Extreme Makeover: CLASSROOM EDITION

MOVE THAT...JUNK!
I don't even think a big bus could cover the mess of a room I had as I walked into it that class last school year. Granted, the teacher was moving out of her classroom into another classroom and had just got done packing all of her things into piles to be moved later in the summer. Well, that is the sight of what my 4th graders saw as they came into the class so I could introduce myself as their future teacher on the last day of school. Needless to say, a lot of work had to be done. The next picture is the cleaned up classroom.



Well, my brother, myself, and a legion of helpers got to work and came up with a lot of cool ideas. More close-up pictures to come, but I figured a hodge-podge collection of photos that may or may not be classified as a magic-eye picture with the ability to perhaps cause minor seizures would work for now.

The Final Countdown

I can't ever hear Europe's 1986 hit "The Final Countdown" without thinking of Gob Bluth. Just an amazing man.

This morning I have completed the new teacher introductions with my school district. It mainly consists of sitting in the district office while everyone who has an important title comes in and talks about their job and how they can help me as a new teacher. It was actually quite helpful and I'm glad that such a program exists. With the conclusion of this meeting I can now start my (DA Da da!) final countdown. I start teaching...with ACTUAL CHILDREN...in MY OWN CLASSROOM...next Wednesday. The magical date of August 18th is quickly approaching and I'm far from ready. It's coming along, but at a snails pace.

My classroom is looking great, I just need to put everything away and start printing up my SAA-WEET posters and charts for the walls. I just don't know what to put on those posters and charts. I'm sure inspiration will strike me the night before and I'll get it done somehow. The only thing I know about those charts and posters is that cute little clip art of bears hugging hearts, or a cat hanging from a string that positively reminds us to "hang in there" will not be splattered upon them. I've taken a hard line stance about "cutesy" clip-art and posters. Mostly in an effort to maintain good standing in the He-man Woman Haters Club which allows me to be a proud "Man Card" carrier.

Today was great for another reason. I just got my cumulative folders for each of my students. I was looking at their past behavior scores and subject scores. After scanning through them I came to a conclusion. I HAVE THE BEST CLASS EVER! The only sad news is that two of my students have already moved to new schools. I only knew them for a little time, but I'm really crushed that they won't be in my class. I wonder how it's going to feel when I lose all of them at the end of the year. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it I suppose.

I've had a lot of support up to this point and I know I couldn't do it without such great friends and faculty, but especially my family. As I march into my class that first day I know I won't be walking in alone. In fact, I kind of envision it like in the video below, but without the random riot. Also, I don't think anyone will be speaking in German, but who knows for sure.

The excitement is buidling!

Yeah...That kind of excitement. After returning from the glorious sun and waves of Hawaii, I've put my nose to the grind and have started preparing my class. I will post pictures of the before, clean, and finished classroom when they are ready. As for now, just imagine two nice white walls and two very ugly orange carpet walls that look like they've been taken straight from the floor of your aunt and uncle's old 70's beat up Winnebago that your parents occasionally used to take on family trips to go camping in Idaho. Admit it, you know what I'm talking about.

So I've been trying to think of cool things to do that the kids might find exciting or different than other classes they've been in. I want them to walk into my class knowing that each day will present them with something new and exciting. I like to think outside the box from time to time and be a little creative with "old" teaching strategies and ideas. One thing that every elementary teacher has in their repertoire of billboards and posters is a welcoming door poster. I'm all for this idea.

For those of you that don't know what a door poster is let me explain. It's a poster that teachers usually put on or next to their door that show either a picture of the student or their name and then they use a theme to tie everything in together. For example, one teacher used a cat theme every year (for over a quarter of a century) that said "So-and-so's class are cool cats." Then they had the students' pictures on the door with some cats and stuff. My brother and I always joked that we knew that school was soon approaching because the old orange cat cut-outs from 1980 were making their way into the school hallway. (maybe it's only funny to us.)

Anyway, my lovely mother told me she saw a really cool book with ideas of what to do with my door for the beginning of the year. She gave me some examples and I started to laugh immediately. They were all so cheesy and just...not me. My brother and I went to the drawing board to create something that we could call original and creative. So, with the few skills I have in Photoshop, this is what we came up with. I'm not at all pleased with slogan, but it works for now. If there are any other good ideas, I'm open for suggestions. Also, the symbol is a pen over a sword, indicating the theme that the pen is mightier than the sword. I'm also open for a change of...crest...I suppose.



*note - The kids' faces aren't really black splotches. I guess I have to worry about privacy rights now. And yes, the kids in the picture are my actual students.

Signing My Own Declaration

Tis the Season of Celebration. I was recently pondering upon the beauty of this great nation and state in which I am blessed to live. In Utah, we are happy to receive two days off of work; the 4th of July and the 24th of July. The first, of course, being the day on which our nations founding fathers signed our Declaration of Independence. The latter being the day the mormon pioneers walked into the valley of salty lakes. I found it fitting to receive my contract right around this time.

As I handed in my letter of resignation I was in turn handed my contract for my upcoming teaching job. I pondered this moment for a short time. I was able to compare the similarities I have with the pioneers. (Use your imagination with these comparisons.)Both of us forging our ways into unknown territory. Not knowing how hostile the locals may be, or if the ground would be fertile enough to accomplish our goals of permanent settlement. I could also feel how hesitant the founding fathers may have been before they signed the Declaration of Independence. I looked over my contract several times before my signature found its way onto the paper. The consequences of signing the Declaration of Independence could be seen as TREASON...punishable by DEATH!!! I faced not being able to get a job in Salt Lake, which may mean...SOCIAL DEATH!!! So I'm stretching that last one a bit (I think Logan is the most lovely of places to live...for a college student, or a married couple.)

I never really gave much thought to any of these comparisons to be honest with you. The thing that I actually thought fitting for the signing of my contract was the spirit of celebration this glorious month of July brings. In honor of the fierce battles that followed the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Also, the trials and hardships of migrating across the plains and mountains from Illinois into Utah, I decided to celebrate their sacrifice by sacrificing a little of my time...to take a vacation to Hawaii. Here's to those that made it possible for me to enjoy the warm waters and delicious pineapple of our 50th state.

Chickenpox, Measles, and Mumps...OH MY!!!

I've been feeling a lot like this ole' bloke for the past few days. I recently went into the doctor and he decided to diagnose me with strep throat. I'm finishing up my last week at my custodian job and I couldn't think of a better time to be sick. I have a bunch of sick days left and I really look for any reason to use them. In the past couple of months I've seen the family doctor, dentist, orthodontist, optometrist, dermatologist, and one timely visit to the ski doctor. I hadn't been to that last one in ten years which almost caused a depletion in my frozen H2O crystalline processing cells. It's very deadly if not treated regularly.

The problem I've now come to see is that in my future profession, such days like this will not be a "free" day off. My sister-in-law, who is also a teacher, just gave birth to her first child in October. She spent every weekend slaving over lesson plans for her long term substitute. When she came back from maternity leave she proceeded to reteach most of everything the substitute had taught because of rubbish teaching skills. She also had to redo her whole classroom management plan because the students pretty much had free reign while she was gone.

I've seen many teachers coming in at the wee hours of the morning to write lesson plans so that the day wasn't a total waste for the kids. I feel elementary is especially hard when taking days off. I saw a huge contrast in lesson plans when I was subbing at the middle school compared to the elementary school. The middle school teachers were able to put all of their plans on one single-spaced piece of paper. The lesson plans for an elementary teacher came in all shapes and sizes. Large font, small font, cute font, in folders, stapled, rhombus, and hexagon. It really reminded me of the scene from Better Off Dead when the teacher asks the math class to pull out their math homework and they each have a huge contraption to get it done.

I've lost track of where I was going with this post (I blame it on the medication.) The point I'm getting at is that I know teaching is hard and I now realize that it's counterproductive to provide sick leave and then make it more difficult to take a sick day then just man up and teach sick for a day. I mean I work in a place where snot is literally dripping from noses and coughing in someones face seems to be a new form of saying, "HI." A school is as close to a walking petri dish as one can find. It kind of sucks knowing that if I get sick, it might just be easier to tough it out and go to work rather than spend a lot of time writing a lesson plan that will probably need to be retaught anyway. What a catch 22 I've gotten myself into. Thank goodness for Bill Nye Videos (authors note: please, someone take away my teaching license if I ever resort to doing this.) Well, at least I get to enjoy this last week of my old job on sick leave. I'll be sure to enjoy every cold sweat, sore throat, and nauseous feeling I have this week.

IT HAS BEGUN!!!

So this clip is brought to you by one of my favorite childhood games/movies...Mortal Kombat. Watching a few clips from it now makes me laugh that my taste in movies and other such arts has changed so dramatically. Why do I show this clip? Because I've developed this nasty habit of quoting things from my childhood ALL OF OF THE TIME. I'm pretty sure 78% of my conversations consist of a quote from one of three shows: The Office, The Simpsons, and Seinfeld. The above quote has reared it's ugly head more than several hundred times in my life, the latest being used one week ago.

I had the opportunity to meet my class of 22 4th graders a week ago during a school tradition called "up day." This is where the students in the school get to meet the new teacher they will have for the upcoming year. I walked into my bare classroom 2 minutes before my future 4th graders and sat down in my rolling teacher chair. Just like the above clip, I felt the elements gather in a way I've never felt before. Instead of demonesque spirits floating in the misty air, I saw the first few faces of my future students peek their heads into my classroom. That is when I realized..."It has begun!"

Let me tell you what I mean by "it." Going to bed at a decent time has begun. Waking up at a decent time has begun. Having grownup conversations has begun. Being accountable for my actions has begun. Being a face in the community has begun. Being responsible for others has begun. Being entrusted with the safety, care, and education of 22 nine year old kids...has begun.

It hit me so hard that I was at a loss for words with my students. I told them how excited I was to have them in my class and how much fun we will have during the next school year. The whole time I was mumbling over my words and just having a hard time collecting my thoughts. I actually told them that I was going to give them a homework EXCITMENT for the summer, because during this particular 10 minutes I couldn't move my tongue to say the word ASSIGNMENT. I tried to cover for myself the best I could by saying, "I don't call them homework assignments. Assignment sounds boring. My homework is fun, so I call it homework excitements. (One of the students actually went to her teacher and said, "In Mr. Cox's class we don't have homework assignments, we have homework excitements!" I think I got away with one there.)

I honestly have the best group of kids. Every single one of them has such an awesome personality and I can't wait to learn and grow with them. I've been given every luxury a new teacher could ask for and will be working with a great 4th grade teaching team. I think the only thing that is scary is the fact that I can never go back to college life. I still have over two months to get that out of my system, so I think I will be ready come August. The sound of that first school bell on August 18th at 7:55 A.M. won't only signify the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year, but also the death of "College Greg" and the birth of "Adult Greg." Here's to you College Greg...it's been a fun ride.

The name is Cox...Mr. Cox

So I've been waking up late...REALLY LATE, for the past week. My schedule has been a bit off for the past few days and I've been waking up in the wee hours of the afternoon. I've been working really late nights this week so I don't feel too bad. Being the popular person I am, I usually have A txt, or A missed call on my phone. I checked my phone and noticed 2 txts and a missed call...and one out of place voicemail. I checked the missed call and thought it was a call from the school I was supposed to sub at today. I decided sleep was better than money, so I called in and canceled the job for the day. I thought maybe they were calling me to see where I was or maybe yell at me a little.

I checked the voicemail and to my surprise it was a school, but the school where I used to teach music, did half of my student teaching, organized my theater club, made Garbage Monster and video yearbook movies, and always dreamed of getting a job with. The principal was calling and simply said to give her a call. I called back not thinking much of it because I had planned to help with their play day the following day and help with their end of the school year preparations the day after that. She was busy when I called so I just left my name with the secretary.

An hour later I get a call from the principal and she proceeds to say that all of the teaching decisions are still being figured out, but that she wanted to offer me a...FOURTH GRADE JOB! I knew the job had opened up, but I wasn't expecting a call from this district because I had already talked to the principal about how badly I wanted to move to Salt Lake and that I wasn't sure I wanted a job in Logan. Despite all of my plans of moving to SLC and the fact that my mother works and my sister-in-law teaches at the school (they don't like to put family at the same school) she still offered me the job.

I was kind of taken back, but after a few brief seconds of looking into the future of my life I decided that I would accept the job. After the phone call I just sat there and then I let out a scream. Not a scared scream, but a scream of relief. It's a great school, a great faculty, a great principal, and a great city. I may be able to move to SLC next year, but for now, I'll stay in Logan and teach my class of 4th graders at Ellis Elementary. It seems like everything kind of worked itself out to provide this job for me and I definitely feel blessed.

I guess I'm almost a grown-up. Next thing on my to-do list of being an adult...move out of my parents basement.