Teacher's Diary

A Day at the Mines

Today was a gorgeous day, full of blue skies, turkey vultures and mine shafts. That's right, I took my kids on a field trip to Sterling Hill Mining Museum in Ogdensburg, New Jersey, where they got to learn about the dangers of mining and the rock types that abound in a mine.

I have said it before and will continue to say it: I believe trips are the best way to get kids excited about learning. My students are often rowdy to the point of wildness, unruly and unmanageable. But get them out in a field in New Jersey and they will beg you to help them fill their cardboard box with the 6 different rocks they are supposed to find. The toughest kids grow wide-eyed upon entering the cold, damp mine tunnel. It was an experience that none of them are likely to have again and I made it possible for them.

Talk about an authentic learning experience. Our tour guide was an old, soft-spoken man who worked in a mine himself for most of his life. He told the kids stories about how he started out as a "mucker," breaking up rocks by hand that hadn't been broken down enough in the initial dynamite blast. He told them about a friend of his who was crushed under a giant piece of iron and killed. And he told them about the marble that lined the walls we walked through. They took it all in and really experienced it.

Trips are hands-on learning amplified. Not only are the kids investigating science for themselves, they are experiencing it with their whole bodies. Taken out of their normal, safe environment, even the toughest kids become angels. They know instinctively that they can't get away with things that they get away with back at school, so they don't even attempt it. I am always truly amazed to see that side of them.

For anyone in the New York or New Jersey area, I highly recommend that you take your students to Sterling Hill. The tour guides are fabulous and the learning experience the kids receive is unparalleled. I could tell that it opened so many of them up to science and made what we have been learning about come alive.

To the right, check out one of the cool fluorescent rocks found at the mine!

Abandonment Complexes

One of the teachers at our school is leaving this week. She's not going on maternity leave or moving with her husband to another state. She's not sick, nor is anyone in her family sick. And all the kids came to me asking, "Why is she leaving us?"

Although these kids complain about having to come to school, it is moments like these that make you realize that they actually love it. They love the consistency that many of them do not have in their lives outside of school. They are constantly pushing against us to see how hard we will push back - the harder we push signifying greater love for them. So it hurts them when they feel we are abandoning them.

Ignore the fact that they constantly complained about this teacher until today, when they found out. Ignore the fact that they tried to hide out in my classroom instead of going to hers. Ignore the fact that cries of "I hate Ms. X" were often bandied about my classroom. Today, they all looked indignant and asked why she was leaving.

My advisory students still talk about the advisor they had last year, a math teacher who left the school at the end of the year, and I know that several of them took it personally when she left. I can only imagine how this teacher's advisory is going to feel when she abandons them mid-year. Many of these students are familiar with abandonment in their personal lives and they grow to expect more from their school environment. I can see how much it pains them when we let them down.

I'm sure in time, they will get used to the new teacher, but the whole ordeal made me think about my own situation at school. The school is not great and I considered leaving for a while, although I never would have left in the middle of the year. However, I don't know if I could bear hurting these kids like that, after all some of them have been through. But does that mean I'm stuck at this school forever? In the end, I've decided to stick it out for a couple more years. After all, what could be more rewarding than helping a suffering school get better? At the same time, I know I need to be careful because I tend to get too attached and I don't want to end up in a situation where I'm staying in a bad job just to avoid hurting the kids. They will rebound.

At what point do I need to draw the line and just fend for myself?

Photo of the Week

This week's photo is a still shot of a video, found here, that shows a comet entering the sun on March 13th. My students are always excited by anything related to astronomy, so I figured other educators could certainly use this video in their classrooms. I plan to show the video as a Do Now exercise and have the kids come up with ideas about what it is before showing them this article from Discovery News, which explains what is happening. It's a great way to get kids making predictions and getting engaged in science.

Digital Classroom - Introduction

In my graduate class (which focuses on literacy in the content-area class), we have focused a lot on how to incorporate technology into the classroom. Now, I consider myself pretty computer literate - I mean, I write a blog, use Facebook and Twitter and can even do some basic HTML programming. But as a first-year teacher, I have been finding it difficult to find time to incorporate these things into my classroom.

For one thing, working in a high-need school, I don't have very many resources at hand. We are lucky enough to have two computer carts, but that must be shared between the 20 or so teachers. And there are only about 4 digital projectors between us. Forget about Smartboards and the like...

I used DonorsChoose to fund a projector for my own classroom, so now at least I don't have to fight for that. However, I can't use DonorsChoose for everything and it takes time to write a proposal and wait for it to be funded and delivered. Now that I have the projector, though, I have been able to incorporate videos into my lessons and have found that the one way to get every kid completely silent is to stick them in front of the screen. Even in my worst class, kids settle down when the projector comes out and a video starts.

But lately in grad school we have been discussing other ways to incorporate technology into our classrooms. There have been so many advances in what we can do with computers and over the internet that showing class videos no longer constitutes forward thinking in terms of technology. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are now being considered tools for increasing literacy. Many teachers are setting up blogs to communicate with students and get them thinking about the material outside the classroom.

It's true that I struggle to get students to do homework and something like Twitter can be accessed on a phone or Sidekick even if the student does not have a computer. Many of my students already use Twitter, but do they know how to use it responsibly? Can they use it to communicate a short, concise message that still makes sense? At first, I thought blogs could be useful but didn't see how Twitter could possibly further classroom discussion. At the same time, I myself have written about the incredible rate of change for technology today.

This week, I plan to focus on several of the articles we have read in class and discuss ways in which these tools can be incorporated more effectively into the classroom. If you are ready to make your classroom more high-tech, stay tuned for upcoming posts!

Another Rough Day

Having a bad day has really become part of my routine. By now, I am used to lessons going horribly awry, unpredictable events taking up my prep time and never knowing in advance what state my students will be in by the time they arrive in my classroom.

Today I started the day tired and slightly under-prepared. I had my lesson planned, but I hadn't made my copies and my first period prep was taken up dealing with students. I managed to get to class with the correct copies, but it stressed e out having to rush. Then, I found out that one of my advisees is pregnant - with her second child. Only this time, she doesn't want to keep the baby. As one of only 2 teachers this girl has told, I feel responsible for making sure she gets through this ok. But I have zero experience with abortions.

I was not ready for all of this when I started in September.

Now that I have grown to know these kids and this environment, however, I can accept events as they come. I may not have all the answers to give this girl, but I do have the confidence to give her advice about what to do, how to be safe. We had the whole "how to use birth control" talk and I will keep monitoring her for changes.

I am finding myself more and more detached from my job as the year goes on. Not that I don't care about these students! Anyone who knows me can tell you that I wouldn't give up this job for the world. I love my students and the challenges they provide for me, and I am no longer bogged down by these challenges. I no longer come home saying "I just don't know if these kids will make it." As the same time, I don't want to become one of those heartless old teachers I knew and feared growing up.

The good news is the difficult days are getting farther apart, with many more good days intervening. And to be honest, today ended with one fantastic class. Overall, I think I am handling the bad days in a much more calm and responsible way. I am sure it will continue to improve as the year continues.

The Truth About Being a First-Year Teacher

Being a first-year teacher is all about learning, but a major part of the learning, for me at least, has been learning about what it means to be a teacher. In the past week or so, I have come to realize that being a teacher is all about making choices. Some of those choices, like whether or not to have breakfast, are easy (always, always eat breakfast), while others are considerably more challenging, like should I go to an Oscar party even though I have school tomorrow?

Although to the untrained eye, that second choice may seem just as easy as the first, it is decidedly not. For one thing, I rarely have time to relax and enjoy good food and company, but on the other, it is harder to be an engaging teacher when I am excessively tired. Lately, however, I have been finding it more necessary to relax. Although I'm tired, I feel noticeably better and I hope it is rubbing off on the kids. Spring's arrival, I'm sure, doesn't hinder that either.

Another thing I've been finding is that I have to decide when to be the caring, all-giving teacher and when to say no to kids. From September through December, I had kids with me during nearly every lunch and practically every day after school. While it helped me build strong relationships with them and improved their understanding, it took up most of my free time and I found myself staying up late lesson planning as a result. Just recently, I have been able to politely push kids out of the room and dedicate some "me" time. Sure, they give me dirty looks, but I'm planning better lessons too.

Today, I made another big choice. I was (surprise) spreading myself too thin in the realm of extracurricular activities for the students. Since our school is small, there is less opportunity for kids to do things after school. I started a computer club to help with this problem and have been running it with another teacher for several months. However, I also started an Honor Society because I felt that good students were not getting enough recognition. The two had been competing for my time and, although I feel strongly connected to both, I released computer club into the hands of my partner today. It has outlived its original purpose and was really too small to monopolize two teachers' time.

Overall, I am certainly learning how to make better decisions about how to use my time and when to say no to something, even if I find it worthwhile. In the end, I won't be able to save every student, so it is up to me to learn how to choose the ones who need help the most.

Photo of the Week

It's not too late to bring the Chilean earthquake into your classroom. This article by the San Francisco Sentinel has a great discussion of some of the science behind the earthquake, as well as details and pictures of the disaster itself. I think it is important to discuss events like this in your classes, to give your students a wider view of the world.

For earth science teachers, another cool resource is this Earthquake Simulator website, which allows students to vary earthquake parameters and see what magnitude the earthquake would be. It's a great way to teach how these concepts effect earthquake strength. For you California readers, this site focuses on the San Andreas fault, so it might have even more meaning for your students.

You can also check out my previous tips, relating to the Haiti earthquake and how to use the news in your classroom.

Proposed Changes to Regents Exams

For any teachers here in New York, I thought I'd bring the following posting regarding proposed changed to the Regents to your attention.

Albany is discussing changing certain things, including eliminating exam translations into Chinese and Haitian Creole and discontinuing the January and August Regents administration dates, about the Regents to cut budget costs. While some of the costs they propose to cut seem to make sense, the two I mentioned seem likely to decrease the number of students who are able to pass the exams. After all, students who fail in June are much more likely to pass in August or January than the following June, when they have been out of the class for even longer. Eliminating translation options seems extremely unfair to our ELL kids, which my regular readers know is a particular interest of mine. Are we sending the message that they should only learn content material if they can learn it in English?

Anyway, I thought it was important to bring these issues to everyone's attention. If you'd like to do more, you can contact your superintendent or senator and bring these proposed changes to their attention.

Senators

Superintendents

Effective Classroom Strategies: Watch These Videos!

Need techniques for moving kids around the classroom, information on how to cold call properly or tips on how to set higher expectations? These 5 short videos (all about 1 minute long) will give you some ideas. I was impressed by the teachers pictured - actual teachers filmed performing tasks with their actual classes. These ideas certainly do not exhaust all possibilities, but they are a great way to start thinking about how to improve certain classroom techniques. I especially love the idea of reading aloud and having kids follow along, but I am concerned that at a high school level, kids who struggle with reading would be embarrassed by this kind of calling technique. Maybe I will try it next year.

The videos were linked to an article from the New York Times Magazine, entitled Building a Better Teacher. The article, though long, had some great insight into some of the problems with struggling schools today and sought answers to the growing problem of how to improve the quality of teachers. Check it out when you have a minute!

QHQ Technique Take 2: Managing Time

It has been a couple of days since I've written, mostly because I haven't had time. Between lesson planning, doing projects for grad school and trying to maintain a social life, I'm struggling to fit everything in. Time management is still something I need to work on. And, because one of my grad school projects requires me to, I decided to try out the QHQ technique again to try to work out some solutions.

Question: How can I fit everything I need to do into a 24-hour day...and remain sane?

Hypothesis: First of all, there is so much to do. Grading is currently taking up most of my time, followed by lesson planning. I'm working so hard to plan exciting lessons, but I find it really hard to get the students engaged in learning about rocks. And that's another worry - I'm still on rocks! 3 whole units behind! I need to catch up, but how can I when they don't understand what I'm doing now? On top of all that, I have graduate school to work on, but at least my online class ends in two weeks. I'll be done with that, which will give me a lot more time to do other things. Then I'm also trying to stay sane by going out with friends and working out. And last but not least, sleeping. That always takes the back seat it seems. I need to prioritize, but absolutely everything seems necessary and important. If I eliminate fun stuff, I get more stressed out and sleep badly. I'm grouchy and then my lessons don't go as well. And if I eliminate sleep, well, that's just not an option. One thing I can do is cut down on the wasted, listless time between activities. I'm doing better at using commuting time and meal time to my advantage, but I still get stuck watching too much TV and sitting around thinking instead of doing.

Question: So, what can I do to limit my wasted time further and improve my efficiency?

I really like this technique. I find it very relaxing and it helps iron out the crazy thoughts running around my brain all the time. As I continue to settle into teaching, I will certainly try to get my students to use it to tease out their thoughts about science.