school year wrap-up

So I survived my first full year of teaching. It was fun...loved, well, most seconds of it. Here are a few lessons that I learned this year:

1. Be nice. I didn't have to learn this one...but I did learn through other people that if you're not nice, it will come back to bite you. Bad-mouthing other people only leads to you losing your job, not the other person.

2. Have a non-plastic bathroom pass. I used a large plastic crayon bank for the bathroom pass, and my students managed to break it.

3. Start review for a full year course sooner...or at least start the review book portion earlier than a month before the final exam. That way, students complain less and are more likely to do it if it's not all crammed in.

4. You can't please everyone. And students will always find something to complain about, even if what they're complaining about is what they voted to take place. Aim for the majority and it will be all good (or at least aim to please the students who do their work regularly without too much complaint.)

5. Listening, singing and dancing to Lady Gaga during free periods with students who would rather spend their lunches in your room than in the cafeteria is a great stress relief.

My students did well this year. I'm proud of them. About 1/4 of them got an 85% or higher on the Regents exam. Not too shabby considering that I had a "tough crowd" according to my principal. Woo hoo! I love my job, and I guess I'm actually pretty good at it.

And the best news of the day? I have a job next year in the same building, with my favorite special education co-teacher. Yay! I'll be teaching the majority of students that I had this year, juniors and seniors. I'm feeling a little intimidated for it, as it's topics that I've never taught before, but thankfully my co-teacher has for the past five years. The nicest part though...it's a science elective, so no Regents exam or NYS standards pressure. So yes...I'm the new Astronomy/Oceanography teacher in the building.

But for now...school's out for summer, and I'm ready to enjoy it!