Teacher's Diary

Rough Start to a (Hopefully) Good Week

The day back from a break is always a bit rocky, even if the break was only two days. Certainly, it was not long enough to feel fully rested, but it was long enough to get both teachers and students a bit off track. The day started out with panic, as I somehow managed to sleep through my alarm for the first time in years and quite possibly ever, seeing as I have always been an early riser and am very easy to wake. I don't know how it happened, but it did, and I bolted out of bed a mere 30 minutes before I was supposed to be at school. Needless to say, I had to cab it, shelling out nearly $40 in my (failed) attempt to be on time.

Luckily for me, the first period of every day is common planning time for teachers, so, although I was late clocking in, I did not leave any kids hanging. In fact, I did not miss much at all besides the common Monday-morning greetings of my colleagues. Still, not exactly the way I wanted to start off the week.

My students were not much better. After not seeing each other for four whole days, they were full of chatter about parties and turkey dinners and an acquaintance who was apparently stabbed this weekend. It was all too much for them to handle on top of classwork, so they took the easy way out - no classwork. The first two periods were talkative to the point that I had to kick two students out, something I hate doing since the less time they are in class, the less they are learning. In this case, however, there was nothing I could do. It was either get rid of them or throw my lesson out the window. The remainder of the class was fairly well-behaved after that.

By the end of the day, my nerves had settled and my students seemed to be getting back into the routine. I had my worst class last period and they actually out-performed my earlier classes, getting through more material and acting more respectful.

I am starting something new with all classes: a token economy. I still have not hashed out all the details, but when I do, I will be sure to post suggestions for using it in your own classroom. Hopefully, with the help of these new regulations, classes will be running smoother this week than they have been.

Photo of the Week

Since many of us are still trying to digest our enormous Thanksgiving meal, I found this week's photo to be appropriate.

 

Originally found at http://www.sodahead.com/user/profile/961905/nobamagirl-viva-cristo-rey/?link=obaf

While many of my students may not have had such a large feast, the photo can be used in many different ways to get kids thinking about math, science, history and English by using the fact that they will probably already be dreaming about the holidays.

For the science classroom: Discuss where the food we eat comes from. How much energy goes into creating a Thanksgiving feast? Ask students to think about the items on the table or items that they themselves ate for Thanksgiving and ask them to consider whether they are native or non-native species. What is the significance of their findings?

For the English classroom: As always, you can create a creative story about the people who set this table, but if you wanted to do something more critical, students could compare and contrast this feast with their own Thanksgiving meal. What cultural and economic factors played in to the differences they note? What are some benefits and some drawbacks of having a cultural "ideal" of what a Thanksgiving feast should look like?

For the math classroom: Create word problems that use Thanksgiving as a starting point. Students could calculate the cost of the feast or learn about measurements through Thanksgiving recipes.

For the history classroom: Compare and contrast the original Thanksgiving with what we celebrate today. How did Thanksgiving come to be? Play a game of "Myth vs Truth" and see how much your students really know about early American history.

Feel free to post other ideas! The main purpose of using photos in the classroom is to engage and motivate the students at the beginning of the lesson. Take time to find photos that will capture their attention, but still remain relevant to the topic of the day.

What I'm Thankful For

Today seems like the perfect day to review this year, and my life as whole, and remember how much I have to be thankful for. This year especially, knowing that many of my students do not have as many things to be thankful for, I want to count my blessings and hope that those less fortunate will gain love and stability in the coming year. Here are the things I am grateful for:

1. Having a loving and supportive family.

2. Having a stable job in difficult economic times.

3. Always having enough food and a place to live.

4. Having an incredible education and a love of learning that was cultivated in me from a young age.

5. Being healthy and in good shape.

6. Having caring and supportive colleagues, who are always willing to help out with a lesson or talk over what could have gone wrong, and to rejoice when things do go right.

7. Knowing that wherever I go and whatever I do, I have safety nets and support networks all around me to catch me if I fall. I can pursue my dreams without fear.

In the coming year, I hope to do what I can to give students the chance to pursue their dreams by letting them know I believe in them, even if no one else does. They can all be someone and do great things, and I want to make them understand that.

Much-Needed Break

Well it was a tough, though thankfully short, week. Now it's home for turkey, stuffing and, my favorite, cranberry sauce. The last day before break was actually quite a bit better than it had been for the previous few days. The kids were excited and anxious, which I was expecting to make class even worse, but instead it fueled them to scream "Shut up!" at each other. A break for my sore lungs.

Also, I had always thought that the time right before break gets crazy because kids are looking forward to being out of school. Now I realize that for some of these kids, the anxiety comes from the very thought of being home for 4 straight days. For those without much to eat or with bad home situations, the holidays are actually not a time for rejoicing and that may have fueled their good behavior today. They will go home having been relatively productive.

Today was also a good day because, after two weeks of feeling completely unappreciated and like a complete failure, suddenly the kids became overly expressive of their love for me. A kid who comes late to school every day and talks constantly in class, seemingly paying no attention, came up to me and told me my class was his favorite class. I replied "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you tell all your teachers that," and another student chimed in saying, "No, miss, he's been saying that to me since the beginning of the year. Your class really is his favorite."

Then other students chimed in, saying "Yeah I like your class too." Throughout the day, random kids kept giving me hugs, including a truant girl who, though in my advisory group, has only met me about 10 times (ok that's an exaggeration but not by much). It was a miracle, as if they knew how terrible my week had been and were trying to cheer me up.

Despite the lift in spirits, I am still looking forward to getting out of New York City, being with family and friends and having some time to myself to think about anything other than school. I still have grading and lesson planning and grad school work, but I'll have much more free time.

In essence, in thankful for Thanksgiving Break!

Great Site: Education World

I've been reading Education World lately and it has some great resources and motivational tools for teachers. One recent post I read was on how to show students you care about them. This is something I think most educators strive for, since most of us genuinely care about our students and want to communicate this caring to them. It's also easy to be discouraged that they don't always recognize the time and effort we are putting in for them, and these strategies might help students recognize all that you are doing.

Another great article I read was on how to create mastery-oriented students, students who value and strive for success in the classroom, rather than simply trying to pass. This is another thing I have been struggling with in my classroom. Several times over the past few weeks, I have found myself saying to students, "It seems like I care more about your education than you do!" And it's true. Over half of my students are completely uninterested in achieving high grades; as long as they pass, they are happy. It's not wonder they are like that, when many of their parents cannot read or write and even graduating from high school seems like a major feat. I, on the other hand, envision them going to college and even graduate school, becoming leaders in their fields and even winning awards.

I'm starting several initiatives to try to combat this incredible apathy, some with individual students, strictly related to their interests, and some class and school wide. I feel that, in many ways, my school encourages this lack of enthusiasm by having a "no tracking" policy, meaning that students are not placed in classes based on skill level. I find this to be counterproductive to encouraging high-achieving students. However, I have convinced my principle to allow me to form an Honor Society for the school to reward top students with extra activities after school, special guest lectures and dinners once every semester. The article on Education World gave me additional ideas for drumming up some motivation in my classroom.

I highly recommend checking out the website, even if those two articles don't interest you. The main page has many useful resources and links for lesson planning, professional development and more. Check it out!

Photo of the Week

Here at Teacher's Diary, we are starting something called Photo of the Week. Each week, a new photo will appear, along with suggestions as to how to incorporate the photo into different types of classrooms. Feel free to chime in with your own ideas about how the photos could be used.

Here is the first Photo of the Week, originally found at http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap091119.html.

 

For the science classroom: this photo shows a meteor from the Leonid Meteor Shower that peaked this past week. Most visible over Asia, it was seen even here in New York City! Using this photo, you could talk about what meteors are and what happens when a large meteor actually makes it to the ground, rather than burning up in the atmosphere.

For the ELA (English) classroom: start class off with a writing exercise. Students could develop a story around this photograph. Who took the photo? Why was that person out at that time? Were they hoping to see meteors, or was it a chance observation?

For the history classroom: what have meteors meant to different cultures at different times? How did conceptions of the night sky affect ancient cultures and lead to belief systems and superstitions that perhaps we still have today?

For the math classroom: calculate speeds and angles of different meteors. If material burns off at a certain rate as the meteor travels through the atmosphere, how large would the meteor have to be to reach the ground?

How to Relieve Flagging Spirits

This past week was probably the worst I've had so far. I found myself snapping at friends and crying for no reason at all. Classes were not particularly worse than they have been, though perhaps slightly more talkative with Thanksgiving break approaching. It's more that reality is setting in and I don't like what it looks like. Kids cut class, they talk back and don't appreciate the hard work I'm putting in and my colleagues aren't always as supportive as they could be.All to be expected, and yet I don't like it.

Is this really what my life is going to be like? I have been asking myself. Why can't it be simple and easy? Why can't people shake my hand and tell me what a good job I'm doing? Some kids are learning something sometimes! That's a huge accomplishment, right?

I'm working harder than I ever have before and I like what I'm doing too, but I am not leaving enough time for myself, for leisure or sleep. This week I hit a rut and couldn't get out, but as much as possible I have to force myself to focus on the positives that I have seen. Small things make me laugh each day, like when a student gave me a little monster finger puppet and told me I better never lose it. Or when a habitual cutter started putting her stuff in my room each day during lunch to show me she was coming back. Or when two students asked me to write recommendation letters for them. Even better, I try to focus on moments in class when all conversation stopped and all eyes were on me. It's happened once or twice in each class, even my worst ones - especially the day I had the hand bubbler, a contraption that "looks like a bong" and is used to demonstrate density. Even now, they keep asking to see it again, to hold it themselves, to try different ways of holding it and see what happens.

While at times I am getting discouraged, I will do my best to stay focused on the positive and push on. The best part is that it is almost Thanksgiving, when I will have time to recover, gather my thoughts and relieve my spirits with family and friends.

Proficient

Well, according to the Board of Education, my school is "proficient" (as per the Quality Review). We do our job but don't excel. Honestly, I'm surprised we even managed that, what with two fights breaking out while the quality reviewer was in the school. But the Review has passed and the school survives. This week in general has been a rough one for the kids. They are simply off, extremely talkative and uninterested in learning to a crippling degree.

Today, I was observed in my worst class by my grad school professor and his advice was fairly limited. He suggested ways to tighten up the lesson, which will definitely be helpful, but the two main messages I got were 1) start looking for a job at a better school and 2) convince myself that it is them and not me, and learn to let go of the kids who are never going to learn anything.

While he readily admitted that his advice sounded cynical, my professor was fairly persistent in these opinions. I wasn't sure what to do with the information, to be perfectly honest. I'm getting by in my classes and I'm learning to deal with the fact that it is never going to be perfect, but at the same time, I see potential in each of my students and I don't want to give up on any of them, which is what my professor was really saying.

Am I being too idealistic? Maybe I am, but I think I'll go crazy if I start giving up on them. The only thing that is keeping me going is the idea that I can make progress with these kids, even if that progress is so tiny only I can see it. Plus, I believe firmly that setting high expectations and goal helps every kid, even if they do not achieve the goal.

The one thing I think is true it that I have to realize that the school itself is far from perfect. It is difficult to support these students when there are few outside supports for teachers. As my professor pointed out, there is little I can do in my classroom that will not be undone by the culture of the school. With kids running through the hallways throwing paper balls and shouting to each other, banging on classroom doors to get friends' attention and a general lack of discipline, it's no wonder that they don't get anything done in my class.

I still don't want to give up hope for them, and I'm certainly working on separating myself from them a bit. My next goal is to spend more time focusing on myself and what I need. Because right now, my life is only "Proficient."

Pre-Quality Review

Today and tomorrow, our school is being reviewed by the Board of Education in what's known as a Quality Review. A woman from the DOE is scoping out the school, sitting in on classes, talking with students and faculty, scrutinizing bulletin boards and generally forming a complete picture of our school. In two days.

Today, she focused on 9th grade, so I was off the hook, but tomorrow, there is a good chance that she will be sitting in on one (or more) of my classes. At our morning meeting, she will also be asking us questions about how the school is, how safe we feel, etc. I plan to be as honest with her as I can because, even though I don't want the school to get a bad rating, I know that only through bad reviews will significant change be made for the better.

For now, I just have to get prepared so that I look my best if she observes me. I don't want my own teaching to bring the school down at all. Other than that, the school should speak for itself. We'll see how it goes...

How to Prepare a 5 Minute Demo Lesson

    

I know that now is the time when many college seniors are preparing demo lessons for their interviews at organizations like Teach for America and New York City Teaching Fellows. I remember how concerned I was this time last year, so, from someone who has been there and survived, here are some tips:

1. The most important things are enthusiasm and timing.

Believe it or not, content is not very important in these demo lessons. Far more important is the enthusiasm you show, your ability to hold your audience and your time management skills. Five minutes is not very long, and the interviewers know that. They don't expect you to teach all of quantum mechanics. They want to see that you can engage students and deliver a coherent lesson without either running out of time or (and this is worse in an actual classroom) finishing too early and having time left over. I did these interviews twice: the first time, I ran over a little bit and didn't finish asking my final question, and the second time I finished with exactly 5 seconds remaining. I only got the second job.

2. Practice, practice, practice!

The only way to be able to stay within the time limit is to practice, keeping in mind that you will tend to talk a bit faster when you are nervous. If you can, practice in front of a live, impartial audience and actually pass out the materials and write on a board or chart paper as you intend to do during the real presentation. Prepare answers to possible questions as well, and expect the interviewers to answer things incorrectly or be slightly disruptive. They want to see what you will do in these situations, so be ready.

3. Don't choose a lesson just because you think it will be easy. Make it interesting.

As much as we don't like to think of ourselves as babysitters, a large part of what teachers do is occupy time for children. That is why choosing an interesting and engaging lesson is so important. In my two interviews, I saw several lessons on the scientific method and even more on elementary-level grammar. Not that adjectives aren't interesting, but I can only imagine how many similar lessons the interviewers saw. With hundreds and thousands of applicants, you need to make yourself stand out from the crowd. Try to pick a topic that is inherently hands-on or interactive, or if you must do a lesson on adjectives, find a way to make it different. Use the Scope and Sequence and Performance Standards to guide your lesson selection and keep it focused. Remember, you only have 5 minutes, so rather than teaching the whole scientific method, why not stick to hypotheses and discuss them in more depth? Ask the students to volunteer their own hypotheses about a question that you pose.

4. Be prepared.

Make sure you have everything you need before leaving for the interview. Here's what I brought: my resume, the required readings, my demo lesson plan, handouts for the demo, pens, pencils, markers, scotch tape and visual aids for the presentation. Arrive early and be ready to talk about why you want to become a teacher.

5. Be yourself and try to stay calm.

Remember, you are at this interview because you are passionate about teaching under-served children, so let your passion and even your idealism show through. More than anything else, that is what the interviewers are looking for because without hope and desire to do good, you will not make it as a teacher.

Good luck! I hope you get in!