I can't believe it is over. My first year as a teacher wrapped up on June 1st. The year definitely had its highs and lows but for the most part, the whole year was a high. So many good things happened during this first year at Brockbank JHS. I got right into the activities. I volunteered a ton of my time but it was well worth it. I first started an after school fitness program. This got a wide variety of people involved, not just the athletes. Obesity is a such a problem with young people and it was great to see some of these overweight kids take the initiative to join our fitness program. Then I got involved with the boys' and girls' basketball teams. With the boys, we had our best season in ten years and finished third in our district tournament. Once the season ended, I ran the off season workouts and the boys have progressed so much in the past six months. After basketball was volleyball. I have never played volleyball and the only prior knowledge I had of volleyball was that the girls while I was in high school wore those awesome spandex shorts. Our girls had much more modest shorts. We finished 3-4 but made the playoffs for the first time in a few years. The girls were so fun to coach because they wanted to learn and they had a great time doing it. After volleyball ended, I continued the offseason workouts for basketball.
Spring
Somehow volunteering for basketball and volleyball got me roped into doing boys' soccer. This have no knowledge about. I don't know why I did it, but the boys' are a great group of kids. I am proud of the way two of the boys progressed from the beginning of the year. I had two boys in my PE class that were complete nightmares. So athletic but had no drive and didn't give a crap about anything. They were mouthy and we had a lot of problems at the beginning. I sat down with them and had a good heart to heart chat with them. I think I may have gotten through to them. I have my classes write letters to next year's classes and the students give the new students advice on how to succeed in my class. Here is Johnny's letter:
Dear 8+er
First thing, don't piss off Walker! If you do, he will make your entire year hell. Don't say shut up, don't mouth off, don't make fun of his height. As much as he says he doesn't care, he really does. The one thing he taught me was respect. He taught me that in order for you to get respect, you need to show it. I was a bad kid in the beginning of the year and he didn't show me respect. Once I started showing him respect, things got better so show him respect and he will respect you.
From a Concerned 9+er
Johnny
This kid gets it. Such a great kid. He improved in all of his classes. Not just behavior but his grades went up. He used to be below a 2.0 and now he is up to a 3.0. He came to me after third quarter so proud of his 3.1 GPA. I was proud too. I would like to say it was just me, but he did a lot of good work and he has started to put it all together. Now let me tell you about Shamar. Shamar is from Jamaica. So fast! He won every single 100m and 200m race this year in track. But he doesn't take school...actually anything...serious. He likes to goof around and just have a good time. He is still that way but he knows there is a time and a place for it. Shamar's letter
Dear 8+er
Don't ever ever never goof off around Walker. He hates it. He likes class to be serious and when he tells you something to do, you do it, or you will run. If you are bad, the class will have to run. If you piss him off, you will have bad consequences. He likes to have fun too, but not all the time. You have to find the line of when to have fun and when not to have fun. Don't cross that line. He gets angry and will yell at you in front of the whole class. Don't tell him your crush either, he will try to "help" you out by sitting you next to her. It sounds nice, but it aint. Good luck LOL
Shamwow (Shamarito)
These kids are amazing. I wish I could have been here two years earlier to have these kids more. This year has been filled with a lot of good things. I also was chosen by the district to receive a grant to get a classroom set of iPads or laptop computers. I will have enough for every student to be able to use one in the class. I am stoked for this opportunity. I also got hired as the boys' and girls' tennis coach at Cyprus High School. On top of all this, I have been asked to have a student teacher next year. I find this to be a major compliment from my administrator. Life is good at Brockbank Junior High School.
