More from the "this is the context my kids live in" file:
A kid is drawing swastikas on his arm today. I explained what they are, he seemed to feel really bad, he went to go wash them off.
Open House tonight:
Me: "He was drawing swastikas on his arm... I explained why he couldn't do that and I don't think it will be a problem."
Parent: "That thing he was drawing on his arm? He did that at home too... I didn't realize there was anything wrong with that..."
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Begin: Year 2
School starts on Monday. It's hard to believe just over a year has passed since I first welcomed students into my classroom. There's a lot of changes in store for this year.
I like my school, and the fourth-grade team is great this year. We have a new teacher who is really good, and we seem very dedicated to the collaboration/PLC ("Professional Learning Community") model that is being promoted in HISD and at our school. I was elected team leader (somewhat by default due to a lot of circumstances) but I did get us to begin revamping our calendar which we didn't really follow last year. It seems as though we will actually use common assessments this year as well, which should be exciting. I do have 25 students, more than I'd like, but hopefully that will get adjusted.
I have a lot of different plans for this year. I'm going to try doing a real Reading Workshop, with good mini-lessons. I'm going to stress vocabulary, and do a decoding program. I'm teaching grammar differently, and I have math planned out for most of the year as well as a new design for the math block which gives students more time for independent practice and working in teams. I think I'm going to start staying after school with the kids for study hall and to study English and narrative elements in movies.
On the down side, we wasted a bunch of time with horrible professional development. The worst example was the HISD bilingual session. For some reason, they decided to get all the bilingual teachers together at one site. Given the sheer size of our district, that's way too many teachers to have anywhere. The "keynote speaker" was a horrible motivational speaker, whose book had so many typos I had to stop reading despite my boredom. I think she got hired because she's friends with one of the organizers. Parking took 40 minutes and I ended up on the grass by the track (which is made of dirt, by the way). Some people had to park in a shuttle lot and catch a bus. One of the teachers from my school had her car towed because she parked by the dollar store across the street. Of course, it was an HISD session, so I wasn't learning anything either. Plenty of people left as soon as the opportunity arose, and I may have been one of them. Perhaps the "best" moment was when it was announced that HISD's bilingual programs are "working" because there are less 5th grade bilingual teachers than kindergarten teachers! Yay! We push our kids out of bilingual programs! It's working well!!
I've been spending a lot of time with data. It's been fun as I've applied my passion for data to a different field (education). I did discover one particularly motivating fact: the average SAT score at the high school that my students feed into, for 2004-05, was 847. I guess this isn't unusual, but for some reason, that number says a lot more to me than a lot of other facts could.
Well... here goes year 2!
I like my school, and the fourth-grade team is great this year. We have a new teacher who is really good, and we seem very dedicated to the collaboration/PLC ("Professional Learning Community") model that is being promoted in HISD and at our school. I was elected team leader (somewhat by default due to a lot of circumstances) but I did get us to begin revamping our calendar which we didn't really follow last year. It seems as though we will actually use common assessments this year as well, which should be exciting. I do have 25 students, more than I'd like, but hopefully that will get adjusted.
I have a lot of different plans for this year. I'm going to try doing a real Reading Workshop, with good mini-lessons. I'm going to stress vocabulary, and do a decoding program. I'm teaching grammar differently, and I have math planned out for most of the year as well as a new design for the math block which gives students more time for independent practice and working in teams. I think I'm going to start staying after school with the kids for study hall and to study English and narrative elements in movies.
On the down side, we wasted a bunch of time with horrible professional development. The worst example was the HISD bilingual session. For some reason, they decided to get all the bilingual teachers together at one site. Given the sheer size of our district, that's way too many teachers to have anywhere. The "keynote speaker" was a horrible motivational speaker, whose book had so many typos I had to stop reading despite my boredom. I think she got hired because she's friends with one of the organizers. Parking took 40 minutes and I ended up on the grass by the track (which is made of dirt, by the way). Some people had to park in a shuttle lot and catch a bus. One of the teachers from my school had her car towed because she parked by the dollar store across the street. Of course, it was an HISD session, so I wasn't learning anything either. Plenty of people left as soon as the opportunity arose, and I may have been one of them. Perhaps the "best" moment was when it was announced that HISD's bilingual programs are "working" because there are less 5th grade bilingual teachers than kindergarten teachers! Yay! We push our kids out of bilingual programs! It's working well!!
I've been spending a lot of time with data. It's been fun as I've applied my passion for data to a different field (education). I did discover one particularly motivating fact: the average SAT score at the high school that my students feed into, for 2004-05, was 847. I guess this isn't unusual, but for some reason, that number says a lot more to me than a lot of other facts could.
Well... here goes year 2!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Second language acquisition and NCLB
On Daily Kos, there's a journal about Jim Cummins, the second language acquisition researcher. It's a good summary of the problems of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for second language learners if you're not familiar with the flaws of that wonderful law.
For those not familiar, Cummins came up with the idea of "BICS" and "CALP"--that there are two basic kinds of language that need to be learned. BICS, or Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills, basically deal with socializing and day-to-day living; CALP, or Cognitive Academic Language Processes, is your "academic speech." The difference is that CALP is used in the classroom without any context. Hence while a student can appear to be fluent, due to acquisition of BICS, their CALP may be far too low to enable any solid academic progress in the second language (English for my students).
NCLB gives a three-year exemption before students are required to be assessed in English for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). NCLB also removed any references to biliteracy and bilingualism and made the goal of bilingual programs solely to teach English--a good goal, but not enough.
I promise to post more on this soon, as my summer coursework has dealt largely with English language learning issues, and I've learned a lot that's currently churning around in my head.
For those not familiar, Cummins came up with the idea of "BICS" and "CALP"--that there are two basic kinds of language that need to be learned. BICS, or Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills, basically deal with socializing and day-to-day living; CALP, or Cognitive Academic Language Processes, is your "academic speech." The difference is that CALP is used in the classroom without any context. Hence while a student can appear to be fluent, due to acquisition of BICS, their CALP may be far too low to enable any solid academic progress in the second language (English for my students).
NCLB gives a three-year exemption before students are required to be assessed in English for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). NCLB also removed any references to biliteracy and bilingualism and made the goal of bilingual programs solely to teach English--a good goal, but not enough.
I promise to post more on this soon, as my summer coursework has dealt largely with English language learning issues, and I've learned a lot that's currently churning around in my head.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
An anecdote for summer
I've been teaching summer school, which has actually been fun. It's been nice to have a smaller class--and they'll all be in my class next year which is another benefit. We're almost done--it's a short summer school, 4 weeks--and on Wednesday they will be out. Today was a stormy day, and as I drove through the puddles and oceans in third-world east Houston, I could think about the conversation I had with my student earlier today:
9-year-old female student: I went to the park yesterday and saw [Rodrigo] playing soccer. [Rodrigo was absent today].
Me: That's cool. Do you play soccer?
Student: Yeah, I like it. I also saw a robber there. He took stuff from our house.
Me: Oh, okay. [Pause a minute]. What? You said you saw a robber at the park?
Student: Yeah. He escaped from jail.
Me: He escaped from jail, or they let him out?
Student: He escaped.
Me: Shouldn't they go take him back?
Student: Yeah.
9-year-old female student: I went to the park yesterday and saw [Rodrigo] playing soccer. [Rodrigo was absent today].
Me: That's cool. Do you play soccer?
Student: Yeah, I like it. I also saw a robber there. He took stuff from our house.
Me: Oh, okay. [Pause a minute]. What? You said you saw a robber at the park?
Student: Yeah. He escaped from jail.
Me: He escaped from jail, or they let him out?
Student: He escaped.
Me: Shouldn't they go take him back?
Student: Yeah.
Monday, May 14, 2007
The end is in sight...
The first year is almost over: I'm only going to be in the classroom with the kids for 4 1/2 more days (tomorrow, Wednesday morning, and the first 3 days of next week). Much of that will be cleaning up and taking care of business. We leave early Thursday morning for Austin and San Antonio and get back Saturday night--should be a fun trip and my kids are really looking forward to it (the ones that are going; thanks to my mentor, we were able to get some more funding, and 8 of my kids are going).
I'm just worn out. I get a few days off before I start teaching summer school. I agreed to teach summer school for a couple reasons: I should get to teach the kids who will be in my class next year and jump-start them with writing and English in general; I could use the money; and I'll be in Houston anyway, since I have to take classes for certification until the end of July. I think I get a four-day weekend before a one-day training and then starting summer school on Thursday 5/31, but I'm not positive on the dates. At any rate, it's only a month... and hopefully I will be in my room so I can start prepping it for next year early.
Has it been successful? Kind of. I can really feel that I have a good relationship with most of the students, which is positive. It was tough at the beginning of the year to get them to do anything, mainly because I didn't know how to tell them to; now it's a lot easier. I have a lot of changes in organizational and parental involvement plans for next year that I'm excited about, but at the same time, there will be more pressure. But at least I'll be able to hit the ground running in September, and I have a couple months to work out details...
I'm just worn out. I get a few days off before I start teaching summer school. I agreed to teach summer school for a couple reasons: I should get to teach the kids who will be in my class next year and jump-start them with writing and English in general; I could use the money; and I'll be in Houston anyway, since I have to take classes for certification until the end of July. I think I get a four-day weekend before a one-day training and then starting summer school on Thursday 5/31, but I'm not positive on the dates. At any rate, it's only a month... and hopefully I will be in my room so I can start prepping it for next year early.
Has it been successful? Kind of. I can really feel that I have a good relationship with most of the students, which is positive. It was tough at the beginning of the year to get them to do anything, mainly because I didn't know how to tell them to; now it's a lot easier. I have a lot of changes in organizational and parental involvement plans for next year that I'm excited about, but at the same time, there will be more pressure. But at least I'll be able to hit the ground running in September, and I have a couple months to work out details...
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Scores are in.
11/22 pass writing (February)--this required passing both the grammar and the composition
13/22 pass reading (April)
19/22 pass math (April)
A little disappointing to me personally, but not horrible. Some kids cried, some kids jumped up and down. High-stakes testing does bad things to kids.
13/22 pass reading (April)
19/22 pass math (April)
A little disappointing to me personally, but not horrible. Some kids cried, some kids jumped up and down. High-stakes testing does bad things to kids.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
My student wins a scholarship!
One of my students went to a sketching competition sponsored by the Museum of Fine Arts a couple of weekends ago. The art teacher at our school (we currently have art as an ancillary) found out about the competition and recommended that he go. I called up the parent a few days beforehand and reinforced it (good thing, too--she said they weren't planning to take him because they didn't think he was eligible. That is my small role if he becomes successful).
He is a good kid, but very easily distracted and disorganized. He's such an artistic learner that he doesn't do well at all with visual or logical learning, and is very inconsistent with his reading (his Stanford scores were the lowest in the class, I think because of this and because of getting distracted).
Anyway, he gets a free art class with the MFA's art school, I think this fall. Awesome!
He is a good kid, but very easily distracted and disorganized. He's such an artistic learner that he doesn't do well at all with visual or logical learning, and is very inconsistent with his reading (his Stanford scores were the lowest in the class, I think because of this and because of getting distracted).
Anyway, he gets a free art class with the MFA's art school, I think this fall. Awesome!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Grading systems
What is the point of a grade? What is it meant to show? We've been discussing this issue in the "university class" I'm required to take, though I must admit that this debate has been valuable and really added to my perspective.
In particular, what does "80" mean?
Does it mean that the student got 80% on tests?
Does it mean that, through some preassigned weighting, the grade came out to an 80?
Does it mean that the student knows nothing, but tries really hard and so gets an 80?
Does it mean that the student knows everything, but didn't do homework?
The problem is, in my opinion, especially acute for an elementary school student. How do you issue them a numeric grade? When I was in school, our system was E/S/N (Excellent, Satisfactory, Needs Improvement), separated by subject and by effort/achievement. I am required to give one numeric grade per subject. There's no distinction between "tried really hard but not quite there" and "knows it all and put in no effort," they both may come out to a 72.
Now, there's the question of whether grades are necessary at all, and for what. I'm a definite believer that college grades are a good thing, as long as they correspond to a predefined set of standards. I tend to believe that high school grades are a necessary evil as a way of providing some distinction between those who performed well and those who did not, although they of course must be taken with a heavy spoonful of salt. But elementary school? What does that tell anyone? (Of course, what does a standardized test tell anyone either?...)
I've given a lot of failing grades this year, and I've underemphasized effort, not because I've wanted to, but because I've had no direction on how to give grades and it just ended up being easier to give grades based on how students did on their assignments. (This wasn't any sort of planned idea; that's just how it turned out.)
As a result, I've been trying to rework the way I grade students. The formula that I've derived so far (for next year) is weighted, as follows:
I try not to use grades as a stick to beat kids over the head with (it loses its potency anyway if you do it too frequently, plus I have some that just don't care regardless). That tends to be a downer and release negative energy. But I am required to put some sort of number on a report card, and it should accurately as possible reflect ... something.
In particular, what does "80" mean?
Does it mean that the student got 80% on tests?
Does it mean that, through some preassigned weighting, the grade came out to an 80?
Does it mean that the student knows nothing, but tries really hard and so gets an 80?
Does it mean that the student knows everything, but didn't do homework?
The problem is, in my opinion, especially acute for an elementary school student. How do you issue them a numeric grade? When I was in school, our system was E/S/N (Excellent, Satisfactory, Needs Improvement), separated by subject and by effort/achievement. I am required to give one numeric grade per subject. There's no distinction between "tried really hard but not quite there" and "knows it all and put in no effort," they both may come out to a 72.
Now, there's the question of whether grades are necessary at all, and for what. I'm a definite believer that college grades are a good thing, as long as they correspond to a predefined set of standards. I tend to believe that high school grades are a necessary evil as a way of providing some distinction between those who performed well and those who did not, although they of course must be taken with a heavy spoonful of salt. But elementary school? What does that tell anyone? (Of course, what does a standardized test tell anyone either?...)
I've given a lot of failing grades this year, and I've underemphasized effort, not because I've wanted to, but because I've had no direction on how to give grades and it just ended up being easier to give grades based on how students did on their assignments. (This wasn't any sort of planned idea; that's just how it turned out.)
As a result, I've been trying to rework the way I grade students. The formula that I've derived so far (for next year) is weighted, as follows:
- 50% Objectives
- Simply put, does the kid understand? Demonstrated more than once, in more than one way. 1 for yes, 0 for no; average it out.
- The main difficulty here is breaking down the objectives into what I am actually going to use for a grade, and in providing the opportunity for remediation and makeup (I've had a huge problem with that this year).
- There is the possibility of differenting the objectives for different students, thereby making the system more fair.
- 25% Effort
- Do I see the kid participating in class?
- Does he/she do his homework?
- 25% Raw Achievement
- How does the kid do on daily work, tests and quizzes?
I try not to use grades as a stick to beat kids over the head with (it loses its potency anyway if you do it too frequently, plus I have some that just don't care regardless). That tends to be a downer and release negative energy. But I am required to put some sort of number on a report card, and it should accurately as possible reflect ... something.
Testing results
Word is that the kids tried their best.
Hopefully that will be enough for 2/3 of them to pass.
The last two weeks heading up to the testing were crazy, as I tried to reinforce strategies, they pulled out most of my kids for math, and I tried to get whatever knowledge I could into the heads of those who were left.
The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills is administered by another teacher--in our school, by the 5th grade teacher. Therefore, during the two days my students took reading and math (April 17-18), I was teaching fifth grade... don't try it. It could be hazardous to your health. I'm just glad I didn't get assigned middle school and I admire those who are handling it (I guess I could handle it if I were put there originally, but I'm well used to fourth graders by now). The testing day for fifth grade, April 19, was actually worse, though, as I had a lot of kids act up after they were done testing and I'd have to send them outside. I think I had four kids alone outside by the end with more waiting.
We got Stanford results back during the same timeframe. I had 1/2 of my kids not pass either reading or math, with 9 (out of 22) not passing reading and I think 3 or 4 not passing math. The total was 11 not passing (one or the other), 11 passing, with a couple of kids overlapping reading and math. However, they had basically no prep for Stanford, which came right after TAKS Writing, so hopefully that is not a good reflection of what their scores coming back will look like.
Hopefully that will be enough for 2/3 of them to pass.
The last two weeks heading up to the testing were crazy, as I tried to reinforce strategies, they pulled out most of my kids for math, and I tried to get whatever knowledge I could into the heads of those who were left.
The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills is administered by another teacher--in our school, by the 5th grade teacher. Therefore, during the two days my students took reading and math (April 17-18), I was teaching fifth grade... don't try it. It could be hazardous to your health. I'm just glad I didn't get assigned middle school and I admire those who are handling it (I guess I could handle it if I were put there originally, but I'm well used to fourth graders by now). The testing day for fifth grade, April 19, was actually worse, though, as I had a lot of kids act up after they were done testing and I'd have to send them outside. I think I had four kids alone outside by the end with more waiting.
We got Stanford results back during the same timeframe. I had 1/2 of my kids not pass either reading or math, with 9 (out of 22) not passing reading and I think 3 or 4 not passing math. The total was 11 not passing (one or the other), 11 passing, with a couple of kids overlapping reading and math. However, they had basically no prep for Stanford, which came right after TAKS Writing, so hopefully that is not a good reflection of what their scores coming back will look like.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Almost there!
Well... students took their final benchmarks last week.
My math class has been split into three. That's fine for me, since I get the "high" third, the ones who are doing OK by grade level standards. They're the easy ones to teach. The rest of them go to our pull-out teachers, who normally do reading, but who are doing their best to try to get them caught up. Meanwhile, I've met with my TFA program director to figure out a plan to get kids up to speed as fast as possible. I taught the plan (it includes an acronym for their test strategies).
Issue: they still have comprehension problems. Even if they're reading it out loud in a group, they miss some big things. Result: their reading scores were about the same on the new benchmark, though math climbed a bit. That would mean about half pass, half don't. I'm under no illusions that all of them are going to pass, though I am still hoping maybe 2/3 will pull it out in both math and reading. I'm feeling a little better about next year, though, because I really think I do know how to improve a lot.
We had Friday off and today was professional development. We met in "vertical teams," i.e. the PK-5th teacher in the same sequence. The third-grade teacher before me, who reportedly doesn't teach much English, finally admitted as much (since I don't know it anyway). I don't understand how that works, since she has all the time after the reading test in March to focus just on English. Sigh. Anyway, my vertical team is a joke, since the goal seems to be to leave as quickly as possible and not to actually cooperate in any meaningful way. They always tell me "we are here if you need us" but they're definitely not committed to collaboration as a concept. So far I don't feel like I can change that, much as I might want to.
Last bit of good news: I'm getting a smartboard! (although we call them "teamboards"). I'm excited to see what I'll be able to do with it!
My math class has been split into three. That's fine for me, since I get the "high" third, the ones who are doing OK by grade level standards. They're the easy ones to teach. The rest of them go to our pull-out teachers, who normally do reading, but who are doing their best to try to get them caught up. Meanwhile, I've met with my TFA program director to figure out a plan to get kids up to speed as fast as possible. I taught the plan (it includes an acronym for their test strategies).
Issue: they still have comprehension problems. Even if they're reading it out loud in a group, they miss some big things. Result: their reading scores were about the same on the new benchmark, though math climbed a bit. That would mean about half pass, half don't. I'm under no illusions that all of them are going to pass, though I am still hoping maybe 2/3 will pull it out in both math and reading. I'm feeling a little better about next year, though, because I really think I do know how to improve a lot.
We had Friday off and today was professional development. We met in "vertical teams," i.e. the PK-5th teacher in the same sequence. The third-grade teacher before me, who reportedly doesn't teach much English, finally admitted as much (since I don't know it anyway). I don't understand how that works, since she has all the time after the reading test in March to focus just on English. Sigh. Anyway, my vertical team is a joke, since the goal seems to be to leave as quickly as possible and not to actually cooperate in any meaningful way. They always tell me "we are here if you need us" but they're definitely not committed to collaboration as a concept. So far I don't feel like I can change that, much as I might want to.
Last bit of good news: I'm getting a smartboard! (although we call them "teamboards"). I'm excited to see what I'll be able to do with it!
Monday, March 26, 2007
Pressure cooker
Well, it's been a rough month. To say the least. Prior to the break, the kids took benchmarks (the 2006 TAKS release tests). Their math performance was, uh, pretty bad. And the real test looms April 18-19. So for the next few weeks, 2/3 of my class is being pulled out for math. I'm under tons of pressure. And I haven't been especially eager to post.
It was good to get out for spring break, that's all I can say. Sorry for the lack of detail, and hopefully I will provide more soon, but yes, I'm alive. I've been posting therapeutically about world affairs, which is a welcome distraction, but I've had my hands full enough with the teaching that I haven't wanted to comment too much about it here... I hope everyone understands...
It was good to get out for spring break, that's all I can say. Sorry for the lack of detail, and hopefully I will provide more soon, but yes, I'm alive. I've been posting therapeutically about world affairs, which is a welcome distraction, but I've had my hands full enough with the teaching that I haven't wanted to comment too much about it here... I hope everyone understands...
Saturday, March 03, 2007
The month of February is gone! Good.
Well, it's been a crazy month. :)
We had writing TAKS on February 20, so everything until then was trying to make sure the kids were ready for it. Then there was Stanford all of this last week. The kids are tired and I'm tired of tests; it's ridiculous. We've given, as a grade level, four full-day writing benchmarks plus one each of reading and math, and that's just getting started, because we have two more each of reading and math coming up--that'll make 10 days of the year just giving full-day tests, plus the Stanford tests, plus whatever they do in class.
I had an assignment for my UST class--I had to interview a student. First question: "What do you do in school?" Answer: "We take big tests." Ridiculous. They're 10. Stanford is cruel. It's ridiculously long--it has something like 14 different sections. Horrible. It took until lunch Tuesday through Friday this week.
Otherwise, things are getting better as far as "teaching" goes. Unfortunately, I can't really teach enough since I have to be measuring the kids all the time. May as well just have daily standardized tests to assess what they learned in the hour they had left over the previous day. In meeting with my TFA director for Round 2 we decided that I had to emphasize teaching a clear sequence of steps to my kids. I tried it in math and it seemed to work--they got a 78 on the write-out-the-answer lines and angles test, as opposed to an average 79 on the multiple-choice decimals test. Then the next day, we explored the relationship between their "effort" on the in class assignments and their "achievement" on the test, which not surprisingly were correlated.
So for Round 3 we have decided that, frankly, I still have zero idea what I'm doing as far as reading is concerned. Their comprehension isn't getting that much better (most of them, anyway), according to the STAR measurement, which is basically a fill-in-the-blanks test with increasing difficulty of passages. Grrr. Apparently this is because I (1) am not knowing what to teach kids because (2) I can't assess them correctly because (3) I don't know how and therefore (4) I can't teach them effectively. So the goal is to fix that.
Things are looking OK for the field trip to San Antonio, except that I don't have too many kids going (only seven or eight total). That's too bad, but at least we were able to cancel the second bus which will mean we have a little bit of a cushion and I may even be able to carry over a couple hundred dollars to next year--when I will demand a commitment from parents at a BOY meeting, and try to have a trip that's shorter than three days (two days better!). Spring carnival is coming up and I have zero idea what the class is doing, though. I should figure that out!!
The class is, I'm sure, looking forward to our Wednesday and Thursday benchmarks. As am I. Sigh. Oh well, spring break is in a week!
We had writing TAKS on February 20, so everything until then was trying to make sure the kids were ready for it. Then there was Stanford all of this last week. The kids are tired and I'm tired of tests; it's ridiculous. We've given, as a grade level, four full-day writing benchmarks plus one each of reading and math, and that's just getting started, because we have two more each of reading and math coming up--that'll make 10 days of the year just giving full-day tests, plus the Stanford tests, plus whatever they do in class.
I had an assignment for my UST class--I had to interview a student. First question: "What do you do in school?" Answer: "We take big tests." Ridiculous. They're 10. Stanford is cruel. It's ridiculously long--it has something like 14 different sections. Horrible. It took until lunch Tuesday through Friday this week.
Otherwise, things are getting better as far as "teaching" goes. Unfortunately, I can't really teach enough since I have to be measuring the kids all the time. May as well just have daily standardized tests to assess what they learned in the hour they had left over the previous day. In meeting with my TFA director for Round 2 we decided that I had to emphasize teaching a clear sequence of steps to my kids. I tried it in math and it seemed to work--they got a 78 on the write-out-the-answer lines and angles test, as opposed to an average 79 on the multiple-choice decimals test. Then the next day, we explored the relationship between their "effort" on the in class assignments and their "achievement" on the test, which not surprisingly were correlated.
So for Round 3 we have decided that, frankly, I still have zero idea what I'm doing as far as reading is concerned. Their comprehension isn't getting that much better (most of them, anyway), according to the STAR measurement, which is basically a fill-in-the-blanks test with increasing difficulty of passages. Grrr. Apparently this is because I (1) am not knowing what to teach kids because (2) I can't assess them correctly because (3) I don't know how and therefore (4) I can't teach them effectively. So the goal is to fix that.
Things are looking OK for the field trip to San Antonio, except that I don't have too many kids going (only seven or eight total). That's too bad, but at least we were able to cancel the second bus which will mean we have a little bit of a cushion and I may even be able to carry over a couple hundred dollars to next year--when I will demand a commitment from parents at a BOY meeting, and try to have a trip that's shorter than three days (two days better!). Spring carnival is coming up and I have zero idea what the class is doing, though. I should figure that out!!
The class is, I'm sure, looking forward to our Wednesday and Thursday benchmarks. As am I. Sigh. Oh well, spring break is in a week!
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Eight months gone by
It was at the beginning of June 2006 that I packed up and embarked upon this rather audacious adventure. While I’d gone to Europe myself in 2004, at 19, and started college at 17 in 2002, this was moving… permanently… to a new city and state, with absolutely nobody I knew. I took finals early, skipped commencement, and arrived at the Crowne Plaza after three days of driving.
This presented the potential for plenty to go awry, and certainly, there’s a lot that has been unexpected. But I can’t say that there’s been anything that hasn’t gone “according to plan,” because really, there never was a plan. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
Coming in, I definitely saw this as a two-year commitment. I’m always willing to say that my options are open, and if you’re close to me, you know that I’ve been quite indecisive on many things over the years. But being here for longer than the two years wasn’t really in my intentions at all; this was time to decide what to study in grad school, learn a lot and help out in the meantime. To some extent, I guess it still is: I’m not going to be a teacher for my entire life (though, of course… I keep my options open). But I’m not any closer to knowing what I want to study as a graduate student. Given the fact that grad school’s a pretty hefty cost, and one that I’ll be shouldering this time, I’m not eager to start a program I’m unsure about.
I’ve always kinda been the “kid who was over his head,” socially if not academically. I’ll be 22 in March with almost a full year of work experience and two B.A. degrees. What that’s meant, though, is that it’s taken me longer to adjust socially, to figure out what the real expectations are, to read between the lines of my role. I’m not sure if that’s just my nature or if it’s due to being behind agewise throughout my life… perhaps both. Anyway, I figure there’s no reason to hurry this time. I want to learn to do something well, and actually do it for a while before getting rushed away for the next step in a breakneck life.
I did the right thing in joining TFA. As I’ve commented before, I do enjoy the teaching, when the kids don’t horribly frustrate me. I think it’s still hard for me to identify with where some of them are coming from… I just really haven’t had the same home life as they have and I still think of “home” as someplace where parents make sure you do your work. I don’t realize what these kids have been exposed to at their age. But I do feel like I’m doing something good. There are lots of bad teachers. I’m not at the bottom, and I think my kids can have success academically this year. What does that mean for their future? I’ve got no idea right now.
So, that adds up to this: yes, I’m seriously considering staying in Houston beyond two years to be a good teacher, to really get involved in the community, and try to turn some kids into good learners. That’s something my current students aren’t.
What has teaching taught me? Communication… I’m definitely still learning that lesson. But I’ve always been pretty timid and shy when I’m not comfortable. Then people get surprised by my forwardness. I tend to avoid confrontation, which makes things worse. I’m getting better at all of this, attacking problems head-on.
I can prioritize somewhat better, and getting better all the time. Still work to be done, to be sure. As for organization, I’ve certainly made strides. I may still seem physically disorganized, but there’s a method to it now, and I’m working towards environmental sustainability of my own physical environment, in the limited time I have when I’m not keeling over from exhaustion, preparing for class, or blogging/reading blogs (my main weakness these days).
So again… teaching has been the right thing for me… it will hopefully, on balance, be a good thing for my students… and I’ve met some amazing people in Houston who I know I will always be in touch with. I’ve made my share of mistakes, but I’m a better person now, a more ready person, a more efficient person, and a more determined person, than I was when I left Seattle. And I’m happy for that.
This presented the potential for plenty to go awry, and certainly, there’s a lot that has been unexpected. But I can’t say that there’s been anything that hasn’t gone “according to plan,” because really, there never was a plan. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
Coming in, I definitely saw this as a two-year commitment. I’m always willing to say that my options are open, and if you’re close to me, you know that I’ve been quite indecisive on many things over the years. But being here for longer than the two years wasn’t really in my intentions at all; this was time to decide what to study in grad school, learn a lot and help out in the meantime. To some extent, I guess it still is: I’m not going to be a teacher for my entire life (though, of course… I keep my options open). But I’m not any closer to knowing what I want to study as a graduate student. Given the fact that grad school’s a pretty hefty cost, and one that I’ll be shouldering this time, I’m not eager to start a program I’m unsure about.
I’ve always kinda been the “kid who was over his head,” socially if not academically. I’ll be 22 in March with almost a full year of work experience and two B.A. degrees. What that’s meant, though, is that it’s taken me longer to adjust socially, to figure out what the real expectations are, to read between the lines of my role. I’m not sure if that’s just my nature or if it’s due to being behind agewise throughout my life… perhaps both. Anyway, I figure there’s no reason to hurry this time. I want to learn to do something well, and actually do it for a while before getting rushed away for the next step in a breakneck life.
I did the right thing in joining TFA. As I’ve commented before, I do enjoy the teaching, when the kids don’t horribly frustrate me. I think it’s still hard for me to identify with where some of them are coming from… I just really haven’t had the same home life as they have and I still think of “home” as someplace where parents make sure you do your work. I don’t realize what these kids have been exposed to at their age. But I do feel like I’m doing something good. There are lots of bad teachers. I’m not at the bottom, and I think my kids can have success academically this year. What does that mean for their future? I’ve got no idea right now.
So, that adds up to this: yes, I’m seriously considering staying in Houston beyond two years to be a good teacher, to really get involved in the community, and try to turn some kids into good learners. That’s something my current students aren’t.
What has teaching taught me? Communication… I’m definitely still learning that lesson. But I’ve always been pretty timid and shy when I’m not comfortable. Then people get surprised by my forwardness. I tend to avoid confrontation, which makes things worse. I’m getting better at all of this, attacking problems head-on.
I can prioritize somewhat better, and getting better all the time. Still work to be done, to be sure. As for organization, I’ve certainly made strides. I may still seem physically disorganized, but there’s a method to it now, and I’m working towards environmental sustainability of my own physical environment, in the limited time I have when I’m not keeling over from exhaustion, preparing for class, or blogging/reading blogs (my main weakness these days).
So again… teaching has been the right thing for me… it will hopefully, on balance, be a good thing for my students… and I’ve met some amazing people in Houston who I know I will always be in touch with. I’ve made my share of mistakes, but I’m a better person now, a more ready person, a more efficient person, and a more determined person, than I was when I left Seattle. And I’m happy for that.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Of teachers' unions and evaluations
The teachers' union is upset about the new performance pay system, which I believe focuses on (1) school test score improvement and (2) individual teacher test score improvement. Now, I am not sure if I am going to be screwed by this system, because my kids are transitioning and therefore will score lower, especially in reading and writing.
The union is angered enough that it apparently has asked teachers to stay out from after-school activities next week, to "show our value" or something of the sort. Having not been at the union meeting, I can't attest to the precise explanation. I'm going to stay in, as I want to work with my students... I'm there for them, and I don't want them to be hurt by an absence. (How much are "the students," in a broader perspective, hurt by the pay system perhaps lowering morale and unity among teachers? No idea, to be honest. But I'm still grappling with effectiveness and tutorials are one of the more effective places for me to work with them. I don't want to hurt the low ones right now. Perhaps when I am more effective in the classroom I will feel justified to do such things.)
Unfortunately, either way I act it is inevitably a personal statement. I don't honestly know what the right thing to do is right now. I don't know the history of the union's relationship with the district and the background to bargaining; I can't state for myself who's right and who's wrong. I don't even know who on my campus comes down on what side and who I would possibly irritate. Given that, I want to take the route that will be least harmful to the kids (in the immediate "my class" sense) while I get my bearings on the whole thing.
Another question is--can we implement a performance pay system in any other way, given current circumstances? I was pondering this... the only way I see to do evaluations, beyond test scores, is in-person reviews. While I like my principal and school and believe that evaluations would be fair, plenty of stories I hear suggest that this trust and the potential for fair reviews don't exist at many campuses, that is, the lack of good administration, in addition to preventing academic progress from students, also would preempt an efficient teacher incentive system and discourage good teachers. Independent review? Perhaps an idea worth looking into, but will the union go for it? I'm not optimistic.
And on the subject of evaluations: in evaluating my own progress as a teacher, there's lots of progress to be made. I've started reading Understanding by Design by Wiggins and McTighe, and I think it will really change the way I approach curriculum. More updates on that to come as I progress.
The union is angered enough that it apparently has asked teachers to stay out from after-school activities next week, to "show our value" or something of the sort. Having not been at the union meeting, I can't attest to the precise explanation. I'm going to stay in, as I want to work with my students... I'm there for them, and I don't want them to be hurt by an absence. (How much are "the students," in a broader perspective, hurt by the pay system perhaps lowering morale and unity among teachers? No idea, to be honest. But I'm still grappling with effectiveness and tutorials are one of the more effective places for me to work with them. I don't want to hurt the low ones right now. Perhaps when I am more effective in the classroom I will feel justified to do such things.)
Unfortunately, either way I act it is inevitably a personal statement. I don't honestly know what the right thing to do is right now. I don't know the history of the union's relationship with the district and the background to bargaining; I can't state for myself who's right and who's wrong. I don't even know who on my campus comes down on what side and who I would possibly irritate. Given that, I want to take the route that will be least harmful to the kids (in the immediate "my class" sense) while I get my bearings on the whole thing.
Another question is--can we implement a performance pay system in any other way, given current circumstances? I was pondering this... the only way I see to do evaluations, beyond test scores, is in-person reviews. While I like my principal and school and believe that evaluations would be fair, plenty of stories I hear suggest that this trust and the potential for fair reviews don't exist at many campuses, that is, the lack of good administration, in addition to preventing academic progress from students, also would preempt an efficient teacher incentive system and discourage good teachers. Independent review? Perhaps an idea worth looking into, but will the union go for it? I'm not optimistic.
And on the subject of evaluations: in evaluating my own progress as a teacher, there's lots of progress to be made. I've started reading Understanding by Design by Wiggins and McTighe, and I think it will really change the way I approach curriculum. More updates on that to come as I progress.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
And as for the war...
Over half of Houston students don't graduate from high school, according to a recent Chronicle article. Meanwhile, those that do earn, on average, $9900 more per year.
I asked my class to brainstorm what they would do with $9,900. One response I got:
"If I had $9,900.00 I would build a machine to make more money. With the money I make I would buy alot of tanks and my own ARMY. I would use the tanks to bring BUSH to IRAQ so he could be in ARMY"
I can't find the actual paper right now, so if I do, I will change whatever I got wrong, but that was about the gist of it. It cracked me up all day.
I asked my class to brainstorm what they would do with $9,900. One response I got:
"If I had $9,900.00 I would build a machine to make more money. With the money I make I would buy alot of tanks and my own ARMY. I would use the tanks to bring BUSH to IRAQ so he could be in ARMY"
I can't find the actual paper right now, so if I do, I will change whatever I got wrong, but that was about the gist of it. It cracked me up all day.
One crazy day
Wednesday, January 31, 2007.
This is on the heels of, Tuesday afternoon, a bunch of students coming and talking to me about how four boys in the class are giving them problems.
(1) Tired, I vaguely manage to stumble out of bed, not really eating breakfast, and I pull in the school gate at 7:57 as it is being locked. I have no idea what I am going to teach.
(2) The principal arrives for my official annual evaluation around 8:30. Remember, I have no idea what I'm actually doing on this day. Not entirely true, I guess... we always do a warmup and go over homework. When we finish that, we go to the ESL reading textbook and just do the next story, which I haven't read at all, and don't have the teacher's guide with me for.
(3) Principal, at length, leaves. I switch classes to my mentor's classroom while he comes in to talk to them about TAKS writing strategies and I have to watch his kids for half an hour.
(4) I return, and take my students to library. Rest!
(5) Taking them out of the library, librarian tells me she was tired of four of them screwing around (as am I), sent them to social worker, social worker has notes for home, they have to go to counseling for behavior problems. Okay.
(6) Social worker comes to my class. Asks what I did to follow up on yesterday. Did I speak to the principal? I say I have scheduled a parent conference for 4:30 but I didn't speak to the principal. Didn't know I was supposed to. She offers to take all of them--the boys and the complainers, so about half the class--to the office. I say okay.
(7) Lunch. Another respite.
(8) After lunch, I lose a bunch of people for various intervals while the office interviews everyone. Eventually, they all get sent back to my class in time for the end of the day. End of day goes surprisingly smoothly and I dismiss.
(9) Students come in after school for tutorials. One of the boys who got in trouble, [z] comes in and mumbles something to me about "[x] and [y] are in the office because they were looking at porno or something." Huh????
(10) About 10 minutes later, boy [x] comes into the room, crying, and puts his head down. I do feel slightly bad, but not horribly so. Boy [y] comes in about 5 minutes later, not quite as emotional. Eventually they join tutorials. I'm pretty sure those are suspension letters, but for what? They read the letters to themselves... yep... "Nivel III...Mirando revista pornográfica". Suspended at home for a day.
(11) [x]'s parents come in for the meeting (that I arranged yesterday). Things have changed quite a bit since then. I just say "ehhh... a lot more has happened today" and start to explain. Principal comes into the hall in the middle and explains. Etc, etc.
(12) At some point, I go home. Principal does inform me that [z] actually told on [x], [y] and the rest. heh.
(13) Today, I teach class and it goes really well! But the suspension was only one day... so here comes tomorrow.
On the bright side also, I got the results of the observation today, and somehow it went really well.
This is on the heels of, Tuesday afternoon, a bunch of students coming and talking to me about how four boys in the class are giving them problems.
(1) Tired, I vaguely manage to stumble out of bed, not really eating breakfast, and I pull in the school gate at 7:57 as it is being locked. I have no idea what I am going to teach.
(2) The principal arrives for my official annual evaluation around 8:30. Remember, I have no idea what I'm actually doing on this day. Not entirely true, I guess... we always do a warmup and go over homework. When we finish that, we go to the ESL reading textbook and just do the next story, which I haven't read at all, and don't have the teacher's guide with me for.
(3) Principal, at length, leaves. I switch classes to my mentor's classroom while he comes in to talk to them about TAKS writing strategies and I have to watch his kids for half an hour.
(4) I return, and take my students to library. Rest!
(5) Taking them out of the library, librarian tells me she was tired of four of them screwing around (as am I), sent them to social worker, social worker has notes for home, they have to go to counseling for behavior problems. Okay.
(6) Social worker comes to my class. Asks what I did to follow up on yesterday. Did I speak to the principal? I say I have scheduled a parent conference for 4:30 but I didn't speak to the principal. Didn't know I was supposed to. She offers to take all of them--the boys and the complainers, so about half the class--to the office. I say okay.
(7) Lunch. Another respite.
(8) After lunch, I lose a bunch of people for various intervals while the office interviews everyone. Eventually, they all get sent back to my class in time for the end of the day. End of day goes surprisingly smoothly and I dismiss.
(9) Students come in after school for tutorials. One of the boys who got in trouble, [z] comes in and mumbles something to me about "[x] and [y] are in the office because they were looking at porno or something." Huh????
(10) About 10 minutes later, boy [x] comes into the room, crying, and puts his head down. I do feel slightly bad, but not horribly so. Boy [y] comes in about 5 minutes later, not quite as emotional. Eventually they join tutorials. I'm pretty sure those are suspension letters, but for what? They read the letters to themselves... yep... "Nivel III...Mirando revista pornográfica". Suspended at home for a day.
(11) [x]'s parents come in for the meeting (that I arranged yesterday). Things have changed quite a bit since then. I just say "ehhh... a lot more has happened today" and start to explain. Principal comes into the hall in the middle and explains. Etc, etc.
(12) At some point, I go home. Principal does inform me that [z] actually told on [x], [y] and the rest. heh.
(13) Today, I teach class and it goes really well! But the suspension was only one day... so here comes tomorrow.
On the bright side also, I got the results of the observation today, and somehow it went really well.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Next year...
Is it bad to already be thinking forward to next year? I think it's a good thing. I am actually full of anticipation. I've already made the list of school supplies for parents and I'm planning out my class goals. The biggest difference: I actually know what I'm doing.
They tell you that "the first week is all procedures." I was like "what? I can't even think of two days' worth of procedures to teach." Now I get it--you might teach something, but you spend forever doing it and make sure the kids do it the right way. You set the disciplinary tone early too, something I couldn't do this year because I didn't have time! All the time was spent trying to plan for the class, which in retrospect was OK, but it would have been better if I had the kids following procedures, no matter how inane, than what I was doing academically (which wasn't very good anyway).
I'm also planning out units. My first three weeks, reading will be all in Spanish to get students accustomed to what we are doing. I don't think I had the Spanish skill to do that this year--but now I do. I know what to do for math and I have a better idea of what they will and won't know already. I know what texts I'm going to use, what they can handle and what they can't.
The disorganization of my kids will get a lot better. I already mentioned the school supplies; I know how they're going to be organized too--three binders, everything goes in a binder. As for my stuff, I'm going to spend the summer (taking classes and) putting it all into my own binders for organizational purposes.
Finally, I want to get parents more involved with occasional parent meetings. I'm hoping to plan a field trip for my class, and possibly others who are interested, to a college/university (Rice would be my first choice).
I guess I should add that this year is going fine! 15 of my 22 kids are on track to pass writing now, according to the benchmark, which is up from 6/21 in October. I think most of them can pass reading and math, too, as long as we get through the material in math. They're doing a better job at reading independently, too. I'm excited about what we can do together for the next couple of months.
Anyway, though, I'm ridiculously busy what with Mon/Tues/Wed tutorials, Sat morning tutorials, Wed night class, the occasional TFA or HISD professional development requirement, planning, and working for field trip fundraiser. Hence the lack of posting here or at the other show recently. I'm going to try to talk some more this weekend. Honest.
They tell you that "the first week is all procedures." I was like "what? I can't even think of two days' worth of procedures to teach." Now I get it--you might teach something, but you spend forever doing it and make sure the kids do it the right way. You set the disciplinary tone early too, something I couldn't do this year because I didn't have time! All the time was spent trying to plan for the class, which in retrospect was OK, but it would have been better if I had the kids following procedures, no matter how inane, than what I was doing academically (which wasn't very good anyway).
I'm also planning out units. My first three weeks, reading will be all in Spanish to get students accustomed to what we are doing. I don't think I had the Spanish skill to do that this year--but now I do. I know what to do for math and I have a better idea of what they will and won't know already. I know what texts I'm going to use, what they can handle and what they can't.
The disorganization of my kids will get a lot better. I already mentioned the school supplies; I know how they're going to be organized too--three binders, everything goes in a binder. As for my stuff, I'm going to spend the summer (taking classes and) putting it all into my own binders for organizational purposes.
Finally, I want to get parents more involved with occasional parent meetings. I'm hoping to plan a field trip for my class, and possibly others who are interested, to a college/university (Rice would be my first choice).
I guess I should add that this year is going fine! 15 of my 22 kids are on track to pass writing now, according to the benchmark, which is up from 6/21 in October. I think most of them can pass reading and math, too, as long as we get through the material in math. They're doing a better job at reading independently, too. I'm excited about what we can do together for the next couple of months.
Anyway, though, I'm ridiculously busy what with Mon/Tues/Wed tutorials, Sat morning tutorials, Wed night class, the occasional TFA or HISD professional development requirement, planning, and working for field trip fundraiser. Hence the lack of posting here or at the other show recently. I'm going to try to talk some more this weekend. Honest.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
TFA's Lone Star
...is a good thing. Went to San Antonio for the weekend and saw some useful things at workshops, and a couple friends from RGV who I hadn't seen in a long while. As a result I have an Amazon.com order in for Marzano's Learning Strategies, a book called Understanding by Design that hopefully is a great way to organize units, and Stephen Covey's 7 Habits (and I thought I'd never actually read that stuff...).
Also, got to see Jaime Escalante speak (he was the keynote), of the movie Stand and Deliver fame (he started a very successful AP Calculus program at a HS in East LA). He was a very nice man and he found every story amusing, which in itself was amusing and endearing. He did go on a bit long, and he tended to monotone a bit, but it was still awesome to see the guy, and apparently he did this just for TFA, so good on him.
For those of you who are already in the TFA cult, Aurora Lora (!!!) was the opening speaker. She was all right. She's reopening a closing, failing middle school in Portland, Oregon next year into an all-girls charter school. Should be interesting.
Also, got to see Jaime Escalante speak (he was the keynote), of the movie Stand and Deliver fame (he started a very successful AP Calculus program at a HS in East LA). He was a very nice man and he found every story amusing, which in itself was amusing and endearing. He did go on a bit long, and he tended to monotone a bit, but it was still awesome to see the guy, and apparently he did this just for TFA, so good on him.
For those of you who are already in the TFA cult, Aurora Lora (!!!) was the opening speaker. She was all right. She's reopening a closing, failing middle school in Portland, Oregon next year into an all-girls charter school. Should be interesting.
Explaining the lack of posting
I was working on a post, I swear.
Things are ramping up here... writing TAKS is in about exactly a month and the kids need to learn grammar, fast!! I am going to start teaching weekday after school tutorials (they had a different teacher before) plus we are starting Saturdays this week (yay!).
Which doesn't explain the fact that there hasn't been much on here and lots on the other site. Regarding that... well, I think it is helping me to stay sane to blog more on political issues. I think enough about my teaching to myself right now and I'm kind of back in that phase where blogging lots about it is just overkill for me given the pressure.
But I will try to keep it updated. Really.
Things are ramping up here... writing TAKS is in about exactly a month and the kids need to learn grammar, fast!! I am going to start teaching weekday after school tutorials (they had a different teacher before) plus we are starting Saturdays this week (yay!).
Which doesn't explain the fact that there hasn't been much on here and lots on the other site. Regarding that... well, I think it is helping me to stay sane to blog more on political issues. I think enough about my teaching to myself right now and I'm kind of back in that phase where blogging lots about it is just overkill for me given the pressure.
But I will try to keep it updated. Really.
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