ytc100
New Member
You shouldn't be embarrassed to show self control.
I've been eating more slowly lately to avoid giving myself indigestion by not chewing enough and eating too much.
Big Appetite Out of Control - Weight Loss Related
- Thread starter Jersey_Girl_Rides
- Start date
You shouldn't be embarrassed to show self control.
I've been eating more slowly lately to avoid giving myself indigestion by not chewing enough and eating too much.
b/c of kids, i haven't chewed my food in...um...three years as of this coming weekend.
walter
Fourth Party
In June my wife took me out for my birthday dinner. I steak I had gotten was so damn delicious that I got myself all choked up because I wasnt chewing enough. Long story short, ended up in the bathroom trying to throw up because it felt like I had a half pound of steak lodged in my throat.
I now take smaller bites, and also, as sean said, try to put the fork down in between.
I now take smaller bites, and also, as sean said, try to put the fork down in between.
Jersey_Girl_Rides
Member
Well I just wanted to say "Hello" after my 2 or 3 week lay-off. I started new job two weeks ago and I have been by turns busy, tired, or both at any given hour.
I have the next two days off and plan to do work for school and try to rest when I can. Teaching is a tough job and I am under much more stress than ever before, but I think that is because I love the job so much. I already know the names and faces of each and every one of my students, and from the writing samples they've provided me, I have found I care about and relate to their potentials, difficulties, strengths, and dreams. My work is cut out for me; they are in the 10th grade, and many write more poorly than the average 6th grader. However, all of them wish to improve their grades, and all of them want to go to college. I am not sure they all know how different an environment college really is, or how much responsibility and work is required to be successful.
I am trying to shape my students into responsible, independent students, thinkers, and workers, but it is not easy. Some of them face so many challenges: one is an expectant mother at 16; many are alone with one parent and trying hard to make ends meet, and some have the care of other family members to manage along with their own lives. About 20% of them are ESL students and cannot even understand the homework I assign; one young man, who is incredibly bright, asked me to please write the homeworks on paper for him so he can bring them home to his cousin for translation.
There is something bringing me down about my native English speakers, and that is their blatantly incorrect use of language and refusal to do the assigned work, even though they have the ability. I have students who have moved from Russia, Ecuador, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Lebanon, and Armenia as few as one or two years ago, and they are so concerned that their English and their writing improve as quickly as possible, because they want to be good students and to succeed. Some want to be doctors or teachers, or just leaders of their community as business owners or counsellors. Very few of my native-born students have such a work ethic or presence of self and mind. On Day Three I was clamoring to throttle them all and find some way to force them to see their advantages and their potential to be leaders and collaborators with their foreign-born peers...but force seldom solves problems. My greatest challenge is to help all of my students to see, for themselves, beyond differences in culture and interests, and begin to help each other achieve their mutual goals of improved writing, improved grades, graduation and college admission.
I have chosen a rigorous, multi-cultural, and genre-diverse selection of works for them to read throughout the year. I have many kinesthetic learners who will have no patience for writing papers, so I am trying to think of projects they can do to demonstrate their grasp of Literature and its elements.
In short, I suppose I am asking anyone out there with ideas or suggestions as to how to approach this task. I must maintain my own sanity while I show my students the things that lie within their minds, and how to articulate their feelings, ideas, and criticisms.
Oh, and by the way, I am down below 160 lbs. and eating healthy everyday; I pack a good lunch, eat a healthy breakfast everyday prior to work, and drink plenty of water. Mostly, though, I think the weight loss is due to not being able to eat whenever I want to, which is good. I am finding comfort in thinking, writing, and planning for something about which I have a talent and a passion, rather than in food and the temporary pleasure of it, which distracted from but did not erase the tedious tasks at hand.
I have the next two days off and plan to do work for school and try to rest when I can. Teaching is a tough job and I am under much more stress than ever before, but I think that is because I love the job so much. I already know the names and faces of each and every one of my students, and from the writing samples they've provided me, I have found I care about and relate to their potentials, difficulties, strengths, and dreams. My work is cut out for me; they are in the 10th grade, and many write more poorly than the average 6th grader. However, all of them wish to improve their grades, and all of them want to go to college. I am not sure they all know how different an environment college really is, or how much responsibility and work is required to be successful.
I am trying to shape my students into responsible, independent students, thinkers, and workers, but it is not easy. Some of them face so many challenges: one is an expectant mother at 16; many are alone with one parent and trying hard to make ends meet, and some have the care of other family members to manage along with their own lives. About 20% of them are ESL students and cannot even understand the homework I assign; one young man, who is incredibly bright, asked me to please write the homeworks on paper for him so he can bring them home to his cousin for translation.
There is something bringing me down about my native English speakers, and that is their blatantly incorrect use of language and refusal to do the assigned work, even though they have the ability. I have students who have moved from Russia, Ecuador, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Lebanon, and Armenia as few as one or two years ago, and they are so concerned that their English and their writing improve as quickly as possible, because they want to be good students and to succeed. Some want to be doctors or teachers, or just leaders of their community as business owners or counsellors. Very few of my native-born students have such a work ethic or presence of self and mind. On Day Three I was clamoring to throttle them all and find some way to force them to see their advantages and their potential to be leaders and collaborators with their foreign-born peers...but force seldom solves problems. My greatest challenge is to help all of my students to see, for themselves, beyond differences in culture and interests, and begin to help each other achieve their mutual goals of improved writing, improved grades, graduation and college admission.
I have chosen a rigorous, multi-cultural, and genre-diverse selection of works for them to read throughout the year. I have many kinesthetic learners who will have no patience for writing papers, so I am trying to think of projects they can do to demonstrate their grasp of Literature and its elements.
In short, I suppose I am asking anyone out there with ideas or suggestions as to how to approach this task. I must maintain my own sanity while I show my students the things that lie within their minds, and how to articulate their feelings, ideas, and criticisms.
Oh, and by the way, I am down below 160 lbs. and eating healthy everyday; I pack a good lunch, eat a healthy breakfast everyday prior to work, and drink plenty of water. Mostly, though, I think the weight loss is due to not being able to eat whenever I want to, which is good. I am finding comfort in thinking, writing, and planning for something about which I have a talent and a passion, rather than in food and the temporary pleasure of it, which distracted from but did not erase the tedious tasks at hand.
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dzm3
Guest
Reading challenges
Hey JGR,
back when I was in school, I was one of the ESL-just-recently-in-the-country students. I do believe my writing was absolutely horrific, and one of my buddies confessed that, for the first year or so, when I tried asking questions in the class, he couldn't understand what the hell I was trying to say.
But my biggest personal challenge was reading assignments. My reading speed was so slow, that I could not possibly complete 40-50 pages of weekely reading assignments for 3-4 classes. I would have to read 24/7 and even then I probably wouldn't be able to finish the required readings.
What I'm trying to say is that, with the diversity of the students, that you're describing, and the obligations and duties some of them have or will have in the time outside of school, they are not on the even playing field. Please, be careful in what readings you assign to them.
Good luck. It sounds like you found a great challenge and you're enjoying it!
dz
Hey JGR,
back when I was in school, I was one of the ESL-just-recently-in-the-country students. I do believe my writing was absolutely horrific, and one of my buddies confessed that, for the first year or so, when I tried asking questions in the class, he couldn't understand what the hell I was trying to say.
But my biggest personal challenge was reading assignments. My reading speed was so slow, that I could not possibly complete 40-50 pages of weekely reading assignments for 3-4 classes. I would have to read 24/7 and even then I probably wouldn't be able to finish the required readings.
What I'm trying to say is that, with the diversity of the students, that you're describing, and the obligations and duties some of them have or will have in the time outside of school, they are not on the even playing field. Please, be careful in what readings you assign to them.
Good luck. It sounds like you found a great challenge and you're enjoying it!
dz
J
joanqs
Guest
When I assign a book I have students do what I call "debrief" the book. I have each student read for five minutes. They then report on what they read, who, what, where, when, why, and how keeping track of how many times they had to refer back to the reading to answer each "w". We then look at how many pages they read in 5 minutes. If they read 5, then we can assume that they can read this book at a rate of 1 page per minute. I then ask how many times they looked back to make their report, they deduct 15 seconds from their rate per "look". So if they looked twice they are reading and comprehending at a rate of 4 pages per 5 minutes.
I know it sounds complicated, but I have a worksheet that the students use to calculate their reading rate. Once they've determined their "personal" rates I hand out a calendar and then each student has to figure out how many pages they have to read a night in order to meet the "reading deadline." It actually works great, the students feel that they are in control!!! And it really emphasizes how long a minute is. I find a lot of special ed kids feel the pressure of time.
Oh, after I typed this I realized you may be teaching ESL solely? oops
Jersey_Girl_Rides
Member
Joan and Dmitri, thanks for the input. My ESL kids are pulled out a few class periods each week to work with an ESL-specialized teacher, and any readings or tests I give will be done under her tutelage. This is a big help, but I still have to bring them along with my other students.
I think I must revise my ambitious timeline for readings, or allow the ESL kids to read earlier. Perhaps I will hand out the list of stories with "read-by" dates so slower readers can get a jump on the assignments.
ALL of my sections are college prep Literature classes, so they have to have at least minimum proficiency with comprehension, analysis, and writing. My teacher guides have numerous suggestions for helping ESL students as well as students with IEPs. I have no problem with modifying assignments for them, but I am concerned that my other students will feel I am discriminating against them. What a pickle.
ChrisG
Unapologetic Lifer for Rock and Roll
Every year that I teach, I come to believe more firmly that I should emphasize quality over quantity when it comes to material covered.
I have one section this year in which 10 out of 20 students are classified, and they will be reading an almost entirely canonical selection of American Lit, including Huck Finn. If we need to go through it together, page by page, then so be it, but I promise them that it will be meaningful.
Hopefully you have some freedom with regard to curricular matters. I realize that the pressure to cover X amount of material may be out of your hands.
Jersey_Girl_Rides
Member
Actually, Chris, one huge advantage that I have is that the school does not have an established curriculum, and we are shaping it as a department as we move through the year. The Charter was only granted a few years ago and the school was poorly managed for the first 3 or 4 years. Now we have stronger leadership and a competent staff of HQ teachers, and a curriculum can finally be designed.
My honors kids will be able to learn close reading and write very good papers, if their writing samples are any indication. Its the other 3 section about which I am concerned; I think I may need to drop some selections and one novel, and leave more time for discussion and lead up to the papers and presentations I have planned.
I conducted a learning-styles test and from the raw results, most of my kids are kinesthetic learners, so writing lots of papers is not going to do them much good. Hopefully I can assign good presentation/project based assignments to keep them engaged.
I also think I might ask them to have some input as to the rubric I use for evaluation criteria. If they stipulate what the expectations ought to be then they may be more apt to aim high. What do you think?
PS my friend Cara is teaching with you this year, we are in the same NPTNJ alt route program. I am jealous, for my own part, that she got the Spotswood job, but happy for her in the long run. She is in good hands there.