A compliment of sorts

I was out of school on Thursday of last week for Professional Development.  I decided to make it into a long weekend and made an appointment with a specialist/surgeon on Friday.  I returned to school with a note from the sub saying that my students were well behaved-made me VERY happ-and the following conversation:

“Miss Teacha, what was that work you left us on Thursday?”  Student O was referring to the guided reading I have left behind.  “It was really hard . . . It was just busy work, wasn’t it?”

“No, it wasn’t busy work.  It was actually reading that you needed to complete.  You will be using the information to do an assignment later this week.”

“It was long and it was a whole chapter.  It was hard.”

After class was over, there was another student staying after to make up an assignment from earlier in the semester.

I prompted her, “Tell me, what was it really like?  Was there a lot of conversation and noise?”

“Naw, Miss Teacha, everybody was working really hard on the assignment. Really, the only thing you heard was, ‘I can’t find number 22.  Can somebody help me with 15.’ Outside of that everyone was really quiet.”

“Wow, was the assignment that difficult?”

“It wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t easy either.  It wasn’t one of the readings where you just copy the information from the textbook.  We actually had to read the text, comprehend it and then answer.”

“Oh, good!  Ya’ll read the textbook!  Exactly, what I wanted!”  I beamed.  She gave me a quizzical look.

Poor thing, she just didn’t understand why I was so excited.

People are so against book work because it requires students to regurgitate or copy information  Nope, not my book work. My questions require students to demonstrate they comprehend and can apply the information.  I don’t give many bookwork assignments in my AAH class-actually, this was the first!  I am really excited about how successful it was.  The goal was to prep them with the content needed to complete a foldable later this week.  The foldable will demonstrate everything we have been discussing & seeing (through the film, Roots)  about the Middle Passage and the Atlantic Slave Trade.

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A student of mine was telling me about a documentary he saw on the discovery channel a few weeks ago about Hindu funerals /widow burnings.  He said the show had something to do with human sacrifices.  I have looked everywhere to find the title of the program so that I could see it and possibly use it in my class.  Did anyone see this back in January?  If so, do you remember the title of the program?  Thanks for your help.

African Civilizations Lesson

I am revamping my AAH lessons this year-just a little.  I want to lecture less and have students create more of their own learning.  So, last night I edited my lesson plan on the Ancient Civilizations of Africa to include jigsaw reading and a spoken word cafe.

The new lesson looks something like this:

1. Bellwork of new vocabulary:  Monarchy & Patriarchy  (these are words that students will encounter in the reading
2. Students JigSaw the textbook on 4 major African civilizations.  It amounted to about 2-3 paragraphs a piece.
3. Students work as group to complete a chart describing the social structures, culture, politics, economics and demographics of each civilization.
4. After students has completed the chart and shared information, they are to create a rhyme/spoken word about the rich heritage in Ancient Africa.
5. Students will perform their rhyme/spoken word and be graded according to the rubric.

It was nice to not talk.  This lesson worked REALLY well in my classes today.  Students did not like the reading part.  However, they LOVED the idea that they would be writing rhymes- in my honors class, it was groaning and in the regular classes, there was actual cheering.  (I am always amazed at how much my students LOVE to perform)

I made it a point to put all low level readers 5ths in the groups so that there would be back ups.  Unfortunately, this lesson will take two class periods, much longer than I expected because it took them a while to complete the charts. To summarize and debrief Africa, on Friday, I will ask students to draw conclusions about Africa BEFORE the slave trade.

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I’ve edited a couple more of my student’s review songs. Again, these kids crack me up.  You can tell we had a lot of fun that day!  As I edit the videos we are watching them back in class (watching about 1 per week b/c I am really slow) and the students ARE LOVING IT!  They love seeing themselves on camera.

The password is the same as the last video:  review

China & Rome from Miss A on Vimeo.

Personal issue turned into a lesson

I did some planning today for AAH–West African culture. I’ve been searching ALL of YouTube trying to find a good African griot performance in English or with subtitles.  While searching for it, I ran across this.  I was sucked into it b/c what she said described me:

It reminded me that this past year, my students wrote lifted line poetry.  I know I was supposed to post it.  Just never got around to it.  Maybe I’ll get around to it this summer.    Anyway, I realized that these def poets are contemporary griots.  I make my students complete griot presentations  separate from their introduction to the class. . . this year, I am changing it.  Instead, they can choose any format:   def poetry, music or rap (despite my disdain for the art form), to present themselves to the class.  I may even allow some groups to form for their presentation.

Amazing, how stuff that interests you personally can turn into a wonderful lesson.

A working summer

Plans for the summer:

1. Complete AP training
2. Teach summer school to end in June
3. Lose at least 20 lbs by working out everyday and eating healthy
4. Study/Complete at least the lecture portion for the 1st semester of AP World History and AAH.
5. Spring clean my home, again.  I hope that I can purge some of this paper that seems to build up over the course of a year.

Students were asked  to complete the following statement in their reflections, “If I could create an assignment, I would . . . “   Here are the responses of my students with my comments in italics:

• Group assignment & then we would discuss or let the groups teach the class.
• Have everyone act as teacher to see what they have learned & are capable of doing.
• Listen to a favorite artist and let the class write a reflection.
• Let us pick our a partners (maybe, I’ll give more opportunities in the future.  I just don’t like kids picking the same people all the time.  It bothers me.)
• Play world history monopoly
• Make a poster on religion (NOPE. Unless you wrote an analysis to go along with it)
• Nothing-”sleep now, work later.” “it is a fun class without rules.” “just talk until its time to go” (You wouldn’t believe how many students said this. I think it is quite an adjustment to come to my class and WORK THE ENTIRE HOUR.)
• Make a fun movie on one subject that the whole class helps on.
• Create an assignment about family traditions (maybe, this is an idea. It can be done with our discussion of culture at the beginning of the year. BTW, this came from the student who hated my class & the girl whose mother cussed me out!)
• Continue worksheets
• Scrapbook of what your school year was like (I don’t know what objectives this would accomplish & it would be another project. I guess I could do it as a portfolio. What the students don’t realize is that it must include a reflection/analysis component.)
• A project dealing with the Holocaust
• Go online to see some samples or suggestions (I don’t get this. Maybe she’s telling me, I need to find more stuff internet. I translate this as “I’m not a teacher, you do your own work. Go online and get it yourself.”)
• Crossword puzzles (Baby work!)
• Have a field trip
• Every Friday would be movie day. (Nah, won’t happen)
• Make a skit about the political cows. (I like this idea)
• More African American History
• Debate with affirmative & negative teams. (I actually have a lesson plan for the structure of this. The problem is I haven’t figured how to make this work for such large groups. Maybe have several topics & have groups prep for the arguments)
• Create a docudrama of WWI
• Class collage project to display what we have learned.

I like a lot of these ideas and I’ll definitely come back to them.  The ones that I’ll actually implement:

1. Doing more with the political cows, skits sound good, but I wonder if I could do something else with them.
2. I’ll definitely include listening to music and reflection.  The poor student who recommended this probably didn’t realize that it’s going to mean a lot more writing.
3. Some sort of scrapbook/summative analysis.

What I realize is that my class is going to include more and more writing.   I think strong writing skills are important and kids will on get better through practice.   I think student’s will probably have a piece of writing due every Friday–on block schedule, it’ll work out to 1 every two weeks–current event essays, random acts of kindness, community service reflections, projects & their reflections.  Yep, the writing has been “kicked up a notch.”   They are not going to like it.  My problem:  getting it all read!   *sigh*

Movin’ Day

Inspired by Speaking of History, my students completed their common craft videos earlier this week–the rubric.  Considering there was a 2 day turn around on these, my students did pretty well.  Next year, I’ll give more time.  And the lighting was “off” or weird during these productions.  I didn’t realize it until after we’d filmed and I’d started editing.  Anybody know about lighting?  Can you offer suggestions.

I’ll post the best of these this week, starting with this one on the Holocaust. The password is: common

Holocaust Common Craft Video from Miss A on Vimeo.

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In other news I’m packing up my classroom and it’s movin day tomorrow.  Here is what my classroom looked like at the beginning of the school year.

After I had taken everything down & the shades were down, all the kids walked into my room saying things like:  “Miss Teacha it’s depressing in here” or “It’s so dark in here.”  Funny, b/c we lived most of the year with the shades down, so the projection system could work well.  Well, I had to let the shades up.  Here is what my classroom looked like at the end of the day:

Teaching Strategy: Graffiti Walk

Lesson Plan:  United Nations

For the last two weeks, I’ve been setting up the genocide in Rwanda.  To do this we talked about Africa, its demographics, practices of the people and imperialism.  However, before we got into the discussion of what happened in the case of Rwanda,  I decided that I need to the students to understand the United Nations, its role in world conflicts, the security council and the Declaration of Human Rights.  I wanted students to understand what the Declaration of Human Rights ensures.  We didn’t have time in class to read it allow and discuss it. To diversify instruction, I decided to do a graffiti walk (I learned this at FHAO & Mrs. D talked about it at the beginning of the school year) .   Here is how it worked.

1. Before the activity, post large pieces of butcher block paper around the room (for the UN Declaration it was 9 pieces)  Beside each poster I place a sheet with a couple of articles from the Declaration of Human Rights.  Each poster will have different articles beside it.
2. Students are divided into groups and assigned to a poster.
3. Instructions are given to students:  You are to read the articles beside your poster, discuss what it means with your group.  Once you’ve decide what it means, create graffiti on the poster that explains/simplifies your article. Graffiti includes words, pictures and funky writing.   Your graffiti should answer the questions:   What does the article mean?  What rights does this article protect? Ways this article impacts you?
4. Remind students that they will only spend 2-3 minutes a their poster.  Therefore, they should use their time wisely.  Each group should be given colored markers.
5. Tell students to begin.  Set the timer for 3 minutes.  Students should begin reading, discussing, writing and drawing.
6. When the time, is up tell students to shift to the left.  (I take this opportunity to sing Beyonce’s “To the Left.“  It’s funny more than anything.  If you not bold enough to sing, play the beginning of the song in a loop).  Instruct students, they are to read the article, read their previous students graffiti.  Here is the KEY:  tell students to COMMENT ON THE PREVIOUS STUDENTS GRAFFITI while adding their own.  Place 3 minutes on the timer.  Tell students to begin.
7. When the timer goes off, sing “To the Left.”  Repeat instructions from step #6.  Let students rotate as much as time allows.  I usually rotate about 5 times.  By the 3rd rotation, I only put 2 minutes on the timer.  The time gets shorter and shorter with each rotation(b/c students feel they have less to add and then it become social time).  By the 5th rotation, students are only at a station for 1 minute.
8. When there is 10-15 minutes left in class, I have groups down to complete the following T-Chart summarizing their findings.  They are welcome to get up to revisit a graffiti poster if they need more information.  I also have a print out of the Declaration of Human Rights for each group to use.
9. Afterwards, we debrief.  We discuss what these articles mean for citizens of the world.

Every class I’ve ever done this with loves it.   When I used it in the FHAO class, they are used to co-teacher, not me, a senior angel said, “I really liked this Miss Teacha.  It was so much fun.”  Student’s have learned the UN and Declaration of Human Rights in fun and low pressure way.  I even used this once with my dreaded 7th period AND they ROCKED IT!   I really wish that I had pictures to show.  Next week, we’ll be using the graffiti walk to review for exams (I’ll try to remember to video & take pictures).  This strategy can be used with anything that can be divided up into several mini-topics.

Not complaining . . .

Just stating fact . . . I said I wasn’t going to complain to principal.  I’m just going to pray about it.

So, remember over a month ago I asked about teaching AP World History to avoid being apart of Freshman Academy.  Well, I ended up being on Freshman Academy anyway.  I thought that being apart of Freshman Academy preempted me teaching AP World.  My understanding was that Freshman Academy teachers would only teach Freshmen.  The Academy was going to be in a separate wing of the building in which ONLY Freshmen would be allowed and Freshmen would be shipped out at the end of the day for their electives.  Therefore, it would be impossible to teach AP World History.

So, about a week ago, I filled out my course preference sheet.  I requested to teach World History for Freshman (a requirement of the academy) and AAH.  Today, the student’s  course selection sheet came out for teachers to proof.  AP World is being offered.  Now, I know I didn’t put it on my request sheet.  And I KNOW, nobody else will or can teach it–as dept chair I know what the deal is. . . So, I go to Curriculum AP and ask about it.  I’d requested initially so it was expected that I really wanted it.  I explained why I thought I it wasn’t going to be offered.  I was told register for the that Summer AP workshop, recruit students to take AP World and don’t complain.  Now, I have 4 preps, 3 per semester.  (b/c not only am I teaching AAH, I’ll be teaching FHAO, the course that precedes it-came from a separate conversation w/Principal a week ago).   Seriously, I think this overload and it’s my fault.

After leaving the office, what I decided was:  I’m not going to recruit AND pray that the course doesn’t make b/c of low enrollment; don’t register for the summer workshop until I find out the enrollment. . . .if I have to teach it; I’m going to spend my summer preping, but the big issue is I won’t have the course materials until the END of the summer–which is really scarey.  Co-Teacher didn’t get her AP materials until like the 2nd term of the school year b/c of budget crisis, etc.

Honestly, I would love to teach the class and I think it would be a FABULOUS class with FABULOUS students, but 4 preps, maybe 5 b/c of  Freshman academy. . . . I’m just not sure!  It is too much.  I’m a good teacher, but I’m not Wonder Woman!  I’ve already began to think of ways to make it all work–watered down versions of AP  content for regular World. . . .make sure that I’ve finish the entire of year of planning for FHAO and AAH before school year starts  . . . and build AP World as we go along through the school year. . . .use all my materials from this year & previous to teach the regular World and don’t add anything new or extremely adventurous. . . do A LOT of overlapping.

*sigh*

Limited activity

Well, the snow has limited our activities here in Washington.  I’m slightly disappointed, but I’m still having a nice time, so far.  The roads are sooo messy here.  When you drive on them, it feels like you’re driving oover rocks.  Therefore, we can’t really do too much until the snow melts a little.  We may even be stuck inside on Christmas.  We had made dinner plans for Christmas, but Momma and I went to the grocery on yesterday,  just in case the snow gets worse.   So, we may have to cook dinner here instead of accepting the Christmas dinner invitation.  This is the part that sucks . . . b/c I really want to get out and about.

Also, snow is much like rain, as far as sinus’ are concerned.  Everytime it rains in My City, I get a sinus pressure headache.  Well, gosh darn it, everytime its supposed to snow, I get a pressure headache, too. Yesterday, I spent most of it laying down b/c I couldn’t function with the pressure headache.  When I first got here, I asked Momma right away about sinus pressure, etc.  She said she had no problems.  I was upset and blamed her for my headache yesterday–it’s almost crippling–the headache.   I am so glad I brought my meds; otherwise, I wouldn’t even be able use the computer.  I’m good, now!

So, since I’ve been stuck inside, I’ve been working. . . yes, I’ve been working on school stuff.

• I’m trying to solidify somethings for the course I’m co-teaching.  We want to add a service learning component to the course.  I’ve been Google-ing schools who have required it as a graduation requirement.  Now, I have pretty good idea of how I want to structure it.  We think that civic engagement/service is important to our curriculum and thank goodness SS standards call for it.  I’ll remind my students over and over again, that the service they do will help them when it comes time to apply to college and for scholarships.  I know that “service” will be inconvenient and I worry that students won’t “get it.”  But we are going to try it anyway.   I have to come up with a list of things we can do at the school to accommodate those who can’t do outside stuff (like serving a classroom teacher).   I’m open to suggestions and ideas . . .
• Okay, I’m terrible. . . and I didn’t do what was asked by my Principal.  At the beginning of the year, at orientation we told that lesson plans needed to be turned in weekly.  I didn’t turn mine in.  As a matter of fact, I didn’t really do them.  Now, I had plans and I taught EVERY day. . .however,  they were never written down in the format required by the district (it’s not a practical/usable format.)  At the last faculty meeting about 3 weeks ago, Principal addressed this, teachers had not been turning in lesson plans.  Principal said they needed be turned in ASAP. .   Co-Teacher was guilty of the same thing and b/c she is “superteacher,” she went home and chucked out the entire semester’s lesson plans and submitted them the next day.  Well, at that point I was already stressed and dealing with a lot of other things.  I said I’d make them up during the break.   My theory was  “Principal knows I’m teaching everyday!”   Well, I’m working on them, now.  It’s such a headache!    I have a couple of things on my “to do” list . . .but the most important is lesson planning for at least a month after the break b/c I don’t want to be in this situation again.
• While my students were working on my songs, I thought about the fact that many hate working in groups–thank you Nancy.  Mainly its  b/c the entire group gets credit for the product and not everyone contributes.  Honestly, its not fair.   I wanted a form for feedback and so I could question and determine the individual grade of the participants.  This is what I came up with  . . . after I merged several things I found online.  It worked well and I learned a lot about the groups and how they functioned b/c most students were very honest.  Students were NOT in groups when completing this form.  Instead, they completed them in their assigned seat for bellwork.  They folded them and then I took them up individually.  I made out like it was a “secretive” process.  Students told ALL.  I was really shocked.  Now, I’ve just got to figure out how use this information for evaluating students individually.

Here is the form I created.  If you can’t read it click here. Comments and suggestions are WELCOME . . .

Group Evaluation

Changing somethings . . .

After an email conversation with one of my online colleagues, I realized that I needed to change my password for my protected posts.  The change is necessary b/c I want to make want to trust that my “freedom of speech” does not get me fired before I want to actually leave. I really want to talk about what is going on with me, but I’m really scared.   I may even let this blog address go and start something completely new in the spring.

However, I decided that I am going to to talk more openly about my issues with depression and weight.  So basically, this blog will become more personal except for the occassional mention of “successful” lessons.

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I’ve been teaching Islam and Muslim achievements in World History.  I LOVE this unit.  It stimulates discussion.  Actually, we used a video from Oprah to discuss Muslim women in America.  The lady Oprah interviewed said that dating is not something typically done by most Muslims.  And that “talking” was used to see if there was a potential for marriage. (Imagine the student uproar) She said that she never had conversations alone with her husband before she married him.  Her mother was always on the phone or in the room.  (HUGE UPROAR from the students).  But definitely got discussions rolling and the students were actually engaged in lecture and notetaking for a change.

Continuing Education

I have learned this week:

1. BACK UP  Digital GRADEBOOKS AFTER EVERY UPDATE!!!!
   I lost part of  my digital grade book on Thursday during 7th period.  My students were working.  So, I sat down to do some update on the grade book.  I accidentally copied one class to another’s spread sheet in Easy Grade Pro.  There was NO WAY to undo.  I almost shed tears in the middle of class.  I had updated their records on Sunday that night using filezilla so I had their web reports on my computer.  I printed out 34 web reports and had my Student Assistant reenter all of their grades into the computer.  Everything that was in the return basket had to be reentered as well.  However, I know I had updated some of their records in other ways, too.  And I simply don’t have the data to update these records.  If they have missing assignments, I can’t hold it against them b/c it was my fault–my error.  So, when a student recognizes a missing assignment and says they turned it in I’m going to have to trust them b/c they  don’t keep up with things the way that I’ve asked them too and I didn’t back up.
2. Hand-on activities take a lot of planning and set up time.  And can cause exhaustion.  Yesterday, I decided to do a station rotation to close out our unit on Ancient Egypt.  Each station was designed for 7 minutes of activity and the idea was to reinforce concepts taught in class about the Egyptians. In groups the students:  built a pyramid, put together a timeline, completed a Venn Diagram, listed to Walk LIke an Egyptian, watched a short video on Egyptian religion and wrote their name in hieroglyphics.   I don’t know if I really reinforced things, but the kids liked it.  And talked about it outside of class and other teachers told me they had heard about it.  To plan this activity:  it took about 2 hours to accumlate all of the pieces and make the handouts.  It took about 30 minutes to set up the classroom.  By the end of 5th period, I WAS EXHAUSTED. 7th Period Listened to me lecture and took notes.  Mhmm.  That leads me to my next point
3. Kids are exhausted and tired and want to go home at the end of the day.  Yesterday, one of my 7th period students stayed late.  I took this opportunity to question him about his and the whole class’ behavior.  His words were, “We’re just tired and don’t feel like listening anymore.”  So basically by the end of the day, the kids want to do what they WANT to do.  And that does not include learning World History.  At the end of the conversation, I left thinking my class is awful b/c they’ve had ENOUGH of school.  What can I do to resolve this?  All I want them to do is follow procedures and rules and STOP asking to go to the bathroom.  I want them to stop yelling out at one another.  I want them to do their warm up without asking a dozen different questions that don’t relate.  I want them to listen.  But they don’t want to b/c they are ready to go home.  How in the world do I fix this?
4. Student Teachers are funny and optimistic and shocked by the real classroom.   Yesterday, my mentor’s student teacher came to observe my class.  She has to see other teachers during her stint at my school and write reports on her observations.  She makes me laugh b/c she’s so optimistic.  Also, b/c I don’t understand how she could take 3 pages of notes while observing me.  Could my class have that much stuff going on in it?  3 pages?  We didn’t do that much.  LOL!!!  I love her dearly and she’s so sweet, but 3 pages?  I think she’s a bit of perfectionist and is always seeking an A or extra credit.  Hoooooney, if she only knew.  (Can you hear the southern drawl?) In undergrad, I just wanted a C. And even with me doing school online. . . I just do enought to pass, nothing extra. I AM NO OVERACHEIVER!!!   I like to be good and average.
5. Don’t do extra things (specifically, stuff with technology or non traditional)  and let other teachers find out about it.  It makes them look bad.  It earns you a spanking.  Then they expect you to help them.  Or lead an inservice.  I’m tired now.  I’ll talk more about this tomorrow b/c I want to take a nap.

Teachers really do have lives!

I know that I haven’t posted in a while because I’ve been enjoying summer vacation. I was told by a colleague that I shouldn’t feel pressured to write, just to enjoy my summer right now. I’ve got plenty to write about, but just haven’t made time to sit down and write. I’ve been hanging out with my friends and trying to get my “life” in order. Most teachers understand the chaos that is created around one’s home when school is in session. So, I’ve been trying to “unchoas” my life. It’s fun getting to know me again and just doing things the way that I want to do them.

Apart of taking care of this chaos is dealing with my weight issue, exercising and eating better. I want to document what I am doing, but I need “techie” help. I’ve been trying to set up a new page on my wordpress blog that will allow me to make posts. However, it seems that all I can do is make a new page and just add text. I want to make posts. . .like this main page. . . .frustration has hit an all time high!

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Before I took my hiatus, I promised that I would show how I complete my weekly lesson plan form. I am so sorry for the delay, but I wanted to compile several into one document and remove my name as well as traces of my district’s name. I don’t know that I’ve presented my best work here, being that I lost part of my documents when my computer crashed during the first semester. For World History, click here. You can click here for the African American History. When I finally get myself together this summer to start working on next year, I publish more of my lesson plans, etc.
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I thought I could slip away from cheer with no worries, but I received a few phone calls regarding cheer business. Of course I didn’t answer them. Instead, I changed my outgoing message on my voicemail to say the following:

I can’t take your phone call. . . .(you know the standard phone message stuff) . . . If this phone call is regarding cheer, you will need to call the school and leave a message for your new cheer adviser. Any phone calls or messages left at this number will not be returned. Have a great summer!

Shortly after my outgoing message changed, I received the following email from the captain.

Hey Miss. A, How have you been enjoying your summer? I am e-mailing you regarding the summer schedule for the 2008-2009 My School Cheer Squad.The following are issues of concern:
*The finalization of camp dates and clothing (location & scheduling the meeting with a varsity rep)
*The parent meeting: I feel parents should know what is expected behavior wise and finanicially
*The dates and times for practices (last year there was a blackout period, jobs,vacations,etc)
*Planning ahead is critial to our success Co Captain and I would like to get together to discuss these things with the advisor and you.
By planning ahead allows our squad an opportunity for a good and success year!! Thank you for all your assistance and support.

I didn’t respond to it. I just, sort of, ignored it. Well, this week her mother followed up with this email.

Good Afternoon Miss A,
I wanted to follow-up w/you regarding the itinerary for the summer. I know you have handed off the Patton, but I feel the girls have not taken off to a good start because of the delay in planning. Is it possible to get together to discuss camp and camp wear, as well as practice for the summer so that it can be presented to the squad. Cheer Captain has been getting a lot of call from members of squad wanting to plan their summer around practice and camp.
I really appreciate any time you may have to provide to his manner.

I felt like no one had truly gotten the hint that I’m finished. I sent the following email.

Mrs. Parent:

You are correct; I am no longer the cheer adviser. The new cheer adviser, Mrs. Former Cheerleader, can be contacted by email at __________ or by leaving a message for her at the school. I have forwarded your email and contact information to her for follow up. I’m sure that she will appreciate your diligence and enthusiasm in planning the year’s upcoming activities. In the future, please contact Mrs. Former Cheerleader directly with regard to Cheer matters.

Best Regards,
Miss A

I sent a copy to the activities AP, so that she would be aware of the situation.

I felt like this message was a bit rude. It was Miss CF helped me with the text of this email. Her rationale was that I need to be firm and seem unapproachable-like a principal or someone in authority.. . . kind of a nice way to say don’t bother me anymore. I explained her that I would help the new advisor with minimal advice, but I didn’t want to deal with the day to day stuff, students or parents. According to Miss CF, if sent this email, it would be strong message that I am finished and they need to leave me alone.

More questions answered . . .

Kary has asked the following:

Who or what keeps your grounded? If you had to choose another career what would it be or if you could do it all again, knowing what you know now would you still be a teacher?

Um, Kary, haven’t you noticed, I’m not really grounded. I’m really high strung. I REALLY thought my blog showed how crazy and off balance I am. Remember, all of the nerve pills that I talk about? Anyway, I believe that my faith is one of major things that keeps me “stable,” especially since I haven’t had a “nerve” pill since December.

Knowing everything I know, I would still be a teacher. I would do things differently, of course. And I wouldn’t have changed my major so many times. If I had it to do over again, I really believe that I would have probably stuck with middle school. I teach my 9th grade classes on a middle school level and I love it. I also think it makes things simple for the students. Being a teacher is the greatest experience ever and I wish that it hadn’t taken me so long to get to where I am . . .. urrrgggghhhh.
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***Discussion Time***

I was sent an email with the following question, but I want ever one to chime in and give this teacher in training practical advice about lesson & unit planning:

Do you do unit plans in addition to lesson plans? You can post this also if you want. I’m curious because it seems like the focus is on lesson plans vs unit plans. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m wondering if it’s possible to do fancy unit plans AND lesson plans. Is there a way to combine the two a little? I find the unit plans really helpful to get that holistic view, but they take a ton of time and don’t get you into the lesson..

I do not do unit plans in addition to lesson plans. I am a weekly lesson planner. I typically use a lesson plan format that a co-teacher found online. She showed me her lessons in that were done in this format and I fell in love with it. It is simple but comprehensive. I have modified this form so that where the subjects are there are different days of the week. I feel like this lesson plan form does combine the lesson plan and unit plan to be used weekly.

My school uses an online system for lesson planning AND I ABSOLUTELY detest it. So, I have continued to use this form. And I cut and paste the activities of my lesson plan into the online system. And then I attach this form to the online document. It appears that my principal & dept chair have been satisfied by this, in that they haven’t said I needed to make corrections.

As far as unit plans are concerned, I don’t do them. To get a holistic view, I sit down with the chapter or topic I’m covering and I make a list of mini topics I’d like to cover during the unit. And then I begin my weekly lesson plan.

How do you lesson plan? Do you use a weekly lesson plan form? A unit plan? Do you use some sort of daily lesson plan? Please share with us how you plan for the lessons you teach.

Lesson Planning

A colleague sent me an email asking me about the time I spent lesson planning. Here is the specific question:

I have a question for you, do you still spend time on lesson planning? I’m wondering if teachers do this for the first couple of years and then just re-use what they have or whether it is feasible to update and keep improving lessons. When you have a chance to respond, I would be quite interested in what you have to say (or post for others to respond also).

My response:

YES, YES, YES! You will always spend time lesson planning, no matter how many years you’ve taught. I am not an expert, but those who do not spend any time lesson planning are probably not doing much teaching. What I think is at the heart of your question is: About how much time do you spend lesson planning? Now this is a challenging & complicated question. On average I would say I spend about 3-5 hours lesson planning per week, but this is only my 3rd year teaching. You may ask: Why do I spend so much time lesson planning, which all of the ancillaries provided by the textbook and reuse of stuff from my first two years?

• My district has implemented a new lesson plan form and procedures; therefore, everything that I have done in the past needs to be adapted and centered around their NEW requirements. This takes at least an hour to get together.
• My first year I was a terrible teacher, I don’t think that I was effective in the classroom. The materials that I created need to be improved. So during my lesson planning time, I am pulling out old things and making them better. Also, there was very little instructional variety, so there is very little that I feel is useable.
  
• I have an organization problem that I am working to correct. During my first two years of teaching, I was still working to figure out my classroom management style and how to organize things effectively for students and myself. This is still an issue. As a result of my lack of organization, I sometimes have to search for things to use. However, it is my plan that by the end of the summer, I will have all of my things organized into binder according to the term. I am convinced that this will make lesson planning a breeze next year. However, we will be getting new textbooks, so this could be a bust!!! LOL. HINT: Keep your stuff organized as you go along & then this won’t be a problem.
• I am teaching new stuff. Last year, I didn’t teach the Holocaust & my curriculum wasn’t organized/set like it is this year. Therefore, I must spend time creating materials needed for this lessons. This includes lectures notes, questioning, tests, games. . .
• I am always trying to find new ways to teach concepts. So as I try new strategies, I often have to create worksheets, games or materials needed for the lessons. I consider this time apart of my lesson planning.

I thought that the question was a good topic for discussion for all of those currently teaching. So, I pose this question to all teacher’s currently teaching. Please give this preservice teacher an idea of what it is like for you to lesson plan. How much time do you spend? How is to lesson plan after several years of teaching? What can this teacher do to make lesson planning easier?  What can I do to decrease the amount of time spent lesson planning?   I’m sure we all have wisdom that will be of great value to those “in training”?

Where have I been?

I have been busier than a dog with flees!!! 

•  I’ve been trying to catch up on paperwork.  I feel like I’m drowing in it.  Failure reports, lesson plans, parental contacts, conferences. . . it never ends.  But, I have learned to organize myself a little better for it.
• We’ve had report cards again and this time I was not shy about giving students what they earned.  When they came back from Christmas, they were absolutely LAZY.   And b/c I’m making the shift from a lecture-notes-tests-worksheets classroom to an interactive one, there is less homework/paperwork.  And the students are not taking the activities that I ask them to do seriously.  So there were a lot of zero’s to give out.  Examples of in class work opportunies were:  a collage describing the Middle Ages, a foldable of the vocabulary, group jigsaw readings to produce a graphic organizer–it is less of me and more of them in the classroom.  They assumed that these activities were optional.  They simply didn’t do them and I didn’t pressure or nag them to do them.    I said nothing and helped the students that needed help.  Example: An honors student received an F on her report card.  She was upset; her parents were OUTRAGED.  However, she admitted that she hadn’t done the work.  And she admitted that the assignments were simplistic & easy, but she didn’t take them seriously.  Therefore, passing the tests/quizzes couldn’t help her.
• For the first time, EVER, in all of my 3 years of teaching my school’s instructional coach (IC)  came by to observe my class.  This was really interesting and shocked the “stink” out of me.  When IC walked into my African American history class and looked for a seat, I almost went into cardiac arrest.   We were studying influential African American during the revolutionary era, specifically, Benjamin Banneker, Phillis Wheatly & Crispus Attucks.   I was explaining what Tri-Venn Diagram was when IC walked in  and the kids were a bit rowdy b/c they were throwing out ideas at me.   As an example, the students and I  were completing a Tri Venn  on the board using characteristics of three seniors who were in the class.   So, I’m sure IC  was shocked by some of the language that they were using to describe these girls–it may have been what drew IC in.  Anyway,  the students understood the concept.  They broke up into groups, I gave them a task sheet for the jigsaw reading and venn diagram.  I’ll attach it here for clarity on the assignment.   After the class left, IC  gave me a positive assessment.  IC didn’t give me any areas for improvement.  IC  said that he was always impressed with the lessons that I designed for my students.   IC was also pleased with the task sheet b/c it was organized and completely layed out what the students needed to do (I told IC I modified it from Team Teacher.)  Even with my disclaimer, IC was very impressed.  Apparently, I think outside of the box.  IC  “did something similar to this in a college class, but not as clear as you have made it here.”  IC emphasized when the district supervisor did her walkthrough, they would be looking for activities & lessons like this one.  Needless to say, I had a smile on my face for the rest of the day.  YIPPPPEEE . . .   By the way, IC told me not to worry about spot assessments like this one, they were designed to give classroom teachers help & it wouldn’t go in my file.  Booohooo . . . Needless to say, I am feeling more confident about my teaching. 
• Also, I started WW and instead of spending my time blogging, I’ve been spending my time calculating points. . . but you can celebrate with me, b/c I’ve already lost about 10 lbs.  I missed my weigh-in, but I know I’m down again b/c my clothes are starting to fit a little differently.  I even went and worked out . . . so I’m doing pretty well.

Feeling reflective

I am so grateful for many things today.  God has really been good to me.  There are so many things that I can’t even begin to explain.  I really felt like going to church today, emotionally.  I know there is a spiritual need, but physically I didn’t make it.  I don’t know whether I am making excuses because I’m scared or it was really b/c I am under the weather. 

I’ve been battling a cold since Friday, but I listened to my mom and am feeling better.  I love my mom and her remedies–hot toddies and tea is working surprisingly well.  (Funny side note:  Told Miss CF that I was drinking hot toddies at the recommendation of my mother.  I don’t know how serious she was–but she was “shocked” that my mother was encouraging me to drink liquor.  Boy, that really gave me a laugh!  She’s so conservative.)  However, I could have avoided all of this if I had recognized the signs of illness roaming around the school.  The teacher next door was fighting a cold, a lot of my students have been absent and stepping out to blow their noses. . . .why didn’t I see it and take airborne? 

While laying on the couch resting, I thought about quite a few things.  Yeah, these thoughts are really random.

• My weight and health.  I’m definitely going to make some changes.  I realize how important I am, so I’m really going to try and make some changes.  I was I was thinking about things, I have changed quite a bit since the weight gain.  I used to be really outgoing, bubbly and quite popular–i attracted people to me.  Now, I’m strange–I’ll admit it.  I’m a quiet homebody.  How do I expect to ever have relationships if this is the way I approach life.
• I admire on of my students a lot–her boldness about her difference from being the normal “high school” student/teen.  I’ve never seen anything like it before.  In my new AAH class that started last week, she was very clear about who she was in her introduction of herself to the class. I was surprised to hear her disclose that she was bi-sexual and on “meds” of some sort for some sort of condition she has. . . .maybe its not boldness. . . maybe its a lack of decorum and privacy about certain issues. . .
• I want a second job–for one reason only: I want to buy a new laptop.  I spilled water on my Sony and now it is suffering from many dysfunctions.  I need my baby. . .but I really don’t want to work to get a new one–but its the only way–especially since I’m not into illegal and immoral activities.
• I want to do more hands on activities with my students.  I googled foldables and found an amazing little booklet online that I’m going to print out at school.  I can’t wait to try some of them with my students.  I also flipped through some teaching strategies books and made a list of things that I’m going to try in the coming weeks.
• I held an inward debate with myself on whether I should do something with my classes to celebrate King day.  My AAH students are going to cover the Civil Rights movement in detail anyway, so why should I do something special for king day?  I am going to do Africa & African Americans for the entire month of February and part of March with my World History classes anyway, so would it be worthwhile?  Have these students heard enough about Dr. King?  Is there anything that I can say that is new and beneficial?

My mind is constantly working.  I can’t even veg out on the couch without working.  When will the “school teacher” noise in my head ever go away?  We’ll I’m going down for a quick nap and hot toddie and then lesson planning, here I come!

Another Evaluation

I had my second evaluation of the school year during sixth period.  It was awful.   It is simply a bad time of the day for students.  After lunch they are no good–learning wise–sitting still wise.   And there are too many kids in the room; honestly, there should be no more than 25 kids in the room after lunch.  I don’t know how to focus them.  It’s like they are on a sugar high or carb rush. Their attention spans are like gnats.  I have repeat my self ten times.  For example, I repeated the exam day 5 times for the students to write it down on their study guides.  

Let me tell you all of the things that went wrong.

1. I kept repeating myself and the kids still didn’t get it.
2. It took them 5 minutes just to get started on the bellwork
3. Half of them didn’t bring books
4. When it was time to divide up into groups it was mass chaos.
5. After the kids were in groups
6. The question and answer session was chaos.  Actually, the students, instead of answer the questions, started talk to each other. 
7. On of the students started making beats on the desk during the direct instruction time.
8. I had 2 students that went to sleep.  . . so i had to wake them up.

I don’t know what to do with my kids in the last few hours of the day.  The classes are packed to the brim. . . EVERY SEAT is filled .. . its too crowded.  On the days where many of them are absent, the lessons go very well. 

I am calling on ALL of you experienced teachers out there!  I NEED HELP !!!!  The last classes of the day are a BIG power struggle.  What can I do to fix it?  How do I keep them on task and socializing less?  How can I keep them motivated?  Calls home do NOT work.  Failing them does not work–b/c many of them don’t care.  What do you do?

Let’s be a little positive .. .

I realize that I’ve been venting A LOT lately.  I’ve decided in honor of Christmas, I’m going to attempt to be positive at least until Christmas.  I don’t want to be that evil person who never has anything to positive to say.  So here are somethings that are going on in my classroom, since I attended that worshop in November.  

1. Students take less notes.  Instead we are using graphic organizers to get the same information they would have written in note form
2. Students are moving about the classroom more.  I thought this would prove to be chaotic, surprisingly its not.  I’ve only had to put one student in time out.  I ask them to stand up and find partner to tell the information to and it actually works.   
3. Students are suprisingly on task most of the time.  I still have to remind them to settle down for bellwork.  Why is this?  Everyday, after the bell rings I have to say get in your seats, get on task and begin your bellwork.  Maybe, I should make this a deduction of some sort.  What do ya’ll do to handle this confusion within the first few minutes of class?
4. There has been only 1 homework assignment this six weeks.  I have completely eliminated homework b/c half of the students don’t complete it.  It brings their grades down.
5. I had to reissue the Islam test to 2 of my classes.   So the strategies work, just not the last 2 periods of the day. They admit they don’t study so my question is:  How do they get it all in my class?  How do I make them accountable for doing the work?  I can’t call 60 parents every day.  HELP?

This week my plan is to start reviewing my students for semester exams that will take place next week.   Activities for the week include.

1. Review bingo
2. Taboo
3. Review Jeopardy
4. I’ll mix in some pop “review” quizzes as well

What do you do to review for exams?

Being a reflective teacher . . .

First, in response to Mathew Tabor’s comment about my facial expressions . . .I wouldn’t consider myself judgmental, maybe a person with a lack of tact and self control. I consider myself to be one of the most tolerant and patient teachers at my school. However, I believe that I am fed up with cheer and that is what affecting my responses the most. Although its just the beginning of the year & season, I am counting down the days until the end of the school year. I admit, I did not treat the mom with the respect that she deserved, but come on.. . . she had to know . . .she had to, especially since this her child’s second year with me AND the child has been a cheerleader in the district for the last 4 years. It is the same policy everywhere AND this was the 3rd game of the season.

___________________________

As I prepare for school this week, here are things that need to be done before 5 am tomorrow morning.

• Lesson Plans for both subjects
• Update the website
• Input a thousand grades into the computer.
• Complete reading current event essays and come up with a list of things they can do to improve
• Complete reviewing project rough drafts
• Wash enough clothes to wear to work this week.

____________________________

I have been spending time reflecting on Year 3. It certainly is easier lesson planning, staying organized and anticipating students reactions. However, my work load seems to have increased by leaps and bounds. I don’t know whether this has something to do with my lack of preparation over the summer, an interesting batch of kids or all of the new changes the district is implementing. I know that poor preparation and anticipation may have a lot to do with it. I guess I also didn’t anticipate the challenges I would face this year: overcrowded classes, last hour behavior problems, unprepared & unmotivated students (but why should I have expected differently?), mountains of additional paperwork required by the district, effect of the loss of classroom space in conjunction with overcrowded classroom . . .

Another thing, it seems that I got in less trouble and had less interaction with the administration during my first and second years teaching . . . I feel like I’m making more mistakes than I did when I was a first year teacher or maybe it is that I recognize them as mistakes, now. I wish I could start this year over again and do things differently. I keep thinking could my personal life really affecting how I run my classroom? Is the chaos of my home and personal life bleeding into what I do professionally? I don’t talk about my personal life at school–so how could that be–maybe I just need a therapist to figure it all out. . . .or it all could be explained with one word: STRESS . . . maybe the stress of it all is affecting both my work and personal lives.

Lastly, I keep thinking, what can I do to get the students thinking more and me talking less? How do I teach them to be better writers? I wonder what the English department actually teaches the kids. How could I work in collaboration with them to get good written responses from the children? How can I teach them notetaking skills rather than spoon feed them EVERYTHING? How do I collaborate with middle school teachers to prevent some of the issues I am having with these children? They seem so used to having everything done for them. Am I too demanding, to make them responsible for turning in their homework on their own? Am I too demanding to have essay’s due every other week? How do I make the retain the information? How do I make them listen to what I am saying?

A new thing I am implementing is call & response–like in the church. I say one thing, they have to say it back OR tell their neighbor. Like when the pastor says: God is Good. . the crowd at my church automatically turns to their neighbor and says ALL the time. I am also implementing redundancy . . . I say things several times and they have to say it back. I hope this is solution to some of the retention and listening issues.

What do you do for listening and retention? How do I get active learners? How do I promote responsibility? There is so much to do and so little time. . .

Protected: Vent: Craziness of Y3

Getting into the swing of things

How I spent my Labor Day: 

• Updating my classroom website.  I haven’t updated it since last school year.  I’ve made quite a few changes.  I wish I could share it here and get opinions, suggestions and corrections, but this blog is anonymous!!! Boo hoo!!!   However, I can ask all of you in the educator community about putting notes up on the site.  I’m debating it.  If I put them on the site, I’m afraid I will have some kids who will quit writing in class and then become a nuisance during lectures and activities b/c they can get it after/before class.  Most likely most of them won’t; but kids will make up all kinds of excuses.  Anyone have anything to add on this subject.
• Updating my blog.  As you will notice my blog looks a little different.  Yes, I was tired of the pink, too.  And I could never figure out how to make it work.
• Giving myself a sinus headache by not taking my medicine.  Why you may ask?  I am trying to get on a nighttime regimen of all my meds, b/c in the hecticness of the day I often forget.   So now, I’m going to bed early.

Things I’m rejoicing about:

• The webpage is pretty functional.  The syllabi are up and all of the things I’ve passed out in class. 
• Teaching World History is so easy this year b/c I did most of the work last year and now all I do is show up with the correct materials.  No creating sample projects and all of that jazz b/c its already done!!!! Wooo hoooo.  Uh, oh, I feel the hallelujah dance coming on!  Okay, I’ve calmed down now.
• Lesson plans will be EASY this week! Why, you ask?  Because I’m only working two days and then I am going to visit some friends in Tennessee.   The sub will give the students worksheet packets.  They will be so thick as always, so that they don’t give Mrs. J. a headache.
• I’m turning 30 this week.  I guess it is more of a blessing than a curse.  At first I was really down about it, but now I’m thinking. . I’m grown.  Nobody can tell me what to do, I’m grown!
• I’m going to Nashville & Clarksville, Tennessee to celebrate my Birthday. I might even get to meet Eric.  I have a friend who has invited to visit her at school.  So I’m going to make the LONNGGGGGGG drive there.  I hate driving, but at least I have a traveling companion.