Got a two hour delay this morning and didn't really know what to do with myself. I really didn't expect this at all. It doesn't feel like this really counts as a two hour delay because we have professional development today anyways. All I had to look forward to was grading some notebooks and hanging up some posters. Its really a fluke that I even found out about the delay.
I had heard it might snow, but when I woke up there didn't seem to be anything on the ground so I didn't worry about it. I even started to bike to work . I didn't get very far though. While riding past the Blockbuster in Waverly I heard a hiss come from my tire. I stopped and looked down to see a piece of glass stuck into my tire. I was dismayed, but not far from home so I called around to look for a ride.I reached another teacher from my school and she was like " What? You're going to school now? We have a two hour delay."
I guess its nice. I don't know. I'm frustrated with work right now. Not all aspects of it. I like the students . I still like the challenges they bring to my classroom. I'm working on getting the class under control. My real frustration is coming from things that are out of my realm of control.
I'm pretty fed up with hearing about the HSA. I really could probably write a lot of things about why its wrong to do this. Maybe I'm just scared that I'm not doing enough to get my students to a point where they could pass it. But to be honest I think this test is wrong. I don't want to feel like I'm teaching my students how to pass it, but this is how the Algebra curriculum is designed. That is how my performance and the performance of my students is being measured. It's bad. I don't think this is what is needed to raise student achievement.
The frustration comes because I don't feel like I'm in a position to do anything about the test. Yes its my classroom, but I am powerless to do anything about this. I can't just say I'm going to teach math the way I think it should be done. I have to have my students ready for this test or they won't graduate. I'm sure with more experience I can take the curriculum and prepare my students for the HSA without feeling like I'm teaching students for a test, but right now that just isn't happening.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Potential
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.
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.
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.
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