My time at Cave City is almost over. Tomorrow is my last day, and I am so sad to have to say goodbye to these kids that I have grown to love so much. My time with them has been challenging, and there have been times that I wanted to give up. I have struggled with getting my 7th graders to be excited about the work that they did, and I've had a hard time getting my 9th graders to care about anything. However, in the past few months I have seen them grow more than I thought they ever would, and I could not be more proud.
My 7th graders have learned that their classes don't have to be boring. I have managed to bring the joy back into learning for them, and it has bee awesome to see their smiles and excitement in the classroom. My 9th graders? They have come so far that it is amazing. When I first started, the class average was 67. The class average is now 85. I think the only thing I did that helped them along was the same thing that I did for the 7th graders. I did my best to bring the joy back into learning. We had fun. We worked hard, but we had fun. We became friends, and they no longer looked at me as their enemy. They eventually were able to see that I am on their side and that it doesn't have to be me vs. them.
Now, I have to say goodbye to these kids, and this is harder than I though it would be. It's not just because I got to know them and learned to appreciate their silly quirks. I have learned just as much from these kids as they have learned from me. They taught me about patience. They taught me how to trust that my students will progress. They taught me to always focus on the good and try to improve the bad. I am sad to say goodbye to these kids because they have helped me grow, and for that, I will be forever grateful.
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Monday, November 17, 2014
How Did I Pull That One Off?
I've decided to blog about my class I had today. Ms. Crosby came to evaluate me, and normally this would not bother me. I usually forget that she is there, and things go smoothly. I ALWAYS have everything planned just so in order to keep anything from throwing me off of my game. But when I woke up this morning and saw so much snow on the ground...I was a bit nervous.
I happened to see on the news that Cave City's buses were going to be running two hours late, and this made me feel a little better. After all, this wouldn't affect my evaluation now, right? My evaluation was scheduled for 11, and everything would go off just as I had planned. WRONG. I arrive at school at 9:30 only to find out that the school was not taking attendance today due to the fact that some roads were still icy and not all of the buses were able to make it to every house. This meant I was going to have absent students. A lot of them. My 3rd hour class was tiny. Of course I had a lot of absent students...just as I had expected. I knew that 4th hour, the class I would be evaluated in, would be the same way. Normally, this would not bother me. I would go about my plans, be evaluated, and everything would be okay. But not today. Today was peer review. Today was the day for the big workshop that I had planned so hard for, and now I would hardly have any students. Would this even work?
Students start coming in for 4th hour, and I have six. Six. This was less than half of my class. How am I supposed to work with this? As the students did their bellwork, I quickly rearranged group members so that everyone would be with an appropriate partner. I had to completely re-plan my grouping strategy and assign some students a new color. When I put students in groups, I give them colors so that they know how they should transition. For example, reds stay where you are, and blues go find your reds. I managed to pull it together, and class started. The students were wonderful. They were engaged, and my lesson went perfectly. Well...as perfectly as it could with half of my class gone. Ms. Crosby loved my lesson, and everything worked out. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to have a productive class with only six students. NO TIME WASTED HERE!!
I happened to see on the news that Cave City's buses were going to be running two hours late, and this made me feel a little better. After all, this wouldn't affect my evaluation now, right? My evaluation was scheduled for 11, and everything would go off just as I had planned. WRONG. I arrive at school at 9:30 only to find out that the school was not taking attendance today due to the fact that some roads were still icy and not all of the buses were able to make it to every house. This meant I was going to have absent students. A lot of them. My 3rd hour class was tiny. Of course I had a lot of absent students...just as I had expected. I knew that 4th hour, the class I would be evaluated in, would be the same way. Normally, this would not bother me. I would go about my plans, be evaluated, and everything would be okay. But not today. Today was peer review. Today was the day for the big workshop that I had planned so hard for, and now I would hardly have any students. Would this even work?
Students start coming in for 4th hour, and I have six. Six. This was less than half of my class. How am I supposed to work with this? As the students did their bellwork, I quickly rearranged group members so that everyone would be with an appropriate partner. I had to completely re-plan my grouping strategy and assign some students a new color. When I put students in groups, I give them colors so that they know how they should transition. For example, reds stay where you are, and blues go find your reds. I managed to pull it together, and class started. The students were wonderful. They were engaged, and my lesson went perfectly. Well...as perfectly as it could with half of my class gone. Ms. Crosby loved my lesson, and everything worked out. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to have a productive class with only six students. NO TIME WASTED HERE!!
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Absolutely Mortified
I’m, once again, frustrated with my
class. 3B specifically. They have, officially, lost review game privileges, and
I am absolutely sore at them at the moment. Sometimes it seems like that treat
me like a teacher, and they sometimes seem to think that I cannot actually do
anything to me. They seem to think that how they act towards me will have no consequence,
or, more accurately, I have to be the nice, fun teacher. And I like to be fun –
that is no lie. I like making class interesting and making up a lot of
different activities for teaching the subject that we are going over. I like
turning the class over to the students for discussion, only facilitating a lot
of the time. It is certainly a lot more interesting that lecturing all day. But
3B makes that impossible, and that doubles my workload because I have to make a
lesson plan for them and one for the other classes that do not act out.
I was so
embarrassed on Wednesday, the last time I was in class with them. I had
reviewed with 2A and 3A earlier in the day, and that had gone well. The
Jeopardy game was a success, and everyone did fairly well at it. Those who did
not do well were able to go online to prepare too, so that went well.
3B had to ruin that trail of good
feelings. I don’t know – maybe it is because they had been cooped up in the
cafeteria because of rain for the last two days, or maybe it is something in
the air. My mother swears her classes act out on the full moon, and there was a
full moon approaching, but they were loud enough that they disrupted the next class
over. It was embarrassing, and I was mortified when Mrs. Walls came in. We
assigned them book work for the rest of the class period, they had review game
privileges taken away, and they were assigned extra homework to finish in lieu
of the game review.
I have been left to stew in my
feelings over the experience. Clearly I have a lot to learn about classroom
management. How do I get that class to behave? I cannot be that bad at
classroom management either, given that my other classes all behave. But what
am I doing wrong?
Sunday, October 26, 2014
I'm Disappointed
Just as my title states, I'm disappointed. I am exhausted and disappointed, even though I have given myself two days to cool down and consider the situation from afar. What else could I have done, I am am left wondering.
On Friday, because Mrs. ----- was in a meeting all day, I was left in charge of our classes completely. This was something that I was not too worried about. When it is my time to teach, I am usually left alone with them anyway. This is not new ground for me. She left me with what she wanted us to do, as it was not my lesson day, and I was left to teach them, which, again, was not a huge deal.
The real trouble came from my 3B class.
3B is a bit of a problem class anyway. They are rowdy -- almost all of them are football boys, and seventh graders besides -- and, as they have just come in from lunch, they are full of energy too. Sometimes they're good, but they're often trouble for Mrs. -----.
We were supposed to be annotating a chapter from Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery, which is not that difficult. We have annotated before, so they are used to it. The problem is that they simply could not keep their little mouths shut for more than three minutes at a time. They know that they're supposed to raise their hands to comment or ask a question, and yet they continued to speak out of turn. One of them kept shushing other students even after I told him that that was definitely not necessary.
I had to stop class several times, we only made it partially through the part that we were annotating as a class, and they thoroughly showed their butts in front of the substitute that was in the class with me. I let them know that I was very disappointed with them for how they acted, and they acted chastised. I have to admit that I felt rather pleased at the look of horror on their faces when I told them that I would be leaving Mrs. ----- a note about their behavior. I hope they stewed in that worry all weekend, as they are not going to be happy in class on Monday.
I will have to talk about their behavior with Mrs. ----- tomorrow. I wanted to assign what they were doing to be done on Monday, but I didn't want to circumvent her authority in doing so, even though I am fairly certain she wouldn't have minded.....
On Friday, because Mrs. ----- was in a meeting all day, I was left in charge of our classes completely. This was something that I was not too worried about. When it is my time to teach, I am usually left alone with them anyway. This is not new ground for me. She left me with what she wanted us to do, as it was not my lesson day, and I was left to teach them, which, again, was not a huge deal.
The real trouble came from my 3B class.
3B is a bit of a problem class anyway. They are rowdy -- almost all of them are football boys, and seventh graders besides -- and, as they have just come in from lunch, they are full of energy too. Sometimes they're good, but they're often trouble for Mrs. -----.
We were supposed to be annotating a chapter from Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery, which is not that difficult. We have annotated before, so they are used to it. The problem is that they simply could not keep their little mouths shut for more than three minutes at a time. They know that they're supposed to raise their hands to comment or ask a question, and yet they continued to speak out of turn. One of them kept shushing other students even after I told him that that was definitely not necessary.
I had to stop class several times, we only made it partially through the part that we were annotating as a class, and they thoroughly showed their butts in front of the substitute that was in the class with me. I let them know that I was very disappointed with them for how they acted, and they acted chastised. I have to admit that I felt rather pleased at the look of horror on their faces when I told them that I would be leaving Mrs. ----- a note about their behavior. I hope they stewed in that worry all weekend, as they are not going to be happy in class on Monday.
I will have to talk about their behavior with Mrs. ----- tomorrow. I wanted to assign what they were doing to be done on Monday, but I didn't want to circumvent her authority in doing so, even though I am fairly certain she wouldn't have minded.....
Monday, October 20, 2014
Self-Reflection
This blog post is just me reflected on the lesson (or lessons) that I taught in our methods class the last two weeks. I now know that my first lesson I taught on annotation was not the right kind of lesson for this particular assignment, but I must say, I thought it went very well. I thought this lesson was a good one because it contained authentic literacy. This is one of my favorite methods. I like how it eases students into accomplishing tasks on their own a little at a time. I also used modeling in this lesson when I annotated the monkey article for the class, and this is a wonderful thing to do. It shows the students EXACTLY what you want them to do. So yes. This lesson was not fit for the assignment, but the methods that I used were good ones.
The last lesson I taught on Step Up To Writing went really well too. I LOVE Step Up To Writing. That's probably an understatement, actually. I've seen it work with my 9th graders, and it made me so happy, especially since I was beginning to lose hope for them. I thought this lesson went so well because of how wonderfully it breaks up students' writing. It gives them a framework to stay in when they write, and students that are new to writing really need this to help them format their work. I also used modeling with this lesson when I taught it in methods and when I actually taught it to my 9th grade students, and that worked wonderfully. I think it worked so well because students saw that I am willing to do what I ask them to do, and to be honest, I felt like it put us all on the same level for a moment. I think this help motivate my students.
Both of the lessons I taught in methods were lessons that I actually taught to my 9th graders. I saw them work in the classroom. Sure, I had some students struggle. That's reality. But I am very happy to see that both of these lessons gave my students a boost in the way they read and write, and with a class as behind as this one is, I need all of the boosts I can get.
The last lesson I taught on Step Up To Writing went really well too. I LOVE Step Up To Writing. That's probably an understatement, actually. I've seen it work with my 9th graders, and it made me so happy, especially since I was beginning to lose hope for them. I thought this lesson went so well because of how wonderfully it breaks up students' writing. It gives them a framework to stay in when they write, and students that are new to writing really need this to help them format their work. I also used modeling with this lesson when I taught it in methods and when I actually taught it to my 9th grade students, and that worked wonderfully. I think it worked so well because students saw that I am willing to do what I ask them to do, and to be honest, I felt like it put us all on the same level for a moment. I think this help motivate my students.
Both of the lessons I taught in methods were lessons that I actually taught to my 9th graders. I saw them work in the classroom. Sure, I had some students struggle. That's reality. But I am very happy to see that both of these lessons gave my students a boost in the way they read and write, and with a class as behind as this one is, I need all of the boosts I can get.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Ain't Nobody Got Time for That...And That...And That....
To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what to say in this
particular blog post. We are supposed to reflect on the lesson we did for our
methods class. I think it went alright too, I suppose. Both of the lessons I
did…because I did not look closely enough at the prompt. The lesson was
supposed to be a writing lesson. I (and Haley) did a reading lesson. Well,
technically it was an annotating lesson, but the point was that it was supposed
to be teaching a way to write an informational or argumentative essay. And I
definitely did not do that the first time around.
The second try was better, and, honestly, it was actually
easier too. That’s strange to say, but I really only had to go over what you
have to do for each section, make sure everyone had a handout and paper to work
on, and model it. It was way easier. I guess that is why my original lesson was
so much harder to plan. I thought that I had to put a lot into each lesson.
And that is not true at all.
I have learned over the last few months that a lesson does
not need to contain a PowerPoint and a huge activity and everything under the
sun. You can be just as effective (perhaps even more so) with just the minimal
amount of things passed out to students and a bit of creative work. And I know
that I am so much less stressed that way.
And that’s a good thing, as I feel so much better when I am not worrying about every time, little thing. Nobody has time for so much worrying, especially not me.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Flipping the Script
Up until this point, my two 7th grade classes have been the ones I have looked forward to the most. They usually participate, and I am usually impressed by their performance My 9th grade class has been my greatest challenge, and they usually drain me of most of my energy. Lately, this has not been the case. What's happening....
Allow me to explain exactly what has been going on. My 9th graders have been surprisingly pleasant. I usually struggle with getting them to care about the lessons I teach, and I usually have to spend 90% of my energy trying to keep this class quiet and on task. For the past few days, something has changed. They seem to be paying attention better than before. Of course this is leading to their understanding the material better. I am no longer having to slow down as much as I was having to before. We are staying on schedule due to their effort and understanding. As far as their behavior is concerned, I am pleasantly surprised. Actually, I would say I am thrilled. They seem to have realized that I am going to be around awhile and that they are better off to do as I say. I finally feel respected. This class is still a challenge of course, but I can't believe the progress they have made in both their performance and behavior.
My 7th graders? I'm not sure what's happening there. They seem to be the bigger challenge right now. Their behavior isn't the issue. So far, I have found that 7th graders behave better than a lot of other grades. So then what is the issue with my 7th graders? I'll tell you...lack of effort. I'm currently struggling with getting my students to understand the importance of what I'm teaching them. There has recently been a lack of interest during my lessons and activities. I am trying to find new ways to interest them and fun ways to help them learn, but it's not helping much. I believe part of the problem is the thinking that I'm asking them to do. These students have not been asked to think this critically until now, and I get the feeling they are just giving up on me...
So I clearly titled this entry "Flipping the Script" because it's almost like my two grade levels have switched places. My 9th graders are making so much progress, and my 7th graders are sitting still. One thing is for sure...I need to keep it up with my 9th graders. I need to keep challenging them and keep them heading in the right direction. With my 7th graders, I have no idea what I'm going to do. I do know that I need to just keep my head above water. I can't give up on them, and I have to keep looking for new ways to get these students to care about the material. I hope the script won't be flipped for too much longer and both of my classes will be where they NEED to be. I prefer not to have one grade level that is the "problem" class.
Allow me to explain exactly what has been going on. My 9th graders have been surprisingly pleasant. I usually struggle with getting them to care about the lessons I teach, and I usually have to spend 90% of my energy trying to keep this class quiet and on task. For the past few days, something has changed. They seem to be paying attention better than before. Of course this is leading to their understanding the material better. I am no longer having to slow down as much as I was having to before. We are staying on schedule due to their effort and understanding. As far as their behavior is concerned, I am pleasantly surprised. Actually, I would say I am thrilled. They seem to have realized that I am going to be around awhile and that they are better off to do as I say. I finally feel respected. This class is still a challenge of course, but I can't believe the progress they have made in both their performance and behavior.
My 7th graders? I'm not sure what's happening there. They seem to be the bigger challenge right now. Their behavior isn't the issue. So far, I have found that 7th graders behave better than a lot of other grades. So then what is the issue with my 7th graders? I'll tell you...lack of effort. I'm currently struggling with getting my students to understand the importance of what I'm teaching them. There has recently been a lack of interest during my lessons and activities. I am trying to find new ways to interest them and fun ways to help them learn, but it's not helping much. I believe part of the problem is the thinking that I'm asking them to do. These students have not been asked to think this critically until now, and I get the feeling they are just giving up on me...
So I clearly titled this entry "Flipping the Script" because it's almost like my two grade levels have switched places. My 9th graders are making so much progress, and my 7th graders are sitting still. One thing is for sure...I need to keep it up with my 9th graders. I need to keep challenging them and keep them heading in the right direction. With my 7th graders, I have no idea what I'm going to do. I do know that I need to just keep my head above water. I can't give up on them, and I have to keep looking for new ways to get these students to care about the material. I hope the script won't be flipped for too much longer and both of my classes will be where they NEED to be. I prefer not to have one grade level that is the "problem" class.
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