Vote for Change!

I'm a fan of the ampersand.

The other day, I was speaking to a student after I complimented her on her homemade scarf. She told me her neighbor gave it to her because her family can't afford winter clothes this year. They also gave her mother a ton of baby clothes because they have an infant. It broke my heart. And then this girl came to school the next day complaining that all she is getting for Christmas is sneakers. Twelve-year olds are the same everywhere.

And you KNOW you're in the ghetto when the school won't pay for the electricity to run the metal detector, so it sits unplugged while the security guard wands the students (for the school upstairs, not our school).

The scheduling/rescheduling of the assembly all worked out for the best, although not without some difficulty. Over the course of the day, I had heard various information, ranging from "no idea" to various times to meet at various locations. I eventually asked the principal when I saw her, and was told to take the kids up to the classroom after lunch and wait for an announcement. And that is what we did. And waited. And waited. After 20 minutes of watching Blue Planet (I don't know what I'd do in situations like this if it weren't for the BBC), there was an announcement over the loudspeaker that myself and another teacher were late to the assembly across the street. So, I rushed my students across the street, and hopefully our lovely security guard ushered us into the correct location.

The students' speeches were adorable. Every single candidate (several each for Prez, VP, Sec. and Treas.) promised more dress down days. Some advocated "change", some promised school dances and recess for middle-schoolers. I loved it. It was a ton of fun, and even the other kids were quiet (mostly). Not only that, but the assembly ended in time for me to enjoy my Wednesday afternoon prep! Elections are tomorrow during lunch, and the kids are excited about it.

In my home life, I've been making the transition from 3 workouts a week to 4 workouts a week, which take getting used to working out while still sore. This week's yoga, the day after a tough weight lifting workout, left me limping up the stairs. In a satisfying way.

I learned on the internet that if you cook pasta in sauce, it's delicious. It worked! It takes longer to cook, and requires lots of stirring, but it gives the pasta a richer, more risotto-ish flavor.

Today is the faculty holiday party. I'm going, so I can show everyone how well I play with others. Hopefully, it'll be fun. The faculty meeting this afternoon was cancelled, so I can show up to the party with a fresh manicure. Fortunately, I was able to get my work done during my surprise afternoon prep.

Happy

You know why science is cool? Because of this. Because at any time on any day, that video will make my day.

Schedule Change

I'm constantly reminded to be flexible. As another teacher quipped to me this afternoon, "Never plan for anything."

My day started out really well. My double period with Orange went extremely smoothly, and I got to spend the last 10 minutes of class illustrating how awesome college is, by telling them some Africa stories. I think I've never had every single student stare at me, silently, for 10 minutes straight. I had a blast, and I think they did too.

My next class wasn't thrilling, but gave me an "I love this job" moment. I was really feeling blah, not looking forward to class. We were playing Review Jeopardy, which ranges from awful to awesome, depending on the class and the day. I trudged into the classroom...and suddenly the 42 minutes were over and it was time for lunch. I guess I must love my job.

At lunch, however, I discovered that the afternoon's assembly had been cancelled. I had thought I was done teaching for the day, and that I would spend my afternoon listening to student council candidates (mostly my students!) give speeches to grades 4-8. Nope. Apparently, when the speakers had been told to dress up, some of them dressed up, and some of them dressed down. So many kids used this as an excuse to wear their favorite skinny jeans in lieu of uniform that the assembly was postponed until tomorrow, when I miss my prep period. Disappointing. So I taught another two classes.

"I am so disappointed. I was really looking forward to seeing the kids speak."
"You mean, you were looking forward to not teaching two periods."
"Yeah, whatever."

It's almost Christmas, like really. And it turns out the kids like getting back into the routine of content. I can't wait until Christmas. And after that, I can't wait until this whole science fair shindig is over.

Until then, I shall comfort myself the way every good Jew does during this time of year: Christmas Carols and Asian food. I've got a nice bowl of udon boiling in the kitchen and a glass of cold sake waiting for me.

Back to Basics

Now that Science Fair Work Week #1 is over, we have gone back to regular programming. I was terrified to restart the old routines, but it really worked well. They like the routines. My double period with Yellow was even good, really good. Review Jeopardy even got a little TOO competitive. Worse things have happened. I think I'm starting to build relationships with the two new kids (and their respective grandmothers).

Today was the big Science Fair packet due date. And the showing was...not as terrible as I had expected. I got about half the packets. Another quarter of them "left them at home", and the last quarter will probably not do it at all. Of the ones I received, about a third of them will be returned because large chunks were missing. OMG FOLLOW DIRECTIONS, CHILDREN! Next year, I'm teaching the kids how to follow directions on a paper from day 1. Seriously. I never thought that would be something I had to teach. I spent a lot of time answering questions last week with "Look at the paper. Directions are there." "Oh."

I actually finished grading all the packets I got today, which makes me happy. Now I can catch up on phone calls I have to make regarding mid-marking period failing students.

Some of the projects are good, though. Like, really good. I can't wait to see the experiments. This won't be too bad.

Right?

Science Fair

Science Fair is frustrating, both academically and management-wise. I think it's that hoop I have to jump through for the sake of the administration. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great idea, I just don't like the way it's done (or the way I'm doing it).

First, it's really challenging for the kids. It assumes they have 7 years of science experience, even though grades K-6 are really emphasizing math and reading, because that's what the tests test. So, in the three months I've had them, I needed to have taught them how to design their own experiments. For the seventh graders, whose curriculum involves less experimenting and more demonstrating, I don't think I've even effectively taught them how to follow a procedure and do an experiment, much less design their own. This results in a lot of aggressive hand-holding-and-dragging through this project. This also doesn't account for the significant percentage of my students who are not proficient in math, reading, and writing.

And that's only the academics. The management is another problem, which is my fault for not preparing them. It has taken me the entire school year so far to get the hang of managing a class through a regular lesson: some lecture/note-taking, some group practice, some individual practice, an exit ticket. Lots and lots of practice and made this routine run smoothly. And then, I had to stop everything and work on Science Fair. Not only am I leaving the curriculum behind for now, I'm also leaving the beloved routine behind. And kids love routine. I haven't taught them how to work in pairs and use time efficiently. I spent too much time teaching them not to be chaos. I never taught them how to work efficiently.

Of course, the book says ALWAYS prioritize management over lessons. I've gotten good at stopping the lesson to deal with management problems. Unfortunately, we don't have the time now. Time is limited for Science Fair. So, when students aren't working hard on their project, so they get bored and distracted, and can't sit still, I can't stop the class because some students are still working on it, and I need to give them the time to work. So, chaos ensues. It's frustrating.

Next year, I will start showing them how to work efficiently from the start of the year. It should take me less than three months to teach them how to not be chaos, so I can start holding them to higher academic standards sooner. This learning curve thing is tough. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about forgetting all of this, because the internet has stored all 122 of my blog posts in the cloud.

For now, let's forget the fact that I HAVE to give them class time to do almost all of the preparation for their experiments, because they can't do homework on their own, or their parents will complain they didn't have enough time to do the project.

I'm frustrated. Of course, some kids are great. They take initiative and go above and beyond what is expected of them. I can't wait to see their projects. They listen to directions the first time, get excited about their projects and enjoy doing the work. I need to keep thinking about that. Not about the kids I'm dragging through this. Science is supposed to be fun.

It's almost Friday. I think I've gotten this week under control. 6 more school days until Christmas Break!

Baking a Cake

I'm not a chef, but I really enjoy cooking and baking. I've come to realize that being a first-year teacher is a lot like baking a cake.

I spend a lot of time planning. Having never taught these lessons before, it's a lot like creating a recipe for a cake. Can you sit down right now and write a recipe for a cake? I have some resources, like recipes that have worked for other people before, but mostly I have some recipes by a few people who have tried to make a cake once and then never shared their revisions.

So, I borrow this once-tried recipe, fix it up a bit based on my baking experience and walk into the kitchen. Some recipes work really well, and some work terribly. I try to remember what works and what doesn't. It's hard to know before I get to eat the cake what it's going to taste like. I can usually figure out as I'm making it whether I need to add a little more liquid, but sometimes it's a total disaster from the start.

I know that next year, when I take out the recipes I've already tried, I'll be able to look at them with some experience. I will be able to tell right away what sort of recipe tends to work better, and fix it up even more. I'll remember which recipes worked well in the past and which have to be entirely revised. But until then, I'm just revising recipes that I've never really used before.

And sometimes, the baking powder has gone bad or I crack an egg and it ruins the whole batch or a kid comes home to an empty house every day, and the cake doesn't even rise.

I'm Baaaaaaaaack!

I took a few days off from blogging. Mostly, it was because Thursday was a beastly day and I needed a few days to recover before I could write about it in a way that would be appropriate for public viewing.

Remember that special program on Thursday? It did not quite meet expectations. The woman who was teaching my class had not only never been in front of a classroom before, she was also unfamiliar with the lessons. She spent a lot of time trying to figure out what she was doing next, while I battled to keep the kids calm. The kids tried hard, they really did, but it's really challenging to stay calm and seated in the same classroom for an entire school day. It didn't help that the material was well above their reading level. They did, though, learn a few useful things, like how credit cards can be dangerous and that career planning should begin now.

And, that day began with a crying student approaching me to share that she was afraid to go home because her mother was going to hit her and her baby sister. Legally, I am obligated to call DCF (Department of Children and Families), but since I had a big class for the whole day (without breaks), I had to call the school social worker to handle it. Luckily for me, the social worker was in school that day. She only works at our school three days a week, because Bridgeport can't afford to hire a social worker for each school full time. And then the electricity went out for a little while, and we were grateful it was a sunny day.

I had left the classroom for a little while to go to a meeting that day, and arrived to find my helicopter missing. Awesome. Fortunately, it was the end of the day, and I was able to usher my kids to the buses before running to my car to escape.

Friday was pretty unmemorable, and the weekend was glorious.

This morning started with my brand new alarm clock that starts lighting up like imitation sunlight 30 minutes before the alarm goes off. I woke up feeling like a new person. Then I got to school and couldn't use the computer until the students arrived because it was being remotely defragged. In the process, they uninstalled Chrome, so I had to re-install it while running homeroom.

Over the weekend, I did some thinking about my expectations for Science Fair. I changed some dates around, and I think it's under control now. Before I go back to grading papers, I wanted to share the letter I sent home with my students today:

Dear Parent or Guardian,

This has been a fun and challenging year in science class. However, our most exciting event is coming up soon: Science Fair! Each student has already begun the process of designing, carrying out, and presenting an original science experiment. On Thursday, January 19 your student will be presenting his or her project, and you are invited! I will be sharing more information as the date gets closer. In addition, students who win the school Science Fair will be invited to present at the district Science Fair at the University of Bridgeport in February.

I would like to make you aware of the due dates of the Science Fair project parts. Please bear in mind that since Science Fair is a DISTRICT REQUIREMENT and any student who does not complete a project will fail the second marking period in science.

Upcoming Due Dates:

Monday, December 19 …..........................................Pre-Experiment Science Fair Packet Due
(Including Background Research)

Friday, January 6.......................................................Post-Experiment Packet Due (It is
expected that students complete the experiment during or before Christmas Break)

Tuesday, January 10..................................................Science Fair Presentation Board Due
(Students can obtain their own
tri-fold presentation board or purchase one from me for $3)

January 16-18............................................................Classroom Presentations

Thursday, January 19................................................Wilbur L. Cross School Science Fair

Please sign and have your student sign and return the bottom portion of this sheet.

Sincerely,
Ms.
Science Teacher

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I understand the expectations of myself for the Science Fair and that if I do not complete them, I will fail the second marking period in science.

____________________________________ __________________________________ _____________________
Student Name Student Signature Date

I understand the expectations of my student for the Science Fair and that if he or she does not complete them, he or she will fail the second marking period in science.

____________________________________ __________________________________ _____________________
Parent Name Parent Signature Date

Sunshine!

I need sunshine! It's been cloudy and rainy for three days now. Something has to change.

Yesterday, I observed a couple of classes at a magnet school in Bridgeport. It was SWANKY. Not in the financial sense, but in the sense that students sat quietly and did their homework. The walked through the hallways without a ruckus. And if they misbehave, they get kicked out (and sent back to my school). The science teacher was incredible, and she gave us some advice on how to bring rigorous science education to a classroom that is not in a magnet school. I learned a lot from her and got a good reminder about how to keep holding kids to high standards.

Today was challenging and rewarding, like most days seem to be. Red class, the homeroom of legend, was good. Although I walked out of class frustrated that I spent 40 minutes battling with them to stay on task, I realized I did not spend a single minute battling with them to sit in their seats or talk quietly or be silent when I'm talking. Not at all. This marks the end of one battle (until tomorrow, of course) and the start of a new one.

Yellow class was extra tough today. I had a nice challenging worksheet to push them today, but I was surprised with two new students. I could never get the class under enough control to reteach the material to the new students, and of course they didn't sit patiently or ask a fellow student for help. What am I supposed to do? I can't stop the class to reteach the material, but I also can't ignore them. If I had known in advance, I could have come up with a makeup textbook assignment or packet.

Tomorrow is Junior Achievement Day, which is a financial/entrepreneur awareness program for kids K-8. Some volunteers from GE are coming into the class to teach all day. This is nice, because I don't have to teach, and theoretically I can sit in the back and do some much-needed grading catch-up. Right? Except that my homeroom class will be sitting in my room ALL DAY. It'll be a fun experience in marathon classroom management.

I finished my planning for the week, which is a nice treat. That means that I'm all planned through December. It's not too far until Christmas Break! Only 2.4 weeks, although we have JA Day tomorrow, a half day next Wednesday, and a half day the following Friday. That makes it about 1.9 weeks to go.

In other cusp-of-adulthood news, my boyfriend got another interview and my Memphis friend got into Harvard Law School. Yeah. Harvard Law School. And I got a curved shower rod and installed it myself. Big victories for some and small victories for others.

Road Rage

Since I had a day off today (not really, but I can talk about my professional development another time), I'm going to take the opportunity to not write about school. Today I'm going to share two stories of encounters I've had while driving that made me happy. I have plenty of complaints about Connecticut driving, mostly related to terribly engineered traffic patterns. Sometimes, though, people are nice and sometimes the little guy wins.

This weekend, I went to the mall with a friend. I know, it's not smart to go anywhere near a mall in December. But, we needed a place to hang out and maybe walk around, that is warmer than it was outside. Well, as one might expect around lunchtime on a Saturday in December, the parking lot was full. FULL. We drove around for a bit, narrowly missing out on a few spots here and there because someone else got there first. Eventually, we happened upon a really good spot. It was about 50 feet from the mall entrance, and it was filled with a minivan that was getting ready to pull out of the spot. The child was strapped into the car seat. And here's where I was shocked: as the car owner (husband) walked the shopping cart all the way to the shopping cart station, the other car owner (wife) pulled out of the spot so I could park, while she waited for her husband to return. What? Someone being considerate in a parking lot? At a mall? Before Christmas? And Hannukkah?

My second story is less heartwarming, but satisfying nonetheless. A few weeks ago, I was driving to work, as usual, at an hour far too early. On my way is a fairly new traffic light (put in service about 2 months ago) that has very little traffic so early in the morning, so it can be frustrating sitting there alone so early in the morning waiting for the light to change, when previously there was only a stop sign. That morning, the light was red as I approached (and would probably remain red for a while) and there is a garbage truck right before the light doing its business. I didnt mind, as long as it got moving by the time the lit changed. The car in front of me apparently did mind. It pulled around the garbage truck (on this narrow road) and pulled in front of it to wait at the light (at this point, nearly halfway into the intersection). The garbage men finished their work, while the light was still red, and being municipal employees, and pulled around the other car and crossed the empty intersection against the light. Ha. That'll teach the guy to pass a garbage truck. You'll never win. That tickled my road rage.

Sometimes I forget that I like writing. It's fun.

Model Teacher

I've had a lesson go really well, three times in a row now. It's the lesson that had gone well on Friday. It must be a really good lesson, and I made it myself! I think I worked so hard on it because it deals with a topic that I don't particularly enjoy, physics. Everyone knows Newton's Second Law of Motion. F=ma. It's easy. But, the challenge I saw, was making it so I didn't have 30 8-th graders sitting in a room saying, "Why are we doing math? I don't want to do math! I hate math!" I needed to make it relevant, so it wouldn't fail like my entire sub-unit on calculating speed, time, and distance. I spent extra time making sure the lesson had all of the important things:

1) A Hook. I get the kids interested by having them discover the force/mass/acceleration relationship themselves. I do this in two parts. First, I push my rolling chair lightly, and then shove it across the room. I lead them to discover that more force creates more acceleration. Second, I toss a tennis ball across the room, and then pick up the rolling chair as if I would throw it. I don't throw it, but I get some laughs anyway. I lead them to discover that as mass increases, acceleration decreases. A little later, I keep them engaged with a short video describing Newton's Second as it relates to football kickers.

2) Key Points. My key points are simple and explicit. Newton's Second Law describes a relationship between force, mass, and acceleration. As force increases, acceleration increases. As force increases, acceleration decreases. Force can be calculated by following these specific steps. Somehow, if I pretend to throw a chair, it's no longer math; it's science.

3) Modeling. This is my strength. I was complimented on it during Institute. I feel comfortable at it. I just forget to do it. I get distracted by other things. This time, I took a specific piece of advice from last month's district PD for new teachers. I outlined each step in an aesthetically pleasing diagram, with spots for the students to fill in the details as we went through it in class. It was photocopied in everyone's notes packets. That way, when a student says "I don't know what to do", I point to the diagram. I went through the steps for calculating force, given mass and acceleration, and then asked them to do examples. I've never seen more comprehension before. It helps when I explain things well enough for them to actually do it.

4) Wrap Up. Okay, I was lacking a wrap up. I was busy walking around the room and fixing the details (include UNITS!), and ran out of time. My wrap up was pretty much: "Behave well for the substitute tomorrow!"

Yep, district PD again tomorrow. Not only that, it doesn't start until 9:15! I get to sleep in! Maybe I can plan some great lessons in the future, but not today. I'm tired out by all the pretty-good-not-great-but-improved classroom managing I did today.

Weekend Class

There is no feeling of pent-up frustration quite like sitting in class on a Saturday morning.

This week I had a terrible and great moment in parent relations. The terrible moment was when a parent, whom I had called the previous evening, had stopped by to see her son in class. I spoke to her while my kids worked, about here son's behavior. Her son acts young. He's not especially smart or not, but he is immature. He needs constant personal attention, probably because his custodial parent works 4pm to 11pm every day. He will interrupt me in the middle of the lesson to ask for something specific to himself. He also invites bullying. As much as I hate to say that, because nobody deserves to be bullied, he does. He takes every opportunity to ruffle the feathers of his peers, even though he is one of the smallest boys in the class (in 7th grade, the sizes of the boys vary considerably). I've watched him plays basketball, and he throws himself under the other players, so it looks like they knocked him over. When he works in school, he can do well, but if he is having a bad day or if someone refuses to give him something he wants, he refuses to do work. He will sit there and scowl for a entire period. As I tried do describe his classroom behavior to his overworked mother, I saw her eyes welling up with tears. She walked out of there crying, and I couldn't do anything to fix it. I hope her son saw it, and I think he did, because he showed up the next day hoping to earn a Cougar Coupon and make his more proud.

That next day, another student earned a good phone call. One of my oft-suspended boys returned from his last suspension with a much better attitude. He certainly isn't perfect, but he sat in class yesterday and took notes and did the work. A the end of the double period, he proudly showed me the work he had done "with" one of my better-behaved students. I knew he had copied, but it's better than nothing. Even so, I wanted to probe. I pointed to a correct answer and asked why he chose "passive transport". He didn't even look at the paper before answering "I don't know". I asked him again, and then a third time, and he finally looked at the paper. "They're spreading out." "And is that easy or hard?" His eyes lit up. "It's easy, that's why it is passive!" And then I made one of the best phone calls I've had to make all year.

Thief

Today someone stole the custodian's cell phone. Nothing like an incident like that to really remind you where you work.

Today was a frustrating day. The kids were challenging. The last day of testing for the 8th graders couldn't be done soon enough. The change of routine is confusing for everyone.

Things are getting better though. I really see it everywhere. Disasters are not so disastrous. Bad lessons don't go quite so badly. And then during lunch I sit and make some lesson plans, and remember why I do this. I love science. I love teaching people science. I love watching a few seventh graders get excited when they feel their pulse for the first time, and then explaining how it will feel different after they go to gym. I'm here for a reason.

I don't much feel like writing today, so this is it. I'll be happy when this week is over. Happy Friday!

Procrastination

I have reached a new stage in my career: procrastination. For the first time since starting school this year, I have been able to sit and not work when I should be.

This might not sound that exciting, but it is to me. You see, I work better under stress. If I have too much to do, I work amazingly well. In fact, that is what carried me from July through November without looking up.

And now I'm past that first huff. I can sit back and surf the internet during school hours with a stack of ungraded papers in front of me. Proudly.

P.S. I have to brag. My boyfriend now has a CHOICE of medical schools.

Easy

I have to blog early today, because my parents are taking me out to dinner tonight, and they'll be upset if I haven't blogged by the time they leave work. They are driving all the way up here to feed me! And bring me clean clothes!

Today was surprisingly easy. I say surprisingly, because I didn't know what to expect. Today through Thursday is "online testing" for 8th grade. They want to get a gauge on the 8th graders' science content knowledge in advance of the CMT, so they give them an electronic test twice during the year, once at the beginning and once at the end.

This is great for me for a couple of reasons. First, I don't have to make it or grade it. All done electronically. Second, it gives me a report on what students know what information that will be on the CMT. The only silly part is that because of scheduling complications, the test will be given now and in February. Not a whole lot of time to fill in gaps in knowledge in that time, which kind of defeats the purpose of the two testing dates.

Still, the testing was easy for me (kids knew what to do already from the English and math testing they did last week) and it gave me a chance to focus my energy on only two classes (the 7th graders aren't testing this year), without all the craziness that we get on half days or other times when I only have two classes in a day. And both the classes went well because I worked hard. Especially Red, even though they sucked out all my energy. It took everything I had, but I got through a lesson without letting ANYTHING slide. It was beautiful. And I discussed the idea of a mascot with Orange, so now they're called Team Swag. Red, Team Swag, Yellow, Green, and Blue.

I've been pretty good about not complaining about some of the messy TFA logistical stuff, but I have a little complaint to make. We had an assignment due yesterday (which I noticed was not completed by several of my peers). I understand why they would make us tidy up our lesson plans, and I even understand why they make us organize and rename a series of files. What really bothered me, though, was that I had to upload 21 files INDIVIDUALLY. There was no way to upload multiple files at once. There are better ways to spend 10 minutes of my life.

Ok, done now.

Today will be my stay late day. I have a ton of grading to do, and I might even get a chance to start planning for the last two weeks before Christmas Break!

After Thanksgiving

I think that I've been telling myself so many times that it would get better after Thanksgiving...it did. Either that, or the kids were still tired from vacation today.

The end of last week was chaos in the classroom, but at 1:20 PM on Wednesday I booked it out of there. I drove home and spent a few days with my family. My weekend was wonderful. I had 2 home-cooked family dinners, one major medical emergency to respond to (5 patients and only 2 ambulances!), and a couple of days lounging with the boyfriend.

This morning started out with an accidental extra 30 minutes of sleep, and then a VERY hurried 10 minutes as I threw on clothes and ran out the door. I managed to make it to school with enough time to turn on my computer before meeting with my mentor.

Morning double-period lab ran smoothly, with a more challenging class of mine. I think I need to name my classes so you can identify them. I'll name them after colors. Here goes:

Red: My homeroom class. 7th grade. Certainly one of the more social and energetic groups. Loyal to me, usually.

Orange: The other 7th grade class. Usually, the most smoothly running class.

Yellow: 8th grade. The challenging class that required Adviser's help. Doing better.

Green: 8th grade. Really smart kids that need to be challenged constantly or chaos ensues.

Blue: 8th grade, with the four extremely social girls. Often at the end of the day.

This morning I had a smooth double period with Yellow.

During my first prep today, I had scheduled a "Cougar Coupon" event. When a student is good in class, they earn a Cougar Coupon (usually two students per period). At the end of the month, any student with 4 coupons or more can attend a special event thrown by us teachers. This month, I was in charge of the 7th grade event, so I planned a party that fit right within my budged: free time in the gym. I played basketball with my 7th graders and it was awesome. As in fun, not as in I'm awesome at basketball. I'm actually pretty terrible. After several chances of an unblocked shot, I finally scored once towards the end. My team lost about 10-5. I got sweaty and tired, but it was great. It also helped me connect with some of my tougher kids.

The rest of the day ran smoothly. It wasn't especially thrilling, and Orange proved a little more challenge than usual, but it was all pretty good. It's becoming more of a routine. Now it's time for my second try at sweaty yoga.

Mystery

Today actually started out wonderfully. My principal walked in during homeroom and COMPLIMENTED me. Like, she said she was impressed. Wow! I guess I truly am a 12-year old, requiring constant validation...because it totally made my day.

Of course, the challenge began second period. My classes today were almost entirely good. However, during the morning, I noticed that none of the four computers in the back of the classroom would turn on. Also, there was a keyboard missing keys...oh, wait, the keys are all over the floor back here (in the back corner alcove, which I can't see from my desk).

Okay, my first guess is that the girls in my challenging class did it. On Friday, I was working on a lab with the class, and I thought they were just back there talking. It never occurred to me that they would trash my computers. Now I know. Nobody is sitting back there any more. One more lesson learned. I even went the communicate-with-principal route and told her about it, even though I have one more week left in my 90 days. She looked disappointed in me, but not terribly surprised.

And then the plot thickens. After school, I tried to fix the keyboard and computers. At this point, I noticed that someone put some serious work into this project. Some keys were missing from one keyboard, but someone had also pried the buttons off of two of the mouses(? mice?). As in, there was plastic broken off. I then noticed that every computer had every single plug pulled out. Someone had methodically pulled the plug out of the back of every computer and out of the wall. The keyboards and monitors were also unplugged. I even had to pull the table away from the wall to discover this.

So, am I that bad at managing my classroom that a few girls had the time to methodically unplug every wire of four computers in the back of my classroom in a 40-minute period? Or did someone get in my classroom when I wasn't there? The custodians promised that nobody can get in the room after school, and the school is alarmed at night. So I guess it happened when I was there? I'm suspicious.

Whatever, it's pretty much fixed (I only need two working mice when I only have two working computers out of four). And I got some really good work on SF projects today from several classes. Half a day left, and then I'm OUTTA HERE. The moment school is over, I will be on the road sitting in pre-Thanksgiving traffic on I-95. And loving every minute of it.

In less than 24 hours, I will be able to say that I made it to Thanksgiving as a first-year teacher. It almost brings me to tears. The good kind. I think.

Countdown

1.5 school days until Thanksgiving.

On Friday, the old science teacher (also TFA) came to visit. I took one look at him and realized why the 8th grade girls don't like me. He's tall and good-looking. He's confident. According to a student, "he's blazing, Miss." I had a nice chat with him, and he gave me a bit of motivation. The week ended in a headache.

Saturday brought a full day of TFA PD. Oy. I got some good advice out of it, on several fronts, but I didn't have the energy to really engage in the workshops. Saturday work is tough. A lot of first years weren't really into it. It was useful listening to the second year teachers talk, though. And there were some TFA-standard uncomfortable discussions about race.

For the most part, today was REALLY GOOD. Two of my classes did really great work on a lab. I learned on Saturday that when I give them more responsibility, it takes longer to do the labs (duh), even though they learn more inquiry skills. If they don't know what they're doing, they don't like to do anything, so there is more explaining to do. I even learned a good technique for differentiating labs: I can create a lab, and then take out a few words (some variables, or the hypothesis) and make the students do it for more inquiry practice. I can add or take away entire sections (e.g. procedure, testable question) depending on the level of the class.

I had a good chat with our new temporary assistant principal. She seems like she'll be a great resource, and it's always nice to have an extra adult in the classroom.

My last class was tough, but I had hoped I'd get tired of writing before I got to explaining it. I am.

Now I'm off to enjoy my newest LivingSocial purchase, my first of 10 yoga classes for $40.

Aha!

I've survived my first round of report card conferences. I saw about 2/3 of my students' parents. Today I saw some more parents. It was a similar variety to last night. I saw a few parents that I thought could really help improve their students' performance, and I saw a few parents whose kids are perfect. Unfortunately, I had a couple of parents who came in frustrated and discouraged by their kids' repeatedly poor performance in school each year. It hurt me a little bit, and it seemed like every suggestion I had was already attempted. I wish I could help here.

It's getting to be that blah time of year, when the days are too short and there are consecutive cloudy days. It's harder to wake up in the morning. I'm getting a little unmotivated.

On the other hand, the job is becoming generally less stressful. I think things are getting more under control every day. I'm better able to sift through the millions of things I'm required to do every second, and sorting out the important from less important. I can better take criticism, even when it's different advice from different people, and incorporate the advice into my day. I'm learning more about bureaucratic processes.

My happy thoughts for the week: I'm sitting and watching South Park, enjoying my dinner before choir rehearsal. Tomorrow afternoon, I have a massage appointment. One day until the weekend!

I Survived Report Card Conferences...

...and all I got was this lousy list of names and phone numbers.

It's actually a useful list, although not a lot of new information. I saw about 15 parents, 8-10 in my homeroom. Of the parents I saw, about half of them had wonderful children. A few had nice kids who needed to do more homework. One parent of a nice, smart kid explained to me that she was crying because her son used to not do work and get terrible grades. This year, he was all A's and B's.

A couple of parents of challenging kids were there. There were a few more parents I'd have liked to see, but there's still tomorrow. Three parents I saw who I think might help their children improve. Those were the toughest. It's hard to be nice and friendly, while saying that their child needs improvement on work ethic and attitude. Fortunately, I was not the first teacher these parents had seen, so it wasn't news to them. These parents promised they'd help, either by working with their child or by checking up on their school work. I'm hopeful. It was nice to talk to them, and I think it will help.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to see the parents of my students who are failing. If they don't pick up the report card, they never find out. There's no accountability for some of these kids. I wish I could help them, somehow.

It was nice to hear from a couple of parents that they had received my message, and didn't have time to return the call. I got a couple of new phone numbers. All in all, a useful experience. Tomorrow should be less crowded, but I'm looking forward to it.

Report Cards!

Report card conferences are great for one major reason: half day of school! When I only teach 3 periods in a day, compared to the usual 5, I am much more able to put extra effort into my teaching. I had a good day with two of my classes, including homeroom.

My eighth grade unit 3 is going much more smoothly than unit 2, for several reasons. I am better about classroom management, so I have actually been teaching whole lessons to whole classes. I also have given more priority to student learning over teaching, so I don't rush to adhere to an arbitrary schedule created by some dumb inexperienced teacher (me). I may end the school year with one fewer unit, but they'll understand what I've taught better.

The weather is terrible, which doesn't help anything. I really need some more sunshine in my life. The weather will probably affect attendance at report card conferences this evening. From what I've heard, there are usually parents pushing their way in during the evening conference (4-6:30) and it's mostly empty during the afternoon conference (tomorrow, 1:30-4). And though I think it's counterproductive to cancel afternoon classes so we don't work goo many hours in a day (union regulations), I'm certainly not complaining.

I'm getting a little anxious, but my room is nice and clean. My desk is entirely cleared off (thanks for closets), except for a skeleton model and a 600 mL beaker full of Jolly Ranchers. I'm ready for this.

P.S. I can already hear small children screaming in the hallways. Oh boy, this will be interesting.

iPad!

I used my ipad in class today. A friend suggested a classroom management app to me, called Class Dojo. It gives me, on the Smartboard, an avatar for each student, and keeps track of all rewards and consequences with funny sound effects. The kids got a kick out of it (and I did too).

My bad class was good, thanks to my improving management, but my good class wasn't great, I guess due to my complacency. Once again, things are improving. Definitely improving, overall.

My long weekend was nice. I even got a little eager for school by Sunday night! School is getting less exhausting each day, and so weekends are getting less exciting (only slightly, though).

This week is report card conferences, which I'm a little nervous about. Report cards aren't sent home, because home addresses aren't very trustworthy around here, so parents pick up report cards. Students are dismissed early on Wednesday and Thursday, and parents arer bused in on Wednesday evening and Thursday afternoon for short conferences. Last year, about 70% of parents attended, but I think the fact that we are in the swing space might affect attendance. It should certainly be interesting. Unfortunately, the kids who don't care and are failing probably have parents who won't or can't show up.

Onwards and upwards!

Moving Forward

Today, I forgot to tell him I was proud of him. "Get out of my face" student made a good decision today. During afternoon homeroom, the class was not following the rules, so I took away their afternoon snack. When this student realized he was not getting a snack, he stood up and walked over to the bag of snacks. I stepped in his way and smiled at him. He looked at me, sighed, and walked back to his seat. And I forgot to tell him I was proud of him for making that decision.

My day was easier than I expected at times, and harder than I expected at other times. My double period class did a good job on the lab, although they needed a lot of prodding to keep them on task. They have a habit of spending a lot of time chatting, and then copying each others' work to catch up. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this. They are getting the work done, but it's not entirely their own. Although, I shared work back when I was in school. I think I'll appreciate the effort for now, and work on their doing more work independently. Small steps. They even pestered me about doing more work on their SF projects. Okay!

My homeroom class was harder than expected. They had a test today, so I thought it would be easy. Right? Nope. At the start of the class, I had to break up a girl fight before it started in the hallway, while trying to keep the curious class in the classroom. While handing out tests. I ended up sending two kids to their mentor's classroom to take the test, two kids to the guidance counselor to take the test, and talking one kid out of storming out of the classroom. Eventually, though, I got them all silently working. I didn't look at the tests yet, but I have a good feeling (and lower expectations).

My last class, which was the one I had trouble with yesterday, was actually pretty good. They weren't great, but I got stuff done with them. Adviser was there during that class, so I was working extra hard on all of the specific advice I was given. And, of course, it worked. It really worked. I got through almost an entire lesson, and even handled an ice cream cake distraction halfway through the period. In a moment of daytime self-reflection, I came up with this description of my management skills, which directly correlate to class behavior:


















Now, it's an early weekend! I'm signing off until next week to celebrate Veteran's Day the way it should be celebrated: by sleeping late, getting a manicure, putting my pajamas back on, and watching TV. Thank you to those who have fought to protect my right to enjoy these indulgences.

I'm letting the bad things bother me less and the good things make me happy. And after he spoke to Principal, Adviser promised me I wouldn't get fired any time soon. Like my dad said, the most important piece of job feedback I get is deposited into my bank account every other Friday (or Thursday, in case of holiday, like this week).

Trial and Error

I decided to stay at school today until 7:15. I'm being really productive. This is my halfway point break.

Yesterday's PD was a good opportunity to network with other Bridgeport science teachers, and made me realize how lucky I am to have so many of those opportunities. There was a lot of sitting around getting lectured, but it was a nice relaxing day. I even got a haircut.

This morning, I had some difficulty getting a class to stay on task during a lab. I need to figure out better incentives. I think I gave them too much time to do it, so there as a lot less motivation to work hard. I need to give them the right amount of time to do labs.

My homeroom class was great during a game of Jeopardy. I found a good online Jeopardy template. I had to add in a few rules as we went along, such as "If anyone talks after we go back to the Jeopardy home screen, your team is disqualified from the next question" and "If your team buzzes in repeatedly (and loudly), you will be disqualified from the question." The kids got really into the review session, and even policed each other a little bit. It was fun!

My last class was challenging. Some of that was my fault, or things I need to improve. First, I had just come from lunch duty, and was especially cranky. Also, I need to figure out how to hold kids accountable for bringing their guided notes packets back to class. If I ask them to quiet down and begin the Do Now, but only 1/3 of the class has their packets (with the Do Now on it), the class will be chaos. And I never got them back. I did maybe get the key points across to many of the students, but it was painful. And I lost one of my race cars.

Afterwards, though, my adviser came to speak to me and give me some advice. I got a whole list of specific ways to improve on consistency with my classroom management. Before this year, I didn't even know that consistency was something that needed to be practiced! Apparently, it's the most important thing in teaching. Students should know exactly what to expect for every good or bad behavior. Oh boy. I have some work to do.

He also gave me a great piece of advice: don't think of giving consequences as punishment, think of it as teaching good behavior. This should keep me from getting angry, because as much as I try, I still get angry. And once I'm angry, my teaching goes downhill very quickly (Inertia!).

I also need to figure out a way to create class-wide negative consequences. I need to think about it, but Adviser's idea was to give them 20 minutes of "fun" (video? state test review Jeopardy) time each Friday, and take time away if they misbehave as a class.

Good ideas. New ideas make me excited for a new day. I keep noticing that teaching is trial and error, with huge successes and failures. Mentor and Adviser (and Principal) give me ideas, and some (many) work for me, but not all fit me perfectly. I have new things to try tomorrow, and Adviser will stop by to watch.

And then, at the end of the day, some kids in my homeroom class were gushing with enthusiasm for Science Fair. It reminds me that my job is pretty much to teach kids how to be curious. Best job ever? Not today, but getting there.

On a Roll

Really, I'm on a roll. At least, personally. I didn't cry at all today. I think I've overcome a big hump in not letting school affect my life outside. I did a big gym workout yesterday and I went running (with friends!) today. I might even go to spin class tonight. And, tomorrow's a PD day!

I met with the principal today. We cleared up some things, and I think it's okay. I have a better understanding of what is expected from me both as a teacher and as an employee. I think she genuinely wants to improve my teaching skills, rather than scare me away. Although, I can understand why she finds this frustrating. The last new science teacher she groomed became an excellent teacher by his second year, and then left. I will probably do the same.

The principal did give me a few pieces of concrete advice. I need to choose fewer rules for the classroom and enforce them all, every time. I have too much going on. Also, if I try to give 100% to every class every day, I will be less effective everywhere. I need to prioritize; I need to pick one class, every day, to focus on improving. The rest, I should maintain the status quo as far as classroom culture is concerned. And I can't pick the easy classes to focus on.

Two challenging students were good today, and one of those was exceptional. She not only finished her work, but helped her classmates as well. That is what I'm going to think about today.

Elevator Pitch

Yesterday I went to college. It was just for the night, but it was a great experience. Not only did it give me a chance to kick back and have fun for a night, but it also gave me the opportunity to share my experiences with some old friends.

About 8 of my friends from college were also back in Providence, so there was lots of catching up to do. Refining my experience so far into an elevator pitch really helps me realize what is important and why I do this. Maybe it took some cake batter-flavored vodka with glitter suspended in it to make me realize it, but I have a great job.

I teach 7th and 8th grade science in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The community is a lot like the south Bronx. My school is about 98% minority and a similar number receive free lunch. My job is really, really challenging. I need to be on 100% every minute that I teach, or the kids notice and take advantage of it. These kids were never taught that when they arrive at school every morning, they should be prepared to learn. They don't understand that by sitting quietly in class, they will be more successful in life as an adult and have more opportunities. In addition to this, they are 12 and 13, so add in the boy-girl and body-changing drama to all of it. Some of them don't get enough food each day. Some of them have difficult parents, or none at all, or have just been moved into foster care. And, at the end of the day, the district is most worried about keeping test scores up because of some misguided legislature from 10 years ago. But, once in a while, there is a kid who has not done a single bit of work all year who jumps up and helps his group make a race track so they can calculate the speed of a toy car. And then sometimes a small 7th grader, who doesn't say three words in a class period, stands up in front of the whole class and performs a dance describing the characteristics of living things. And even when two-thirds of a class fails the first exam, there are one or two questions that almost every student got correct because I worked really hard preparing that lesson. I have never worked so hard in my life, but I have also never had such an impact on so many kids' lives.

Yes I Am

I'm a good teacher, and nothing you say will change that. Well, maybe not that good, but I'm getting there.

Today was a pretty good day with my classes. The principal stopped by twice this morning, once during homeroom and once during science class with my homeroom class. The first time, the students were all in seats and chatting quietly. The second time, the class was a little loud, but largely on task. She asked a student, "What are you supposed to be doing?" He answered, perfectly, "We're writing testable questions for Science Fair." YES. Best answer.

I had my formal observation by the science chairperson, who told me that she thinks I'm great, and to ask her if I need anything. It's nice to have someone on my side, especially her. She is really helpful, and although my lesson didn't go perfectly, it went pretty well.

In the afternoon, I had a great save. A class came in disastrously, and wouldn't calm down. So, I kicked the loudest one out, and then taught like my life depended on it. Students who were taking notes got to follow the physics lesson with a toy car, and if they were off task I'd take it away. Eventually, I had 90% of the class listening intently, and dropping the car on the table when I explained about the invisible force of gravity. They did well on their exit tickets too.

After school, I met with my TFA adviser, and he gave me some useful insight. When my principal walks in my classroom, I try so hard to impress her that I pretend everything is okay, sometimes to the point of ignoring my class at that moment (while, say, trying to explain the daily objective). My pretending I'm doing great shows her that 1) I don't care about managing my classroom, and 2) I don't ask for or take advice. Oops. My adviser pointed out that my habit of getting defensive in that situation turns me into a person who doesn't appear to take criticism.

Oops. That is not me. Well, it is me, but it's only how I look. I get defensive. Even though, on the inside, I'm making lists and plans and posters and ideas and writing and improving. I need to communicate better.

And then my adviser reminded me that I'm doing great. That's all I need to hear sometimes.

Ouch

Today was probably the hardest day I've had so far as a teacher. And it had nothing to do with the kids.

My classes were really good today (mostly, anyway). I finally did the lab that I promised to the class that had been begging for it. They were great. They were a little too loud at times, but they were really enthusiastic about the racecar experiment. There were some pretty elaborate race courses, and I had all sorts of students volunteering the formula for calculating speed. I realized that many kids have cell phones with stopwatches on them, and so a couple of trustworthy ones can extend my resources much farther. A student that neither I, nor any other teacher, has seen put in an ounce of effort all year, was even participating today. Not only were the kids good, they even did an almost great job cleaning up afterwards.

My other classes were pretty average, although a student in my homeroom class spent the ENTIRE 40 minutes of class begging to be allowed to go to the bathroom. (After spending several class periods in the bathroom earlier this week, she's been forbidden to go unescorted.) There was a lot of talking back that I didn't do, as instructed by my book. I thought of some really good comebacks, though. ("I'm acting childish? I'm not the one pretending to cry.")

All of this, however, was overshadowed by a discouraged, weepy feeling that had been bothering me since I checked my mailbox this morning. Remember this incident? Apparently, when my principal visited my class yesterday and I totally froze up, it was because she was seeing how I'd improved. It was the WORST POSSIBLE TIME. It was probably in the bottom 10% of my teacher moments, and there she was. So, according to her, I have serious problems with classroom management. And, that's what the letter in my mailbox said. Right before it said "cc: school file".

I understand where she's coming from, I guess, because she's apparently only seen me at my worst moments, but a formal letter? It feels like I've been busting my butt for two months, only to get slapped in the face for not doing anything. My TFA adviser, my mentor, and my boyfriend say that I shouldn't worry about it too much. I've made many of the changes already that were suggested (the letter is dated back to the incident two weeks ago, but was only printed out because yesterday was bad), but I'm meeting with my adviser to document these changes and make a formal schedule for improvement. Oy. It still hurts. A lot.

I can't let it bother me so much, though. As my adviser pointed out, I'm in it for the kids, and as long as I keep working hard for them and know they're making progress, I should feel good about myself.

At the very least, if this keeps happening, I'll be in great athletic shape. Right after school, I cranked out an awesome two miles at the park (after yesterday's easy mile). Now, I need to shower. Tonight is my first rehearsal with the University of Bridgeport choir! Back in show biz.

Good Day

Today was a good day. Yesterday's training was...okay. It wasn't great, but the day off from kids wasn't bad. I didn't have a sub, but other teachers covered the class during their preps. I feel terrible about that, but it is much less chaotic than having a sub.

I came back to school to find that a student I have difficulty with is suspended for 10 days. Something about carrying a knife on the bus! Her class was sparse today, because (I found out later) a couple of girls were skipping, but I had a great time with them. I got them started on SF and began showing them October Sky. When I stopped the movie to give some historical background (about the Cold War Space Race), we had a nice impromptu discussion about space flight and astrophysics. It was awesome. When I turned on the movie, the kids were so relaxed that I was able to watch a large chunk of the film. It turns out to be absolutely perfect for SF motivation, which I had read online, but didn't know for sure. It's about a bunch of poor kids in the late 50s who try to build a rocket to launch into space, in response to the launching of Sputnik. They work despite the mocking of their peers, and end up winning the regional science fair, receiving college scholarships. Their rocket was their only chance out of their poor mining town. I almost cried when their rocket succeeded. (Based on a true story.)

My homeroom class got a lesson on organelles: nucleus, mitochondria, cell membrane, and cytoplasm. The lesson went GREAT. I got through it and gave them a chance to practice on their own. My challenging student with the potty mouth was really good. He wasn't perfect, but he sat pretty quietly and participated! He answered questions enthusiastically. This class was also curious, and I answered some miscellaneous science questions. (Why do people have thighs? To store fat for times of stress.) Curious kids are my favorite.

Lunch duty was a breeze because half of the third-graders were on a field trip.

My last class was a continuation of SF that I had started with them on Monday. There was some enthusiasm shown. The principal stopped by for a visit, and I always feel insecure around her, like I'm not good enough. She asked why I had my students were watching October Sky, and I explained that it was motivation for SF, and described the plot. She looked at me suspiciously. I think it's a great film for them to watch, and they certainly need the motivation. I keep being told that spending time on investment is important, but I always feel a little guilty, like I'm cheating. Some of the kids have gotten really excited about it, though. That's always fun to watch.

My formal observation was rescheduled for this Friday, and I'm super nervous about it. I'm going to do the organelle lesson with my other 7th grade class, so I'm happy that I got to practice it today. I think it'll go well. It's not an exceptional lesson, but it does its job. I just realized that I never did the previous lesson with them, so I may have to do that. I guess I'll do that one instead.

Yesterday, I had my apartment maid-cleaned. It looks lovely. It's a lot of money, but it's worth it to have a clean bathroom and kitchen. Tonight, I accidentally scheduled a Peapod delivery during trivia, so I'll be stuck catching up on TV-watching. Oh darn.

Mentoring

Last week, we begun mentoring certain students. Those students. I was initially not assigned any students to mentor, but I seem to have picked up two. One of them is a girl in my homeroom class who started off the year as #1 Goody Two-Shoes, but has since made the wrong friends. She is smart, and works hard, but she talks A LOT. And gets involved in a lot of drama. At the moment, she wants to switch homerooms because she doesn't get along with certain kids. I doubt they'll switch her, because she's not quite at the level of the higher class, but I have no doubt she'll settle into this class again. She's a sweetheart who has some bad friends. Although, there aren't a lot of 12-year-olds who make good friends. She does have this habit of talking, though. In fact, the day after she declared herself my mentee (one being mentored), I had to call home because she was talking all throughout my lesson. She cried at me. The next day she was my best friend again, spending a couple of periods in my room because she needed a break from her "friends". Whew. 12-year-olds are complicated.

My other mentee adopted me late last week. I didn't particularly think she needed a mentor, because she's usually a quiet girl, but she's been involved in some middle school drama lately. I invited her to my room at the end of the day, during my prep on Thursday. I asked her about herself, and heard more words from her than I had all year. She came here from Jamaica about a year ago, and her voice has that gorgeous singsong quality that can only have come from an island. She sings in her church choir. I'm excited to get to know her.

My weekend was surprisingly snowy, and my boyfriend got stranded in Charleston after a medical school interview. I had the sniffles. I played on the ambulance, but there were no emergencies. Not exciting, but I still love weekends. Weekends are better when you earn them.

My classes seem to be getting better. Each week, I "have" more students than the week before. There are challenges, especially when I lose my temper, but there is improvement there. Today I introduced SF to another class, and they were pretty excited. It's still really, really challenging, but it's getting better. Unfortunately, I've hit a bit of unmotivation this week. I need some motivation. Hopefully tomorrow will help. Tomorrow is training #2. Sub day. No kids. Sleep until 7:30. Nice.

I have a new reader, the only one who has ever been able to share a room with me. It lasted a whole year in college. She is rocking the business world in NYC (and bought me sushi).

Does everyone still make a wish when blowing away eyelashes? Last night, I realized that I wished that school would continue to get better. I think that's a good sign. Even subconsciously, I know I'm making progress.

Future?

It makes me really nervous that I'm already getting emails from TFA about job opportunities for the 2012-2013 school year. That's TWO YEARS from now. I certainly appreciate the networking opportunities, but (un)fortunately, the job openings are not close enough to possible boyfriend medical school cities, so I won't be applying immediately.

Yesterday, I tried one of the techniques right from my new book. It suggested that when you ask a student to do something, and he/she refuses, stare 'em down. It outlines exactly how to go from slow turn to withering stare to leaning over desk. I did it, and it worked! A girl who never even sat down when I asked, picked up a crumpled paper from the floor and threw it away all because I stared at her. She hated being stared down. It was great, and no words were exchanged.

Today, my voice went slowly away. I made it until the end of the day, but just barely. Believe it or not, I think I'm noticing progress with my students. Although I made some mistakes today, the students are more in control. Someone even came into my classroom during afternoon homeroom and commented on how quiet and well-behaved they were. At one point during the exam, I was even able to sit down and grade some papers! My class is slowly, slowly beginning to run itself. Sometimes.

The Tuesday off has made me extremely more relaxed. I feel almost in control. I did, however, look at the stack of half-done sub assignments from Tuesday that were going to be graded as a quiz...and threw them away. Don't look at me like that! It wasn't worth my time, and it would have only hurt their grades.

I talked a little bit about science fair (hereafter: SF) with my TAG-less 7th grade class. It seems like this is gonna work out. A couple of students had to make sure that they would definitely fail if they didn't do it, but a lot of them were interested. I also showed them some of a Blue Planet DVD (next in the Planet Earth series) and they LOVED it. I'll have to incorporate that into some of my other classes. I think the segment on tides will be good for CMT review on both Earth and Life Science.

Tomorrow, I introduce SF to my homeroom. Oh goodness! I hope it goes well! Also, I hope my voice comes back.

I was wiped out today, and instead of a usual gym workout, my mom suggested trying something new. I Netflixed a yoga video, and made it 10 minutes into it before becoming confident enough in my core strength to be bored. I'll get a good workout this weekend.

A Puzzlement

I'm baffled. I gave my class a lab to do, and they did it. Almost all of them. And they were great. This was my eighth graders, a class I've had a lot of trouble with. A couple of strong personalities were absent today, but that's no excuse for such good behavior. I had them for a double period, which is usually a huge challenge for me. Today it worked. I spent the first period doing a review game with them, and it was a new game I was trying, but it worked. The second period, they did a lab! I gave each group a Matchbox car, ruler, and stopwatch, and I asked them to make a racetrack out of textbooks and calculate distance, time, and speed. And they did it! I turned my back for one second and they were all doing it! Well, mostly. One or two kids were not entirely helpful, but every single student contributed somewhat. Some usual characters were really into it, creating elaborate textbook ramps and then cleaning them up afterwards. It was great.

My homeroom class was actually good. I had to call several of their parents tonight after getting a list of misbehaving kids from the sub, but they were working hard today. I had them drawing pictures of plant and animal cell organelles from a textbook, adding in their own creativity. They enjoyed drawing. I should use their creativity more.

My later, difficult class was not so difficult. I did the review game with them, and although I didn't have 100% compliance, I taught a bunch of kids some stuff. Hopefully, it'll show on the exam tomorrow.

Lunch duty was another story, but let's not go there.

After school, our usual faculty meeting was an independent work session, so I decided to take the cornbread I had made for the meeting and walk around to classrooms, sharing it with teachers. I got to thank them all in person for being so helpful.

Another thing I got done this afternoon: I met with the principal, and the Wilbur Cross School Science Fair will be on Thursday, January 19! And I'm getting extra paper to make the packets! I'm definitely anxious, but now I know what my demon looks like.

I had a great TFA learning moment yesterday. TFA always emphasizes assuming that others have our best interests in mind, especially our colleagues, superiors, and students' parents. Yesterday, I received an email from the principal asking if I have been contacting students parents when necessary. My first response was frustration: what does she have against me? I'm doing my parent calls! I got all stressed out and everything. So, I wrote the nicest, most responsibly-worded email I could muster, about how I've been calling parents when I can and documenting it on an Excel file. I immediately got a response: Thanks for the update, let me know if I can do anything to help you enforce your classroom policies.

Oh. I guess she was being helpful, not accusing. I need to get over the whole teacher-hates-me view of the principal. She's a really great principal who could really use an assistant principal.

I spent the last two hours making parent phone calls. The substitute teacher yesterday left me a list of names, and I promised I'd call. I called 14 homes, spoke to someone about half the time, and left a few voicemails. Not bad for a day's work. I'm getting pretty good at it, too. Considering it was the thing I worried most about, it's not so bad. I can call someone to tell them that their child is lazy and disrespectful, but I do it in a way that makes them thank me for it. Maybe they just like talking about their kids, or maybe they just like me, but I've heard more nice things this afternoon than I do in a usual week.

And now, I'm going to drag my butt to the gym and then out for trivia. I've got a terrible sore throat and headache, but I THINK I feel better than I did the last couple of days, and that I'm getting better.

Happy 101!

I missed the 100th post, so now I'm celebrating the 101st. And you know what? It was a great day today.

A day off from students helped a lot with my stress levels. I had a full day training, and believe it or not, it was really useful. In fact, of all the PD I've had since I started this shindig in June, this was the most helpful. It helped that I had a couple of months under my belt.

We spent the entire day talking about classroom management. The program was run by a small Cuban man who sprinkled his speech with Spanish expressions, and made me realize that I don't often find native Spanish-speakers giving workshops and lessons. Hopefully, I'll change that, one student at a time. He was part of a UCLA classroom management program, that used to be a Brown classroom management program until money ran out there. The program has an office in Trumbull, and although he taught and administrated there, he grew up in Bridgeport. I wish he could talk to my classes about hard work and success.

The day was mostly marked by group discussions about what has worked and what hasn't, and I learned some new techniques to try, but we were given a lot of valuable advice as well. We were also given a book (Fred Jones' Tools for Teaching), which I've found immensely helpful since I read half of it this afternoon. It's written in the Idiot's Guide format, which involves humorous anecdotes, cartoons, and specific advice. It outlined specific scenarios that I've been unable to handle in my classroom (e.g. handling the "Explosive Student" and talking back), and gave advice on how to handle them. The book is most useful because it follows the following pattern:

1. Here's how to set up the classroom to avoid behavior problems.
2. If that doesn't work perfectly, here's how to solve small behavior problems before they get out of hand.
3. If that doesn't work perfectly, here's how to solve big behavior problems.

I have to admit that I skipped right to the solving behavior problems, because that is what I need help with right now.

The biggest piece of advice that the speaker gave us is to pick our battles, and pick ones we can win. My goal is to pick a new battle, one thing to improve on, every day or week or month. This week, I will take what I learned from the book about not showing frustration when kids are pushing my buttons. I will work on standing up straight, taking a deep breath, making eye contact, and NOT RESPONDING when they talk back. I will not get angry, not raise my voice, and not join in their childish banter.

He also gave us other suggestions, such as a great way to illustrate a multi-step process on a permanent poster that we can hang up during certain lessons or units, which I think will help in my Physical Science class.

This afternoon, I got ahead on planning. I also got an email reminding me about payday this Friday--I had forgotten! What a nice surprise! This will be my first "regular" paycheck, and it's a few dollars more than I expected. It's nice to know, but I bet the money will be going into my classroom anyway. I just ordered a copy of October Sky to help get my kids revved up about Science Fair.

As I learned from a chef on Chopped, "Don't forget the 7 P's: Proper prior preparation prevents piss-poor performance."

Update

This made me smile. It requires some knowledge of Indian food and superheroes.

While it's fresh in my mind, I wanted to share what I've learned from a conversation with my TFA adviser tonight. I had asked to speak to him regarding the behavior problems I've been having.

First, he told me that where I am right now, with the frustration and the behavior problems and the roller coaster of classes, is normal. Not only that, but it will get better.

Also, he pointed out that if my classes vary so much from lesson to lesson, especially from seventh grade to eighth, maybe it's my lessons that need work.

That makes so much sense. I am trying to squeeze too many key points into one lesson, and they don't listen for all of them. I need a better hook for the lesson and fewer key points. I can then let them do independent/group work, and they'll understand it better. If they don't understand, they'll just complain, and not even try the work. I need to challenge them, but only enough so they don't notice.

I need to improve my lesson plans. This week, I want to make plans for the first part of Unit 3 for both 7th and 8th grade. I have high hopes.

He even said that he was surprised that I was having so much classroom management trouble, because it looked like I was good at giving clear expectations and consistent consequences last time he visited. :)

Also: the state of education in America.

P.S. "According to most sources, both spellings are acceptable, but my Webster's doesn't have a separate listing for "advisor" (with an "o"), it is merely an alternate spelling of the listed word, "adviser" (with an "e")."

"Get out of my f**king face, b*tch."

That was how my morning started. At least he got a three day suspension. My students may have seen me tear up, though.

I had a meeting with my mentor this morning. She is the one in the school who holds me to the highest standards. She challenges me. She's like my mother: she comforts me when I'm sad, and she provides advice that I don't always appreciate at the time but is probably the best answer.

I took her advice in giving another one of my classes assigned seats. It took 20 minutes, and involved A LOT of arguing. Eventually, I got (almost) every student to stop groaning and go to their assigned seat. It ended up working pretty well, although I didn't feel like they were able to do the lab activity today, so I went a little overboard on worksheets.

After 2 preps, a lot of productivity, and a teary-eyed lunch, I was back in form. My first class after lunch was much better than usual. I gave them a review worksheet to practice before the exam this week, and I had more compliance than usual. I definitely had more than half the class on task (sometimes more, sometimes less), which is an improvement. This is a class that can quickly snowball into laziness and complaining. I ended up getting a few more kids than usual doing hard work.

My non-homeroom seventh grade class had donuts and a quiz today, and they did great on the quiz. As usual. It's the same quiz my homeroom had last week.

My last class was also not bad, although I had trouble keeping them on task. I was able to (for the most part) keep them in their seats and quiet, which is a start. Next I have to work on staying on task.

At some point during the day, my homeroom class had difficulty finding their way to class, and now they're not allowed to go anywhere without an escort. Is it my fault for starting their day off poorly, or are they really that difficult? I have to say, they were great during homeroom this morning, so I don't think it's me.

On Friday, I had a great career discussion with a student. He wants to be a basketball player, but I don't think it's the most likely future for him. I discussed with him the idea of working towards being a video game designer. He loves drawing and coming up with stories, but his writing could use work. I'm hoping that if he gets into drawing, he'll be less bouncy in class. I enjoyed speaking to him.

This weekend was wonderful. I found good (but expensive) sushi, but I don't think I'll be going there too often. I went on a lovely hike outside New Haven. I made INCREDIBLE banana bread, with pumpkin ale as the liquid and a little too much sugar. Yum. I also found the greatest ethnic supermarket and stocked up on various noodles and miso paste.

Tomorrow is the first day of my New Teacher Induction Program through BPS. Full day PD. I used to hate that sort of thing. Now I can't wait. No students for a full day!

Back to grading. I have some leftover miso soup to charge up for spin class tonight. Rough morning, good afternoon.

Fail

Today I failed in preparedness. I THOUGHT I was prepared, but I guess you learn something new every day.

My day started off with a double period of homeroom class followed by a single period the other 7th grade class, during which I was to be observed by the science department chairperson. I had a great lesson, which I sent her yesterday, that involved a few short video clips describing the needs of all living things.

I arrived at school extra early today, because I had a meeting with my mentor, and I needed to set up the microscopes for my homeroom class and to make sure everything is prepared for my observation. I turn on the computer, open the PowerPoint, click the link to the videos, and BAM. Website server error. No access to the videos.

No! No! No! I scoured the internet for another way to access them, and then started looking for alternatives. I found something close, but it was a tangentially related 25 minute video, not three perfect 5 minute videos.

At this point, it is a few minutes after I'm supposed to meet my mentor, and I run downstairs to the music room. She begins to comment on my tardiness...and I burst into tears. I think that I have officially presented myself to her as the kind of person who cries rather than takes criticism. I'm learning from my students. It doesn't help that I see her on Friday mornings, the morning of my busiest class day and at the end of the week. She hands me an Oreo and sends me back upstairs to call the science chair. I left a message and an email, and we agreed to reschedule. I need to be better prepared next time. Backups of lessons. I barely have time to make lessons in the first place! I need to spend some time working on a couple of backup lessons, though, for any reason.

And, surprisingly, my homeroom class was okay. They were great during breakfast, and slowly got fidgety over the course of two periods, but they LOVED the microscopes. Even the toughest kids. They thought the cells were cool/gross/interesting. That is why I do this job.

I could finish a description of my day, but that is where I want to leave it. Now I'm off to my massage appointment!

Constantly Improving

Today started off with my principal walking in during homeroom, and calling me out for not controlling my class. Oy. I held back tears, and ended up having a not-too-bad anyway. I later spoke to her, and she gave me some good advice about reinforcing routines. I need to remember that students need routines - like breakfast is 8:50-9:00 - spelled out explicitly. I made some posters, gave my homeroom an earful about behavior, and am hopeful about tomorrow.

I showed a couple of classes Mythbusters to get them thinking about Science Fair, which I will formally introduce to them beginning next week. I'm really anxious about Science Fair, but I at least have the first couple of activities (finding a topic, creating a testable question) planned.

This afternoon, my sister and I had a very interesting conversation about education. She is a start-up founder in San Francisco, and approaches all problems with a libertarian-leaning entrepreneurial eye. She pointed out that Bridgeport spends about $13,000 per student, which is less than some districts like New Haven, but more than some nicer suburban districts. So why are we begging for copy paper? She suggested that the money could be better used in many other ways, especially emphasizing smaller classes. Where is all this money going? She also pointed out that there are plenty of brilliant people who would get involved in education if there was a little more money to pay. She also pointed out that if school were looked at from a business standpoint, rather than from a political one, things might get done more efficiently. As it stands now, very little progress is being made, and slowly. We need something faster. The example she gave is that before Facebook, nobody sat around and complained about the lack of social networking. We need innovative solutions to the education gap that aren't immediately apparent.

In my opinion, education policy is often misguided (e.g. NCLB), focusing on standardized test scores rather than students. I know it's a stereotypical teacher argument, but I think there are better ways to help children than taking so much time out of the school year to prepare for and take standardized exams.

Where are all of these good leaders anyway? As Superintendent Ramos is ousted with his ton-of-money severance pay, I want to know, where are these people that can run the schools?

While we didn't solve any major problems, my sister reminded me that there are solutions out there, we just haven't thought of them yet. It will get better. These kids will learn. (And in the meantime, I was given access to a library of science videos and related worksheets. Jackpot.)

Wednesday

I actually like Wednesdays, they're usually too strenuous. Of course, it didn't help that I didn't sleep very well last night and there is no sunshine today, but I managed. I don't really feel like working now, so I'll get the blogging done.

Today, I noticed that there is an indirect relationship between the amount of learning that gets done and student engagement (see above). That may not be the best way to express it, but it's how I felt today. I need to use tricks to get the students engaged in the material, and then teach them before they realize what's going on. Today, for example, in the middle of a lesson on acceleration and deceleration, I showed an 8-minute YouTube video of "fails". It basically showed people falling for 8 minutes straight. It is a good description of acceleration as a change in speed or direction, and I had EVERY SINGLE STUDENT watching silently (except for laughing). Not a single student was talking, or distracted, or doing other work. I need to figure out ways to incorporate this into my lessons. I need to trick them into learning, because the lecturing style doesn't really work for them. I need to distract them with smoke and mirrors while I am reinforcing my key points. Gosh, I wish I had more time for planning.

I have a science department faculty meeting this afternoon, followed by a trip to the gym and maybe a manicure if I have time. Then it's home to plan, grade, and maybe relax if there's time. This is quite a challenging job, but it's worth it when my homeroom class does well on their quizzes.

High/Low

This year, for the first time in several years, I have no cavities. Three cheers for dental health!

I'm coping with the stress a little better, especially by prohibiting thinking about school while in my bedroom.

You know you're a science teacher when...recent purchases have included iodine, toothpicks, onions, stopwatches, and toy cars.

I borrowed a couple of microscopes from my friend upstairs, used the iodine to stain some onion skin and cheek cells, and amazed my students. They loved it. I managed to, pretty successfully, have the class work on a cell packet while I took pairs of students and showed them the cells under the microscope. It really helps to SEE cells, rather than just talking about some abstract small thing. Perhaps why so many find chemistry so challenging?

My next class was not quite as good. I gave them a quiz, and they stared blankly at me. And complained. They seem to think that the class is too boring, so they don't learn anything. And it's my fault they don't pay attention when I'm teaching, because the class is too boring.

My first instinct was to take it personally. After a few minutes during lunch being upset in my classroom, I realized a couple of things (with the help of some colleagues and a supportive boyfriend). First, they're eighth graders. They should be mature enough to realize that if they don't do the work, they don't learn the material. I can't help everyone. I saw a few kids take the quiz seriously, so I must be doing something right. In addition, I need to make the class more interesting and interactive. Of course, if the kids don't cooperate, I can't do fun labs, but maybe I can plan the labs and give them another chance. I never made it really clear that if they don't cooperate in a lab then they lose ALL lab privileges. So, rather than giving them more worksheets to practice calculating speed, I went out and bought some toy cars and stopwatches. It was a lot of money, but the stopwatches will be useful in the future.

My homeroom took a quiz as well, and totally rocked it. I think that all except for 2 students passed. I think this unit is going well with them. It helps that I move slowly enough that almost everyone understands, but make it fun enough (i.e. do silly dances for them) that they don't get bored with the speed. I need to teach more slowly than I initially thought.

And then I got home and graded the challenging class's quizzes...and they weren't so bad! About 20% of students scored above an 80, and everyone who tried got at least 50. Nobody is failing who wasn't failing yesterday. In fact, only one student is failing that class, and that is because he sits in class and does absolutely nothing. I wish I could invest him, but I need to spend my time now with students who want to learn.

Now it's 7pm, time for me to sign off. Relaxing time and dinner time. Maybe beer time. Definitely clean teeth time. Also, this.

New Day

1. Spend more time at school, and do less work at home.
2. No thinking about school in my bedroom.

Those are my two new rules for staying more relaxed. So far, it is working.

This morning I met with my mentor, and learned a couple of important things. First of all, I can't actually ignore the bad students. In fact, I have to make them learn the stuff anyway, even if they are not cooperating enough to participate. She keeps written work to correspond with all of her activities, so when she makes students do the boring written work, they're actually learning the material.

Oh boy. Now I need to create a library of written work to correspond with all (okay, lots) of my lessons. In time, in time. I will add it to my long-term to-do list, which also includes reorganizing my exams and differentiating everything.

In the short term, she suggested that I rearrange my classroom. Now, instead of having six large tables with kids all around them, I have one giant U-shaped arrangement tables, with a smaller U-shaped table in the middle. I've put chairs all around the outside of the two Us (I'm aware that both "Us" and "U's" are acceptable, but I just don't like a non-possessive apostrophe). This way, the students are all facing me, and not each other. It also makes my class tighter, in that all my students are closer to me, but there is more room to walk around while teaching and while they are doing work.

And you know what? It works. My classes were generally better today. Not great, not perfect, but still better. It makes it easier for kids to watch me, and harder for them to talk to each other. While doing worksheets, they are better able to work with a partner, but less likely to work in loud groups. I can also keep track of all of them more easily. And the new assigned seats don't hurt either.

I've determined that either a) this is a good classroom setup, or b) students are thrown off by a new arrangement. If a) is the answer, than it should get even better from here. If b) is the case, I guess I'll be rearranging tables once a month. I hope not, though, it's exhausting.

My mentor also gave me some daisies for my desk (see above photo). It makes a huge difference in my day. It's like a little bit of artificial sunshine. I may keep flowers here permanently, to help fight the shortening days.

Only 2 parent phone calls tonight. I do need to go buy iodine, though, so I can stain some onion skin and cheek cells to show the kids in a microscope. I have a microscope activity planned tomorrow. I'll have two microscopes that kids can take turns using, while the rest of the class works on a packet about cells. It's halfway towards doing a lab, so we'll see how it goes. I would like to do more labs with them.

Next week is the end of the marking period (I think). After 1 quarter, about 85% of my students are passing. I think that's good? At the very least, it should help get another few students working hard.

I ended one of my classes early, and gave them paper to share their opinions about the class and about the unit (motion). A few of them commented that speed/distance/time is too much like math, and they don't understand how it relates to science. That's good to know. I need to make sure to reinforce how it's important to science. Now I'm surfing Mythbusters clips to find a helpful one that relates speed to science and technology.

It didn't hurt my day that I had a good weekend. My fire department raised over $15,000 for the Wounded Warriors Project. I got to go one one ambulance call. I ate a burrito and sushi. I spent several hours entering data into a stupid TFA tracker that my adviser gave me...and it worked out really well! Even though I looked at the Unit 1 Assessments and saw lots of failure, there was also a lot of not failure. Some objectives were really well mastered. Some weren't, but I already have ideas on how to weave them into future lessons. I actually feel like a not-terrible teacher. Maybe I'm not useless after all. I started this week feeling like a not-useless, not-terrible teacher.

Tonight will be my third of five spin classes. I can't tell whether I'll be sad when the Groupon runs out, or happy that it's done. It's hard work, but kind of fun. Kind of like teaching.

Kids!

Kids!
I don't know what's wrong with these kids today!

I listened to that song on the way to work today. It finally makes sense.

Though my day was good, and I had a good teaching week, it was very stressful. For the first time all year, I am starting to get really anxious. I think a lot of it has to do with science fair, a big annual event that requires me to drag 130 students into doing a full science experiment and creating a presentation board that looks nice enough for an administrative walk through. I've been told that it is the most challenging and least fun part of my year. It's a lot of work on my end, and I'm really nervous about putting it together. It will be sometime in January, which means I need to get the kids started NOW. I plan on meeting with the principal next week to choose a date and to find out what her expectations are.

I'm also anxious about my classes going well. Now that I get stuff done in class, I have to plan longer lessons and more practice. I get through lessons faster than I expect, but kids need more practice than I expect. I'm learning.

This week, three of my four nights were crappy-sleep-toss-and-turn nights. I need to sort myself out. I need to relax better and go to sleep earlier. Unfortunately, I'm the kind of person that stresses about about not sleeping well, which leads me to sleep worse, which leads me to stress out, which...

This morning when I showed up to school, I wasn't feeling up to it. Fortunately, my mentor shoved a few Oreos in my face and I was able to start the day with a slightly chocolatey smile. Fake it till you make it, right?

Weekend weekend weekend! Tonight, I have a friend coming over to share in wine and cheese. Tomorrow, I have a long day at SCSU, followed by a fundraiser concert way back in Long Island that is hosted by my fire department to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. Hopefully, on Sunday, I'll get some ambulance time.

Money!

Doctor. Gym. Shower. Phone calls. Laundry.

It was a productive day, topped off with an email notification of a GIANT paycheck. It's all my back pay from while I was being paid as a sub, plus this paycheck. Party! (Or, pay credit card bills.)

Today went really well. I just don't understand. I think all the kids meet up every morning to decide how they will all behave. I finished plenty of material in class, and got some work done. Two of my classes had earned donuts today, and they absolutely loved that. In one class, as the 10-minute donut (Blogger doesn't think the singular "donut" is a real word) party was wrapping up, one of my quiet-but-struggling students asked for help with the Do Now. I reminded her of the speed triangle (shows relationship between distance, time, and speed), and she hurriedly scribbled in the right answers. Way to go! She got a phone call home for that one. She's been stepping up recently.

Another difficult student, who can't sit still, was participating today after I asked him to get up and model a football kickoff return. He showed the class a great example of why we need to consider instantaneous velocity instead of only average velocity (because velocity isn't constant--if it was, you'd get tacked pretty quickly--because you need to move out of the way of the other team). Afterwards, he was unusually engaged in the lesson.

Even my homeroom was good today. I showed them the characteristics of life dance again, and they loved it again. It started out the class well. At the end of class, the principal walked in and saw them behaving! That never happens!

I've heard mention that my blog sounds like a memoir. I guess that is what it is, but usually when someone sits down to write a memoir, they already know the ending. I don't know where this story is going. I get to read it along with you. That's the advantage of blogging. Or disadvantage. You never know if the ending is going to be really dull. (Personally, I'm hoping for the kind of dull that has white picket fences and a dog.)

Last night, trivia was a lot of fun. It's nice to get out now and then and do something else, talk about something else.

Now, I have wine and Chinese food.