#ms. j

Female Joker fan art!

What if Joker was female?

#weneedafemalejoker

Batman AU! / (ship: batjokes)

Let’s go ahead and call her Lady J.! 

She’s pretty, isn’t she?  # clown princess of crime ( ´ ∀ ` )ﾉ

I don’t own anything - it’s only a fanart.  

Stay tuned!

The faculty had an ugly sweater contest today (to the great amusement of our students), so I went to work wearing jeans and a fleece hoodie that looks like Christmas threw up all over it. I didn’t win- Ms. J, who wore a Rudolph poncho and crazy patterned leggings, did- but it’s all good. That fleece is SO comfortable.

It’s a B day, so Mrs. T and I did pretty much the same thing we did yesterday in World/English: helped students finish their research projects. I spent a lot of time with two, in particular, who are a little nervous about presenting in front of a class.  There was a third student whose work I really wanted to see because he’s been struggling a bit, but, unfortunately, he was absent today. D’oh!

While some students worked right up until the bell, others finished with lots of time to spare, and took to decorating the Cavern with paper chains, paper flowers, and festive drawings. I had two seniors come in during Block 5 to retake the last unit test, and both kind of did a double take (at my fleece and at my decorated room). Also, one of the freshmen who hadn’t turned in a book paper took the initiative to come up (from study hall), finish it, and turn it in. It’s great to see him taking responsibility for his academic performance, problem-solving, using time more effectively.

Weird, right? It’s a Sunday. But it actually was a work day for me because my school is going through the reaccreditation process, the final phase of which started today. Here’s the deal: every ten years, schools do a self-evaluation to start the reaccreditation process (there are committees that gather evidence and compile reports on different things... mine was school leadership), and the following year a team of observers visits to do their evaluation. They’ll determine whether or not a school remains accredited, recommend improvements, commend strengths, etc... It’s a big process. 

The visiting team arrived today, so we had a reception in the cafeteria, catered by the students in the culinary program, who did a fantastic job (there was this chicken with peanut sauce that was OMG amazing). Student leaders from various extracurricular activities were on hand, as well, so I got to watch the MfoL kids talk about their activism, which was so cool and I’m wicked proud of them. 

Did the club president and I also talk about how we both ate cookies for breakfast, and threw our hair into messy buns because brushing it would have taken too long? Yeah. I realize that’s not me being the best adult role model, but I actually think there’s some value (especially when talking outside of class with a senior) in admitting that there are times when we’re all faking our put-together-ness. So many kids these days are convinced that they have to be perfect when they grow up, and it’s causing their entire generation anxiety. 

If they didn’t have enough evidence that I’m very imperfect and out here surviving anyhow, the leader of the visiting team came up to shake hands with me, and I stumbled OVER MY OWN NAME. 

I blamed it on drinking too much coffee, but, really, I’m just a socially awkward butterfly. 

My day started off with a cupcake delivery from one of my ninth graders- in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week- which was unexpected and awesome. It totally made my morning.

It’s a B day in the schedule, so I introduced the multi-genre project again in World today. I wanted brainstorming topics to go well, so I appealed to my students’ competitiveness by telling them how many topics my classes yesterday had come up with (30-something). That definitely worked; my Block 2 class, which is my class of reluctant speakers, ended up coming up with 41 topics. 

And my Block 4 class- my most challenging class- came up with 57! 

They rocked and rolled on the research, too, and a bunch of kids wanted to tell me about what they’re planning to write. They’re so excited, and I love it. That’s how it should be.

A few of my Block 4 students and I also ended up having a conversation while they were working that went from very funny to very serious. See, during Teacher Appreciation Week our teacher prep students do all kinds of fun things, including teacher superlatives, and I told my students they should vote for me for “most like to win a rap battle” since I’m a slam poetry champ. They were like, “Yeah, but can you rap, though?” and I busted out a bit of “Guns and Ships” from Hamilton because, y’know, have to be Social Studies about it.

One of the girls told me, “Miss M, your superlative should be ‘most surprising’ because you’re, like, this nerdy teacher lady, but then you do karate, and track, and now you rap?!”

She added that her mom had been glad she was in my room during the lockdown- probably because of the karate- and the conversation shifted to that for a while. Students spoke about how scary it was, and whether or not they cried, and how glad they were that it was a false alarm (little did we know there would be another school shooting today...) I think they probably needed to talk about it because, even though it was months ago, it sticks, you know? 

I had a quick meeting with Ms. J afterwords, followed by a house meeting. Then I had to go coach a track meet. It’s the last home meet of the season, so we honored our seniors beforehand, which was cool... It rained for a bit (of course), but then the sun came out, a rainbow appeared over the track, my sprinters absolutely crushed the 200m... Aaaaand I was probably too candid while talking to some parents about kids doing travel team/AAU/JO/whatever sports during track season because it’s a thing I have a very strong opinion about, but anyways.... Our team and the teams we were competing against all have traditions of doing the wave to cheer for 4x4 runners, so we were all infield at the end of the meet. 

One of the students in the night school program apparently got mad at a teacher, stormed out of class, and tore stuff off of all the bulletin boards in the hallway. The teacher and the director of night school did their best to fix the damage, which was nice of them, but I took it as a sign that I should update my bulletin board with some new stuff. And, what do you know, right after I finished the Vice Principal sent out an email asking all the ninth grade teams to update their boards ahead of 8th grade transition night, which is happening in a couple weeks.

Sometimes, things just work out...

What else did I do today? Mrs. T and I spent PLC time working on some upcoming interdisciplinary fabulousness. During our prep time we met with a few of our former students because we want to film them talking about multi-genre for a presentation we’re going to be giving. We also had a meeting with a parent, so we were super productive. 

And my classes went pretty well. I tweaked the lesson a little bit from yesterday so that I had more time to discuss the Vice News piece because it is so engaging. It went super well in my first class, and decent-ish in my second, but I will take that. I also had lots of students expressing excitement about debate (that’s the upcoming interdisciplinary fabulousness), which was very cool. It’s a challenging thing, so we want them to go into it feeling excited.

After school, I went to the district’s professional development center to do some PD on individualized learning with Ms. J. This is part of the mentor program, so I was there in that capacity, but I still learned things I can use in my own teaching. The facilitator was the Assistant Superintendent, who is really good at running PD and appreciates my ridiculousness (like when she says, “So, if you had a bunch of students like Miss M-” and I cut in with “There is no one else like me”). 

Well. Today there was an Incident. It was the kind that involved the SRO, The Principal, and a bunch of paperwork. Sooooo that was not fun. 

I am okay, though, and lots of my friends came by to make sure of it.

And, other than that, the day was actually really good. APUSGOV was nice and easy. We had to take five to talk about how frigid it was outside. Then we watched an episode of The West Wing (”The Short List”) and talked about it. After that, we read Article II of the Constitution, and had a little chat about what’s coming up between now and vacation. I also handed back drafts of research papers, so a few students came in during flex time to edit and revise. Gotta love that initiative! Final drafts are due next class.

The aforementioned Incident happened during World/English. If not for that, it would have been a completely awesome class. Our students did SUCH good work. The little things Mrs. T and I have been doing- dividing the double block into work/break time, doing daily goal-setting, etc...- have been helping a lot. The classroom environment and the work completion are so much better. A few of the girls actually came up to me just to let me know how much they appreciated it.

I also got a bunch of compliments on my hair (it was fancy and braided, and usually it’s just in a bun or a ponytail), my dress and boots, and my shiny unicorn nail polish. 

Ninth grade girls are the best.

I observed Ms. J’s American Lit. class during Block Five. They’re preparing for a debate, and I love debates, so I enjoyed that a lot. Plus, it was a really well-planned lesson. She’s doing super well.

It snowed this morning- the first snow!- so everyone was a bit giddy. Mr. T and I were looking out the windows and grinning like little kids before the first bell, and I was texting pics to my teacher friends in southern states.

My APUSGOV students were working on projects for all of Block 1, so that was chill. But then I was all alone for a double block in the Cavern of Learning because Mrs. T was at a conference. Students started class with end-of-unit reflections. After that, I had them get into groups, and do some stations on African Culture (watching a video clip about traditional art, answering some geography questions, reading folk tales), plus two on grammar and vocab for Mrs. T. It’s a lot of moving parts, and I was exhausted by the end of it, but it went SO well. I’m wicked happy about it. 

I spent Block 5 grading reflections, and then Ms. J and I went to a PD workshop because mentors and mentees are supposed to go to two together. I had to go in a dress and heels, with a full face of make-up, because I had to dash to a thing right afterwards. 

I’m not saying I did my nails while stopped at a red light (fast-dry clear polish)... but I’m not saying I didn’t.

So what was the thing? 

It was a fancy Democratic Party dinner, which I got to attend with four of my APUSGOV students. (the Republicans will give us tickets to their fancy dinner, too, but it’s later in the year). We had such a ball. Joe Kennedy III was the keynote speaker, and a bunch of candidates and elected officials were in attendance. They all love talking to young people, so it was such a cool opportunity for these girls. One of our state reps actually walked Joe Kennedy right up to them, which was SO nice. 

Homecoming Spirit Week started today with Seasons Day, so I wore a rose-colored dress and a flower crown, which Mrs. T said made me look like a fairy princess. My seniors in APUSGOV came in dressed like summer: aloha shirts, floral dresses, sunglasses. It was a lot of fun.

School counseling borrowed my class time to go over college app stuff. They were just getting started when the lockdown alarm went off. It’s cause for relief and sadness that everyone reacted quickly. Within seconds, my students had hunkered down by my bookshelves while I locked the door and shut off the lights. The Principal came on the intercom shortly thereafter to announce it was a false alarm. 

I saw Mr. T as I reopened my door. He said I looked like this:

Accurate.

But we got on with it. I did current events writing with my World students, which meant offering a lot of reassurances and occasional spelling/grammar advice because timed writing freaks ninth graders out until they’ve gotten enough practice. I reminded them the stakes are low (it’s only small grade, they can revise, etc...) and said I believed they could do that. 

I ducked out of my Block 4 class to observe Ms. J’s because she wanted some advice on managing that class, in particular. It’s a challenging mix of students, and they’re testing her because she’s new (which always happens to first year teachers). I gave her some suggestions to help, but mostly just encouraged her to hold the line and trust her instincts. It’s super hard, at first, but it gets easier. I know she has what it takes to do this job.

Mr. L covered my class while I did the observation (it was his lunch break). Afterwards, he told me he'd been looking at the pictures on my desk, found the one from my college graduation, and realized I still look like I’m 21. I laughed and said I get told that a lot. It isn’t really true, but I also don’t look like I’m 35, so...