Murphy's Law
So scant more than a day after I posted how awesome my kids were, they decided to go bat crazy on me. Monday was littered with students who were not prepared, unwilling to do work, and being genuinely disruptive. I felt like I taught for a total of 5 minutes, then spent the rest of the day repeating those 5 minutes of teaching so the students who were "behind" could get caught up. It was easily the most frustrating day of teaching I've had so far. Needless to say, I took Tuesday off for a much deserved personal day, which I spent doing work for school as well as playing video games to de-stress. I find it funny that I can handle what other people would call "big problems" like gang-related violence with no trouble at all, but when it comes to the little things piling up, that's where I surrender. It's always the little things.
It felt good sticking it to my students on Tuesday though (I'm not saying this if I get off yelling at teenagers... but I've given my students lots of chances to show their responsibility and individuality, and they took advantage of my good graces). It's the first time I've really shown any real anger in class, but I was honest with them, told them why I was absent, what was wrong, and what they need to do to make things right. The rest of the week went swimmingly.
Monologues
The end of the week was actually really, really fun. The students have been working on monologues for several weeks, and I performed a short monologue on Thursday to give them an example of what a performance might look like. My performance was about a 20-something who lost his job and was forced to move in with his parents. Depressed, he spent his time playing video games. Let's just say that I didn't stretch too much on this character, but I need a good example as a teacher so all my kids can connect with it. The kids loved it, and started performing on Friday. I was quite impressed with several performances, and proud of ALL my students. They were all SO nervous to stand up in front of the class and perform. It's really odd, because these kids seem so much different than what my friends and I were like as teenagers, but they really are very much the same. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the performances at the start of this week.
Oh yeah - Math TAKs is Thursday. I really hope my students do well. At least we're almost done with it all, and I'll be able to get back the English TAKs grades in a few weeks.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Monologues
My students began writing monologues this week. They created their own characters, conflicts, relationships, and settings, and genuinely came up with some impressive stuff. Whereas at the start of the year students needed their hands held for a good 20 minutes just to come up with character traits, just about everyone took to the project almost instantly. I'm really happy to see that they've come this far (or, at the least, have become accustomed to the assignments). With 6 weeks left, I'm starting to see my students as actual high schools and not "newbies" or freshmen. The majority of the students are stepping up in class, becoming more confident, and caring about how they do in class. I can't wait to see how they do when they perform their monologues for the class this next week.
Grades
Since it's the end of the 6 weeks, I just submitted grades. This is the highest passing rate I've had all year, and I'm stoked. I tried something new for this grading period, and gave each student a free 100 point assignment to start off the 6 weeks. In the end, this counted for less than 2% of their final grade, but it got the kids hyped because they saw really high grades and wanted to keep them up. I can't tell you how many students came to me and said, "Sir! I've got an A? I've never had an A in this class before!" Eventually, the grade would decline, but instead of the students taking it as an inevitability of school, I had a surprisingly large amount of students asking to make up work and ACTUALLY TURNING IT IN. I could attribute some of this new interest in work to the end of the year, wanting to pass to 10th grade, and TAKs, but I'll still count it as a victory for my grading system. Homework for this 6 weeks also had the highest turn in rate for all classes. I decided that I would give the kids an assignment every Monday and make it due on Friday. It's a supplement to what we do in class, not too much effort is required, but the assignments always allow for creativity so the kids can get invested and turn in some real gems. It's working.
I'm happy.
Softball
I'm putting this in as almost an afterthought, but I'm coaching our faculty/staff softball team. Our first game is in two weeks. It was great being on the field again. I didn't even realize how much I missed playing ball, but dang... I'm going to have some fun weekends coming up, as long as I remember to wear sunscreen. :)
My students began writing monologues this week. They created their own characters, conflicts, relationships, and settings, and genuinely came up with some impressive stuff. Whereas at the start of the year students needed their hands held for a good 20 minutes just to come up with character traits, just about everyone took to the project almost instantly. I'm really happy to see that they've come this far (or, at the least, have become accustomed to the assignments). With 6 weeks left, I'm starting to see my students as actual high schools and not "newbies" or freshmen. The majority of the students are stepping up in class, becoming more confident, and caring about how they do in class. I can't wait to see how they do when they perform their monologues for the class this next week.
Grades
Since it's the end of the 6 weeks, I just submitted grades. This is the highest passing rate I've had all year, and I'm stoked. I tried something new for this grading period, and gave each student a free 100 point assignment to start off the 6 weeks. In the end, this counted for less than 2% of their final grade, but it got the kids hyped because they saw really high grades and wanted to keep them up. I can't tell you how many students came to me and said, "Sir! I've got an A? I've never had an A in this class before!" Eventually, the grade would decline, but instead of the students taking it as an inevitability of school, I had a surprisingly large amount of students asking to make up work and ACTUALLY TURNING IT IN. I could attribute some of this new interest in work to the end of the year, wanting to pass to 10th grade, and TAKs, but I'll still count it as a victory for my grading system. Homework for this 6 weeks also had the highest turn in rate for all classes. I decided that I would give the kids an assignment every Monday and make it due on Friday. It's a supplement to what we do in class, not too much effort is required, but the assignments always allow for creativity so the kids can get invested and turn in some real gems. It's working.
I'm happy.
Softball
I'm putting this in as almost an afterthought, but I'm coaching our faculty/staff softball team. Our first game is in two weeks. It was great being on the field again. I didn't even realize how much I missed playing ball, but dang... I'm going to have some fun weekends coming up, as long as I remember to wear sunscreen. :)
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Spring Break-est
I realize that I have neglected my blog duties as of late. Actually, this seems to be a pattern of abuse and neglect that I hope to change. Mostly, I stopped blogging simply because I was caught up in everything ELSE that needed to be done. I've started a new drama unit with my regular students, and my Pre-APs are reading "We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin. I feel as if I'm finally coming into my own as a teacher, seeing as I'm confident enough to completely bypass the curriculum for my Pre-APs and plan a unit that I feel will be much more entertaining and enlightening for them. As reward for my endeavors, the new head of English Language Arts/Social Studies for the district has asked if I would help rewrite the curriculum this summer and get it online so it's much more user friendly. It sounds like a daunting task, but I'm up for the challenge, and it'll certainly make me more invested in my teaching next year.
Austin - the weekend after Spring Break
I've really grown to enjoy teaching, and the weeks pass fairly quickly. My school sent me, as well as 3 of my ELA colleagues, to Austin for a weekend training. Going to the training helped me reconnect with my fellow teachers, become re-energized and reinvigorated, and gave me good, solid materials that I can use in class this year. If I wasn't before, I'm now a HUGE fan of work trips and workshops that might take a good drive/flight to get to: it's worth it.
TELPAS
Since Spring Break ended, I've been rating my LEP (Limited English Proficient) students on their writing, speaking, and listening. For most teachers (elsewhere in the country), this is not too hard of a task, as LEP students make up maybe 10% of their students, if that. However, I had a daunting 68 LEP students to rate, which is over half of my students. Only one other teacher had more LEP students. As far as rating the students, it's on a scale of 1-4, or Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced, and Advanced High. Once they reach Advanced High in all three of the major categories (Listening, Speaking, and Writing), they are no longer classified as Limited English Proficient, and are seen as fully competent English, or bilingual students. A few of my students have reached that stage, but a good number still have a lot to work on. Heck, it's hard learning another language, and I'm dang proud of my students. I sure wouldn't be "Advanced High" in Spanish, or even "Advanced".
Other News
I was sad to hear that one of my students was jumped outside of school on Thursday by a group of girls from another school. I had been on the other side of the school and didn't know it was happening until 15 minutes after the cops left to chase after the car. Amazingly enough, the victim was back in class the very next day and was volunteering to act in one of the scenes for the drama unit. These kids are really resilient, and I'm learning quite a lot about life from them.
I've also grown accustomed to the normal ebb and flow of student enrollment at my school. I thought that all of my students that would leave and come back had finished their migratory ways back in the first semester, but I have recently started seeing some of my old students show back up on my roster. I even have a few new ones.
Parents
I'll be the first to admit that I have not done the best job of getting my parents involved at school. I tried sending home letters at the start of the year, and I keep in good contact with some of them, but if it wasn't for my team teachers, some of the parents I would probably never get in contact with. I'm really doing my best to relearn Spanish, and my ability to comprehend WHAT is being said is quite good, but I turn into a bumbling mess when I try to speak on the phone with a fluent adult. It takes me a few seconds to think about what I need to say, and I know my grammar is horrible. At least I have friends and neighbors to help.
Oh, and it REALLY doesn't help that the records of phone numbers is not nearly as current as it needs to be. If a parent changes a phone number, they should call the school immediately, in case there is an emergency. Do they? No. Do we get neighbor's numbers and no actual way to contact the family? Yes. Geez...
I realize that I have neglected my blog duties as of late. Actually, this seems to be a pattern of abuse and neglect that I hope to change. Mostly, I stopped blogging simply because I was caught up in everything ELSE that needed to be done. I've started a new drama unit with my regular students, and my Pre-APs are reading "We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin. I feel as if I'm finally coming into my own as a teacher, seeing as I'm confident enough to completely bypass the curriculum for my Pre-APs and plan a unit that I feel will be much more entertaining and enlightening for them. As reward for my endeavors, the new head of English Language Arts/Social Studies for the district has asked if I would help rewrite the curriculum this summer and get it online so it's much more user friendly. It sounds like a daunting task, but I'm up for the challenge, and it'll certainly make me more invested in my teaching next year.
Austin - the weekend after Spring Break
I've really grown to enjoy teaching, and the weeks pass fairly quickly. My school sent me, as well as 3 of my ELA colleagues, to Austin for a weekend training. Going to the training helped me reconnect with my fellow teachers, become re-energized and reinvigorated, and gave me good, solid materials that I can use in class this year. If I wasn't before, I'm now a HUGE fan of work trips and workshops that might take a good drive/flight to get to: it's worth it.
TELPAS
Since Spring Break ended, I've been rating my LEP (Limited English Proficient) students on their writing, speaking, and listening. For most teachers (elsewhere in the country), this is not too hard of a task, as LEP students make up maybe 10% of their students, if that. However, I had a daunting 68 LEP students to rate, which is over half of my students. Only one other teacher had more LEP students. As far as rating the students, it's on a scale of 1-4, or Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced, and Advanced High. Once they reach Advanced High in all three of the major categories (Listening, Speaking, and Writing), they are no longer classified as Limited English Proficient, and are seen as fully competent English, or bilingual students. A few of my students have reached that stage, but a good number still have a lot to work on. Heck, it's hard learning another language, and I'm dang proud of my students. I sure wouldn't be "Advanced High" in Spanish, or even "Advanced".
Other News
I was sad to hear that one of my students was jumped outside of school on Thursday by a group of girls from another school. I had been on the other side of the school and didn't know it was happening until 15 minutes after the cops left to chase after the car. Amazingly enough, the victim was back in class the very next day and was volunteering to act in one of the scenes for the drama unit. These kids are really resilient, and I'm learning quite a lot about life from them.
I've also grown accustomed to the normal ebb and flow of student enrollment at my school. I thought that all of my students that would leave and come back had finished their migratory ways back in the first semester, but I have recently started seeing some of my old students show back up on my roster. I even have a few new ones.
Parents
I'll be the first to admit that I have not done the best job of getting my parents involved at school. I tried sending home letters at the start of the year, and I keep in good contact with some of them, but if it wasn't for my team teachers, some of the parents I would probably never get in contact with. I'm really doing my best to relearn Spanish, and my ability to comprehend WHAT is being said is quite good, but I turn into a bumbling mess when I try to speak on the phone with a fluent adult. It takes me a few seconds to think about what I need to say, and I know my grammar is horrible. At least I have friends and neighbors to help.
Oh, and it REALLY doesn't help that the records of phone numbers is not nearly as current as it needs to be. If a parent changes a phone number, they should call the school immediately, in case there is an emergency. Do they? No. Do we get neighbor's numbers and no actual way to contact the family? Yes. Geez...
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
