I finally decided to finish my short career as science and math teacher. It became very difficult to find jobs (maybe ageism had a role there.)
Also, I didn't think it was "fun" anymore. Students were more interested in checking out their laps, than working together in teams to learn. When I started all this, very few students had cellphones, so managing a classroom with 35 cellphones was not part of my teacher-ed curriculum. I tried everything various teacher-blogs suggested, including teaching students where to find useful math and science information and apps, but the last classes I taught used them instead to look up worksheets I sometimes used, to find the "correct" answer, or to text (almost always wrong) quiz answers to each other.
So now I occasionally help a student get over a hump in math or science, and otherwise spend a lot of time reading and learning languages. I've continued with Spanish, which I started in earnest to communicate with some of my students, and have also been playing with DuoLingo to learn some Modern Greek and Catalan (because we visited Barcelona last year.)
And the best part is my Little Free Libraries, both of them, one for little kids (above), and one for older kids and adults (to the left). I can't help reading book reviews for children's books, and trying to find them in used or otherwise inexpensive versions. So I've been reading Young Adult literature as well as grown-up books. And I enjoy talking with neighborhood kids as they select books as well.
I've also discovered the Book website GoodReads, and enjoy participating in book clubs there.
But I doubt I'll be back writing on my blog again. But you never know!
Also, I didn't think it was "fun" anymore. Students were more interested in checking out their laps, than working together in teams to learn. When I started all this, very few students had cellphones, so managing a classroom with 35 cellphones was not part of my teacher-ed curriculum. I tried everything various teacher-blogs suggested, including teaching students where to find useful math and science information and apps, but the last classes I taught used them instead to look up worksheets I sometimes used, to find the "correct" answer, or to text (almost always wrong) quiz answers to each other.
So now I occasionally help a student get over a hump in math or science, and otherwise spend a lot of time reading and learning languages. I've continued with Spanish, which I started in earnest to communicate with some of my students, and have also been playing with DuoLingo to learn some Modern Greek and Catalan (because we visited Barcelona last year.)
And the best part is my Little Free Libraries, both of them, one for little kids (above), and one for older kids and adults (to the left). I can't help reading book reviews for children's books, and trying to find them in used or otherwise inexpensive versions. So I've been reading Young Adult literature as well as grown-up books. And I enjoy talking with neighborhood kids as they select books as well.
I've also discovered the Book website GoodReads, and enjoy participating in book clubs there.
But I doubt I'll be back writing on my blog again. But you never know!
