Hey everyone,
If you have been following and enjoying this site, please join my new site Renewing Our Purposes where in addition to provide a platform for a community of blogs like this side, there are discussion forums for us to keep us discussing specific education topics after June 4 as well a few other cool features to keep us connected.
Jacob
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
End of march!
Hey TEPsters,
April is almost here! Woohoo!
I never realized how political teaching is. Teachers in my building don't talk to each other very much. I find myself biting my tongue a lot or just tuning out so that I don't have to make political allegiances. Do teachers work together in your buildings?
The blog looks empty lately sooo....I just wanted to spice things up a little bit.
Peace,
Julie
April is almost here! Woohoo!
I never realized how political teaching is. Teachers in my building don't talk to each other very much. I find myself biting my tongue a lot or just tuning out so that I don't have to make political allegiances. Do teachers work together in your buildings?
The blog looks empty lately sooo....I just wanted to spice things up a little bit.
Peace,
Julie
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Blogging in the Classroom (Or other forms of W2M)
Well, I am taking this really cool class with some other people from TEP called Authorship in the Digital Age with Marielle Palombo. I thought it would be a real shame if everyone didn't know how awesome she is and how amazing the stuff we talk about in class is. The class focuses on using Web 2.0 Media (W2M - abbreviation thanks to Jacob) in the classroom (For those as technologically behind as I am, it means using the web for communication, rather than to simply present information - correct me if I am mistaken, fellow web authors).
We basically talk about using this media (blogs, discussion forums, wikis, even AIM) to, not only engage our students, but to assist them in the process of authorship (which extends beyond writing). I wanted to throw the idea out to all of you to see if you have had any experience with using this type of media in your classrooms, or to simply hear what you think about this whole move toward technology in the classroom???
I started my first ever blog today. My mentor teacher and I are going to use it for extra credit. I think, for now, I am going to allow students to type and post the active reading notes that they do nightly to share with the class as well as post blogs of my own, where students can comment on questions I pose to create an online discussion of sorts.
Anyway, what better place than a teaching blog to start a conversation about this sort of thing... Any ideas?
We basically talk about using this media (blogs, discussion forums, wikis, even AIM) to, not only engage our students, but to assist them in the process of authorship (which extends beyond writing). I wanted to throw the idea out to all of you to see if you have had any experience with using this type of media in your classrooms, or to simply hear what you think about this whole move toward technology in the classroom???
I started my first ever blog today. My mentor teacher and I are going to use it for extra credit. I think, for now, I am going to allow students to type and post the active reading notes that they do nightly to share with the class as well as post blogs of my own, where students can comment on questions I pose to create an online discussion of sorts.
Anyway, what better place than a teaching blog to start a conversation about this sort of thing... Any ideas?
Monday, February 9, 2009
Needing feedback on a trying class
Hello fellow TEPers,
I am sharing a post I made today in my online journal in the hopes that I can hear any and all suggestions for improvement that anyone has. Please read on, and if you have criticisms, comments, etc., please let me know. I am at my wit's end with one of my classes, and I am reaching out for assistance because I don't know what else to do.
------------------------------------------
As I sat in the bathroom crying for over an hour after my afternoon class, I thought, "Today is definitely one of those days. I just want to give up and go home. I want someone to hold me. How am I ever supposed to do this once I have a class all my own?"
My first period class (10C) went well. The vast majority of the students were on time, which made me think that, for my other first period class that is usually full of stragglers (10A), the students have no excuse for being late and I'm going to be stricter about marking them tardy. The students did a vocab warm-up, a brainstorm about poetry, and we talked about the differences between poetry and prose. I thought Whew, that was easier than I thought it would be, and when I had questions for my mentor about my students' seeming lack of prior knowledge, my mentor assured me that the students were actually on track.
My afternoon class (10A) was a complete disaster. I timed the warm up and the brainstorm as I had for the previous class. The vocab warm up went fine. During the brainstorm debriefing, I could not get the students to stop talking about irrelevant things (e.g. music, basketball games, etc.). I tried waiting for them to be quiet -- didn't work. I tried telling those students who were participating that I couldn't hear them over their colleagues -- didn't work. I tried telling those who were trying to participate to raise their hands and not talk all at once because I couldn't hear them -- didn't work. After about 20 minutes of getting no where, I basically gave up on the lesson. Someone said, "Aw, miss, don't give up on us," and I said, "How can I teach you anything if you guys won't be quiet?" Students would yell at the others to be quiet -- didn't work. I asked the class, "What do you think the purpose of this class is?" I got about 4-5 answers, ranging from "helping us prepare for the MCAS" to "teaching us stuff," and I said, "Do you think you can do any of that if I can't teach because you guys are talking?" Someone suggested I yell at them, and I said, "I'm not going to yell at you. You guys are old enough that you should be mature enough to regulate your behavior so we can have a good discussion." [My classes are 10th grade.] Someone said something about needing respect, and I said, "How can you expect me to respect you if you won't give me any respect?" Didn't work. Those students who were not participating were still talking about whatever was of interest to them at the time. I sat there. I didn't know what to think or do. Finally, I passed out the study guide for the test tomorrow.
As two students were gathering their things to leave, one of them said, "You need to figure something out, miss." I said that I knew that, but I didn't know what to do. He suggested taking away points, and I replied, "Well, everyone in here is basically failing, so I don't think that would matter," and I turned away. While I was putting away materials, I felt the first tear slip down my cheek, and I escaped to the faculty bathroom before anyone else saw me. I sat in there for about 10 minutes before going out to my mentor teacher, who saw that I was upset and crying, and then I went to another faculty bathroom, gathered myself, walked around the building, drank some water, and commenced to crying again. I debriefed with my mentor after the last bell rang, still crying all the while.
I told a friend on the phone, I think what upset me most is not that I was taking their breaking of the rules personally but that, though students are aware of the purposes of the class and the rules for the class (e.g. when I ask them 5 or 6 times in 10 minutes to raise their hands to contribute and to be silent if not contributing to the discussion at hand), they still choose not to adhere and to create an environment that is challenging to learning. The idiocy behind that, the lack of respect for themselves [and others], is mind-boggling to me. How can they think that what they are doing is beneficial? And, granted, after I asked the question about whether their behavior was going to allow them to fulfill the purposes they had outlined for me verbally, a couple of the offenders settled down, but of the 5 or so that remained, they disrupted everyone.
My mentor, last week, said that she thought this class wasn't taking me seriously and that it would help if she were out of the room more, so she wasn't in there Friday or today. I thought, when she suggested that she leave more, that she was dead wrong, and, after today, I still think that.
Suggestions? Thoughts?
--------------------------
To end, I would appreciate any and all feedback you have. You can be critical of something I said or did. You can make suggestions for strategies to try in class or things to say to the class. Anything. I feel like I'm dying here, and I need input, even if it is of a critical/negative nature. My mentor suggested being even more militant with the class, and taking away privileges such as discussions (e.g. having them do work they must do silently) in order to begin teaching them how to be silent in class. I'm not sure that being even more strict and giving out more zeros is the way to go, since students may take that as license to continue to be disruptive (e.g. thinking, "I'm failing anyway so what does it matter"). But, I also don't know what to do if not be more strict. Trying to talk to them about what they want to get out of the class, to maybe figure out how to get the class to be more student-centered vs. teacher-dependent, did not work. I feel like I'm at my wit's end here because strategies I have used that she has used all along --strategies which work perfectly well -- (such as writing down when students misbehave on a clipboard, which then affects their conduct grade; waiting calmly for students to settle down) just aren't working for this class when I am in front of it. :-(
I am sharing a post I made today in my online journal in the hopes that I can hear any and all suggestions for improvement that anyone has. Please read on, and if you have criticisms, comments, etc., please let me know. I am at my wit's end with one of my classes, and I am reaching out for assistance because I don't know what else to do.
------------------------------------------
As I sat in the bathroom crying for over an hour after my afternoon class, I thought, "Today is definitely one of those days. I just want to give up and go home. I want someone to hold me. How am I ever supposed to do this once I have a class all my own?"
My first period class (10C) went well. The vast majority of the students were on time, which made me think that, for my other first period class that is usually full of stragglers (10A), the students have no excuse for being late and I'm going to be stricter about marking them tardy. The students did a vocab warm-up, a brainstorm about poetry, and we talked about the differences between poetry and prose. I thought Whew, that was easier than I thought it would be, and when I had questions for my mentor about my students' seeming lack of prior knowledge, my mentor assured me that the students were actually on track.
My afternoon class (10A) was a complete disaster. I timed the warm up and the brainstorm as I had for the previous class. The vocab warm up went fine. During the brainstorm debriefing, I could not get the students to stop talking about irrelevant things (e.g. music, basketball games, etc.). I tried waiting for them to be quiet -- didn't work. I tried telling those students who were participating that I couldn't hear them over their colleagues -- didn't work. I tried telling those who were trying to participate to raise their hands and not talk all at once because I couldn't hear them -- didn't work. After about 20 minutes of getting no where, I basically gave up on the lesson. Someone said, "Aw, miss, don't give up on us," and I said, "How can I teach you anything if you guys won't be quiet?" Students would yell at the others to be quiet -- didn't work. I asked the class, "What do you think the purpose of this class is?" I got about 4-5 answers, ranging from "helping us prepare for the MCAS" to "teaching us stuff," and I said, "Do you think you can do any of that if I can't teach because you guys are talking?" Someone suggested I yell at them, and I said, "I'm not going to yell at you. You guys are old enough that you should be mature enough to regulate your behavior so we can have a good discussion." [My classes are 10th grade.] Someone said something about needing respect, and I said, "How can you expect me to respect you if you won't give me any respect?" Didn't work. Those students who were not participating were still talking about whatever was of interest to them at the time. I sat there. I didn't know what to think or do. Finally, I passed out the study guide for the test tomorrow.
As two students were gathering their things to leave, one of them said, "You need to figure something out, miss." I said that I knew that, but I didn't know what to do. He suggested taking away points, and I replied, "Well, everyone in here is basically failing, so I don't think that would matter," and I turned away. While I was putting away materials, I felt the first tear slip down my cheek, and I escaped to the faculty bathroom before anyone else saw me. I sat in there for about 10 minutes before going out to my mentor teacher, who saw that I was upset and crying, and then I went to another faculty bathroom, gathered myself, walked around the building, drank some water, and commenced to crying again. I debriefed with my mentor after the last bell rang, still crying all the while.
I told a friend on the phone, I think what upset me most is not that I was taking their breaking of the rules personally but that, though students are aware of the purposes of the class and the rules for the class (e.g. when I ask them 5 or 6 times in 10 minutes to raise their hands to contribute and to be silent if not contributing to the discussion at hand), they still choose not to adhere and to create an environment that is challenging to learning. The idiocy behind that, the lack of respect for themselves [and others], is mind-boggling to me. How can they think that what they are doing is beneficial? And, granted, after I asked the question about whether their behavior was going to allow them to fulfill the purposes they had outlined for me verbally, a couple of the offenders settled down, but of the 5 or so that remained, they disrupted everyone.
My mentor, last week, said that she thought this class wasn't taking me seriously and that it would help if she were out of the room more, so she wasn't in there Friday or today. I thought, when she suggested that she leave more, that she was dead wrong, and, after today, I still think that.
Suggestions? Thoughts?
--------------------------
To end, I would appreciate any and all feedback you have. You can be critical of something I said or did. You can make suggestions for strategies to try in class or things to say to the class. Anything. I feel like I'm dying here, and I need input, even if it is of a critical/negative nature. My mentor suggested being even more militant with the class, and taking away privileges such as discussions (e.g. having them do work they must do silently) in order to begin teaching them how to be silent in class. I'm not sure that being even more strict and giving out more zeros is the way to go, since students may take that as license to continue to be disruptive (e.g. thinking, "I'm failing anyway so what does it matter"). But, I also don't know what to do if not be more strict. Trying to talk to them about what they want to get out of the class, to maybe figure out how to get the class to be more student-centered vs. teacher-dependent, did not work. I feel like I'm at my wit's end here because strategies I have used that she has used all along --strategies which work perfectly well -- (such as writing down when students misbehave on a clipboard, which then affects their conduct grade; waiting calmly for students to settle down) just aren't working for this class when I am in front of it. :-(
Friday, January 30, 2009
Ron Berger
I'm still hoping to join the previous post's discussion, but I just have to say...how can you NOT be inspired by that? How can we enact this in our school sites and the future?
(provided we aren't able to find jobs at expeditionary schools--I already checked, and the only one in Mpls/St Paul isn't hiring, so I'm out of luck)
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Whoo Blogs!
Hey dudes and dudettes!
I've been meaning to visit this blog for awhile now. So I was SO excited to play this Jeopardy game with my kiddos yesterday but they were overly excited and freakin' crazy! At the end of class, a lot of them ran around the hallway to my embarrassment. Ugh. Then, my next class, kids started throwing scissors at each other, running around, stomping on each other's backpacks, and other sorts of random craziness. I realized that it's not enough to say, "Stop that. Apologize. Be quiet."
Giving strikes and lunch detentions definitely work. But they go a long way if you actually have a deeper relationship with the kid. Then, you can use the "look" to shut them up in class.
I'm always inspired by my mentor teacher - she's a rockstar! I realize that a lot of the things I want to try (like more group roles!), she's already tried before. It's really important to know if the school climate is going to support the things you want to do.
I've had many moments where I ask myself if I really want to be doing urban education. It's trying to be an environment where some students are not motivated - not doing classwork or homework. It's commonplace to learn about a student's homelessness, abuse problems, rape, and run ins with the law. It's weird because it's like I expected to hear these things. So I feel simultaneously desensitized to and depressed about these sad stories. Reading the stories that Lily's students wrote about their drug-filled social lives and abusive relationships made me feel that something is backwards about the world we're living in.
It's energizing to be with students who want to learn and make me feel like an effective teacher by demonstrating growth. I sometimes get high on this feeling. It makes me want to go to a school where I will be valued by the majority of students...instead of feeling stepped on everyday by kids.
But we must stay inspired to stick with schools that need dedicated teachers like us! Why? I exactly don't know but I feel that we need to...even if that means going to teach at a suburban school first and returning to urban schools.
I'll be returning to the reasons why we should stay inspired. But toward what goal? I think we all have distinct goals. What are some of your goals for teaching? What are some reasons why you are here?
I've been meaning to visit this blog for awhile now. So I was SO excited to play this Jeopardy game with my kiddos yesterday but they were overly excited and freakin' crazy! At the end of class, a lot of them ran around the hallway to my embarrassment. Ugh. Then, my next class, kids started throwing scissors at each other, running around, stomping on each other's backpacks, and other sorts of random craziness. I realized that it's not enough to say, "Stop that. Apologize. Be quiet."
Giving strikes and lunch detentions definitely work. But they go a long way if you actually have a deeper relationship with the kid. Then, you can use the "look" to shut them up in class.
I'm always inspired by my mentor teacher - she's a rockstar! I realize that a lot of the things I want to try (like more group roles!), she's already tried before. It's really important to know if the school climate is going to support the things you want to do.
I've had many moments where I ask myself if I really want to be doing urban education. It's trying to be an environment where some students are not motivated - not doing classwork or homework. It's commonplace to learn about a student's homelessness, abuse problems, rape, and run ins with the law. It's weird because it's like I expected to hear these things. So I feel simultaneously desensitized to and depressed about these sad stories. Reading the stories that Lily's students wrote about their drug-filled social lives and abusive relationships made me feel that something is backwards about the world we're living in.
It's energizing to be with students who want to learn and make me feel like an effective teacher by demonstrating growth. I sometimes get high on this feeling. It makes me want to go to a school where I will be valued by the majority of students...instead of feeling stepped on everyday by kids.
But we must stay inspired to stick with schools that need dedicated teachers like us! Why? I exactly don't know but I feel that we need to...even if that means going to teach at a suburban school first and returning to urban schools.
I'll be returning to the reasons why we should stay inspired. But toward what goal? I think we all have distinct goals. What are some of your goals for teaching? What are some reasons why you are here?
Julie Rocks and...Forcing IT!
Julie,
Thanks for kicking us off awesomely. and thanks for being a great colleague. I'll have a reply to your post soon, but, first I'll share what I started writing tonight on the T.
"Forcing It"
The students of Cambridge and Boston are on to something.
This uibiquitous phrase, bane of many teacher's existence, taps into a certain school culture zeitgeist that is quite worrisome: teachers doing things for no reason.
"Wow, Mr. Bonde, you're even forcing it about forcing it!"
Yes, indeed I am, but this is the less worrisome kind of 'force'--overdramatizing something (hopefully, if you are teaching, it is in order to get your point across).
But even this is a bit worrisome, because it is also overused, and students get tired of all your 'forces.'
So let's try again, and see if I can do it without forcing it...
Let's thank the children of Boston for using the word force, because what they could be saying is “bullshit.” The 'force' phenomenon is essentially a brilliant collective bullshit detector.
I know why I've been struggling to post something here as a startup (aside from having the flu this weekend). Here I am trying to think of something like “Share your purpose for teaching” or “What's something valuable you've learned so far” which I was currently feeling, which would make it...forced.
I was thinking to “Stay Inspired” that this thing had to be “let's share everything that works” “let's talk about the cool speakers we saw” “what do you think of the recent policy being discussed in EdWeek?”
And of course it can be that, but after having a few drinks on Friday afternoon with some fellow TEPsters, I know that know that I'm going to need some shared bitching to get me through. And i'm going to need say, “I really blew that lesson” and somebody to say back, 'chill out, learn from it and move on' (or something more brilliant). Stay Inspired will remain the title to remind us, even when it is hard as hell and we are exhausted, it is because we care like hell. I could have maybe titled it “Let's Talk about Teaching... because it Matters” or something like that. But I like to think of "Stay Inspired" as not necessarily the theme of the blog, though to a certain extent it is, but more of a daily reminder. Whatever we need to talk about, talk about, just keep it in the back of your mind. Of course, as far as daily reminders go, I could have just have easily named it: "Don't Force it."
So, the trouble.
I posit that student teaching is, by nature, forcing it.
But to continue writing anymore, quite honestly, would also be a force, because I just found out tomorrow is a SNOW DAY!
which is enough to remind me of the joys of teaching for another day...
(R.I.P John Updike)
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