You Are What You Love

You have to relax.  Otherwise you go crazy.  I've been better about relaxing this year.  Much better.  It's helped me with the factors of stress and anxiety in my life that i CAN control.  Some tactics that I've used:

-Plan as many lessons ahead of time as possible.  Even if it's just that you plan your next week of lessons over the weekend, it helps to not have to worry about lesson planning during the week.

-Keep up with your grading.  Don't get behind.  Try to get as much grading done as possible at school.  I try to finish grading papers during my planning period if possible. 

-Make copies/get materials for all of your next week's lessons the week before.  You never know when the copy machine will break down or you'll be locked out of the building until the last minute, so be prepared.

-Use your weekends wisely.  I try not to do work on Sundays, but not everyone feels that way.  I try to get all my class work for MTC and my lessons for the next week planned on Saturdays.  For those of you who work on Sundays, you can use that day as well.  Just get as much done as possible over the weekend.  Relax then too, but don't totally put all your work on hold, or you will regret it when Monday comes around....or even when Sunday night comes around.

-Do the least amount of work as possible at home.  Like I said earlier, try to finish your grading at school.

-Do not stay at school after 5 pm.  Go home!  You've done enough work.  Go home!

-Do not work after 8 pm.  It's too late at night.  After a long day of teaching and grading and whatever meetings you had to attend, your brain (or at least my brain) won't function after this point anyway.  I actually try to have all my work done by 5, but some nights that's just not possible.  But I definitely don't work after 8 pm.

-Spend the rest of your evening after you've finished your work relaxing.  Whether it's making a home cooked meal, watching TV or a movie, going for a walk/run, playing tennis, or playing World of Warcraft with your husband (which is often the case for me...haha), do something relaxing and fun.  Try not to think about school.  Don't answer phone calls from students or parents during your "Me Time."  This time is all about you and it should be.  You deserve it.  Everyone else in the known universe gets to relax with their families when they come home from work.  Why are teachers' lives any different?

I don't really have any great words of wisdom, but that's what I do to relax.  I control my own time, even though I can't control what happens during the school day.  I make sure that there is time each day for me to totally detach myself from school and just be me.

I'm teaching a civil rights lesson today.  Every Friday I give a quiz or a test.  Today is a quiz day and I always have an activity or extra credit for the students after they finish their quiz.  Today I printed out CNN's article on the Jena 6.  When the students finish their quiz, they are reading the article and writing a reflection on it.  Never fear, they know what a good reflection entails, I've trained them.  Once everyone has finished their quiz we're going to discuss it.  I find that I'm more excited about today's lesson than I have been about anything all year.  So I've come to decide that I should have been a social studies teacher instead of a math teacher.  Besides the fact that it's easier.  Kids care about this kind of thing.  Kids hate math.

After all the times that I have said I was going to quit over the last year and a half, I think I'm serious this time.  I just can't do this anymore.  Here I am, supposed to be mentoring first year teachers, and I'm the one who needs the mentor.  It's too much for little me.

I can't say whether this first week has been easier or harder than last year's first week.  Each school year seems to have its own unique challenges.  Things I was worried about last year are not a problem at all now and things that I'm worried about now were not on my list of worries a year ago.  I wish I could say that this year is easier, but all I can say is this year is different.

Some things that are different.  I have a much clearer picture of exactly how I want things in my classroom.  I have to say that I did a really good job of that last year, but this year I did even better.  I knew EXACTLY every minute detail of the way I wanted things to go, and they have gone that way.

I'm more organized in ways that I wasn't last year.  Last year, I assumed the school would have an attendance policy in place and they really didn't.  So this year, I'm prepared and I'm keeping meticulous attendance records.

I'm trying a new rewards system this year.  I really like it so far.  I liked the marble jars, but it took so much work to keep up with it.  This year I'm trying the ticket system and the kids love it.

I'm taking more time for myself this year.  I've said it a million times, but that was truly my biggest mistake last year.  I worked all the time.  I never had any time for me.  Now I'm making sure that I do something for myself each day.  Some days I have more time for me than others, but I'm making sure that at least for 1 hour every day, I have "Me Time."  I must say that it's made this week more bearable.

One thing that is very different from last year is something that I did not expect.  My feet hurt MORE!  I don't know how this is possible, but they hurt sooooo badly.  I don't know why.  Honestly, last year's first week involved me never sitting down because it was my first time in my own classroom.  Now, I sit down occasionally and let the kids do more of the work, because I've learned that's better for me and for them, but I really don't remember my feet hurting this badly last year. 

Something that is significantly different is my "worry level."  I don't really know what to call it.  I don't want to call it stress, because I had just the same amount of stress last year as this year, maybe more.  No, this is a different KIND of stress.  This is worry.  I am the only Algebra I teacher in the school now.  Apparently they liked what I did so much last year (and our Algebra I test passing rate improved by 12%) that the district "made a decision" to have me teach all the Algebra I classes.  Even though I practically begged them to let me teach Geometry (I love teaching geometry), they are making me teach Algebra I now.  And since our school is Level 1 this year because all our other test scores dropped, the state department is going to be in my classroom at least 2 days a week this year.  Talk about stress/worry.  I don't need that.  I always teach as if I'm being evaluated anyway, but actually having someone in the room evaluating you several days a week is a lot of pressure.  I have to be on point and at my best all the time. 

I wish I could say that this first week was better than last year's first week, because I'm sure that's what the first years want to hear.  But all I can really say is that it was different.  Yes, a lot of things were better, but now that I've conquered those things, I've got other challenges to face.

So good luck everyone!  Have a great year!

So you want to know what to document as a teacher, eh?  The answer is..

EVERYTHING!

Unfortunately, yes, you need to document everything.  But let's see if I can break this down a little bit.

The first thing I would document is an inventory of what is in your classroom when you get there.  You never know what your administration is or is not going to hold you responsible for at the end of the year, so to be safe, keep a list of what is in your classroom the minute you arrive.

You definitely have to document discipline and behavior issues.  I kept a log on my podium of what happened during the day, just shorthand notes with the student's name, the date, the issue, and the consequence.  At the end of the day, I took that log and copied down the incidents in greater detail on separate forms that I made and kept in each child's folder.  But find a method that works for you.

Document every time something happens with administration that you didn't agree with.  Document any request that you made that was never fulfilled. 

Document sexual harassment in all forms.

Document attendance and tardies.

Keep track of which books you passed out to students.  The administration most likely will not do this for you, so don't count on it.  Think of how you would like to do this beforehand and keep your own personal record, because your administration might try to hold you responsible if you don't know where every single text book is at the end of the year.  I had each student write their name, subject, period and book number on an index card that I kept filed by period and in alphabetical order, so at the end of the year, I knew exactly who had which book and who should be fined.  Another tip with text books...make sure that you either write the student's name in their book for them IN PEN or watch them write their name IN PEN.  Students will try to turn in books at the end of the year in which they wrote their name and try to pass it off as theirs when it's really someone else's.  But if you knew for sure which name went with which number and you wrote it yourself or watched them write it, then they can't lie about it.

Document parent phone calls.  When, why, and who you spoke with.  If you left a message, write that down too.

Keep track of all remedial efforts your made for students who were failing or not performing well.  You will most likely have paper work to fill out for the counselors office for all the students who failed and if you have that documentation prepared, it will take you a lot less time when they give it to you the night before they need it.

Document positive things that your students do as well.  Try as often as you can to just take some anecdotal notes about students so that when you meet or talk with their parents you have something positive to say.

That's really all I can think of for now.  But keep checking this entry, because I may add to it as I think of more.

The rule of thumb for documentation is, if you even consider for a half a second that you might need to document something, do it!

"If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room." - Anita Koddick

This last year of my life has been indescribable.  I don't know how I could put into words all the feelings and thoughts that I've had as I've reflected on my first year as a teacher.  It is definitely a next to impossible task to put all those thoughts down into a few short paragraphs on a blog.  I have made new friends.  I have lost friends.  I have succeeded.  I have failed.  I have worked to exhaustion.  I have felt like giving up, but kept going anyway.  And on top of all that, I got married!  Haha.

So where should I start?

Let's start with logistics and tasks.  I have learned how to be more organized than I was before.  I did not know this was possible, because naturally I tend to be organized and slightly anal about things.  However, I have managed to become more organized than I was last June.  It is a necessary trait of a teacher.  Even if your bedroom is a mess, your classroom cannot be, or you will not be able to teach.  You will not know where your materials are.  You will not be prepared for the students and you will definitely not be able to keep up with all the random tasks/paper work that your administration will make you deal with. 

I have learned how to teach math.  I can now explain and break things down much better than I could last year.  I understand better how the teenage mind thinks and needs to hear math terms and ideas.

I have learned how to work and coexist with difficult administrators.  I've learned that the best way to do this is to simply do the best job you know how.  Do what is necessary in your classroom and your administration will leave you alone.  As long as you're not causing problems for them, they will usually stay out of your way and even help you with things that you need.  I definitely did not agree or get along with my principal most of the time, but because he could never question the job I was doing, we did not have many run ins.  And the ones that we did, he didn't have a leg to stand on, because I always did my job and more.

Be someone that can be counted on.  Be someone that your students trust.  Be someone that your administration knows will do your best.  Be someone that your friends feel comfortable coming to. 

Have integrity.  No matter what you are doing or what venue you are in, be honest in your words and actions.  That's the thing that got me through a lot this year. 

I loved my students.  Truly and without facetiousness or sarcasm.  Every single one of them in one way or another helped me become a better teacher, a better person.  I learned so much more from them than they did from me.  I am grateful for this summer break, but I look forward to seeing my beloved kids again in August.

I learned more patience.  Patience is a necessary qualification in education.  It's impossible to be a good teacher without patience.  You have to be patient with your students, with other teachers, and with administration. 

I will from now on spend more time on me though.  That was my biggest weakness this last year.  I totally engrossed myself in the work I was doing and occasionally neglected things that really were more important.  My students are important, but they are not as important as my family and my sanity.

This blog has definitely not turned out the way it was originally intended.  I meant for it to be a reflection on the impact of this last year on my life.  I guess in a way it has been, but let me summarize and hopefully be more clear.

I have entirely been changed for the better.  I know myself better.  I am more patient.  I am more organized.  I am more laid-back (It seems paradoxical, but it's true.  I've had to learn how to relax, because otherwise I will go crazy!).  No matter what happens to me in the future or what I choose to do after my time with MTC is over, I will always remember what I learned in this first year.

Most importantly, I will never forget the kids.  Remember, it's all about the kids.  It's all for them.

The first week of summer school is over.  With only two weeks to go for this session, I pause to look back at what has happened so far.  For my part, I am pretty much done teaching.  My awesome first years will be taking over for the next two weeks except for a few lessons that my co-second year and I will be teaching.  But really I'm done.  Wshew!

This summer I am teaching 7th Grade Math.  Funny how that's the same thing I taught last summer.  During this first week, I taught a lot of the basics.  Something that still amazes me even though I've come to accept it at this point is how little 7th graders know; or even how much high schoolers don't know, since during the regular school year, I teach high school.  Kids are still struggling with basic skills like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  So what is the first thing we start with at the beginning of summer school or a regular school year?  Those basics, of course.

One of the successful objectives I taught this summer had to do with fractions.  In fact, the goal that I felt was a success was a culmination of several lessons put together.  On Thursday morning we started the first hour of the day by just talking about what a fraction was.  You might (or might not) be surprised to know that 7th graders do not understand what a fraction is and what it represents.  2nd period we learned how to add and subtract fractions.  3rd period I had a little help from one of my 1st years who did an excellent job teaching the students how to multiply and divide fractions.  And 4th period we had some fun with fractions and music.

This was a successful set of lessons not only during summer school, but in my regular classroom this last year.  I showed the students a new way to add and subtract in which they never have to find a common denominator again.  All they have to do is "make a teepee."  4th period, I taught them all a song that would help them remember how to do each of the fraction operations.  They loved it!  Thanks again, Mr. Couzo. 

Now the real test was actually the next day.  First thing in the morning, I gave the students a quiz on fractions to see if they could actually do what we had learned the previous day.  As I so often have learned, sometimes it seems like the kids get it and then you actually assess and find out that they don't really get it and you have to go back and reteach it.  This was not the case this time.  Two of our students got a perfect score on this quiz and the low score was an 83.  I considered that an accomplishment since the results from our pre-assessment told us that these children did not understand fractions at all.

Why did this work?  I really think it has to do with the teepee method and the fraction song.  Any time you can come up with tricks and gimmicks that help kids remember what they learned, you've won.  The teepee method for adding and subtracting fractions is so much easier than finding common denominators, that kids love to do it.  And putting all the operations into a catchy tune that the kids can hum while they take their quiz/test is always a winner.  Plus, it's fun!  Whenever you have fun in class, the students remember better what was going on that day.

Now, the not so fun part.  What could I have done differently and what goals were not successful.  Another objective that I taught this week was that of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing integers.  Adding and subtracting were fine, but the positive/negative rules of multiplying and dividing are still a little confusing for the kids.  They understand the rules, but don't always remember how/when to apply them.  This, I think, is due mostly to the time factor.  Some of these kids just need more practice because they don't have the skill set that's required for this.  It's scary, but the other day, one of our kids could not compute 15 - 7 without a calculator.  This is a definite setback.  What I really need is time to sit down and teach this kids 3rd and 4th grade math so that they can catch up to 7th grade.

Differentiation is something I try to incorporate throughout my lessons.  Being a visual/kinetic learner myself, I understand how important it is to do things differently for different students.  With the visual and kinetic representations (we drew pictures and my clever 1st year had the kids cutting pizza slices), the verbal explanations and the musical aspect that pulled it all together, I think we hit all the learning styles that the students needed.

What could I do differently next time?  Plan more time for some of these subject.  Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing are so basic, but you can't do anything else in math if you don't have those skills.  So I will spend more time on the basics before I do anything else.

MTC's summer school is starting this week. Tomorrow we will be going to set up classrooms and on Tuesday we will have students. Am I ready to have students again? Well, I can't say that I'm ready, but I can say that I'm prepared. I think there's a difference. What have I done to prepare? Well, a lot of planning...

One thing that I felt has been of great significance in planning for summer school is how extremely different it is from planning a normal school year. Both are difficult. Both have their own challenges, but I feel that planning a three week term of summer school is significantly more difficult than planning a school year. One thing that makes it difficult is that so many objectives have to be met in just three weeks. Objectives that I would have a full school year of instruction to use now have to be crammed into a three week term.

As a result, the way I wrote and used objectives for this summer school session probably do not incorporate all the different learning levels that I would like or that I would/did use this last year. There just isn't time to cover everything, let alone cover everything in depth. My learning goals for our summer school students are as follows:

1. Learn and apply mathematical concepts that they did not understand during the school year.
2. Retain those concepts for use in the next school year.

This is much easier said than done. My philosophy as a math teacher is not to teach kids formulas or cheats or easy ways to do things. I do show them shortcuts and nice ways to solve problems that possibly they haven't seen before, but my real goal is for them to understand the reasoning behind what their doing, not just regurgitate information that I give them. Many people say that math is memorization. In some respects it is. Some things, you just need to memorize, like multiplication tables. But other things, I want my students to understand why they are doing what they're doing, not just what they are doing.

This has created a struggle for me as I've planned lessons and objectives for this summer. Understanding the Why takes much more time and in depth lessons that build off of each other. This just cannot be done as well in three weeks. I still had my two lofty goals in mind when planning my lessons, but a lot of my objectives ended up focusing on just finding a way for students to master the How, not always the Why.

I felt that my second goal was very important for these kids as well. The students that we teach in summer school are already behind in one way or another. They probably learned all this stuff already, but cannot remember how to do it. This is a problem with all students, not just remedial students. Retention is a real problem in math classes. So my goals led me to plan lessons that were discovery and inductively inspiring. I also love teaching with hands on experiences and I believe it is always best to find a way to involve the students at least once in every lesson.

For example, in one of the lessons I will be teaching, we will be deciding what is and is not an integer. This is something that my students for the summer need to know according to the state frameworks. I am using an inductive strategy in this lesson that also involves the learner. Before the activity, we will look at different kinds of numbers and discuss some of their similarities and differences. We will come up with a definition for integers (of course, the students will be led to the definition that they need to know). We will be taking note cards with numbers written on them (I will do this beforehand). There will be two columns on the board, one that says "Integers" and one that says "Not an Integer". I will hand out the note cards randomly and ask students to come to the board and tape their card in the appropriate category. It will help them distinguish what kinds of numbers are integers and what kinds of numbers are not.

I've used this kind of lesson, although not this exact strategy, before and it has gone very well. Students remember activities like this where they were actively involved. It's a simple objective: to categorize integers. But it is fundamentally important to everything else they need to know in math. Hopefully this will help them learn, apply, and retain the information.

Summer school is always a challenge, but hopefully we can really help these kids with the energy of the first years and the planning of the second years.

The year is officially over. While I don't think I've become a great source of enlightenment, I have learned a few things. And if nothing else, I have decided on several things that I will do differently next year, both in and out of my classroom.

1. Attendance Records - When I came to Mississippi, I was warned about many things, disorganization of schools and districts being one of them. I prepared as much as possible, writing down and outlining every procedure for every possible situation in my classroom. This was extremely advantageous to me and the students. It gave me an answer to questions from students when situations arose, because I had predetermined what the answer was before the question was asked, and it provided structure and organization in my classroom. There was one thing I left out. I mistakenly assumed that because attendance is strictly regulated by the state (or so I thought) that my school would have an attendance record policy in practice, much like my high school did where I grew up. Thus I did not set up my own way of taking attendance and marking tardies, because I assumed that it would have to change and adapt to whatever procedure was already in use at my school. Well, I was wrong. My school was entirely disorganized when it came to attendance, so my record of attendance is not as accurate as I would have wished, because I was not prepared for it. Next year, I will be prepared for this.

2. Coworker Assumptions - I was warned so much about the quality of the teaching in Delta schools that I had another mistaken assumption coming into my district. I assumed that all the teachers in my school were terrible and let the kids run wild. I was truly shocked to find that this was not the case. I discovered that there are some true gems of teachers in the school where I teach. I observed some other teachers and learned from their strategies. I talked with teachers and found that most of them genuinely care about the students and about their education. Now that I have made friends on the faculty, I have gained more respect for them and their teaching practices. So first years, be warned, not all the teachers where you're going are terrible and you can definitely learn from them. Be open minded.

3. Personal Classroom Inventory - The last week of school, we were told that we had to fill out inventory sheets for the items owned by the school in our classrooms. Not a big deal, right? Until we were told that if any items of inventory were missing from what the business office said we should have, that the cost of those items would be taken out of our paychecks. This was news to me. Especially since I had no idea what was supposed to be in my room in the first place. I came in as a new teacher and was never given an inventory sheet of what was supposed to be there from the last year, and also as a new teacher, I didn't think of taking a personal inventory just to cover my rear end. So next year, I will take an inventory the first day I'm in my room of what is there so that at the end of the year, I will not have to be afraid that something is "missing" when it just wasn't actually there in the first place.

4. Progress Reports - I tried to call home whenever students were really struggling in my class. I kept a log of phone calls that I made, but as the year wore on and life become increasingly busy and stressful, parent phone calls were one of the last things on my to do list. So the last few months of school I instituted progress reports. Our school only does progress reports at midterms, but this was another technique I learned to cover my behind. Every week, I filled out a progress report form for every student that was receiving a D or an F. I put a checkmark in the blank next to the reason they were receiving the grade they had and signed it. I also left a blank for the parent to sign it. I made copies of all of these forms, filed them in student folders and sent the copies home with the students. Some of them I received back from parents signed and some I didn't, but no matter what, I had a record that said I had attempted to contact the parent, even if it wasn't by phone call. This process took me about a half an hour each Monday and saved me from making lengthy phone calls at late hours of the night. At the same time, parents could not yell at me for not telling them about their child's grade, because I had a record that said I had tried to inform them and their child had not given them the notice. Then they could get on their child's case instead of mine. This procedure worked and I'm going to do it from the beginning of next school year.

5. Documenting Sexual Harassment - I had lots of issues with sexual harassment from students. I always had a way to stop this harassment in its tracks (due to some good preparation from MTC), but some students were persistent. After a good strong reprimand from my second year mentor, I developed a way to document all this harassment that continued and was not dealt with by administration. I'm glad that he made me do this and I will make sure that any and all sexual harassment issues are documented so I have something to fall back on.

6. ME TIME!!! - This may be the most important thing I learned and will do differently next year. No matter how busy life gets, how many lesson plans I have to write, how many class assignments I have to do, papers I have to grade, I HAVE to have time to be me. I need time to just sit and read or play a game or spend time with my husband. I need time to sit and play my guitar and sing or play the piano. I need time to see a movie. Every day, I'm going to try to do something just for me. That will help me be less stressed out, even if I don't finish everything on my to do list for the day, at least I will have my sanity.

Overall, my first year of teaching I feel was a success. I did help a few kids. I failed some others, but I get to try again next year. I learned a lot about myself. Even though I'm glad that I learned so much and I do truly look forward to next school year, I am indeed grateful for summer and the respite it brings.

Tomorrow is the last day of the school year. I am quite excited. But I just wanted to take a few minutes to describe the chaos of my school this last week. This was also something that no one told me about before I came down here. I find it amusing and appalling at the same time.

We had final exams on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Since then, and even before then, the school has been in absolute chaos. Children are allowed to do whatever they want. The number of students skipping school is insane. They don't care anymore. The administration told us in a faculty meeting on Monday afternoon to "just keep the students entertained." So that's what we do.

We were supposed to have a field day today. However, that was cancelled due to the gang fights that we had at school yesterday. Yep, we had another big gang fight. Not like the riot in October, but apparently there were 30 kids involved in gang fighting so they cancelled the field day. The one thing that might have kept the kids really entertained. Something that would have been enjoyable and fun for teachers and students alike and would have been a productive use of time. But no, we are babysitters now.

Kids are just hanging out under the guise of changing classes once an hour. Most kids go hang out in the gym and play basketball. Of course, the administration knows this. In fact, they're prepared. There are teachers assigned there to supervise the kids skipping class to play basketball. Kids just stand outside and hang out all day. There's a water fight going on somewhere on campus. Students are wandering the halls. They're getting checked out by their parents by the hour.

I had 3 kids show up for 2nd period, 0 for 3rd period, 2 for 4th period, and so far 0 for 5th period. I'll probably be alone in my room for the rest of the day. I might have 1 student show up in 7th period. Where are they? I don't know. When the assistant principal came to my classroom today and I told him that I didn't know where my students are he said, "Don't worry about it."

Now, is this right? No. School should not be this chaotic mess. But is it all bad? No, I don't think so. What would I really be able to have the kids do these last few days? They don't want to work. They wouldn't work. They'd end up goofing off and having "free days" anyway. And they would get away with it, because there are no consequences from the administration.

"Here we are now. Entertain us." That's what the kids want and that's what the administration is telling me to do.

Now, I am prepared. I brought in some videos and some brain teasers and games for them to play. So I do have activities for them if they show up. They just don't show up. And that's ok with me...I hate to say it, but it's true. I'm using this time to write lesson plans for next year since I have a new prep.

School this week is a joke. The kids know it. That makes it even more of a joke. The administration isn't even trying to get it under control. And I almost welcome the relief of not having kids in my room and being given time to plan. Perhaps in a few days when the school year is officially over, I'll write a more reflective blog on this school year. But for now, just thought y'all might enjoy reading about the chaos deep in the Mississippi Delta.