The rest of the day didn't go quite as smoothly, but was still fun and pretty successful. I did have a great North Star moment, though, in the dismissal room: two kids were comparing quiz grades in my class. One had a 72 and one had an 85. The 72-girl said, "Damn, I gotta work harder."
This is a great place.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Honeymoon Over
Okay, it stopped being perfect yesterday. That said, it's still a whole lot better than last year.
Yesterday morning, there was a fifth grade field trip, so several teachers were out of the building, and I had to cover one typing class. Typing is challenging in general; it's a sort of filler class, and the students know that. It's an important skill, but is usually taught by another subject teacher as is something along the lines of "Log on to Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing" and stick to that for 50 minutes. I think it sounds like a blast, but the kids don't like it. It's always a struggle to keep them on task.
And yesterday, I taught a class in the morning, and then took that same class to typing. It was a two-hour fun fest. This is the class that is often the most challenging, but they were fine during science class. During typing, however, three students were talking, giggling, and off task the entire time. I took dollars off, but they didn't listen. I separated one girl from the group, but after she found someone else to talk to, I sent her to the dean's office. And here is where it gets extra interesting.
When I set girl #1 to the dean's office, girl #2 snarls under her breath, "Bitch". Of course, in my insecurity, I wasn't completely sure, so I waited until after class to take her to the dean. I was fuming at this point.
Unfortunately, I couldn't be 100% confident that she used profanity directed towards me, and explained that to the dean. She took two students out of class to ask what happened. One didn't hear anything, and the other swore that she said "Snitch". Yeah, okay. So she didn't get suspended, but the three students were pulled out of class for the day and forced to apologize for me. Next time, I need to be more confident in my accusations. The three kids are not new to the dean's office.
I'm a little concerned that this student now thinks that she can get away with this stuff. I was also incredibly guilty about sending students out of my classroom. I think I have this ridiculous guilt complex about sending kids out, after some events last year. I was assured, though, by everyone, including the dean, that sending out kids is okay. In fact, the dean likes it, because then she can keep track of which students are problematic. She told me that whenever I need a break from the Kids We Love Most, I am free to send them to her. Well, okay. Still not in Kansas anymore.
And then today, we started volcanoes. It's as easy as I thought. I say the word "volcano" and kids perk up. They did everything I asked them. They were perfect angels this morning. They've already learned about volcanoes (this section of the course is pretty consistent with the 5th grade curriculum), but that didn't slow their enthusiasm. Their hands were in the air the whole time, basically teaching the class for me. "What happens next?" "And after that?" The best part was at the end, I left a few minutes for questions because they had SO MANY. The first student asked a question--and hands shot up in the air. Thus began the first mostly-student run Q&A session in science class. It was super easy and super fun.
Silent excitement for volcanoes!
Yesterday morning, there was a fifth grade field trip, so several teachers were out of the building, and I had to cover one typing class. Typing is challenging in general; it's a sort of filler class, and the students know that. It's an important skill, but is usually taught by another subject teacher as is something along the lines of "Log on to Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing" and stick to that for 50 minutes. I think it sounds like a blast, but the kids don't like it. It's always a struggle to keep them on task.
And yesterday, I taught a class in the morning, and then took that same class to typing. It was a two-hour fun fest. This is the class that is often the most challenging, but they were fine during science class. During typing, however, three students were talking, giggling, and off task the entire time. I took dollars off, but they didn't listen. I separated one girl from the group, but after she found someone else to talk to, I sent her to the dean's office. And here is where it gets extra interesting.
When I set girl #1 to the dean's office, girl #2 snarls under her breath, "Bitch". Of course, in my insecurity, I wasn't completely sure, so I waited until after class to take her to the dean. I was fuming at this point.
Unfortunately, I couldn't be 100% confident that she used profanity directed towards me, and explained that to the dean. She took two students out of class to ask what happened. One didn't hear anything, and the other swore that she said "Snitch". Yeah, okay. So she didn't get suspended, but the three students were pulled out of class for the day and forced to apologize for me. Next time, I need to be more confident in my accusations. The three kids are not new to the dean's office.
I'm a little concerned that this student now thinks that she can get away with this stuff. I was also incredibly guilty about sending students out of my classroom. I think I have this ridiculous guilt complex about sending kids out, after some events last year. I was assured, though, by everyone, including the dean, that sending out kids is okay. In fact, the dean likes it, because then she can keep track of which students are problematic. She told me that whenever I need a break from the Kids We Love Most, I am free to send them to her. Well, okay. Still not in Kansas anymore.
And then today, we started volcanoes. It's as easy as I thought. I say the word "volcano" and kids perk up. They did everything I asked them. They were perfect angels this morning. They've already learned about volcanoes (this section of the course is pretty consistent with the 5th grade curriculum), but that didn't slow their enthusiasm. Their hands were in the air the whole time, basically teaching the class for me. "What happens next?" "And after that?" The best part was at the end, I left a few minutes for questions because they had SO MANY. The first student asked a question--and hands shot up in the air. Thus began the first mostly-student run Q&A session in science class. It was super easy and super fun.
Silent excitement for volcanoes!
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Yom Kippur
Yesterday, I was worried I was coming down with a cold, so I skipped out on my workout and ate Mexican food instead. It happens.
Today is Yom Kippur, the annual Jews-don't-eat day. It's certainly tough fasting all day, but it's important to me, probably more so than any Jewish tradition. I started to appreciate it 5 years ago, when I was Africa. I was in the middle of nowhere, and feeling homesick. I fasted, and was as cranky and hungry as the rest of my family, at the exact same time, thousands of miles away. New Jersey isn't so far, but it still helped.
Fasting is much easier when I'm working all day; it feels like cheating. I guess I'm missing out on the repenting meditation of the holiday, but I had my moments. Every time I was hungry, or thirsty, I thought about how I am kind of clearing myself out of last year's junk (and last night's huevos rancheros). It's like spring cleaning. Everything I did wrong (I'm sure there was something) is forgotten, or forgiven, and now I can start the year fresh. It's like starting a new school year. If only Yom Kippur were a year earlier.
Besides, I got so much more work done today because I avoided the staff room and didn't need time for lunch (or snacks) (or other snacks). Unfortunately, today was the day my classroom-mate decided to treat his best few students to McDonald's. In fact, I am almost done with next week's lesson planning. (It does help that today's lesson had to be split in two, pushing everything back one day.)
To finish off the post for today, I share with you an email I sent to my IL, in response to her feedback from today's lesson.
Today is Yom Kippur, the annual Jews-don't-eat day. It's certainly tough fasting all day, but it's important to me, probably more so than any Jewish tradition. I started to appreciate it 5 years ago, when I was Africa. I was in the middle of nowhere, and feeling homesick. I fasted, and was as cranky and hungry as the rest of my family, at the exact same time, thousands of miles away. New Jersey isn't so far, but it still helped.
Fasting is much easier when I'm working all day; it feels like cheating. I guess I'm missing out on the repenting meditation of the holiday, but I had my moments. Every time I was hungry, or thirsty, I thought about how I am kind of clearing myself out of last year's junk (and last night's huevos rancheros). It's like spring cleaning. Everything I did wrong (I'm sure there was something) is forgotten, or forgiven, and now I can start the year fresh. It's like starting a new school year. If only Yom Kippur were a year earlier.
Besides, I got so much more work done today because I avoided the staff room and didn't need time for lunch (or snacks) (or other snacks). Unfortunately, today was the day my classroom-mate decided to treat his best few students to McDonald's. In fact, I am almost done with next week's lesson planning. (It does help that today's lesson had to be split in two, pushing everything back one day.)
To finish off the post for today, I share with you an email I sent to my IL, in response to her feedback from today's lesson.
Thank you for the feedback. It
was really helpful to have students explain how they calculated slope, so the
class could hear it a different way. In Salaam, almost all kids knew slope from
the start, so I had a student show how they did an ENTIRE problem, and the kids
corrected mistakes, and then discussed why it had to be a certain way. I’m
actually pretty confident in Salaam’s mastery of slope. This allowed me more time
in the class to review the definitions of underwater landforms more, which
helped the flow of the lesson when it came down to labeling the diagram. I also
limited the “pens down” time, which also helped the flow. Also, C was a
hand-raising rock star.
I am going to work on seating
charts: In Imani [first class - faith], I need to split up D/S and T/C. In Salaam [second class - peace],
I need to split up K/A and maybe D/K and
P/F. Ganas [third class - passion] has been rearranged recently, but I will keep an extra
eye out for chronic problems.
I have my list of students to
call sitting on my table—I keep forgetting! Priorities to remember tomorrow:
1-use checklist
2- ENERGY in the morning
3-Check off answers during IP (
did during Do Now in Salaam, really helped! It was easy to point out what they
need to look at again)
Thanks,
Robin
And the email response included exclamation points and excitement about seeing my class next time.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Night Off
Today started out with a bad case of the Mondays. I was moving slowly, and my kids were still having trouble with independent and dependent variables. After my first class, I rearranged my lesson to incorporate more review of variables. This led to some really good discussions, which felt really good. There was not a lot of teacher talking, but a lot of student voice. By the end, I had a much better idea of what I need to review before the interim assessment in 2 weeks.
I managed to, like only happens occasionally, get ahead on my to-do list. I even planned next Monday's lesson, which is...October! It is very soon no longer September.
On my way home, I paid a phone call to the replacement science teacher back in Bridgeport. She sounds nice. She sounds a lot like me. It's gonna be a bloodbath. I gave her as much advice as I could in 45 minutes, but then I had to go running before it got dark. I gave her some advice on how to deal with some of the students, and the principal. Mostly, that she should anticipate problems and seek out solutions on her own, because those that should help her may not.
I got a run in today, but was limited by daylight. I also felt some niggling in my knee and foot, so cut it short at 2 miles. It still felt good.
My boyfriend was out studying, so I had a relaxing evening alone. I didn't have to worry about cooking dinner or sitting at a table. Instead, there were fish sticks and miso soup on the couch, and some Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A good night off.
I managed to, like only happens occasionally, get ahead on my to-do list. I even planned next Monday's lesson, which is...October! It is very soon no longer September.
On my way home, I paid a phone call to the replacement science teacher back in Bridgeport. She sounds nice. She sounds a lot like me. It's gonna be a bloodbath. I gave her as much advice as I could in 45 minutes, but then I had to go running before it got dark. I gave her some advice on how to deal with some of the students, and the principal. Mostly, that she should anticipate problems and seek out solutions on her own, because those that should help her may not.
I got a run in today, but was limited by daylight. I also felt some niggling in my knee and foot, so cut it short at 2 miles. It still felt good.
My boyfriend was out studying, so I had a relaxing evening alone. I didn't have to worry about cooking dinner or sitting at a table. Instead, there were fish sticks and miso soup on the couch, and some Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A good night off.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Good Things
This week was a good week. Do I say that every week?
I'm trying to write more, I really am. I mean to, but it gets busy, and suddenly it's 9PM and I need to go to sleep. I did manage to get in a full workout twice during this work week, so next week I'll workout at least twice and blog at least three times. I need to prioritize blogging. I think it's harder to keep it up because I have less stuff to vent at the end of the day.
It was definitely stressful week, though.. I spent several hours this week on the phone with a lovely woman at the NJ Department of Education, and let me tell you, she really knew what she was doing. (That was sarcasm.) I spent a lot of time explaining to her that some colleges don't calculate GPAs, and other asinine conversations. It didn't help that in order to talk to her, I have to call up the DOE, traverse the automated menu, wait on hold for a customer service representative, and then have that representative send an email to my "Application Examiner" that I wish to speak to her. I then wait for a return phone call. It's really fun (also sarcasm) and it doesn't help that I occasionally have to put my phone down, like to teach.
Fortunately, my Director of Operations (a.k.a. Staples Liason, a.k.a. Fixes Photocopier, a.k.a. Is Generally Awesome) supported me the whole time, offering to answer the phone for me if I was teaching and guiding me through the whole process. It's still not solved, but I've reached a place where I've done what I can and can comfortably wait for bureaucratic processing.
The last two days' lessons have been on why the oceans are salty. Yesterday, the lesson was half a period of independently reading an article and taking notes, and the other half was answering questions in a classroom discussion format. And the kids were amazing. After 25 minutes of reading, they (almost) all knew exactly how the oceans became salty, and their discussions helped cement the concept for the other students. The kids are really supportive of each other and help peers work their way through difficult concepts, within a formal classroom discussion setting. It's beautiful.
Today, due to our half day for work time, we had a modified schedule. I taught my three classes consecutively in the morning, which involved a lot of preparation and a little anxiety. It turned out awesome. The lesson started with a demonstration, in which I had a flask full of water with red food coloring boiling on a hot plate. The kids correctly predicted that as the water boiled off, the remaining water would become a darker red, because the food coloring does not evaporate, so the concentration of food coloring increases. The color of the water really didn't change noticeably, but the kids were expecting it, so they saw it. Who says I can't use confirmation bias to my own advantage. So, other than teaching for 3 hours less 10 minutes with a slightly burnt thumb, from moving the hot plate without looking, the demonstration was perfect.
The rest of today's class was a short video on ocean water, which I stopped every minute or two so the students could answer and discuss a concept that was mentioned. It certainly wasn't the most exciting video, but the kids loved it. I even had to add in a moment for "silent excitement" (a way we allow our students to express excitement, a "spirit fingers" sort of thing) for the scientists using a salinometer to send salinity measurements via satellite right to the laboratory. (It was really cool.) It was a high school level video, and the kids were really thinking hard. I could see them thinking. And they came up with brilliant connections to every day life and last year's science class. I love them. These kids are amazing.
To top it off, my IL returned and observed a class. She gave zero real-time feedback and met with me afterwards to tell me that not only have I shown huge improvement and consistent ability to implement feedback, but that other colleagues have commented similarly.
I really love this job.
I'm trying to write more, I really am. I mean to, but it gets busy, and suddenly it's 9PM and I need to go to sleep. I did manage to get in a full workout twice during this work week, so next week I'll workout at least twice and blog at least three times. I need to prioritize blogging. I think it's harder to keep it up because I have less stuff to vent at the end of the day.
It was definitely stressful week, though.. I spent several hours this week on the phone with a lovely woman at the NJ Department of Education, and let me tell you, she really knew what she was doing. (That was sarcasm.) I spent a lot of time explaining to her that some colleges don't calculate GPAs, and other asinine conversations. It didn't help that in order to talk to her, I have to call up the DOE, traverse the automated menu, wait on hold for a customer service representative, and then have that representative send an email to my "Application Examiner" that I wish to speak to her. I then wait for a return phone call. It's really fun (also sarcasm) and it doesn't help that I occasionally have to put my phone down, like to teach.
Fortunately, my Director of Operations (a.k.a. Staples Liason, a.k.a. Fixes Photocopier, a.k.a. Is Generally Awesome) supported me the whole time, offering to answer the phone for me if I was teaching and guiding me through the whole process. It's still not solved, but I've reached a place where I've done what I can and can comfortably wait for bureaucratic processing.
The last two days' lessons have been on why the oceans are salty. Yesterday, the lesson was half a period of independently reading an article and taking notes, and the other half was answering questions in a classroom discussion format. And the kids were amazing. After 25 minutes of reading, they (almost) all knew exactly how the oceans became salty, and their discussions helped cement the concept for the other students. The kids are really supportive of each other and help peers work their way through difficult concepts, within a formal classroom discussion setting. It's beautiful.
Today, due to our half day for work time, we had a modified schedule. I taught my three classes consecutively in the morning, which involved a lot of preparation and a little anxiety. It turned out awesome. The lesson started with a demonstration, in which I had a flask full of water with red food coloring boiling on a hot plate. The kids correctly predicted that as the water boiled off, the remaining water would become a darker red, because the food coloring does not evaporate, so the concentration of food coloring increases. The color of the water really didn't change noticeably, but the kids were expecting it, so they saw it. Who says I can't use confirmation bias to my own advantage. So, other than teaching for 3 hours less 10 minutes with a slightly burnt thumb, from moving the hot plate without looking, the demonstration was perfect.
The rest of today's class was a short video on ocean water, which I stopped every minute or two so the students could answer and discuss a concept that was mentioned. It certainly wasn't the most exciting video, but the kids loved it. I even had to add in a moment for "silent excitement" (a way we allow our students to express excitement, a "spirit fingers" sort of thing) for the scientists using a salinometer to send salinity measurements via satellite right to the laboratory. (It was really cool.) It was a high school level video, and the kids were really thinking hard. I could see them thinking. And they came up with brilliant connections to every day life and last year's science class. I love them. These kids are amazing.
To top it off, my IL returned and observed a class. She gave zero real-time feedback and met with me afterwards to tell me that not only have I shown huge improvement and consistent ability to implement feedback, but that other colleagues have commented similarly.
I really love this job.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Rosh Hashanah
Great principal interaction #5: My IL is away for the week (covering for another principal on paternity leave), so I had my weekly planning meeting with the principal. I was able to convey my enthusiasm and my togetherness, and she had wonderful things to say. We shared enthusiasm over geology, and I think I showed her that I can keep up with my work even after leaving early yesterday for Rosh Hashanah. She suggested that I find more opportunities for my students to read science nonfiction. I love having students read, because it makes my job easier, and I love encouraging science literacy. I'll have to get on that. The meeting went well, and she observed my class immediately following.
I was nervous about the observation, but the class went pretty well. Of course, when she walks in the room, the kids are on their best behavior. I had feedback in my inbox by the time I sat down right after class. I was complimented on some great participation (many times, 100%!) and clear directions, but I need to improve my scanning. That is, when I tell the students to track the speaker, I have to make sure they are doing that. I have to NOT track the speaker. It's hard, because I want to listen carefully and respectfully to the student answering my question, but I need to be scanning for compliance. That'll be my next task.
Today I distributed progress reports to all my students, which consisted of a list of all grades so far for each student, signatures required. Surprisingly, I only received one concerned-parent phone call. It went well. I hate parent contacts, but I'm good at them, usually. This one was pretty easy. She was concerned that her student, who has an 80% average, had failed several exit tickets. I explained to her that exit tickets are only a small part of the quarter grade, and that she was showing an upward trend (her last three assignments were 80%, 100%, and 100%). And then the parent thank yous always makes it feel good.
I went home for Rosh Hashanah, and it was nice. There was a lot of food and I always love spending time with family and friends. I took a bunch of leftovers to school today, which helped me make even more friends.
Everything is still good. (Except for my NJ certification, that's kind of a frustrating jumble of phone calls and voicemail.) I'm so happy that I can work so hard on improvement every day, rather than worrying about damage control. I'm (mostly) keeping up with my planning and grading. My two goals for this week are to SCAN, not track the speaker, and to dig up more articles for the students to read.
I was nervous about the observation, but the class went pretty well. Of course, when she walks in the room, the kids are on their best behavior. I had feedback in my inbox by the time I sat down right after class. I was complimented on some great participation (many times, 100%!) and clear directions, but I need to improve my scanning. That is, when I tell the students to track the speaker, I have to make sure they are doing that. I have to NOT track the speaker. It's hard, because I want to listen carefully and respectfully to the student answering my question, but I need to be scanning for compliance. That'll be my next task.
Today I distributed progress reports to all my students, which consisted of a list of all grades so far for each student, signatures required. Surprisingly, I only received one concerned-parent phone call. It went well. I hate parent contacts, but I'm good at them, usually. This one was pretty easy. She was concerned that her student, who has an 80% average, had failed several exit tickets. I explained to her that exit tickets are only a small part of the quarter grade, and that she was showing an upward trend (her last three assignments were 80%, 100%, and 100%). And then the parent thank yous always makes it feel good.
I went home for Rosh Hashanah, and it was nice. There was a lot of food and I always love spending time with family and friends. I took a bunch of leftovers to school today, which helped me make even more friends.
Everything is still good. (Except for my NJ certification, that's kind of a frustrating jumble of phone calls and voicemail.) I'm so happy that I can work so hard on improvement every day, rather than worrying about damage control. I'm (mostly) keeping up with my planning and grading. My two goals for this week are to SCAN, not track the speaker, and to dig up more articles for the students to read.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Parents!
Today I ran 4 miles, bringing this week's total up to...4 miles. Felt good, though my legs were tired.I might do another 2 tomorrow, or I might attend a ballet class. One of those is easy/less fun and one of them will leave my calves and glutes screaming for days, but also leave me happy. I'll do better next week. This was a busy week, so I'll try to catch you up now.
Wednesday included my best and worst classes so far this year. The lesson was on calculating the slope of a line, which I didn't realize before is a very abstract concept, the kind that you either get or you don't. My first class in the morning was just getting it. It was a tough lesson, and I managed to really challenge the kids for a whole 55 minutes. The lesson was going well from the start, so I was really getting into it and the kids were getting into it and the whole thing snowballed into a whole high-on-teaching sort of deal. I ended up with a bunch of happy and engaged kids who really understood the material.
Unfortunately, what I didn't consider at the time was that the morning class tends to perform a little bit better than the other classes. Since the first class was just pushing the kids to their limit, the next class was just not grasping it. And, since they're twelve, they get the I'm-confused giggles. I was so frustrated, and realized I would have been smarter to split the lesson into two days, but couldn't adjust the agenda on such short notice. Next year. By the time the third class rolled around, I did better, but it wasn't anywhere near as good as the first one.
That evening was Back to School Night, so I was at school until 8. It was an inspiring experience, because the event is mandatory, so the building was packed with caring parents. I had the opportunity to introduce myself, and then was swarmed by a dozen parent all wanting to know how their child was doing. I think I did a good job of being honest, but not too honest that it would be inappropriate in front of a room full of other parents (and some kids). It was fun, and challenging, and exhausting.
Thursday was the test, and it went better than expected. I've only graded two class sets so far, but they were 84% and 81%. More kids understand slope than I thought, although a few students were still missing questions on controls and variables. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to include these concepts in with the rest of the course. I saved the best class for last, though, and I'm hoping they can break 85%.
The exciting part about Lab Coat Friday is that it was the due date of our first lab report final draft. The rough drafts were handed in Wednesday, and I got a wide range of work. I gave some feedback, and received a beautiful collection of 7th grade lab reports on Friday. I'm really excited to look at them, although it'll take a long time to grade all of them. I really emphasized that I prefer typed to written, although I couldn't require it. Some students did a beautiful job of formatting, and others...didn't. I had to juggle some flash drives in the morning, and print out a dozen lab reports from my email, but it was worth it. These assignments are beautiful. Now I have to decide whether to take off points on professionalism from a student's report because he ended it with, "P.S. :Ms. Zelman ROCKS!!!!!!!! P.S.S :Ms. Zelman is the best female science teacher in the entire universe." (The 5th and 6th grade teachers are both male.)
I think I'm gonna like it here.
Wednesday included my best and worst classes so far this year. The lesson was on calculating the slope of a line, which I didn't realize before is a very abstract concept, the kind that you either get or you don't. My first class in the morning was just getting it. It was a tough lesson, and I managed to really challenge the kids for a whole 55 minutes. The lesson was going well from the start, so I was really getting into it and the kids were getting into it and the whole thing snowballed into a whole high-on-teaching sort of deal. I ended up with a bunch of happy and engaged kids who really understood the material.
Unfortunately, what I didn't consider at the time was that the morning class tends to perform a little bit better than the other classes. Since the first class was just pushing the kids to their limit, the next class was just not grasping it. And, since they're twelve, they get the I'm-confused giggles. I was so frustrated, and realized I would have been smarter to split the lesson into two days, but couldn't adjust the agenda on such short notice. Next year. By the time the third class rolled around, I did better, but it wasn't anywhere near as good as the first one.
That evening was Back to School Night, so I was at school until 8. It was an inspiring experience, because the event is mandatory, so the building was packed with caring parents. I had the opportunity to introduce myself, and then was swarmed by a dozen parent all wanting to know how their child was doing. I think I did a good job of being honest, but not too honest that it would be inappropriate in front of a room full of other parents (and some kids). It was fun, and challenging, and exhausting.
Thursday was the test, and it went better than expected. I've only graded two class sets so far, but they were 84% and 81%. More kids understand slope than I thought, although a few students were still missing questions on controls and variables. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to include these concepts in with the rest of the course. I saved the best class for last, though, and I'm hoping they can break 85%.
The exciting part about Lab Coat Friday is that it was the due date of our first lab report final draft. The rough drafts were handed in Wednesday, and I got a wide range of work. I gave some feedback, and received a beautiful collection of 7th grade lab reports on Friday. I'm really excited to look at them, although it'll take a long time to grade all of them. I really emphasized that I prefer typed to written, although I couldn't require it. Some students did a beautiful job of formatting, and others...didn't. I had to juggle some flash drives in the morning, and print out a dozen lab reports from my email, but it was worth it. These assignments are beautiful. Now I have to decide whether to take off points on professionalism from a student's report because he ended it with, "P.S. :Ms. Zelman ROCKS!!!!!!!! P.S.S :Ms. Zelman is the best female science teacher in the entire universe." (The 5th and 6th grade teachers are both male.)
I think I'm gonna like it here.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Still Good
Reason I love my principal #3 and 4:
On Sunday, in our weekly digest, we found out that our principal pulled kids aside Friday afternoon to ask them about their favorite classes, and then posted them in the Sunday digest. Here was mine:
Next Monday is Rosh Hashanah (I remember having to go out of my second grade classroom to find the Jewish second grade teacher to ask how it's spelled). I can't miss a day of school, but I do want to go home to have dinner with my family. We are usually expected to be at school until 5, even though classes end by 3:30. Some days I have duties, like on Monday, I have Homework Center duty, but even on duty-free days I have to stay. So, I thought it would be pretty reasonable of me to ask if I could switch my Monday duty to another day and leave right at 3:30 for Rosh Hashanah. I nervously approached my principal, and she responded, "Of course! Whatever you need! I was about to ask you if you needed anything for the holidays. When is Yom Kippur? Do you need anything then?"
This is why I love going to work every day. It is also why I'm so excited about the giant set of diamonds that showed up on the principal's finger this morning. (!)
Yesterday, I achieved a private accomplishment: my feedback for the day was to "hold back" on some of the previous feedback I'd been given. I was working on urgency, but I need to slow down some times to celebrate good student work and answers. The strictest teacher in the building told me I need to smile more. Okay! That's a good (though sometimes challenging) thing to work on.
I should run 3 miles today, but I still hurt from Sunday. I'll try, but no promises. This will be a tough week, because I had a fire department meeting last night, back-to-school night tomorrow, and SAT tutoring on Thursday. Busy, busy life, but that's the best kind!
On Sunday, in our weekly digest, we found out that our principal pulled kids aside Friday afternoon to ask them about their favorite classes, and then posted them in the Sunday digest. Here was mine:
“I enjoy Science
class the most about 7th grade because we’ve done different
experiments and we’re learning the scientific method. It’s bumping up my
knowledge about different things in Science.”
(Keep in mind this quote is from a student I'd categorize as a "Kid We Love Most". He has a permanent case of the giggles.)Next Monday is Rosh Hashanah (I remember having to go out of my second grade classroom to find the Jewish second grade teacher to ask how it's spelled). I can't miss a day of school, but I do want to go home to have dinner with my family. We are usually expected to be at school until 5, even though classes end by 3:30. Some days I have duties, like on Monday, I have Homework Center duty, but even on duty-free days I have to stay. So, I thought it would be pretty reasonable of me to ask if I could switch my Monday duty to another day and leave right at 3:30 for Rosh Hashanah. I nervously approached my principal, and she responded, "Of course! Whatever you need! I was about to ask you if you needed anything for the holidays. When is Yom Kippur? Do you need anything then?"
This is why I love going to work every day. It is also why I'm so excited about the giant set of diamonds that showed up on the principal's finger this morning. (!)
Yesterday, I achieved a private accomplishment: my feedback for the day was to "hold back" on some of the previous feedback I'd been given. I was working on urgency, but I need to slow down some times to celebrate good student work and answers. The strictest teacher in the building told me I need to smile more. Okay! That's a good (though sometimes challenging) thing to work on.
I should run 3 miles today, but I still hurt from Sunday. I'll try, but no promises. This will be a tough week, because I had a fire department meeting last night, back-to-school night tomorrow, and SAT tutoring on Thursday. Busy, busy life, but that's the best kind!
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Lab Coat Friday!
The results are in! My first quiz had an average of...drumroll
please...83%! Good, not great, and there are a lot of lower grades I'd
like to fix. I think the pacing was rough for a lot of students--the
last question was a lot of points, and the time was tight. I am not
surprised by the results. I knew the students were able to rock graphing
(and I knew a few of them would forget to label their axes). I knew
they rocked at the scientific method, and I knew they were not perfect
on controls. I think they were over 50% on controls, which is a good
sign. I still do need to review it in every single lesson between now
and the first unit test next Thursday.
First test Thursday! More importantly, we begin real content Thursday! Geology. We get to look at pictures of mountains on Friday.
The kids continue to surprise me, and show me what it's like in a world where being smart and kind is cool. The other day, a kid ran to the principal in the morning and said that the afternoon before, students were being loud on the bus. Were they fighting? No, just really loud and shouting and playing. Okay, the principal would speak to the children. Keep in mind that this is a public city bus. Still, our kids reflect our school, and need to be leaders. Cool. Self-policing respect.
Furthering the agenda of respect and achievement, the school suspended a student for two days for texting during class. Students are expected to drop cell phones off in class bins when they enter the building, and get them back at afternoon homeroom. This student had "forgotten" to do so and was caught texting during history class. A two-day suspension is a far cry last years' "Well, we can't really confiscate the phones, so you can ask the student to give it to you, but if they won't, you can write them up, and maybe they'll get ISS, or maybe not, especially if it happens a lot." Moreover, when the student returned to school on Friday, he was required to stand up in front of the entire school and apologize for disrespecting his teachers and classmates, and the school had to welcome him back. He was even questioned by a teacher, who made him "improve" his apology by giving better reasons why he hurt his peers and why he won't do it again. I don't think he'll be making that mistake again soon.
Friday was Lab Coat Friday. It's a thing now. I invented it. I ordered a labcoat on a whim a few weeks ago, and needed some help with motivation on Friday, so I declared it Lab Coat Friday. It made me feel a little bit like a nutty professor, and my colleagues loved it, and the kids got a kick out of it. The kids definitely recognized a lab coat when they saw it, and complimented me about it all day. The principal stopped me in the morning and had to take a picture.
I ended my week with a heart-melty moment.
After watching the dismissal room for an hour (kids who don't get picked
up at 3:30 hang out and do homework until 5), fending off requests to
clean, do work for me, and grade quizzes, I was standing outside with a
few dozen students and some teachers. A colleague of mine approached me
and said, earlier today he saw a student of mine, a quiet girl who sits
in the first row of one of my classes, who had left class to use the
bathroom, RUNNING back to class. Like, she really wanted to be back
there. When I wished her a good weekend, on the sidewalk outside the
school, she turned to her 6th grade friend and whispered (I think),
"You'll have her next year. Her class is great [thumbs up]" and gave her
friend a big thumbs up. Heart melt!
My weekend of running wasn't quite as successful as I had hoped, due to some poorly timed meals and general tiredness. My Saturday run was cut short because I ate too soon before my run (bad idea) and my GPS was acting all funky, so I didn't know how far or fast I was going. That's not a good excuse, but if I had known I'd gone 2.65 miles, I could've sucked it up for another .35. This morning, I went to the gym and cranked out about a half mile before my shin started hurting, so I stopped and lifted some weights instead. I didn't get my 10 miles this week, but I came close: 8.3, plus two weightlifting sessions. Next week, I'll get my 10.
I'm exhausted, but this job continues to impress me every day. Tomorrow: independent and dependent variables!
First test Thursday! More importantly, we begin real content Thursday! Geology. We get to look at pictures of mountains on Friday.
The kids continue to surprise me, and show me what it's like in a world where being smart and kind is cool. The other day, a kid ran to the principal in the morning and said that the afternoon before, students were being loud on the bus. Were they fighting? No, just really loud and shouting and playing. Okay, the principal would speak to the children. Keep in mind that this is a public city bus. Still, our kids reflect our school, and need to be leaders. Cool. Self-policing respect.
Furthering the agenda of respect and achievement, the school suspended a student for two days for texting during class. Students are expected to drop cell phones off in class bins when they enter the building, and get them back at afternoon homeroom. This student had "forgotten" to do so and was caught texting during history class. A two-day suspension is a far cry last years' "Well, we can't really confiscate the phones, so you can ask the student to give it to you, but if they won't, you can write them up, and maybe they'll get ISS, or maybe not, especially if it happens a lot." Moreover, when the student returned to school on Friday, he was required to stand up in front of the entire school and apologize for disrespecting his teachers and classmates, and the school had to welcome him back. He was even questioned by a teacher, who made him "improve" his apology by giving better reasons why he hurt his peers and why he won't do it again. I don't think he'll be making that mistake again soon.
Friday was Lab Coat Friday. It's a thing now. I invented it. I ordered a labcoat on a whim a few weeks ago, and needed some help with motivation on Friday, so I declared it Lab Coat Friday. It made me feel a little bit like a nutty professor, and my colleagues loved it, and the kids got a kick out of it. The kids definitely recognized a lab coat when they saw it, and complimented me about it all day. The principal stopped me in the morning and had to take a picture.
 |
| Lab Coat Friday! |
My weekend of running wasn't quite as successful as I had hoped, due to some poorly timed meals and general tiredness. My Saturday run was cut short because I ate too soon before my run (bad idea) and my GPS was acting all funky, so I didn't know how far or fast I was going. That's not a good excuse, but if I had known I'd gone 2.65 miles, I could've sucked it up for another .35. This morning, I went to the gym and cranked out about a half mile before my shin started hurting, so I stopped and lifted some weights instead. I didn't get my 10 miles this week, but I came close: 8.3, plus two weightlifting sessions. Next week, I'll get my 10.
I'm exhausted, but this job continues to impress me every day. Tomorrow: independent and dependent variables!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Peer Observation
We observe each other a lot.
I am tasked with observing veteran teachers in the school, filling out a reflection form, and handing it in. In addition, veteran teachers observe me.
Today, one of the more experienced teachers at school came to watch me. It fits in with our culture of helping each other (so much helping!). I'm pretty sure that my IL asked him to watch me on some of the new things I need to work on because she was in meetings all day, but it was nice to receive extra feedback. And I did receive feedback. In fact, some new compliments and concrete suggestions were already in my inbox by the time my class was dismissed.
I'm tired. This job is exhausting. I love it (so much), but it's such hard work. I hope I'll really get into a routine. I think last week was nervous excitement, and this week is the resulting crash. I bet next week will be more comfortable. I've planned to go to sleep early about three times this week, and it's never happened. Maybe next week.
I finally found a part of my job that I don't love. Detention. It's important, and makes the rest of my job 10 times better (see previous post on homework). It makes kids do homework, and if they don't, they don't leave school until they make it up. It's not a time-waster, it's purposeful and increases achievement. Unfortunately, it's a room full of the "Kids We Love Most" (that's actually what we call them, the KWLMs) who really don't want to be there. It's kind of like juggling, and I can't even enthusiasm them out of it, because I'm not teaching. I'm just overseeing their homework. I did manage to bond with one of the jumpier students, whom I made sit right next to me, but mostly it's just sitting in a room full of silent kids who don't want to be silent. It's draining. But important, it's necessary for the functioning of the awesomeness that is North Star Academy.
Moreover, I managed to push out three miles of jogging. I'm still sore and tired from work, and from Tuesday's sudden desire to start weightlifting again, but I did it anyway. This is the first time in several weeks that I've completed two whole workouts exactly as planned. I'm on my way to being in shape again. I hope.
I am tasked with observing veteran teachers in the school, filling out a reflection form, and handing it in. In addition, veteran teachers observe me.
Today, one of the more experienced teachers at school came to watch me. It fits in with our culture of helping each other (so much helping!). I'm pretty sure that my IL asked him to watch me on some of the new things I need to work on because she was in meetings all day, but it was nice to receive extra feedback. And I did receive feedback. In fact, some new compliments and concrete suggestions were already in my inbox by the time my class was dismissed.
I'm tired. This job is exhausting. I love it (so much), but it's such hard work. I hope I'll really get into a routine. I think last week was nervous excitement, and this week is the resulting crash. I bet next week will be more comfortable. I've planned to go to sleep early about three times this week, and it's never happened. Maybe next week.
I finally found a part of my job that I don't love. Detention. It's important, and makes the rest of my job 10 times better (see previous post on homework). It makes kids do homework, and if they don't, they don't leave school until they make it up. It's not a time-waster, it's purposeful and increases achievement. Unfortunately, it's a room full of the "Kids We Love Most" (that's actually what we call them, the KWLMs) who really don't want to be there. It's kind of like juggling, and I can't even enthusiasm them out of it, because I'm not teaching. I'm just overseeing their homework. I did manage to bond with one of the jumpier students, whom I made sit right next to me, but mostly it's just sitting in a room full of silent kids who don't want to be silent. It's draining. But important, it's necessary for the functioning of the awesomeness that is North Star Academy.
Moreover, I managed to push out three miles of jogging. I'm still sore and tired from work, and from Tuesday's sudden desire to start weightlifting again, but I did it anyway. This is the first time in several weeks that I've completed two whole workouts exactly as planned. I'm on my way to being in shape again. I hope.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Positive Feedback Loop
The feedback is rolling in, and the improvements are coming--and the challenges.
This morning, I had a double observation -- my IL and the principal. It was nerve-wracking. I got emails within 30 minutes of the lesson from both, with my feedback. Some things were good (they always start with the good), such as my use of Cold Calling, and others needed improvement (more aggressively monitoring student work during the lesson). The feedback is always provided in this format: Keep it Up stuff followed by Action Steps. I like that. It works for me. I get a pat on the back and specific directions. You might say, I get clear and specific directions. I've heard those are good.
One big problem, though, is that for the first time this year (Day 6), I didn't feel really good about the lesson. If I had had 90 minutes, instead of 55, it would've been perfect. I ended up rushing through some things, other things dragged, and I left each class today not totally confident in the students' understanding of the material. Of course, this is a huge improvement from last year, when I was never really confident in their understanding, and mostly worried about their ability to complete simple and straightforward exit tickets (and usually not quite so independently). This year, with higher expectations, I was unsatisfied.
I was teaching controls and constants (in the scientific method). The students were able to express why it was important to have a control and constants, but they were less proficient at identifying them, especially because the words are so similar. For example, they understood that to test the efficacy of fertilizer, one had to plant the exact same flower in the exact same conditions without fertilizer to compare it to, but were unable to identify that the control is the flower without fertilizer. I got all sorts of guesses, from the fertilizer to the soil. And they mixed up control with constants, but once someone came up with one example of a constant, the other ones kept coming: soil, sunlight, water, location, temperature, etc.
I'm going to have to practice this a lot. Every day, Do Nows and other questions will include a review of control and constant. I'm hoping that if I weave it into other content, such as tomorrow's lesson on multiple trials, the students will become more comfortable with it. I just have to make sure 100% of students are understanding it. For that, I'll have to use Thursday's quiz.
I love teaching, and I love data analysis. When the teaching doesn't work, there's always data to analyze. It's kind of a win-win. Unfortunately, we didn't have time for the exit ticket, so it's only subjective data for now. Ask me again next week.
This morning, I had a double observation -- my IL and the principal. It was nerve-wracking. I got emails within 30 minutes of the lesson from both, with my feedback. Some things were good (they always start with the good), such as my use of Cold Calling, and others needed improvement (more aggressively monitoring student work during the lesson). The feedback is always provided in this format: Keep it Up stuff followed by Action Steps. I like that. It works for me. I get a pat on the back and specific directions. You might say, I get clear and specific directions. I've heard those are good.
One big problem, though, is that for the first time this year (Day 6), I didn't feel really good about the lesson. If I had had 90 minutes, instead of 55, it would've been perfect. I ended up rushing through some things, other things dragged, and I left each class today not totally confident in the students' understanding of the material. Of course, this is a huge improvement from last year, when I was never really confident in their understanding, and mostly worried about their ability to complete simple and straightforward exit tickets (and usually not quite so independently). This year, with higher expectations, I was unsatisfied.
I was teaching controls and constants (in the scientific method). The students were able to express why it was important to have a control and constants, but they were less proficient at identifying them, especially because the words are so similar. For example, they understood that to test the efficacy of fertilizer, one had to plant the exact same flower in the exact same conditions without fertilizer to compare it to, but were unable to identify that the control is the flower without fertilizer. I got all sorts of guesses, from the fertilizer to the soil. And they mixed up control with constants, but once someone came up with one example of a constant, the other ones kept coming: soil, sunlight, water, location, temperature, etc.
I'm going to have to practice this a lot. Every day, Do Nows and other questions will include a review of control and constant. I'm hoping that if I weave it into other content, such as tomorrow's lesson on multiple trials, the students will become more comfortable with it. I just have to make sure 100% of students are understanding it. For that, I'll have to use Thursday's quiz.
I love teaching, and I love data analysis. When the teaching doesn't work, there's always data to analyze. It's kind of a win-win. Unfortunately, we didn't have time for the exit ticket, so it's only subjective data for now. Ask me again next week.
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