Adapting

I realized after the upheaval of emotions yesterday why it's so easy to become cynical about teaching and why some of the teachers here chuckle when they hear that students didn't turn in book reports (even though it was fun. gah).

So, to avoid that cynicism, I'm adapting. I'm not lowering expectations of students, I'm just figuring out what will work best for them. And for me. And for them. Okay - for me.

Today, I instituted a new procedure. Students will get out their planners the minute they come into class and turn to the page for that week. This is so that when I say, "This is what you need to do tonight, so write it in your planners," they already have it out and ready to go. Also, it allows me to hold them accountable so when they say, "I forgot" I can have them show me their planners. Also, hopefully it will encourage them to use those planners!

Next, I revised my latework policy. I've set deadlines for assignments and have put them on the board. I've also set "LATE" deadlines, so that students know the last day that they will actually get credit for an assignment. Don't worry, I've already thought that this may bite me in the butt later, but I'm going to try it. I sure as heck don't want students waiting until the day before the term ends to turn things in to me.

In other revisions, students will not be able to revise assignments if they did not turn it in on time. Hopefully this is some kind of motivation for them to get work done!

And - sad day of sad days - I'm going to dedicate class periods to students working on these big assignments IN CLASS (this makes me sad because I feel like that limits so many different possibilities for them, but we'll see how it goes). Most of the teachers here have told me that they made that decision shortly after learning that most students were cheating/plagiarizing if they did it at home. Because of this, most of the teachers have assessed that students were lying when they said they were reading at home. Yay for sad learning experiences.

Lastly - I'm going to give more time. Not more time to read, but more time in class for students to work. It has been something I've struggled with because I see each day as a limited opportunity and I want to be able to move forward, but it does no good to move forward if the sacrifice is leaving students behind. I have to see lessons and objectives in terms of achievement, not time. That means staying flexible. Shuffling assignments. Moving deadlines. Changing plans. Sacrificing entire units even. But I think it will make me a better teacher in the end.

So thanks, Reflection, for saving my sanity.

Here we go again!