Lauryn’s Neighborhood

first weeks teaching in cOlOmBiA

Ms Math
Aug 30, 2009
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I've been thinking about blogging a lot, but haven't gotten around to it until now. Only four weeks have gone by since the first day of school, and only three weeks have gone by with the kids, but some much has happened! Or maybe not that much has happened, but I have some many differing responses.

The first week, the week without teachers, was a little nerve racking. I was nervous about what was to come. We had a lot of random PD, but it seemed like too much to take in at one time, and on the other hand not enough free time to get things done.

First Days

I was really nervous about the first day. It was my third first day of school, so it seems like I should have it down somewhat, but I seemed to have blocked out, or merely forgotten all of my other first day experiences. And then there was the issue of time difference. Classes here are 60 minutes instead of the 90 minutes I'm used to. On the first day, there was an assembly so classes were cut down to 50 minutes. I didn't know if I was going to be able to fill that time, with just going over the syllabus.... but- boy, could I! Apparently I can ramble on for hours about classroom rules and procedures. I was surprised by many of the students questions. Students wanted to know my expectations of them exactly, especially when it came to what supplies the needed and how I would be grading. They had questions about everything really.

I definitely had a "honeymoon period" the first week or two. There was some small side chatter with the students, but things were pretty much on task. All of the students completed their homework. All of the 10th graders passed their first quiz.

However, there were some worrisome parts too. The ninth graders bombed the pretest I gave them. All that was on it was basic operations with real numbers, and some basic algebra stuff, like distributive property and 1 and 2-step equations. Much to everyone's dismay, they sucked it up on the test. I was really surprised by their lack of ability. In Mississippi I knew my students wouldn't know how to add or subtract fractions, or even really have a very good idea of what a fraction is. Here I thought things would be different. A teacher friend let me in on a secret: "No one in the world knows how to do fractions." Oh.

Then I made the mistake of thinking that the students just needed a quick review to catch up on those things. Class ended up as follows: me doing example problems on the bored, them taking notes, me assigning homework, them f***ing up the homework and coming to class with 30 homework questions, them losing concentration half way through question 2, me moving on to the next topic, repeat. All throughout this process, kids were getting more and more discouraged.

I think next year I will not start out with fractions. I will start out with a review of distributive property and one and two step equations with real numbers only. The are okay at this, and having some success will help them build confidence and enjoy the class. We will get to the fractions, decimals, and exponents later.

Also I have learned that when it comes to doing hard new stuff, most of it has to be done in class, because many students need me there to tutor them. I still want to assign homework, so that they don't get out of the habit of doing it, but only a nominal amount.

The tenth graders have shown themselves to be much more up to grade level in math. I can hold them accountable for knowing what they should have learned in Alg I and Alg II. If they don't completely remember something, a quick review at the begin of class suffices. Also, they are good at helping each other out, when someone has a question. However, in the third week of class I have noticed a lot more talking and off task behaviors in the tenth graders as well. I am thinking that perhaps I have not been strict enough. In fact, I am really not sure. Sometimes I think I'm not actually cut out for this whole "teaching" thing. maybe i suck.

Consequences:

Teaching at Jim Hill definitely undermined my classroom management abilities. Why? The one thing they stress in any class on management is that consistency is the key. At Jim Hill there was no consistency. I put up with whatever behaviors were going on, until I couldn't take it anymore, and then sent the kid out because that was really the only consequence available. Students learned after about the 4th week of school, if they didn't go to detention nothing happened.

At my current school, I actually have consequences at my disposal, but i forget to use them. We can dock points for misbehavior and we can assign lunch, recess, and after school detention. There is even a Friday detention for more extreme cases. But like I said it has been a struggle for me to get back in to the habit of using these so I fear I may come off as unfair or inconsistent.

Rewards

On a positive side, my Kimmel Dollars ARE indeed effective here. I was worried the kids wouldn't take to them. They do. Students are constantly informing me that they think they should get one. The kids loved the cookies I brought in, and asked me all week if I was going to bring in more. Even better, since all of the students have I-pods, I can make them use their Kimmel Dollars for the privilege of listening to them in class. Free and hassle-free reward.

Frustrations vs FRUSTRATIONS

So I am frustrated about the low level of my ninth graders and some of the disrespect that my students have shown me. On the other hand, no one has thrown anything on the floor, cussed me out to my face, skipped class, shown up high, or told me they didn't care when i assigned them a consequence. My principal can complete the sentences he starts, feels it is important not to undermine my authority in the classroom, and has the time and energy to be genuinely concerned about my well being in the classroom. my fellow teachers care about the kids and know their subject matter. yes!

First Test:

I gave my tenth graders their first test and I just finished grading it. The questions ranged greatly in difficulty level. Anyway, the highest grade was a 105, the lowest grades were in the 50's except for one girl who scored a 32%. The mean score was 78% with a s.d. of 15. Yep, i calculated all of that data. But i don't know what it means. 11 out 45 failed. Should I add some points on to curve it? 78% actually seems like a pretty good average to me, but I don't know what the expectation are here. I really don't know what to do. So far I am not adding points. Especially because homework and sociocultural grades count for a combined 35% of their grade. So even students who failed the test are still passing the class, for the most part.

Lesson Plans:

My lesson plans are extremely routine and boring. Several factors are adding to this. The tenth grade text book is quite advanced; something that could be done at the college level. It really lends itself to lecture/practice type structure. Furthermore, the students are prepared for this sort of class, and this type of structure is what they will see in calculus. The ninth graders on the other hand could perhaps use some more diverse teaching methods and activities. However, I am hoping to get done with this basic stuff as soon as possible so that we can move on. Furthermore, we have only one hour-- by the time we get done with homework, questions, and notes, there isn't time to start an activity, especially if I want them to have a little time to start their homework in class. I am feeling a little guilty about the whole situation tho. And like a bad teacher....

enough rambling for now.... coffee time.

welcome to my final entry

It's been three weeks since I left behind Mississippi, and my two years of teaching English in a rural Delta school district (and two partial summers of mentoring and coaching new teachers!). I've been meaning to sit down and give an "ending" to this blog, so to speak, and I think enough time now has passed that I feel like I can do that objectively.

Leaving Mississippi (or more specifically, education in Mississippi) was definitely bittersweet - certainly "relief" might be the first word that comes to mind. I am relieved to be back in an educated state, in a place I love, surrounded by family and old friends. I am relieved that I will never again have to face the pressure, stress, and heartbreak of teaching in the Delta.

But a part of me is distinctly frustrated at the thought of leaving the classroom, or the realm of education. I'd like to work a way back into the education sphere in some way - if not through a career, then peripherally as a volunteer, a board member, a community leader, or even as a participant in a sort of wider conversation about education reform. That was the root of much of my Mississippi woes - I would rather reform the way education happens (to avoid the huge gap in achievement for low-income students) than try to work within a broken system (as a teacher to those low-income students). That conclusion was reinforced as I crossed into Minnesota driving up 35N on my way home from Mississippi. Ironically enough, the first thing I hear over the radio in Minnesota was the last 30 minutes of the Minneapolis School Board Meeting (broadcast over public radio) -- I thought I was leaving education only to re-discover it in a whole new way as I arrived. Listening in on the meeting was fascinating. No board meeting in a Mississippi school district would sound like this. But they had their fair share of big problems, controversial issues and inside arguments, too. Made me want to hop on the bandwagon as soon as I can - and I still plan to.

And so ends this blog. I hope someday soon I will have the sort of incredible inspiration that teaching in the Mississippi Delta brought to me (with perhaps little more free time!), so that I might start a new blog, with new thoughts, on new experiences. I'll leave this blog up here -- partly because it serves as a easy way to remember my experiences, and partly because it might help future teachers cope with theirs. Feel free to read back, and back and back any time you wish!

For now, my time is devoted to writing for someone else's blog. And at the very least, I will still feel connected to the digital world on facebook, twitter and linkedin....

EDIT: An interesting conversation went on re: this last entry over on Ephblog, the Williams alumni blog-meeting space. Read it here.

please, y'all, be polite

sabatier
Jun 23, 2009
3 comments

We were asked earlier to write a blog entry on advice for the incoming first-years. Done.

A couple of things have occurred to me during the first weeks of summer school, though, that I think bear saying.

First, where most of us come from, we are used to being able to portray a teacher as someone who is probably not rolling in money. We tend to start with, "Oh, I'm a teacher ..." in those conversations emphasizing that we're tight on cash.

Take a look at the demographic stats on median income for the town where you teach. Jackson: $30,414 (That's for a household. Males: $29,166, females: $23,328. Per capita: $17,600) Household for Panola County: $26,785. Household in Greenville: $25,929. Per capita income in Greenville is $13,992. In Leland, where most GWHS teachers live, per capita income is $11,681, household: $25,678. (From Wikipedia, most figures from 2000 US Census. Things have most likely gotten worse.) You'll be earning about $31,000 your first year. Yes, the cost of living in Mississippi is lower than where you came from, but you'll soon find out that applies mainly to housing and real estate taxes (which you most likely will not pay). Food, utilities, and gasoline are in-line with most of the U.S.

Especially for those of you living in small towns, please remember that you are basically a guest there. You (hopefully) will join a church or other group to involve yourself in the community, but you're in Mississippi, and unless your Mama or your Daddy is from your town, you're a stranger, a guest, until your grandkids are married there.

As a guest, it's rude to poor-mouth in front of people who know you're at the top of the local economic ladder, and most likely know (or suspect, no matter what the reality is) that you are partially bankrolled by your parents who sent you to your pricey private liberal arts college where you didn't even learn how to change a tire. Believe me, this is how you are perceived in your town until your neighbors know otherwise. They know you're there to "help" but be aware that the sense of noblesse oblige is very strong, and very offensive.

Second, please Google yourself from a computer where you are not logged in. Your students will do this. Your administration might.

When they find this, on an unprotected page that also contains your photo and your full name, as the fourth item on the search results, you're gonna have some explaining to do:

Summer school is only 4 hours long. Unfortunately it sucks. And is boring as hell.

Going to beale street tonight. Gonna get shitty.

Guns bonfire beer all on a farm. Amazing. Oh and some cunt cop pulled me over for no reason. And I got no fucking ticket.

Quick Advice

Stephen
Jun 17, 2009
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I've been spending a little too much time reading blogs of the incoming first-years. As an alum of the MTC class of 2006, I wanted to take a second to share some advice for those who are looking back at my blog. You've probably heard this stuff already but as you find with teaching, you have to repeat everything that is important.

1) Write amazing lesson plans now.

You will not have time in the fall. Your creative energies will be drained. Trust me. I wrote lots of medicore lessons during the semester (half of the teacher textbook) that got me through but my great lessons were written during summer vacation or Christmas Break when I had some time to actually think about what I was doing.

Also, if you plan out a really great 10-day unit lesson plan, I'm pretty sure you can recycle it for Ann Monroe's class in the fall. You do not want to spend any more time doing homework in the fall than you have to do. I turned in so many assignments warm off the printer that I cannot count.

2) Get your crazy out now

This is the time where you should party it up with your free time because you will probably not get that chance during the school year. Drink (note: I taught summer school with a hangover more than once and more than one person has been drunk in Ann Monroe's class--you won't be first and won't be the last), play ultimate frisbee, have barbecues at Sardis Lake, and get to know your fellow teachers. Have lots and lots of fun. Make sure that you are building a support system of your peers because these are the only people that are really going to understand what you are going though.

3) Stay cool

I don't mean this in a literal sense (even though it does get quite hot).

Summer is a good time to practice not letting things visibly bother you. In the fall, kids will feed of any emotion you put out. Try to keep yours a cool, calm, collected, and happy one no matter how much rage you have building up on the inside. There are several kids who want nothing more than to get you to break. Don't let that happen. If you stay cool, they stay cool, and the year will go a lot better. Trust me. I learned the hard way.

4) Don't stress about grad school

Seriously, if you do your work, you will do well in your classes. Although often time consuming, the actual work is not hard so don't go the extra mile if it comes at the expense of your teaching. I have done so many assignments at the last-minute, warm off the printer moments before the due time, it is ridiculous. But I assure you that if you turn stuff in that reveals you are a competent person, you will get a Master's degree.

5) Enjoy Mississippi

This place has plenty of charm. The Delta has some amazing people, restaurants, stores (particularly a junk yard I have a soft spot for where I you can get a ton of cool things), and music. Jackson has plenty of awesomeness as well. If you need recomendations about Jackson, let me know.

THANK YOU

I'm sure there are other important things and I'm sure other people will address them so I just want to say thank you for coming to Mississippi and doing this work. Teaching is not glamorous, often not fun, and will not make you rich. It's not for everyone (including me) but I hope you can at least put in these two years. If you give this is a chance, it will make you better, make Mississippi better, and make the future better.

Good luck, have fun, and I hope to get the chance to meet you all when I come up to Oxford.

Class of 2009

2009

live from room 228

For their final exam, I decided my students were simply tested-out from this spring of state-testing craziness. So I borrowed a unit from a great teacher-friend of mine, and used the final project in place of an exam. After reading and analyzing the Virginia Woolf story "Widow and the Parrot", groups created newscasts to present the events of the story and explore the motives of the characters in it.

Overall, the kids did a FANTASTIC job! I've uploaded a couple clips here, and hopefully will finish uploading more soon!

[assigned] the one where i design a model school district

sabatier
May 15, 2009
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School district

The culminating project for Innovations in Education (EDSE 610) was to design a model school district from the ground up, using prescribed budgetary and student population parameters.

The full proposal is available as a PDF.

I focused on an integrated, interdisciplinary curriculum; grouping students into smaller two- or three-grade facilities; and a year-round schedule. Based on my experience with my students in the Delta, I also included a 2+2 program that accommodates both a meaningful vocational program and a college prep curriculum.

In the college-prep program, students work with an advisory teacher to develop and implement a final senior interdisciplinary project that incorporates at least two subject areas. Core curriculum teachers are given advisory periods during the day, and students are expected to present a portfolio. Elective courses in the senior year are designed to support the project. An internship can be incorporated into the project, but cannot be the only component.

The 2+2 program allows students who are not planning to attend a four-year college an opportunity to get a jump-start on their careers by taking some classes at a community college. There are four strands in the 2+2 program: Health Care; Business and Trade; Agriculture; Technology. The district reimburses the community college at a cost of $1500 per student each year.

The school operates on a year-round schedule with 4 three-week seasonal breaks to maintain academic continuity and reduce the scheduling problems for working and single parents.

Teacher Skills (Required Blog)

Ms. Floyd
May 15, 2009
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Three "teacher skills" I would like to work on this summer:

Not accepting as many excuses from students
Correcting incorrect grammar
Sticking to my rules

One thing I do well is building a positive rapport with my students, which in turn motivates and/or encourages them to do well in class and behave like they have at least some kind of sense.

My Distrist Plan...

Ms. Floyd
May 15, 2009
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District Plan: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d84z939_82ctjv5nfp

I did several different/innovative things with my district plan. First, I created a year-round school modeled off of Virginia Beach City Schools. Second, my district has a 4-day week. Fridays are reserved for remediation, detention, parent activities, and administrative meetings/activities. Additionally, 9th grade and SATP teachers have an equal and higher salary.

life imitating art

My Learning Strategies class is in the midst of reading A Raisin in the Sun. Like my previous classes, they are loving it. They love having their own parts to read, the incorrect grammar, the occasional swear word for emphasis. The opening act includes three confrontational arguments (including a mother slapping her daughter!) and they love to yell at one another with animation while reading.

I love teaching Raisin as much as they love reading it. It works perfectly for group work -- almost every scene involves three actors, so the kids can read aloud in small groups, and answer analysis questions at the end of each section together.

The other day I had a moment of total happiness listening to my students read -- a moment in which suddenly, I saw the characters in the book reflected in my students, and, I hope, they saw themselves reflected back.

A group of three girls were deeply engaged in their reading and didn't seem to notice that I was grinning over their shoulders. Without realizing it, the three had perfectly chosen to play the character that matched their personality and temperament (We haven't been reading the book for very long, so the students are not quite familiar yet with each of the characters' personalities and nuances). Shenique, a kind, thoughtful student who is one of the older girls in the classroom, was reading the part of calm, unselfish Ruth, a mother and support system for the Younger family. Chantyrita, an eternally positive smile in my room who is firm about her beliefs and values(and her role as a teen mother), was reading Mama's kind but firm words as the Younger matriarch. Kalbrielle, an outspoken student with a penchant for drama (and an occasional attitude to match) was reading independent Beneatha's rant about personal freedom.

Perfection.