HURRAH!!!!!

So I know that I've complained here numerous times about my fifth period class- mainly the three guys that drive me crazy. Well, here is an update. I finally got so incredibly frustrated that I emailed the counselor, the Vice Principal and the two case workers of the special ed kid (we'll call him John to preserve some anonymity). John's the one on a special ed plan who sits and does nothing and disrupts the class and usually ends up sitting outside because class runs much smoother with him not around. Basically I told them all that I had tried everything I could think of with him, that I had no more strategies and that if something didn't change (talking to his parents, talking with the counselor, etc.) then i didn't want him in my class anymore. It was that bad. So a few days later, he starts shaping up.... I talked to the Vice Principal and apparently there was a meeting with Dad, both Dad and Johnny boy were crying and basically they told him that if he wasn't going totake advantage of his special ed accommodations, they would take him off and he'd have to repeat the eighth grade. Since then (about a week), he's been amazing! Doing his work, not talking in class, it was fantastic! I even wrote a note home to Dad about his change in behavior. He still needs constant attention, especially to keep him on task, but he's working! By goodness he's workign! This week was a little less positive but he was still working, just a little more jumpy. But a few warnings sets him back on track.

So, then, with John not taking out, I still had to deal with Brandon (again, anonymity, not his real name). With John not taking my attention and acting out in class, Brandon decides that it's his turn. He makes fun of other students, calls them mean nicknames, draws inappropriate pictures with his friend, and so he started being the one to be sent outside. Basically, you act out in my class, you're out. You don't get me respect, you're out. So he's here Monday and Tuesday of lats week and then was out Wed-Fri as well as Monday and Tuesday of THIS week. And then, thank you Jesus, I get a big white paper which reads that Brandon is transferring out of the school. Hallelujah! I was so incredibly excited. I know that's horrible but with Brandon gone and John not acting out anymore and the third amigo of the group having no one to banter with, I so looking forward to actually being able to teach my fifth period. I don't expect a huge change because I have a lot of ELL students in the class anyway, but I will now have more time to focus on the other 18 students in the class, not just the two of them. So excited!!!!

We Are Family....

I've kind of been going through a minor crisis at work these last few days and one of the things that I've come to realize through all of this is that my department is just like a family. Mark is definitely the slightly irrational dad, very passionate and very "Mama Bear-ish", as in always wanted what's best for the department/family. He sometimes gets VERY angry when people attack his family and he is really the true definition of a dad. Catherine is the mother of the group, much calmer and composed, but very protective. She gives really great advice and is quiet about it, not over-reacting but trying to find solutions for everything. Then there's Hau, who's like the older brother who enjoys torturing the younger sister, which is me. And I'm the little sister, the baby of the family, who everyone protects but teases nonetheless. It's really great- I've been so lucky to have such an awesome and totally supportive department. I haven't had to reinvent the wheel, they accepted me into the department the minute that I arrived at the school. I could be spending hours and hours coming up with new lesson plans but being able to collaborate and talk with the department and share their materials has been such a blessing. I'm really lucky to have such a great department, especially one that's just like a family

A WTF Mate Moment

So I don't mind when people come in and observe me teach. Feather's done it, the principal has done it, no big deal at all. I usually just ignore them and go on teaching is if nothing was different (except for making emphasizing some of the strategies that I know they want to see.....) Anyway, no biggie if you want to come and watch me. But just don't talk to my kids. Let me teach and don't distract my kids from their focus on me and the lesson.

And that's where my WTF Mate moment comes into play (if you don't know what WTF Mate means, watch this: http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/end. It's effing hilarious). Anyway, my WTF Mate moment. I'm in the middle of teaching yesterday when Betsy, my principal comes in. As mentioned above numerous times, no biggie. We're wrapping up a brainstorming of what clothing, people and supplies would be needed for the Lewis and Clark expedition and then I give them a graphic organizer to fill out while using a supplemental reading magazine. I start to wander around the room, keeping kids on track, helping them to focus, answering questions, etc. and she starts doing the same. Again, no big deal. I don't mind if they have a question and she helps out, fine. But (and here comes the WTF Mate moment...), I pass by her talking to a group of students and instead of talking about Lewis and Clark or Sacagawea or the antelope or the discovery of prairie dogs, they're talking about cardio workout and bench pressing!

WTF MATE!!!!

Why would you do that? I don't care if you want to be hip, if you want to be cool, if you want to be their friend, you don't come into another teacher's classroom and then distract their student from their lesson. If two students have been found talking about this, they would have been separated or made to work on their own. I found it incredibly disrespectful to me. Yet, because it's the principal, I can't say anything. Am I wrong for feeling this way? WTF!

Learning from Frustration and Obstacles

I throw up my hands

Oh, the impossibilities

Frustrated and tired

Where do I go from here?

Now I'm searching for the confidence

I've lost so willingly

Overcoming these obstacles

is overcoming my fear

-"For the Moments I Feel Faint", Relient K

Having just gone to the Relient K and Switchfoot concert, I've been listening to their music a lot lately. Today, the lyrics from "For the Moments I Feel Faint" just resonated in my head, especially after sixth period. Catherine and I are trying a new activity that we're calling "Universal Access". Basically, the kids are 27 different project options, ranging from writing and performing a play or making a 3-D model or writing a test and providing an answer key, etc. Basically, a huge range of options (plus their own choice). Several stipulations, though: they have to do a project based on one of our focus standards and the point value goes up by 30 for every student added to a group.

As part of this project, Catherine and I require a Learning Contract with the student. They fill out teh details of their project, letting us- the teacher- know exactly what it will take to compelte their proejct, what focus standard their project applies to, and their criteria evaluation. basically they have to give me a rubric for how they want me to grade their project.

Anyway, this is a very long-winded way of going about adn trying to explain why I was feeling the above lyrics so much. My sixth period class, a group of 27 kids, turned in six Learning Contracts. That just got me so incredibly frustrated because so many of them said "Oh, I didn't understand what to put here, I didn't get what to do here." Usually the questions don't bother me but in this case, we had spent ten minutes the day before answering questions! That stuff drives me up the wall. And then I get so irritable and feel like I can't do anything right. So I try and explain the rubric part again and again and I feel like there's this obstacle in front of me and the kids won't let me get past it. My patience decreases and my frustration increases and I end up getting upset at the kids. And then, when finally they're gone and the bell has rung, i realize that the majority of it is my fault because I had forgotten a few days before to show them an example of a rubric. I realize that not many of them even know what a rubric is and I'm a horrible teacher for not teaching them what it is! And then I just feel absolutely useless and frustrated and angry at myself! There are so many days where I feel so confident and so great about myself and then it just all collapses and I feel like I'm back at square one because of one little event. I really need to work on being more patient not with my students but with myself and realize that just as I give my students encouragement and patience and compassion, I need to give myself the same sort of encouragement and patience and compassion.

December 3rd, So Far So Good

Apologies for not posting lately- it's been a little crazy and busy. Last week, the week after Thanksgiving, was just madness and by the time the non-student day on Friday came around, I was more than ready for a day without students. I actually had a great and very productive day- Catherine and I planned, I talked with the guys about the upcoming week and teaching about Lewis and Clark, the department went to lunch and I worked on some of my BTSA things that are due at the end of this week. All in all, it was a feeling of accomplishment getting so much done.

Plus, I ended up getting absolutely everything planed for this week, which only leaves two weeks of planning. Plus, I have a day of training the last week of school so I'm literally at the point where I'm counting down the days until Christmas. Not because I'm not enjoying my job but because it's a vacation and I can sleep in and we'll have just finished a unit in seventh grade so no major lesson planning and of course Christmas and friends and lots of good books.

All in all though, things are going quite well. I made it through Thanksgiving and November without hitting a wall. These last two weeks with the kids have been great.

First period: They are my all-time favorite class. By far. Some of my favorite kids are in that class, they're enthusiastic and inquisitive and in general, just a good group of kids. They're really well-tempered and calm so they're actually the perfect class to have as my focus class for BTSA. Every time the BTSA lady has been in class, they've been great. They're definitely the class that I can joke around with, especially with these two students who are perpetually late (one has been on time for five days in a row now... we're trying to see how long the record can get).

Second period: My largest class and at this point, not yet on my bad side. They're a mix of really high-achieving students and some low-achieving students so differentiation is key. And sometimes difficult. However, they're pretty well-tempered as well and when I do have to get tough, they quiet down. I do have a couple of lazy-butts who literally do absolutely nothing and there's pretty much nothing else I can do about them. There's one student, very high-achieving, who doesn't know the meaning of be quiet which is hard to deal with because he does know the answers... he just needs to learn how to control himself and keep himself on task. There's also a slightly-lower achieving girl who is one hard worker- she just kicked butt on the last homework assignment and despite being slightly lower in achievement, she's very dedicated.

Third period: My small class, I believe my smallest of eighth graders. I used to not like this class but I feel much more comfortable around them now and I think my relationship with them has improved. They're also more comfortable around me and we can joke and have fun but they're also small enough that I can make them work individually if they lose focus or stop concentrating. Definitely lower-achievers but all in all, they get down to business, especially when they're in class. There are also definite "groups" in the class but because they're so small, no one really gets left out at all. I also have these absolutely adorable little Asian girls who are so hard working- and they are just so incredibly precious! I love them! And their little accents.

Fourth period: I LOVE THESE KIDS! There are only 21 of them and they are all incredible little kids. Some who don't do work but most of them are smart, hard-working, inquisitive, just so enthusiastic. And they're just a bundle of fun. They buckle down when it's time to work but I just love every single class period I have with them. Definitely tied with first period for my favorite class. Possibly my favorite class over all. Nothing bad i can really say about them.

Fifth period: I hate this class. OK, correction, I hate a few kids in this class. There's one student who has no GPA (aka 0.0 because he's failing everything), needs to be on a behaviour plan, does absolutely nothing but distract in my class and overall drives me up the wall. But because he's technically special ed, there's nothing I can really do. I've tried pretty much every single strategy that I know of and still nothing works. And the worst part is that he sets off two other students, one who is a retention student and the other who is actually decently smart. Honestly, when this first kid isn't in class, the rest are fine. When he is in class, he distracts, talks, makes inappropriate noises and comments and is a general disturbance. On the days when he's not in class, we've had a productive time so I'm working on seeing if he can be transferred to another fifth period class, one where maybe the discipline will work better. if he wasn't on the class, I really do believe that my relationship with the rest of the students will improve. The rest of them are not too hard-working (there are a few that are) but in all honesty, I can't fully focus on them because I'm too busy trying to keep the other one on task. Sigh, this class frustrates me.

Sixth period: My largest seventh grade class and definitely not has hard working. A few absolute gems but definitely the class that I have to be on their backs about turning in their work, focusing, staying on task and not yelling out in class. There are a few frustrating kids and a few kids that don't do their work but I do believe that sixth period holds a special place in my heart. There are definitely some that make me smile in spite of myself. In general, a good-hearted class with some problems.

So yeah, all in all, things are going quite well. After Christmas, its' only three more weeks until the second quarter is over and I will have survived the first half of my first year teaching. I can do it!!!!

I seriously love my best friend

From Megan: And I am floored at all of the training and other stupid stuff you have to do. Its seriously even annoying me and I don't even have to do it.

She always knows how to cheer me up. Seriously, I love her to death. :O)

Just Another Manic Monday....

Today was just a totally crazy day. I got in really early because I hadn't done much over the four-day weekend (yet, as I just mentioned, it was a four-day weekend and I really wasn't in the mood to do any work). I made some copies, talked to the guys, talked with Catherine, did my things in the morning, it was looking to be a good day. My eighth grade classes, at least first and second period were not too bad. I'm absolutely astonished at how little they know though. For example, many of them couldn't tell me the two political parties of the United States. Anyway, with most of them, I think they understood the concept of Early Politlca Parties. I'm also looking for a quiz that will help them figure out their own political parties. I have to get on that.

On the other hand, I was also absolutely astonished at how stupid some of my kids were. There was one girl who could not answer a simple question, despite the fact that we had just spelled it out word for word AND the answer was on the board. And then when I asked her if she had been paying attention, she said no! I nearly kicked her out of the classroom- if she's going to waste my time, I don't need her around! It was so absoltuely frustrating! On the good side, in my fifth period, the instigator and most annoying student wasn't there and the other two were actually pertty good. I wonder if I can talk to someone and see about getting him removed from my class-- he doesn't do anything and when he is in class, he just distrups the other students. Or maybe we could just sedate him or muzzle him when he comes in.... Anyway....

To make up for the stupidity of my eighth graders, my seventh graders actually did a great job, especially my sixth period students. We had a shortened period because of passing back report cards and I was so impressed at how quickly they got the information. They seemed to udnerstand the concept of feudalism in class today- we'll see how they do when we recap tomorrow.

But that wasn't the end of my Manic Monday. I was planning on working on grades after school until I got an email from Feather that said: Hi. I am sure you are aware but I wanted to double check. Tomorrow 11/27 @10:16 3rd, Betsy arranged for you to see Trinity. She will demostrate some of the instructional strategies that BTSA has been talking about. I will be with you so we can talk about what you see. Arrange materials and plans as someone (Betsy & Bob) will watch your class.

WHAT???

At this point, I have to totally change my lesson around. I had been planning on doing direct instruction and now had to go and make copies of not only the quiz the kids are getting, but also a bunch of worksheets for them to do because I don't want to leave the teaching to anyone else. I'm also trying to figure out my lesson for Thursday for World and meanwhile, find out that I have to meet with the other BTSA people to talk about our box review on Wednesday.

By the time, I get everything finished, it's nearly 3:30- and then I find out that just kidding- we're postponing the demo lesson. For cryin' out loud! So, now I've just wasted almost an hour and I still haven't done my grades. So, while I'm doing my grades, atound 3:50< I get an email that there's a history training session- 3:30-5:00 on Wednesday for World and 3:30-5:00 on Thursday for US. Except, at this point, I already have that BTSA thing at 2:15 on Wednesday and another official BTSA meeting on Thursday. So now I have meetings from 2:15-5:00 on Wednesday and from 3:30-5:00 on Thursday. This leaves me NO time either day, except for maybe a half hour on Thursday to get work done. Thank GOODNESS there's a non-student day on Friday- I'm going to need that time to make up all the grading and lesson planning that I'll msis out on.

I guess I'm just really frustrated at the lack on communcation. A few hours ago, I had nothing but a short BTSA meeting and another BTSA training. Now I am jammed full of meetings and trainings and I didn't know but so many of them. It's ridiculous. I just wish that we would get thiese things a little more in advance so I have time to work my schedule around them. Sigh- if wishes were horses.....

Haikus

As we wrapped up the Japan unit, I had my students write me haikus. I had them pick a season of the year, since Japanese haikus are based on nature. We talked about seventeen syllables- a combination of 5-7-5 and they came up to get their poem approved before settingn out to put it onto a poster and decorate it. I was pretty impressed and thoroughly amused at what they came up with. Here are the winners of the First Annual Haiku Awards.

Best Decorated (imagine in your head- snowflakes, snowmen, trees, beauty, very lovely):

Snowflakes fall softly

Lovely drifting here and there

Floating Gracefully

Most Poetic:

Leaves dressed on the earth

Dancing to graceful breezes

Up, down, swilf, up, down

Poem Least Related to Picture (picture is of a cabin, snow-covered mountains, reindeers, etc.:

Winter always ends

How come it is very cold

Because it does rain

Most Misspelled (presented with no corrections):

It's warm, its's cold, ha.

I open all the presenit

Now it's over, bye.

Least Connection to a Season (see if you can see the connection to Spring....):

The car is broken

Took it to the shop to fix

Fixed it and it works

Makes the Least Sense:

Little Lily's Red

Follwoing my head and blew

and the white and red

(huh?)

Best Use of Roget's Thesaurus:

The snow is frigid

Everything freezes over

Some sun would be nice.

LAUGH Out Loud Poem:

I went to the pool

I yelled why are you here, Val?

I was bored at the pool

(***note: Val is a student in the class- and there is a picture of two people, one saying "why are you here, Val" and the other saying "I don't know")

Most Heartfelt:

A field of flowers

Where I sit down to look at

the beautiful sky

Evokes the Senses:

Time flies and leaves falls

The wind blows against my face

What a pretty sight

Most Use of the Words "May" and "Hot":

Summer is so hot

The hottest days are in May

In May it's so hot.

Most Honest:

Man it's really hot

I'm trying to get a fan

My mom is real cheap.

Fastest Passing of Seasons Ever:

The snow is freezing

In the cold I felt like frost

The snow is melting.

Most Incorrect Haiku:

In the month of

October it is windy

and cold.
(hm...)

So there you have it- the creme de la creme of the haikus that I was given. They were certainly fun to read and definitely a way for the kids to let out some of their creativity.

PS- I still crack up when I think "why are you here Val?"

BTSA Update

My apologies first and foremost for being entirely remiss in my blogging duties. It's been a crazy few days and I just haven't had the time to sit and collect my thoughts. Most importantly, now that I'm back, is to give you a BTSA update.

So, I was REALLY nervous about this whole situation because I was really worried about what lesson to teach and how my schedule was being kind of thrown off and all that. But, I needed to stay focused on how I just needed to get through first period, my favorite group of eighth graders, and then that was it. I ended up picking a TCI lesson on Hamilton and Jefferson, comparing the two and filling out a chart using some Biographical Briefings. I wanted to try and do as much modeling, sharing, pairing, etc., as I could so I went all out. I put a diagram on the board with what kids were going to fill out what sections and what pairings the students would be in, made sure to do the first section myself so that I could show them how to do it, etc.

the other thing I was worried about were the things that she had talked to me the previous time- management and behavioural issues, the whole not randomly picking on students, etc. There is no way that I'm using Popsicle sticks and I was ready again to have a discussion with her about the whole reason behind it, etc. Also, I never really have management issues with my first period class- they're all pretty docile- but I needed to make sure I had some strategies. I wasn't going to count down or anything, but I found this great website from the NEA which had all these strategies that I was already doing so I figured it was legit... and could be some good ammunition.

So, anyway, my lesson goes really well. We do a little in general talking, I explain the assignment, read a section out loud, I model and then have them contribute and then I set them on their way. I wander around, make sure they're on task, I give them further directions for sharing, etc., anyway, it goes great. She looks really pleased when she leaves, which is a good sign.

So we met that afternoon (I didn't think we'd meet until the next day but I was really glad that we met that day. she made a lot of good comments, was very positive (that's a new thing...), overall, the meeting went well. I still stood my ground on the whole Popsicle stick issue. So, after the meeting, she gave me some assignments which I have to finish by tomorrow and then I think I may be done with BTSA (well, still have meetings and such, like one tomorrow) but I don't think I'm being officially observed again for a while. Thank you Jesus.

So on Friday, Mark commented on how happy I looked- it definitely amused him... :)

The Three Musketeers from Hell!!!

There are these four kids in my six period class who make up Athos, Porthos, Aramis and d'Artagnan from hell. They are really sweet kids but they drive me up the wall sometimes. We'll assign the role of d'Artagnan to the least annoying of the three- he's actually a really smart kid and just kind of gets caught up with the other Musketeers. Because they have the same initial, we'll call the two who got detention today Athos and Aramis. They are also good kids but tend to get caught up in the instigation of Porthos, who we'll call our final kid. Athos and Aramis also tend to shout things out in class without raising their hand, which is very disrupting to everyone else. So both Aramis and Athos got three days of detention- today, tomorrow and Thursday. I let them work on their homework for half an hour but they first had to write me an essay for half an hour telling me why their got detention and what they were going to do in the future to not get a detention anymore. I found them oddly amusing and information, so I thought I'd recreate them here.

There is Athos's essay:
The reason I'm in this detention is because I talk too much in class without raising my hand. I shout things at other people, like [Porthos] always is calling me "she" and "fish" so I tell stuff back at him. I always blurt out in class although I have an answer to the questions. I'll try to not yell out in class by ignoring everybody else, if they have to say something bad to me, especially when [Porthos] calls me a girl or a fish or tells me to go back to the ocean. I'll try to raise my hand instead of blurting out the answer or something I have to say. In the future I'll try to be a smarter and better kid to know what's wrong or bad and I'll try not to talk with anybody else when the teacher doesn't want us talking, only if I'm working with a partner or doing a presentation. I'll raise my hand instead of blurting out and shouting out answers andI'll try to ignore [Porthos] so I won't shout back or get distracted or into trouble.

And here is Aramis's essay (see the similarities....):
I got a detention because at first I was goofing around and then [Porthos] called [Athos] a fish and so I laughed a lot and then that's how I got detention. I will not get detention by not goofing around in class or by not disturbing the teacher. And also by not laughing at [Portho's] jokes. I won't get detention because you have to stay one hour after school and I dont' like that. I think in the future I won't get detention because Iwill try not to get it and I will do what the teacher tells us to do. And I also think I won't be getting detention because I'm gonna focus on working hard because I want to get good grades because right now my grades aren't good and I'm going to try to raise them up. And that's how I'm not going to get detention. And I hope this is the last time I'll get detention.

Hm.... let's list the similarities. 1) Talking out in class and goofing around. 2) It seems like Porthos is the real instigator and maybe if HE gets the detention, he'll stop goofing around and the other two will calm down a little bit. 3) Neither of them want detention anymore..... 4) I think that they're both trying... hopefully two more days of detention will help.

I've found that when the class is working on a group project or with partners, it's so much more productive when one is on one side of the room, the other is working with d'Artagnan on the other side of the room and one, usually poor Athos is outside working by himself. I hate having to send Athos outside so often but unfortunately, it's usually the best way to get him to work. I'm still working on some sort of a system to keep them separated and engaged and not driving me or the rest of the class crazy!

American Idol They're NOT

So today my students had to recite the Preamble of the Constitution to me. For the past two weeks, we've been watching the Preamble clip from School House Rock (for them, it's been about seven times in two weeks- for me, it's been about twenty-eight times in two weeks but who's counting....) so they should know it. They received twenty points for reciting it and forty points if they sang it to the tune of the School House Rock clip. Each mistake was minus one point and if they really crapped it up, it was pretty much like two points for "trying".

So let me just say right off, American Idol they're NOT. Actually, there were a few who could actually hold some semblance of a key. There was one girl who gave a little bit of "vibrato", which was interesting. But in general, they were the most horrendous singers ever! I could barely hold it in. There was one guy who started in so high of a key that I am incredibly impressed that he was able to hit those high notes. Oh, and then those poor boys who were going through puberty.... oh man was that a crack up!

My favorite part of the day was those kids who whined and moaned, "But I don't know it.... I can't do it.... i only remember the first part...... wah, wah, wah, wah, wah." They were forced to go up to the front anyway and oh course, with only a little bit of prompting, did they pretty much get the entire thing. And they were so incredibly proud when they were able to get it. And all I could say was "I told you so!" Except this one girl, she didn't even try and I got so pissed off with her that I gave her two weeks detention on top of the zero. This girl pisses me off anyway. She's failing because she does absolutely nothing, she doesn't stay after school when I ask her to so she can get her assignments, she takes absolutely no responsibility for her work or her education so if she's going to waste my time, I'm going to keep her after school and take her time. Maybe in those two weeks she can make up all the work that she's missing in my class. I'm kidding- it'll take two months.

Simon Cowell-- watch out if any of my students come onto your show....

SO Impressed!

So, I don't know what happened but today AND yesterday, my usuall irresponsible and slacky sixth period class turned in ALL their homework! I was so incredibly impressed and I told them so! It's amazing how much easier it is to teach a class when the students come prepared! I have been really impressed with sixth period these last few days. I've moved some seats around, started a system where everytime a certain individual speaks without raising his hand, he gets an additional minute after school, things like that and it's looking like they're beocming more responsible, more inquisitive, more interactive, in general, more like fourth period. My fourth period kids are always great and have always been great. For an example, one of them really wanted to know my name so I told her that if she went and looked up at least ten Hebrew names, I would tell her. So not only does she get ten, she lists pretty much every single one! It was pretty cool, so I told her my name. I think in general, fourth period is easier to teach because they're right before lunch, they're smaller (only 21 kids) and there aren't as many ELL students. But I really hope that this trend continues because it makes my life eaiser when I'm not on sixth period's tail every day about their work.

Here's to keeping your fingers crossed....

Frustration to the MAX

The following is an email that I just sent Patti, Don and Deb. It pretty much goes through what happened tome today and all the frustrations that I have pent up in my right now. Needless to say, I'm not a happy camper right now.

Hello my dear education folk,

First of all my apologies for this endless email. I really need some advice and you all know me really well and I really trust and appreciate your opinions so hopefully I can get some good advice that'll help me out.

Before I get into my dilemma for which I need some advice on, I just wanted to say hello, hope that everyone is doing well and that things are going OK at good old C of I (SO weird to say that!). In general, things are going well here. We have our first benchmark test on Friday, which is a little nerve wracking but to be expected, but on the upside, it means 1/4 of the school year is over. Plus, it's November, which means Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and a non-student day. Is it good that I'm focusing on my days off?? :) In general, I really like my kids. I have a kick-butt class of seventh graders who are so inquisitive and enthusiastic, which helps me deal with my less enthusiastic other seventh grade classes. In general, my eighth graders are OK, a few problem kids who I have a hard time dealing with because they take away my attention from the other kids, but I'm working on various strategies to deal with them specifically and individually.

OK, now for the requesting of advice. A little background first. So, first and second year teachers in California have to do something called BTSA (I think I mentioned this). It's basically first year teacher mentoring and on top of having to go to a bunch of meetings and training sessions outside of class, I need to have a BTSA support person come in and observe me. The woman who comes in is called a TOSA (Teacher on Special Assignment), which I seem to understand as a teacher who is out of the classroom for a few years doing something else- in this case, BTSA. So my supporter person is a third (or fifth, I can't remember) grade teacher who is spending a few years as a support person for BTSA. So the first few times she observed me, it was for a few minutes each time, popping in, sitting in the back for a bit, and then leaving. A few weeks ago, she came and made her first informal but official evaluation. It wasn't the best lesson to see and I know that and admit it. I had been out of the classroom on Monday and had to be out the following week so it was one of those "OK, today's going to be a bit of lecture and not much time to dwell on specifics, so let's just do this". The lesson wasn't a standard, it was just to introduce the kids to a concept so that they could have background knowledge of the following day. Anyway, I got absolutely NO positive feedback whatsoever, which was really frustrating because I know I'm not a perfect teacher but you taught me well, there are some things that I can do correctly. she made a big deal about putting thought into picking who I called on (not just randomly selecting), Think-Pair-Share, etc. I understood her criticisms but it was just frustrating that it wasn't an ideal lesson for her to see and I didn't' really feel like she was getting a good snapshot of what my classroom was like. Since then (before today), she had been in the classroom maybe twice for about two minutes, literally, each time.

So today was another "official" evaluation. This time I made sure that my lesson included group work, group sharing, questioning strategies, etc. I thought that I was putting together a good lesson. Basically we were talking about the rights and responsibilities of a citizen. I started off by asking the students for certain rights that we had been talking about. Some students raised their hands and gave the rights, while I pointedly called on other students. That was the check for understanding, accessing prior knowledge part. Then I asked them what responsibility means. Those students who couldn't define it were asked to give examples and I really didn't do much participating, other than asking questions. (How is babysitting being responsible? Are your parents responsible? For what? What about you? You're 13, do you have responsibilities? etc.) Then I asked them what responsibilities they had to their classroom/school/city/etc. and then asked them about their country. Instead of having them raise their hand, I had them brainstorm individually three ways they participate and are responsible to their country. While they were writing these down, I circled round the classroom and gave some students a brief one-on-one time to help them dig a little deeper. After a few minutes, when each student had at least three things written down, I asked them to share with the table and generate a communal list. I then called on each table and specifically asked one of the students to share so we could generate a list on the board. Again, they were supplying the answers and I was following up with specific questions to get more information. Finally, they got into the textbook and took notes on the textbook list and then discussed what they thought the most important way to participate in government. We didn't get a chance to discuss this but they had to write a paragraph for homework.

All in all, I felt that the class went really well. but when I sat down with Feather, my BTSA lady, she was so critical again. So this is what I'm frustrated with. I want to give you some examples of what she said to me and ask for advice on how I should respond and what I should do in the future.

She told me that I didn't have a system when calling on students and that I should use popsicle sticks or cards so that each student has an equal opportunity to be called on. I responded that my expectation is that all my students should be able to answer a question. It's part of their class participation points, they were told at the beginning of the year that nobody is exempt from speaking in class, etc. I didn't think it was necessary or particularly age level (especially since I'm trying to prepare them for high school) to use popsicle sticks. She argued that some students are ELL and I replied that regardless if they're ELL or gifted or whatever, I have the same expectation of them that they answer my question. Maybe the expectation of their level of response is different but I know my students, I know which ones like to answer questions and which ones don't and I make sure that even if I don't get to them during class, then I've talked to them and questioned them while making my rounds around the room

She made me a "minutes" sheet of how long I spent on each thing and she indicated that the first ten minutes were lecture. This was when we were talking about what rights and responsibilities are. I don't' understand why she called this lecture. I really didn't feel that pretty much any of it was lecture. It felt more like a discussion where the teacher led by questioning strategies. Never was I standing up in the front of the room and talking and having the kids take notes. She reprimanded me for not using Think-Pair-Share enough and that I only did it once when it was actually several times. And additionally, this goes back to a BTSA training where we were told that if we have the kids Think-Pair-Share first, we should be able to call on ANYONE and get an answer, since they're already shared. Yet, I get reprimanded for calling on students randomly....

I was told that I don't have an established standard for classroom management. I know that classroom management is something that I've had trouble with in the past, especially with my tenth graders last year, but it's something that I feel I have quite under control. I feel like I've t rained my students to know that when I stand up in front of the room, then it's their cue to be silent. Usually it takes a few students to start going "shhh" and within seconds, everyone is quiet. They know that I can keep them after, not let them leave with the bell, etc., and they tend to quiet up quickly. Sometimes I have to give them verbal cues by asking them to quiet down or saying sh but do you think that there's really a problem with that? I know that there are classes that have much worst classroom management and that I'm not the perfect classroom but so far I haven't felt like time has been wasted by my method and it gives me classroom and more relaxed and not as uptight atmosphere. When it's those days that we really need all the time we can get, I let them know right off the bat and this is NOT a day for messing around and in the last two months, I haven't had any problems with that.

This wasn't a big deal but just slightly pissed me off- she said that she could model a lesson for me even though she doesn't know history. She can teach the instruction but "fake her way through the history". I nearly slapped her. There's no way that I'm letting her teach my class if she doesn't know the content.

Anyway, I guess my problem is I feel like I have to change things that are working to appease the person who's watching me. Any advice on what do to? I feel like I need to make each lesson that she watches "perfect", as in do WHATEVER little detail she wants me to do, whether it helps out the class or not. I'm just frustrated- I feel like she's trying to lower my expectations of the kids and treat them like babies instead of getting them ready for high school. I know that this school is NOT Timberline but I still feel like, especially with my background in high school, that we should try and treat them more like high schoolers instead of elementary school kids. I'm just really frustrated, confused, angry, bitter, etc., etc. Any advice that you can give, I would so appreciate it.

-Michal

All I have to say after reading that again is AAARRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Schoohouse Rock

No, not School of Rock... Schoolhouse Rock. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this series. It is amazing. Because of Schoolhouse Rock, I know why Three is a Magic Number, what a Noun is, where you can get your adverbs (same place that Lolly does), how electricity works, how a bill becomes a law, how to say an easier version of Rufus Xavier Sapsarilla, etc.

When I became a teacher, I got so excited to show these, although it's not really relevant to show them to high schoolers. So I was thrilled to show these to the junior high kids. My students need to memorize the Preamble, so I showed the Preamble clip (and gave them the lyrics) twice yesterday so get the song/words into their head. And then we watched it again today. Meaning that in a span of three days, I've watched the Preamble clip 14 times. I'm about to shoot myself. I'm definitely at the point where I can not only say the Preamble forward, but I can probably say it backwards. My kids in second period, LOVE it though- they will even sing along with the lyrics, which is hilarious. Some of my other kids are a little too "cool" for it, but they all seem to somewhat enjoy it. One students in second period came in after school today to borrow the video to watch it a few times. That's dedication right here :).

Tomorrow I'm showing the clip about how a bill becomes a law. You know, the famous "I'm just a bill, yeah I'm only a bill and I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill."
The only problem that I have this this is that I tend to forget to sing "cuz it's a long long way to the capital city..." and instead sing, thinking of Jake Fulcher the entire time, "cuz it's a long long way to graduation" ala ACI Scholarship Banquet for last year. Oh dear.... that won't help the kids learn at all :)

But man do I love Schoolhouse Rock. Anyone remember Mr. Morton? I still remember Jeff Moore drawing Mr. Morton on his eraser in Mrs. Wanchek's seventh grade English class. He became a beloved member of our table until one day he broke in half. Then it was sad.... Man, those were good times.

VERY Pleasantly Surprised....

My eighth graders spent yesterday in groups breaking down the Preamble of the constituion. Each group (about five kids in 1st and 2nd period and three kids in 3rd and 5th period) had a segment of the Preamble and had to explain what their segment meant and then what is done to ensure that the segment happens (e.g. what is done to establish justice; ensure domestic tranquility, etc.). I know that each group did the work because it was their ticket out the door yesterday. So today, each group was instructed to teach the rest of the class about their segment. They were supposed to stand up and explain the definition and what their segment means. Easy right?

Wrong.

They were terrible! First and second period did not rise to teh occasion. They were mumbling, read too fast, not letting their clasmates ask questions, etc. It was just dreadful! I was so disapointed in them. Finally, two groups into third period I just made them sit down and independently fill out the worksheet, due at the end of the period. In that case, they rose to the occassion. They did a really good job with that so I might, depending on whether or not I want to try this fiasco again, just keep the group projects to a minimum in third period. Or at least keep the persentations to a minimum. After the dreadfulness of third period, I was so scared and worried about fifth period which is my poorest perfomring class. And man oh man, did they surprise me and rise to teh occasion. It was amazing! The first group was a little shaky but the rest were just better and better. The one that I was the most afraid for was the last group, which was made up of two people- except one didn't show. This is a student who rarely does his work, often times just sits in class and does nothing or will need to be reminded numerous times to take out an asignemtn or worksheet. But he got up there and not only did an amazing job presenting, but also had some great information. I was so proud!

However, this whole day has really made me rethink how I'm going to do group presentations in the future. It's nice to have the leeway to experiement too. But seriously, way to go fifth period.

That's What Friends Are For...

The following is an email exchange between me and Megan. This is why I love this girl so much.

My initial e-mail: Oh man did I get pissed at my second period kids today. Hardly any of them did their homework and they were just not responding to what they were doing and I got PISSED. I did the whole "This is unacceptable and I will not tolerate this disrespect. You are wasting my time and you are wasting the time of those that were responsible and did their homework. I am collecting this worksheet tomorrow and for those of you that do not have it, it will be an automatic detention. And furthermore, I expect nothing worse than a 7/10 on the quiz tomorrow. Those who score below a 7 will receive an automatic zero." Imagine this in an icy cold voice (not yelling- just the scary steel voice of a teacher that I feel I have cultivated QUITE well). Now unfortunately, it turns out that the quiz is 15 questions. Oops.

Megan's reply: And I pretty much fell over laughing at how you talked to your class. I never thought about the other side of teachers, just the student part. This is a whole new perspective, quite enlightening, I must say. I can totally see you saying "not acceptable" in an icy tone. It's really funny. If I had been there I would have sat in the back and pointed and giggled. Probably not very helpful.

I love being able to share my experience with someone not in the teaching world. Love it! And love her!

Sub bizareness

So it's always hard to know what's going on in the classroom when you are a out and there is a sub in charge. But as the teacher, you have to trust that the person that they're sending you is qualified if not to teach at least to administer the plans that you've left. I always give the sub my email and number just in case there is some sort of emergency but I never expected the sub to call because my plans are always thorough and I always make sure to leave enough copies and the answer sheets and all that. I've been sick for this last week or so- fever, runny nose, cough, etc. so on Wednesday, I went in and made a sub plan and left lessons for two days- Thursday when i was going to be out for BTSA and Friday so I could have a day to recuperate, get better and be ready for Monday and the two week countdown to the first benchmark.

As I said above, althoughI leave my number, I never expect the teachers to call. So imagine my surprise when I check my phone at the BTSA meeting and I see that I have three missed calls from an unusual number and one message. Turns out that the sub has called me asking me where the answer key to the activity my eighth graders were doing (which was bizarre in itself, because I had paper clipped it to the back of my lesson plan). Anyway, I call her back, expecting to leave a message and she picks up! I don't know if this makes me old fashioned, but I never expected her to answer the phone when she's supposed to be supervising my kids. I know that I didn't' give her a lesson to teach but I don't think it's appropriate to answer her phone in the middle of class. She hadn't even left her number on the message so she shouldn't have been expecting me to call. But whatever, I just found it odd.

That night, around 9:30, I found another message on my phone from her telling me that my seventh graders will probably finish their activity early and they'd probably need another activity to do. So I appreciated that but I'm thinking that maybe from now on, I'm going to leave my email instead of my number- although I appreciated her calling me and letting me know since they knew I wouldn't be at school on Friday but I think from now on, I'll just be leaving an email or something...

Remote Controls

Sometimes I wish that my kids had remote controls. Just think- if you need to repeate something, you can rewind and start again. If you need them to move a little faster, you can fast-forward to speed them up. How wonderful would it be if you could put your students on pause for a minute- you need to think about teh answer or get your cool or something, just press pause and they're silent. And how about the mute button. Oh the money that I would play to have a mute button for some of my kids. That way, they could continue to talk and be annoying but NOBODY WOULD HEAR THEM! A-mazing! And then, of course, the most amazing button of all. Whenver you need a break, you can just puss the power button and off they go.... Oh goodness, if wishes were horses, then I would win the Royal Ascot. Can someone please invent a remote for my students? I would pay big bucks... not like I have big bucks but I would buy lottery tickets if I needed to. Any takers out there???

Comparing

I don't like to compare my classes and I know that I shouldn't because it does nothing good but sometimes I can't help but compare my fourth and sixth period classes. They're both seventh grade classes and they are so incredibly different. I just have so much fun with my fourth period class. They're such eager kids with such high enthusiasm and although they're not all geniuses, they're pretty bright. My sixth period on the other hand, it just seems like a chore to teach them. They're so not motivated and it seems like i have to drag so many of them along. There are a few kids in that class who just was attention sappers and they drain my energy. I'm really frustrated for those students who are on task and want to learn (similar to my fifth period problem), but I'm trying to get the other kids interested that it's hard to keep tabs on all of them. One thing that has worked is that one of my students got a week-long detention for taking another students' homework and turning it in as his own. Since then, I haven't heard a peep out of him. I don't know if he's just too scared to do anything or if he's pissed that I turned the paper into the VP or what but it is nice that he's quieted down a little. And the other one that's really loud has gotten a three day detention with me so I'm hoping that spending an hour after school will deter him. I don't like to use that kind of negative reinforcement, but I really do think that it works with some kids. So we'll see what the next few days bring.

Anyway, back to the comparison. I'm really glad that fourth period is great because it leaves me jazzed and hopefully that it can happen again with sixth period. If I get disappointed with sixth period, I get to go home instead of having to stay at school for two more periods, which is nice. The best situation that I've had with them lately was a debate I had them to. I wasn't sure what to expect but fourth period absolutely blew me away. They were divided up into two teams- the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty.The groups had about a period of time to list the positive details of their Dynasty, then listen to each others arguments and then rebut the arguments. As I said, fourth period blew me away. One team did an excellent job taking the negatives of their dynasty and turning it into a positive while the other team did a fantastic job finding the flaws in the opposing side's argument and rebutting the facts. They were amazing and I was so proud of them. And honestly, they really seemed to enjoy it, as well as want to do some more later.

Sixth period was a whole 'nother story. One of the stipulations was that I needed everyoen to participate. When they did their initial arguments and not everyoen participated, I reminded those students that they may want to participate during the rebuttal. Even then some students didn't participate! Some individual students did a great job but in general, no one ended up winnign the debate because they were so boring and blah about the entire thing. I thanked them all for a rousing debate and they all felt the sarcasm, which was supposed to be heard. I ended up giving the points to those that aprticipated and told them who won the debate and rebuttal but they didn't get any points in general, so hopesfully that will be a deterrent for next time as well.

Seriously, fourth period rocks.

Two-Year Olds

Yesterday I was really struggling with my fifth period class. I have three students in that class that, when they're together, they're just terrible. They talk, they laugh, they mess around, and it's all very subtle. They'll pretend to be working but all of a sudden they'll start sniggering about something. And the Constitutional Convention is really not that exciting, to tel you the truth. So I try and keep them focused, especially the RSP kid who has SO many issues and I inevitably end up spending the entire time dealing with them. Meanwhile I have seventeen other kids in the class that are sitting there being frustrated because I cannot focus on them and I have to focus on the three kids screwing around. One great thing about my room is that I'm able to isolate students if needed. I have a lot of single desks around the perimeter of the room, so I eventuall put one on one side of the room, the other on the other side and finally had one kid on the middle. But I was still really frustrated that I was distracted by those three students at teh detriment of my other students. So I talked today to the VP (two of them ended up getting referrals because they had just crossed the line one too many times) and he recommended some strategies that I can use in teh future. On the bright side, today they did a much better job so I'm hoping it was just an off-day and they can continue to be on task as much as possible.

Knowledge

Confucius said: What is knowledge? If you know something, you know it and if you dont' know something, you realize you don't know. that is knowledge. I opened up Tuesday afternoon with my seventh graders with this questions and had them write a few sentences about what they thought knowledge was. They came up with some interesting ideas like being both street smart and book smarts, being intelligent, being able to show and tell people things, a bunch of really great ideas. then I talked about what Confucius said about knowledge and asked them what they thought it meant. They talked about how Confucius meant that you should share what you know and not say anything if you didn't know. So I asked them if they agreed- if they thought you should share when you know something. The class was definitely divided almost in half. The group that said you should shae said things like "if you know the cure for cancer, you should share it". The main idea they were mostly getting at was that you should share because it could be beneficial for others and that your knowledge can help others out. One student said that if you have a talent, you should share it with others because it's something that you're good at. Then one of my favorite students, we're going to call him Earl (because that's what I'm watching right now and because his name has four letters in it too), pops up and says "hey! I have a talent?" So I say, "OK Earl, what's your talent?" And Earl replies matter-of-factly, "Sleeping." Well, at least he's honest.

Then the other group gave their ideas. One said that it wasn't good to share what yuo know because you could become conceited. Another student asked what conceited was and Earl jumped to life. "I know what conceited it!" he exclaimed. What I asked him to share he again said matter-of-factly, "conceit is when you have a Myspace and you have forty pictures just of you." The class, and I, to be honest, cracked up but in all honesty, he was right. It was pretty excited to see their unconventional methods but they seemed to get it, which was great.

Plus, the myspace quote was amazing....

Rant continued....

OK, so I thought of a few more things as I had time to think and plan my lessons and all that (BTW, I realized that the whole mock Constitutional Convention isn't going to work out but I've got some ideas down, including a group project that I have to write up while watching Aidan Quinn on SVU). Anyway...

first of all, I should probably preface that I don't dislike my BTSA lady (despite the fact that has a slightly silly name)... she's very nice and I think she genuinely wants to help out. But, that doesn't dispute the fact that I got absolutely no encouragement from her today.

And I figured out some of the things that pissed me off about what she said. One thing that she mentioned was that because I have a lot of ELL learners, I need to try and show pictures. OK, fine, I understand that but I have NO resources to use pictures. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE using pictures- I used pictures up the wazoo last year- I had power points and slides and more pictures that I could count. And I would love to use pictures this year but I have absolutely NO resources. I have ONE white board to use for both periods, I have a piece of crap overhead that the kids and I both hate, I have no LCD projector and my TV is so small that the people sitting in the back can't really see it (plus, I have no cord to connect my computer to the TV). So there's really no way for me to show pictures unless I pass them around the class.

Another thing that my mom mentioned that is helpful is realizing that I should probably teach to the observer on the days that I'm being watched instead of teaching just to the kids. Sometimes when someone is only in the classroom one day/one period a week or every two weeks, they only get a tiny little glimpse of what is going on. If I'm having an off day or the kids are having an off day, that's all they see and that's all they're going to write about. So that's something that I need to work on for the next time.

That doesn't make me any less pissed off though....

A Sucky Day

Today was just that- a sucky day. I already felt behind because of the STUPID training session that was the biggest waste of time yesterday. I got to school really early and tried to be productive and was but still felt like I wasn't. One of the things that I was trying to do was get all this data on my students printed out for my BTSA event. I finally ended up getting into the data program but there was no way to get all the data into one big chart and there was no way that I was going to write down every student's information individually. So that was frustrating me.

Then in first period, I was being observed. I thought the lesson went really well and the kids actively were participating and I felt really good about how things went. First period is always, in any case, probably the most shaky period in general because it's the first time that you're teaching the lesson and there isn't anything to compare it with. So that's why I hate being observed first period. The other periods always are more stable because I can adjust and fix things that have gone wrong. I know that I'm not the only teacher who feels this way- Doug talked to me a lot last year about how first period is always the hardest because it's always new and untested. so I know that I shouldn't put myself down for not doing well first period. It's just hard knowing that I'm being watched at my worst. although I suppose, on the other hand, (I'm not sure how many hands I have at this point), perhaps it's best to be observed at my worst so that I know that in other classes I'm much more improved. It's still frustrating though.

Second period was pretty bad too because there was so little response from the students. I'll say it again and I've said it a million times. Teaching is not a one-man show. It's an exchange between teacher and student and when you don't have something/someone/the class to bounce ideas and exchange thoughts with, it is so hard and slightly miserable. Now I know why my teachers were always so eager when I raised my hand in class. I hate it when the kids just sit there and there's absolutely no response. It drives me crazy. And on the flipside, I absolutely love it when they come up with a great answer or really seem to understand where I'm coming from.

Third and fifth period actually both went great, which was really nice, and fourth and sixth were OK too, but the day just felt really long. And then after school, the BTSA lady came to tell me everything that I did wrong. She says that she's there to just observe and give back what she sees, like a mirror, and to not pass judgement or evaluate or anything. But does that mean that she shouldn't tell me what I'm doing well? Trust me, I know that I'm not a perfect teacher. I'm far from it and I accept that. Hell, I've only been doing it completely on my own for a month and a half. So, that being the case- don't you think I should at least hear some things that I'm doing well? Boost that confidence a little? No, I just felt like she was constantly telling me all the negative things that I was doing. No, not negative, I guess that's the wrong word. I suppose it was more like telling me all the ways that I wasn't helping my kids. Thanks, way to make me feel OK about myself and give me confidence to continue. I wish there was a Doug or a Don or a Patti or Deb here to watch me and give me both positive and negative criticism. Again, I know that I'm not perfect- far from it- but at least reassure me that I'm doing some things right!

Sigh, so that put me in a bad mood and really gave me lots of confidence for the rest of the day. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out how to teach the Constitutional Convention tomorrow and what I am going to do for World. I got seventh grade figured out and now I've got three hours until SVU or bedtime to see what I can do about the Constitutional Convention. I would love to do some sort of a mock convention but some of my classes are so small that I don't think it'll work. Hopefully if I can't think of something I can fall back on the TCI activity for that day which seemed kind of good.

I'm going to eat some ice cream.

Heightened Senses

I've always heard that when a person loses one of his or her five senses, the other four are heightened. This is why, for example, blind people have amazing hearing and sense of touch and I'm assuming that deaf people have a heightened sense of eyesight. I've discovered that this is certainly true for my students. The less hearing they do (and they oftentimes ignore me), their sense of sight and their ability to talk (OK, I know it's not a sense, but it's with the mouth so work with me here) increases. Today, for example, I was wearing an orange wristband from the House of Blues, where I went yesterday to see Jars of Clay and NeedtoBreathe. Of course, I should have realized that as my kids weren't listening to me at the beginning of the period, their increased sense of vision would certainly pick up on the orange wristband. And of course, I should have realized that as their hearing decreased, they would also need to increase their level of talking. WHich is what led to about tenty various hypotheses of what the wristband was from. Several of my favorites: I went to a club and got my groove on; I went to a bar and got really, really drunk; and my personal favorite- I went to Las Vegas and got married. To which I answered, "Yes, kids, because that's what I do every Wednesday night." This trend continued in the other periods when my students seriously turned off their ears and turned on their mouths. I probably had the same questions about a gazillion times, two seconds after I had originaly answered the question. It got ot the point where a cold stare was all that I needed to keep class moving forward. In a perfect world, I wish that my students would decrease their sense of talking and increase their level of listening to me. But, as I always say.... if wishes were horses, I would win the Royal Ascot. At least I can take comfort in the fact that my kids think I have a much more glamourous social life than I really do. They would never believe me if I told them how much sitting around the house I do during the week. Maybe keeping up the illusion that I have a fantastically posh and cool social life will keep them interested. Who knows.....

Stupid Announcements...

So funny story from this afternoon. I was playing a non-technology version of Jeopardy with my kids in fourth and sixth period in order to help them review for the test. Things were certainly getting heated: each table group was competing against each other for a few extra credit points and there was a two way tie for first place and a three way tie for second place going into Final Jeopardy.....

And then.....

....the announcements begin.

Now, we in sixth period, especially me, are not a fan of the announcements in general. Why not just do them at teh beginning of the period when the pledge happens. Who knows. But for whatever reason (his heart or his shoes.... oh wait, we're not in How the Grinch Stole Christmas), the announcements come at the end of the day. And it's at the worst time too.. about four minutes before the bell rings so I always end up feeling like I can't do anything during the last two minutes of class cuz the kids already think we're done.

Anyway- today, the kids were so pissed off that teh annoucnements came when they did. I was about to read the final Jeopardy question when the announcements come on. If only I had a tape recorder to record the unanimous groan that they let out. It was fantastic. But then, not only did the studdnts read the annoucnemtns, then the principal comes on and starts talking about this stupid pizza party competition that the Yearbook staff is putting on in order to getp eople to buy yearsbooks. At this point, the kids are so frustrated. "Just be quiet so we can do final jeopardy!" they kept exclaiming. So finally the principal stops talking and my mouth again is open to read the questions.

And then.....

someone starts singing...

Yes, four of five students start singing a little ditty about buying yearbooks to the tune of Avril Lavigne's "Can I Be Your Girlfriend" (Sidenote: Isn't Avril Lagivne married to the guy from SUM 41? Why is she singing about being someone's girlfriend when she's already someone's wife....) Now the kids are absolutely LIVID. They are in their seats, they are shouting, they are so indignant. One ever asked me if there was a volume level on the speaker so I could turn it off and we could get to final Jeopardy. They know that time is running out. It was SO COOL to see them so exciteda bout something, even if it was just a few points of extra credit. You should have heard the cheers when the stupid song (which was about five stanzas long, plus a chorus) was finally over. So I finally got to read the Final Jeopardy question, we ended up with another two-way tie for first place (incidentally, both teams were bold and wagered all their points) and everyone was able to finish the game happily. But seriously, the indignation of my kids when those announcements went off were enough to make me proud. :)

Backpack Analogies

So, I love analogies.... I really do. And I've found that oftentimes, they work really well with middle school students. In my eighth grade classes, we just finished our unit on the establishment of the colonies, life in colonial America, unrest on teh colonies and then, of course, the fantastic Revolutionary War. We ended the unit with the Battle of Yorktown and the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

This unit is the Constitution and the creation of our government today as we know it. So to build up to that, we were looking at John Locke and some of the politcal philosophers of the time. They had a little trouble understanding John Locke so I had to use some little analogies to help them understand.

For example: John Locke said that the point of governemtn was to not take away the natural rights of the people. Natural rights, such as life, liberty and property (or the pursuit of happiness as T-Jeff said... or the pursuit of happyness as Will Smith said). Additionally, kings should not be absolute rulers and take away the natural rights of the people. To help the students understand this, I explained that if I took Maria's backpack without asking and made it mine, I was abusing my absolute power as well as taking away her right to property. This they understood.

So we took it a little further. Locke also says that sometimes people have to give up their rights in exchange for protection and safety. So I asked what would happen if I took away Maria's backpack again. The kids said that I would be taking away her right to property. And I replied yes because I was using teh backpack to whack someone that was about to attack Maria. This laughed but understood that although Maria has to give up her right to property, she is exchanging it for being protected from the guy who is getting whacked by the backpack. Luckily, they got this too.

So, I really am enjoying how the analogies are working. i have a feeling that these ideas in the Constitution are going to be a little difficult for them to understand, especially my EL students, so I'm hoping that I can continue coming up with analogies and that my students continue to use the analogies to understand what concepts I'm trying to teach.

Oh, and they liked my nicknames for some of the framers of the Constitution: T-Jeff, B-Fran, Jadams, J-Mad and A-Ham. Good times.

Procrastination

So I had my first BTSA meeting with my supervision, Feather, today, and I have a list of things I need to do before I meet her again on Tuesday. She said she must have overwhelemed me with all she talked to me about/what she gave me and I was like "pssshhh, I went to ACI.... try and overwhelm me as much as you like." :)

So by Tuesday, when she comes to observe me, I have to fill out my Self-Assessment Evaluation Form, pick two girls from my first period class to observe (and apparently mentor...) and get my goals eady for my IIP, which I think means Individual Induction Plan or something like that. So many bloody acronyms.... And then I have to meet her on Thursday before our general BTSA training session to type out my IIP.

Additionally, there are six "events" that I have to have completed before the end of the year. Why they are called events, I'm not entirely sure... but that's a whole nother story (as is my beef with BTSA as an acromnym.... what a dumb name.... but i digress). So by Thursday, I'm also supposed to have the paperwork for the first "event" filled out. I have to get the list of all the students in my first period and divide them by ELL, IEPs, etc. (again with the bloody acronyms!!!!). I also have to fill up a bunch of paper work about what types of people I could use for references, Community, District and School profiles, the stuff like that.

So.... instead of working on this, I'm watching Scrubs and getting ready to watch Prison Break and Heroes. Yes, I may be slightly hypocritical when I tell my kids to not procrastinate. HOWEVER, I graduated in three years and got my masters in another year.... I deserve some mindless television. Because I know I will get it done.... eventually....