Yesterday was my first day back teaching. You can often tell a lot about how the year will go by this first week of interaction.
Here is the picture I show my students, so they know what I look like. (I teach online, live synchronous classes– I’ll explain more in a later post, but it’s like a teleconference online where they can hear me, I can hear them, etc.)
In my first period 11th and 12th grade literature class, right off, several students said I looked like Brittney Spears. Is this an insult? A compliment? Um, I thought BS was over. (Now it’s cracking me up that her initials are BS– how has this escaped my notice before?!) You almost need to attach a year to her name- Brittney 2007 (infamous shaving incident) or Brittney 2008 (heinous attempt to return to tv with bad hair extensions, et al.). I turned on my webcam to show them that I DO NOT under any circumstances look like her, and they said, “Oh, you look so much younger on the webcam!”
I can tell this is going to be my trouble class.
One of my highest priorities is learning everyone’s names, especially if they go by something other than what I have on the list, such as Jennifer going by Jen or Jenny. As I went through names in my English 8 class, I can’t decide if they are serious or messing with me as each girl quickly tells me her nickname:
Julian- I go by Julie or JuJuBee, which ever you want (Um, thank you JULIE…I’m not sure it’s appropriate for me to call a student jujubee)
Elizabeth- I go by Ritzy
Amanda- Mandi
Cyanna- CeeCee
Madison- Marz or Maddie or Mad (Um, just pick ONE please, I’ve already got enough to learn here)
It went on and on…I have so many write ins on my roster it looks like I replaced every kid. Thank goodness for Zachary– the only boy in the class– he wants to be called…ZACHARY. The joy of eighth-graders.
On the home front, my own kids watched television most of the day. Awesome. I wish I had thought to make them watch Bill Nye or something, but I was too busy trying to alter my web-image and learn cutesy nicknames that I will hardly be able to use with a straight face. Oh well. We’ll get caught up today, I hope, right after I cancel the cable.