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    Classroom 101: Memories of Teaching
    Classroom 101: Memories of Teaching
    Classroom 101: Memories of Teaching
    Ebook97 pages1 hour

    Classroom 101: Memories of Teaching

    By Yolanda Vera Martínez

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    About this ebook

    A high school teacher recounts her troubles and joys of a 22-year career. Wishing "to save" all her students, she takes many risks.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateAug 30, 2012
    ISBN9781477260234
    Classroom 101: Memories of Teaching
    Author

    Yolanda Vera Martínez

    Yolanda Vera Martnez obtuvo su Ttulo Universitario en Ingls y una Maestra en Liderazgo Educacional. Ha publicado su trabajo literario en peridicos y libros. Ha recibido varios reconocimientos por sus obras poticas. Es autora de Poemas Cotidianos de una Latina, La vida en Versos y La Cosecha. Trabaj 16 aos como secretaria y 22 como maestra de artes lingsticas en Ingls y en Espaol. Naci en Chicavasco, Hidalgo, Mxico pero ahora reside en Santa Rosa, California. En Aula 101, Martnez relata su jbilo, al compartir el xito de sus estudiantes, as como algunas experiencias negativas al lidiar con los retos propios de la juventud. Sus reconocimientos como maestra sobresaliente son un aliento para toda persona que aspira a un puesto en la educacin.

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      Book preview

      Classroom 101 - Yolanda Vera Martínez

      © 2012 Yolanda Vera Martínez. All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

      Published by AuthorHouse 08/24/2012

      ISBN: 978-1-4772-6022-7 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4772-6023-4 (e)

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      This book is printed on acid-free paper.

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      CONTENTS

      Dedication

      Acknowledgements

      Introduction

      Unpleasant And Sad Experiences

      Silly Matters

      Joyful Episodes

      Credentials And Courses Taught

      Assisting Pupils In Molding Their Future

      Work-Related Responsibilities

      Recognitions

      Santa Rosa High School

      Santa Rosa, California

      Graduation—Retirement

      Summary

      N O T E S

      DEDICATION

      To the hundreds of students who spent semesters

      or years in Classroom 101, so that we could challenge

      one another and learn together.

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      Twenty-two years of successful teaching would not have come about without the trust and faith that so many people had in me. Thanks to:

      Yvonne Turner, Patricia Fitzpatrick, Judy Ohlemacher, and Pete Larsen for opening your classrooms, so that I could student-teach at L. Cook Middle School and Santa Rosa High School.

      Bob Bunting, Mike Panas, and Bill Waxman, Principals at different times in my career, for supporting my ideas, programs, and projects.

      Mary Jo Renzi, for exchanging classes with me and for team-teaching. We broke the routine and learned from different approaches.

      Teaching Colleagues and staff, for assisting me in the common goal of educating teenagers, especially Andy Brennan for assuring me that computers were manageable.

      Mike Mouat, Danitsa Finch, Phil Weil, Jim Tonna, Amanda Newlon, Alberto Paulsen, and Emma Zavala-López—Modern Languages Department members—for being my family at work and for sharing information, materials, and a good sense of humor.

      Michelle Feleay, Janyce Bodeson, Carol Delgado, Marty Hoteling, Erick Bohn, and Lori Simerly, for being the voice of the voiceless and for your efforts to improve the ELL curriculum.

      Dan Villalva, for being my professional advisor and co-mentor for Santa Rosa Junior College students interested in pursuing education and media production as careers.

      Fr. Gabriel Ruiz, CMF, for being my spiritual advisor.

      My husband Juan; my children Chela, Cheli, Juan Jr., Rolando and Sophia; my grandchildren Mercedez, Alicia, Tomás and Matthew, for looking after my well-being and for supporting me in my profession and my personal interests. You accepted well my other sons and daughters—students who often shared our lives.

      My grandmother, Aurora, is remembered dearly for instilling in me the desire to be of service to others through teaching—her career as well.

      Mostly, thanks to God for the gift of all these people and the hundreds of teenagers who touched my life.

      INTRODUCTION

      In Classroom 101—I share my experiences of a 22-year teaching career. My students ranged from 15 to 18 years of age. They came from all cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, and they were always full of energy and youthful wisdom. All snapshots are true, but most characters’ names have been changed to protect their privacy.

      My Last Graduation

      The freshly-mowed grass was making me cold at sundown, but I had a shawl to cover my knees. By experience, I knew what to expect.

      The Santa Rosa High School (SRHS) band played Pomp and Circumstance for the 400+ students graduating, as they marched into the Santa Rosa Junior College running tracks. The same location is rented every year because it’s adjacent to SRHS and it has enough space for graduates and their families.

      My assigned seat was in the third row from the front, middle aisle, close to the podium, and the 20 students assigned to me to supervise were on my right. Families and friends of the graduates sat on the bleachers to our left and right.

      It was a joyous occasion, but I felt particularly emotional that evening. It was the 21st graduation ceremony that I attended, and… my last. Just like the graduates, I was not going back the following year to SRHS, Room 101—my second home, but I wanted to consider the ceremony my graduation, instead of my retirement.

      The student body president led the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by The Star-Spangled Banner, performed by the school choir. Then, we heard the speeches recalling the seniors’ high school experiences and their dreams for the future.

      The long-awaited-for distribution of diplomas followed. What was the seniors’ prank that year? It was a different, quite creative, embarrassing situation, particularly for Mr. Jim Jones, representative of the Santa Rosa School District Board of Education and parent of one of the graduates.

      The first name on the list of graduates was Michael Adams. Michael, in black graduation attire and white shirt, took a few steps forward from the first row, and as he received his diploma with the left hand and shook Mr. Jones’ hand with the right, he casually dropped a size 40 or so, pink bloomer and continued to the left where the photographer awaited to take his picture. Meantime, the second name was called, and Mr. Jones, with his polished, brown right shoe, pushed the large garment aside, as he grabbed the next diploma to hand out.

      Most students had with them similar garments in a variety of colors, but instead of dropping them on the ground, they started placing them on the podium, next to the microphone, where Mr. Ray Kelley, Vice Principal, was announcing the graduates’ names.

      He attempted to remain composed as he read the names, but it was obvious that he didn’t know what to do as the bloomers continued to pile up in front of him. Luckily, they started falling onto the ground, and they were not as visible from where the guests were seated.

      Students who were returning from receiving their diplomas, and the ones waiting for their turn to go up, began to inflate their well-hidden balloons and beach balls. The balls bounced back and forth over the graduating class of 2006. Students had been inspected in the SRHS gymnasium before walking over to the Santa Rosa Junior College campus for the ceremony, but administrators were mainly looking for alcohol containers and checking if students were wearing clothes underneath their robes. Yes, at a previous graduation, a student showed up drunk and without clothes under his robe. Toys were not really a concern, but they might have taken away the panties, had the staff discovered that students had them.

      At another graduation, students had tortillas that started flying in all directions at an agreed-upon time during the ceremony.

      Was this behavior a

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