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Here I am, back in the saddle, so to speak. It’s great. I am home with my husband for Christmas break, until school starts again on January 5th.

No longer serving as a Technology Director at my old school, I am teaching at my husband’s school in northeast rural Oklahoma, almost to the Kansas border. It’s great to be back in the classroom (and back in the saddle)!

These kids are kids who either work on a farm or work on a ranch. They almost all have a slew of animals that they tend to - from chickens, to goats, to cattle, to horses, to pigs, or rabbits. Some of them show their animals and some participate in the rodeos.

A lot of them own trucks, tractors, trailors and other farm equipment that I couldn’t even name. Many of them enjoy sports - baseball, basketball, softball and of course, football - girls and boys alike.

They aren’t immune, however, to family issues, poverty, drugs, and alcohol. They still need role models. They still need someone to challenge their minds and thinking. They still need to know that someone cares about them whatever they wear, however long or short their hair is, or whether they can read “good” or not…

Yes, I am having a great time, being back in the classroom. I am not sure I ever want to go back into the world of administration - the world of politics, personal agendas, power, and the likes. For now, I am quite content to be where I know I can possibly make a difference - even if it is in one child’s life!

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We are have been studying Senses and Perspective in my H.S. Psychology Class. Now we are starting to study “behavior.” I thought it would be interesting to do a poll about each classes’ perspective on how the classes behaved while I had a sub. So I created a poll for each hour on PollDaddy.com.

I asked the following question: In your perspective, how did the ____ hour behave toward the sub? Using a score of 1 to 5, with 1 being the best behavior and 5 being the worst behavior.

My 4th hour class is a challenge class, but it is also my largest. From the scores they gave me, it was evident that they truly behaved well with the sub. 7th hour had the worst scores. They were also fairly honest. It is the worst time of the day and they usually do not want to do their work.  I found this self-evaluation of their behavior a reflection and the students also liked it too - especially when comparing the scores between classes!