I went home Tuesday afternoon convinced I was not going to make it through the month, much less the year. I'm not joking, even a little bit. Every class was impossible... no discipline, unwilling to work, unable to reduce 3/6 to lowest terms, etc. I yelled, I cajoled, I lost my cool, I did everything but break down into a quivering blob of congealed gravy, although if I could have figured out a way to make that happen, I would have, because it would have been preferable to continuing to stand in front of the kids and make an ass of myself.
I had no solutions, and all of the options suggested to me seemed like things either well beyond my capabilities or totally inconsistent with my personality. I spent all of Tuesday afternoon and evening wallowing in my misery, and much of Tuesday night trying to figure out what I could possibly do, given the situation I was in. Quitting isn't really an option, although I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to make it one. I woke up at about 2:30 AM and began working on Wednesday's lesson plans, and spent some time thinking about the flow of the class -- part of the problem is clearly that the kids are either spending too much time listening (or not listening) to me pontificate, or spending too much time in unproductive groups ignoring the work and chatting about, well, anything but math.
So Wednesday was one of the better days I've had, but I wasn't fooled -- my Wednesday classes are smaller and better disciplined... it's the Thursday classes that were to be the real test. I was, I admit, very nearly sick to my stomach thinking about getting up in front of the first class (by far the worst of the three) on Thursday. It wasn't perfect, but we got a lot done, they paid attention for the most part, and the other two classes were about the same. I ended the day thinking that, while I am clearly not the best teacher who ever lived, I'm not totally without hope.
And then I got cocky. Today (Friday) was pretty miserable, although not even on the same planet as Tuesday. So I still have a lot of work to do, particularly around building a plan for every minute of the class period.
Here are some things I would do differently if I could start school over today:
1. Require students to have a math binder, including tabs for homework, notes & classwork, test preview/review, instructional focus (the stuff they have to do at the beginning of each class to prepare for the state-mandated testing) and "tool box," consisting of all the formulae, shortcuts and other stuff that would be helpful to know at any time. Plus a vocabulary tab, for the content-specific vocabulary they need.
2. Check the binder regularly to ensure they're taking notes and doing the homework. I'd even give a test grade for this, because I think note-taking and doing homework is so critical to understanding. I have kids who don't know what they're doing and they're sitting there without anything in front of them. It drives me nuts, because they've convinced themselves they can't understand it, so why bother to write it down? But if they wrote it down, they'd have a chance to understand.
3. Actually buy into the "don't smile until after Christmas" advice. Not that I'd be able to pull it off, but I'd be a lot less "let's be friends" than I would be "this class is going to be hard and you're going to work your ass off to do well in it. If you show me effort, we'll get along fine, and if you act like you don't care or aren't willing to work, we're going to be butting heads all year." My big rule wouldn't be "show respect," it would be "show effort." The talkers and paper wad throwers and class disrupters aren't fundamentally disrespectful so much as they are checked out.
4. Give a very short (3 questions, 10 minutes) quiz on the last day we meet each week, completely based on the homework and classwork we've covered that week. Use that to check homework understanding.
5. Begin calling parents immediately when kids are tardy, unprepared or undisciplined.
6. Something else that I've forgotten, but I'll come back and edit it in when I remeber.
Obviously, I can (and plan to) implement a lot of this stuff now, but I sure wish I'd started it at the beginning. I hope I make it to next year, so I can try it then.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Quick Note on the Testing Referenced in the Last Post
The assessment tests we gave this week were a mess... First, we were supposed to give the tests on Monday and Tuesday, but couldn't because no one had been trained on the test reader, this big machine in the teacher's lounge that you have to run all the special answer sheets through, which grades them and sends the results to the district. Training was Tuesday afternoon, so we tested on Tuesday and Wednesday. The "training" consisted of the tech guy telling us to put the papers in this slot, punch a couple of buttons and wait for it to spit out the confirmation. Essentially as difficult as using a copy machine. Since virtually every teacher used it last year, the training was a total waste. (When I need to use it, I'm going to have one of the veteran teachers look over my shoulder to ensure I do it right, something I would have done regardless of whether I'd been trained.) However, I may never need to use it...
No one could figure out how to print my answer sheets, so I had to have all the kids write their answers on a sheet of paper, then grade them by hand. Meanwhile, all the other teachers had to print the answer sheets on their own printers because the main test reader and answer sheet printer was not networked to any of our computers. After grading them by hand, I had to code each response as a 1 for "correct" and 0 for "incorrect" and enter that code into a spreadsheet. The other teachers ran their answer sheets through the test reader to have the coding done automatically. Except it didn't work. So now every math and reading teacher in the school has to hand-grade the answer sheets and hand-enter the responses into the same spreadsheet I did. It turns out I was the lucky one, because grading the gridded response answers is actually very hard.
No one knows why the test reader didn't work, so there's a very good chance we'll all need to do this again in October. Twice, because we test every 4 weeks.
No one could figure out how to print my answer sheets, so I had to have all the kids write their answers on a sheet of paper, then grade them by hand. Meanwhile, all the other teachers had to print the answer sheets on their own printers because the main test reader and answer sheet printer was not networked to any of our computers. After grading them by hand, I had to code each response as a 1 for "correct" and 0 for "incorrect" and enter that code into a spreadsheet. The other teachers ran their answer sheets through the test reader to have the coding done automatically. Except it didn't work. So now every math and reading teacher in the school has to hand-grade the answer sheets and hand-enter the responses into the same spreadsheet I did. It turns out I was the lucky one, because grading the gridded response answers is actually very hard.
No one knows why the test reader didn't work, so there's a very good chance we'll all need to do this again in October. Twice, because we test every 4 weeks.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
3 Down...
So here's what happened this week, in reverse chronological order:
At about 2 PM on Friday, I wandered into Mrs. CowCulus's room to ask if there was anything I needed to know about the Focus Assessment that I was supposed to giving to my students in each class on Monday and Tuesday. Mrs. CowCulus wasn't there, but her faithful sidekick Mrs. D. was, feverishly attempting to get something done on Mrs. CowCulus's computer. (More about Mrs. D, a truly wonderful woman, and the very fun relationship she and Mrs. CowCulus have -- both long-time teachers at MHS.)
Interrupting her mid-stream (which I would ordinarily feel bad about, but the only way to speak with Mrs. D is to interrupt whatever she's doing -- I've never yet witnessed an occasion she wasn't grading papers, working on a lesson plan, making up a quiz, etc.), I asked her about the Focus Assessment. (This is part of the turnaround plan for MHS -- all 9th and 10th graders get 15 minutes of instruction each math class on some topic that will appear on the standarized, state-mandated test, then an assessment on those topics every 3 weeks or so. Don't get me started (again) on the value of that.) Anyway, she lets me know she's attempting to print the tests and answer sheets for her class.
"Um, so am I supposed to do the same thing for my classes?"
"Yes."
"Um, it's 2 PM on Friday... is this something somebody told me already and I just forgot about, or is it something no one happened to mention?"
"Well, I haven't seen any emails about it, except for the one giving us the dates. But last year we had to print the exams, so I was trying to remember how to do that."
"So... these exams won't show up Monday morning like the Benchmark assessment did this week?" (Another long story, but that was earlier in the week, and thus later in this blog, possibly.)
"No."
"Hmm..."
"And of course, you'll need different tests for the 9th graders and 10th graders."
"What about my 11th and 12th graders?"
"They don't take it."
"So I need something for them to do also? I guess I would have figured that out on my own at some point. Any chance anyone was planning to tell me any of this, you know, before Monday?" (Given that we were 15 minutes from the weekend at that point, the answer to this question is clearly "no.")
There's more to this conversation, most of which is distinctly R-rated. At some point, Mrs. CowCulus came back in and informed us that in order for anyone to print the exams, they had to be trained on the system. Therefore, we were pushing the assessment back to Tuesday and Wednesday, with training on Monday. Moments after she sends this email, the technology coordinator sends an email stating the training will be on Tuesday. Stay tuned.
Of course, I am again left wondering whether the administration has any idea that there are teachers in the classroom who have no idea what they're supposed to do to make any of these things happen. What if I had actually been working (say, grading some of those 400 papers I need to finish before Monday at 7:30 AM), and hadn't run into Mrs. D to ask?
OK... I actually have to attend to my certification class now. Possibly I'll get back to the week past, in order to avoid grading all those looming papers.
At about 2 PM on Friday, I wandered into Mrs. CowCulus's room to ask if there was anything I needed to know about the Focus Assessment that I was supposed to giving to my students in each class on Monday and Tuesday. Mrs. CowCulus wasn't there, but her faithful sidekick Mrs. D. was, feverishly attempting to get something done on Mrs. CowCulus's computer. (More about Mrs. D, a truly wonderful woman, and the very fun relationship she and Mrs. CowCulus have -- both long-time teachers at MHS.)
Interrupting her mid-stream (which I would ordinarily feel bad about, but the only way to speak with Mrs. D is to interrupt whatever she's doing -- I've never yet witnessed an occasion she wasn't grading papers, working on a lesson plan, making up a quiz, etc.), I asked her about the Focus Assessment. (This is part of the turnaround plan for MHS -- all 9th and 10th graders get 15 minutes of instruction each math class on some topic that will appear on the standarized, state-mandated test, then an assessment on those topics every 3 weeks or so. Don't get me started (again) on the value of that.) Anyway, she lets me know she's attempting to print the tests and answer sheets for her class.
"Um, so am I supposed to do the same thing for my classes?"
"Yes."
"Um, it's 2 PM on Friday... is this something somebody told me already and I just forgot about, or is it something no one happened to mention?"
"Well, I haven't seen any emails about it, except for the one giving us the dates. But last year we had to print the exams, so I was trying to remember how to do that."
"So... these exams won't show up Monday morning like the Benchmark assessment did this week?" (Another long story, but that was earlier in the week, and thus later in this blog, possibly.)
"No."
"Hmm..."
"And of course, you'll need different tests for the 9th graders and 10th graders."
"What about my 11th and 12th graders?"
"They don't take it."
"So I need something for them to do also? I guess I would have figured that out on my own at some point. Any chance anyone was planning to tell me any of this, you know, before Monday?" (Given that we were 15 minutes from the weekend at that point, the answer to this question is clearly "no.")
There's more to this conversation, most of which is distinctly R-rated. At some point, Mrs. CowCulus came back in and informed us that in order for anyone to print the exams, they had to be trained on the system. Therefore, we were pushing the assessment back to Tuesday and Wednesday, with training on Monday. Moments after she sends this email, the technology coordinator sends an email stating the training will be on Tuesday. Stay tuned.
Of course, I am again left wondering whether the administration has any idea that there are teachers in the classroom who have no idea what they're supposed to do to make any of these things happen. What if I had actually been working (say, grading some of those 400 papers I need to finish before Monday at 7:30 AM), and hadn't run into Mrs. D to ask?
OK... I actually have to attend to my certification class now. Possibly I'll get back to the week past, in order to avoid grading all those looming papers.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Tuesday's Gone
Train roll on, on down the line,
Won't you please take me far away?
-- Opening lines of "Tuesday's Gone," by Lynyrd Skynyrd
So the situation is this: at least 20% of my students are ESE (i.e., special needs) or ESOL (non-native English speakers). Statistically speaking, 50% of my students won't graduate, and a lot of them already know who they are, because they're juniors or seniors, re-taking Algebra II and / or Geometry. They believe they can't do this work, because they've tried before and failed (or not tried and failed...), and they'd rather be anywhere on earth but the math class.
I gave a very, very basic Algebra I skills assessment today, and the median score was 7 out of 20. Meaning that, if I were teaching Algebra I and grading the way it's presumably supposed to be graded, roughly 70% of my class would fail. Not just fail Algebra I. But fail the early, basic elements of Algebra I. Algebra I. Unfortunately, I'm teaching Algebra II and Geometry, which means they not only have already passed Algebra I, they NEED Algebra I as the foundation on which to build the stuff I'm presumably trying to teach them. It's absolutely no wonder why I'm having difficulty holding their attention -- the moment I put an equation on the board with a variable in it, they're lost.
OK, that's a reality I need to deal with. I can deal with the skills issue. I can drill, I can do mini/focus lessons on Algebra I skills, I can hold after-school help sessions (not that anyone showed up when I offered today)... whatever. But I can't do that stuff if the people who are bored or uninterested or completely lost are disrupting the rest of the class.
I decided today that the main thing I need to do is to look at every new day as a new opportunity to get it right.
Won't you please take me far away?
-- Opening lines of "Tuesday's Gone," by Lynyrd Skynyrd
So the situation is this: at least 20% of my students are ESE (i.e., special needs) or ESOL (non-native English speakers). Statistically speaking, 50% of my students won't graduate, and a lot of them already know who they are, because they're juniors or seniors, re-taking Algebra II and / or Geometry. They believe they can't do this work, because they've tried before and failed (or not tried and failed...), and they'd rather be anywhere on earth but the math class.
I gave a very, very basic Algebra I skills assessment today, and the median score was 7 out of 20. Meaning that, if I were teaching Algebra I and grading the way it's presumably supposed to be graded, roughly 70% of my class would fail. Not just fail Algebra I. But fail the early, basic elements of Algebra I. Algebra I. Unfortunately, I'm teaching Algebra II and Geometry, which means they not only have already passed Algebra I, they NEED Algebra I as the foundation on which to build the stuff I'm presumably trying to teach them. It's absolutely no wonder why I'm having difficulty holding their attention -- the moment I put an equation on the board with a variable in it, they're lost.
OK, that's a reality I need to deal with. I can deal with the skills issue. I can drill, I can do mini/focus lessons on Algebra I skills, I can hold after-school help sessions (not that anyone showed up when I offered today)... whatever. But I can't do that stuff if the people who are bored or uninterested or completely lost are disrupting the rest of the class.
I decided today that the main thing I need to do is to look at every new day as a new opportunity to get it right.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Labor Day Weekend
Update: The starting quarterback for the mighty MHS team was tossed from the game late in the first half for throwing a punch at a player who hit him out-of-bounds, and the second stringer is apparently a one-dimensional running quarterback. So MHS squandered a 16 - 0 halftime lead (in which the starting QB was 4 for 5, 115 yards) to lose 22 - 16. Bummer. MHS had at least 4 unnecessary roughness penalties. One wonders what practice will be like next week... I know I wouldn't want to be there.
Meanwhile, it's 10AM and I've done three loads of laundry, gone out for breakfast and read the paper, run all my errands for the weekend (needed a yardstick, whiteboard cleaner, markers, and groceries) and, were it not for doing this blog entry, I would have started my lesson plans for next week. Working 6:30AM to 2:30PM makes for an interesting daily rhythm.
Meanwhile, it's 10AM and I've done three loads of laundry, gone out for breakfast and read the paper, run all my errands for the weekend (needed a yardstick, whiteboard cleaner, markers, and groceries) and, were it not for doing this blog entry, I would have started my lesson plans for next week. Working 6:30AM to 2:30PM makes for an interesting daily rhythm.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Friday Night Lights
I went to my first high school football game in a long, long time tonight. I left in the 3rd quarter, but the good guys were winning 16 - 6. Go, Home Team!
Anyway, it was fun to walk around and see the kids being kids, with boy- or girlfriends and hanging out or tossing a ball around or whatever, and not feel any need to monitor their behavior or want them to be doing something different. A surprising number of my students said hello, although a few studiously avoided looking at me as they passed. Hey, I wouldn't have wanted to chat with my high school teachers at a football game either. (Well, actually, I had an English teacher who I remember as something of a babe, so I guess I would have wanted to hang out with her. But you get the point.)
Meanwhile, my first two classes today were just miserable. Couldn't get them to focus, couldn't get them to shut up, etc. We had a pep rally (tonight was the first game of the season) during 2nd period, and I guess everyone was feeling frisky, especially with the long weekend coming up. Regardless, it was no fun. Third period, however, went very well... sort of what I was imagining my classes would be like, back before I got in front of actual students in an actual class. So maybe it's doable. Plus, amazingly, I got kudos both from the department head (Mrs. CowCulus) and the principal. He said really nice things to me about how good he thought I was, which I sincerely appreciated, but had to wonder about -- the only classroom visit I've had was from the AP for a few minutes, and her key finding was that the room was substandard. So how could Mrs. CowCulus and the principal really have any idea if I'm any good? I actually asked Mrs. CowCulus that question, and she said that I'm asking all the right questions, showing that I know what I should be thinking about. Okay, but doesn't execution count, too? Whatever... I'll take the kudos. I need'em.
The principal also asked me what I needed, and I said "two months." I really just hope that I haven't lost the class by the time I get good enough to actually teach them something.
Anyway, it was fun to walk around and see the kids being kids, with boy- or girlfriends and hanging out or tossing a ball around or whatever, and not feel any need to monitor their behavior or want them to be doing something different. A surprising number of my students said hello, although a few studiously avoided looking at me as they passed. Hey, I wouldn't have wanted to chat with my high school teachers at a football game either. (Well, actually, I had an English teacher who I remember as something of a babe, so I guess I would have wanted to hang out with her. But you get the point.)
Meanwhile, my first two classes today were just miserable. Couldn't get them to focus, couldn't get them to shut up, etc. We had a pep rally (tonight was the first game of the season) during 2nd period, and I guess everyone was feeling frisky, especially with the long weekend coming up. Regardless, it was no fun. Third period, however, went very well... sort of what I was imagining my classes would be like, back before I got in front of actual students in an actual class. So maybe it's doable. Plus, amazingly, I got kudos both from the department head (Mrs. CowCulus) and the principal. He said really nice things to me about how good he thought I was, which I sincerely appreciated, but had to wonder about -- the only classroom visit I've had was from the AP for a few minutes, and her key finding was that the room was substandard. So how could Mrs. CowCulus and the principal really have any idea if I'm any good? I actually asked Mrs. CowCulus that question, and she said that I'm asking all the right questions, showing that I know what I should be thinking about. Okay, but doesn't execution count, too? Whatever... I'll take the kudos. I need'em.
The principal also asked me what I needed, and I said "two months." I really just hope that I haven't lost the class by the time I get good enough to actually teach them something.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Round 2
So I met with the restless, relatively unruly class today. Not really much better, but there are some things I can do that can make it work, I think. I had a bit of a "come to Jesus" meeting with them, talking about the fact that I'm not going to put up with constant chatter, half a dozen kids having to go to the bathroom, unresponsiveness, etc., and that I was willing to work on ways to make the subject and the discussion more engaging, but that they were going to have to work on ways to get what they needed out of the class, and they were going to have to settle down and pay attention.
Maybe the thing that's most frustrating is that I have no idea if I'm any good or not. No one, other than the kids, has ever seen me teach.
But hey, my word wall is nice, so I got that going for me.
Maybe the thing that's most frustrating is that I have no idea if I'm any good or not. No one, other than the kids, has ever seen me teach.
But hey, my word wall is nice, so I got that going for me.
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