The fourth (and last) quarter always seems to be the most difficult one to get through. The teachers are just as sick of school as the students, and the students know it. It's so hard to stay motivated to teach, and therefore it's so hard to stay motivated to learn. Of course, it doesn't help that May is inundated with all the standardized tests, and regular teaching seems to get pushed aside.
I know I have complained this year that my supervisors have not been in my classroom enough, which has definitely affected my motivation, but according to veteran teacher Larry Cuban, principals' managerial duties are far more effective than their classroom visits. I really enjoyed reading this article, but I'm not really sure what to say about it. Really, it speaks for itself.
Here's another article that speaks for itself. Marion Brady makes an excellent point about comparing teachers to other professions that cannot be fit in a box. I wish more people would realize and appreciate the absolute complexity and nuance that goes into teaching (and learning, for that matter), and therefore understand that it cannot necessarily be measured in a standardized way.
Speaking of which, this kid has nailed satire and is only in eighth grade. There is hope for our education system yet.
Showing posts with label administrators. Show all posts
Showing posts with label administrators. Show all posts
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Community & collaboration
Two things. First: because it is the last quarter and senioritis has set in, the attendance problem in my fifth period class (seniors) has gotten worse. I've had 4 students from that class I haven't seen since the quarter started. So I sent an email to their administrator and the Attendance Specialist (I'm not exactly sure what his job is, but he seems to be effective) about it. The next day, each of these students were in class. That was kind of amazing, though I wonder how long it will last.
Secondly: With the same class today, we finished up reading Macbeth and I wanted to do an interactive activity with it so I explained that the classroom was now a courtroom and divided the class into two groups. One group was playing the Prosecution, proving Lady Macbeth's guilt and sanity, and the other group was the Defense, proving that she was just an accomplice, and that she was insane. I told them to make their cases they had to find textual evidence from the play. I was anticipating groans when I said this, but there was nary a peep.
With this class in particular, I am weary of trying anything the least bit nontraditional, even something where students get to argue (and they LOVE to argue). Plus, this activity did not go as well as I had hoped with my previous senior class, the one I use with which to gauge the effectiveness of activities, since they seem to be generally less apathetic. So I was a little concerned when I introduced the activity, but they were totally into it. Even the students who weren't saying anything were interested in the arguments. It was a fantastic class. I hope the attendance and the interest will not completely dissipate before the end of the year.
Secondly: With the same class today, we finished up reading Macbeth and I wanted to do an interactive activity with it so I explained that the classroom was now a courtroom and divided the class into two groups. One group was playing the Prosecution, proving Lady Macbeth's guilt and sanity, and the other group was the Defense, proving that she was just an accomplice, and that she was insane. I told them to make their cases they had to find textual evidence from the play. I was anticipating groans when I said this, but there was nary a peep.
With this class in particular, I am weary of trying anything the least bit nontraditional, even something where students get to argue (and they LOVE to argue). Plus, this activity did not go as well as I had hoped with my previous senior class, the one I use with which to gauge the effectiveness of activities, since they seem to be generally less apathetic. So I was a little concerned when I introduced the activity, but they were totally into it. Even the students who weren't saying anything were interested in the arguments. It was a fantastic class. I hope the attendance and the interest will not completely dissipate before the end of the year.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Grades do not equal achievement.
When will students, parents, administrators, and politicians realize this?
At the staff meeting this week, the principal informed us that there was a small percentage of students with D's and E's compared to students who had earned C's and above. His comment in response was, "This tells me that you all are doing incredible work" when it comes to helping our students achieve. Ummmm, ok... really? Just because a kid gets a C doesn't mean that he understands the material. Even a kid who gets an A hasn't necessarily mastered the material. I have students who have D's who are putting in more of an effort than kids with B's and C's; they may just not be as naturally bright. Personally, I would rather have a class of dummies who work hard than a class of smart asses who do no work. Apathy really, really bothers me.
Also, kudos to the principal for giving us accolades, I suppose, but how about giving some of that credit to the kids? After all, teachers always talk about how we don't "give" grades, but rather, how students "earn" them themselves.
Anyway, the end of the quarter was yesterday, which means we're halfway done!
At the staff meeting this week, the principal informed us that there was a small percentage of students with D's and E's compared to students who had earned C's and above. His comment in response was, "This tells me that you all are doing incredible work" when it comes to helping our students achieve. Ummmm, ok... really? Just because a kid gets a C doesn't mean that he understands the material. Even a kid who gets an A hasn't necessarily mastered the material. I have students who have D's who are putting in more of an effort than kids with B's and C's; they may just not be as naturally bright. Personally, I would rather have a class of dummies who work hard than a class of smart asses who do no work. Apathy really, really bothers me.
Also, kudos to the principal for giving us accolades, I suppose, but how about giving some of that credit to the kids? After all, teachers always talk about how we don't "give" grades, but rather, how students "earn" them themselves.
Anyway, the end of the quarter was yesterday, which means we're halfway done!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Of course he does...
(Regarding the headline that discusses our illustrious Virginia governor and his "education" policies.) Read more here.
Although to be fair, some of his ideas are good. Like repealing the rather meaningless King's Dominion Law, which states that schools cannot begin for the fall until Labor Day. I also agree with him on decreasing the amount of choices of high school diplomas offered, though I would bet good money we have different reasons for wanting to do so. Three other initiatives he is proposing (Literacy, Tuition Tax Credits, and Youth Development) sound great in theory, but I wonder how he plans to initiate them. These are ambitious (and costly) plans. Call me a cynic (please!), but I have my doubts about these programs...
However, what I detest most is his contemptuous idea about eliminating teacher tenure. To quote the latter article, by Emma Brown, McDonnell "shrugged off the suggestion that tenure is necessary to protect academic freedom, saying that it ends up protecting bad teachers." We have heard this argument time and time again from multiple people on both sides of the aisle. This argument will never go away.
But I think Strauss puts it well when she states that there are evaluation systems in place that are effective, in which "bad teachers are removed even though teachers have tenure....teacher tenure... cannot protect an awful teacher, unless administrators fail to take the steps necessary to remove said teacher from the classroom."
While this problem will not be resolved any time soon, I think it is important to pay attention to this last point, which people too often ignore: That one should blame administrators who are not adequately evaluating their employees, rather than blaming the system itself. It is people who are accountable, then, and not organizations (*ahem* corporations *ahem*).
Although to be fair, some of his ideas are good. Like repealing the rather meaningless King's Dominion Law, which states that schools cannot begin for the fall until Labor Day. I also agree with him on decreasing the amount of choices of high school diplomas offered, though I would bet good money we have different reasons for wanting to do so. Three other initiatives he is proposing (Literacy, Tuition Tax Credits, and Youth Development) sound great in theory, but I wonder how he plans to initiate them. These are ambitious (and costly) plans. Call me a cynic (please!), but I have my doubts about these programs...
However, what I detest most is his contemptuous idea about eliminating teacher tenure. To quote the latter article, by Emma Brown, McDonnell "shrugged off the suggestion that tenure is necessary to protect academic freedom, saying that it ends up protecting bad teachers." We have heard this argument time and time again from multiple people on both sides of the aisle. This argument will never go away.
But I think Strauss puts it well when she states that there are evaluation systems in place that are effective, in which "bad teachers are removed even though teachers have tenure....teacher tenure... cannot protect an awful teacher, unless administrators fail to take the steps necessary to remove said teacher from the classroom."
While this problem will not be resolved any time soon, I think it is important to pay attention to this last point, which people too often ignore: That one should blame administrators who are not adequately evaluating their employees, rather than blaming the system itself. It is people who are accountable, then, and not organizations (*ahem* corporations *ahem*).
Friday, December 16, 2011
Standardization baaaaaad... Curiosity goooooooood
Every month, the English department (like every other discipline) has a dept. meeting. Invariably, the meeting entails reiteration of what the county and/or principal wants us to implement, and then there is the requisite whining. This week, there was a raucous ruckus (see what I did there?) about the new grading policies that will most likely begin next September. Currently, we can basically weight the grades however we want, as long as homework is not a ridiculous amount (I think 15% is the max). However, the administrators on high in their infinite "wisdom" have declared that now, homework and classwork together can now not count for more than 20% of a student's grade. Which means that 80% comes from tests. What happened to all their bitching about not wanting us to "teach to the test"?
On the one hand, I can see where having a student's grade based primarily on their knowledge makes sense, and the practice with which to master this knowledge counts much less. However, students will quickly realize with this system that they can do little to no work in class and at home and they can still most likely earn a passing grade. But what they will fail to realize is that they can only master the information on tests if they spend enough time practicing. Therefore, students who just care about grades and not learning skill sets (which, let's face it, is how most of them think, as do their parents) will not be motivated to ever attend class unless there is a test. (Just like many college students... but that's another subject.)
Furthermore, as one colleague pointed out, this will mean we have to "test the shit out of these kids" in order to get enough data for sufficient grading, which will make them even less engaged in school and more apathetic toward learning in general. Another teacher pointed out that in the city in which he taught before he came here, these standards were implemented, and because of them, teachers had to have a specific number of homework assignments, tests, seminars, etc., and because it was almost impossible to fit all this in and not make themselves (or the students) crazy, teachers ended up randomly calling a classroom activity a test or project, and thus the categories lost all meaning.
Yikes.... I could go on, but I won't. Sooooo glad it's the weekend and there are only four more days of school before Winter Break. Before I sign off, I thought I would share this, with which I agree 100%. That's where we should be headed, not prescribing random percentages to classroom procedures.
On the one hand, I can see where having a student's grade based primarily on their knowledge makes sense, and the practice with which to master this knowledge counts much less. However, students will quickly realize with this system that they can do little to no work in class and at home and they can still most likely earn a passing grade. But what they will fail to realize is that they can only master the information on tests if they spend enough time practicing. Therefore, students who just care about grades and not learning skill sets (which, let's face it, is how most of them think, as do their parents) will not be motivated to ever attend class unless there is a test. (Just like many college students... but that's another subject.)
Furthermore, as one colleague pointed out, this will mean we have to "test the shit out of these kids" in order to get enough data for sufficient grading, which will make them even less engaged in school and more apathetic toward learning in general. Another teacher pointed out that in the city in which he taught before he came here, these standards were implemented, and because of them, teachers had to have a specific number of homework assignments, tests, seminars, etc., and because it was almost impossible to fit all this in and not make themselves (or the students) crazy, teachers ended up randomly calling a classroom activity a test or project, and thus the categories lost all meaning.
Yikes.... I could go on, but I won't. Sooooo glad it's the weekend and there are only four more days of school before Winter Break. Before I sign off, I thought I would share this, with which I agree 100%. That's where we should be headed, not prescribing random percentages to classroom procedures.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Mental Health Day
I'm taking today off for two reasons (though perhaps only one is legitimate). Firstly, and most legitimately, I am in the process of moving, and I would like a day to get things done, unpack, call banks about address change, etc etc. Secondly, and perhaps less (or not at all) legitimately, I need a break from my freakin' seventh period.
Seventh period is by far my most challenging of the day, but things were getting much better. I had a system, the kids were into it, it was working. But right after Thanksgiving, everything changed. I got a new girl who just made everything ten times worse (who I found out Friday was a foster child and has been popped around from school system to school system, which probably accounts for her discipline issues). She was absolutely uncontrollable. I essentially went off the deep end and my students know it. I lost authority over them for three minutes. But those three minutes, like all minutes in the classroom, are essential. I was shaking when the dismissal bell rang (from pent up anger, embarrassment, stress, and a sense of failure) and went to see an administrator about the situation. He was completely understanding and told me later he had dealt with the problem child accordingly.
For some reason, the weeks between Thanksgiving and Winter Break are the most hellish of the entire year, for both students and teachers. Earlier that same week, I had an issue with a different student from the same class who I suspected of being mentally unstable. I asked a fellow teacher if I should report her actions directly to the school psychologist, or tell her counselor first. He suggested that, since she had verbally threatened me, I tell the administrator and then the counselor. Whoa.
Ug... only eight more days of school, then a much deserved break.
Seventh period is by far my most challenging of the day, but things were getting much better. I had a system, the kids were into it, it was working. But right after Thanksgiving, everything changed. I got a new girl who just made everything ten times worse (who I found out Friday was a foster child and has been popped around from school system to school system, which probably accounts for her discipline issues). She was absolutely uncontrollable. I essentially went off the deep end and my students know it. I lost authority over them for three minutes. But those three minutes, like all minutes in the classroom, are essential. I was shaking when the dismissal bell rang (from pent up anger, embarrassment, stress, and a sense of failure) and went to see an administrator about the situation. He was completely understanding and told me later he had dealt with the problem child accordingly.
For some reason, the weeks between Thanksgiving and Winter Break are the most hellish of the entire year, for both students and teachers. Earlier that same week, I had an issue with a different student from the same class who I suspected of being mentally unstable. I asked a fellow teacher if I should report her actions directly to the school psychologist, or tell her counselor first. He suggested that, since she had verbally threatened me, I tell the administrator and then the counselor. Whoa.
Ug... only eight more days of school, then a much deserved break.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Out of the Mouth of Babes...
I'm going to try really, really hard to update this more often. It was a short week since Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and this month has been short and a little broken up in general, which means the kids are more riled up than usual. As I was walking to the library yesterday, I heard this gem: "Dude, you think too much about the ladies. Do your work first, then you can think about the ladies!" That's right: Priorities. He haz them.
Also, my immediate supervisor and the county English supervisor came by to watch me teach. It went pretty damn awesomely. Hooray. So I still have a job. For now.
Also, my immediate supervisor and the county English supervisor came by to watch me teach. It went pretty damn awesomely. Hooray. So I still have a job. For now.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
What a week!
Phew. I am exhausted. This has been a hellish week. I'm not going to go into details, but suffice it to say that meetings put me WAY behind in terms of grading and planning (which I consider way more important, but hey, what do I know?). On top of everything else, we had a fire drill today that was not a drill. Apparently there was a gas leak, so they had to evacuate the whole school for about an hour. Fun times. It was good to see the kids fooling around, though. They needed that break for a bit. Anyway, I am probably going to bed early tonight. So overwhelmed right now.
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