I haven't commented in a while. I've been enjoying an unexpected week off. Because of unpaid furlough days, LAUSD like many districts just closed the schools for this whole week of Thanksgiving. It's been a salvation for me. Last week I experienced the "Perfect Storm" of obligations that left me staggering towards Friday.
I had a big housewarming party on Sunday Nov 14, so I was getting ready for that the whole week before. The party was a big success, but I should have been getting my grades ready since they were due Weds Nov 17. That realization hit me on Monday, along with the need to finish grading the written part of the periodic assessment and teach a class at National University Monday and Wednesday night. Whew! This is what made the week of Nov 15 the perfect storm of obligation, so I didn't sleep much and stumbled across the grading finish line a day late, on Thursday--just in time to collapse into this vacation week.
I know this sounds like more whining, so I want to counteract that with another burst of enthusiasm for the MyAccess online writing program. I had the laptop carts in my room for a couple of weeks, and the boys have been working on their essays every day. The more I use this program the more I like it. It leads the boys to correct errors in their writing and then gives them instant feedback in the form of a numerical score. As they make corrections or add more content, they see their score go up.
A high level of competitiveness is cited as one of the characteristics of the male brain (at least most of them), and one day last week some of the boys were actually competing out loud to see who could get the highest rating on their compositions. They even called out their scores in excitement as they made changes to improve their essays. That really sold me. I realized that this program had generated the elusive "intrinsic motivation," since the students wanted to improve their writing for its own sake.
Even if I graded in detail everything they wrote every night (something I have never been able to manage and few teachers do) I couldn't match the instant feedback they get from this program. They may groan when they see all of the spelling and other errors highlighted in their writing, but they can get to work and correct them one by one. That is what good writing requires--patient re-examination of what you've written in the form of correction, expansion, revision.
There's still plenty of work for the teacher in this program. The more generic recommendations about description, structure, and style will always require the teacher to illuminate and elaborate. This program doesn't replace the teacher as much as amplify what the teacher can accomplish. It is the best example I have encountered of how technology can make the teacher much more effective. I look forward to using it throughout the rest of the year.
Time for another little detour. I recently saw the movie "Unstoppable" with Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. It's about a runaway train in Pennsylvania that is carrying a load of toxic chemicals and threatens mass destruction in a highly populated area. It's thrilling from beginning to end. The human characters, especially Washington as a veteran train engineer, are well done, but the train itself is the star--menacing, implacable, inexorable.
Afterward it occurred to me that this runaway train was a profound metaphor (I am an English teacher after all!) for the state of American capitalism--out of control, threatening to destroy millions of people, highly toxic, and driven by greed and arrogance. Without giving away the ending, suffice it to say that the golf-playing CEO who is more concerned about the stock price than the potential human suffering DOES NOT save the day. Anyway, I highly recommend it.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Seventh grade lives 1
I've spent so much time complaining about the behavior of these boys that I don't think I have adequately conveyed how charming and likable they are. I'd like to share a couple of brief glimpses into their lives. Today a small group of students ended up in my room at lunch. They were all good students, and small boys. They just wanted to use the computers. I asked them why they didn't want to go outside for lunch. One of them, an especially small and very soft spoken boy, said something like, "There's too much going on out there at lunch. There are mean kids and bullies and we'd rather be in here." Hard to argue with that.
Later in the day another boy was talking to his friends in an intense way. Other boys really like this boy because he's funny and clever and outspoken, although that can make him a little disruptive in class. He said that he had a big problem--a claim supported by his friends--and would like to tell me about it. While we were walking out to play basketball during advisory period, he said that his father had been picked up the night before and was going to be deported. One of his friends walking with us said that had happened to him once too. I said that must be really terrible and that I was sorry to hear it.
We didn't talk much more since he wanted to play basketball, but I was left with a sad feeling. I have a hard time imagining just how terrible it must be at age 12 to have your father snatched away from you all of a sudden. It seems that any decent version of "family values" would allow for fathers to stay with their sons. This incident definitely puts a human face on the increasingly shrill calls to deport increasing numbers of people, many of them fathers who are needed by their sons.
As I get to know these boys, I expect to hear more stories about their lives. I'm glad I'm not so obsessed with controlling their behavior that I don't stop to listen to their individual voices. Vignettes like these surely lie at the heart of the teaching experience. They are probably the reason we put up with the impossible work load and time requirements of the job.
Later in the day another boy was talking to his friends in an intense way. Other boys really like this boy because he's funny and clever and outspoken, although that can make him a little disruptive in class. He said that he had a big problem--a claim supported by his friends--and would like to tell me about it. While we were walking out to play basketball during advisory period, he said that his father had been picked up the night before and was going to be deported. One of his friends walking with us said that had happened to him once too. I said that must be really terrible and that I was sorry to hear it.
We didn't talk much more since he wanted to play basketball, but I was left with a sad feeling. I have a hard time imagining just how terrible it must be at age 12 to have your father snatched away from you all of a sudden. It seems that any decent version of "family values" would allow for fathers to stay with their sons. This incident definitely puts a human face on the increasingly shrill calls to deport increasing numbers of people, many of them fathers who are needed by their sons.
As I get to know these boys, I expect to hear more stories about their lives. I'm glad I'm not so obsessed with controlling their behavior that I don't stop to listen to their individual voices. Vignettes like these surely lie at the heart of the teaching experience. They are probably the reason we put up with the impossible work load and time requirements of the job.
Internet to the rescue!
I have finally brought the boys to the internet for both reading and writing. Over the past few days they have taken a reading test to prepare them for the Accelerated Reader program in which they will read books at an appropriate level and take tests about the books on line. One advantage to this is that students can select books they are interested in, and the program will test them on their reading. I can assign them to complete a certain number of books on their own outside of class. This encourages independent reading, a good thing, although it sacrifices the group interaction about a shared reading experience.
They have also started on MyAccess. This is an online program which assists them in rewriting their assignments and keeps their work in an online portfolio. Rewriting is of course the downfall of most people who have to write something, both adults and children. My students are willing to write every day, but they never think about editing and rewriting. For me to get them to rewrite would mean correcting mountains of work every day, and that is not feasible. So this online program has a variety of devices to help them rewrite and improve their compositions. It gives them a score so they can measure their improvement as they follow the various suggestions from the program. I can monitor everything they write and add my own comments and suggestions. It's a fairly sophisticated program, but it still will take a lot of teaching to get them to use it effectively.
I feel good about getting them started on these programs, and the boys were relatively cooperative in the effort. There wasn't as much of a management challenge as I expected. There's a lot of logistical stuff to get through in issuing laptops to everyone, getting them (boys and computers) all booted up, logged in, and ready to go, but there's also something about using the computer that focuses them. I think this is the nature of the device, although they can also be distracting since there are always games to play. Plus, this is how we all write now. Many of my readers may remember the old system of handwritten drafts, with all their marginalia and cross-outs and arrows to move text around. But who writes like that any more? I wouldn't want to. Why should these boys use an antiquated technique for writing? So the last few days have gone pretty well, and I'm feeling just tired not exhausted.
They have also started on MyAccess. This is an online program which assists them in rewriting their assignments and keeps their work in an online portfolio. Rewriting is of course the downfall of most people who have to write something, both adults and children. My students are willing to write every day, but they never think about editing and rewriting. For me to get them to rewrite would mean correcting mountains of work every day, and that is not feasible. So this online program has a variety of devices to help them rewrite and improve their compositions. It gives them a score so they can measure their improvement as they follow the various suggestions from the program. I can monitor everything they write and add my own comments and suggestions. It's a fairly sophisticated program, but it still will take a lot of teaching to get them to use it effectively.
I feel good about getting them started on these programs, and the boys were relatively cooperative in the effort. There wasn't as much of a management challenge as I expected. There's a lot of logistical stuff to get through in issuing laptops to everyone, getting them (boys and computers) all booted up, logged in, and ready to go, but there's also something about using the computer that focuses them. I think this is the nature of the device, although they can also be distracting since there are always games to play. Plus, this is how we all write now. Many of my readers may remember the old system of handwritten drafts, with all their marginalia and cross-outs and arrows to move text around. But who writes like that any more? I wouldn't want to. Why should these boys use an antiquated technique for writing? So the last few days have gone pretty well, and I'm feeling just tired not exhausted.
Friday, November 5, 2010
SOS! Ship going down! SOS!
Well Gentle Reader, today was...how can I put it...a catastrophe! I think that's the mot juste, but I might also say disaster, debacle, massacre, etc. Every period was a crisis, except advisory when we went out to play basketball. (These boys have no physical education on Wed and Fri. There's lots of research on the beneficial impact of physical exercise on learning, and this flaw in the block schedule is unfortunate. To compensate, we often take them out for informal playing on those days.)
Second period had too much going on in the aftermath of the periodic assessment (some had finished, some hadn't, some were doing an alternate test, some making up work, etc.). The result was disjointed and disorderly. Fourth period resisted working until the very end when they managed to listen to a few speeches. Sixth period was just noisy for 90 minutes. Then I had a bunch come back for detention, adding 10 minutes to my day.
When the last student left, I sat at my desk, literally vibrating from the adrenalin that coursed through my veins....
Now the vibrating has stopped. I'm just sitting quietly listening to All Things Considered, beginning to contemplate the preparations I need to make for Monday....
Which are considerable....
Since I'm finally bringing in the computer carts....
To get the students into the Accelerated Reader system....
And into the online editing program called MyAccess....
Which I have high hopes for.
Deep breaths.
Ahhhhhhhhhhh.
More later.
Second period had too much going on in the aftermath of the periodic assessment (some had finished, some hadn't, some were doing an alternate test, some making up work, etc.). The result was disjointed and disorderly. Fourth period resisted working until the very end when they managed to listen to a few speeches. Sixth period was just noisy for 90 minutes. Then I had a bunch come back for detention, adding 10 minutes to my day.
When the last student left, I sat at my desk, literally vibrating from the adrenalin that coursed through my veins....
Now the vibrating has stopped. I'm just sitting quietly listening to All Things Considered, beginning to contemplate the preparations I need to make for Monday....
Which are considerable....
Since I'm finally bringing in the computer carts....
To get the students into the Accelerated Reader system....
And into the online editing program called MyAccess....
Which I have high hopes for.
Deep breaths.
Ahhhhhhhhhhh.
More later.
Save us from the "Independent Voters"!
My life at YOKA continues to be an action-packed thrill-ride! I have a lot to tell you about the education of 7th grade boys, but I want to make a brief post about the political scene, particularly about hese "Independent Voters" that we keep hearing about. After all, they just delivered the House of Representatives into the rapacious hands of the American corporate elite. So who are these "Independent Voters"?
First of all, the word "independent" makes them sound noble somehow--free thinking, unfettered, untamed, blah, blah, blah. But what are they really? Consider...two years ago the "Independent Voters," these paradigms of rugged democracy, flocked to vote for Obama, a moderately liberal Democrat, and rejected the party of George Bush that had dragged the country into the worst recession since 1929. Two years later, just last Tuesday, they hurled themselves into voting for all the Republicans who were saying the same things they had said for the eight years before that.
The truth is that these are not "Independent Voters"--rather they are ill-informed, unprincipled, and confused voters. Conservatives and Republicans have clear views and stick with them. Liberals and Democrats the same. But increasingly this country is being controlled by the growing segment of the electorate that is so uninformed and confused that they can switch political beliefs in under a year. These so-called "independents" are really just clueless! Vaguely cranky about their situation, which is very insecure, they don't really understand much about the state of the economy and the nation, so they are prone to swing erratically back and forth based on slogans, rumors, misunderstandings, and lies. To win their fickle votes, committed Democrats and Republicans resort to deceptive and meretricious stratagems in 30 second television commercials. Both parties (even mine) eschew meaningful discourse and seek desperately for yet one more empty slogan based on misrepresentation and oversimplification with which to mesmerize the fabled "Independent Voters."
(If they knew what was happening they would know that Obama cut their taxes, reduced the deficit, and created millions of jobs in an economy that had lost tens of millions under the Reps. But instead of actually knowing anything, they give vent to their insecurities and vapors by careening from liberal to conservative and back again with all the political understanding of pond scum.)
Anyway, they are calling the shots. Thanks to the "independent Voters" we will now have at least two years of political inaction and neglect of the needs of the middle class.
So I propose banning the term "Independent Voters" and calling this particular demographic "Clueless Voters" or "Confused Voters" or even "Ignorant, Self-Indulgent, Shallow Voters." Instead of swooning in awe of their unpredictable and capricious voting natures, we should urge them to go on long trips to far-away places in November.
I've had enough of these "Indepenent Voters." Get a life guys!
First of all, the word "independent" makes them sound noble somehow--free thinking, unfettered, untamed, blah, blah, blah. But what are they really? Consider...two years ago the "Independent Voters," these paradigms of rugged democracy, flocked to vote for Obama, a moderately liberal Democrat, and rejected the party of George Bush that had dragged the country into the worst recession since 1929. Two years later, just last Tuesday, they hurled themselves into voting for all the Republicans who were saying the same things they had said for the eight years before that.
The truth is that these are not "Independent Voters"--rather they are ill-informed, unprincipled, and confused voters. Conservatives and Republicans have clear views and stick with them. Liberals and Democrats the same. But increasingly this country is being controlled by the growing segment of the electorate that is so uninformed and confused that they can switch political beliefs in under a year. These so-called "independents" are really just clueless! Vaguely cranky about their situation, which is very insecure, they don't really understand much about the state of the economy and the nation, so they are prone to swing erratically back and forth based on slogans, rumors, misunderstandings, and lies. To win their fickle votes, committed Democrats and Republicans resort to deceptive and meretricious stratagems in 30 second television commercials. Both parties (even mine) eschew meaningful discourse and seek desperately for yet one more empty slogan based on misrepresentation and oversimplification with which to mesmerize the fabled "Independent Voters."
(If they knew what was happening they would know that Obama cut their taxes, reduced the deficit, and created millions of jobs in an economy that had lost tens of millions under the Reps. But instead of actually knowing anything, they give vent to their insecurities and vapors by careening from liberal to conservative and back again with all the political understanding of pond scum.)
Anyway, they are calling the shots. Thanks to the "independent Voters" we will now have at least two years of political inaction and neglect of the needs of the middle class.
So I propose banning the term "Independent Voters" and calling this particular demographic "Clueless Voters" or "Confused Voters" or even "Ignorant, Self-Indulgent, Shallow Voters." Instead of swooning in awe of their unpredictable and capricious voting natures, we should urge them to go on long trips to far-away places in November.
I've had enough of these "Indepenent Voters." Get a life guys!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Two out of three ain't bad, plus an adventure with Boris Godunov
My last post was so long I had to rest before doing another one. That previous post described an arduous, mostly calamitous week. Last week was better, but still a strain. Right now I'm seeing three aspects to this job. First is the right temperament and the understanding of how learning happens. This is my strength. I have the right temperament--the right combination of authority and empathy to teach people, big or little. I also have a good understanding of how learning happens and how learning can be structured. This comes not only from my previous teaching experience but from the intervening 20 years of working on educational reform with teachers and others.
Second is a clear curriculum--a plan for the day-to-day lessons that will promote learning on the part of the students. I had no clue about this for a few weeks, but now I feel I understand the LAUSD plan for seventh grade English. I am steadily working my way through the narrative unit which will culminate in the students' own neighborhood narrative. (Unfortunately, the district's periodic assessment is next week, and I'm not finished with the unit, so....well, we'll see what happens.)
The third part is my weak link--actually being able to guide the students to do what you know will teach them. On this point I'm hanging on by my fingernails. I can barely manage to steer them through the lesson. They talk too much, I yell too much. I've recently gotten a couple of good suggestions for quieting them down, so I'm hopeful.
Today was rough, even though it was a short day. I have so much to do in my room and in managing the classes that I was discouraged when class ended. We had an English department meeting after lunch, and it turned my mood around dramatically. For one thing, both the other boys' teachers said they also had a hard time quieting them down enough for discussions, reading, etc. And one of the girls' teachers (Ms. Turner of the beautiful room) said she had these boys last year in 6th grade and found them a real handful. (She also said she felt like a real professional teaching the girls who are much more cooperative and organized.)
I also learned that everyone is behind in the curriculum. Most of the other English teachers are experienced middle school teachers, so they are more on top of the situation. I am learning a lot from them, but they also struggle with the same conditions. It was reassuring to realize that.
So this department meeting was a perfect example of the power of professional collaboration. This school encourages a lot of that. Isolation is a professional hazard for teachers, so strong leadership at a school is needed to bring teachers together to strengthen their strategies or just console each other. So...dare to struggle, dare to win!
I want to take a little detour to tell you about the opera "Boris Godunov" by Modest Mussorgsky. I saw it Saturday as part of the Met Opera Live in HD series. This is a fabulous way to see opera, and "Boris Godunov" blew me away. I had never seen it, although I had heard much of the music. I was not prepared for the raw power of the music and the drama.
Mussorgsky's opera from the late nineteenth century is based on the verse drama of the same name by the great Russian poet, Alexander Pushkin. Both recount the rise and fall of Boris, a great reforming tsar at the beginning the 17th century. Boris is a powerful leader, but conflicted and tormented by paranoia. Russian history and above all the Russian people thunder across the stage in this monumental work. The Met's new production has a mostly Russian cast led by the Valery Gergiev. It was powerfully sung and dramatically staged. I would now rank it up there with other great historical operatic masterpieces such as Verdi's Don Carlo, Rossini's William Tell, and Berlioz's Les Troyens. (Boris will be encored at selected theatres on Wednesday, Nov. 10. Go to Met Live in HD for details.)
So as musical distractions go, Boris was a knockout. These 7th grade boys are nothing compared to the enraged Russian peasantry who turned against their Tsar. Vincero!
Second is a clear curriculum--a plan for the day-to-day lessons that will promote learning on the part of the students. I had no clue about this for a few weeks, but now I feel I understand the LAUSD plan for seventh grade English. I am steadily working my way through the narrative unit which will culminate in the students' own neighborhood narrative. (Unfortunately, the district's periodic assessment is next week, and I'm not finished with the unit, so....well, we'll see what happens.)
The third part is my weak link--actually being able to guide the students to do what you know will teach them. On this point I'm hanging on by my fingernails. I can barely manage to steer them through the lesson. They talk too much, I yell too much. I've recently gotten a couple of good suggestions for quieting them down, so I'm hopeful.
Today was rough, even though it was a short day. I have so much to do in my room and in managing the classes that I was discouraged when class ended. We had an English department meeting after lunch, and it turned my mood around dramatically. For one thing, both the other boys' teachers said they also had a hard time quieting them down enough for discussions, reading, etc. And one of the girls' teachers (Ms. Turner of the beautiful room) said she had these boys last year in 6th grade and found them a real handful. (She also said she felt like a real professional teaching the girls who are much more cooperative and organized.)
I also learned that everyone is behind in the curriculum. Most of the other English teachers are experienced middle school teachers, so they are more on top of the situation. I am learning a lot from them, but they also struggle with the same conditions. It was reassuring to realize that.
So this department meeting was a perfect example of the power of professional collaboration. This school encourages a lot of that. Isolation is a professional hazard for teachers, so strong leadership at a school is needed to bring teachers together to strengthen their strategies or just console each other. So...dare to struggle, dare to win!
I want to take a little detour to tell you about the opera "Boris Godunov" by Modest Mussorgsky. I saw it Saturday as part of the Met Opera Live in HD series. This is a fabulous way to see opera, and "Boris Godunov" blew me away. I had never seen it, although I had heard much of the music. I was not prepared for the raw power of the music and the drama.
Mussorgsky's opera from the late nineteenth century is based on the verse drama of the same name by the great Russian poet, Alexander Pushkin. Both recount the rise and fall of Boris, a great reforming tsar at the beginning the 17th century. Boris is a powerful leader, but conflicted and tormented by paranoia. Russian history and above all the Russian people thunder across the stage in this monumental work. The Met's new production has a mostly Russian cast led by the Valery Gergiev. It was powerfully sung and dramatically staged. I would now rank it up there with other great historical operatic masterpieces such as Verdi's Don Carlo, Rossini's William Tell, and Berlioz's Les Troyens. (Boris will be encored at selected theatres on Wednesday, Nov. 10. Go to Met Live in HD for details.)
So as musical distractions go, Boris was a knockout. These 7th grade boys are nothing compared to the enraged Russian peasantry who turned against their Tsar. Vincero!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Was this the week that was, or what was it anyway?
Friday about 4 pm: Whew! Where to start? This was another hyper-intense week for me at the Young Oak Kim Academy. I am searching for an adequate metaphor. Here are some of the possibilities:
Last weekend of course was the NASSPE conference in Las Vegas. I came home intellectually stimulated—somewhat oppositionally to the nostalgie de la boue (I can’t get this vivid phrase out of my mind!) of the keynote speech by the founder and director of the organization—but also positively energized by the great teachers who led the workshops.
So I am feeling pretty positive on Monday, if a bit fatigued from all of the driving. (Remember that Monday and Thursday are my easy days with a conference period.) Well, Monday is a long, excruciating train wreck. That is the phrase that comes to mind at the end of the day. I feel like I have collided with the speeding freight train of male adolescence. SMASH! CRASH! BOOM! There go my discussion points, reading selections, key terms, flying off into the air. I am devastated and crawl home to lick my wounds.
Tuesday is a bit better. The periods are shorter and end at lunch. I get through my reduced plan and meet with the other English teachers for the afternoon. During this meeting I learn that:
On to Wednesday!
Not too bad. Solid teaching 830-330 with 30 min lunch. Today I feel like Hercules wrestling Antaeus…If I can just lift him off the ground I can subdue him. Through constant effort, prowling around the room, cajoling and admonishing and threatening, I make it through the lessons. Hurray!
Unfortunately I stay until 6 pm entering grades, but still don’t finish and discover that I can take until 6 pm on Thursday to finish them.
Thursday…a day with a conference period…I work feverishly on grades…classes go OK, although first period is a wild group. Most of them had a full hour of detention the day before with our math teacher Ms. Huang, so they were a little chastened, but not much. Again I stay until 6 pm entering grades, caroming between vengeance and encouragement, feeling alternately punitive and indulgent. (I remember this grading ambivalence vividly from my Crenshaw days.)
I am increasingly struck by the significant number of students who are reasonable, willing to work, and eager to discuss the issues of the lesson. I am searching for ways to respond to these students and let them drive the agenda rather than the others—the noisy ones.
I am beginning to wonder if all the talk about how boys behave in class might be defined by this minority of vocal, active, sometimes disruptive boys, while an even larger group of boys have much more moderate personalities that don’t require special techniques. The vocal boys are often very bright and interesting, but they can make it difficult in class because of their lack of self-control. I’ll have to think more about this.
And now Friday (the perfect storm, remember?). Second period is pretty good—we just about get through the selection from Bone Black by bell hooks. Then fourth period (speech elective) is convulsed by a series of irruptive incidents that hurl everyone off into hyper-excitement. They barely finish their speeches about elementary school teachers. The principal even comes in because of one of the incidents—the students are silent in his presence of course.
In advisory we discuss prejudice in all its forms. Not a bad discussion really, but lots of shushing in between comments. Then 6th brings another maelstrom of random activity. (Remember Brownian motion from chemistry class? That’s how I visualize these classes sometimes.) Sixth period is small, only about 25 students, but many have very low literacy skills and very short attention spans, even by the modest standards of 12 year old boys.
Sixth also has the admirable student who is in a wheel chair and doesn’t speak or write, but understands everything and composes assignments using a cumbersome mechanism that allows him to choose letters and words with movements of his head. He has a full time aide. I often marvel at how hard he works to accomplish the simplest assignments.
Sixth period doesn’t go well at all, and I realize I have to reassess my approach to this group.
And…at last…3:24 pm! Chairs up on the tables, most paper picked up, ciao ragazzi!
Whew!
But really nothing is finished. I get a weekend to rest and recuperate, but I still have to push faster with the narrative unit, get them onto the computers, straighten up and decorate my room (which like every other space in my life--car, house, yard, garage, cubicle, office, etc.--is cluttering up) and think about what I can do that’s even more engaging and motivational. I’m even more exhausted just thinking about it.
So, am I making progress? This week didn’t feel like progress. I didn’t feel at all successful this week. The challenge of managing their behavior sufficiently to conduct interesting, productive lessons is still daunting. I can think of lots of authentic educational activities, but I am often brought up short at the prospect of managing the students during these activities. I console myself by thinking that after all I am at 62 more like a new teacher, and of course I don’t know it all and have to learn on the job. So I will of course push forward on Monday with renewed energy, enhanced by enjoying “Le Nozze di Figaro” on Sunday at the L.A. Opera.
Tonight when I leave school I think I will walk up Vermont to eat at one of the Bangladeshi restaurants in the neighborhood. There is a growing Bangladeshi community in the area, and I have a dozen or so Bangladeshi students who suggested some places to eat good Bangladeshi food. Then I will tell my classes about it. We have a little problem with some anti-Moslem name-calling (terrorist, etc.) so I need to bring it up in advisory. I hope you enjoyed reading about my week.
- Roller coaster ride
- Train wreck
- Hercules’ fight with Antaeus
- Walking fast through chest-high water
Last weekend of course was the NASSPE conference in Las Vegas. I came home intellectually stimulated—somewhat oppositionally to the nostalgie de la boue (I can’t get this vivid phrase out of my mind!) of the keynote speech by the founder and director of the organization—but also positively energized by the great teachers who led the workshops.
So I am feeling pretty positive on Monday, if a bit fatigued from all of the driving. (Remember that Monday and Thursday are my easy days with a conference period.) Well, Monday is a long, excruciating train wreck. That is the phrase that comes to mind at the end of the day. I feel like I have collided with the speeding freight train of male adolescence. SMASH! CRASH! BOOM! There go my discussion points, reading selections, key terms, flying off into the air. I am devastated and crawl home to lick my wounds.
Tuesday is a bit better. The periods are shorter and end at lunch. I get through my reduced plan and meet with the other English teachers for the afternoon. During this meeting I learn that:
- Everyone has a hard time getting through the curriculum;
- Ms Turner (8th grade girls English) has a beautiful room filled with books and posters and objets d’art!
- I’d better get ready for the district “periodic assessment” by checking out the sample questions at the district website;
- I have 4 weeks to finish the unit on narrative because expository has to start in November;
- Grades have to be entered online by 6 pm Wednesday;
- I really like Ms Turner’s room!
- The MEN’S room on the 3rd floor (Girls Academy) has a floral print on the wall and a little table with a vase of flowers and a newspaper, in stark contrast to the men’s room on the Boys Academy floor.
- Girls are not actually perfect in class, but they are probably easier to manage than boys (maybe only because they’re more mature).
On to Wednesday!
Not too bad. Solid teaching 830-330 with 30 min lunch. Today I feel like Hercules wrestling Antaeus…If I can just lift him off the ground I can subdue him. Through constant effort, prowling around the room, cajoling and admonishing and threatening, I make it through the lessons. Hurray!
Unfortunately I stay until 6 pm entering grades, but still don’t finish and discover that I can take until 6 pm on Thursday to finish them.
Thursday…a day with a conference period…I work feverishly on grades…classes go OK, although first period is a wild group. Most of them had a full hour of detention the day before with our math teacher Ms. Huang, so they were a little chastened, but not much. Again I stay until 6 pm entering grades, caroming between vengeance and encouragement, feeling alternately punitive and indulgent. (I remember this grading ambivalence vividly from my Crenshaw days.)
I am increasingly struck by the significant number of students who are reasonable, willing to work, and eager to discuss the issues of the lesson. I am searching for ways to respond to these students and let them drive the agenda rather than the others—the noisy ones.
I am beginning to wonder if all the talk about how boys behave in class might be defined by this minority of vocal, active, sometimes disruptive boys, while an even larger group of boys have much more moderate personalities that don’t require special techniques. The vocal boys are often very bright and interesting, but they can make it difficult in class because of their lack of self-control. I’ll have to think more about this.
And now Friday (the perfect storm, remember?). Second period is pretty good—we just about get through the selection from Bone Black by bell hooks. Then fourth period (speech elective) is convulsed by a series of irruptive incidents that hurl everyone off into hyper-excitement. They barely finish their speeches about elementary school teachers. The principal even comes in because of one of the incidents—the students are silent in his presence of course.
In advisory we discuss prejudice in all its forms. Not a bad discussion really, but lots of shushing in between comments. Then 6th brings another maelstrom of random activity. (Remember Brownian motion from chemistry class? That’s how I visualize these classes sometimes.) Sixth period is small, only about 25 students, but many have very low literacy skills and very short attention spans, even by the modest standards of 12 year old boys.
Sixth also has the admirable student who is in a wheel chair and doesn’t speak or write, but understands everything and composes assignments using a cumbersome mechanism that allows him to choose letters and words with movements of his head. He has a full time aide. I often marvel at how hard he works to accomplish the simplest assignments.
Sixth period doesn’t go well at all, and I realize I have to reassess my approach to this group.
And…at last…3:24 pm! Chairs up on the tables, most paper picked up, ciao ragazzi!
Whew!
But really nothing is finished. I get a weekend to rest and recuperate, but I still have to push faster with the narrative unit, get them onto the computers, straighten up and decorate my room (which like every other space in my life--car, house, yard, garage, cubicle, office, etc.--is cluttering up) and think about what I can do that’s even more engaging and motivational. I’m even more exhausted just thinking about it.
So, am I making progress? This week didn’t feel like progress. I didn’t feel at all successful this week. The challenge of managing their behavior sufficiently to conduct interesting, productive lessons is still daunting. I can think of lots of authentic educational activities, but I am often brought up short at the prospect of managing the students during these activities. I console myself by thinking that after all I am at 62 more like a new teacher, and of course I don’t know it all and have to learn on the job. So I will of course push forward on Monday with renewed energy, enhanced by enjoying “Le Nozze di Figaro” on Sunday at the L.A. Opera.
Tonight when I leave school I think I will walk up Vermont to eat at one of the Bangladeshi restaurants in the neighborhood. There is a growing Bangladeshi community in the area, and I have a dozen or so Bangladeshi students who suggested some places to eat good Bangladeshi food. Then I will tell my classes about it. We have a little problem with some anti-Moslem name-calling (terrorist, etc.) so I need to bring it up in advisory. I hope you enjoyed reading about my week.
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