One of my favorite parts of the week was having hall duty in the mornings. From 7:50 to 8:00 every morning the students are restricted to either being in the lobby near the rear entrance or in the cafeteria, so teachers have to monitor the lobby, hallway, and cafeteria to make sure that students are abiding by the rules. It has been quite a bit of fun for me to just stand in the lobby/hall on my "post" and wait to see which students seek me out. Some of my best conversations and most memorable moments come from this part of the day when I get to find out about what the students had going on the night before, and what they have going on for the day ahead.
As always, this week has been a busy one. Being that everything has gone fairly smoothly, it's hard to say what I would change if I could do it over again. However, being that there is always so much work to do, it's always easy to say that I would have utilized my time a little better in hind-sight. As they say "Hind-sight is always 20/20" and looking back there are a few things I could have done to be more efficient with how I managed my time. Although this is difficult to put into practice at times due to the frequent and unpredictable interruptions that occur so often in school.
Again, my favorite part of the week, and the part that most beneficial, was the time I have had to get to know some of my students better by interacting with them for an extra 10 minutes each day while I'm on hall duty. Students are becoming more and more open with me, and willing to share information that will greatly help me relate to them, even when they are not aware of the fact that they are doing this.
For all of you who are wondering, my approximate countdown is down to 40 : 28 (days completed : days left to go) of days that I'll actually be in school...only 28 more!
Rich…You need an iPhone and then download a countdown application…at the touch of a button is your countdown days!
ReplyDeleteI am glad you enjoy the morning duty. Do you know how many teachers totally dislike their outside duties with a passion? I think the reason you enjoy it makes it so beneficial not only to you but to your students as well. What used to break my heart with morning duty was watching so many middle school students come into the school on very cold mornings without a coat. I used to ask myself,” Wasn’t anyone home to make sure he/she had a coat on walking out the door?”, “Isn’t someone who is at home awake to send off the student with a smile?”, or worse yet, “Does the student even have a warm winter coat to wear?”. By asking around those particular students’ team teachers and guidance counselors, the answer was never a good one.
Keep the heart you have in teaching and you will be a phenomenal teacher!