The week right after Thanksgiving break was hard. I don't know what made it different from any other week, but my students seemed to lash out at me a bit. The due date for interim grades was coming up and I was slowly putting grades in the gradebook. Unfortunately, I have a good amount of students in algebra 2 and geometry who cheat. I have students who will talk during the whole lesson and then when I come around during independent classwork, they have already finished their work. I realized fairly early on that they have an app downloaded on their phones where they take a picture of an algebra problem and it gives them the answer. I don't think that they realize that when I'm grading it's very obvious that they are cheating due to their work (or lack thereof). I have one student who rarely ever turns in his work, but when he does, it's just answers that he gets from the app. He came after school under the guise of coach class to harass me about his failing grade. "I've turned everything in, why haven't you graded it? My mom keeps asking why I have an E." I know perfectly well that it is his fault for not putting in the work necessary to pass the class, but instead I apologized for being behind on grading. I decided to start putting comments in the gradebook whenever students get 0s for cheating to let their parents know. I am so tired of being disrespected by students. My job is hard. It's especially hard as a full-time first year teacher who is also a graduate student. I want my students to take responsibility for their bad grades.
I think that an exemplary teacher is flexible, but still confident in their ability. I have been feeling the imposter syndrome hard this year. I want to be confident in everything I do. I want to be able to address students respectfully and explain to them that they need to take responsibility for their learning. I want to be able to shut down an off-topic side conversations during my teaching. I want to force students to persist through tough material and ask questions when necessary instead of cheating. There are so many areas where I feel incompetent right now. And I think mastery of these areas will only come with experience and hard work.
I have an obvious goal for next semester: make a plan and stick to it. I have done an awful job of keeping track of my responsibilities this semester. I hope that after a couple weeks off, I will have my teaching responsibilities under control enough to keep on track of my own schoolwork. I want to reach out to people when I am having a tough time and let them help me. This semester has been detrimental to my mental health and I need to remember to take care of myself. I can't pour from an empty cup.
I think that an exemplary teacher is flexible, but still confident in their ability. I have been feeling the imposter syndrome hard this year. I want to be confident in everything I do. I want to be able to address students respectfully and explain to them that they need to take responsibility for their learning. I want to be able to shut down an off-topic side conversations during my teaching. I want to force students to persist through tough material and ask questions when necessary instead of cheating. There are so many areas where I feel incompetent right now. And I think mastery of these areas will only come with experience and hard work.
I have an obvious goal for next semester: make a plan and stick to it. I have done an awful job of keeping track of my responsibilities this semester. I hope that after a couple weeks off, I will have my teaching responsibilities under control enough to keep on track of my own schoolwork. I want to reach out to people when I am having a tough time and let them help me. This semester has been detrimental to my mental health and I need to remember to take care of myself. I can't pour from an empty cup.
