Good Lesson, Bad lesson

I taught two periods today. Ever since that easy test I've been wanting to challenge the students. I spent a good amount of time creating a three page guided reading that provides questions from the chapter. I don't like the easy questions the textbook provides. I spent the morning reviewing the spread of Islam and then I went back into the Crusades. We had a lively discussion while watching the BBC special. One student could not figure out why people listened to the Pope and believed that they would go to heaven. I explained the differences between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in terms of the mentality of the people. It was awesome. They loved it. I felt like a teacher, a good teacher. For the second lesson I had the students answer the guided reading questions. If they remembered anything we learned in the first class they should have had the answers to the first five questions. They were upset. They were so unhappy and rebellious. "Why we gotta do this?" I guess they loved watching the video and discussing the material. It's easy on them, and they are less accountable for their work. The problem is that they are so resistant to reading. They hate it. Tomorrow I think I will have them read the textbook aloud and do the questions along with them. They need the support, even if they don't want to admit it. I may show a short funny video about the Crusades to break up the reading and give them something to discuss other than the book. The major challenge is getting the material to stick in their brains. They forget it the minute they learn it. The only reason they knew the last test content is because we went over it so many times. I can't move at the pace that I want. I also can't get as in depth into the content. I'm learning that teaching self contained sped kids is more about methods than content. I have to decide whether I want to be a counselor/mentor type teacher or a mini-professor. That's one basic difference between general and special Ed.

A Bad Review

My plan was to get a recommendation letter from the two teachers in WP in addition to psycho lady. It takes a while to get a response. I hear back from Mrs. B, and I almost regret asking in the first place because it was not was I was expecting. She rejects sending a letter and says that she feels that she could not write what I would want for my portfolio. I'm getting scared about my evaluation. I worked so hard in that placement and gave these kids actual instruction. I didn't bore their lives with packets. I found ways to make the content interesting. I feel so unappreciated for my efforts. I also don't understand why she would feel that way about me. I guess she wants people who are carbon copies of herself. It also could have been something weird like a bias she had against me from the beginning. Maybe she felt I was too young or gay or something that made her not like me having nothing to do with my teaching ability. Also, I feel that she should be realistic that I am a new teacher and look for potential rather than ending results. The teacher that I will be in two, five, ten years will be so different that who I am right now. Now that I had some time to cool off I cannot let her reject affect my view of myself as a teacher. I believe that I will grow into a fantastic teacher. I've come so far in such a small amount of time. As long as I keep that drive to grow further I will certainly rise above my current ability and probably surpass this woman's 50 years of experience, and it may only take half that time or less!

Student Centered Instruction is so Rewarding!

So today I was missing a few students, but I had students today that I didn't have yesterday. I had plans to show a video clip about the black death, and play a jeopardy game as review for the test tomorrow. I had to scale back those plans when I realized that half the class (two students) didn't show up for Thursday or Friday and missed a lot of instruction. I spent the first class reviewing the vocabulary and giving them the quiz. For the second class I did the same exercise I did with the boys on Friday. Let's see how this works with the girls. A another huge success. Instead of passively writing the notes these students were searching the textbook for the answer to a series of questions on a topic and presenting that information to their peers. They did a great job, I was so proud of them. I think they enjoyed teaching each other. This method of instruction seems to help them with retention as well. At one point one of the girls said to the other, "you're so smart," after she made her presentation. It is so valuable for them to demonstrate their knowledge. It is also rewarding. Why should I stand in front of the class and tell them the content as they sit there passively. The next step I want to eventually go with these students is to have them write questions about information that is not included in the text, especially if they are curious about the answer. I can have them fond the answer on the internet or through another source. They can start to learn how conduct research.

Reflection time

So I shed some wasted tears over this situation. I thought I was getting stronger. The only thing I wanted was to not react emotionally. I'm glad that I didn't cry in front of the students. I'm also glad that one of students stood up for me. That makes me feel good. My psycho lady teacher has set the situation up badly from the beginning. The only thing these kids respond to is her yelling and ridiculing them. I will never stoop to that level. I will never "join them" as she has and curse back at them. I'm not sure of the appropriate way to deal with an obnoxious kid. The only tactic that I have seen work is to do everything that is the opposite of who I am. It seems like the only thing stopping them is fear, fear of looking bad in front of other students or fear of an intimidating adult. There must be a way to handle these kids without becoming one of them. To some extent I might have to accept that I may not be the best person for the job when it comes to aggressive students.

That annoying thorn in my side

I had a great day, I was planning on walking out happy and proud of myself. Instead I walked out crying. It happened again. A situation went down and I couldn't stop myself from getting emotional. Let me start at the beginning. After that awesome class, the English class begun and it had most of the same students. She hit play on the audio book and walked out. I thought she was returning soon, I had no idea where she went and this obnoxious kid Irwin starting roaming around the room distracting students. A student asked if I was going to wait until she came back and then I said something to Irwin. He said, "Was I asking you?" I had to address that. I said that he was being disrespectful and it was no way to address an adult. One of my 9th grade students said he was acting mean and he shouldn't do that. I agreed with the student and by this point everyone is laughing, and this laughter is the only thing I can hear. I just went back to my seat and went on the computer and ignored him. Psycho lady came back, I told her he was disrespectful to me and she said, "that's how he is to everyone." She didn't do anything. I was so mad at this point I went into Mr. C's class and spent the rest of the period there. I cried a little as I was surfing the web trying to get my mind off of what happened.

I found a teaching style that worked!

Yesterday, the psycho lady insisted on giving them their notes to copy for the period. So today I asked her which notes and she didn't give me a straight answer. I had a feeling I would end up creating something on the fly. After third period I have them one more time and she suggested that I read the notes to them. So she was so adamant about having them write their notes and then changed her mind. So I created a lesson that would help prepare them for the test next Tuesday. Instead of copying the notes down, I had them each pick a topic, such as knights, life on the manor, black death, and fall of Rome. They had four questions that they used the textbook to answer. After they answer the questions I had each of them teach the class about their topic. They loved it! They loved teaching the other students and showing off their knowledge. We had some nice discussions about it too. The psycho lady told us to shut up at one point. And I just said, "she can't be talking to us," and kept that denial. She doesn't understand that we were having a lively discussion about the material. Just because they were animated doesn't mean it wasn't academic. I'm standing right there too! I'm glad I handled it as a small issue and moved on ('cause I was really pissed inside). I need to try more peer tutoring and have students give more presentations. They rocked!

The Cloisters was a success!!

The students really liked the Cloisters museum. I wasn't expecting that reaction. They couldn't relate to the modern art in Vassar, but medieval art was more exciting to them. The tour guide was amazing. In comparison to the art history undergrad students we had at Vassar, this guy knew his material and engaged the students. They loved that they could enter a part of a real church that was shipped from Europe. They loved the atmosphere, the gardens and the building and how it was recreated to look like it did back then. It was so impressive that the art was in decent shape for being ohh.. a thousand years old and all. They loved the unicorn tapestries. All of the pieces told a story about Jesus. I need to store this trip away for when I teach. I need to get Ross to lead my group, if he's still there.

Vassar Was Okay.

It was a good trip. They have a nice collection of art at Vassar, some big names. I'm not sure if the students liked it, but they had their art history majors take us on a tour. They asked the students to describe a few paintings and explained the differences between each artist's style. They had a lot of the Hudson River School paintings and it was nice to see art of the local landscape. I'm glad we only went to the museum and did not take a tour of the school. Vassar is such a pretentious school, I bet it would have turned them off to the idea of going to college. Many of the students on this trip wouldn't qualify to get into Vassar, nor would they be interested in such a non-practical education. Many of them are planning on trade schools or community colleges. I feel that this trip was more for Mr. S than for the students, but they may have gotten something from the experience. It will be nice to compare the contemporary art of Vassar with the Medieval art at the Cloisters museum.

Two Inappropriate Trips

So Mr. S has decided to take the students to Vassar tomorrow and the Cloisters Museum on Thursday. Two bad choices. None of these students will qualify to get into Vassar, so it's loading them with a bunch of false hope. It is also so disconnected from their interests. Why not take them to Lehman college and show them all the athletic facilities. They can get excited about that school. The Cloisters has a bunch of Medieval art that they won't relate to. Why not take them to Moma or the Met where there is a wider range of art and require them to write about the paintings. Students are not held accountable for anything on these trips. It's not a bad idea to make them write reflections, rather than hand them a notebook and leave it up to them. If students were forced to watch these TED talks about art, they might have liked them. Since they had the choice, they don't know what they're missing. Part of what education should do is force students out of their comfort zone and expose them to different ideas. Learning can take place when they least expect it, and it's beautiful when that happens.

Another Wasted Day

Let me give you the run-down of my unproductive day of hell. My idea of hell is a day with no plan, where I am supposed to sit in a chair for four hours and then move to another chair and sit there until the day is over.

7:30am- I arrive to get the last parking spot. I wait outside his class until 7:50am

8:00am- Students arrive and help themselves to some bagels. Students sit and talk for over an hour

9:30am Mr. S takes students to the library to view TED talks on the computers but only four students comply, the rest sit and talk.

10:00am Mr. S takes the students outside, and I sit with three students who want to watch the videos. We watch them for several hours.

1:00pm The pizza arrives and twenty students wolf down five pies in less than five minutes

1:04pm Mr. S takes everyone back outside until dismissal. Another painful hour and fifteen minutes of nothing.

2:15pm Bell rings. Freedom! Students leave painfully bored.

They must have felt like they were punished for not having the money or the proper behavior to go on the more exciting trips. As they logged onto the computer the school's homepage displays pictures of the students at the Magic Kingdom. I'm sure they are having fun, but I still don't see the educational significance.

This School Sucks!!

This week is intersession week. Students are on various trips, some went to Disney World, some are Skiing in Colorado. The students I'm chaperoning had to stay home, either because they're bad kids no one wanted on their trips or they're broke and can't pay for the plane ticket. Since my cooperating teacher is in Colorado, I was assigned to Mr. S's class. He says he's in CSE meetings on Monday and since no instruction is taking place he says I can go in on Wednesday and Thursday for the two trips. I get a phone call yesterday from the micro managing asst principal. She is wondering where I am and why I wasn't at the school. I explain that Mr. S said I was only needed for the trips. She said I have to be there all week, so I apologize and say that I will be in tomorrow. The next day I realize why she cared that I was missing. She wanted me to sub for Mr. S's class while he was in meetings and not pay me for it. Figures. They spent the entire day in the library bored out of their minds!!

Weird political conflicts

So Mr. C has invited me to join him next week on his intersession trip. I have been assigned to go with Mr. S and his college tour museum trip. I told psycho lady and she insisted that I ask the VP and said that her students weren't going on that trip. I think she's pissed that I hang out in this other teacher's class. She is jealous that I have taken a liking to him. He's a really silly guy. He's middle aged and really fat and ugly, so in her shallow point of view I bet she was not expecting me to like him. I know she is concerned that I and her students think she is cool. I am friendly to her and agree with all her stupid petty complaints, but I am incapable of liking her. I have no respect for her. I have yet to see her teach the students. She doesn't work with them or help them on any of the crap she makes them do. Everyday she has a new worksheet or questions from the textbook, and sits at her desk while the students work, dishing out empty threats about giving tests and quizzes while they freak out in boredom.

I'm takin' over.

I've already started teaching the global 9 class. The psycho lady only wants me to teach her Global 9 class third period and help out in the other classes. I offered to take over all three classes but she only wants me to teach her non-regents class. I think it is also that she is threatened by me. I believe I would do a better job prepping them for the regents exam and vary my methods beyond the usual seat work she assigns for her convenience. I have decided to make the most of this placement. I helped the students do their textbook questions and did little mini-lectures and discussions about the unit. I will find a way to teach these kids, even if it is not in the formal lesson plan teaching format. They just need someone who cares about them and is willing to help them.