Year 1 is Completed!!!

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.

Life as I know it

This probably should have been my post for Thanksgiving but I have a lot to be thankful for this past year.  I can sum up my year in three words: Patience and humility.  I have learned so much about patience from waiting for the beginning of my career.  I have always been told patience is a virtue but I never realized how true that statement is until this year.  I waited 9 months to finally begin my career.  This was such a blessing.  It made me realize how right teaching is for me, I couldn't see myself doing anything else.  I am so glad to be out of sales.  I have learned a great deal about patience from dealing with these kids.  Middle school kids are amazing but they do the stupidest stuff to make me pull my hair out.  Good things come to those who are patient.  Losing your temper in a class full of middle schoolers does nothing.

Sadly, basketball has just ended.  We have had our best season at Brockbank in over a decade.  I am so proud of my young men who fought every minute of every game and practice.  It has been so much fun to coach these guys.  The guys learned a lot about basketball, but I think they learned a lot about character and being representatives for the school and their community.  We had a lot of learning opportunities.  When we were at an away game, the crowd was taunting our boys even though we were up by 20.  One of our boys got so pissed off, he turned to the crowd and threw up the double bird.  It was an awesome teaching moment for our kids.  We lost in our final game and it was heart breaking.  It was painful to watch our 10 guys in so much pain over a loss.  But I think the pain they have this year will be replaced next year when we come back to beat our entire district.  Off season training starts after break.  Go Braves!

The Career Has Begun

It's been a couple of months since I've updated this.  A lot has been going on in the life of Mr. Walker.  I have been in Salt Lake City for over two months now.  Time has flown since being down here.  My career choice is the perfect profession for me.  My kids are the greatest things on Earth.  Some of them are a big pain in the ars but for the most part these kids are great.  I work in a school with a lot of kids who live in poverty.  I'm shocked at the amount of diversity in my school.  We have a lot of Hispanics and a lot of Poly's.  Who knew Utah had so much diversity.  Well at least Magna has a lot.  My new interest is soccer.  A few of the girls on the soccer team are in my PE classes so I have been going to the games.  After 24 years of hating soccer, I am now converted now that I somewhat understand the rules. 

I have gotten a couple of different responses from the kids.  My Utah Studies classes love my class.  On the other hand, my PE classes think I am "the meanest teacher EVER!"  My PE classes are always complaining because I make them actually work.  I secretly love being called the meanest teacher ever.  The other teachers say it means I am doing my job well.  After two weeks of school, one of the trouble makers in one class was transferred to my class because I have a lot of structure.  He's not a trouble maker anymore.  Because of this, I have had to deal with discipline issues of other teachers.  I don't know if this is a good or bad thing.  We have an amazing Fitness Center for a Junior High.  Unfortunately it is empty every period of the day.  I have started an after school Fitness Club and have gotten a great number of kids to join for the first year.  Every day these kids do something to amaze me, good or bad. 

A New Beginning

July was a very eventful month for me.  I have been spending the past seven months looking for employment any where in the nation just to get me out of Montana.  I have filled out over 50 applications to various school districts throughout the States and other sales companies.  After seven months of no responses or failed interviews, two different opportunities presented themselves to me within a matter of a week.  I have been selling cell phones the past year and quarter, so I decided to apply for a cell phone company.  I was offered a job as a store manager for an AT&T store in Jackson, Wyoming.  I accepted that job offer with no hesitation just to get myself out of Montana.  Although I did accept the offer, I was never really excited about moving to Jackson and selling cell phones.  Once I accepted that job, I had a feeling that I was not going to end up in Jackson so I never really started to pack even though I was supposed to be there in a week and a half.

After a half a week of doing nothing, I received a random phone call from Brockbank Junior High School in Magna, Utah.  The principal told me that I was on a short list of candidates and wanted to interview.  I had an impression to race down to Magna to interview in person rather than over the tele.  Turned out to be the best decision of the year.  After work, my dad and I raced down to Salt Lake City.  We arrived in SLC around 3:30 in the AM.  We got a couple hours and sleep and then I had to wake up for the big interview.  After the interview, I didn't really know where I stood. I had no idea whether or not I would be asked to take the job.  We went over to Gateway after my interview and started to shop around.  We found my favorite store, Foot Locker, and looked for a new pair of shoes.  As I was trying my shoes on, my lovely iPhone 4 rang loudly.  It was a 435 number that I did not recognize so I answered, "This is Andrew."  A happy voice responded, "Andrew, this is the principal at Brockbank Junior High and we would like to offer you the position....."  I have no idea what was said after that but I do remember wanting to leap into the air and start yelling.  Then I realized I was in a public store and didn't want to look like a fool. 

Anyways, instead of heading to Jackson to sell cell phones, I am now the Utah Studies and PE teacher at Brockbank Junior High School in Magna.  School starts in three weeks and I have to be at new teacher training next week.  Life is grand.  It is such a relief to know I can use my degree after all.  I no longer feel like I wasted five years of my life going to BYU-I.  Now I just feel bad for those kids who have to sit through my Utah Studies course, listening to a teacher who knows nothing about Utah History .  Salt Lake City (aka Disneyland for the LDS) here I come!  

10+ Things I MIss About You

Have you ever wondered if it is greener on the other side of the pasture?  I have often wondered that and have pursued that greener side.  In most cases I have found that the other side is not necessarily greener until a change of heart and change of mind occurs.  For instance, when I graduated high school I thought that college was going to be some amazing life changing event.  This was not the case during my first few semesters of college.  I used to think that life in Montana was so much better.  It took me four semesters to finally appreciate college life and found that the college pasture was much greener than Montana.  The more time I spent in college, the more I began to think graduation was going to be the most amazing thing in my life.  In all honesty, graduating college and achieving a Bachelor's degree is pretty cool.  However, now that I am graduated I am back in Montana and right now the pasture isn't so green.  I am still waiting for that change of heart and change of mind.  This past week is definitely a positive because we have finally strung together a full week of sunshine and ZERO rain.  Which brings me to my 10+ things I miss about the previous side of the pasture:

1) My college degree was earned with little to no effort.  I failed tests but I made up for them during the last week of school with my writing talents. (Copy, paste, citation)

2) At least once a week a lovely female was coerced into cooking me an awesome meal

3) Little to worry about, no bills to pay

4) Finals week.  As stressful as the week was, it was an amazing feeling to come through with a 10 page essay on the Civil War or a 25 page essay on Texas Western Basketball in the final hours of school and earn A's and B's.

5) I miss how stupid the Honor Code is.  No shorts, no hats, no beards or facial hair (for me it was no whiskers), midnight curfew for full grown adults, and no swearing (that was a tough one).

6) Ramires at 3 in the AM and the BGs that followed, Denny's midnight runs to I.F., and SNOASIS with Ice Cream in the bottom.

7) I miss the kid in the front row of every class who was so eager to learn.  Put your hand down and stop participating.  The Learning Model is garbage!  You have to listen to people you don't want to for most of the period instead of the teacher who is paid to educate us.

8) Old Man Coates' class.  The old guy can't teach worth sheesh but he always passed me along so he wouldn't have to see me again.

9) My married friends.  Although many married people at BYU-I Do are completely insane, overbearing, and annoying, some of them were normal and weren't awkward to be around.  Thank you Beckstrands, Bolens, Goulds, Perkins, Rosses, Salmons, and Serras.

10) The basketball league.  I caused a lot of trouble in that league but it was worth the trouble and the fun.  Being kicked out of the league twice, calling grown men pussy's and them being offended, fights in practices, full grown women bickering like they were in high school, being suspended for spitting on the floor and not being suspended for dropping the F bomb, and probably one of the most memorable moments was JJ chewing out Kimmie.  That kid is legit.

I could go on but I am getting tired and want to continue reading His Father's Son: Earl and Tiger Woods.

Spring is finally here!

This winter has been the longest and most drawn out winter I have ever experienced in either Idaho or Montana.  We have finally seen consecutive days of sunshine in Montana.  Consecutive days of sunshine means more golf.  Spring is a time for new beginnings and new life.  This year I have taken on the challenge of learning how to shape a golf ball left to right and right to left.  My scores have risen a lot but eventually the hard work will pay off and I will be able to hit the trajectory I am wanting.  I've had nothing to do this year, so I have spent most of my free money on golf equipment.  White is the trend right now, so I've gone mostly white now.  My driver and fairway wood are white and I am in the process of regripping all my clubs to have white grips. 

This time of year makes me want to stay in Montana.  With the way employment looks for History and PE teachers, I may stay in Montana longer.  The more fellow graduates I talk to, the better I feel.  Someone put in 94 applications before getting a job offer.  I'm no where near that amount of applications, so I should get on that maybe.  Seeing that there are no offers on the table for teaching, my possibilities have been growing.  Grad school, another bachelor's degree, move up in Wireless Advocates, or just pick up, move somewhere and start brand new.  Right now the last option sounds like the most fun and challenging.  There is one thing I do know, I have to get back into coaching.  It's been over a year since I have coached, put together schemes, and game planned.  I miss everything about basketball. 

At least someone get's to enjoy the spring and sun.

It's been awhile...

It has been a couple months since my last blog.  The past couple months have been pretty uneventful.  Back in January I did buy a new car finally.  It was definitely time to get rid of the Daewoo and get my own vehicle.  I bought a 2009 Pontiac G6.  I really hate it when I hear the song "Fly like a G6" now.  

 

I continue to work at Costco selling cell phones.  It is good to know at the end of the day, I have helped old people use their Droid X's that they purchased for only $49.99 at Costco.  That was said in the most sarcastic tone you can possibly imagine.  It is unfortunate that I spent 11 semesters in college to sell cell phones for now.  The new year has been a roller coaster ride of emotion and feelings.  Grandpa is still in the hospital after open-heart surgery but in two days he finally gets to come home after nearly 4 months in the hospital.  It's been a stressful time in the family with my grandparents living with us.  

http://membershipwireless.com/index.cfm/go/shop/do/PhoneDetails/productId/3770

These are random thoughts that are poppping in my head.  Last week I went down to Rexburg, Logan, and Provo for a few days.  It was so good to be out of Montana and into warmer weather.  Rexburg has changed a lot for the better.  It was nice to see the results of why my college campus was torn up for my entire college career.  The BYUIC is pretty damn cool.  Later in the week I went to Logan to attend a teacher fair to find a job.  It was a good opportunity to talk with school districts in Utah, Wyoming, and Arizona.  Hopefully the teacher fair turns out to be a success with a job offer.  

Over the past couple months, I have gotten into a new hobby finally.  It is now acceptable for grown men to shoot each other with bb guns.  The guns they make are pretty realistic now.  I have a replica M4A1 and a replica sniper rifle now.  Both of those set me back a few bucks but it's something I can enjoy doing during summer months.

Winter has really drawn itself out this year.  It's the end of March and the snow has not melted off the golf courses yet.  So depressing considering I have bought new Nike Sasquatch Machspeed irons, TaylorMade Burner Superfast 2.0, and a new Titleist Vokey sand wedge.  Let's just say I am excited to hit a small white ball and chase after it into the woods.  

 

Being in Montana this winter has confirmed a lot of things.  Number 1: I AM GOING TO BE A SNOW BIRD STARTING NEXT YEAR.  I am tired of winter and snow so I really would love to be in the desert next winter and back here in the summer for golf and wakeboarding.  Number 2: SINGLE LIFE IN MONTANA IS ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIC.  Number 3: OLD PEOPLE SHOULD NOT HAVE SMARTPHONES.  They're worse to teach than my 5th period Geography class at Greenspun.  Number 4: MONTANA IS ONLY GOOD THREE MONTHS OUT OF THE YEAR. 

Some more randomness and to end AndyCenter, the Top 10 random things in my head right now.

10) Chris Brown's new album, F.A.M.E. is really good and his song with Bieber is probably the best song on the album.  It's good, go buy it on iTunes for $1.29

9) Drumsticks are a delicious treat both the ice cream and chicken.  

8) Tiger Woods 12 comes out in less than a week, I feel like an 8th grader waiting for Call of Duty: Black Ops.

7) TaylorMade has really out done themselves with the white crown Burner Superfast 2.0

6) Jimmermania is driving me bonkers.

5) I wish I had an English accent (that one was from way out in left field)

4) I really miss somebody special

3) How good is this new Nike ball going to be this year?

2) How great would it be to get a job in Arizona and move close to some great friends (Beckstrands and Harts)

1) I really like Fruit Punch Gatorade

That completes my random thoughts for the evening.  If you made it this far in the reading, I applaud you and for that I will give you a high five.