Today I taught one of the worst classes of my life. I thought we were going to have a great day of measuring solids-- much more hands-on than the previous day -- and it turned out to be a mess. Maybe it wasn't scaffolded enough? I probably should have had a worksheet to go with it for students to fill out to better understand what they were supposed to do. and stations for them to visit where they got to measure and try different shapes.
Well, you live and learn. I also need to think of some better ways to do my classroom management. I will look in the tribes book and in the first 100 days of school book for ideas-- especially because I am getting 4 new students soon!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Adventures in the classroom
Yesterday, there was a mouse in my classroom. It was a tiny, cute little mouse, but it was crawling all over my purse, my backpack, and the coat that was draped over my chair. The class that was taught in my room at that time was surprisingly calm, as if most of them watch mice scurrying around much more frequently than I do. The male teacher who teaches in my room during the second period caught the little guy underneath a clear plastic container. I was surprised how, two minutes later, the students were focused and back on task. If this had happened in my classroom growing up, i thought, all hell would have broken loose for the rest of the class. An interesting story of adapting and surviving and dealing with certain conditions.
Monday, February 9, 2009
"For your sake..."
This phrase was said to me today, and it really rubbed me the wrong way. I was told this phrase as reasoning why I should convince a teacher to do something. This bothers me because (again) I was not part of the decision, my input was not heard, and yet I am being asked to enforce the decision that was made. And, I am being asked to do it because, otherwise, someone or some group of people will think poorly of me. I will be put on the “bad list” or the “list of people who are against”. I want to be a part of the decision-making process. And this phrase feels like a threat, it feels like “do this or else.” Or else what? I will get a poor review? I will get fired? I guess I will find out…
Am I lazy?
I can’t help but feel lazy for wanting to leave my school. People here try so hard; they have the best of intentions. And for wanting to leave I feel like I have less than the best of intentions. I just don’t think that I will grow as a teacher staying here. I have to explore and experiment and I can’t do that here. I want the freedom to experiment with strategies and curriculums. The question is: where will I be able to do that?
Why do I dread my job?
I can’t help but dread going back to my job. Why? I love the challenge of being in the classroom. I love the daily interaction with young people. I love the crafting of a good lesson plan. I love that feeling after a good day of teaching, when the kids “got it.” I love when I connect with a student and can help with an emotional or social issue. There are several kids that I would adopt tomorrow if I needed to.
But, there is another aspect to my job. There is constant pressure. It is like everyone is nervous and on edge all the time. And, there is way too much to do in one day. I believe the task of educating children takes time and is hard work, but my school tries to fit too many reforms in. With so many reforms, a teacher cannot innovate, cannot really teach.
Let me list all the reforms I am expected to implement in my classroom:
1. 25 books: Students are responsible for marking and annotating all the reading they do in class.
2. Sourcebook
3. Cornell Notes
4. Socratic Seminar
5. Reciprocal Teaching
6. Accountable Talk
7. Vocabulary
8. Write to learn
9. Constructed Responses
10. Interim Assessments
11. Short Cycle Assessments
12. Projects
13. Textbook reading
14. Understanding by Design
When I list them out like that, I can’t help but think that maybe I am just a big whiner. I mean, my administration is just trying to improve the teaching at their school. Ultimately, they (and especially my principal) are held accountable for student achievement, so shouldn’t they have a say in how we teach? Maybe I am one of those lazy teachers that complain when they are stretched to work hard, as one of my administrations would say.
When I look again at the list of initiatives, I realize that it is not the initiatives themselves that are wrong or outrageous, but it is the way that they were introduced and how they are handled throughout the year that makes them difficult for me to swallow.
No teacher buy-in: A core group of teachers did not get together and have a say on the list of initiatives. This means that there are no teachers in the faculty that can act as sellers advocates for different initiatives. However, is it possible to have one hundred teachers work together as a community and have a say in what happens? I am sure as an administrator that feels like an impossible task, especially when one does not believe that all teachers are competent and should have a say. (And some shouldn’t!) So how does an administrator surround herself with teachers that she trusts and that she wants to give responsibility to? That is a question for another entry.
Too many too fast: When I look at when these initiatives were introduced, they are staggered over a period of time. However, at least nine of these initiatives were introduced during the summer before the 2008-2009 school year. By December, we are supposed to have implemented them all. This is a difficult and stressful thing to do, and this is what causes this element to stress and anxiety among teachers. A better way to implement would be to introduce one each month or advisory, and have teachers focus on that one. That way, teachers would get to observe each other on that one initiative and share best practices. Once that one initiative is refined and more ingrained in a teacher’s repertoire, then the next initiative can be introduced.
Well, that is enough for today. More reflections to come!
But, there is another aspect to my job. There is constant pressure. It is like everyone is nervous and on edge all the time. And, there is way too much to do in one day. I believe the task of educating children takes time and is hard work, but my school tries to fit too many reforms in. With so many reforms, a teacher cannot innovate, cannot really teach.
Let me list all the reforms I am expected to implement in my classroom:
1. 25 books: Students are responsible for marking and annotating all the reading they do in class.
2. Sourcebook
3. Cornell Notes
4. Socratic Seminar
5. Reciprocal Teaching
6. Accountable Talk
7. Vocabulary
8. Write to learn
9. Constructed Responses
10. Interim Assessments
11. Short Cycle Assessments
12. Projects
13. Textbook reading
14. Understanding by Design
When I list them out like that, I can’t help but think that maybe I am just a big whiner. I mean, my administration is just trying to improve the teaching at their school. Ultimately, they (and especially my principal) are held accountable for student achievement, so shouldn’t they have a say in how we teach? Maybe I am one of those lazy teachers that complain when they are stretched to work hard, as one of my administrations would say.
When I look again at the list of initiatives, I realize that it is not the initiatives themselves that are wrong or outrageous, but it is the way that they were introduced and how they are handled throughout the year that makes them difficult for me to swallow.
No teacher buy-in: A core group of teachers did not get together and have a say on the list of initiatives. This means that there are no teachers in the faculty that can act as sellers advocates for different initiatives. However, is it possible to have one hundred teachers work together as a community and have a say in what happens? I am sure as an administrator that feels like an impossible task, especially when one does not believe that all teachers are competent and should have a say. (And some shouldn’t!) So how does an administrator surround herself with teachers that she trusts and that she wants to give responsibility to? That is a question for another entry.
Too many too fast: When I look at when these initiatives were introduced, they are staggered over a period of time. However, at least nine of these initiatives were introduced during the summer before the 2008-2009 school year. By December, we are supposed to have implemented them all. This is a difficult and stressful thing to do, and this is what causes this element to stress and anxiety among teachers. A better way to implement would be to introduce one each month or advisory, and have teachers focus on that one. That way, teachers would get to observe each other on that one initiative and share best practices. Once that one initiative is refined and more ingrained in a teacher’s repertoire, then the next initiative can be introduced.
Well, that is enough for today. More reflections to come!
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