Teacher's Diary

Update

I haven't posted in a while. Right now, New York public schools are on Mid-Winter recess (or February break, as I called it when I was in school), and I am in sunny Florida, far away from the cold and snow of New York. It is wonderful to be able to just relax and eat great food, get some exercise and sleep. I'm been watching the Best Picture nominees that I had yet to see and reading books purely for pleasure. As I'm sure you can imagine, I am not too eager to think about work, so I have been avoiding posting. Tomorrow, I do plan to do some work, so I will write about what has been going on in my teaching life then. For now, I'm going to sit back and enjoy the sunshine.

Photo of the Week - Hoodoos in Bryce Canyon

  

As the bitter winter drags on here in New York, I find myself longing more and more for summer and other climes. This photo was taken on my cross-country roadtrip several summers ago and shows Thor's Hammer, a rock formation in Bryce Canyon National Park. Bryce was my favorite of the 5 National Parks we visited on that trip. We woke at 4 am in our motel and drove into Bryce so that we could watch the sunrise over the hoodoos, those eerie columns of rock. It was absolutely spectacular.

I wish I was there now!

New Research on How to Study

Since I am so behind the times with my posting, I'm sure many of you have already seen this article, but for those of you who missed it, there is new evidence for the best way to study.

According to this New York Times article, the best way to study is not by cramming the night before the test or even by repeating the same thing over and over again. Well, you probably knew that. But what you may not have know that in fact the best way to study information is to take a test on it.

Yup, apparently we learn even as we are being tested on what we know. And we retain more information if we practice by taking a test than we do if we study using more traditional methods, like making flashcards or drawing elaborate connection diagrams.

The findings of the study really surprised me and made me rethink how I feel about test-prep courses and more test-based forms of learning. Since my school is so focused on projects, I have never thought about tests as a way for my students to solidyfy concepts and information but apparently, they work. Perhaps I should start having my students take their unit tests before completing the unit project.

I'm certainly still processing the significance of this discovery and deciding what implications it may have for my own claasroom.

 

Photo of the Week - San Andreas Fault

I was sent this photograph from someone on the Oneonta listserv and simply had to share it with my viewers. Taken in the aftermath of the devastating 1906 San Fransisco earthquake, the image is both chilling and strangely beautiful. It amazed me how desolate the landscape looks and how solitary the female observer seems. It is hard to believe that somewhere nearby, about 3000 people have just died due to the same earthquake that created this feature. This is a particularly sobering thought, considering that many believe the San Andreas is due for a massive earthquake soon, and obviously this area is much more built up now than it was back then. It combination with an article about this fact, I think this photo will be a great introduction to my plate tectonics/earthquake unit.

How to Get Ahead - and Stay There

One of the most valuable things a teacher can do is get ahead. On planning, on grading, on classroom decoration, you name it. Despite what many a lay person may think, teaching is a time consuming job, one that follows you home and even into your dreams at night. During the school year, I rarely feel rested and I am often racing around trying to get everything done. It is on the worst days that - inevitably - something unplanned comes up out of the blue to throw you off even more: a parent shows up for a meeting, a student you are close to has a crisis, the principal needs your help doing whatever it is he is doing.

I have learned in my year and a half of teaching that getting ahead from time to time is the only way to stay sane. During Regents week last week, I was able to get ahead, at least a little bit, which allowed me to relax over the weekend. Still, the snowday on Thursday threw me off and I now find myself backpedaling again. In an effort to get ahead again, I have been thinking about the most important steps. Here's what I've come up with:

1. Plan farther than you think you need to - as a first-year teacher, I often had a significant problem planning my lessons far enough ahead. I would plan the next day or two and then stop, exhausted. This year, I have been making an effort to plan at least a full week at a time, so that I'm not scrambling in the morning, having forgotten that I had no lesson plan for the coming day. If I have any time, I keep planning further. This not only helps keep my stress levels down, but also increases my effectiveness as a teacher. I can see the connections between lessons and make them more explicit during class. I can also recognize where it might be a good idea to go into more depth on a certain topic and where I can skim over something. Overall, it leads to a more cohesive learning environment for both me and my students.


2. Use preps wisely - public school teachers all know the joy of the prep, that delicious free period. After a rough day, all I want to do during my prep is plop down in the teacher room, vent about my students and eat something unhealthy. Last year, those venting sessions kept me sane. This year, however, I find myself staying in my own classroom, away from other teachers, more and more. It's not that I don't think it is important to collaborate with them - in fact, I collaborate with other teachers more this year than last. It's just that I need all the time I can get to finish the work I have. I'm trying to leave evenings more free for relaxation and using my preps to their fullest extent certainly helps.


3. Find ways to save time and do less unnecessary work - last year, by the end of March, I had a stack of ungraded papers piled on my desk that just kept growing and growing. I found it impossible to keep up with the amount of work I needed to do just to keep the pile at a manageable level. This year, I have several new techniques for keeping my grading pile small. Firstly, I no longer collect everything. I now check homework in class and then go over it, so I have no grading at home and my students get immediate feedback on their work. Secondly, I grade things the day they are handed in if possible. This solves the problem of the never-ending pile by never allowing a pile to form. Of course, things are different towards the end of a grading cycle, when makeup work is coming in from all sides, but at least I don't have that pile hanging over me all semester.

These techniques have significantly lowered the job-related stress I feel and have made teaching more enjoyable. I hope you will find them useful too!