Remember yesterday's vent?
You know...
The one right after my lethal 4th period class?
I apologize.
Yes, I'm super frustrated, but when my 6th period 7th graders came in after I cooled down, I took a deep breath, put a smile on my face, cracked a couple of jokes, let the class know I was human, and moved on.
And when the end of the day rolled around, I was happy. Contentedly blissful, actually.
I still had a WHOLE bunch of students failing, but I could move on.
Today, I'm remembering to breath and not act like my class is the end of the world. Because it's not. Nope. Never.
So yeah.
Today was much better.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
VENTING
I'm tired. So beware.
I can't fight for students who won't fight for themselves. I've conferenced with a student who is failing my class, given him opportunities to catch up on his missing work and he doesn't take it. I come up with alternative arrangements, and he doesn't do it. I email and call his parents to make them aware of his grade in my class. Nothing. Then he gets checked out of school today by someone else's parent for a birthday LUNCH for another student in my class who is failing. Right in the middle of class I have 5 students waltz in making all kinds of noise saying to this particular student, "Dude, let's go!" No note. No nothing. The student packs up his stuff, grins at me because he knows just how pissed off I am inside, and says, "See ya."
Don't we have ANY protocols at all here?
This student has failed my class for two terms and come begging to me the last day of term about how he can get his grades up. I told him last term I wouldn't do it again.
Can I stick to my word?
I have to show my students that it doesn't get to me. I think I'm way too emotional about that student.
Sad to say, but all of my students with "I"s at this moment just don't care. I've sat them down individually, set goals with them, written a million sticky notes that document what they've committed to do, and then nothing. Nothing.
How do you stop caring? How do you stop looking at your gradebook and feeling like a failure because half of your class is failing. Not because of a lack of skills but because of a lack of responsibility?
Oh middle school... What will I do with you?
I'm going home early today. I'm going home early and I'm leaving work here. I'm going to go find a happy place and leave all of this behind. Because tomorrow, I'm not caring (at least visibly to them). Maybe with some reverse psychology (aka: me looking like I don't care if they get that assignment in or not and me not asking about that book report I've reminded them about a million times), they'll get this stuff done.
What can I say. End of term is next week. We'll see who my deathbed repenters are.
And as always, there's that voice asking in the back of my head, "Is this me? Is there something I could have done better? Is this my failure, too?"
Yeah... I hate that voice...
I can't fight for students who won't fight for themselves. I've conferenced with a student who is failing my class, given him opportunities to catch up on his missing work and he doesn't take it. I come up with alternative arrangements, and he doesn't do it. I email and call his parents to make them aware of his grade in my class. Nothing. Then he gets checked out of school today by someone else's parent for a birthday LUNCH for another student in my class who is failing. Right in the middle of class I have 5 students waltz in making all kinds of noise saying to this particular student, "Dude, let's go!" No note. No nothing. The student packs up his stuff, grins at me because he knows just how pissed off I am inside, and says, "See ya."
Don't we have ANY protocols at all here?
This student has failed my class for two terms and come begging to me the last day of term about how he can get his grades up. I told him last term I wouldn't do it again.
Can I stick to my word?
I have to show my students that it doesn't get to me. I think I'm way too emotional about that student.
Sad to say, but all of my students with "I"s at this moment just don't care. I've sat them down individually, set goals with them, written a million sticky notes that document what they've committed to do, and then nothing. Nothing.
How do you stop caring? How do you stop looking at your gradebook and feeling like a failure because half of your class is failing. Not because of a lack of skills but because of a lack of responsibility?
Oh middle school... What will I do with you?
I'm going home early today. I'm going home early and I'm leaving work here. I'm going to go find a happy place and leave all of this behind. Because tomorrow, I'm not caring (at least visibly to them). Maybe with some reverse psychology (aka: me looking like I don't care if they get that assignment in or not and me not asking about that book report I've reminded them about a million times), they'll get this stuff done.
What can I say. End of term is next week. We'll see who my deathbed repenters are.
And as always, there's that voice asking in the back of my head, "Is this me? Is there something I could have done better? Is this my failure, too?"
Yeah... I hate that voice...
Monday, March 11, 2013
What I Can't Teach...
When my students came in today and showed me that they didn't do their assigned homework for the 3rd time in a row (not third time not doing homework, but third time not doing the same homework that had only been assigned again because they hadn't done it the first time), I had an epiphany.
I can't teach my students to work hard. Sure, I can teach them why they should. Sure, I can persuade them with figures and numbers and holding points over their heads. Sure, I can show them by example. But when my students sit and refuse to work - or refuse to even try - I can't teach them.
How grateful I am for parents who taught me to work hard. To look at challenges with optimism and gumption rather than fear and failure. So, I'm looking at this challenge, and I'm not giving up. I will not pull back my high expectations for them. I will move forward and hope they learn that life (and my class) is much easier when you work hard and come prepared.
Wish me luck.
I can't teach my students to work hard. Sure, I can teach them why they should. Sure, I can persuade them with figures and numbers and holding points over their heads. Sure, I can show them by example. But when my students sit and refuse to work - or refuse to even try - I can't teach them.
How grateful I am for parents who taught me to work hard. To look at challenges with optimism and gumption rather than fear and failure. So, I'm looking at this challenge, and I'm not giving up. I will not pull back my high expectations for them. I will move forward and hope they learn that life (and my class) is much easier when you work hard and come prepared.
Wish me luck.
Friday, March 8, 2013
One by One
So, today was fun. Since I was gone yesterday at the Librarian's conference in Ogden, I left my students with the sub doing a "Research Day." The day before we'd talked about how to evaluate sources, how to search specific terms, etc. so I thought they'd be good with all the strategies I left them (I even put reminders of those strategies on the board before I left).
I obviously haven't learned my lesson yet about SUB days. Students rarely focus when a sub is there. So did that assigned work get done? Nope.
Oh well.
Regardless of this, I set high expectations today. My challenge was for them to take the research and evidence they had found and start making their outline for their essays. I asked all students who were having issues finding sources to raise their hands. I wrote down the names of those students, noted the ones I knew were probably most in need, and I got the class working independently. Then I called each student on my list up to my desk one-by-one. I asked them guiding questions, I had them talk out their ideas, I encouraged good searching practices, and then I sent them back.
And you know something - I got more smiles and "Thanks, Mrs. Brown"s than I ever have before. Yes, were there students that were probably off task because I wasn't actively monitoring their iPad searching? I'm sure of it. But I don't regret the decision to help those students who were having issues.
When it comes to writing, I think I can do a better job breaking things down into chewable bites. Who says they have to complete the entire outline before they start writing? Could I have them choose one mini-claim (topic sentence) to find evidence for and walk them through beginning stages to finished, polished paragraph stages? That may be on my list of things to try!
I did have 7 BYU students come and visit me today. My BYU supervisor is teaching a Reading Instruction class and they were given the assignment to come and observe the "presence" of reading in a real-life classroom. It was a little daunting when, in the 3 hours after I spoke with my supervisor, I had 5 emails asking to come and observe today, but it was actually a relief when they came. I'm always thinking about good teaching practices, but when someone's in the room, you become more aware of the WHY behind the practice, and much more aware of the consequences of teaching choices (probably because I'm thinking, What would they think if I did this? So I decided not to...)
After they left, I did realize that I think I can create a better balance of reading and writing in my classroom. My students have been reading all year, but usually they read as a way to get them INTO a writing practice or assignment. Maybe I could use a change of perspective: maybe writing is simply the way for them to convey to me what they think about what they READ.
Is it practically the same thing? Yeah. But I think the perspective change would help me be more purposeful with teaching to the READING SKILLS as well as teaching to the WRITING SKILLS.
Right now, I'm going to finish the grading I have to get done before the weekend, and then I'm going to celebrate the end of the week.
Boy - it's been a long one.
I obviously haven't learned my lesson yet about SUB days. Students rarely focus when a sub is there. So did that assigned work get done? Nope.
Oh well.
Regardless of this, I set high expectations today. My challenge was for them to take the research and evidence they had found and start making their outline for their essays. I asked all students who were having issues finding sources to raise their hands. I wrote down the names of those students, noted the ones I knew were probably most in need, and I got the class working independently. Then I called each student on my list up to my desk one-by-one. I asked them guiding questions, I had them talk out their ideas, I encouraged good searching practices, and then I sent them back.
And you know something - I got more smiles and "Thanks, Mrs. Brown"s than I ever have before. Yes, were there students that were probably off task because I wasn't actively monitoring their iPad searching? I'm sure of it. But I don't regret the decision to help those students who were having issues.
When it comes to writing, I think I can do a better job breaking things down into chewable bites. Who says they have to complete the entire outline before they start writing? Could I have them choose one mini-claim (topic sentence) to find evidence for and walk them through beginning stages to finished, polished paragraph stages? That may be on my list of things to try!
I did have 7 BYU students come and visit me today. My BYU supervisor is teaching a Reading Instruction class and they were given the assignment to come and observe the "presence" of reading in a real-life classroom. It was a little daunting when, in the 3 hours after I spoke with my supervisor, I had 5 emails asking to come and observe today, but it was actually a relief when they came. I'm always thinking about good teaching practices, but when someone's in the room, you become more aware of the WHY behind the practice, and much more aware of the consequences of teaching choices (probably because I'm thinking, What would they think if I did this? So I decided not to...)
After they left, I did realize that I think I can create a better balance of reading and writing in my classroom. My students have been reading all year, but usually they read as a way to get them INTO a writing practice or assignment. Maybe I could use a change of perspective: maybe writing is simply the way for them to convey to me what they think about what they READ.
Is it practically the same thing? Yeah. But I think the perspective change would help me be more purposeful with teaching to the READING SKILLS as well as teaching to the WRITING SKILLS.
Right now, I'm going to finish the grading I have to get done before the weekend, and then I'm going to celebrate the end of the week.
Boy - it's been a long one.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
The STATE of State Testing...
Oh. My. Heavens.
I'm officially traumatized people. Today marks the beginning of one of the English/Lanugage Arts state tests - the DWA. Let me tell you, these tests are STRESS CENTRAL. Watching each of my students making small errors - things I would normally stop and address with them personally in class - is killing me.
No, student sitting there with "i" not capitalized, there is no autocorrect! Go back and fix it!
But I can't say these things.
It's like I'm stifling myself. My current inner mantra - Don't say anything that isn't written in the manual. Don't say anything that isn't written in the manual. Don't say anything...
BUT THEY KNOW IT! I KNOW THEY DO! I HAVE MY OWN ASSESSMENTS TO PROVE IT! THEY'RE JUST STRESSED AND SCATTERED RIGHT NOW! LIKE ME!
Don't say anything that isn't written in the manual.... Right?
Being both a 7th and 8th grade English teacher, I'm dying. The 7th grade teachers decided to do their common assessments today and tomorrow as well. So, I'm running with my head trailing three feet behind me because I literally have to be in two places at once. The DWA is not timed, so I had students that started working into the next class period (lucky/unlucky for me that was lunch), but I was technically supposed to be in my classroom so that my next class of students could drop off their iPads in my room before lunch.
Thank you to my blessed neighboring teacher who let them into my room through our secret office doorway. There was no way I could leave students unsupervised while they were still testing while still keeping my job.
Oh and did I mention that we - in the ten minutes before school started - decided to change the text for our 7th grade common assessment test? Yup.
Planning. It might be a department weakness. But, it's all a learning experience, right?
All the while, I'm sitting here in emotional-panic mode. Did I do enough? Did I prep them enough? Did I teach them all the things that really matter for this test? I know I did, but I sit here wondering if it was enough for each of my wonderful students. I want to fight for them so badly, but this is the time when I have to surrender the teacher within and watch them shine. Hopefully. ;) And then I'm thinking, why didn't I prepare more? Why didn't I prepare better?
So, here's my resolution for next year. I will overwhelm my students with models of good writing. Before they begin, I want them to see good models, take notes on those models, analyze those models, and then receive additional explicit instruction about what to put in their writing. All of my students responded so well when I created models for them to look at, but I know I could have done that more. I just know I used to be the kind of student that looked at the models and was paralyzed, so I usually showed good models AFTER my students finished their first drafts because I didn't want them simply copying the model. I know my creativity was gone when I saw the model first as a student. I could only see it being done that way! But, if it's the right way, or the best way, or even a really good way, is that such a bad thing?
So, I'm taking deep breaths and creating models to use for any remediation efforts over the next few weeks...
Easy there, baby teacher. You can't be perfect yet. Just look at the opportunities to improve for tomorrow and for next year.
And then breath some more.
I'm officially traumatized people. Today marks the beginning of one of the English/Lanugage Arts state tests - the DWA. Let me tell you, these tests are STRESS CENTRAL. Watching each of my students making small errors - things I would normally stop and address with them personally in class - is killing me.
No, student sitting there with "i" not capitalized, there is no autocorrect! Go back and fix it!
But I can't say these things.
It's like I'm stifling myself. My current inner mantra - Don't say anything that isn't written in the manual. Don't say anything that isn't written in the manual. Don't say anything...
BUT THEY KNOW IT! I KNOW THEY DO! I HAVE MY OWN ASSESSMENTS TO PROVE IT! THEY'RE JUST STRESSED AND SCATTERED RIGHT NOW! LIKE ME!
Don't say anything that isn't written in the manual.... Right?
Being both a 7th and 8th grade English teacher, I'm dying. The 7th grade teachers decided to do their common assessments today and tomorrow as well. So, I'm running with my head trailing three feet behind me because I literally have to be in two places at once. The DWA is not timed, so I had students that started working into the next class period (lucky/unlucky for me that was lunch), but I was technically supposed to be in my classroom so that my next class of students could drop off their iPads in my room before lunch.
Thank you to my blessed neighboring teacher who let them into my room through our secret office doorway. There was no way I could leave students unsupervised while they were still testing while still keeping my job.
Oh and did I mention that we - in the ten minutes before school started - decided to change the text for our 7th grade common assessment test? Yup.
Planning. It might be a department weakness. But, it's all a learning experience, right?
All the while, I'm sitting here in emotional-panic mode. Did I do enough? Did I prep them enough? Did I teach them all the things that really matter for this test? I know I did, but I sit here wondering if it was enough for each of my wonderful students. I want to fight for them so badly, but this is the time when I have to surrender the teacher within and watch them shine. Hopefully. ;) And then I'm thinking, why didn't I prepare more? Why didn't I prepare better?
So, here's my resolution for next year. I will overwhelm my students with models of good writing. Before they begin, I want them to see good models, take notes on those models, analyze those models, and then receive additional explicit instruction about what to put in their writing. All of my students responded so well when I created models for them to look at, but I know I could have done that more. I just know I used to be the kind of student that looked at the models and was paralyzed, so I usually showed good models AFTER my students finished their first drafts because I didn't want them simply copying the model. I know my creativity was gone when I saw the model first as a student. I could only see it being done that way! But, if it's the right way, or the best way, or even a really good way, is that such a bad thing?
So, I'm taking deep breaths and creating models to use for any remediation efforts over the next few weeks...
Easy there, baby teacher. You can't be perfect yet. Just look at the opportunities to improve for tomorrow and for next year.
And then breath some more.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Oh the Drama...
I LOVE English teachers.
I kind of have to since I AM one.
But I didn't realize how English teachers are oftentimes perceived by other teachers in the school. We're needy. Dramatic. Way too serious for our own good.
Why?
Well - have you seen the Common Core for Language Arts? I mean really? In comparison to the Core for Science? Or Math? Ours is a short novel. Theirs is a page. Or two.
So it's been kind of fun to be a part of/privy to the drama between curriculums.
The counseling center needs to make a presentation to all 8th grade students. They choose to do so during English classes; however, 8th graders have the DWA test in a few weeks, so that decision didn't go over well with 8th grade English teachers.
So now they're doing the presentation in Science classes.
The CRTs (end of level tests) are being scheduled. I put some pressure on the teacher in charge of the testing scheduling to find out when English was going to be doing their CRTs (because I want to make sure I CAN ACTUALLY GO TO MY GRADUATION without worrying about missing the end of level tests for my students). Found out English is going first. Found out this is not the first time they are going first. Also found out that this has been a sensitive point for the department for a LONG time.
And I wonder why some of my students think I take my job or my lessons too seriously. ;)
Speaking of tests, I'm doing some preparation and investigation to make sure that my students are prepared for the format of our end of level tests, as well as for the kinds of questions they are going to be asked. I've gotten a few model tests from other states, but I'm still on the lookout for some good tools. If anyone knows of any, let me know!
I kind of have to since I AM one.
But I didn't realize how English teachers are oftentimes perceived by other teachers in the school. We're needy. Dramatic. Way too serious for our own good.
Why?
Well - have you seen the Common Core for Language Arts? I mean really? In comparison to the Core for Science? Or Math? Ours is a short novel. Theirs is a page. Or two.
So it's been kind of fun to be a part of/privy to the drama between curriculums.
The counseling center needs to make a presentation to all 8th grade students. They choose to do so during English classes; however, 8th graders have the DWA test in a few weeks, so that decision didn't go over well with 8th grade English teachers.
So now they're doing the presentation in Science classes.
The CRTs (end of level tests) are being scheduled. I put some pressure on the teacher in charge of the testing scheduling to find out when English was going to be doing their CRTs (because I want to make sure I CAN ACTUALLY GO TO MY GRADUATION without worrying about missing the end of level tests for my students). Found out English is going first. Found out this is not the first time they are going first. Also found out that this has been a sensitive point for the department for a LONG time.
And I wonder why some of my students think I take my job or my lessons too seriously. ;)
Speaking of tests, I'm doing some preparation and investigation to make sure that my students are prepared for the format of our end of level tests, as well as for the kinds of questions they are going to be asked. I've gotten a few model tests from other states, but I'm still on the lookout for some good tools. If anyone knows of any, let me know!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Oh how far I've come...
Sorry about the break. I promise, I've been teaching, but it's all been a whirlwind to me.
My darling practicum student has come and taught twice this week and has done such a good job. It was a HUGE learning experience for me. For the first period of her instruction, I watched her stand at the front of her classroom and do her thing (beautifully, of course), but this thing inside of me kept calling out, "Get away from the front of the classroom. They're not paying attention to you! Look out at them! I see 10+ students that are definitely not looking at the handout you sent to them..."
Then, I remembered. The intern I taught some lessons for said almost those exact same words to me after my first lesson in his class.
It felt good to realize that this little baby teacher has done some monumental growing in the last year.
Also, something happened yesterday. A good something. Here's the email I sent out to those people I wanted to tell...
My darling practicum student has come and taught twice this week and has done such a good job. It was a HUGE learning experience for me. For the first period of her instruction, I watched her stand at the front of her classroom and do her thing (beautifully, of course), but this thing inside of me kept calling out, "Get away from the front of the classroom. They're not paying attention to you! Look out at them! I see 10+ students that are definitely not looking at the handout you sent to them..."
Then, I remembered. The intern I taught some lessons for said almost those exact same words to me after my first lesson in his class.
It felt good to realize that this little baby teacher has done some monumental growing in the last year.
Also, something happened yesterday. A good something. Here's the email I sent out to those people I wanted to tell...
After talking to some other teachers at the school and many prayers, I went to see Jarod, the principal at my school, just with the plan of asking about some substitute request forms I had submitted for the upcoming months.
He answered my questions then stated, "Hey, I might have an answer for you about us by next week. Some things have come to my attention, and I may know sooner than I indicated before. I need you, and I'm willing to tell BYU 'No' to another intern to keep you. You'd have to go through the application process of course, but I just wanted to let you know."
Of course my heart was racing, but I seemed to manage a somewhat professional reply by saying, "Jarod, I would submit 100 different applications if it meant I got to be a part of this school. Thanks for keeping me updated."
I just wanted to let each of you know. And I wanted to thank you for the support you have been to me as I've gone through these past few months. It has been a wonderful experience for me to learn and to grow and to grow in my own confidence as a teacher as well.
Extra prayers and crossed fingers!
Believe me, I'll keep you posted either way. :D
Then, today, Jarod came in with the Superintendent of the district to observe my remediation time. My students were all hard at work on their iPads. It was the perfect moment for an observation, and my sigh of relief was probably audible after they left my room. Yay.
I have been so incredibly blessed, and I'm so glad that so much of what I do seems to be second nature:
- Cold call on a student who you anticipate is off task. Yup. Did that today without thinking and saw 5 other students sit up a bit taller in their chairs afterwards to prevent the same fate.
- Walk around the classroom as I'm teaching to ensure I have everyones attention and so that I can monitor student progress WHILE I'm teaching. Not easy, but I've gotten WAY better.
- Set expectations regularly. I'm still, to this day, raising my hand and saying, "Raise your hand..." before I actually ask a question. Do I still have students who don't meet that expectation? Yes. But at least now I know it's not because they didn't know what was expected.
- Do the WE-WE-WE-WE-WE part over and over again before expecting your students to do it successfully on their own.
I'm telling you - I'm learning SO much.
But the DWA test is in less than two weeks and I have SOOOO much more practice to do. So - I'm off!
Friday, February 8, 2013
Will I Ever Learn?
Today was GREAT.
7th - Finished the outsiders - my students are brilliant readers.
8th - Finished the outline of our argumentative essays in response to Downriver. My students are so sharp.
But 4th period - AGAIN - I just couldn't get a handle on today. My 2nd period 8th grade class did GREAT. They finished their outlines without too much of a problem and we went right into our discussion of the purpose of counterarguments. We even had a "Backwards Debate" where we picked topics they thought I would disagree with them on, and then they had to brainstorm what evidence they thought I would use in a debate. Essentially, they were arguing MY side. It was a hoot! So much fun.
But 4th period - AGAIN - it didn't work for them. I've got some smart students who are "with it" who were already done with their outline so they wanted to sleep (even though I had planned differentiated activities and told those students to start pulling direct quotes from the novel to support the evidence they outlined). I've got some lazy students who hardly had anything filled in from our class time yesterday and when I tried to help them, they were all like, "I've got it, I've got it..." but then didn't do the work and decided to goof off on the iPad. I've got students who decided to write stupid things on their outline that they knew weren't true. And I've got students who are just dying to get to the next stage and are frustrated at how slow I'm moving - but that's only because so many students are so far behind.
(This has really got me thinking about the ethics behind honors classes now. I heard some teachers debate, earlier this year, about honors classes - some of them arguing that honors classes are elitist and rob our other classes of differentiated comments and ideas. And I understood where they were coming from - almost agreed - but now, I understand that it's a level-of-understanding thing. I'm dying for my brilliant students to move on because I would be right there with them, biting at the bit to move MY pace. But I have a bunch of students who don't care or who won't work unless I'm standing right behind them that keep us moving slower than I would ever want.)
And then I've got students in that class that do everything possible to make it THEIR class. I thought the "debate Mrs. Brown" thing would be great, but they just turned disrespectful and unreasonable. I actually had a student (who was very passionate about the topic, mind you) refuse to participate when I asked him to (because he was making off-hand remarks to what I was saying every two seconds). He stated, "Why should I say anything now? You're just going to say something stupid." Thank you student for supplying me with perfect evidence about the need to give credit to your opponents argument before moving on with your own, otherwise they don't respect YOUR opinion. Yeah - he didn't appreciate me using him as an example.
It was just bad.
Even the cute girl student who confessed to me yesterday that I was her favorite teacher in the school and that she wanted me to teach 9th grade next year left the class with just a "Bye, Mrs. Brown" and an unsatisfied look on her face.
Will I ever get it right?
Yes. It's Friday and my students have all been pretty tired. Yes. They're eighth graders and maybe this is their signal to me that they already know this stuff and I should just move on. Yes, I'm exasperated because every time I think I'm making headway on reading the needs of these students, they throw a curve ball at me.
I have no idea what to do from here. I really want to go pull some of those disrespectful students from out of their 5th period class and have them sign a behavior contract that lays some ground rules that they agree to follow because I can't have 4-5 male students always trying to one-up me and my lessons with shouts of "YOLO!" or some snide remarks.
Gah.
I'll get over it.
For now - I'm making lesson plans and moving on. Let's just write it off as a bad day for them AND for me and start new on Monday.
Yeah. Let's do that.
7th - Finished the outsiders - my students are brilliant readers.
8th - Finished the outline of our argumentative essays in response to Downriver. My students are so sharp.
But 4th period - AGAIN - I just couldn't get a handle on today. My 2nd period 8th grade class did GREAT. They finished their outlines without too much of a problem and we went right into our discussion of the purpose of counterarguments. We even had a "Backwards Debate" where we picked topics they thought I would disagree with them on, and then they had to brainstorm what evidence they thought I would use in a debate. Essentially, they were arguing MY side. It was a hoot! So much fun.
But 4th period - AGAIN - it didn't work for them. I've got some smart students who are "with it" who were already done with their outline so they wanted to sleep (even though I had planned differentiated activities and told those students to start pulling direct quotes from the novel to support the evidence they outlined). I've got some lazy students who hardly had anything filled in from our class time yesterday and when I tried to help them, they were all like, "I've got it, I've got it..." but then didn't do the work and decided to goof off on the iPad. I've got students who decided to write stupid things on their outline that they knew weren't true. And I've got students who are just dying to get to the next stage and are frustrated at how slow I'm moving - but that's only because so many students are so far behind.
(This has really got me thinking about the ethics behind honors classes now. I heard some teachers debate, earlier this year, about honors classes - some of them arguing that honors classes are elitist and rob our other classes of differentiated comments and ideas. And I understood where they were coming from - almost agreed - but now, I understand that it's a level-of-understanding thing. I'm dying for my brilliant students to move on because I would be right there with them, biting at the bit to move MY pace. But I have a bunch of students who don't care or who won't work unless I'm standing right behind them that keep us moving slower than I would ever want.)
And then I've got students in that class that do everything possible to make it THEIR class. I thought the "debate Mrs. Brown" thing would be great, but they just turned disrespectful and unreasonable. I actually had a student (who was very passionate about the topic, mind you) refuse to participate when I asked him to (because he was making off-hand remarks to what I was saying every two seconds). He stated, "Why should I say anything now? You're just going to say something stupid." Thank you student for supplying me with perfect evidence about the need to give credit to your opponents argument before moving on with your own, otherwise they don't respect YOUR opinion. Yeah - he didn't appreciate me using him as an example.
It was just bad.
Even the cute girl student who confessed to me yesterday that I was her favorite teacher in the school and that she wanted me to teach 9th grade next year left the class with just a "Bye, Mrs. Brown" and an unsatisfied look on her face.
Will I ever get it right?
Yes. It's Friday and my students have all been pretty tired. Yes. They're eighth graders and maybe this is their signal to me that they already know this stuff and I should just move on. Yes, I'm exasperated because every time I think I'm making headway on reading the needs of these students, they throw a curve ball at me.
I have no idea what to do from here. I really want to go pull some of those disrespectful students from out of their 5th period class and have them sign a behavior contract that lays some ground rules that they agree to follow because I can't have 4-5 male students always trying to one-up me and my lessons with shouts of "YOLO!" or some snide remarks.
Gah.
I'll get over it.
For now - I'm making lesson plans and moving on. Let's just write it off as a bad day for them AND for me and start new on Monday.
Yeah. Let's do that.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Two Birds. One Stone.
Today - was good. I'm realizing, with my 7th graders, that it's okay to have a reading day. It's okay for the daily objective to be that students finish Chapter 9. Do I always have analytical questions and discussions during the reading? Yes. Do I always ask comprehension questions along the way? Yes. But I HAVE to be okay with a Reading day - otherwise it would take us another 3 weeks to finish this book. Do I still feel somewhat guilty for having an entire day be just reading... yes. But my students have let me know that they find it difficult to do multiple tasks at once (filling out a comprehension worksheet while reading, taking notes while reading, etc.) and I'm tired of them devoting 50% of their attention to the novel and 50% to their notes. Neither task is ever fully and successfully accomplished. So, I'm adapting, and I'm swallowing my guilt. For now. We WILL finish this novel by the end of the week. We WILL!
My 8th graders? Today was our practice argumentative essay day. Yesterday we reviewed important terms for argumentative writing (as well as for essay writing) and we talked about organization, so today, I wanted a pre-assessment to see where my students are already at.
I had a prompt picked out, nothing miraculous, but I'd started the prep work. But then my husband begged me for help. He's in a class devoted to innovation and his group has proposed this new product or company. The purpose of the company is to create personal logos for their clients that help to describe who they are at a glance. It's almost like a "break the ice" kind of opportunity. You see the colors/shape of someone's logo and you can say to yourself, "Hey - they like sports. I like sports. We have something in common. I could go talk to this person..." They wanted feedback from different ages of students - middle school, high school, and college: places where it's important to make friends fast and have a way to break the ice.
So my dear hubby wrote my students a letter asking for their help. In the letter he explained the purpose of the company, the product, and gave them a prompt asking them if they would be willing to spend money to buy a key chain with their logo on it. Why or why not?
I was surprised by what some of my 8th graders were able to come up with. And they were almost EXCITED at the idea that this was a real product that someone was thinking about and they were providing REAL feedback that would be used! It was one of those moments when you realize how essential the PUBLISHING aspect of the writing process is and how important AUTHENTICITY is to writing assignments.
Either way - productive day.
Internal Reflection: I feel like when state tests loom in the distance, my to-do list just gets longer and longer and I'm getting less and less done. I know I'm not alone - I mean, one glance at nearly any member of our school's teaching staff and you know . . . We are pooped.
(not like yesterday's pooped, mind you. ;)
But as the DWA approaches, I'm becoming hyperaware of each one of the skills I need to teach and review with my students and there's simply not enough time. And I'm getting frustrated easily when my students - who KNOW the difference between their, there, and they're because we've reviewed it like 10+ times in my class - don't show me what they know in their work. Do they know they need a period there? Yes. At least they do when I ask, "What is this sentence missing?" Do they know which "their/there/they're" to use in their writing? Yes. At least they do when I test them on it. But I can't get it to transfer to their writing - granted today was a first draft at best and it was practice... But that DWA test scares the daylights out of me.
My current to-do list:
-grade 7th grade journal entries
-analyze 8th graders' practice essays to determine lesson emphases for the next 2 weeks
-submit sub requests
-revise resume
-submit applications on teachers-teachers and on Alpine School District
- complete lesson plans for this week
-finalize next week's lessons
-create sub plan for next week
-email practicum student about lesson for next week
-research state tests from states that post older state tests online. Start creating test prep material for March.
-finish uploading student names to utahwrites (since I have to create their account individually. Ouch.)
-update my class calendars and folders on edmodo
-collect/retrieve letters of recommendation
-create resume portfolio for job fairs
-pick up husband and drive him to the train station by 4:30
-clean apartment for the arrival of my dear family this weekend
-stay sane.
How am I going to accomplish all these things? No idea.
Is it hard to stay focused about my work here at Dixon when I keep thinking, "I may not even be here next year and I need to start researching for a new job next year..." Yes. And No. But it is really tough to start worrying about yourself when all you've been worrying about for the last few months is your students...
How do I do it all?
Pray.
And put my family to work this weekend. :) Good idea, no?
My 8th graders? Today was our practice argumentative essay day. Yesterday we reviewed important terms for argumentative writing (as well as for essay writing) and we talked about organization, so today, I wanted a pre-assessment to see where my students are already at.
I had a prompt picked out, nothing miraculous, but I'd started the prep work. But then my husband begged me for help. He's in a class devoted to innovation and his group has proposed this new product or company. The purpose of the company is to create personal logos for their clients that help to describe who they are at a glance. It's almost like a "break the ice" kind of opportunity. You see the colors/shape of someone's logo and you can say to yourself, "Hey - they like sports. I like sports. We have something in common. I could go talk to this person..." They wanted feedback from different ages of students - middle school, high school, and college: places where it's important to make friends fast and have a way to break the ice.
So my dear hubby wrote my students a letter asking for their help. In the letter he explained the purpose of the company, the product, and gave them a prompt asking them if they would be willing to spend money to buy a key chain with their logo on it. Why or why not?
I was surprised by what some of my 8th graders were able to come up with. And they were almost EXCITED at the idea that this was a real product that someone was thinking about and they were providing REAL feedback that would be used! It was one of those moments when you realize how essential the PUBLISHING aspect of the writing process is and how important AUTHENTICITY is to writing assignments.
Either way - productive day.
Internal Reflection: I feel like when state tests loom in the distance, my to-do list just gets longer and longer and I'm getting less and less done. I know I'm not alone - I mean, one glance at nearly any member of our school's teaching staff and you know . . . We are pooped.
(not like yesterday's pooped, mind you. ;)
But as the DWA approaches, I'm becoming hyperaware of each one of the skills I need to teach and review with my students and there's simply not enough time. And I'm getting frustrated easily when my students - who KNOW the difference between their, there, and they're because we've reviewed it like 10+ times in my class - don't show me what they know in their work. Do they know they need a period there? Yes. At least they do when I ask, "What is this sentence missing?" Do they know which "their/there/they're" to use in their writing? Yes. At least they do when I test them on it. But I can't get it to transfer to their writing - granted today was a first draft at best and it was practice... But that DWA test scares the daylights out of me.
My current to-do list:
-grade 7th grade journal entries
-analyze 8th graders' practice essays to determine lesson emphases for the next 2 weeks
-submit sub requests
-revise resume
-submit applications on teachers-teachers and on Alpine School District
- complete lesson plans for this week
-finalize next week's lessons
-create sub plan for next week
-email practicum student about lesson for next week
-research state tests from states that post older state tests online. Start creating test prep material for March.
-finish uploading student names to utahwrites (since I have to create their account individually. Ouch.)
-update my class calendars and folders on edmodo
-collect/retrieve letters of recommendation
-create resume portfolio for job fairs
-pick up husband and drive him to the train station by 4:30
-clean apartment for the arrival of my dear family this weekend
-stay sane.
How am I going to accomplish all these things? No idea.
Is it hard to stay focused about my work here at Dixon when I keep thinking, "I may not even be here next year and I need to start researching for a new job next year..." Yes. And No. But it is really tough to start worrying about yourself when all you've been worrying about for the last few months is your students...
How do I do it all?
Pray.
And put my family to work this weekend. :) Good idea, no?
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
The Unspeakable...
So....
I have a student with a health problem.
A pretty serious one.
It's called encopresis.
Not exactly the greatest health problem to have in middle school, mind you.
So today, the bell rings and I am gearing myself up for the start of 1st period when in walks this particular student.
I don't notice anything out of the ordinary. I'm just greeting students coming through the door.
Sidenote - remember that Practicum student who didn't show last week? Yeah. She's here today. Just for this.... ;)
As I re-enter the classroom, it's evident something's awry.
One of my more outspoken students - who am I kidding, the kid has NO idea what tact is - points out to me that there is "Dog poop." On the floor.
And yes, my friends, there was real-live feces on the floor of my classroom, but I knew instantaneously that it did not come from an invisible dog roaming the halls of the school.
I look up to find the student (I am the only one in the room who knows about his condition) and he's not in the classroom. I'm thinking, "Good - he went to go take a shower," since the school counselors have talked to him about this procedure, "and I don't have to say a word."
Meanwhile, I have human feces on my floor with a classroom full of students making "EWWWWW" faces at me.
I'm sorry - was this in the training manual?
I immediately get the class working on the journal prompt and go to the phone to call the custodian who doesn't answer. So, I call the front desk. "Hi, this is Mrs. Brown. Can you page [the custodian]? I've got feces on the floor of my classroom . . . Yes, I'm in room 218. . . Okay, thanks."
And I'm freaking out because I don't want my students making a fuss about it and I don't want this particular student to feel singled out and I don't want poop on my floor!
But that's an internal freakout. When this student re-enters the room to go sit down, it's apparent (to my nose) that he did not procede immediately to the showers. In the most discreet way I could, I asked the student to step outside. "Did you have an accident?" I asked him quietly.
"No," he responds.
Of course, Cali! Why would he actually tell you the truth, here! This is embarrassing and you're his teacher. A GIRL teacher at that. Why would he actually admit to you that he soiled his pants?
"Oh okay - that's fine. Hey, Mr. (name-of-counselor) called while you were gone. He wanted to see you this morning. Why don't you head down there now?"
"Uh - okay..." he stammers as he leaves.
In one motion, I re-enter the classroom and call the counselor to let him know to "be expecting a student who's in need of school services." Good thing I've talked to this counselor before because he knew just what I meant.
Did I handle it perfectly? No. When the student re-entered the classroom, several students physically moved away from him (despite our assigned seating) because of the smell. Did I talk to them about it privately? Yes, but I reminded them to stay on task and focus on the work and I would take care of the smell.
GAH. My heart just hurts for this student... What could I have done more? How could I have made everything less obvious?
When the custodian came into the room to clean it up he asked, "Is there anywhere else that needs cleaning?" For precautions sake, I pointed to this students' desk (he had already left) and the custodian wiped it down with bleach solution. DIDN'T I JUST MAKE EVERYTHING OBVIOUS? But wasn't that also the best and most responsible thing to do?
Gah.
This practicum student is sitting here watching me fumble through everything for 1st period and I'm just pleading to myself, "Please don't let her think I'm a horrible teacher..." Why? Because I thought the intern I was assigned to for my practicum was a bum. Was he? No, but he was so negative about the profession and about his experience and I thought I could do better.
Oh heavens... I probably deserved today. Prideful baby teacher. I think I've learned my lesson.
I have a student with a health problem.
A pretty serious one.
It's called encopresis.
Not exactly the greatest health problem to have in middle school, mind you.
So today, the bell rings and I am gearing myself up for the start of 1st period when in walks this particular student.
I don't notice anything out of the ordinary. I'm just greeting students coming through the door.
Sidenote - remember that Practicum student who didn't show last week? Yeah. She's here today. Just for this.... ;)
As I re-enter the classroom, it's evident something's awry.
One of my more outspoken students - who am I kidding, the kid has NO idea what tact is - points out to me that there is "Dog poop." On the floor.
And yes, my friends, there was real-live feces on the floor of my classroom, but I knew instantaneously that it did not come from an invisible dog roaming the halls of the school.
I look up to find the student (I am the only one in the room who knows about his condition) and he's not in the classroom. I'm thinking, "Good - he went to go take a shower," since the school counselors have talked to him about this procedure, "and I don't have to say a word."
Meanwhile, I have human feces on my floor with a classroom full of students making "EWWWWW" faces at me.
I'm sorry - was this in the training manual?
I immediately get the class working on the journal prompt and go to the phone to call the custodian who doesn't answer. So, I call the front desk. "Hi, this is Mrs. Brown. Can you page [the custodian]? I've got feces on the floor of my classroom . . . Yes, I'm in room 218. . . Okay, thanks."
And I'm freaking out because I don't want my students making a fuss about it and I don't want this particular student to feel singled out and I don't want poop on my floor!
But that's an internal freakout. When this student re-enters the room to go sit down, it's apparent (to my nose) that he did not procede immediately to the showers. In the most discreet way I could, I asked the student to step outside. "Did you have an accident?" I asked him quietly.
"No," he responds.
Of course, Cali! Why would he actually tell you the truth, here! This is embarrassing and you're his teacher. A GIRL teacher at that. Why would he actually admit to you that he soiled his pants?
"Oh okay - that's fine. Hey, Mr. (name-of-counselor) called while you were gone. He wanted to see you this morning. Why don't you head down there now?"
"Uh - okay..." he stammers as he leaves.
In one motion, I re-enter the classroom and call the counselor to let him know to "be expecting a student who's in need of school services." Good thing I've talked to this counselor before because he knew just what I meant.
Did I handle it perfectly? No. When the student re-entered the classroom, several students physically moved away from him (despite our assigned seating) because of the smell. Did I talk to them about it privately? Yes, but I reminded them to stay on task and focus on the work and I would take care of the smell.
GAH. My heart just hurts for this student... What could I have done more? How could I have made everything less obvious?
When the custodian came into the room to clean it up he asked, "Is there anywhere else that needs cleaning?" For precautions sake, I pointed to this students' desk (he had already left) and the custodian wiped it down with bleach solution. DIDN'T I JUST MAKE EVERYTHING OBVIOUS? But wasn't that also the best and most responsible thing to do?
Gah.
This practicum student is sitting here watching me fumble through everything for 1st period and I'm just pleading to myself, "Please don't let her think I'm a horrible teacher..." Why? Because I thought the intern I was assigned to for my practicum was a bum. Was he? No, but he was so negative about the profession and about his experience and I thought I could do better.
Oh heavens... I probably deserved today. Prideful baby teacher. I think I've learned my lesson.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Sometimes...
Sometimes you make a lesson almost absolutely about independent learning and independent practice for your students just because...
...you're sick....
...and you wouldn't survive without it.
Yeah.
That's today.
Funny thing - the students are like that, too. Most of them sick or were sick over the weekend so they didn't get anything done.
Oh well...
I can't sympathize with them at all - I mean, I only had two sticky noted to-do lists set aside for this weekend and didn't cross a single thing off.
No biggie.
Today must end quickly.
Like now.
...you're sick....
...and you wouldn't survive without it.
Yeah.
That's today.
Funny thing - the students are like that, too. Most of them sick or were sick over the weekend so they didn't get anything done.
Oh well...
I can't sympathize with them at all - I mean, I only had two sticky noted to-do lists set aside for this weekend and didn't cross a single thing off.
No biggie.
Today must end quickly.
Like now.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Whoa...
So I went home immediately after school yesterday. Not even kidding. The kids left my room to head on to the busses and I was pulling out in my car before the busses even left.
I think the principal saw it, too. Oops.
But what can I say? It was a goal of mine to never throw up in front of my students - ever. And I wasn't about to ruin that goal yesterday.
I got home and barely had time to change into sweats before I crashed on the couch and broke out in pure sweat. Yup. The fever. And it hit hard. I was asleep (with only the slight wakings when I was burning up but refused to take off the blankets cause I knew the chills would shortly follow) from 3:30pm to 7:45pm when my smart-because-he-decided-to-stay-at-school-while-his-wife-was-flippin-miserable-and-contagious husband finally walked through the door. I took some NyQuil around 8:30 and was out again until 6:00 this morning.
Wow, right?
Felt a lot better when I arose, though I'm now echoing the coughs of my students and my voice sounds like I've been a smoker for 20 years. Just sayin.
Speaking of sick, I have not had a single class today where less than 6 students were absent. That's right. In one period, I had TEN students - yes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10! - absent. Most of them from sickness.
What do you do here? I've felt chastised by the facebook posts of a few local mommies who pleaded, "If you're sick, STAY HOME! Stop spreading it to our healthy kids! You're not doing anyone a favor by bringing your baby with croup to church!" Granted I'm not letting my sick kids go to school sick. I'm going to school sick. But I'm taking precautions - staying away from students, not touching anything, wiping down things I may have touched, etc.
And let's face it. The only reason I'm doing it is the fact I don't trust subs. I've had little experience with them yes, but when you get a note that says, "We didn't have time to get to your lesson, sorry," from a sub, you lose all confidence. Just sayin. It's more work to try to prep for a sub that DOESN'T know your students like you do. You'd almost rather go to work sick.
But guess who's putting in sub requests as we speak? Me. I was asked by the school librarian to attend a Librarian's conference with her in March. Woot! So that's one day (funded by the school, so even better). Also, requesting a sub for the teacher fair in March as well. Then, I'M GRADUATING! Yup. It's happening. Just so happens that CRTs (end of level tests) are happening the same week, so I'm holding on that sub request until I know for sure that my absence won't fall on an English testing day.
Did one of the other teachers advise me to skip my own graduation? Yeah. Have I already thought about it? Yeah. But how many opportunities am I going to have to celebrate my hard work as a student? 5 years of hard work!? I think I'm going to go for it - plus I have the feeling that navy blue cap-and-gown will suit me just perfectly.
But today is going really well - I love that my students still love to read. Whoa... I wonder when some people lost that and how I can prevent it...
Happy Weekend!
I think the principal saw it, too. Oops.
But what can I say? It was a goal of mine to never throw up in front of my students - ever. And I wasn't about to ruin that goal yesterday.
I got home and barely had time to change into sweats before I crashed on the couch and broke out in pure sweat. Yup. The fever. And it hit hard. I was asleep (with only the slight wakings when I was burning up but refused to take off the blankets cause I knew the chills would shortly follow) from 3:30pm to 7:45pm when my smart-because-he-decided-to-stay-at-school-while-his-wife-was-flippin-miserable-and-contagious husband finally walked through the door. I took some NyQuil around 8:30 and was out again until 6:00 this morning.
Wow, right?
Felt a lot better when I arose, though I'm now echoing the coughs of my students and my voice sounds like I've been a smoker for 20 years. Just sayin.
Speaking of sick, I have not had a single class today where less than 6 students were absent. That's right. In one period, I had TEN students - yes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10! - absent. Most of them from sickness.
What do you do here? I've felt chastised by the facebook posts of a few local mommies who pleaded, "If you're sick, STAY HOME! Stop spreading it to our healthy kids! You're not doing anyone a favor by bringing your baby with croup to church!" Granted I'm not letting my sick kids go to school sick. I'm going to school sick. But I'm taking precautions - staying away from students, not touching anything, wiping down things I may have touched, etc.
And let's face it. The only reason I'm doing it is the fact I don't trust subs. I've had little experience with them yes, but when you get a note that says, "We didn't have time to get to your lesson, sorry," from a sub, you lose all confidence. Just sayin. It's more work to try to prep for a sub that DOESN'T know your students like you do. You'd almost rather go to work sick.
But guess who's putting in sub requests as we speak? Me. I was asked by the school librarian to attend a Librarian's conference with her in March. Woot! So that's one day (funded by the school, so even better). Also, requesting a sub for the teacher fair in March as well. Then, I'M GRADUATING! Yup. It's happening. Just so happens that CRTs (end of level tests) are happening the same week, so I'm holding on that sub request until I know for sure that my absence won't fall on an English testing day.
Did one of the other teachers advise me to skip my own graduation? Yeah. Have I already thought about it? Yeah. But how many opportunities am I going to have to celebrate my hard work as a student? 5 years of hard work!? I think I'm going to go for it - plus I have the feeling that navy blue cap-and-gown will suit me just perfectly.
But today is going really well - I love that my students still love to read. Whoa... I wonder when some people lost that and how I can prevent it...
Happy Weekend!
Thursday, January 31, 2013
"Stay Gold..."
We've done it. My 7th graders have reached the epic Robert Frost appearance in The Outsiders. Do they have any idea how hallowed this poet is? No. But even they are struck by his epic-ness.
Yes. New word.
Yesterday we focused on the term symbolism. I'm really trying to have my students come up with their own definitions for these literary terms so they can grasp it more readily than I could for them. And, so far, it's working.
I started with a themed prompt about colors: "Pick a color and list everything you think of when you imagine that color in your mind." Were some of my students stuck on a particular object? Yeah. Purple meant Barney and Green meant a frog. But some of them were absolute rockstarts: "Blue is kind of like sadness," one student remarked; "Green is fresh. It's like life," another added. So, when I inevitably turned the discussion to the color Gold, we were ready. I had students do a mini research project on gold - how it's mined and how it's refined until all of the impurities are taken out. We talked about how gold symbolized perfection and one way-too-smart-for-his-own-good student added, "That's why olympians get GOLD medals. They're perfect. Or the very best in the world at least." It was great.
So today, we talked about what this poem means for the novel as a whole. Started with a White Board Discussion (since on student response sheets many students remarked that they wished they could get a break from writing in their journals), and students responded to the question: What did Ponyboy mean when he said "Nothing gold can stay?"
It was probably one of my favorite classes to this point. They talked about how things that are precious to us won't always be precious because we'll grow and change and people will leave. They talked about how nothing good lasts forever. They talked about how nothing and no one is perfect and so our "perfect" moments are always stolen by the imperfections of others. I'm serious. All them.
So we reviewed the poem and broke it down. Talked about seasons, made personal connections, talked about Christian theology (which was tricky and I was sure to say several times that the reference to Eden was an allusion to Christian beliefs and that I wasn't teaching Christian doctrine but explaining how "Eden" relates to this concept or symbol of "gold." Hope that was clear!)
It was beautiful... We made some connections and looked forward in the novel, made some predictions, etc.
I had a 276 student from another class come into my room to observe for a period and she came up to me afterwards and remarked, "You do a really good job asking guiding questions for discussion." Why thank you, kind soon-to-be-teacher. It's true - today was a beautiful day for discussion.
As we talked about what it meant to "Stay Gold..." I realized that my experience at Dixon has been a golden one - I've learned so much and grown so much and it's hard to accept that "Nothing gold can stay..." But with the end of every golden dawn comes the promise of an even brighter day... and inevitably, I will see that golden dawn again. It's just a day away.
So I sent off 5+ requests for letters of recommendation. I've requested a Sub for Teacher Fair days. I've started revising my resume and researching other school districts in the area.
And I'm looking forward to the end of something gold, so I can look forward to something maybe less precious, but just as beautiful.
P.S. Might have developed a fever around 2:30pm today. Chills and all. I think I'm going home. ;)
Yes. New word.
Yesterday we focused on the term symbolism. I'm really trying to have my students come up with their own definitions for these literary terms so they can grasp it more readily than I could for them. And, so far, it's working.
I started with a themed prompt about colors: "Pick a color and list everything you think of when you imagine that color in your mind." Were some of my students stuck on a particular object? Yeah. Purple meant Barney and Green meant a frog. But some of them were absolute rockstarts: "Blue is kind of like sadness," one student remarked; "Green is fresh. It's like life," another added. So, when I inevitably turned the discussion to the color Gold, we were ready. I had students do a mini research project on gold - how it's mined and how it's refined until all of the impurities are taken out. We talked about how gold symbolized perfection and one way-too-smart-for-his-own-good student added, "That's why olympians get GOLD medals. They're perfect. Or the very best in the world at least." It was great.
So today, we talked about what this poem means for the novel as a whole. Started with a White Board Discussion (since on student response sheets many students remarked that they wished they could get a break from writing in their journals), and students responded to the question: What did Ponyboy mean when he said "Nothing gold can stay?"
It was probably one of my favorite classes to this point. They talked about how things that are precious to us won't always be precious because we'll grow and change and people will leave. They talked about how nothing good lasts forever. They talked about how nothing and no one is perfect and so our "perfect" moments are always stolen by the imperfections of others. I'm serious. All them.
So we reviewed the poem and broke it down. Talked about seasons, made personal connections, talked about Christian theology (which was tricky and I was sure to say several times that the reference to Eden was an allusion to Christian beliefs and that I wasn't teaching Christian doctrine but explaining how "Eden" relates to this concept or symbol of "gold." Hope that was clear!)
It was beautiful... We made some connections and looked forward in the novel, made some predictions, etc.
I had a 276 student from another class come into my room to observe for a period and she came up to me afterwards and remarked, "You do a really good job asking guiding questions for discussion." Why thank you, kind soon-to-be-teacher. It's true - today was a beautiful day for discussion.
As we talked about what it meant to "Stay Gold..." I realized that my experience at Dixon has been a golden one - I've learned so much and grown so much and it's hard to accept that "Nothing gold can stay..." But with the end of every golden dawn comes the promise of an even brighter day... and inevitably, I will see that golden dawn again. It's just a day away.
So I sent off 5+ requests for letters of recommendation. I've requested a Sub for Teacher Fair days. I've started revising my resume and researching other school districts in the area.
And I'm looking forward to the end of something gold, so I can look forward to something maybe less precious, but just as beautiful.
P.S. Might have developed a fever around 2:30pm today. Chills and all. I think I'm going home. ;)
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
POPPING
Can I just tell you how much I stress about meeting with my principal - maybe it's because so much is riding on him and how he feels about me, but even when I'm prepared up the WAHZOO, I feel like I'm a 5-year-old in his office.
But he called me in today to meet him about some assessment reflections. Good thing I'm the most reflective person I know. Yes - I've self-dubbed myself with the nickname "Mirror." It happened. Today. :D
Needless to say, I was pooped when I left his office. Did he confirm that he has a desire to keep me at the school and that I'm doing good things here? Yeah. Did he also encourage me to NOT HOLD MY BREATH and wait around for an offer here? Yeah. He said he would only know in April if there was a position available and he encouraged me to be looking for employment opportunities at other schools.
Yeah.
Again - no answers - and I'm reading way too much into everything. What can I say. I'm a FEMALE ENGLISH TEACHER. It's what I was born to do.
But my lack of energy in regards to the unknown is a little scary. I've sent some messages to old friends who are working as teachers, asking about districts, employment researching tools, etc, but all of it feels so incredibly intimidating that I'm seizing up just thinking about it. How do I even get this grown-up thing called a job?
One piece of advice I've received - buy a new "POPPING" outfit for the teacher fair. Bright colors. Style it up. Look REALLY good to ensure there's no chance of forgetting me.
Is it bad that the shopping aspect may be the most overwhelming of all?
So I'm on the search. "POPPING" outfit and new job - here I come. I'm not scared of you at all. Nope. Not even a little.
(Okay. I lied. It's really a whole lot.)
But he called me in today to meet him about some assessment reflections. Good thing I'm the most reflective person I know. Yes - I've self-dubbed myself with the nickname "Mirror." It happened. Today. :D
Needless to say, I was pooped when I left his office. Did he confirm that he has a desire to keep me at the school and that I'm doing good things here? Yeah. Did he also encourage me to NOT HOLD MY BREATH and wait around for an offer here? Yeah. He said he would only know in April if there was a position available and he encouraged me to be looking for employment opportunities at other schools.
Yeah.
Again - no answers - and I'm reading way too much into everything. What can I say. I'm a FEMALE ENGLISH TEACHER. It's what I was born to do.
But my lack of energy in regards to the unknown is a little scary. I've sent some messages to old friends who are working as teachers, asking about districts, employment researching tools, etc, but all of it feels so incredibly intimidating that I'm seizing up just thinking about it. How do I even get this grown-up thing called a job?
One piece of advice I've received - buy a new "POPPING" outfit for the teacher fair. Bright colors. Style it up. Look REALLY good to ensure there's no chance of forgetting me.
Is it bad that the shopping aspect may be the most overwhelming of all?
So I'm on the search. "POPPING" outfit and new job - here I come. I'm not scared of you at all. Nope. Not even a little.
(Okay. I lied. It's really a whole lot.)
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
What I Would Give...
Momentary vent - I was recently contacted by another English Education major who is doing her practicum now and has applied for an internship. Typically, BYU tries to put students for their practicum at the same school they will be at for their internship or student teaching - granted, that didn't happen for me, but whatevs - and I got an email from this student yesterday, introducing herself by saying, "Hey, I'm the intern that's going to take your place next year." I had to choke down my pride at that moment while secretly wishing she understood the feeling of trying so incredibly hard to do your very best at absolutely everything and be the best, most caring, most rigorous and understanding teacher there could ever be, just to not know what your future holds. So - choking all of my emotions down and realizing that this is a great opportunity to answer HER questions and help her (like I wish someone would have done for me) - I replied, gave her all of my room information, let her know how excited I was to have her in my classroom, and received a reply which stated, "I'll be coming tomorrow for periods 1-3."
I prepped my cute little 7th graders for a visitor, but she never showed up. Yes, I admit, my first reaction was a horrible little mental comment along the lines of "Well, I see how committed you are to this thing... don't even show up....psh." But then I took a look outside and felt incredibly guilty - what if something happened to her? Provo roads were atrocious this morning with all of the snow. I hope she's okay!
And I keep asking myself - why am I so bothered by this? She's going to be here MAYBE 9 times total. It's not a big deal.
And then it hits me. It bugs me because I love it here. I love my room. I love my students. I love being a teacher and I love all of it. I love emailing parents to let them know about student concerns to show them how much I care about their children. I love working with other teachers to help them discover new ways to use technology or to collaborate for new teaching ideas. I love this school. What I would give to be here again - even for a repeat FIRST year, which is a big deal. I've learned so much and grown so much, and I'm grateful for each and every one of those opportunities.
So, dear Practicum student, I hope that you are okay. And I hope you know how blessed you are to be at this school. :D
Promise I'm not bitter..... Or at least I promise to get over it. ;)
P.S. - Greatest book report idea: Character Interview. Have students choose one character, come up with interview questions and answer them as the character, using evidence from the book to support their answers. My 7th graders loved it. Great idea.
I prepped my cute little 7th graders for a visitor, but she never showed up. Yes, I admit, my first reaction was a horrible little mental comment along the lines of "Well, I see how committed you are to this thing... don't even show up....psh." But then I took a look outside and felt incredibly guilty - what if something happened to her? Provo roads were atrocious this morning with all of the snow. I hope she's okay!
And I keep asking myself - why am I so bothered by this? She's going to be here MAYBE 9 times total. It's not a big deal.
And then it hits me. It bugs me because I love it here. I love my room. I love my students. I love being a teacher and I love all of it. I love emailing parents to let them know about student concerns to show them how much I care about their children. I love working with other teachers to help them discover new ways to use technology or to collaborate for new teaching ideas. I love this school. What I would give to be here again - even for a repeat FIRST year, which is a big deal. I've learned so much and grown so much, and I'm grateful for each and every one of those opportunities.
So, dear Practicum student, I hope that you are okay. And I hope you know how blessed you are to be at this school. :D
Promise I'm not bitter..... Or at least I promise to get over it. ;)
P.S. - Greatest book report idea: Character Interview. Have students choose one character, come up with interview questions and answer them as the character, using evidence from the book to support their answers. My 7th graders loved it. Great idea.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Oh the Days...
My memories of middle school... well, I'm fond of them. I was involved in every club/sport under the sun. I mean seriously - I was even on the cross country team! I did really well in school, I won awards, I had some of the most amazing teachers (that I'm still wanting to reconnect with to this day to let them know, "Hey, I became a middle school teacher!"), I loved it.
Granted - was I the most awkward person alive? Heck yes. I had absolutely no idea what was going on with my body - I still shudder when I see pictures! I had no idea about hygiene - I remember being teased about the fact that I didn't bring a new pair of socks every day for P.E. until the beginning of the week. Yes. I wore the same pair of socks every day for P.E. for a week.
I'm so glad that I've matured.
Well, today was the second half of our silly block day schedule. Started the day with a 90 minute prep period (which is how I now think everyday should start. Wow, I got so much done!). Followed by my last two periods of 7th graders. Were they a little worked up with it being Friday? Yeah. But everything went well.
Then came the last 90 minutes of the day - and I was in Assembly Group A which meant we went to Dixon's Got Talent first. And, sadly, I got my first up-close-and-personal look at how horrible middle schoolers are to each other.
I watched these brave souls take the stage and do their little dance routines or sing their little songs and I was transported back to those days of old when I took the stage and sang - yes, I did - the exact same song.
What I was unprepared for was the reactions of the students I was "watching over" during the performance. A sweet pair of girls took the stage and sang a very well-done rendition of Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat's "Lucky."
Yes, you horrid 8th grade boys, it was a song sung by a boy and girl and now two sweet girls are on stage singing about being in love with their "best friends," but that is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON to start making lesbian jokes to your neighbor. And yes, I can hear you. And see you. And I'm not going to stop giving you the stink eye until you decide to quit your little antics and watch the performance like a decent human being who cares about other people's feelings.
I'm serious - here these talented students were, trying their very best to impress the student body with their talents.... And each of them were secretly being laughed at by these students surrounding me. And all I could do was give them the stink eye?
I wanted to pull him out of the auditorium and give him a piece of my mind - but was that really my place? What would I have said? Either way, I think I know where I'll be spending my time looking for informational texts to pull from in January - articles about bullying. I think it may be a good place to start.
It was my first dose of the mean side of middle school - I guess I need to get a reality check. Hopefully my own ignorance is evidence that my room is a "safe" place.... Oh well...
Broke my heart a little though... Some people can just be mean.
Granted - was I the most awkward person alive? Heck yes. I had absolutely no idea what was going on with my body - I still shudder when I see pictures! I had no idea about hygiene - I remember being teased about the fact that I didn't bring a new pair of socks every day for P.E. until the beginning of the week. Yes. I wore the same pair of socks every day for P.E. for a week.
I'm so glad that I've matured.
Well, today was the second half of our silly block day schedule. Started the day with a 90 minute prep period (which is how I now think everyday should start. Wow, I got so much done!). Followed by my last two periods of 7th graders. Were they a little worked up with it being Friday? Yeah. But everything went well.
Then came the last 90 minutes of the day - and I was in Assembly Group A which meant we went to Dixon's Got Talent first. And, sadly, I got my first up-close-and-personal look at how horrible middle schoolers are to each other.
I watched these brave souls take the stage and do their little dance routines or sing their little songs and I was transported back to those days of old when I took the stage and sang - yes, I did - the exact same song.
What I was unprepared for was the reactions of the students I was "watching over" during the performance. A sweet pair of girls took the stage and sang a very well-done rendition of Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat's "Lucky."
Yes, you horrid 8th grade boys, it was a song sung by a boy and girl and now two sweet girls are on stage singing about being in love with their "best friends," but that is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON to start making lesbian jokes to your neighbor. And yes, I can hear you. And see you. And I'm not going to stop giving you the stink eye until you decide to quit your little antics and watch the performance like a decent human being who cares about other people's feelings.
I'm serious - here these talented students were, trying their very best to impress the student body with their talents.... And each of them were secretly being laughed at by these students surrounding me. And all I could do was give them the stink eye?
I wanted to pull him out of the auditorium and give him a piece of my mind - but was that really my place? What would I have said? Either way, I think I know where I'll be spending my time looking for informational texts to pull from in January - articles about bullying. I think it may be a good place to start.
It was my first dose of the mean side of middle school - I guess I need to get a reality check. Hopefully my own ignorance is evidence that my room is a "safe" place.... Oh well...
Broke my heart a little though... Some people can just be mean.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Block Day Bleh...
I used to envy my other interning associates at schools where they have "POD" English classes - two periods of English, twice as much time, all that jazz.
But today - I'm grateful for my measly 45 minutes every day.
Don't get me wrong, I still love the idea of a block schedule and I know it was ten times more effective for me as a student when I got to high school, but when you switch it up so suddenly on the entire student body, there's bound to be an explosion.
So periods 1-4 came through my door today.
And yes - my prep is 5th, so I'll start with that tomorrow! YEAH! While mourning the loss of a prep today. Sad face.
90 minute periods. Yikes.
How many times did my third period class ask me when my class ended? Nearly 12. Serious. Even after I answered their question with one of my own: "Does anyone know what question Mrs. Brown hates the most?" I probably should have just answered the darn question. I just didn't want them looking up at the clock for 90 minutes. Poor kids. I tried to do a more lively activity, but it was too much so I abandoned it after first period.
Oh well.
No wonder students need ORDER and REPETITION in their lives. When you throw a curveball like a block day, things are bound to be off.
But, despite it all, we're doing good. We'll see how tomorrow goes.
But today - I'm grateful for my measly 45 minutes every day.
Don't get me wrong, I still love the idea of a block schedule and I know it was ten times more effective for me as a student when I got to high school, but when you switch it up so suddenly on the entire student body, there's bound to be an explosion.
So periods 1-4 came through my door today.
And yes - my prep is 5th, so I'll start with that tomorrow! YEAH! While mourning the loss of a prep today. Sad face.
90 minute periods. Yikes.
How many times did my third period class ask me when my class ended? Nearly 12. Serious. Even after I answered their question with one of my own: "Does anyone know what question Mrs. Brown hates the most?" I probably should have just answered the darn question. I just didn't want them looking up at the clock for 90 minutes. Poor kids. I tried to do a more lively activity, but it was too much so I abandoned it after first period.
Oh well.
No wonder students need ORDER and REPETITION in their lives. When you throw a curveball like a block day, things are bound to be off.
But, despite it all, we're doing good. We'll see how tomorrow goes.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
And the Award Goes to....
Award-winning moments of the day:
- Listened to my sad eighth graders. Changed the way I did my reading quiz today. Passed out individual quizzes, had them take the quiz, grade a partner's quiz and pass it back. Took way too long (so I'm a fan of the as-a-class-quiz method, but it does give me less authentic assessment results). One student who I have struggled to motivate in the past, zipped through the quiz and was doing really well. He turned the page over to the back after finishing the simple 3-question quiz, looked up at me and asked, "That's it?" I nodded discreetly - c'mon, it was a quiz - and he, aloud to the class, states "HA! That was easy." I couldn't contain my excitement. Immediately, I reached into my secret drawer of yummies, pulled out three pieces of candy and threw each one, individually, at him. He just laughed, but I pulled him aside and thanked him after class for doing the work and realizing, on his own, that what I ask from students isn't difficult if they just do their part. Biggest grin on his face - EVER. (Of course, this moment also took the rest of my students completely off task with questions like, "Hey! Why does HE get candy?!" but that was a price I was willing to pay.)
- Multiple students walked into my classroom this morning during intervention time. With a few words out of my mouth, they inquired, "Mrs. Brown, are you sick?" I turned to them and in the sickest of sick, manliest of manly voices, I replied, "Why would you think that?" It sparked a "manly" conversation for the next ten minutes -- meaning we fake talked like men through intervention time. It was enough of a moment to get me through the rest of the day.
- Reached Chapter 4 in the Outsiders today. Not far, I know, but I've had almost 20 students come up to me begging for the book to take home and read. I've had a few very bright students confess that they got it from the library over the weekend and finished it already. WOW. Ponyboy just ran away and they are on the edge of their seats all class period. I bought the movie myself - cause let's face it, who doesn't want to own the goodness of The Outsiders on DVD... the most 80's of 80's films I've ever seen. I showed a clip in class today summarize part of the story (WHICH IS SO INCREDIBLY HARD TO DO! I HATE SKIPPING PARTS OF THIS NOVEL! IT's TORTURE!), and it was my students, not me, that complained about skipping more pages. Thank you, S.E. Hinton for writing such a time-forsaken classic.
- I applied some lessons from my Daycare experience this past summer. (WHAT? Working with ten 4-year-olds came in handy? Yeah....). Remember my first take-to-the-office student? The one who I got switched to my 1st period class? Well, he's better, but still likes to make a ruckus in class - and let's face it: even in my class of angels (aka first period), those students still appreciate a class clown. I dismissed him from class today to get a drink when he couldn't control his laughter - which was extremely out of place and inappropriate for our topic of discussion - and when he purposefully took over my TV screen to show pictures of himself to the class. Yeah. Good stuff. I pulled him aside after class and told him I had a secret for him. I pulled out an empty baby food jar and asked what his favorite kind of candy was.
"Skittles," he replied.
"Tell you what, (student)," I began, "I've got a deal for you. You've been doing a pretty good job in 1st period, but I still notice that you make some not so good decisions sometimes when you want to show off for the class. So I came up with this idea to help you to remember to make good decisions. Every time you make a good decision in class like today when you raised your hand to share your journal prompt, or when you took notes on your iPad, I'm going to give you a signal - I'm going to give you a thumbs up and I want you to keep tally of every time I do. At the end of class, I'll put that many skittles in this jar. When the jar gets filled up, I will give you a special prize. I know how much you love music - how would you feel about an iTunes gift card?"
"Yeah - that'd be cool."
"Okay, great. So we'll start this tomorrow. However, if there are times that I have to walk by your desk and tap your shoulder, that's a sign that whatever you're doing needs to change, or I'm gonna have to eat some of those skittles from the jar. And I really like skittles. Do we have a deal?"
It was great. He left pretty excited. Will it work? No idea, but I wanted a visual way of showing him when he's doing well and when he can improve.
These are award-winning moments in my book.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
A Little Early, Don't You Think?
So - school hasn't even started.
I have no idea how today will go, though I feel in my bones the promise of an uneventful day (crossing fingers).
My students are just reviewing key literary terms by finding examples from their novels...
But I'm sick.
Yum.
So I'm going home as soon as possible after that bell rings...
But I did not want to forget the two moments of this morning:
- Asst. Principal comes up to me with a piece of paper and says, "We want you back next year. Sign this please." WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?! I looked at him a little starry-eyed and said, "Really?" I'm sure he could tell from the surprise/bewilderment/absolute elation on my face that he said something not quite right. He takes the piece of paper back and asks, "How did we hire you again?" I replied, "As an intern." "Oh - then you don't need to sign this." My heart may have fallen to my feet at that moment. If only he'd known how much I was wanting that invitation to return. "We'd love to have you back next year," he rewound his words to lessen the damage to my heart, "but we won't know about that for a little while." Yup. Awesome moment of the morning.
- Shortly after the above incident, the teacher in charge of the "Teacher of the Year" Award came up to me and said, "You know you were nominated for Teacher of the Year. Unfortunately, since you're an intern, you don't qualify. But still - that's such an incredible sign!" Yes, my friends, I'm making progress in this world.
They were just the moments I needed to get me through until 3:30pm when I shall go home and sleep until tomorrow. :D
I have no idea how today will go, though I feel in my bones the promise of an uneventful day (crossing fingers).
My students are just reviewing key literary terms by finding examples from their novels...
But I'm sick.
Yum.
So I'm going home as soon as possible after that bell rings...
But I did not want to forget the two moments of this morning:
- Asst. Principal comes up to me with a piece of paper and says, "We want you back next year. Sign this please." WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?! I looked at him a little starry-eyed and said, "Really?" I'm sure he could tell from the surprise/bewilderment/absolute elation on my face that he said something not quite right. He takes the piece of paper back and asks, "How did we hire you again?" I replied, "As an intern." "Oh - then you don't need to sign this." My heart may have fallen to my feet at that moment. If only he'd known how much I was wanting that invitation to return. "We'd love to have you back next year," he rewound his words to lessen the damage to my heart, "but we won't know about that for a little while." Yup. Awesome moment of the morning.
- Shortly after the above incident, the teacher in charge of the "Teacher of the Year" Award came up to me and said, "You know you were nominated for Teacher of the Year. Unfortunately, since you're an intern, you don't qualify. But still - that's such an incredible sign!" Yes, my friends, I'm making progress in this world.
They were just the moments I needed to get me through until 3:30pm when I shall go home and sleep until tomorrow. :D
Friday, January 18, 2013
OMG(sh).
Let me just drop the bomb for you:
15% of my 8th graders actually did their reading last night. So those cutesy, awesome lesson plans I created were absolutely worthless. I can't have a learning activity if they have no IDEA what I'm talking about!
Spent those periods reading and summarizing the chapters so that my students were caught up. And fake crying.
Fun moment: I put my head in my book in utter frustration and pretended to sob. A believable sob is all in the shoulders and the quiet, uneven intakes of breath. One of my darling 8th graders said - to the rest of the class - "Come on guys! You're making Mrs. Brown cry! Seriously! Just read the book!"
Epic moment: Shortly after the above moment, I turned to the same darling 8th grader with a question about the chapters that were assigned and - GASP of all GASPS - she couldn't answer it. The class really jumped on that one: "YOU didn't read and you're telling all of us we have to read! Look who shouldn't be talking!"
Please remember - these comments were make with smiles and laughs and I talked to said darling student to chastise her for not reading and make sure she was okay with the teasing.
So - most of my 2nd period currently has C's. Because now, they've bombed 2 reading quizzes. Like big time.
OMG(sh).
Granted - let's be honest - have there been times I went to class and hadn't read? Oh yeah. It happens. But I always felt so guilty for it, I would go right home and read the rest of the book.
I told all my 8th graders that they had 1 last chance and that if 5 people did not read the chapters on this THREE-DAY-WEEKEND, I would have them leave the books here and we would read the novel in class and they would have worksheets and assignments to take home.
Ouch.
Seriously - most merciful teacher ever award? Anyone? Anyone?
***
There is something about Fridays though - I think it's the jeans. I always feel above the world on Fridays... not in a prideful, "I look down upon you" way, but in a "You can't touch me," "No one can steal my happiness" kind of way. Even the whole incident with the 8th graders - lecture was not an option. I chose the route of Overdramatic, broken-hearted teacher and it was so much more enjoyable to look crazy then to be crazy (because, let's face it, that's how students look at lectures on behavior). Don't get me wrong - I meant business and they knew it - but I had students promising the overdramatic, crazy English teacher, "I promise I'll read!"
Love it.
Love Friday.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
The No-Show-Ers...
Yesterday, during 7th period, the vice-principal comes to visit, asking if I'll attend a meeting in the conference room at 3:00.
I'm the "YES" girl, so I found myself sitting in a meeting with some other great teachers after school. Said Vice-Principal announces that our school will be hosting some visitors from the Utah Senate Education Committee and he wanted us to adapt our lesson plans for tomorrow (which was today) to show off some of the ways we have used technology and learning APPs in our classroom.
Was I planning on a technology-robust lesson? After yesterday's fiascos? No.
But I don't say "no" very well.
So, I whipped up something I thought would be creative (a student-directed, short research project on some of the background topics they would need to know about as we got further into our novels. OH YEAH). Planned the lesson to a T, and created several back-up ideas just in case.
Did the technology work - perfectly. Things were great.
Did the senate committee members show up - NO.
Don't worry, I'm not crying myself to sleep tonight. I promise. But it was a rush of panic, adrenaline, and more panic planning that lesson; however, I thought, if it takes an honored visitor to push me out of my comfort zone a little to see that students could - in a 20 minute period - do the required research and put together a presentation for tomorrow's class, then it was well worth it.
On a different note:
- 50% of my 8th graders actually did the reading yesterday. SAD FACE. (yes. I spelled it out) The quiz thing worked great. In one class, they got a 3 out of 10 on the first question, so I offered a second chance question. Too bad the student I chose to answer didn't read the book. I had students walking out of my class saying, "DUDE! Why didn't you read!?" or telling other students, "GUYS! Make SURE you read tonight!" I love not having to be the one to say those things. I explained that if they didn't read, I would take the books back and they would be required to read in class and do worksheets at home. Yeah - they weren't fans of that option. We'll see what tomorrow holds.
- I got through chapter 1 of The Outsiders today. Day 2 = chapter 1 completed. Yeah. I'm already behind. Anyone think that my darling 7th graders will be able to read all of Chapter 2 to themselves tomorrow? Yeah - no. I'm dreading the surgical procedure I will probably need to perform on this novel in order to get through it without transforming it into my next torture method. I don't want to cut out paragraphs of character description or background information - they need to know that stuff! That's why it was included in the book! I did - CONFESSION - skip 1 and 1/2 pages in one class today so that we COULD finish chapter 1 in time. The groans around the room when I announced the need to skip was enough to break my heart. They didn't want me to skip it either... Funny thing - I'm getting kids asking if they can check out the book from the library and read ahead. BY ALL MEANS, my lov-er-ly little students. BY ALL MEANS! Just don't give it all away.
- Remember the darling child who likes to rap explicit songs in class and talk back and throw tantrums while I'm teaching? The one I had to walk to the principal's office? Well, things haven't necessarily gotten worse, but they haven't gotten better. This student's mom and I have become great e-mail friends and I send her an update every week on his behavior in class. With the change in semester, I begged her to see if he could be switched to my 1st period class (writing and reading and sitting still for someone with severe ADHD at 1:00 in the afternoon is not the easiest task in the world). So today was day one of the switch. IT WAS LIKE SOMEONE FLIPPED A SWITCH in his cute little noggin. He was raising his hand, reading along, taking notes without complaining.... WOW! I should have fought for it harder last term, but I was told it wasn't an easy switch, so I gave up. BAD, BABY TEACHER. Never give up. I'm so excited to see what tomorrow holds for him.
- To be honest, I have (up to this point) done a LOT of writing in class. All of my previous units had small readings, small narratives, short articles, to accompany a writing task. Granted, we're doing a writing assignment with the novel (that's just how it has to work!), but I'm seeing a new side of some of my students after having a sustained reading opportunity. Now, the question is, how can I get them to keep that reading going on at home!?
Today - breath of fresh air. Probably because I dressed up and actually did my hair today... None of this braid and scrunchy curls stuff. :) You're talking dress and dried, curled hair. Today was the first day all week my hair didn't freeze when I stepped outside to come to work....
Yeah...
T'was a great day.
I'm the "YES" girl, so I found myself sitting in a meeting with some other great teachers after school. Said Vice-Principal announces that our school will be hosting some visitors from the Utah Senate Education Committee and he wanted us to adapt our lesson plans for tomorrow (which was today) to show off some of the ways we have used technology and learning APPs in our classroom.
Was I planning on a technology-robust lesson? After yesterday's fiascos? No.
But I don't say "no" very well.
So, I whipped up something I thought would be creative (a student-directed, short research project on some of the background topics they would need to know about as we got further into our novels. OH YEAH). Planned the lesson to a T, and created several back-up ideas just in case.
Did the technology work - perfectly. Things were great.
Did the senate committee members show up - NO.
Don't worry, I'm not crying myself to sleep tonight. I promise. But it was a rush of panic, adrenaline, and more panic planning that lesson; however, I thought, if it takes an honored visitor to push me out of my comfort zone a little to see that students could - in a 20 minute period - do the required research and put together a presentation for tomorrow's class, then it was well worth it.
On a different note:
- 50% of my 8th graders actually did the reading yesterday. SAD FACE. (yes. I spelled it out) The quiz thing worked great. In one class, they got a 3 out of 10 on the first question, so I offered a second chance question. Too bad the student I chose to answer didn't read the book. I had students walking out of my class saying, "DUDE! Why didn't you read!?" or telling other students, "GUYS! Make SURE you read tonight!" I love not having to be the one to say those things. I explained that if they didn't read, I would take the books back and they would be required to read in class and do worksheets at home. Yeah - they weren't fans of that option. We'll see what tomorrow holds.
- I got through chapter 1 of The Outsiders today. Day 2 = chapter 1 completed. Yeah. I'm already behind. Anyone think that my darling 7th graders will be able to read all of Chapter 2 to themselves tomorrow? Yeah - no. I'm dreading the surgical procedure I will probably need to perform on this novel in order to get through it without transforming it into my next torture method. I don't want to cut out paragraphs of character description or background information - they need to know that stuff! That's why it was included in the book! I did - CONFESSION - skip 1 and 1/2 pages in one class today so that we COULD finish chapter 1 in time. The groans around the room when I announced the need to skip was enough to break my heart. They didn't want me to skip it either... Funny thing - I'm getting kids asking if they can check out the book from the library and read ahead. BY ALL MEANS, my lov-er-ly little students. BY ALL MEANS! Just don't give it all away.
- Remember the darling child who likes to rap explicit songs in class and talk back and throw tantrums while I'm teaching? The one I had to walk to the principal's office? Well, things haven't necessarily gotten worse, but they haven't gotten better. This student's mom and I have become great e-mail friends and I send her an update every week on his behavior in class. With the change in semester, I begged her to see if he could be switched to my 1st period class (writing and reading and sitting still for someone with severe ADHD at 1:00 in the afternoon is not the easiest task in the world). So today was day one of the switch. IT WAS LIKE SOMEONE FLIPPED A SWITCH in his cute little noggin. He was raising his hand, reading along, taking notes without complaining.... WOW! I should have fought for it harder last term, but I was told it wasn't an easy switch, so I gave up. BAD, BABY TEACHER. Never give up. I'm so excited to see what tomorrow holds for him.
- To be honest, I have (up to this point) done a LOT of writing in class. All of my previous units had small readings, small narratives, short articles, to accompany a writing task. Granted, we're doing a writing assignment with the novel (that's just how it has to work!), but I'm seeing a new side of some of my students after having a sustained reading opportunity. Now, the question is, how can I get them to keep that reading going on at home!?
Today - breath of fresh air. Probably because I dressed up and actually did my hair today... None of this braid and scrunchy curls stuff. :) You're talking dress and dried, curled hair. Today was the first day all week my hair didn't freeze when I stepped outside to come to work....
Yeah...
T'was a great day.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
OH MY GOSH...
Can you say crazy day?
Hectic day?
How about...
batty day?
deranged day?
beat myself over the head day?
|
Yeah. It was one of those.
Things I know for sure:
- Students did not turn in their during reading
assignments. Technology decided to completely renounce any connection with me
starting.... 1st period. Good thing the books we're reading are ultimately
the most captivating part of it all - cause the fact that most of my students
couldn't take their eyes off of me or their noses out of their books was the
best assessment I could use to see if they were on-task.
- I'm going to kill The Outsiders if I
keep reading it like this. We got through 10 pages today after doing our
journal write, attempting to send an assignment, establishing new procedures
for students getting their novels at the beginning of class, explaining how
students will know if they have an assignment.... Yeah. 10 pages. Were they a
GREAT 10 pages? Oh yeah. These kids were eating out of my hands. Still - I
don't see a way that we can read the whole book in under 4 weeks while still
completing all of the other assignments necessary like vocabulary, background
information, critical thinking... GAH. I hate it - but I think I'll have to
try some chapter summary, show movie clip kind of options. Oh the days of my
idealism - thinking I could teach 4 novels in a year.... (don't be mistaken,
I still think I could, even after today. I just have realized how IMPOSSIBLE
it would feel).
- My 8th graders love my voices. Downriver has
some characters from lots of different places with lots of different
personalities. Rita, the don't-mess-with-me-New-Yorker, got laughs out of my
students when I read her dialogue. Loved it.
- I'm being worked-over. I had a new student come to me
today asking if she could transfer to my class. I asked why - thinking that
would be enough and she would be honest with me - and she said she had some
class changes and her schedule didn't work out with her old English teacher.
Today, said English teacher comes into my class, asks if I have this new
student, and says that I was lied to. Yup. Her schedule worked fine to stay
in this teacher's class - she just didn't know anyone in the other class and
wanted to transfer to a class where she did know people. So, my BS-radar
might be much more off than I had anticipated. Never even saw that coming.
And now I'm feeling like a dope for not speaking with the other English
teacher about it. I mean really - wouldn't a "together" teacher
have talked with her old English teacher about the student before giving in
blindly and saying "Yes, of course! Totally fine!"
- I need a tool that works. Desperately. We've used Edmodo
- it was great, but, with the iPads, I couldn't figure out a way that
students could download an assignment from the library, work on it, and
UPLOAD it back to Edmodo to submit it to me. That is why everything got
emailed. Well guess what got disabled over the break? The Mail App on the
iPad. So, they introduced this new program - iAssignments. I thought it'd be
great. I can push out my assignments to all of my classes, they can open it
in notability, work on it, and resubmit it back to me. There's no way to give
them individual feedback through the program, but it was an option. Now?
iAssignments is the most temperamental app I have ever worked with.
It works for 5 students in the class, then randomly shuts down. Works one
period, not the next. And the classes/teachers haven't been updated, so any
of my new students can't see assignments I've posted yet. Oh - and some
students just can't log on. Period. Great. So, today, I'm learning about
iTunesU. Maybe I can create my own class there and THAT will work. I have no
idea. I'm just trying what I can. But if I choose a new program, I'd better
count on using another class period to teach students how to use that
technology....
Vent over? Maybe....
It really was great to see so many of my students -
including my non-readers - engaged in the novels today. I'm excited to see
what they have to offer.
I'm gonna spend the next 5 minutes breathing, crossing my
fingers for my next two classes, and listening to some tunes. I can do
this.
Here's to achieving what sometimes feels impossible to
achieve. You better believe I'm gonna do it.
|
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Gearing it All Up...
Hello Argumentative Writing Unit/Novel Unit. So nice to see you. How are you doing so far?
We begin reading tomorrow. My 7th graders will be reading in class. I'm not sure how I feel about that but I've filled my bucket with some out-loud, in-class reading strategies that I'm going to be trying out within the first few days:
- I'll read out loud while students follow along and complete an assignment while I read.
- Students will popcorn read (I was going to nix this, but the students actually requested it.)
- I'll get my hands on an audio book for the novels I've chosen and play chapters from that.
- I'll have students read individually, giving them a certain amount of time to read a certain amount of pages.
- Students will read in groups (not my favorite idea since it's so hard to hear when 6 people are reading throughout the classroom in different parts, but it's an idea. Maybe I'll have them find their own spots and report back at a certain time with an comprehension assessment activity).
- Cold call reading. Keeps them on task with a certain amount of motivating anxiety to follow along.
- Reader's Theater - Choose a student to be a certain character or narrator. They read those specific parts. I can change around those casted students after a certain amount of time.
We'll see how these turn out.
My 8th graders, on the other hand, are reading at home. We're still going to read Chapter 1 tomorrow in class, and do an introductory activity, but I'll be assigning chapters to be read at home. Another English teacher gave me a good idea for motivating students to read: establish a procedure of quizzes where, at the beginning of class, you pick on a random student and ask a quiz question. The student, if they read, would answer the question to the best of their knowledge and I would give them a score - FOR THE WHOLE CLASS. That way, if a student did NOT read, there are some social consequences rather than just my grading consequences. Granted, I will offer 1 second chance opportunity for the class to get some points back if that were the case, but this is a great way to motivate my 8th graders to actually read.
Again, we'll see how this turns out.
Today, we had a classroom debate based on the anticipation guide I gave the students yesterday. They decided whether they agreed/disagreed about some tough issues, and I put an "AGREE" and a "DISAGREE" sign on opposite sides of the classroom. Students went to the side they decided on and they attempted to "persuade" the individuals on the other side to change their opinions based on specific evidence. Those students responsible for persuading other students to change their minds, got a treat.
7th grade. Worked great. Even my 2nd period 8th graders did well (other than some unnecessary chatting). But (CAN YOU ALREADY GUESS WHERE MY "BUT" IS GOING?)... 4th period was less than stellar.
The movement around the classroom was far too much for them, evidenced by their incessant talking, their lack of respect for the expectations THEY set at the beginning of class, and their behavior while moving (some students were purposefully trying to trip their friends, some students were going through other students' backpacks thinking I wouldn't notice, some students were moaning and groaning about having to stand and participate). Finally, I just said, "Go sit down please." Again - completely unemotional. Quiet voice.
They sat, and I just proceeded with the debate from there. Less of a debate, though. More like a large classroom discussion.
And that worked fine. Not great. But fine. Didn't make it a big deal. Didn't lecture. Just adapted and moved on.
That's a Drop of Awesome for me. Just sayin.
What went well today:
- 7th grade: Really got into the issues. Shared personal experiences and examples. Ate up the chance to persuade their classmates to move over to their side. Asked some difficult questions and made some interesting predictions for The Outsiders.
- 8th grade: Totally got the point of the activity (almost to the point of "DUH, as if it wasn't obvious!") Made predictions for the novel. Participated in class. Ate up the chance to SHUT-DOWN someone else's argument with the justification of "YOLO." Sparked a discussion about the "YOLO" mentality which was perfectly related to some of the issues and attitudes from the novel Downriver. Now didn't that play out nicely?!
What I'm worried about:
- Killing the novel, The Outsiders, because we have to read it in class and won't have tons of time for discussion, other text complements, and exploration since I want to be done with it before mid-February.
- My 8th graders NOT reading outside of class.
- Parents getting a little worked up about other students getting grades based on one student's answer.
- Vocabulary instruction. How can I make it fun without feeling like it's just another thing to do? Like one more reason to stop and talk?
- Differentiation. How can I see to the needs of each of my students while trying to progress through this novel, stick to the schedule, and get my 8th graders prepped for the DWA test?
Well, I'm off to prep for tomorrow. Putting 60+ books in ziploc bags, creating a book-sign-out agreement for my 8th graders to sign, publishing tomorrow's assignments to student iPads - all that jazz.
Let the fun begin!
We begin reading tomorrow. My 7th graders will be reading in class. I'm not sure how I feel about that but I've filled my bucket with some out-loud, in-class reading strategies that I'm going to be trying out within the first few days:
- I'll read out loud while students follow along and complete an assignment while I read.
- Students will popcorn read (I was going to nix this, but the students actually requested it.)
- I'll get my hands on an audio book for the novels I've chosen and play chapters from that.
- I'll have students read individually, giving them a certain amount of time to read a certain amount of pages.
- Students will read in groups (not my favorite idea since it's so hard to hear when 6 people are reading throughout the classroom in different parts, but it's an idea. Maybe I'll have them find their own spots and report back at a certain time with an comprehension assessment activity).
- Cold call reading. Keeps them on task with a certain amount of motivating anxiety to follow along.
- Reader's Theater - Choose a student to be a certain character or narrator. They read those specific parts. I can change around those casted students after a certain amount of time.
We'll see how these turn out.
My 8th graders, on the other hand, are reading at home. We're still going to read Chapter 1 tomorrow in class, and do an introductory activity, but I'll be assigning chapters to be read at home. Another English teacher gave me a good idea for motivating students to read: establish a procedure of quizzes where, at the beginning of class, you pick on a random student and ask a quiz question. The student, if they read, would answer the question to the best of their knowledge and I would give them a score - FOR THE WHOLE CLASS. That way, if a student did NOT read, there are some social consequences rather than just my grading consequences. Granted, I will offer 1 second chance opportunity for the class to get some points back if that were the case, but this is a great way to motivate my 8th graders to actually read.
Again, we'll see how this turns out.
Today, we had a classroom debate based on the anticipation guide I gave the students yesterday. They decided whether they agreed/disagreed about some tough issues, and I put an "AGREE" and a "DISAGREE" sign on opposite sides of the classroom. Students went to the side they decided on and they attempted to "persuade" the individuals on the other side to change their opinions based on specific evidence. Those students responsible for persuading other students to change their minds, got a treat.
7th grade. Worked great. Even my 2nd period 8th graders did well (other than some unnecessary chatting). But (CAN YOU ALREADY GUESS WHERE MY "BUT" IS GOING?)... 4th period was less than stellar.
The movement around the classroom was far too much for them, evidenced by their incessant talking, their lack of respect for the expectations THEY set at the beginning of class, and their behavior while moving (some students were purposefully trying to trip their friends, some students were going through other students' backpacks thinking I wouldn't notice, some students were moaning and groaning about having to stand and participate). Finally, I just said, "Go sit down please." Again - completely unemotional. Quiet voice.
They sat, and I just proceeded with the debate from there. Less of a debate, though. More like a large classroom discussion.
And that worked fine. Not great. But fine. Didn't make it a big deal. Didn't lecture. Just adapted and moved on.
That's a Drop of Awesome for me. Just sayin.
What went well today:
- 7th grade: Really got into the issues. Shared personal experiences and examples. Ate up the chance to persuade their classmates to move over to their side. Asked some difficult questions and made some interesting predictions for The Outsiders.
- 8th grade: Totally got the point of the activity (almost to the point of "DUH, as if it wasn't obvious!") Made predictions for the novel. Participated in class. Ate up the chance to SHUT-DOWN someone else's argument with the justification of "YOLO." Sparked a discussion about the "YOLO" mentality which was perfectly related to some of the issues and attitudes from the novel Downriver. Now didn't that play out nicely?!
What I'm worried about:
- Killing the novel, The Outsiders, because we have to read it in class and won't have tons of time for discussion, other text complements, and exploration since I want to be done with it before mid-February.
- My 8th graders NOT reading outside of class.
- Parents getting a little worked up about other students getting grades based on one student's answer.
- Vocabulary instruction. How can I make it fun without feeling like it's just another thing to do? Like one more reason to stop and talk?
- Differentiation. How can I see to the needs of each of my students while trying to progress through this novel, stick to the schedule, and get my 8th graders prepped for the DWA test?
Well, I'm off to prep for tomorrow. Putting 60+ books in ziploc bags, creating a book-sign-out agreement for my 8th graders to sign, publishing tomorrow's assignments to student iPads - all that jazz.
Let the fun begin!
Monday, January 14, 2013
Crazy, Crazy, Crazy...
Oh Mondays...
Friday was great - gotta love end of term! But the first day of term is always an adventure. New students, transferring students, and Powerschool deletes all of your seating charts! Good thing I made a hard copy. Smart move, baby teacher. Smart move.
I love the opportunities for technology at this school, but - boy - technology takes a lot of time to teach. You would think that with a group of young minds who were born in the technological age, they would just catch on. And, of course, they do. But to have them do things in a specific way so that you can have access to their work is a whole different story. Opening an assignment from the school's IASSIGNMENT App and editing it in Notability took a good 5-7 minutes to explain. Add to that all of the students who said (despite my attempts to check this beforehand) that they didn't have the app, and that was 5 more minutes. In a 35 minute class period, that's the majority of class. Granted, teaching them once and repeating the process tomorrow will help and will be worth it in the end, but technology is a skill, too, and it takes time to learn.
I can't blame those students who get lost because they went ahead of my instructions though. I've decided that teachers often make the worst students because WE do what we don't want our kids to. We go ahead. We explore. We take things into our own hands, assuming we know what's going on. It's made things quite funny during our technology trainings, almost like these 40-50 teachers magically morphed into students from my 7th grade classes. "Wait, I don't get it!" or "I don't know where I am!" or "How did you do that again?" or "Whoa - how did you get there?" comments fill the room.
And I AM that kind of student - the I-need-to-figure-this-out-on-my-own-and-you're-going-a-little-too-slow-for-my-pace-so-I'm-going-to-go-ahead-despite-your-directions kind of student. Yup. I confessed. And, to be honest, it's proven to be a good thing, but I do miss some instructions.
So, today, when I saw most of my 4th period class moving ahead of my directions, I didn't get all worked up by it. I just said, "Hey, if you want to go ahead, that's fine, but I want to make sure you do this correctly so you can send it back to me and get credit for your work, so you might want to keep an ear open to my directions." More often than not, that simple declaration was enough to at least keep their eyes on me long enough to understand what I wanted them to do.
That kind of differentiation is really difficult. Though I am the going-ahead-of-the-teacher kind of student (and though I have many students similar to me in that aspect), I have many students who NEED the step by step, direction by direction method. They get lost if I give them multiple steps at once - they need it broken down. So, how do I play to both? Usually a comment like, "once you get there, read the directions and get started," helps, but it also invites students to fool around because they've noticed they're ahead, and they assume that means they've earned themselves some free time. Also, I've realized that explaining the purpose and directions for an assignment before we get into the step-by-step stuff helps, because, then, once students get to the necessary page, they are already equipped with the knowledge to go ahead without my watchful eye and careful explanations (so I can work with those students who need a little more explicit instruction). Either way, differentiation is difficult - if I go to slowly, some students get bored. If I move too quickly, some students get lost. Neither is particularly advantageous for me, but I'm working on developing more strategies to handle the task.
Last lesson of the day - I promise - though it's not an absolute. Remember when I stressed about pinpointing the differences in needs and preferences between 7th and 8th grade? Well, again, I'm making progress.
My 8th graders want to feel like they have input in my planning. I am giving them more choices and more opportunities to let their voices be heard in my class. For example, I just found enough copies in the school of the novel I was going to read with my 8th graders so that everyone can have their own copy - no sharing. So, I gave the decision to them. Do you want to read it in class and take activities/worksheets home to do for homework or do you want to take a novel home, accept responsibility for it (if you lose it, you pay for it) and read assigned chapters every night and do activities/worksheets in class? Both 8th grade periods were koo-koo-for-co-co-puffs with the latter option. So that was what they decided on Friday. Today, I gave it to them again. Do you want to have this be the novel you read for Novel #1 rather than choosing your own novel and reading two books at once? Most of them said yes even when I warned them that this would mean I would assign more chapters for them to read as homework every night. And they visually appreciated it. They liked having a voice.
My 7th graders, on the other hand, have a harder time accepting the responsibility of making those kinds of choices. They are much more inclined to take directions from me, than make a decision on their own (and, they get a little more touchy if their opinion isn't accepted by the majority). Again, just an observation! Will they probably change halfway through this novel and regret their choice? Maybe, but it was their choice, so I'm not to blame!
What can I say? It's a crazy Monday, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Friday was great - gotta love end of term! But the first day of term is always an adventure. New students, transferring students, and Powerschool deletes all of your seating charts! Good thing I made a hard copy. Smart move, baby teacher. Smart move.
I love the opportunities for technology at this school, but - boy - technology takes a lot of time to teach. You would think that with a group of young minds who were born in the technological age, they would just catch on. And, of course, they do. But to have them do things in a specific way so that you can have access to their work is a whole different story. Opening an assignment from the school's IASSIGNMENT App and editing it in Notability took a good 5-7 minutes to explain. Add to that all of the students who said (despite my attempts to check this beforehand) that they didn't have the app, and that was 5 more minutes. In a 35 minute class period, that's the majority of class. Granted, teaching them once and repeating the process tomorrow will help and will be worth it in the end, but technology is a skill, too, and it takes time to learn.
I can't blame those students who get lost because they went ahead of my instructions though. I've decided that teachers often make the worst students because WE do what we don't want our kids to. We go ahead. We explore. We take things into our own hands, assuming we know what's going on. It's made things quite funny during our technology trainings, almost like these 40-50 teachers magically morphed into students from my 7th grade classes. "Wait, I don't get it!" or "I don't know where I am!" or "How did you do that again?" or "Whoa - how did you get there?" comments fill the room.
And I AM that kind of student - the I-need-to-figure-this-out-on-my-own-and-you're-going-a-little-too-slow-for-my-pace-so-I'm-going-to-go-ahead-despite-your-directions kind of student. Yup. I confessed. And, to be honest, it's proven to be a good thing, but I do miss some instructions.
So, today, when I saw most of my 4th period class moving ahead of my directions, I didn't get all worked up by it. I just said, "Hey, if you want to go ahead, that's fine, but I want to make sure you do this correctly so you can send it back to me and get credit for your work, so you might want to keep an ear open to my directions." More often than not, that simple declaration was enough to at least keep their eyes on me long enough to understand what I wanted them to do.
That kind of differentiation is really difficult. Though I am the going-ahead-of-the-teacher kind of student (and though I have many students similar to me in that aspect), I have many students who NEED the step by step, direction by direction method. They get lost if I give them multiple steps at once - they need it broken down. So, how do I play to both? Usually a comment like, "once you get there, read the directions and get started," helps, but it also invites students to fool around because they've noticed they're ahead, and they assume that means they've earned themselves some free time. Also, I've realized that explaining the purpose and directions for an assignment before we get into the step-by-step stuff helps, because, then, once students get to the necessary page, they are already equipped with the knowledge to go ahead without my watchful eye and careful explanations (so I can work with those students who need a little more explicit instruction). Either way, differentiation is difficult - if I go to slowly, some students get bored. If I move too quickly, some students get lost. Neither is particularly advantageous for me, but I'm working on developing more strategies to handle the task.
Last lesson of the day - I promise - though it's not an absolute. Remember when I stressed about pinpointing the differences in needs and preferences between 7th and 8th grade? Well, again, I'm making progress.
My 8th graders want to feel like they have input in my planning. I am giving them more choices and more opportunities to let their voices be heard in my class. For example, I just found enough copies in the school of the novel I was going to read with my 8th graders so that everyone can have their own copy - no sharing. So, I gave the decision to them. Do you want to read it in class and take activities/worksheets home to do for homework or do you want to take a novel home, accept responsibility for it (if you lose it, you pay for it) and read assigned chapters every night and do activities/worksheets in class? Both 8th grade periods were koo-koo-for-co-co-puffs with the latter option. So that was what they decided on Friday. Today, I gave it to them again. Do you want to have this be the novel you read for Novel #1 rather than choosing your own novel and reading two books at once? Most of them said yes even when I warned them that this would mean I would assign more chapters for them to read as homework every night. And they visually appreciated it. They liked having a voice.
My 7th graders, on the other hand, have a harder time accepting the responsibility of making those kinds of choices. They are much more inclined to take directions from me, than make a decision on their own (and, they get a little more touchy if their opinion isn't accepted by the majority). Again, just an observation! Will they probably change halfway through this novel and regret their choice? Maybe, but it was their choice, so I'm not to blame!
What can I say? It's a crazy Monday, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
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