All my students have potential. I tell their parents that. I think that is the most clichéd line ever. "Your son has so much potential. He just...." I think this New Year I'm going to quit saying that. I'm going to have my students live up to their potential in my classroom. I can't help what happens to them when they aren't in school. But I need to make my classroom an environment where students can come and learn.
This year has potential. My resolution is to live up to it. I need to establish discipline in my classroom. I have ideas. So far I haven't put them in to practice because I haven't established any consistent system that creates order in my classroom. My goal is to create structures that clearly let students know what is expected of them and what is going to happen if they don't behave accordingly.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Thursday, December 07, 2006
10 and one half days until...
I hate to say I'm counting down the days, but I most definitely am. My troubles at school seem to be growing, but my support is as well. Two of my math classes are pretty much out of control. I can't get students to be quiet long enough to teach anything. Its a mess. In Freshmen Seminar students have stopped listening to me. There is a total lack of respect. All of this is making teaching very difficult.
Hope is not lost. I work with very excellent people who are willing to help me out in so many ways. From pulling kids out of my room to daily keeping me on track. Most of all I gotta be more stern. That's what it really comes down to.
Today I visited the Crossroads School in Fells Point. This is an excellent middle school. The school follows the expeditionary learning model . This school is the way I wish my middle school had been. The culture of the school at first seemed so radically different from any school I attended and a world away from my current job. The students were actively engaged in so many things that my students are apathetic to. I saw students engaged in a discussion of how they could have resolved a conflict better. Group norms seem consistently well established. The students seemed very conscientious of the typical teacher language that is being used. Discipline and order were not something established din some mythical way.
The quality of work these students were capable off blew me away. The math class I observed had students engaged with the work and thinking about and discussing math. The class talked about why you have to switch an inequality sign around if you multiply or divide by a negative. That was a level of thinking going on with the students higher than simply having them memorize algorithms and much higher then what I am getting in my class.
My goals currently are to improve the structures in my classroom so that more order and learning can occur. One thing I took from today was the importance of making it clear to students what is expected of them in both behavior and in quality of work. More concretely I plan by Christmas break to have structures in place so that students will enter my room, begin there work and know what we are doing for the period. Additionally I am going to instill the habit of leaving the room clean and the desks ordered. I've got 10 and one half days....
Hope is not lost. I work with very excellent people who are willing to help me out in so many ways. From pulling kids out of my room to daily keeping me on track. Most of all I gotta be more stern. That's what it really comes down to.
Today I visited the Crossroads School in Fells Point. This is an excellent middle school. The school follows the expeditionary learning model . This school is the way I wish my middle school had been. The culture of the school at first seemed so radically different from any school I attended and a world away from my current job. The students were actively engaged in so many things that my students are apathetic to. I saw students engaged in a discussion of how they could have resolved a conflict better. Group norms seem consistently well established. The students seemed very conscientious of the typical teacher language that is being used. Discipline and order were not something established din some mythical way.
The quality of work these students were capable off blew me away. The math class I observed had students engaged with the work and thinking about and discussing math. The class talked about why you have to switch an inequality sign around if you multiply or divide by a negative. That was a level of thinking going on with the students higher than simply having them memorize algorithms and much higher then what I am getting in my class.
My goals currently are to improve the structures in my classroom so that more order and learning can occur. One thing I took from today was the importance of making it clear to students what is expected of them in both behavior and in quality of work. More concretely I plan by Christmas break to have structures in place so that students will enter my room, begin there work and know what we are doing for the period. Additionally I am going to instill the habit of leaving the room clean and the desks ordered. I've got 10 and one half days....
Thursday, November 16, 2006
After these messages we'll be riiight back...
I only write on here when bad things are happening. This week has sucked shit. Last week wasn't much better. Scratch that Thursday and Friday of last week were great.
I took today off. I feel like I am digging myself a deeper and deeper hole in my classroom. I've begun to anticipate my class not paying attention and goofing off when I plan, so I underplan. I lower my expectations and I plan on not teaching. Believe it or not this doesn't work. I know it doesn't work. I've known that from day one. I just can't keep myself motivated to be energized and put the effort into teaching something when there are going to be too many disruptions for me to get the message across.
Freshmen Seminar is completely gone. Students aren't even listening to me. The impression I get is that students like me. They like me like you would like a bossy friend. They don't view me as their teacher.
All is not lost though. Don't think that I am giving up. It isn't even thanksgiving yet. There are too many intelligent students in my classroom for me to give up, or for me to continue like this. Next week should be pretty light and full of distractions, but following the thanksgiving break I'm going to change things. I'm going to get discipline under control. I'm going to be more firm with these students. I really need to realize the resources I have that can help me. There are people in the school that could help me get my classroom under control.
I took today off. I feel like I am digging myself a deeper and deeper hole in my classroom. I've begun to anticipate my class not paying attention and goofing off when I plan, so I underplan. I lower my expectations and I plan on not teaching. Believe it or not this doesn't work. I know it doesn't work. I've known that from day one. I just can't keep myself motivated to be energized and put the effort into teaching something when there are going to be too many disruptions for me to get the message across.
Freshmen Seminar is completely gone. Students aren't even listening to me. The impression I get is that students like me. They like me like you would like a bossy friend. They don't view me as their teacher.
All is not lost though. Don't think that I am giving up. It isn't even thanksgiving yet. There are too many intelligent students in my classroom for me to give up, or for me to continue like this. Next week should be pretty light and full of distractions, but following the thanksgiving break I'm going to change things. I'm going to get discipline under control. I'm going to be more firm with these students. I really need to realize the resources I have that can help me. There are people in the school that could help me get my classroom under control.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Hooray for the 10th of October
Today in Doris M. Johnson High School in Baltimore MD some students learned some Algebra. And they had fun while they did it. There were some students in the same class who didn't learn Algebra and might not have had as much fun as the rest of us. But if they've got something more important to talk about who am I to stop them?
Today went great. I don't know what I did. Maybe it was just that we were finally doing something different. Several students whose attention I don't normally get paid attention today. As usual several students did not. Some still needed to be put out of my classroom. But the rest of us we had fun. We played a game where I pick some sort of rule like adding three. The students give me numbers, I'll add three and give them answers. (If a student said '4' I would respond with '7') We ha a lot of fun. I made the game get progressively harder. In one class I gave extra credit to anyone who could come up with one I couldn't solve. We'll see how they did tomorrow.
I still need to find ways to get my classroom under control. Sooner or later they're gonna realize that some of the notes I have them copy down are a bit of a sham. If I put things on the overhead and tell them to copy it down they will. Even the kids who don't pay attention to anything else. I need some other way to get these kids to pay attention.
Today went great. I don't know what I did. Maybe it was just that we were finally doing something different. Several students whose attention I don't normally get paid attention today. As usual several students did not. Some still needed to be put out of my classroom. But the rest of us we had fun. We played a game where I pick some sort of rule like adding three. The students give me numbers, I'll add three and give them answers. (If a student said '4' I would respond with '7') We ha a lot of fun. I made the game get progressively harder. In one class I gave extra credit to anyone who could come up with one I couldn't solve. We'll see how they did tomorrow.
I still need to find ways to get my classroom under control. Sooner or later they're gonna realize that some of the notes I have them copy down are a bit of a sham. If I put things on the overhead and tell them to copy it down they will. Even the kids who don't pay attention to anything else. I need some other way to get these kids to pay attention.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
I need ideas
I am exhausted. I think one of the parts of my job that I am lacking in is coming up with creative engaging ideas for my classes. I need to take some time to sit down and come up with some good things for this next chapter I start in Algebra next week. We are actually starting Algebra. The first thing I need to do is introduce variables and the concept of equations and substitutions. Any ideas anyone has would be great.
Also I teach a course called Freshmen Seminar. This class is supposed to help kids adjust to high school and help them get team building skills and things along those lines. I've pretty much been making this class up as I go. Sometimes we play games. We can go outside. We can do a lot of things. I feel like if I didn't teach three sections of algebra I could teach the hell out of this. Instead I come up with lackluster ideas that the students don't want to do. If you have any ideas of team building games you played at camp or fun lessons to teach kids that would be great.
Also I teach a course called Freshmen Seminar. This class is supposed to help kids adjust to high school and help them get team building skills and things along those lines. I've pretty much been making this class up as I go. Sometimes we play games. We can go outside. We can do a lot of things. I feel like if I didn't teach three sections of algebra I could teach the hell out of this. Instead I come up with lackluster ideas that the students don't want to do. If you have any ideas of team building games you played at camp or fun lessons to teach kids that would be great.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Talkin First Week of October Blues
So I skipped school today. It was the first time since.... well actually since last year that I've done this. I guess habits die hard. This morning though, I don't know why. I just couldn't get myself out of bed to go to school. This job is hard. Its not like there has been anything traumatic happen to me or anything super tough. It is just a lot of weight on my shoulders. After spending a day wasting time and complaining about my job nothing seemed any better. Luckily for me and for a whole bunch of ninth graders I called my mom. I love my mom. She is great. I don't know what she said, but whatever it was I have a completly different frame of mind now.
As far as Algebra is concerned The first unit test is this Friday. There is a test that the City handed out with the curriculum. It's hard. Not because the kids don't have the skills. Most of them wil likely be lost on reading the problems. I am going to make changes to the test keep some problems replace others. I need to take the time to teach my students how to read these problems. The problems are written the same way as the problems on the HSA will.
Alas I am still struggling to make math meaningful for them an me. I am going to email someone from the Algebra Project and see if he can help me out. If you aren't familiar with the Algebra Project check them out. They are great.
As far as Algebra is concerned The first unit test is this Friday. There is a test that the City handed out with the curriculum. It's hard. Not because the kids don't have the skills. Most of them wil likely be lost on reading the problems. I am going to make changes to the test keep some problems replace others. I need to take the time to teach my students how to read these problems. The problems are written the same way as the problems on the HSA will.
Alas I am still struggling to make math meaningful for them an me. I am going to email someone from the Algebra Project and see if he can help me out. If you aren't familiar with the Algebra Project check them out. They are great.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Tired All the Time
I feel like I've been exhausted all weekend. It's Sunday night and I'm just now getting things together for next week. The stress of everything is starting to build. I think part of the hardship I'm having is I don't feel comfortable enough with math to come up with creative activities. Not having a math background is making my life kind of difficult. I feel like I'm not sure what the big ideas I should be stressing or the concepts I should really be aiming for are. If I was teaching history... I've been telling myself that if I was teaching history everything would be easier. I don't think that's true. I would probably be dealing with a lot of the same problems.
A lot of my stress is coming from the classroom management end of things. SO everyone told me not to smile until Christmas. It's too late for that so what do I do now?
The other problem I'm having is a I just can't get excited about math. I thought I would be able to. Maybe its just what I'm teaching now. Maybe when I get out of this box plot crap and move on to introducing variables things will get more interesting. If I was teaching history we would be discussing reconstruction now. Reconstruction is something I can get excited about. I love history its great.
When people sit around and discuss what makes a good teacher people always mention the passion a particular teacher had for the subject matter. Teachers need to be excited about what they're doing. The other Algebra teacher has that. She gets excited when we plan things. Its great. I want to feel that way when I'm planning things.
Really the only class I find myself getting excited for is Freshmen Seminar. We discuss things in that class. Last week we went outside and went on what's called a Sherpa Walk. Tomorrow we are reading an article about Stephon Marbury's new shoes. If you haven't heard he is selling high end basketball shoes for 15 bucks. Check it out.
A lot of my stress is coming from the classroom management end of things. SO everyone told me not to smile until Christmas. It's too late for that so what do I do now?
The other problem I'm having is a I just can't get excited about math. I thought I would be able to. Maybe its just what I'm teaching now. Maybe when I get out of this box plot crap and move on to introducing variables things will get more interesting. If I was teaching history we would be discussing reconstruction now. Reconstruction is something I can get excited about. I love history its great.
When people sit around and discuss what makes a good teacher people always mention the passion a particular teacher had for the subject matter. Teachers need to be excited about what they're doing. The other Algebra teacher has that. She gets excited when we plan things. Its great. I want to feel that way when I'm planning things.
Really the only class I find myself getting excited for is Freshmen Seminar. We discuss things in that class. Last week we went outside and went on what's called a Sherpa Walk. Tomorrow we are reading an article about Stephon Marbury's new shoes. If you haven't heard he is selling high end basketball shoes for 15 bucks. Check it out.
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