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JConn

JConn

Proud 2013 MC Participant
Joined
May 10, 2011
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Location
Vancouver, WA (/Portland, OR)
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Hey guys and gals. I've been MIA for the past 3-4 months and am glad to say I'm back. I have really been missing THP and all of my THP family lately as work has been pretty stressful and THP/golf is a way for me to "get away" from it all.

As some of you know, I landed my first teaching job towards the end of August. While this was/is a great thing, it literally took away any and all free time I had. For the first month and a half I was working about 80 hours a week just trying to plan for following week, no chance at planning further ahead. Trying to teach math without a textbook is miserable! I teach 3 periods of Algebra 1 (freshmen) and 2 periods of Geometry (sophomores) and neither classes have a textbook; I have to teach from worksheets and/or online resources. I've made over 12,000 copies so far this year, and were only 11 weeks in. That's just crazy. Ok, that's enough complaining.

On the bright side, I have a job, I'm healthy, I have benefits, and honestly life is good. Each week seems to go better than the last, so I'm hoping this opens up a little free time that I can spend on THP each day. I love this place and have really missed the conversations and relationships over the last few months, not to mention all of the information I've missed!

I'm definitely glad to be back, I just hope I can get back to being active on the forum instead of randomly posting every once in a while. I hope all is well with each and every one of you. Cheers to a good weekend!
 
Welcome back JConn! Glad everything is working out and you are back.
 
Really good to see you back dude! Glad to see things are getting a bit better for you.
 
Glad to have you back and glad everything is working out. No textbooks!? Gimme a break!
 
tpluff said:
Glad to have you back and glad everything is working out. No textbooks!? Gimme a break!
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Yes, no textbooks. Insane. Asking a freshman or sophomore to keep track of (and organize) all of the worksheets is unrealistic. Add to that the fact that we need to make thousands of copies which takes time and money. It just doesn't make sense.
 
Dude welcome back. More importantly, glad to hear life is good!
 
Welcome back! Never heard of not having textbooks before. Talk about making it hard on you and the kids.
 
welcome back Jeff! glad to hear you're doing well.

JConn said:
Yes, no textbooks. Insane. Asking a freshman or sophomore to keep track of (and organize) all of the worksheets is unrealistic. Add to that the fact that we need to make thousands of copies which takes time and money. It just doesn't make sense.
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I can speak to this from personal experience since I had to do this freshman year... did not work. at all. if you weren't a first-year teacher I'd go to the board of ed. about it and tell them that in the long run getting textbooks will save a lot of money..
 
Jeff -- Glad you're able to catch ya breath buddy! Maybe you can slow down enough to enjoy the Holidays :thumb:
 
Welcome back! Glad things are going well.
 
Welcome back!
 
Glad to see you post again Jeff. What you're doing in the classroom is much more important than being on here, no shame in putting all of your time into that endeavour. Hope you and your wife are well!
 
JConn, I've never taught in the education system myself but my wife did for 5 years. Obviously both Washington and Oregon don't have limits on the number of students without textbooks. If they do, it's too high. I watched my wife labor, toil, survive those first 2 years before she had enough lesson plans developed to help with the prep time. Schools have cut back just everyone else has so it sounds like you don't have anyone to make all of those copies for you. Eventually the time factor will begin to shift in your favor. I remember times when my wife would come home and tell me about how a student or two of hers was learning the material and this made her feel like she was making a difference. I hope you have many of these times to share with your friends. It's encouraging I'm sure to see and watch this as a teacher.
Welcome back to THP!
I haven't met you yet and look forward to the privelege when it happens, maybe at an Invitational or some other THP event.
We travel to the Portland area sometimes because our daughter is attending George Fox University. I guess it is possible to tee it up out there sometime in the future.
 
JConn said:
Hey guys and gals. I've been MIA for the past 3-4 months and am glad to say I'm back. I have really been missing THP and all of my THP family lately as work has been pretty stressful and THP/golf is a way for me to "get away" from it all.

As some of you know, I landed my first teaching job towards the end of August. While this was/is a great thing, it literally took away any and all free time I had. For the first month and a half I was working about 80 hours a week just trying to plan for following week, no chance at planning further ahead. Trying to teach math without a textbook is miserable! I teach 3 periods of Algebra 1 (freshmen) and 2 periods of Geometry (sophomores) and neither classes have a textbook; I have to teach from worksheets and/or online resources. I've made over 12,000 copies so far this year, and were only 11 weeks in. That's just crazy. Ok, that's enough complaining.

On the bright side, I have a job, I'm healthy, I have benefits, and honestly life is good. Each week seems to go better than the last, so I'm hoping this opens up a little free time that I can spend on THP each day. I love this place and have really missed the conversations and relationships over the last few months, not to mention all of the information I've missed!

I'm definitely glad to be back, I just hope I can get back to being active on the forum instead of randomly posting every once in a while. I hope all is well with each and every one of you. Cheers to a good weekend!
Click to expand...

Welcome back dude. It's great to see your name pop up!
 
Welcome back dude!
 
Welcome back, JConn! We've missed ya!
 
JCONN!!!!

This is why I don't teach math, math teachers are WAY too busy. :alien:
 
Bear4ever said:
JConn, I've never taught in the education system myself but my wife did for 5 years. Obviously both Washington and Oregon don't have limits on the number of students without textbooks. If they do, it's too high. I watched my wife labor, toil, survive those first 2 years before she had enough lesson plans developed to help with the prep time. Schools have cut back just everyone else has so it sounds like you don't have anyone to make all of those copies for you. Eventually the time factor will begin to shift in your favor. I remember times when my wife would come home and tell me about how a student or two of hers was learning the material and this made her feel like she was making a difference. I hope you have many of these times to share with your friends. It's encouraging I'm sure to see and watch this as a teacher.
Welcome back to THP!
I haven't met you yet and look forward to the privelege when it happens, maybe at an Invitational or some other THP event.
We travel to the Portland area sometimes because our daughter is attending George Fox University. I guess it is possible to tee it up out there sometime in the future.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I appreciate your comment. It will definitely be easier in a year or two. Just gotta get through them! One thing I didn't mention was that my wife also got her first teaching job this year, so it is nice sharing this experience and having someone to share ideas/struggles with. We were fortunate enough to get jobs at the same high school and we actually teach right down the hall from each other, which has been wonderful.

I'd love to tee it up some time. Let me know when your in the Portland area and maybe we can get together for a round.
 
Jman said:
JCONN!!!!

This is why I don't teach math, math teachers are WAY too busy. :alien:
Click to expand...

Seriously! Insanely busy. I currently have 520 pages to grade, which is how I'll spend my Thanksgiving break. It's never ending, but I enjoy teaching (so far) so it's all worth it in the end.
 
First year teacher here also man so I feel your pain. So welcome back to THP!
 
JConn said:
Yes, no textbooks. Insane. Asking a freshman or sophomore to keep track of (and organize) all of the worksheets is unrealistic. Add to that the fact that we need to make thousands of copies which takes time and money. It just doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...

My wife says that your students need to have an interactive notebook and they can glue in the worksheets and take notes within the notebook. Check the notebook every two weeks for a grade and believe me it will save you lots of paper.
 
Welcome back. Have you considered using the Kahn Academy as a resource? I've heard that schools are starting to use it as their source for math/algebra. Of course your students would have to either have a notebook or laptop or a computer at home at the minimum. I use it to refresh my memory when helping my boys with algebra, geometry, trig, calc.
 
Welcome back Jeff. I'm glad the gig is kind of going well, I hope it get's easier! That's my partna!!!
 
Welcome back!!!
 
Glad to see you back Jeff!
 
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