzes throughout this semester. I didn't grade any of them because the students did so poorly. Next semester I plan on having more quizzes and grading them no matter what.

3) Intro and warm-up: I think at the beginning of the semester I did a good job in greeting my students at the door, but towards the end I started slacking-off. Also, I gave the students a warm-up every day we did a lesson. However, some of them weren't working on it because they knew there was no consequence for not completing it. I didn't grade them or check them. I think next semester I have to figure out what to do with that.

That was pretty much a summary of my first semester. My goal for tomorrow: finish grading residual work and start inputting grades.