I'm BESTing

This week I coined a new verb... I'm an English teacher, I get to do that... Anyway the verb is "BESTing". In the fantastic state of Connecticut, new teachers have to prove their teaching abilities. Within the first 2 years of your teaching career, you have to submit a portfolio that demonstrates your ability to plan, execute, and document an educational unit. The average portfolio is about 140 pages in length. It also includes a video segment of class discussion. This cycle at school, I am completing my BEST unit (see... I'm BESTing). Tonight I am sitting at home, watching the video from class today. A few observations.... 1. My voice sounds really annoying on video. 2. I yell at a kid named Paul way too many times for a 50 minute period... I should probably kick him out of class. 3. My students are completely hamming it up for the camera... 4. My class is even more talkative than I thought. 5. There are a lot of comments being made that I don't think I heard in class. 6. My students seem to be getting the concepts. 7. The sound of my students whining my name, is more annoying to me than the sound of my own voice! Well, when I think about it... I have 2 days down and 6 more to go.... It will all be over soon enough. In the mean time, I am very, very tired and looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday.