One-on-One

Some of my favorite times as a teacher are those rare days when the students stay on task and get their work done...EARLY!  Most days, we work bell-to-bell, but if there are only 5 or so minutes left in class, I take that time to get to know these young people with whom I spend so much time.  Many of these students will be with me all 4 years of their high school experience (LA2 -> JR LA), so I prefer to be on the best terms possible with each of them.

In those brief 5-6 minutes, I learn about home life, boyfriends/girlfriends, hobbies, aspirations, interests, past experiences, opinions about reading, favorite classes, opinions about what the students consider good/bad teaching, and what current movies I should go see.  Through these interactions, the students learn that there is another adult in this world who cares about them.  This kind of connection is often useful with motivating the students in class.  When something is difficult for them, they trust me enough to ask questions.  When they don't understand something, they feel comfortable enough to say so.  If I have to reprimand them, they know it's not personal.  If they fail an activity or (yikes!) the class, they know that I cared enough to help them as much as I could, and that their failure is their own fault.  And if they need help with non-school problems, they know that I am here to listen or offer assistance.

I always tell them: "If I didn't care, I wouldn't get upset with you for being off task.  If I didn't care, I wouldn't send you a progress report every Friday and show my disappointment that you aren't turning in work or completing assignments.  So, if I'm unhappy with you, you should know that it's only because I won't give up on you."  So, these small moments, when we talk about non-school things, reinforce the fact that I do see them and care about them as individuals.

Here's what's been happening in my classes this week:

SOPH WORLD LIT
Using the Ladybug document camera and photocopied versions of the text for Sundiata, the students and I read through the 2 chapters together, annotating and discussing along the way.  Going through a text this way allows for so many more opportunities for questioning and discussion.  The students have come up with great questions during classtime, and others have offered responses.  This shows me that they are all truly engaged with the text and are processing it on various levels.  Actually, a couple of times, we read part of the text, and students have said, "Miss, shouldn't we highlight that because it says..."  I praise them for being active readers and include their highlight on the text.
Today, the students are working independently to answer "Review & Assess" questions about the text.  They will have a review on Monday and then a test and essay assignment on Sundiata next week.
Then...we finally transition into our study of tragic heroes and Oedipus! :)

LDC3
In this class, we completed Unit 1: Mysteries, and the students worked on a review sheet for a couple of days.  Today they took their 50-question test.
I'm excited because our next unit is on "Survival," and I'm going to teach Elie Wiesel's Night for the first time.  I was nervous about teaching a new novel, but then I found this unit plan that comes complete with supplementary handouts and a daily guide to the lessons!  YAY!  I'm going to review this and start planning accordingly.
This teacher's daily plan got me thinking, though: Why don't I have daily plans for my units?  Why have I never thought of doing something like that?!  That would make planning so much easier.  I could add or subtract as needed, but this would ensure that I don't forget something important, something that worked really well, or a necessary supplementary text that should be included in the lessons.  These would also help me ensure that I stay on track (as much as possible) with that course's pacing guide.  So, I've decided that I'm going to try to put these together this year as I go through each unit. 

LA2
...and so on and so on.  This is how I feel about LA2.  Each chapter is the same: intro activites, read chapter, answer questions, activity workbook, grammar workbook, writing assignment, quiz.  Each week is exactly the same.  In that strict plan, though, there are small victories for each student.  Today, I stood next to a student who was supposed to underline the letters that make the "f" sound in the word biography.  Something wasn't clicking in her brain: she tried to underline the whole word, then she tried to write the letter "f" above the word, then she tried to re-write the word on the line next to it.  Finally, after I pronounced the word v.e.r.y s.l.o.w.l.y, underlined the "ph" in the word, then pointed to the next word (elephant), and pronounced it "el-e-PHHHHHHHH-ant," she had one of those OHHHH! moments, and underlined the "ph" in that word and the 3 following words.  That's what it's all about: taking the time to help them jump those little hurdles.
I wish the county would go back to regulating the size of ESL classes (esp. these lower levels) so more situations like this could happen.  It's difficult to spend that kind of time with a student when all the rest are so needy.

JR AMER LIT
We are wrapping up our study of early explorers this week.  The students have been working on open book test reviews, and they will take their test on Monday; then on Tues and Wed, they will work on their Unit 2 essay.  Next Thurs and Fri, I'll give a presentation on Puritans.  After that, we'll be deep into our study and Puritans, and we'll read "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," which will lead us into The Crucible.
I thought I would have time this week to start looking at my plans for The Crucible, but LDC3 took up all of my planning time (review and test).  So, next week, I'll take a look at my old materials and start planning my sequence of lessons for our study of the play.  It's a great time of year when I am teaching Oedipus and The Crucible at the same time! :)

This week's the bad/the good:
The bad: I made the mistake of waiting until the end of the unit to make the test for LDC3.  This took days of organization and creating during my planning time.  I need to remember to make test questions as we go through each part of the unit.  Since there is no plan for that class, I have to make everything myself.  This year, I'm trying to establish some kind of curriculum so I don't have to recreat the class every year.

The good: I learned a lesson this week about controlling my temper.  A few students in my LDC3 class were not seated at the bell, so I assigned each of them a 15 min detention (they'd been warned about this on several previous occasions).  I heard one of the girls complaining, "She can't give us detention for no reason...."  I turned to her and said, "It's not for 'no reason.'  You've been warned and you know the rules."  Now, I would have continued by saying what I was thinking, "I don't appreciate your eye rolls; if you'd put more thought to your studies than socializing...; maybe you don't understand that rules apply to you, too...." but another student called my name and had a valid question about the assignment for that day, so I turned to him.  Later that period, one of the detention students asked if he could serve his time on Monday because he can stay on Fridays.  I said yes, and the girl asked, "Oh, that's an option?" 
Feeling better now that class was going smoothly, I jokingly said, "I don't know about you, because you gave me attitude.  I think I deserve an apology." 
The girl smiled sincerely and said, "I'm sorry Ms. Greene."
If I would have had the opportunity to let my emotions get the better of me, I would have embarassed the girl, and my whole day would have a black cloud hanging over it.  Instead, we both learned lessons about appropriate behavior.  (By the way, this story is embarassing to tell.  I can't believe I'm still learning these things!) 

1st Week Back: My Feet Are Killing Me!

This has been the smoothest 1st week back to school that I can remember.  All of my preparations during preplanning really paid off, and classes have run nicely.  Thanks to my seating charts, I know almost all of my new students' names, and I already have 2-3 grades for the students in each class.  About the only thing that is bothering me so far is the fact that my feet ache horribly by mid-day.  I know that some teachers take house shoes to wear in the classroom, but I feel like only teachers who are 50+ can pull that off in an endearing way.  If I did it, I feel like a slob.  :)  So, I'll suffer for the sake of professionalism.

A few thoughts about my classes:

Language Arts Level II--my seating chart has proven ineffective in this class.  Of course, class goes smoother when students who feel comfortable with each other can sit near each other and/or work together.  What is interesting is that 5 of 17 students there are mostly using Spanish to communicate, and the other Hispanic students have requested to be moved away from them so they can practice their English with the Asian and French-speaking students.  So, the left side of my classroom is made up of a very wide variety, while the right side has 5 Hispanic students.  As they all feel more comfortable with each other, I'll mix them up again.  For now, I'm going to learn more about each of them and their levels of English ability.

Junior American Lit--my evil 6th period class and my heavenly 1st period class from last year have both combined into 7th period JR LA.  This class is a non-stop chatter box.  I've decided to work with it, though, and give the students plenty of work that is group-work friendly.  That way, they can interact with each other, but if they don't get their work done, it's on them.  I fought 6th period to the very end of last year, so I know that it's futile to try to mold them into quiet, studious, attentive pupils.  They are an unfortunate mix of loud, hyper, attention-seeking individuals, and this year I'm putting all of the responsibility on them.  One-on-one, each of them is awesome.  Put them together, though, and it's a 55-minute "Let me top that!" routine.

Sophomore World Lit--I have some repeaters in these classes, so it's been fun to find out how much they remember from last year. :)  They actually remember quite a bit from the story of Gilgamesh so far, which only reinforces the fact that they failed more from laziness and incomplete work than a lack of learning.  Hopefully, they'll apply themselves more this year.  The new students seem interested in what we're learning so far.  Sometimes I wonder if I break down the information too much, but so far we've had good discussions about archetype, epics, and the plot of Gilgamesh.  I'm going to walk them through annotating a text tomorrow using the Ladybug projector I mentioned in a previous post.  I'm not sure yet how to make them understand what it means to engage a text...I'm hoping I'll have a stroke of genius in the shower or something before I get to school in the morning. :)

Language Development Content 3--I've been using the Visions: Level C text for these students, but I can tell that it's a little too easy for some of them.  The good news is I'll be teaching Night soon since freshmen LA classes study the novel, and I'm charged with teaching all FR LA supplementals to my LDC 3 class.  A couple of teachers at school have offered to help me out with the materials for Night and a couple of other texts since I've never taught them before.  I always hear good things from ESOL students about Night, though, so I'm excited to teach it.  Hopefully, it will go well....

Well, I'm already behind in my grading, and we're only one week in! :)  It's alright, though.  I'd rather be a little behind than fall into bringing work home in the evening.

This week's The Good & The Bad


The Good: A student who other students have nicknamed "The Sleeper" was transferred from my class.  I have only harbored chronic dislike for a student once before, but this one has made my list.  The reasons go back almost a year (long story), but it's just such a relief that I don't have to look at him anymore.


The Bad: Did I mention my feet? :(

Ah...A Whole Week of Preplanning!

I don't even know how many years it's been since teachers in my district were allowed a full week of preplanning.  With furloughs being the newest, most popular way for school systems to save money, planning days are often the ones to be cut.  So, we've had to accomplish (or do what we could) in 2 days what usually takes 5.

This year, I feel READY!  :)  My biggest "to-do" items where:
1.  Plan at least 2 weeks for each class, implementing some of the new ideas I got from the Literacy Institute and other professional learning this summer.
2.  Make seating charts for each class
3.  Fit enough desks into room for largest class
4.  Organize room so I'm ready to go on first day

Among all of the other chores, tasks, meetings, and required activities I did this week, I accomplished all of these big tasks as well!  Even better, I planned the entire month of August for both my World Lit and American Lit classes; AND was able to arrange my seating charts so that almost no one is sitting next to more than one person who speaks the same languages as he or she does!  This will be a huge help in the lower-level English language classes.  I already feel so much better about this year than I did about last year.

A colleague and I were talking today, and we agreed that we are going to be more positive this year.  We both had pretty challenging experiences last year and refuse to repeat the anger, frustration, and depression.  We agreed that if we say something negative about work, we have to say 2 positives as well. :)

This morning, the last day of preplanning, we were treated to a presentation by Mr. John Antonetti.  I wish there was a video clip online of him speaking, because he is one of the most engaging and relevant speakers on education I've heard.  His comments and stories were honest and moving, and he had the whole crowd laughing the entire time.  The focus of his presentation was on engagement: that students aren't going to pay attention to something they don't have an emotional connection to or a personal experience that relates.  So, we have to present the material in such a way that makes it relevant and then allow them time to FIND those connections.  He said so many interesting things that I took pages and pages of notes!  I'm sure I'll refer to him again in future posts.

Incidentally, my motto for this year (More on them, less on me.) goes along very well with this year's focus in my district on student engagement.  Huzzah!

On a different note, I am super excited about a new addition to the Media Center: the Ladybug Lumens.  I've wanted one of these since my first year of teaching when one of the presenters at my county's "New Teacher Orientation" used one.  I've already checked it out to use on the first day to show my levels 2 & 3 students examples of an activity they'll complete.  More importantly, though, I'm going to use it to teach my SOPH and JR level students how to annotate their texts.  So, I'll make copies of certain texts that will be especially challenging or dense, and we'll work through it together (with Ladybug's help!) to annotate, discuss, and make sense of it!  

Honestly, I can't wait to get started. :)