Taking Advantage of the Opportunities

Today was a mini college fair at my school.    You know… every single student at my school is college bound, so we need to bring the colleges to them.  During 1st hour and home room was the time for the seniors to go to the fair.  Yes, those same seniors that by now, should already have their applications done or have a pretty good idea of what they are doing after high school.

I started second hour and noticed a familiar odor.  I don’t personally have experience with this substance, but have had enough encounters for it to be recognizable.  I tried to isolate the source of the smell, but before I could really narrow it down, the principal comes over the P.A. system to invite all of those college bound juniors to the fair.  So the juniors up and left, and so did the stench.

The remaining handful of students learned the new material with me and are now ahead of the others.  With about ten minutes left of class, the juniors returned.  Along with their return, was the return of the stench.  But this time, it was much more intense.  With the commotion of everyone coming and going, the smell didn’t completely permeate the room for a few minutes.  I tried to get something taught, all the while I’m wandering throughout the room, taking deep breaths through my nose.  (I’m sure you can picture me subtly doing this…)  Alas, we run out of time and the bell rings.

As the culprit exits the room, she leaves such a potent scent that we have to open the windows.  This is not the time of the year when opening the windows has any advantage other than some fresh air.  I have a pretty good idea of who it was, but I’m not completely sure.  I have no idea if her assistant principal followed up on my suspicion later in the day.  But it is pretty clear that she was definitely taking advantage of the college fair!

One size fits…

Why does it seem that there is a push for a “One Size Fits All” approach to education these days?  I don’t know what it’s like in other areas.  But lately it seems like we are being told that one approach is the selected method of teaching and we will follow it.  Well, it’s not quite that bad at my school…  yet.

In my district they spent a pretty large chunk of stimulus change on a program that is supposed to help teach reading and ultimately help get those ever important scores up.  Since I don’t teach elementary school, I don’t have any experience with this curriculum.  My elementary colleagues have told me that they are now supposed to use these materials that are even scripted as to each thing the teacher says.

I’m not going to go into depth about what they want us to do at the secondary level.  But the main point is that they seem to want us to be in lock step with each other, give the same assessments and teach lessons in the same way as our colleagues across the district.

What happened to the art of teaching?  If all you needed was some canned curriculum and were told what to say, anyone could do it.  Maybe that’s their objective.  But it’s so far off the mark.

Every child is unique with different needs.  The abilities, strengths and weaknesses of our students are as varied as the patterns of snowflakes.  When designing a lesson, we try to take into account the various learning styles, attention spans, and ability levels of our students.  As individuals.  Not every individual needs the same thing and teachers are taught how to differentiate for the variety of needs in their classroom.

I’m sure the idea of a canned curriculum makes them (the higher-ups) think that they’re in control and they’re addressing the needs of students.  But who are we kidding?  If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard a teacher say, “I wish they would just let me teach,” I seriously would have some cash.  It’s a sad and frustrating time.  I wish they could figure out that to really have some gains, you have to let go of the rigid control and let us do our jobs they way we know how.

It really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that in reality, one size can never fit all.

Out of Practice

I haven’t had a fight in my room in years. My streak ended on Thursday.

I have a class that is fairly small, has nice kids, is relaxed and fun. We joke around a lot and end our day on a nice note. I would never expect a fight in this class. I guess I have to expect the unexpected.

I was helping another student make sure she knew how to graph a parabola. When I looked up, two boys were locked in a fight. It wasn’t a wild swinging punching kind of thing. As far as fights go, it wasn’t a bad one.

My first reaction is to call the emergency number to the office. Problem #1, they’re blocking the phone. Problem #2, one boy is at least 250 pounds and the other is a lanky 6 footer. What do I do?

“Help!”

A couple of my math colleagues had heard the scuffle from the office and had already called for back up. At my plea for help, a couple of the boys in the class came over and helped me pull them apart. We got them separated and by then the assistant principals had made it to my room. The boys escorted to the office and consequently suspended.

This whole incident took place in a span of only about two or three minutes. But now I had 35 minutes left of class where I had to calm down my class and myself and try to teach them something. So we all took a few deep breaths and learned how to find the axis of symmetry and vertex of a parabola in standard form.

Breaking up fights is not something that I signed up for when I decided to become a teacher. It’s just one of many elements of the job that most people never even think of when they decide to be a teacher. Or worse, when someone thinks that they know what it’s like to be a teacher. But like every other teacher I know, we accept it as just another responsibility we have, move on and try to get some knowledge into their heads. This is just one aspect of why this is such a stressful job. When is the last time you broke up a fight at work?

PS.  I forgot to tell the funny part…  One problem with the baggy pants is that they fall down in a fight.  It makes it hard to do much when your pants around your ankles!

Guiding Questions

Am I responsible for optional training that I haven’t had?

Every year, my district seems to start some new initiative and wants us to volunteer to get trained in some new magical education reform effort.  Usually the training involves a week or so of your time during the summer.  As many of my readers know, I spend a lot of my summer time traveling.  So in most cases, when this training is offered, I’m out of the country or visiting friends somewhere out-of-town.

Besides that fact that I’m not around for the training, there is also the factor of deciding whether the training is worth my time.  Every year or two there seems to be some new and improved initiative that will work its magic with our kids.  I don’t know how many different initiatives I have seen come and go.  I don’t think any of them have really had full implementation.  So if any of them actually work, we don’t really know because we’re onto the next best thing before we’re done with the last one.

The latest thing is something called Disciplinary Literacy.   It has something to do with posting standards in your classroom so the kids know what it is you’re trying to teach them.  We’re also supposed to have a Guiding Question up on the board or somewhere in the room.  I believe this is supposed to get the kids thinking about what they are trying to learn that particular day.  So when an administrator does a drive-by observation for 7-10 minutes, will they see your standards posted and a guiding question?  If so, they get to check it off their list.  Does this help the kids?

I don’t know if it helps the kids.  I’m asking them directly.  I put up my guiding questions.  We talked about them and I told them to be looking for them in all of their classes.  I also said, “I want to know if you find this to be helpful for your learning?”  The verdict is still out, so I’ll have to get back to you when I have a response.

On Wednesday, we had 30 minute class periods due to the late start from the PLAN and PSAT testing.  I was doing a short assignment on logic and paper games.  When my 4th hour started, one of the kids noticed that I hadn’t updated my guiding question.  So I told him what we were doing and asked, “What do you think the guiding question should be?”  So Bryan went to the board and wrote, “How do games like tic-tac-toe help teach logic?”

The verdict is still out on the Guiding Questions.  But I think I’ve got one kid out of three classes that is finding it helpful.  Or at least is having fun catching me when I forget.

PSAT Day

Yesterday, my school gave the PLAN and the PSAT to all 10th and 11th graders.  Because of testing this massive group of students, we had a late start.  When I told another friend of mine about this, she was amazed because in her district, they charge each kid $15 to take the PSAT.

Why is my district paying for this test?  Good question.  I think it goes back to a former superintendent that declared EVERY kid in our district is college bound – or something to that effect.  I’m all for optimism, but where do we get a little dose of reality?

It would have been nice to be given a standard answer to give our students as to why this was important and why they should take it.  I can pull the lines of incredible scholarship opportunities out of my butt as good as the next teacher.  Who are we kidding?  Not every kid is going to be a National Merit Scholar.  Bet hey, we’re trying to find that diamond in the rough…

A few times I had to wake up a couple of kids and say, “Hey, we’re starting section 4.  Give it a try.”  During a break, I had a conversation with one of my current students who happened to be in my room for testing.  She was asking me why she should take this test.  I’m giving her my best lines about possibilities for college.  What does she tell me?  She’s not going to college.  She’s going to be a singer.  She has it in her mind that she’s going to get a record deal by the time she’s 19.

I’m trying not to be that teacher that bursts her bubble and points out that this is a pie in the sky dream.  I start asking her if she’s in the choir, if she’s had any voice lessons, why voice lessons are a good idea for someone who wants to be a singer, etc.  Well, according to her, she doesn’t need any lessons or to be in the choir because she’s already perfect.  Her uncle has some sort of recording studio, yada, yada, yada…  It took everything I had not to roll my eyes or give her that you’ve got to be f***ing kidding me look.  At this point, I realize I should just stop talking, get up and start test #5.

That would be wonderful if her dreams did come true.  But I’ve been around long enough to know what a long shot it is and that it takes one hell of a lot of hard work to achieve that kind of dream.  And let me tell you, hard work is a concept of which she has yet to become familiar.

Editorial Cartoon

I recently saw an editorial cartoon that summed up a problem in education that no one wants to touch with a ten foot pole.  The artist is Signe Wilkinson of the Philadelphia Daily News.  Because of copyright stuff, I’m just going to point you in the right direction to find it yourself.  The cartoon I’m referring to was originally published on September 29th, 2009.  It showed a teacher in a classroom with educational drive-by experts asking her “What are you doing wrong?”

Another one that caught my eye a while back is by Hilary Price of “Rhymes with Orange.”  Teacher Jedi Move #6.  It was published on September 19th, 2009.

I get the local paper each day, but in the mornings I mainly read “Rhymes with Orange” and my horoscope.  On Thursdays I read as much of the “EAT” section as I can before I have to run out the door.  Last week, another teacher had seen the editorial cartoon by Signe and told me about it.  When I looked more carefully at the paper in the evening is when I found it.

The thing that is so cool about these cartoons, is that old adage, a picture is worth a thousand words.  In these cases, it’s definitely true.  I feel like I’m the teacher in the cartoons.  And I’d bet that most of my teacher friends feel the same way.

These are talented artists that with the strokes of their pen say what the rest of us want to say.  Thank you for your creativity!

Scars

According to Webster, a scar is a mark left after a wound, burn, etc. has healed.

This is my scar.  I’m only about a month into the healing process.  Will it always look like this?  Will it fade in time?  Should I do anything to help it fade?  Do I want to?

I have some interesting thoughts running through my head.  In a way, I don’t want to erase it.  It’s a reminder of my melanoma scare.  Hmm…  maybe there’s a reason why scar is just scare without the e…

My scar is a constant reminder that sun exposure, for me, is dangerous.  It’s part of my story.  But my cancer story is extremely mild compared to so many others.  Mine is so mild that I hesitate to even use the word cancer.

But the fact that I now have this scar got me thinking about the kind of scars that you can’t see.  I’d much rather have this one.

I think about the students that I’ve had.  Some are homeless.  Some are victims of abuse.  Some are even taken out of their homes and brought to shelters.  Many suffer emotional abuse that we haven’t yet figured out how to identify and help them.  It’s much more obvious when a child is physically abused.  But how do you really know if emotional abuse is happening?  How do you even verify it?  The sad reality is that many more of our students probably fall into this category.

So what do I do as an educator?  I provide a safe environment.  I try to make a personal connection with each of them.  I find out something special about each student.  I compliment.  I encourage.  I offer help when I can.  I listen.

I may have this 2 inch scar on my back.  But it’s a physical scar.  It will heal with time.  Given the choice between this physical scar and an emotional one, I’ll pick the physical one.  Hands down.

My two cents

President Obama is going to make a speech on the first day of school.  Apparently he’s going to encourage the nation’s youth to do well and succeed in school.  This message is not political.  It’s common sense.  It needs to happen.

I just spent 3 weeks in a country where they actually value education.  They know that the only way they are going to get ahead is through education.  Teachers are respected.  Students aren’t misbehaving.  I saw no evidence of ADD or ADHD.  At Image Secondary School, I saw what the mathematics teacher was teaching.  CALCULUS – integrals with trigonometric functions. I was extremely impressed with what they were doing, especially with so few resources.  And you can bet those kids really know their stuff – they don’t have calculators readily available.

What was the debate team working on?  “Science and Technology have brought more harm than good to third world countries.”  I would have loved to hear that debate.

It is a privilege to go to secondary school in Tanzania.  It’s a boarding school situation, so the students have to be very responsible for themselves.  They have dorm rooms, they do their own laundry, they study, study, study.  They take their education seriously.

So if President Obama wants to encourage our students in the US, I see absolutely NO problem with that.  I’ll be tuning in.

A Good Ending

Today when I was doing my duty of keeping kids in the lunch room I had a funny thing happen.  I was leaning on the front desk and waiting for the stream of students to pass.  I didn’t see them coming…  Two of my students (that helped me with locker clean out that were in my Pre Calculus class) ran up on either side of me and surprised me by wrapping their arms around me from each side.  They wanted to wish me a good summer.  Normally I avoid hugs from students like the plague.  But this was a good one.

*The students are Sara and Jake from this post.

Finish Line

I can see it.  I’m really close.  All I have left to do is clean up my room at school.  My finals are graded, books are in cupboards and most of my grades are posted.  It’s a joyful time of year.  But as we were all leaving, the consensus seemed to be that everyone wanted and needed a nap.

The end of the school year is something that I look forward to for weeks.  But then it arrives and I’m so tired and drained from the year that there isn’t much celebration.  I always fill my summer with fun things and have a lot to look forward to.  But I can’t seem to muster up the energy to go over to another teacher’s house for a beer this afternoon.

I’m usually not very productive until at least the 4th of July.  It takes me that long to come out of my school mode and really relax.  To help the process along, I’m heading to Colorado on Saturday.  I go there for a week every year.  I stay with friends and it helps force me to relax.  I used to start gearing up for school in my head during the month of August.  As I become more experienced, I seem to need less time to gear up.  But it seems that I still need the same amount to wind down as every year.  I wish I could speed that process along…  Oh well…  Let the winding down begin.