Feedback & Confidence

One of my goals this summer was to rid my home of all the “paper” laying around. . . .you know:  bills, stuff from college, notes to self, xerox copies of random stuff.  Tonight, I was cleaning out another stack of paper–this stack was from my college days. . . it brought back sooo many memories.

• all nighters
• writers block (absolutely terrible for a History or English major)
• READING, READING & MORE READING
• party allnighters–well, for me it wasn’t much partying.  I had a group of friends that I’d play cards or board games with until 3 or 4  in the morning
• dorm life (not that I really miss it, just the people who were there.)

Anyway, as I began to look through the papers, I began to smile and laugh and remember the “good ole days.”  As I picked up sheet after sheet, I’d squeal and say, “I remember this. . . .I stayed up all night to write this.. . . I loved this class. . . uh, that professor was narcissistic.”  My college days were good.  Yes, there were times that I didn’t have money for food or to go out with my friends AND I worked my entire college career. I remember a friend and I gave blood to buy groceries.  Her dad found out and it brought the man to tears.  The next day, her parents showed up with groceries for both of us and cash.  (They knew I didn’t have a father I could rely on and my mother didn’t have any money.  She wasn’t even paying my tuition)  Yes, those were the good ole days!

I remember my biggest issue in college was a problem of confidence.  I did the work and I got As & Bs.  But I was never really confident about the work.  I never felt “smart.”  It was like should have known more than I did.  I made up for this with hard work (Today, I make up for it with internet. You mention something I don’t know. . . I google it.)  The history department at my university was relatively small, I took the same professors over and over again.  And had classes with the same students.  I think a few of my professors got to know me pretty well.  I participated in class, but I sure lacked confidence in what I was saying.  In most classes, I was quiet until someone called on me. . . and when they did, my professors offered feedback that gave me confidence. . . made my words seem insightful.

I was NEVER confident about my writing.  (I believe this stems from a teacher in high school who told me I really needed to work on my writing.  I had wanted to be a writer someday. . . you know writing books.  I don’t believe this teacher intentionally tried to discourage me, she just didn’t encourage me to continue writing.)  Tonight, as I browsed through the papers  and read my teachers feedback, I began to feel better about my work ALL OVER AGAIN!

From my favorite professor:  ”As usual, excellent work,. . . once you realize how bright you are, you will be dangerous.”

“Brilliant.  Excellent job weaving the lives of these women together.”

“thoughtful. . . well wrought . . . meticulous”  This professor gave me an A- for this essay.  This man was INSANE . . .he had a reputation for never giving As and my paper BLED with his marginal comments.  I was EXCEPTIONALLY proud of this essay at the time.  I remember the SLEEPLESS nights pouring over this paper about More, Menocchio, Martin Luther & Machiavelli.  And back then, wikipedia was available to help when I was stuck!  It was an assessment of my reading those works that semester.

Today as I look back over these papers, I am overwhelmed and excited by the comments my professors left.  I can’t believe how much my professors believed in me and celebrated the work I had given them.

Feedback is soooo important to our students.  Grades are not feedback!  Unfortunately, I must admit, I take so many grades, it is difficult to offer a true assessment of students’ learning.  As I move into this school year, I will make it a point to offer “meaningful” evaluations of their learning.  If these comments give me a sense of pride and meaning today, imagine what my words of esteem could do for the teenagers I teach today.

Worst Assignments

These items were consistently mentioned a the worst assignments on my end of the year survey:

1. Film Guides–50% of students mentioned they hated the film guides.  Most liked the films.  It is the guide they detest.
   • “students fall asleep quickly when watching them”
   • “the guide takes away from enjoyment of the movie”
   • “its hard to keep up with the video sometimes”
   • “we didn’t learn anything from it”
   • Why do I assign film guides?   The documentaries/films I use in class often have GREAT content in them. However, my past EXPERIENCE tells me that students tend to go to sleep and miss the main points of the film.  I realize that some of my film guides are intensive.  For example:  my Roots film guide has 100 questions.  We watch Episodes 1 & 2 to illustrate/discuss issues of the Middle Passage.
   • To be truly reflective, I need to listen to my students comments.  I actually discussed this point in detail with my “hellion” class.  They said, that the guides had too many questions.   So I will do 3 things
     
     1. Next year, I will reduce the number of questions on the film guides to see if it makes a difference.
     2. Co-Teacher started doing something new this year with her film guides and she reported good results.  She used the internet to get scene lists/chapter lists for the films shown in class.  She used them to make a T-Chart.  On one side,  students would write the title of the scene.  On the other side, they had to write a summary of what happened in that scene or chapter.  She paused the film after the scene/chapter to discuss what had happened & make connections.  If she couldn’t find a chapter lists, she would find a list of the main characters and as students watched they would identify conflicts or other important information about the character as they watched.
     3. I will do more excerpts from the films, rather than watching the entire documentary.  I will not have my students watch a film and do nothing, that says to them free day and the content is not important. That is not the message I am trying to send.
        
2. Book  Work–in my AAH class, I gave book work, maybe 4 times for the entire semester.  In my world history, they may have had book work 10 times the entire year.  To me, this is NOT excessive.
   • “too much reading”
   • “its boring”
   • Why do I do it?  Student need to read the text for background information.  Again, in preparation for college students need to be able to read a book and dissect/take notes on the information in it.   I can’t tell you how many times I took a test and the info came directly from the text.
   • What will I do differently?  Nothing.  I like book work when its done in moderation.  I do it in moderation.  And occasionally, I need a day to do paperwork my lovely admins require but have graciously decline me the prep time to do so.
3. Projects–25% of students mentioned this as something they hate.
   • “They were complicated and boring”
   • “we have other classes”
   • “this is an elective” *sigh* I don’t even want to discuss this again.
   • “because most children don’t try.  There are only a  few like me who did it”
   • “because some students aren’t creative”
   • Why I give them?  To teach students how to research.  If they plan to study anything after high school, research is an important component.  Students need to learn how to research, comprehend their research and apply it.
   • What will I do differently?  Explain the importance of research.  Teach more research skills in class.  Maybe,  offer a lot more in research time.
4. Portfolio/Notebook/Binder Check
   • “Sometimes we misplace things.  that doesn’t mean that were irresponsible and we should lose points for it”
   • Why do I require a notebook?  Students need to know that a notebook should be kept and used as a  study tool.  Students need to be taught organization skills.  Notebook checks help improve students grades.
   • What will I do differently?  I need to do some research on how to effectively use notebooks in class.  I need to spend more time showing/discussing why they are valuable and how keeping one will prepare them “organizationally” for college or the work place or even managing their own home activities–bills, documents.
5. Vocabulary Cards/List–in my AAH class, I made them make vocabulary cards.  An image & word must be on the front.  Definition on the back.  In my WH, students keep their vocabulary in T-Chart form.  Word & graphic in the left hand column, definition on the right side.
   • I thought they were unnecessary”
   • “Pointless & didn’t have anything to do with what we were studying”
   • Why do I do it?  My students have LIMITED vocabularies.  Part of history & reading primary sources is understand what the people are saying.  If you don’t understand the words in the text, then you don’t understand the meaning of the document.  If I required them to read the document, most wouldn’t understand the context.
     
   • What will I do differently?  Find ways to use the vocabulary in class more often.  More vocabulary quizzes.  Point out and have students highlight when we encounter vocabulary words.  Require students to use the words in our discussion.
6. Notes--I’m surprised at how many students had issues with taking notes.  About 10% of students mentioned that there was too much notetaking.
   • “it’s pointless”
   • “I didn’t like all of the writing”
   • “it seemed as if we took notes everytime we came to class”
   • Why do I do it?  When you write something down you are more like to remember it.  It is a skill they will need for college.  AND most of all:  IT IS A HISTORY CLASS.
   • What will I do differently?  Teach more note taking skills.  I teach notetaking at the beginning of the school year–the Cornell note style.   In my lesson write after the notetaking lesson, I tell them to write what they need.  And then I give them a quiz, right after the lesson, with instructions to use their notes.  The idea is drill home the value of notetaking.  However, this year was NUTS, we lost 20% of our instructional time due to scheduling.  Therefore, when I realized I needed to get through my curriculum more quickly, I began to give them “guided notes.”  (Basically, its an outline of my lesson and they fill in the blanks as we go along.)  And I admit it:  I lectured a LOT more this year.  Direct instruction was my solution to the “time issue.”  So, notes will not go away.  I will simply teach why we take notes and make them more productive & useful.

Other students mentioned that they hated things like journals, essays and group work.  But these things were minimally listed; therefore, I don’t see them as big issues.  I love journals because they add a reflective component to the class.  I’d like to do more journal work next year.  Maybe, one at the beginning and one at the end of class.

Best Activities of 09-10

In my year end reflection, I ask my students their opinions of the best activities of the year.  The following appeared frequently on their evaluation sheets  (mostly repeats from last year with a few new items):

1. Circle Discussions, Debates, Human Barometer outside   (students said that like the conversations & hearing others opinions, gave students a chance to express opinions)  This year, I incorporated a lot more discussion than I have in previous years.  The incentive to participate was the BRAVO! stamp. By the second semester, students were so eager to participate that the BRAVO! points were not required to get the conversation going.
2. TWEDYs
3. Movie Making- This was my first year doing this project. I got the idea from David.  It was a headache to teach and facilitate and students whined and complained about it A LOT.  But strangely, by the end of the year when I did NOT allow movie as products  students were begging to do them instead of the “products” I had assigned.
4. Line Dance
5. Foldables (one student called this arts & crafts, she said “it was better than doing work”)  This year, I did a foldable every chance I got.  In my AAH classes, we did about 10 foldables this semester.  Its funny that the student said it was easier than doing work, because after we made the foldable there was a reading and we dissected it using the foldable = manipulation on my part!
6. Simulations–we did a couple this year:  CaveMan Art (modified version of this lesson.  I’ll have to find the exact lesson later.  We pretended to be cave men and drew in the dark at the end of class and there was a reflection about the experience) , Building A Civilization (students broke up into groups of 4 and became families. The pretended to be a nomadic family from ancient times that decided to farm. They had to grow wheat to feed their families. And make exchanges for tools so they could build canals, etc all leading to increasing their standard of living)
7. Songs, Raps, Poems (students said that it was new and fun, they enjoyed performing)  I always wonder how this would work outside of my urban environment. My kids love to sing, rap–express themselves.  Kids always love these activities because they get to work in groups and show off their “skills” to others.
8. Films & guides (students said they were easy, films made the content easier to learn, visual form of learning-yes, a student actually said this!)
9. Grafitti Walk
10. Games:  Jeopardy, Fly Swat
11. Learning Centers/Station Rotation (students said they got the opportunity learn a lot of different things & socialize with other people in the class.)  This year, I created a few more–one for slavery, one for Christianity.  I love using learning centers because students get to work with primary source material and don’t even realize it.  Learning centers are often reading intensive= manipulation on my part.  It seems like they are only reading a paragraph, here or there, but in reality they read sooo much more.  (Strangely, the students don’t complain about the reading associated with it)  The best thing about rotation is that I divide up all of my “needs” students and because they are with stronger students, they are able to get more out of the activity.  And my students LOVE LOVE LOVE the ability to get up and move about the room.  Students mentioned group activities as something they love.  However, toward the end of the year, I stopped doing them because students were “socializing” and get less “work” accomplished.  I got tired of  hearing about fights, bad weaves and relationships gone bad.  *sigh*
    

In general, this year, I was successful at diversifying my strategies. I’ve definitely have a lot tools in my belt.   This year, there was WAAAAYYYY more discussion from my first few years of teaching.  I think this has a lot to with the perfection of my classroom management plan. Overall, I think I am making it easier for students to learn; however, my students learned less of the curriculum this year due to scheduling and other issues at my school.

Veterans are retiring

Yesterday,  I was chatting with one of our 30 year veterans.  Remember, I wrote about how many announced retirement this year, due to the stress level?

Me:  So, is it official?  Are you really retiring?

Veteran:  Yep, it is time.

Me:  What a loss!  I hate to see you go.

Veteran:  Well, I didn’t want to.  But I need, too.  The strategies and methods I use don’t work with this generation of kids.  I’m not effective anymore.  You use new strategies, new things and it works . . ..

Me:  Hmph, somedays, it works. Other days, not so much.  It has been a hard year for ALL of us.   (I laugh)

Veteran:  Seriously, you got all of this energy and new strategies and I just can’t keep up with it all.  I can’t change who I am.  The students today are different and you know to adjust.  You know all of these NEW ways to reach these kids.  This was a terrible year for me.  So, it is time.

Me:  I hate to see you go.  I’ll miss you.

I love this veteran.  She is one of the most supportive people I know.  After I did a presentation during faculty meeting, she sent me a card thanking me and supporting the work that I do.    I really will miss her.  To me, she is the backbone of our school.    She is one of those who offered support and advice during my rocky first year of teaching.

It bothers me that the Veterans thinks that it takes all NEW skills  or strategies to teach today’s students.  Personally, I believe that I am product of old school wisdom (shared by Mrs. Veteran) and strategies learned from the net/books.  I would not be who I am with out those old school tactics that still work!  Yes, young teachers will come in and breathe new life into the school as many veterans retire this year.  But without our backbones like Mrs. Veteran,  I don’t know how these new teachers will survive.  If all of them go this year, how will we learn?  Mature?  Where will the support come from?  Where will we get those great tidbits of wisdom?

What we need is more mentoring by the older generation tied in with the useless information given in the teacher prep programs.  It JUST makes me nervous, b/c next year it appears that about 75% of our staff will  be under the age of  40.  (Yes, I recognize that skill is not tied to age, but wisdom is!)  Next year, based on my count,  I am willing to bet that more than 25% of our teachers will have less than 3 years of experience.

Additional Comments of 09-10 Year End Reflections

At the bottom of my reflection sheet, I ask for additional comments.  Here are some comments left by the students,

• Really learned a lot in this class.  Had fun!
• The teachers are mean.  The only nice teacher is you.  You made this class fun and enjoyable
• I absolutely hated this class.  We did more work in here than in a class that really counted.  (This student put her name on the form.  If I could really tell this child something:  YOU MADE EVERY TUES, THUR & FRI A LIVING  HELL for me.  I was grateful for ALL the time that you spent on suspension.  This student challenged everything I taught and tested me the entire school year!  In response to the work, it is an elective and  not a study hall! I am shocked at how many students believe that they should just “chill”  and “have free days” in class. )
• This class is boring.  She grades too hard.  This class was hard!  (I had about 5 similar comments.  Again, students want to do NOTHING in elective classes.  And generally, these were Freshman and Sophomores.  Strangely, seniors wrote the exact opposite!  For them, it was a low pressure course)
• Great Job!  Looking forward to being in your class next year. (Many more comments similar to this one)
• Have a chill day every other week.  You’re a great teacher.  (Chill days result in gossiping and “checking” and that leads to fights.  So, although it is a nice thought, it won’t happen.  I still can’t believe how many teachers give free days.  This year, I tried to give a makeup work day, it was a disaster.  Students copied other students work and then were basically socializing.  I’ll never EVER do that again.  NEVER!)
• I really enjoyed this class.  By far you were my favorite teacher and I will really miss you next year.  You had a great way of teaching and I really appreciate it.  (This came from one of my favorite students–admit it, we all have them.  She was a true work horse.  I would give a project and weeks before the deadline, she would come in and say, “Miss Teacha, here is my project.”  Oh, the places she will go!)
• I love the kids songs
• Even though, I didn’t do my best at time, I enjoyed learning.  I just was a little lazy on some of the assignments.
• You really are one of the teacher who I can say “taught me some.”  (the student put it in quotations so I would recognize she meant to be grammatically incorrect.  I’m the queen of returning journals with the following “what????” and pretending I don’t understand their slang.)

My thoughts:

Overall, I think the kids felt like they actually learned stuff this year.  The problem I battle is the load of work vs rigor.    It appears that Freshman are not prepared for the workload or rigor when entering high school.  Should I try a process of easing them into it?  I am frustrated that middle school teachers are not more serious about “rigor.”  I have asked students what kind of work they did in middle school.  Many of them reported:  book work or “nothing.”  How do I as a teacher combat this?  I recognize that rigor and workload are completely different things.  But I was having such difficulty with rigor due to lack of rreading & comprehension skills, I just piled on work–small tasks to get them to rigor (critical thinking) and honestly, it just didn’t work this year!

Personally, I think this was my worst year of teaching. I didn’t get through even HALF of the curriculum due to scheduling.  I was disappointed in my lack of creativity and differentiation of teaching strategies.  I lectured more this year than last year.  There was less primary source material this year in ALL of my classes and these are the things that make school fun!

Protected: Stuff we aren’t supposed to say

Everything is Bigger in TX, part 2

Thoughts about TX in general:

• Apparently, there is NO shortage of jobs within this state. I don’t understand how teaching jobs could be sooo plentiful in TX?
• Classroom sizes are pretty small and manageable which really helps with classroom management
• Extremely friendly and welcoming people . . . I found that people really like to get to know one another and that southern courtesy is expected if you wanted to be successful here.
• School facilities are maintained well and ARE BEAUTIFUL! Even the old buildings seemed REALLY nice!
• Texans are extremely patriotic to their country and the state.
• Texans are EXCESSIVELY conservative about their politics.  My socialist antics could get me booted.  And what about my emphasis on tolerance?
• Texans are OBSESSIVE about football.  Secretly, I have issues with the sport, like wrestling, I find it barbaric.  A bunch of men hitting and pushing each other over a ball?  (ssshhhh, don’t tell the Texans)

At the end of the visit, I realized:

• The place that I worked is pretty standard for urban public education. Little support, but a lot of criticism.
• I really should make it clear in the interview what type of teacher I am. My philosophy & approach, just so that I am good match for the school. I would not want to mislead anyone about who or what I am.
• I definitely need to work on my portfolio b/c moving is inevitable.

Fears:

• moving alone and being alone.  At least here, when something is really crazy, my mother calls in the cavalry, my aunts and uncles
• financing a move. . . Lord knows, I am not financially ready for a move. Seriously.  Although, I know things would work out in the end.
• Not being “reelected” after the first year b/c I did not “gel” with the school climate

Everything is bigger in TX

This past week, I took a trip to Texas for Spring Break. I needed to see if it was the place for me.  As I started to really think about “thangs,” I needed a chart to organize my thoughts about each place and make sure I am objective and weighing facts.

My Most Memorable Teaching Moment

I’m still pretty young in my career, so when it was suggested I write about my most memorable teaching moment, I couldn’t think of anything-at least nothing major.  I have only been teaching 5 years. . . so, I only have a few small moments that I will never forget

• On the same evening,  in parent teacher conferences, I was hugged by TWO parents.  One asked me could she hug me.  She said that she was so happy that her son had me for the second time in his high school career.  She knew I was a good teacher and that I cared about her son.  The second mom was in her teacher prep program.  She loved my teaching methods.  Everything her daughter brought home, she was using and looking at as an example for her own classroom someday.  Not only that, she appreciate that I weaving in some African American History into her World History course.  Why?  Because she wanted her daughter to be proud of her heritage and that nobody else had EVER given this type of content before.   Both of these interactions with parents meant a lot to me because I was really still doubting myself as a teacher. . . as a professional.  And it was reassurance and appreciation for what I was doing everyday.  . .and solidified the fact that I was doing something right.
• When a Latino student remember the varna system from a previous year b/c of a song he had written in my class.
• A funny:  A student was doing a presentation and had one of those nasty grills in his mouth.  He was going to try and rap with that thing in!  I said “before you present anything to us, take that THING out of your mouth.”  Because he really is a polite & good kid, he took it out, immediately.  But when he did, there was the nastiest and loudest slurp of slobber.  The whole class responded “Ewwwww, that’s disgusting.” Their voices were almost in unison.  I cracked up with laughter.  Class stopped for an entire 5 minutes because I could NOT stop laughing.  This will always be memorable to me because the kids saw me as a person that day, not some meanie . . .and they still come around talking about how hard I laughed that day

Really, someone should ask me this question AGAIN in 10 years. The reality is that my experience is too short to have anything truly life changing  or revolutionary.  However, it was really nice to walk down memory lane.

The Willy Nilly Make Up Policy

In a previous blog post, I went off on a tangent about the makeup work policy. To further understand it, I created a commentary on my districts Make Up Work policy. The podcast went a little longer than I had planned (6 minutes), so here I basic outline of what I have discussed.

1. The district does not have a clear make-up work policy. It varies from school to school, teacher to teacher. However, the district has set a grading floor of 59%. This is to allow for the statistical problems of zeros, give students hope and meet the minimum requirement to attend summer school.
2. At my school, if a child decides they want to pass at the end of the school year, the teacher MUST give the student the opportunity “to meet the standard or acquire the skills.” Even, if it is from the first semester. Students are adopting bad habits of turning work whenever they feel like it. They copy other students work and submit it as their own. What students really want is for teachers to give some sort of make up work packet and a completion grade.
3. So, here is my policy:

• Students may complete makeup work at any point in the year (in accordance w/district policy), however, it must be done in my presence AFTER school.
• I don’t grade classwork. Students only receive a completion grade for it.
• I do grade tests, which may be taken open note & open book after school in my presence or at Saturday school.

My thoughts:

I am torn b/c in college, there is no make up work or latework policy—it just isn’t accepted by most professors. I failed a class in college b/c of this. We need to better prepare them for life after high school.

Dating Game Over

Well, I’ve moved on from dating.  Nothing came of that experience.  It was just something to entertain myself for a bit.  But now, I have to get back to serious things . . .taking control and steering things in the right direction.  It was nice to be distracted from work.  Deep down, I know that I have some work to do and I was only procrastinating.  Although, my dating adventures will make for some really fun posts.

Here are my plans for February:

• To complete the update of my resume.
• Apply for grant to study overseas
• Make a video bio.  I’m not going to pay for the real thing.  I’m taking the idea and doing it up teacher style.
• Get some video clips of me actually teaching in my classroom
• Get some applications and resume
• Work on my online portfolio

I’ve decided that as apart of my job hunt, I’ll be looking at private or suburban schools for middle grades (7-9).   I’d like to continue to teach World History (US is sooo boring, I don’t know how to breathe life into it).  I am not interested in teaching AP unless it is something like Euro.

I say this with all sincerity:  I have reach the point of burnout with my urban school.  Yes, I realize I will have to make adjustments anywhere I go and there will NOT be as much liberty with the curriculum.  I got into teaching to change the world.  To make an impact.  Instead of helping of others, I feel like my spirit is suffocating.  Personally, I think it is a result of this urban area . . .its so hard to see change and very few people ever say thank you.  It is like giving and giving and giving everyday and there is very little to replenish my soul. (Maybe, deep down, I got into teaching to satisfy my narcissism…and maybe therein lies the problem, who knows???) For now,  I am ready to make the trade-off:  teaching freedom for teaching newness

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It is Black History Month. . . and as you all know, I have an AWESOME unit for my World History classes.

• In a few weeks, my school will host the 1st Black History program that we’ve had in years.  I’m coordinating it and extremely nervous about how it will go over.
• Every morning, during the announcements, I have students highlighting notable African Americans

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I’ve also made the goal to do more “learning centers” or “stations” as we approach the end of the school year.  I really don’t use this strategy enough.  It is time consuming to put together, but they are the most awesome learning experiences when supported by connections and review at the end.    Before the end of the year, I am planning to put one together for:

• The Holocaust
• Civil War & Reconstruction (for AAH)
• The Modern Era (conflicts)

Love or Hate

While watching TV show, I heard the following question, “Am I supposed to love this job or hate it?”   Everyone knows I am having the the 5th year blues . . .a co-work suggested that it was just the 5th year dip, a time when you begin to question yourself and educational policies and effectiveness.  According to that teacher, if I return next year, the questions won’t matter, there won’t be righteous indignation, just compliance . . . Can I teach without the passion that accompanies it?

A few tidbits from school:

Earlier this week,  my students approached me about homecoming–3 basketball players.   They asked why I was not coordinating the activities anymore?   I explained that I resigned from the position a year ago. They were upset b/c they felt like this homecoming was going to be lame. They could tell it wasn’t well planned.   “But you did football,” they whined.  I rambled, that I was sucked into football at the last minute b/c the new coordinator claimed she didn’t know what she was doing.   Really, I don’t think my excuse went over well.

Why the boys were so upset with me:   They are actually winning games this year and they feel that homecoming should be a celebration of that.  Needless to say, the boys were pretty disappointed.  And now I feel guilty!  In relinquishing some of my duties, I failed to remember that this type of stuff really matters to kids. To these students, it was me rejecting them, rather than rejecting the job.

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I wrote a textbook post yesterday . . .and I still haven’t decided what I am going to do.   Someone mention in the comments that kids really don’t like book work.  It is the exact opposite here.

Before the Christmas holidays, I had a some students to come in after school to make up quizzes & missing work.  As we were wrapping up to go home, a student asked, “Why don’t you give more book work.”

Shocked, I looked at her , “you want more bookwork?”

“Well, Miss Teacha, it is easier.”

They other kids in the room (honor students) started fussing.  “Girl, are you crazy!  Uh-unh, we don’t want book work.  Miss Teacha, don’t you listen to her.”

We laughed and joked around.  And I promised her more bookwork–I did keep my promise after Winter Break.  We dedicated a day just for bookwork.  I told my classes to thank the student who requested more book work.  They all looked around at each other trying to figure out who made the request, meanwhile I giggled.  I  know it was wrong.

After thinking about the conversation, what I realized is that students would rather do book work b/c most teachers just give them the work and sit down.  They don’t care about senseless chatter.  For the students book work is a time to socialize on top of it being fairly easy & mindless.   Additionally, teachers give book work as make up work, rather than have them do the original assignment.  For example, if we watched a video and had a video guide while you were out, you must make time to come and watch the video and complete the guide.  I do not allow you to just copy someone’s guide and turn it in-I must watch you do the work.   If we did bookwork as makeup work, the  student could just do the work from the book (or copy from someone else).  And, for me, that is not the same learning experience as those who were in class!   I’ll save our school’s willy nilly make up work policy for another post.

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This past week, I realized that I have to SPED (low performing, low skills)  students in my honors classes.  I did not receive an IEP from the SPED department until this past week.   Readers may be asking:  couldn’t you tell?  Yeah, I could tell something was not right and yes, their grades were poor, but I didn’t have time to investigate (seeing as how I have 7 classes, 4 preps, one of which is an AP course and 2 extra curricular clubs).   So, I go to SPED teacher and explain the problem.  She can’t take them out of my class.  She sends me to Assistant Principal, “it is awfully late in the year to do anything about this.  Can you modify to meet the terms of the IEP?”

My response, “Modify an honors level course for lower level?”

“Go back to SPED teacher and come up with some ways to modify”

Are YOU kidding me?  I think.  So at some point during the week, I’ll be meeting with SPED teacher to come up with modifications for an HONORS course–and ya’ll know they are going to ask, why do they get use the book on the test?  And then pulling students out & calling parents to discuss this and fixing the 1st semester grades.

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*sigh*  I guess I can say, it’s both . . .I  love and hate this job!

In Remembrance . . .

I love when Dr. King’s birthday rolls around each year . . .with my students we reflect on the dream, the dreamer and the legacy. I try to remind my students that it was more than just the work of Dr. King that achieved civil liberties for minorities in this country.  No one person can do it on their own, but it was the work of several people:  regular folks and students (their age)  who protested publicly and worked to make equality in this country a norm.  I mention people like Fannie Lou Hamer, SNCC, Stokely Carmichael, WEB DuBois,  Medgar Evers, Diane Nash & Ida Bell Wells.  It was the work of these people in conjunction with Dr. King that changed our country.   I emphasize that students should use the day to serve others,  following the example of Dr. King and other activists.

In response to a question about America today, many kids suggested King would be proud of our AA President.  One of the students pointed out he be especially proud that it was not Blacks who elected him-the population of AAs in the country is not enough to have won the election for him.

At the end of the conversation on legacy, I ask:  “How would Dr. King feel if he walked into our school building at this exact moment?”

An interesting thing happens:  White students raise their hands and say he would be proud and Black students raise their hand say he’d be disappointed.

D said “Well, I think he’d cry.  So many of my friends are African Americans and we have beautiful relationships.”  And she’s right.  I think he’d love to see that!  He would be excited with all of the interracial relationships, friendships and learning he saw in my school.

A responded, “Miss Teacha, I think he’d be disappointed.  It’s not about the black/white relationships.  He would be upset with the Black students.  Look at us, look at how we act at school.  We don’t take education seriously.”  Many Black students raised their hand to agree with her, to add to her comments.  It awed me that the students made these connections without any prompting from me.   It was a very, very good conversation.  And I am impressed that my students realize that there are problems today our communities. . .it made me think about this Boondocks clip (graphic use of the N word & profanity, watch at your own risk).

Overall, I think Dr. King would be proud of our country, even with all of the work left to do.  Happy MLK Day to all!

In Loving Memory of All Who Fought for Equality:

I just never understood

How a man who died for good

Could not have a day that would

Be set aside for his recognition

Because it should never be

Just because some cannot see

The dream as clear as he

that they should make it become an illusion

And we all know everything

That he stood for time will bring

For in peace our hearts will sing

Thanks to Martin Luther King

-Stevie Wonder

Ode to Ms. H. & Interactive Notebooks

I want to send out a SPECIAL thank you to Ms. H of Molding Young Minds.  Yes, my friends, she is a GENIUS!

Oh, Ms. H, you’re genius

What a great help to us teachers

Now I can manage the trenches

Now, My students will  rise like tenors

Okay,  I know I’m not a poet . . .just grateful for her ideas.. .and, hey, I tried!

I have been struggling with kids completing the bellwork, maintaining a decent notebook (a study tool) and just holding onto materials for use at a later time.  And the notebook that they were to complete was not working for me or THEM.  So, this semester, I decided to do a pilot in my AAH classes. At the suggestion of Ms. H, we have been putting together interactive notebooks made from composition books.  And it is working!  Here is the process:

• Students are required to purchase a composition book.
• We’ve made a table of contents out of the first 3 pages.
• During bellwork, the class clerk passes out returns.  We stop for a moment to glue in things together.  It takes about 3 or 4 minutes for everyone to take old stuff paste it.  And, YES, in high school, you still have to teach them HOW to work with glue. *sigh*
• After bellwork, I tell them what we are going to do that day.  We list it on the table of contents.  Students write a note on that page in their notebook to reserve for that item, if it is something that they are turning in for a grade on that day.
• We made a foldable (a mini-book) that will contain ALL of their bellwork for the unit we are studying.  I will take it up at the end of the unit.  Students made a pocket in their composition book to keep their journal (the mini-book)  in!  So, everyday, I say, “Take out your journal, date the next available space and begin today’s bellwork assignment.”
• We made a second pocket in our composition books for VOCABULARY.  For every vocabulary word they are given, students must make an “index card”  from white or construction paper.  The front of the “index card” contains the word & a graphic illustration, the back contains the definition.  We used a paper clip to ensure that “cards” are secure in the pocket.  Also, when  I take them up for a grade, it will be easy to manage.  And now students have a study tool for vocabulary.
• I’ve already started the rightside/left side things.  The first assignment was to create a chart of the African civilizations & then write a poem about it.  So, on the left side, they have glued in the chart and on the right side is their poetry.
• Lastly, I have a place in the classroom where students return their composition books at the end of the hour.  Yes, students leave their notebooks  in the classroom.  Why?  B/c a major source of my problem is they don’t bring their supplies to class.  Many come to class without paper, book or pen–lets not even start talking about that notebook I required.  Basically, they just show up everyday .  AND the best thing of all:  I’ll have QUALITY WORK to show parents during conferences:  “Here is the work Bobby has completed.  Here are all of his graded tests.  He can improve by . . ..”

The response from the kids has been AMAZING.  One student who takes me for both World History and AAH said, “Miss Teacha, why aren’t we doing this WH. This soooo much easier than that big binder you have us keeping up with.”  This has helped me realize that I am TEACHING them organization skills with the composition books!  We’ve only been using them for 2-3 weeks,  so I’ll have to review it again in a month or so and include pictures (here on my blog) to really examine the effectiveness.  And at that time,  I’ll determine if grades and student success improve!

Issues:

• Some students have NOT purchased the composition books I have requested last semester.  I offered extra credit if purchased it before the break and left it in the classroom with me.  Solution:  I will go to Wally World today and purchase about 25 of them.  I will sell them in my classroom for $2.  Why so much? For the students who simply can’t afford it,  I will just give them one.  So, they will purchase for themselves and someone else!  Also, co-teacher is trying out this experiment and has lost over $10 selling composition books to students b/c she didn’t charge them tax and giving notebooks to needy students.

• My student supply and work area has become a MESS!!!  A ROYAL mess!!!  Today, I am going to purchase a storage drawer system to organize the glue, tape, staplers, scissors, construction paper, white paper.  You know a few years ago, Miss CF had a marvelous idea that I will implement next year:  make a class set of student packets with ziplock bags-they will contain all supplies 1 stapler, 1 bottle of glue, scissors, a set of coloring pencils or crayons.   Basically, students pick up their packet and replace it at the end of the hour.  She suggested that I number each packet and the students were to only pick up their packet every day.  If something was missing the next hour, I’d know who to blame.  If I did this, I’d only have to worry about 1 tub of stuff, not a drawer for each type of  craft item.

• I am really NERVOUS  about letting these notebooks leave the classroom, when its time to study for a test or quiz. The whole purpose of this is so students come to class PREPARED and ready to learn.  My students are notorious for not bringing things.  Personally, I think it is their way of avoiding work, who knows?

With the help of Ms. H and these websites, anyone can do it.  Mind you, I have not followed instructions on these websites to the letter.   I have synthesized and mixed it will my own style–what  I am doing is not a true interactive notebook.  But it’s working!

• Overview of Interative Notebooks
• Notebook Wiki
• A Handout
• Ms. Beery’s Handout;  the main site
• AVID Learning Log.  I am using this document to provide reflective questions at the end of the lesson that students respond to in their composition books after completing a lesson.

strike

A friend of mine is on strike . . . after having a conversation with someone, I wondered why teachers in my district didn’t go on strike.  We should.  We have  justification based on current circumstances . . .  This friend reminded me that I needed to look at our contract.  It is in the agreement that teachers can not go on strike or have a work stoppage.  I never imagined myself as person who would say this but . . . .STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE!!!

A co-worker told me I was a rebel. . . I guess I am . . . ..STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE!!!

No one is listening anyway, so on to other things . . . .

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This week, I went to 2 days of professional development.  It reminded me of what I love about teaching.  I love the excitement of doing new things in the classroom and really applying the content to real world situations.    They showed us what they called a “line dance,” where student stand in 2 lines, facing each other and discuss a topic that the teacher poses.  Then, after a bit, the teacher asks the students to shift to the left or right.  And a new question is posed and students respond.  Really, its another way to do “think-pair-share.”

I knew that I just couldn’t have students, stand in a line and having a discussion and they would stay on topic/task.  They needed something to “do.”  So, after returning to school, I tried this with an added dimension of a graphic organizer.  Students had to keep record of their discussions in a graphic organizer/chart.  This was to ensure that they discussed something on topic.  Afterwards, they would have a record of their conversation.  It worked PERFECTLY, even with my 9th graders.  They were excited to get up and do something new.   Instead of making them shift only one person to the left.  I made them shift like 3 or 4 people to the left or right.  It was GREAT!

Issues with the activity:

• Students who are absent for the content portion, do not fair well b/c they don’t know the information/content to participate.  I used it to discuss information from a previous class after they discussed the bellwork.
• Odd numbers:  You’ve got to figure out what you want to do with the odd man out.  You can either become apart of the circle OR you can give the odd man out a special assignment of going around and observing and making sure other students are on task.
• At the training, some middle school teachers suggested that students would not want to work with people partnered b/c of the randomness of the line dance. . . I found the exact opposite in my classroom.  Kids didn’t really care who they were partnered with b/c they had a JOB to do! The only thing that happened when partnered with someone foreign was that students did not hold extraneous conversations with the person.

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I facilitated the regional cohort of World History teachers (meeting).  What I learned:

• I moved too quickly through the material.  I knew this, but it really hit home when I had to go back and review materials with the teachers.  As a solution to this problem, I think that I should begin to present things in threes, fours or fives.  And then take a moment to review.  This is especially difficult in History, but I’ll make it my goal next semester.

I’ve had a cold

I wanted to let everyone know that I appreciate their comments on my previous post.  I can’t believe how my feelings were validated. . .your support means the world to me.  It also helped me realize that I needed to come back to blogging, if nothing else just to purge . . .  to just get the feelings out.  You know, Teachers are the most amazing people in the world!  And I really felt that last night . . .and it made me cry with joy.  LOL!

Today, I went back to school after being out since midday on Monday.  The school nurse has the mandate to send anyone with flu like symptoms home.  I went to the doctor and I was thankful not to have the flu. . .but I had a serious cold.   I’m so disappointed in my approach to teaching this year.

• I have not assigned any projects this school year.  NOT ONE!  I had intention to do David’s rock art project, but it just seems like to much work to create task sheets and rubrics. . . .
• I want to get my students to watch/listen to/read the news more often.  Today I mentioned Obama and Ahmadinejad speaking at the United Nations. . . .they just didn’t know, so my discussion was onesided.  So, I’ve been thinking about making a weekly news assignment. . . some sort of chart–where they must find a major story from each continent and then identify key persons, historical context/background, implications of the event.   Has anyone ever done anything like this before?
• I never imagined how much class time we would lose when converting to the block. . . i feel so behind in everything.  My pacing is seriously off.  I love the additional time, it leaves time for discussion, but I’m really struggling with the lack of content covered.  I need to cover approximately 1 chapter a week. . . .not a section or two each day as I have in the past.  Darn it, I wish I had mapped it out before the year began.
• I’m behind in my grading. . . yuck, I’ll def have to go to starbucks this weekend and just enjoy grading my tail off!

I love teaching!

We had PD today. . .

1. I LOVE DINAH ZIKE!!!  I love PD.  She facilitated our district wide departmental PD today.  OMG, Becky!!!  I am in love.  It was awesome.  Everything I couldn’t figure out in the book, she cleared up today.   And she was so interesting, funny, just delightful.    Today reminded me of  my passion for teaching,  Social Sciences and PD.  I just need to remember moderation. . . everything must be done in moderation!  Ah, I love what I do!
2. I facilitated 2 breakout sessions at our PD today.  I demonstrated foldables  (grading & use), learning stations, graffiti and songwriting.  We had a lot of fun .  . .however, it was difficult to cram all of that stuff into ONE session.  EXTREMELY difficult.  But a lot of teachers thanked me as they left and told me, I’d done a good job (*sigh* validation  that I’m a good teacher.. . I needed that.  Sometimes, you wonder, ya know.)  The trip part was that one of the professors from the local university sat in on my workshop.  I didn’t know who she was or why she was there until she introduced herself.  Apparently, I impressed her.  She took my information and told me she’d be contacting me.  Cool. Hunh?  Especially, if she really does.  In our conversation, she said she’d been bouncing around from session to session to see what teachers were doing/learning.  It helps on their end.   After she arriving to my session, she stayed until the end of the hour.   I wonder if I will get to tell her what I really thought of the teacher prep program there AND what they can do to create better teachers.
3. One thing I realized, I  move too fast when giving direct instruction.  I need to “slow my roll.”  LOL.  I knew that sometimes moved quickly with my students.  Facilitating this class really brought out how fast I move.  A few of the teachers, were like “uhm, can you wait a moment before you move on.”  Some suggested I should of brought handouts of everything I was saying.  HELLOOOO!!! We are in the electronic age.  This year I’m going to include some elements of power teaching . . . maybe that will help me slow down and pause periodically to determine comprehension.
4. Co-Teacher talked with AP after the PD and from what I can tell, we might be repeating our training and my workshop together at a faculty meeting.  Should be interesting.  The staff at My School does NOT like faculty meetings  . . .and PD, “uh-oh.”  We are headed for “danga“.

Love/Hate Relationship

Can a person love and hate what they do at the same time?  Tonight, my facebook status read:

Lord, thank U 4 reminding me of the many folks w/o jobs.  I’m grateful 4 my own, even if its dysfunctional, give me strength & help me hold my tongue.

Teaching is my passion . . .but I’ve never dreaded school like this before. . . so much angst and excitement about the upcoming year.  On the one hand I’m excited because there is a new challenge:  AP World History, new teacher & new students, a chance to start all over again.    However, I am feeling great anxiety over AP World History (b/c its a huge responsibility), lack of organization for Freshman Academy (evidence of that was seen today at our orientation)  and scheduling (b/c its a mess, a huge mess).

It is hard not to be negative when things are going so wrong.  Seriously, the AP tells Freshman students that the schedule is a mess, but only as self-preservation, “its not my fault” . . . why in the WORLD would AP tell students this?  Not a good idea.  AP sets the tone for everything.  The tone was set today and I didn’t like it.   I WILL  maintain control of my students.  Students know when things are ill-prepared.  They were given an inch and they took a mile.

One thing I’ve resolved is that I won’t return next year if I am able to find a teaching job elsewhere, in an city that has a comparable cost of living and pay.  This decision is difficult. . . in some ways I feel like I’m giving up on my students.   I try to rationalize that I am NOT giving up on them; I am giving up on the system.  A system that is failing my students.  My people.  Why can’t  I stay and try to fight or work hard to change it?   I heard somewhere that “the definition of insanity is doing something over and over again expecting different results.”  I feel like I’m doing the same things over and over again and the situation is growing worse and worse!  The results are the same or worse.  I just don’t think I can have the impact that I dreamed I would have in my district. And it disappoints me that I’m giving up.  *sigh*

Reflections on Houston

I really loved Houston. Here is what I’ve been thinking about my experience as whole.

• I felt the same warmth and welcome spirit as I experience here.  .  . I held conversations with the shuttle operators almost every morning, definitely a southern hospitality thing.  Folks are definitely approachable and friendly and helpful in Houston.
• Houston seemed city-like (the hustle & bustle, turnabouts & lots of activity and things to do), but still “slow” enough for the likes of me
• It seems as though Texas as a state really invests in education.  They take education seriously.  Maybe, I’ve only heard the good, but I saw David’s school up close.  I listened to conversation from my classmates.  And I’ve seen pictures of Kary’s school.  Education, specifically, social studies, is taken very seriously in Texas
• The food is good.  Good food is always a perk.  (Although, my “therapist” might disagree).   My experience with TexMex rocked.
• The cost of living is comparable to where I live now.  I know that I could make ends meet and enjoy a similar standard of living.

Concerns/Questions left after leaving:

• Houstonians drive worse than the people here!  They are speed racers and very aggressive. The roads are crazy bumpy. Would Goldie (my car) be able to handle it?  But I haven’t looked into the accident rates and numbers there . . .maybe I would fit in pretty good with the drivers there, remember, I have had 4 accidents w/in one year’s time. *sigh*
• How easy would it be for me to assimilate and make friends?  I read a quote the other day that said something like, “to have friends, one must first be a friend.”  I’m definitely learning how to just put myself out there to meet people.  In Texas, I’d have to let the shyness go to really make it my home.  There may even be some single men down there. . . .yaahooo!!!
• I need to check out the Dallas metro area before I make any decisions.   The people who came up from Dallas were interesting and I’d like to know more about that city.  I made a great friend who teaches at an all girl charter school down there.  She was amazing and everything she told me about her school was fantastic.  She took my card and we traded info.  Her school is still fairly new but as they expand they are going to have a need for more teachers.
• The competitive nature of teacher jobs there.   Is it highly competitive?  Would my TX certification need to be complete before I could accept/be offered a job there?  What should I begin doing to make myself marketable and attractive to potential employers?
• Texas/American Pride!  OMG, Texans are extremely patriotic.  They love their country and their state.  I heard over and over from people things like:  Would not want to live any where else.  They also recite the state pledge EVERY SINGLE DAY in the schools.   Long time readers of this blog definitely know, I have twisted feelings about this country.  I love it and hate it at the same time.  Could I make it down there with my liberal ideology?

There are definitely a lot of things that I need to think about,but I know I’m ready to move on.  And I hate to leave my students here and I dread giving up AAH, but I think this is all for the best.

I wanted to share some of my pictures from David’s school, but it was taking to much time to upload them individually. (You can check out the album here, with mine and David’s comments)  OMG, it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life.  I would give my right arm to teach there.  It seems like an absolutely wonderful place.  They embrace technology.  Student population is diverse.  And they value Social Studies (they don’t seem like the poor, mistreated step-children, although that works in my favor here.)

A lot of big decisions to make in my future.  I’ll blog more about strategies tomorrow.

AP World History at Rice

I’ve been procrastinating writing this post.  Maybe, it was because it all needed to soak in. I know that the Rice Institute will revolutionize the way that I teach, not just AP, but every course that I teach.  It was completely new approach to teaching Social Studies skills.  The most valuable things I received from the course:

• Strategies for teaching primary sources.  I have used primary sources in my teaching, but I don’t ever think helped students to analyze them well. Helping student analyze primary sources will help in retention of the content.
• Process of critical thinking.  Our instructor stressed over and over and over again:  PROCESS NOT PRODUCT.  He believes that kids need to be engaged in critical thinking skills.  Yes, he teaches content; however, teaching the process of thinking is more important to him.  As a teacher in an urban district, the process of thinking has not been emphasized in PD because we are concerned with “meeting the students where they are” and “preparing them for the test.”  I am so tired of people telling me that my bellwork should be test prep materials.  To me, this is all about low expectations. I feel a rant coming on and it is not the topic of this post!
• The importance of integrating/discussing current events year round.

Here are 5 strategies that I learned that I will add to my teaching repertoire this fall:

1. TWEDYADWTS. He called them TWEDYS. Basically each day during bellwork students copy down a quote and answer the question: To What Extent Do You Agree/Disagree with the Statement? However, I will have student try to summarize what it means in their own words before answering how they agree or disagree. I’ve had my students look at quotes before in bellwork, but I usually give them a ton of questions to answer. No more, this simplifies the entire process. Also, students can guide the discussion. He never gives them his opinion on the quotes and this is a truly student led process.
2. Law and Order Approach to Writing. Students study the evidence provided and defend their perspective as they would before a jury.
3. Matching in Assessments. Students are given to terms and they are required to discuss in paragraph how the two items are similar/different. I did this for a lot of my exams in college. I think my fear in doing this in a high school classsroom is the numbers of papers that have to be graded by me.
4. Why? When students ask questions in his class, he often restates the question and make it a large group discussion. According to the instructor, students need to begin to analyze things for themselves instead of just getting answers to the questions they ask. Sometimes, he just asks why?
5. OPTIC to analyze graphics. OPTIC = Overview, Parts, Title, Interrelations, Conclusion. First student should write an overview of what they see in the photo. Then, students should can examine it by pointing out: Parts, Title and Interrelations. Next, students write a conclusion of what they see. Lastly, students must write questions for the graphic. Basically, they answer: If in an interview, what additional questions would you ask the graphic?

I’ll share more of what I’ve learned tomorrow.