December: Summer Training Revisited

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Glows: How did summer training help to prepare you for your fall teaching?

• Role plays are un-hilariously realistic: The week before the semester ended, I had a wasp flying around in my room and knew there was no way to quell the energy of the students until it had been taken care of. The tallest student was the furthest away, saying he was allergic, and the smallest (by probably two feet) wanted to be the one to come to the rescue. I captured it in a container, let it outside, and continued with class. 
• Connections and resources: I already feel like I have to create a lot of resources, so I am glad that I was able to get a head start with the resources and connections gained in summer school. 
• Being prepared for interruptions: While our summer was relatively interruption free, other teachers were always commenting that the school day might get interrupted for this or that other reason. Those warnings helped prepare me to shake things off and try and roll with situations as they arise.
• Rules, consequences, rewards: Although I don't believe I am using my posted rules, consequences, and rewards the most effectively that I could be, I was given a good starting point to work from as a first year teacher. 

Grows: How did summer training fail to prepare you for your fall teaching? What are some specific improvements that could be made?

• Exhaustion: summer school, while tiring in it's own right, could never have prepared me for the depths of the exhaustion I feel now, one semester in.
• How to balance teaching and personal life: I feel as though I am still teetering along, woefully off balance. I am not sure how summer school could train an incoming teacher in this, because I still have not found balance between my teaching and personal life. In addition to the finding balance, we could have had more of a discussion on coping mechanisms and keeping yourself happy while teaching here in Mississippi. 
• How to grade: I found myself so far behind this last nine weeks in grading, with no effective means of catching up on all of the mounds of paper. In my head, I know of a lot of tips and tricks, but I struggle with the implementation of those tricks to free up some of that time spent grading for other things. 
• Workshops: We were able to participate in three or so workshops while at summer school. I believe they were held on the same day and after a long morning of teaching, so that by the time the incoming teachers sat down to hear some condensed kernels of wisdom, many were zoning out and unable to process the immense stream of information. I would have preferred to be offered more workshop choices, with a minimum requirement of attendance, and have those workshops offered multiple Saturday mornings (like 10AM-noon) so that we would be of a clear mind.