Teacher's Diary

In Honor of Super Bowl Sunday...

I am a huge football fan and am excited that my team is going to be playing later tonight. However, I wanted to take an opportunity to share an article that was forwarded to me and is entirely relevant to the topic of Super Bowl Sunday.

In "More Super Bowl School", Deanna Burney discusses what educators can learn from professional sports, specifically football. She talks about how football players all study a playbook and therefore have a common vocabulary with which to communicate with each other. They go through the plays in practice and work together on the field to reach their ultimate goals. Similarly, educators could perhaps benefit from a common language to discuss teaching. Burney uses the example of the term "differentiated instruction." It's a term that I regularly use and I think I employ the concept fairly well, yet when I talk to other teachers, they mean something completely different when they use the same word.

Part of the problem is that education doesn't seem to be as collaborative as it could be. I am on listservs and participate in workshops and people are very willing to share ideas if you ask. But at the same time, I feel that educators in my own school are often so wrapped up in what they have to do that they don't take the time to help out a colleague who is struggling.

I think the Common Core Standards and national standards in general are an attempt to give teachers a common curriculum and language for talking about learning. However, there is still not enough spirit of helping each other - too many teachers just stick to their own classroom and a small group of friends like they are on individual islands. I think what needs to happen to remedy this situation and develop better communities is that educators need to be forced out of their comfort zone and into professional development that will help them achieve common understanding of concepts and vocabulary.

Xtranormal - Make Your Own Teaching Movies

Hypothesis
by: otandon

Here's a cool new tool I recently discovered: Xtranormal, a website that allows you to create your own animated movie. The program is a little buggy and it crashed my browser once in the making of this movie. It's also very slow to load. That said, the results are pretty cool and I'm interested in classroom applications. Perhaps I create a short video like this one that poses a question and students must create their own animated response? The difficulties arise from the fact that some of my students don't have reliable computer and/or internet access at home and my current school is fairly low tech, with just one computer lab and 2 laptop carts that are always in complete disarray. Last week, I tried unsuccessfully to get my students some computer time to do research for their water project. Oh well. For now, I can make my own little teaching tools - maybe animations will hold their attention more than my boring voice! One can only hope...

Remembering to Enjoy Science

Looking on the bright side has been helping me focus on positivity instead of negativity. My outlook on teaching is still good - by keeping the positive in mind, I know that I still enjoy teaching and especially hands-on science. That is what the learning is all about.

While I'm still getting annoyed with my students for not being respectful or caring about my carefully planned lessons, I'm also trying to remind myself to enjoy the ride, so to speak. I became a science teacher because I love science. Through the first half of this year, I seem to have forgotten that. I need to take a step back and actually enjoy these lessons. I know for a fact that the more into them I get, the more into them the students will get. I don't want to become one of those teachers who is bitter and has a sour face every day - but that's what I have been like for the past few months. I want to be known as the crazy, fun science teacher!

It's going to take effort, but I have to remember that my students are not meant to be my friends. It doesn't matter if I make a fool of myself in front of them.

Guest Posting: The Dangers of Technology in Schools

Since I have been so lax in writing lately, others have sent me articles of their own. Here is one that is in response to a post I wrote last year about using technology in the classroom.

The author, Lindsey Wright, is fascinated with the potential of emerging educational technologies, particularly the online school, to transform the landscape of learning. She is a content writer for online college classes, where she writes about web-based learning, electronic and mobile learning, and the possible future of education. Here's what she has to say:

 

Cell phones, email and the advent of the Internet have brought about a number of changes to the world as we know it. Over the last two decades, the world has gone from snail mail that may take weeks or months to reach its destination to instant communication in practically every corner of the globe. People can now take online classes where they communicate with their classmates or professor via Internet and millions of people worldwide have a social networking profile that allows for instant communication with friends and relatives at all hours of the day. However, not all of these changes have been positive. With such immediate communication, people sometimes make regrettable decisions in the messages they send. Over the last ten years, the United States and other countries have seen a rise in school violence, and there have been a number of instances that have created circumstances that have put children in immediate danger.

Social Networks

There is no doubt that kids will be kids, and picking on one another for individual shortcomings is a simple part of human nature. However, with access to social websites where kids can continue their ridicule during the hours away from school, those taking the brunt of these personal attacks may feel as if there is no escape. While kids can control who has access to their profile, there are a number of ways some kids are tricked into allowing the people who insult them at school to view their pages. Promises of friendship or threatening behaviors are the most popular ways bullies are given access to their potential victims. Once access is granted, it becomes business as usual for the bully. In some instances groups of kids will team up to repeatedly insult or threaten an individual or individuals, causing severe anxiety to the person being picked on or threatened. It is estimated that almost half of kids in middle or high school have at one time been a victim of bullies. However, very few have ever reported this to a parent or person of authority.

Cell Phones

Cell phones are perhaps one of the most well intentioned inventions of the 20th century. They are necessary for businesses, parents and children alike, and have saved many lives over the years. However, over the last five years the U.S. has seen a rise in the deviant use of cell phones by young adults and teenagers – such as sexting. Sexting can be described as any text sent by a person that uses graphic language or images to sexually harass another individual. This has become somewhat commonplace in schools, yet many school officials are just now becoming aware. It is estimated that roughly 20 percent of teenagers have participated in some form of sexting in high school. There are a number of campaigns by student advocate groups as well as parent awareness groups that are bringing these topics to light. To deter sexting, parents should monitor their children's cell phone usage. This can be accomplished by simply viewing the usage and finding out what numbers are on the cell phone bill.

It is undeniable that the advances of technology have provided us with some amazing benefits in recent years. Almost any type of information we desire is instantly available to us, and all we have to do is pull out our cell phones and hit a few buttons. Likewise, social networking websites such as Facebook make connecting and keeping in touch with friends, family and colleagues just as easy. Unfortunately, these same sites provide bullies with constant access to their victims.

While some may argue the instant, 24/7 communication allowed by social networking sites still far outweighs the threat of cyber bulling, the problem is some children are unable to take insults
and belittlement in stride. There are children who begin to believe the insults or become so afraid of a bully that anxiety and stress become overwhelming. Over the last few years, the relentless taunts and threats of a single bully or group of individuals have caused several children to commit suicide. Clearly all the technology advances in the world cannot surpass the death of a child or young adult, especially when the death could have been prevented had more been aware of how the child was being taunted. As such, it is imperative that teachers, parents, students and school officials are properly educated on the dangers of incessant bullying and its effects so that the cycle of humiliation and depression can be put to rest.

Welcome to 2012

As my regular readers have no doubt noticed, my posting has been extremely sparse lately. Time to come clean.

I had a very rough first semester. It was far harder than I thought it would be adjusting to a new school environment where the administration and other teachers didn't recognize my talents. The school is larger than my previous school, so I feel that I haven't stood out or gotten the attention of the administration in any way and that has been frustrating. But mostly, my bad first semester was a result of my negative attitude.

When I switched schools, I came at just the wrong time, right as an administrative change was taking place. As a result, the people who hired me told me one thing, when the reality come September was something else. Rather than teaching 2 Earth Science classes, as I had been told, I was teaching only one 32-student class and two biology classes (which I had never taught before). I felt betrayed and angry and as a result, my planning and engagement with my students suffered. I blamed behavior issues for all of my problems, instead of recognizing ways that I could improve. I'm not proud of how I acted, but at least now I've had time to sit down and think about concrete ways to improve.

I think every teacher will go through something like this at some point in their career. We are caring individuals and it hurts us when we feel that our talents are being wasted. There comes a time when idealism isn't enough to stop us from getting angry at situations we have no control over - the bureaucracy, the bad decisions of others, the difficult home lives. There is so much outside the classroom that affects our work that it can be overwhelming and disheartening to think about.

I took time over the winter break to step back and what I missed most was my passion for teaching and the great feeling I would get when something did go right. I realized that I had been focusing too much on things I couldn't change and dwelling on all the negatives, often overlooking the positive. So I made a New Year's resolution to record in writing one good thing about each school day. I did it every day this week and I already feel better. Despite all the difficulties, there are still good things happening and THAT is what matters most. I hope to post the best things here on this blog (and I'll still write about difficulties now and then). This year, you should be hearing from me more!

Photo of the Week - Greenhouse Projects

On Friday, my students mostly completed building mini-greenhouses, which we are using as a way of studying Earth's atmosphere and the greenhouse effect. I'm a big fan of project-based learning, and even though my new school doesn't require it, I'm trying to do as many hands-on labs and projects as possible. This upcoming week, my students will place their greenhouses outside with tomato and lettuce plants inside and see how they do throughout the winter. One of my students also suggested the idea of placing thermometers both inside and outside the greenhouses so we can monitor whether or not they are having a measurable effect on the air temperature inside.

I did this project last year with my students, but we only got as far a paper designs, since we never got the ok from the school to order the materials. This year, I took matters into my own hands and requested what I needed from DonorsChoose. If you haven't used it before, it is a gold mine for teachers. Check it out!

A Visit

Since today my charter school was still on Thanksgiving break while the public school children and teachers were back at work, I decided to pay a visit to the school I left behind.

A lot has changed since I left (only a few months ago). For one thing, the school has expanded - as a school entering its 4th year, it has finally reached capacity. Now, instead of being huddled on one side of a vast hallway, the school encompasses the entire floor. Classrooms have been moved around and there were many new faces, both among students and among the staff. Obviously, the principal changed over the summer and most of my former colleagues seem to think that was a good thing. However, there are still clear struggles.

For one thing, it appears that the former principal decided to screw the school over. This is yet another indication to me of how he did not care at all about the welfare of the students. Apparently he knew months before the summer that he was not going to be returning this school year, but rather than try to make positive changes, he instead destroyed the school budget over the summer, purchasing so much unnecessary crap that the school can't even afford to pay for enough teachers. The poor woman who took my job is getting paid by the day as a sub rather than as a full time teacher.

Also, it seems that discipline hasn't gotten much better. I heard that last week there was a gang fight in the stairs and the students involved didn't even get suspended. While there may be positive changes happening slowly, discipline will definitely be a major setback to true improvement.

It was nice, however, to be surrounded by familiar faces, to see kids' eyes light up when they saw me, to hear the shrieks and laughter of a place where I am accepted as a great teacher. I wish that there was more I could do to help my old students, but while I went today thinking maybe I'd try to get my old job back next year if things don't pan out at the charter, I still feel that not enough has changed. I could tell that the struggle to get the kids on track to graduate, let alone apply to college, is an incredible hurdle that is not yet being overcome.

I'll have to wait and see what the rest of this year holds for me. Luckily, I'm fairly rested and confident that I will teach as well as I possibly can, wherever I am.

Photo of the Week - Far Side of the Moon Image

I just finished up my astronomy unit and have asked my students to complete their moon phase observations over Thanksgiving break. However, this is a view of the moon they will never observe. This is an image of the side of the moon that faces away from the Earth. It is also colored based on topography, with white being the highest elevation and purple being the lowest. It's a great image that I will be showing not only in my Earth Science class, but also to my Science Olympiad team for practice with remote sensing techniques. It is a good exercise for students to analyze images like this critically, to pick out the information the picture provides. I hope you will use it with your students too.

The original photo was found here, at NASA's alway-wonderful bank of Astronomy pictures.

Staying Afloat

Any reader of this blog will have noticed the distinct absence of posts for the past couple of months. That's because your resident teacher now works at a charter school and - much as you might imagine - she is being worked to the bone. Sometimes in a good way and other times not. However, it's time to break the silence and let you all know what it has been like starting my new job as a charter school teacher.

As you may remember, I was unhappy with the lack of strong leadership and positive work environment at my previous school. I was also tired of feeling like I was the only one truly committed to making a difference. I figured - and rightly so - that teachers at a charter school would be more like me, tirelessly dedicated to improving the school and giving kids the best education possible. I was right about that. I feel like I can barely make my presence known, since every teacher at my new school is constantly starting student clubs or suggesting ways to improve the school. It is both a relief and a new challenge to try to make my own impact on the school culture.

I also hoped that a charter school or at least this one in particular would have a more supportive administration. Unfortunately, that was not exactly the case. First of all, soon after I told my old school I was leaving, that principal was fired and a new one with more experience was hired. From talking to my old colleagues, it sounds like things have been improving there. Meanwhile, the charter school I now work at also went through a change in administration over the summer and the new principal is still getting used to running the school. She is not the best communicator and is obviously drowning in work on top of that, making it difficult to get in touch with her or find out what is going on. I have been constantly stressed by the fact that we don't find out about changes or deadlines until about 24 hours before things need to happen.

On top of the administrative disorganization, the students are very resistant to forming relationships with new teachers. Because the school staffs many TFA teachers, there is a high rate of turnover and the kids are understandably wary of new teachers. It has been a struggle for me to work hard at building positive relationships after leaving a school where I knew every student and was extremely close to many of them. The students at my new school have been mean and difficult, but things are starting to take a turn for the better. I'm getting more used to the new systems and am able to plan more engaging lessons and make time outside of class to work on creating bonds with students.

It has been a long first quarter and I am looking forward to relaxing over Thanksgiving break. Hopefully I'll be better about posting as well!

The First Week and a Half

The lack of posts lately is testament to the fact that work has officially begun for me. Yes, charter schools start incredibly early. We don't have any kids yet, but rather there is extensive professional development and orientation for teachers prior to the actual start of the term. This is very good for me because I am going to be teaching a class that is brand new to me - Living Environment (Biology for non-New Yorkers) - in addition to one Earth Science class.

At first I was bummed to be teaching bio rather than more Earth Science, but my anger over that has died down enough for me to begin looking forward to a new challenge. Today I finally started to feel my feet touching down on some solid ground. We new teachers were given an overview of expectations and rules and consequences, good basic stuff that makes me feel more comfortable working in a new place where I definitely don't know all the procedures.

Am I happy overall to have made the leap? Yes.

Last week, the principal of my old school resigned and a replacement has not yet been named. The situation there is unlikely to get much better for at least the first year, plus students are going to feel that they caused the principal to leave, which will only make them more defiant. While I will miss "my kids" and the co-workers I had truly bonded with over the past to years, I don't think I will regret my decision in the long run.

I can see that I have a long and challenging year ahead of me, but I am ready to be in a more supportive environment and really get to work on becoming the best teacher I can be. Hopefully I'm well on my way!