in Mississippi

Respect from Students

2007-01-07T11:34:00.000-08:00

I think I get respect from students by being fair and treating all students the same. The easiest way to lose their respect is by playing favorites.

The second thing I recommend is explain your decisions. I give my students an explanation for everything. That goes for all our assignments. Any worksheet I pick, I tell them why it's a good worksheet, or if there is anything on the worksheet I don't like. Any project we do, I tell them what they are going to learn from it. I give them practice tests to study with; I don't want there to be any surprises. When a student acts up, I make sure they know why they are facing certain consequences.

The third thing I would recommend is give the students choice. It shows that I respect and trust them enough to give them responsibility in the class. I give them little choices during the class so they know they are involved, it's not just me telling them what to do. When I want the students to work on practice problems, I always tell them, "I don't care if you work by yourself or in a group. I trust that you know what works best for you. Move the desks any way you want." And they do. I can usually tell how well the students understand the material by the way they rearrange the desks. If I did a good job teaching them, they work independently. Every now and then, the lesson is completely over the students' heads, so they move the desks into one big group. That's their signal to me that we need to do more whole class instruction before the students practice what they learned.

I even give the students some choice when they are being punished. I don't tell a student they have detention. Instead I say, "What day?" It's much less confrontational. The students seem to take it better. If I say, "You have detention," I have to listen to them argue with me. If I say “What day,” they start thinking about what day they want detention, not how to argue their way out of a detention.

Student Self-Esteem

2007-01-07T11:05:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about something we discussed in class. Our students don't have any issues with their self-esteem. They all think they are going to be doctors and lawyers. But how many of them really will when the graduation rate for my high school is 50%?

In class we were talking about whether or not we should tell these students that they can be anything they want. It's hard once the students realize their limitations.

I think the students need to hear a little truth. My students don't have an understanding of what it takes to go to college, even graduate high school. They aren't nearly as concerned about flunking classes as they should be. They don't see the connection between what they do now in high school and what they will be able to do later in life.

I also have a number of students that think they are going to be professional athletes or rappers. They couldn't care less about failing my class. They have no idea what kind of odds they are up against.

Best Kept Secret

2006-11-29T17:18:00.000-08:00

As for a "best kept secret" of the Delta, I don't think it was much of a secret, but it was definitely my favorite spot. In Belzoni, there are two restaurants (there are really more than that but the others are "questionable.") One of those is a Mexican restaurant, Los Molcajetes (not sure about the spelling). Anyway, it's great food. We went there all the time last year. Meredith and I even had a "usual" when we went in-- and our usual is not easy to remember. Diet pepsi, lemonade, beef chimichanga no pico de gayo, cheese enchiladas with cheese sauce. I loved that place. There were some weeks we would end up there two nights in a row. It happens.

Meredith and I took four of her students there at the end of the year. It was their first time to eat Mexican food. We were the only ones in the place, so Meredith told them we rented the place out. It was a riot. We had so much fun.

Only drawback, the place is closed on Mondays, and we never remembered. Those were the days we always ended up at the Varsity, the only other restaurant in town.

Other Teachers....

2006-11-29T16:50:00.000-08:00

At least once everyday I wonder why I work so hard to make sure the students are working and held accountable for what they do. Today, I found out a few things about another teacher that made me wonder more than usual.

A student of mine left his folder in my class yesterday after tutorial. I opened the folder to find out whose it was. The first thing in the folder was a progress report for his other math class (most of the students take math twice). From Oct. 10 to Nov. 27, this math teacher had 5 grades. 5 GRADES! One project, one test, one notebook check, one quiz and one homework assignment. 5 grades. I've got 20 grades.

Next, this student had only done 2 of these five assignments. So he should have gotten zeros for the other three assignments, right? NO! This teacher does not give a student a zero for something they didn't do-- it's like the assignment never existed. This kid didn't do a project, didn't keep up with his notebook, and didn't do the one homework assignment. Guess what his grade was? An 87! This math teacher doesn't hold them accountable for anything!

This kid does none of the assignments in my class either, and flunks every test. He's got about a 40 in my class. He wants to know why my class is so much harder than the other math class.

It gets worse. The kid also had his last test in his folder. I looked it over, because for Algebra we all use the same tests and then compare how well our students did. There were 22 problems, so each one should have been about 4.5 points. This math teacher only took off 2 points per problem! No wonder all her kids have a higher test average! All my kids would be passing too if I only took off two points per problem!

It actually gets much worse after this. Two math teachers are not coming back after Christmas break. One of them teaches Algebra-- state tested. Great.

Once again, I find myself wondering why I work so hard. At least I can sleep at night-- I know I've done my job.

Why I Never Quit Teaching...

2006-10-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

I did think about quitting last year, but not until the last month or so of school. I had seen a lot of violence in the school, and the administration did not respond the way they should have. I just about lost it near the end, and I called Ben while I was hysterical a couple of times. I think I stayed because I already had a job lined up in Jackson for the next school year, and I just needed to make it through a few more weeks of school. Plus, I think it set a good example for my students. They knew it was very difficult for me near the end of school, but I stuck it out. At the same time, I left the district after the school year ended. But I made it clear to the students that I was not leaving because of them. My students were awesome. I never thought about quitting MTC, I just really did not want to be at my crazy school.

I also didn’t quit because I have the greatest friends in the program. I just spent the day pumpkin carving in Yazoo, and it was one of the greatest days of my life. I’ll probably never have the opportunity to have such great friends again, and I’m sad that my two years is coming to an end. I think I’ve had the best and worst times of my life while in MTC. Speaking of which, what on earth are we going to do next year???

First Nine Weeks Evaluation

2006-10-28T17:15:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy to have an understanding administration this year. I just had my "Why did so many students fail your class?" meeting with my assitant principal. I failed 62.5% of my students, even though I had made the rule never to fail more than one-third of my students. I had to break my rule because the students were not where they should be, and I couldn't justify giving those students passing grades. (Thankfully, the other Algebra teachers either failed just as many students as I did, or they passed just about all their students even though we only had 45% pass the nine weeks test. At least my grades were reflective of their nine weeks test scores.)

My assistant principal actually took the time for me to show him, student by student, that they were not putting forth the effort neccessary for Algebra I. About 10% of my students received zeros for the course because they missed too many days of class. Not only that, I have students that never passed Pre-Algebra that were stuck in my class. At least my grades were reflective of their scores on the nine weeks test.

My assistant principal then came to observe my class with the highest failing average. He wrote a wonderful evaluation, claiming that all students were involved and that he saw "excellent teaching and learning." He seems so supportive of me, and recognizes that I'm doing all that I can for my students. The students are just very under-prepared for this course, and not motivated enough to complete assignments and study outside of the classroom. Hopefully, that will change now that they have failed the first nine weeks.

How I've Changed

2006-10-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

I'm always thinking about this question, "How have I changed since I've been here?" The biggest thing is that I know more about myself, which is what our second years told us would happen, and yet I am still surprised by how much I've learned about myself. Not only am I more aware about myself, I'm also more aware about other people, and I think I appreciate the ways that people are different. Adryon and I were just talking today about the weird quirks we all have, but that's just a part of who we are. We've become very comfortable with ourselves and with each other. Part of that must come from growing up, but I also learned a lot about watching my students. My students last year had so much personality and confidence. I never felt like they were trying to be something that they weren't. They were just themselves.

Parenting Education

2006-09-20T18:26:00.000-07:00

Why don’t schools train their students to become parents?
There are two parts to becoming an adult: having a job and having a family. Schools prepare children for a job, and parents prepare their children for their future families. But what if a child has bad parents? Schools have sex education, but not parenting education. And, since sex education often fails, why don’t they follow it up with parenting education? People don’t just know how to take care of a baby.

At one time last year, I taught 13 pregnant girls between the ages of 15 and 18. They don’t know how to raise a child; they don’t even know how to take care of themselves while they’re pregnant. Some of them still party and drink alcohol while they are pregnant.

Parenting education would be even better than pre-K. The only argument against it that I can think of is that people don’t all want to raise their children the same. That’s fine, but they should at least know the facts about how children develop and the effect parents have. And students should at least think about what kind of parent they want to be, like “What values do I want to teach my child?” “What kind of environment do I want to raise my child in?” “What role will my extended family play in my child’s life?” “Am I going to work or stay home and raise my child?” “Do I want my child to be religious?” People don’t wake up and become the parents they want to be; they wake up and become just like their own parents.

Homework Policy

2006-09-18T16:16:00.000-07:00

Alright, I wish this were better than it is, but here's how I handle homework.

I give homework everyday, except on days they take a test. It's consistent. They never go home wondering if they had homework, because they did. And I tell their parents that too, because kids go home and say, "My teacher never gives homework." Well, I do.

I give them a calendar to put in the front of their notebook and write down homework.

I always write on the board what they have to turn in because, especially with block scheduling, they forget.

I grade all homework for accuracy. I know for most, this is impossible, but if it isn't counted wrong, my kids will think they do everything perfectly. Last year, I started grading for completion around April, and my students complained because then they make the same mistakes on the test.

HERE IS THE KEY: LOTS OF PROGRESS REPORTS! My students literally think that if they don't turn something in it won't hurt them. It's like the homework was never assigned until I show them a progress report with lots of zeros. Then, if they want to make something up, I require them to stay after school, so they can't just copy the homework and turn it in late. And I take off 30 points. At some point (probably next nine weeks after they fail the first nine weeks) they will catch on and start doing homework.

Block Scheduling

2006-08-27T17:08:00.000-07:00

I'm finding that the only thing I don't have a handle on is keeping the attention of 26 ninth graders for an hour and a half. The one thing I had going for me last year was classroom control (well, even if I didn't have it, I thought I did, and sometimes that’s what counts). I could be interesting and fun for 50 minutes, but not for 90 minutes (or when the bell schedule is off, even more). As I understand it, block scheduling was created to provide time for more activities in the class. It's hard because there is so much material to cover in Algebra, that I feel like I'm just instructing for the entire time. On one day I had to cover 13 properties of real numbers (commutative, associative ...). How boring.

Schedules are still changing, which is a struggle. We have to test these kids that we only just got in our classrooms.

Some students have a bad attitude about being in a Transitions to Algebra class. They aren't getting a Carnegie unit for one, so they argue that there isn't a point to taking the class. Some of them also have the "This is so easy" attitude, but every time I ask them a question they get it wrong.

Some things I do have a handle on: I'm spending a lot less time on school (yea). I don't feel the need to plan out every moment of every day. If I know what I need to cover, I trust that I will cover it during the class and make it work.

Also, I am now awesome at parent contact. I've made about 100 calls so far (I certainly haven't talked to all of them but I try). The parents have been almost completely supportive of me, and very appreciative.

First days of school

2006-08-08T15:04:00.000-07:00

I can't believe school has already started. I've seen each of my classes once since we are on block scheduling.

There are a couple of noteworthy differences between this school and my last school. Mostly, organization. I saw all of my classes on the first two days of school. Last year, I didn't see a single student on my first day of school, because the students did not change classes all day. Second, my asst. principal handed me about 100 office referrals today. Last year, I had to beg for two referrals at a time because the office could not handle me sending them my discipline problems. I am very impressed with my new asst. principal. He suspended two of my students for not tucking in their shirts today. I already gave him two cell phones and an mp3 player as well. Lunch is a breeze. The ROTC teachers keep everyone in line. Also, I have a great math coach and some wonderful other math teachers to plan with. We have a common planning period so we can work together at school. It's great.

Jake and Dave have been amazing as well. They put together a guide for all the new teachers that is just incredible. It covers everything that anyone could ever want to know.

I only had 35 students my first day, and I've already attempted to call every parent once. One of my phone calls made it all worthwhile-- I spoke to one mother who has a child with a learning disability in my class. She is very supportive of him, and she was so happy that I wanted to learn how I could help him.

I have been thinking about the issue of social promotion. In Jackson, students that are 16 years old are moved to the high school whether or not they pass their classes. If they do not earn 5 credits by the time they turn 17, they are put in a GED program. I had a number of 16 and 17 year olds last year in 8th grade. I personally don't believe in social promotion because it takes away the motivation (making the grade) to perform in class in middle school. But, then again, what is the motivation for a 17 year old to pass 8th grade, since students can only stay in school until they are 21.

Summer School Reflection

2006-06-26T13:28:00.000-07:00

What I really learned in summer school is how a teacher’s teaching style “creates” a certain classroom environment. I watched a couple of authoritarian teachers, and the differences between my class and theirs were very noticeable. I am more of an authoritative teacher (I took an online quiz). I took notes on the good and the bad of each. This is all opinion, of course.

First, authoritarian teachers have presence. Everyone knows who the teacher is. The authoritarian teacher has an attentive class, but more because the teacher tells the students to pay attention, not always because the students fell fully engaged. The teacher does a lot of the writing on the board, while asking the students questions about what is being written on the board. The students do not discuss the material with themselves, and the students do not ask the teacher many questions, especially during the guided part of the lesson. The teacher does not come to the students, but instead places some distance between the teacher and students.

On the other hand, the authoritative teacher has rules but also encourages independence. I think I’m this. I don’t believe in making the students raise their hands, and I don’t really make the students be interested in the lesson. I’m more a part of the class. I’m always walking around the room, talking with the students, asking specific questions to make sure they understand. The students can pretty much ask questions anytime they feel. The students don’t sit for long in my class. I’m either picking people to write on the dry erase board, or I give one student a dry erase marker and say, “when you finish your problem, you can give the marker to any one you choose.” It changes it up a bit. The advantages—the classroom works for different learning styles. Some kids need to go to the board (most kids), some kids need to hear it, some students need to discuss it with other students. It isn’t intimidating at all. There is more of a free flow to the class. Personally, I love it. It fits me, which is the most important thing.

Also worth noting, I’m overly organized. The board, the notes, the students’ notebooks, everything is structured down to the last detail. It helps me feel in control enough to let the students have some freedoms in leading the discussion.

The Girls in Summer School

2006-06-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

We’ve had summer school now for 10 days, and we only have 9 days left, which is ridiculous. We have 10 girls and 1 boy in our summer school class. It’s fantastic. They are so well behaved and positive. They are also surprisingly competitive. Many of them have commented on how much they like summer school. One girl said this was the first time she was interested in school and excited about learning. (I can’t believe an 8th grader said that.) So far, they’ve had 3 tests, 1 notebook grade, 10 participation grades, and 24 homework grades. The average grade in our class right now is an 89.

I have started noticing the little differences in an (almost) all girl class (our one boy is on a trip right now). Last Wednesday, a girl suggested that we all wear pink the following day. So that the one male student wouldn’t be left out, I suggested we all wear pink or red. Today during break, one girl touched up her nail polish, and one girl fixed another girl’s curls.

The only male in our class today is Mr. Taylor. The first time he taught, we talked about how much different his booming voice is from my voice and Adryon’s voice. It’s great; he’s a natural. He told a student today that he liked her haircut. She calmly replied, “Oh, I didn’t get my hair cut. I just got my weave taken out.” Classic. He’s going to learn so much from these girls.

I’m starting to believe in single-sex classrooms. I think girls and boys learn differently, but I think the change to single-sex classrooms would have a bigger affect on the classroom environment. The girls seem more confident, and they participate more in summer school. When they first started summer school, they wrote on information sheets that they didn’t like math because it was confusing or because there was too much to remember. I hope we are changing their minds.

Then again, some of the changes I notice between our summer school students and the Delta students I had could be due to the fact that these students are grouped by performance level—they all did poorly last year in Algebra I. Whatever it is, these girls (and boy) are a pleasure to teach.

5 pieces of advice

2006-06-04T15:32:00.000-07:00

1. Keep organized

Use a three-ring binder to keep your lesson plans, transparencies, worksheets, tests and quizzes together for each class. Keep a file on each student that includes phone number, address, and photo copies of work, especially any tests that the student failed or cheated on.

2. Use all your EEF money, the sooner the better

You have to plan ahead for this, but try to spend all your money at least by Christmas. My administration told me only after it was too late that EEF money has a deadline, and if you don’t spend it you lose it. Also, look for catalogues other than those your school gives you to order from. My school only gave me an office supply catalogue to order from, and I found out only after I had spent a lot of the money that I could really order from any catalogue I wanted to. Request catalogues from different stores that sell workbooks or other materials you may want.

3. Call all parents

At the beginning of the year, try to call every child’s mother or father. You’ll be amazed how many phone numbers you’ll get that aren’t correct, and you don’t want to wait to find that out when you actually need to get in touch with someone. Many parents I never spoke to (though I sent home letters) until the final days of school after they had found out their child had failed my class. I think those final days of school would have been smoother had they actually spoken with me before.

4. Make a template letter to send to parents when a student fails a test is caught cheating

Have something that is easy to modify and send to parents after every test. It should include your classroom phone number, the best time to call, and your after school tutorial schedule. Have the template approved by your principal. Print it on the letterhead for your school, and keep a copy in the student’s file.

5. Keep your door locked at all times

This one is for safety. You should be the one to decide who gets into your room. Students skipping class will try to come disrupt your classroom all the time. Parents, often angry parents, will try to come into your class as well. I kept my door locked all the time, and once after I opened the door to let a student out to take the attendance to the office, a student barged into the classroom threatening his ex-girlfriend and even chasing her around the room. You never know, so keep your door locked.

Biggest Challenge of the School Year

2006-06-03T05:27:00.000-07:00

The biggest challenge of my first year in MTC was dealing with my administration, and parents are a close second. Really, parents are only second because they weren’t as involved until the end of the school year, after their children had failed my class.

When I was in school, I never thought about the relationship between the teachers and the administration. I don’t ever remember seeing a teacher talking with the principal. I thought teachers operated on their own, and only used the principal as a disciplinarian for unruly students. The situations I faced were ones I never considered I would be faced with. I never thought my principal would argue with me in front of my students. I never thought my principal would storm into my classroom to paddle someone. I never thought I would have to send my students to the band hall for discipline because the principal was also the band director (being a principal should not be a part-time job).

One of my most recent confrontations with my principal happened after the aunt of one of my 19-year-old students interrupted class and asked to see my grade book. I refused, so she made the principal interrupt my class again. I explained to him that the woman was not the student’s mother, and that I had been instructed not to share grades with any adults besides mothers and fathers. He told me a story about how the student didn’t really have a mother, that she hadn’t seen her mother in a long time. I told the principal that was a lie because I had met with the student’s mother in the past month. Then, he told me that I should tell the aunt anyway because she might be a positive influence on the student. I said that it would also be illegal for me to share grades without the student’s permission because she was 19. This really set my principal off. He first told me that he didn’t care what the law said, he just wanted to do what was best for the student (really, he wanted to appease the scary aunt). Then he said, “In this school, I’m the law and if you don’t do what I say I’m going to write you up for insubordination!” I didn’t back down, though. He finally let me get back to my students.

My principal returned after school to again discuss what had happened. I told him that I had recently taken a law class at Ole Miss, and had specifically asked my professor if we were supposed to give out grades to parents if the student was 18 or older. My principal told me that it’s more important that I do what he says, because I don’t want to have a bad working relationship with my principal. He told me that I wouldn’t want my principal to not like me because my principal is the one that evaluates my performance as a teacher. He said that I wouldn’t want my principal’s personal feelings towards me to be the cause of a bad evaluation. It was an unexpected threat.

Thoughts on Corporal Punishment

2006-05-31T17:51:00.000-07:00

Last summer, I thought corporal punishment was generally a bad idea. I really hadn’t ever seen it used, so my feelings towards corporal punishment were somewhat passive. I just didn’t think a child should be hit for any reason.

The first time I saw a student being paddled by the principal, I felt overwhelmed with shame and guilt, like I was the one being paddled. I couldn’t watch, I was so embarrassed for the student, a female who was only 3 years younger than me. The girl who was being paddled tried to grab the paddle away from my principal, shouting curse words at him. This only made my principal madder at her, and so he continued paddling her for longer than I think he had originally intended. I don’t even know why the principal started paddling her. When he left, the girl came to my class and was disruptive the entire period because she was so angry at the principal. It made my job that much more difficult.

Every time I sent a student to the office and the principal used corporal punishment, the student was back in my classroom two minutes later. Students didn’t cool off in the office, they came back furious with me for getting them paddled. No student ever acted better after returning from the office.

Let’s face it, corporal punishment is for the lazy. It’s quick, it’s easy, it doesn’t involve any extra paperwork and the parents don’t have to be contacted about the behavior. My administration didn’t want to put in the extra effort it took to set up in school suspension or detention, and they were only allowed to suspend a limited amount of students at a time. There were no guidelines my principal seemed to follow in using corporal punishment. I have no idea how he decided if a student got paddled and how many times a student was paddled for a certain offense. One day, a student in my third period class was paddled once for being tardy to my class, and then one of my students in seventh period was paddled once for skipping class three days in a row. This same principal preached to the teachers about being fair and consistent with all of the students.

Finishing the School Year

2006-05-31T13:39:00.000-07:00

Last summer, Joel Harris and Joe Sweeny acted out a scenario for the then first year teachers in which a teacher told his students their end of the year grades just before school finished. In the skit, a male student that had failed almost became violent toward the teacher and caused a huge disruption. I am so grateful they did this skit for us because it made me think about all kinds of situations that would put me in a dangerous or uncomfortable position with the students.
I recently turned in my end of the year grades to the office and made sure that I didn't tell any of the students their grades, keeping in mind the skit from last summer. However, on the second to last day of school, my administration called down every senior I taught that had failed for the year to tell them that they would not be graduating because of their grade in geometry. Then, the administration told each student to go ask me really nicely if I would change their grade so they could graduate. So, in the middle of the day, these seniors come crying to my room, asking me to change their grades. Now, only one of these students made above a 65, the others had between a 58 and a 61 for the end of the year. And, since I can't change grades from the previous nine weeks, if I had wanted to get them to pass for the school year, I would have had to change their fourth nine weeks grades to more than 100.
After these students left my room, they called their mothers and stormed over to central office. The superintendent told them that I could change their grades if I wanted to, and that it was completely up to me if I wanted to. Thanks. So the mothers came back to the school to yell and threaten me. I had a police escort as I walked down the hallway, and another police officer had to drive me off campus. I was assured that if the mothers came back to school on Friday, they would be arrested.
I came to school on Friday, which was a teacher work day, and the mothers were back at school at 7:30 in the morning. On top of that, my access to my grades online was blocked for all my high school students. So I left. I came back to school on Tuesday to drop off my grade book (after I made a copy), and snuck out again after I heard a mother yelling about me in the office. I still haven't cleared with the school, but I've given them everything they need from my lost textbook list to my keys. I hope I am done with this school for good.

School Violence

2006-05-04T17:07:00.000-07:00

I honestly try to be positive every time I write a blog about my school, but I can't! I've probably had my worst week ever, which is saying a lot because I've had some rough weeks.
On Monday in 7th period, an 11th grade boy, more specifically a football player on crack and steroids, beat up an 11th grade girl in my classroom. I called for security to escort the boy out BEFORE anything had happened, but none of the security officers were asked to come to my room, and the girl ended up losing two teeth in the fight. The second the fight started, I ran across the hall to ask a male teacher for help, since I had given up on the office. The 11th grade boy wasn't even supposed to be in school-- he had shot at another one of my student's houses last week and he was on parole. All of this could have been prevented. Then, after the fact, the school didn't even call the police. A security officer at the school informed the police, and he is currently in jail.
On Tuesday in my 3rd period class, I had my door cracked open and a 10th grade boy burst in threatening one my 11th grade female students, shoving desks out the way trying to get to her. This time, my students were ready and they quickly acted to help get him out of the room while I called for security. Twice. And sent a referral to the office. Again, security was not notified and the principal and asst. principal were not informed. Nothing happened until I had another teacher watch my class so I could storm into the office and demand that the boy be sent home. I found out that another teacher had informed the office during 1st period that the male student was threatening the female student. This also could have been prevented if the office had acted the first time they were told about the threats.
Also on Monday, though not in my class, another girl was hit in the hallway by a boy, her two-month-old baby's father. He has yet to face any disciplinary action.
I was of course at central office by 7:00 on Wednesday concerning these three incidents. My superintendent assured me that she would talk with the principal and the asst. principal at 8:00, which she did, but it didn't seem to accomplish anything. Except that now my asst. principal is mad at me for talking to the superintendent. The asst. principal keeps telling me that I'm not allowed to call for a security officer, that only someone from the office can ask a security officer to go to a classroom. She told me that I don't need a security officer because I'm supposed to break up fights. That it's my responsibility to physically intervene to stop a fight. How am I supposed to stop a fight involving a football player on drugs? When I asked my asst. principal this, she told me that I needed to "get tough." I thought it was made very clear to us that a female teacher is not expected to physically attempt to break up fights. Especially the one I had in my class. None of my male students even tried to break up the fight.

The Ball

2006-04-30T12:34:00.000-07:00

I went to the 7th and 8th grade ball last night with Meredith. I laughed the whole night. The kids got all dressed up-- the girls wore prom dresses and the boys wore tuxes, the greatest tuxes I've ever seen. Most of the tuxes were white, but there were a couple of purple ones I really liked. And the shoes. Where do they find their outfits? The boys got to braid their hair, and the girls had "sculptures" on their heads as Jess put it. And they wore sunglasses in every color. It was magical. Meredith and I spent the first hour taking everyone's picture. My favorite moment was when two of our 8th grade boys, who are brothers and really couldn't be any different, started doing a coordinated dance together. I know they practice at home together, which is just hysterical.

New Job

2006-04-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

I went to the Jackson job fair last Saturday and got a job at Jim Hill—my #1 choice! I was so excited. They were my last school to interview with because they didn’t have any job listings for math teachers, but I wanted to try anyways. I got such a great feeling from the principal, who promises to be blunt and asks that I always be honest with her as well. I told her I had heard so many great things about her and the school. When I told her I was with Teacher Corps, she said, “Oh that’s how you know about my school—my hippy boys!” We’re going to have such a good time at that school.

In other fantastic news, we found a house for the summer, a four bedroom house for 7 or 8 of us. It will be awesome. I can’t wait for the summer now. I’m even excited about teaching, now that I know it’s not for 7 hours a day. Just four more weeks of school!

Catfish Fair

2006-04-01T09:08:00.000-08:00

If you don't already know, today is the day of the World Catfish Fair in Belzoni. All of my students are supposed to be there, all done up I'm sure. I'm on my way to Meredith's and then we're headed over.
I'm at the end of my spring break; we had the latest spring break out of any one. It was horrible waiting for it, but now I'm glad. Only 8 weeks left, with lots of testing in from here on out.
I am upset at the though of having to teach during the summer; I'm so burned out. My spring break really wasn't a break at all, I spent so much time on work for graduate school. I don't think we'll make a very good impression on the first years, we'll be so tired and bitter about having to do all the additional work (now, in the fall, and in the spring). I had dreams of getting to sleep in a little and wearing jeans everyday. I think we would benefit more from just getting recharged for the next school year.

Leaving Humphreys

2006-03-30T18:13:00.000-08:00

I let my superintendent know that I would not be returning next year to Humphreys County HS. I took a personal day the day that I met with her in case she wanted to discuss anything with me. I was suprised I only met with her for a couple of minutes, and I spent the rest of the day in Jackson. When I came back the next day, Adryon asked me if I'd heard about what happened with my substitute. Apparently, the sub that the school had scheduled for me more than a week in advance didn't show, so one of my students that also takes a class with Adryon asked the principal if he could skip all of his classes to watch my classes. The principal actually let an 11th grader sub for my classes! So, the day before nine weeks testing, students searched my room up and down for the nine weeks test and my grade book, which thankfully I had at home. Let me just say that my school has done nothing to make me regret my decision. Hopefully, I'll be in Jackson next year.

Administration

2006-03-04T14:36:00.000-08:00

I had the longest week. I met with my assistant princial 7 times in 3 days, four times to deal with a lazy student whose mother wants me to make her tests easier so she can pass and still not have to take notes or do homework, and three times to discuss a student that made sexual comments about me in class. It was very draining, and little was resolved in either case, but now I know there is no way I am staying at my school. My administration lost the 5 referrals I wrote for one student in a week. I was also lectured by my asst. principal becuase she said that any student I send to the office should not be let back into my room without an admission slip. It's March, and none of us teachers have ever seen one of these admission slips, which our asst. principal is supposed to write. She is crazy. Our principal is useless, but at least he lets me do what I want to do. He is much less frustrating.

Great Classroom Quiz Procedure

2006-03-03T18:07:00.000-08:00

I decided to try playing music during a quiz, just relaxing piano music (by Jim Brickman to be exact). The students groaned a little when I first proposed the idea, but I told them just to try it, and then after that we could vote before every quiz and test whether or not to play the music. Now, they love it. We take a vote every time, and there are always shouts of “Music!” It makes them calm down, because they do get very nervous before a test or quiz. They even hum along with the music now. It’s great.

Philosophy of Education

2006-01-28T10:00:00.000-08:00

Now that I have done this whole teaching thing for a while, I think I'm ready to redefine my philosophy of teaching. I bought in to that "Every child can learn" thing for about two weeks, and I'm completely over that kind of optimism now. Here it is, "A teacher can only teach a student what the student is willing to be taught." There. I'm tired of everyone placing all the responsibility on the teachers. Have you met these students? There is nothing I can do for a student that skips class most of the time and sleeps through it the rest of the time. I can't do anything for a student that doesn't bring pencil and paper to school. I can't do anything for a student that chooses to cheat on a major exam, knowing that I give zeros for cheating. I can't make a student do anything that the student doesn't want to do. I will go above and beyond for any student that needs me to, but I'm through trying to help those that couldn't care less.

Parent Influence

2006-01-28T09:42:00.000-08:00

Meeting the parents really helps explain why the students act the way they do. I just don't know what to do with that now and in the class.

For example, I met with a parent of one of my 8th grade pre-algebra students last week. First of all, she's almost 17 in the 8th grade and she has had an attitude in class from day one. I told her to stop talking with her friend and get back to work quietly, and she told me to shut up. I sent her to the office, and the principal called and asked what she should do. At our school, there aren't any other forms of punishment besides paddling and suspension. I told the principal to arrange a parent conference. The mother came in a couple of days later. I explained what happened, and through my whole explanation the daughter interrupted me, calling me a liar. The mother did nothing to stop the girl from talking back to me. When I asked the daughter to explain what had happened, she said that she was asking her friend for help on a problem. I said that asking a student for help is talking and that she isn't allowed to ask other students for help when she's taking a quiz. Again, the girl said that I was lying, she hadn't been talking, I just hate her . . . on and on and on. Finally, the mother said that the girl should say she's sorry. The girl said she would say it but that it wouldn't mean anything. And that was pretty much it for the parent conference. We accomplished nothing, and now the daughter hates me more. I see why she acts this way; no one will stop her. But I don't know what to do with that now to make her do her work. On the other hand, I don't know how much it matters if she does her work or not since she will be put in the GED program next year anyway because she's too old. I'll settle for her not distracting the others in class.

I met another parent last week about one kid who is almost 19 in my geometry class. He missed about 25 days of class last nine weeks, and of course failed. Our handbook says that a student is not allowed to miss more than 20 days of school in an entire year, but our administration has chosen to interpret that as 20 consecutive days. Basically, they don't want to kick any one out of school; that's one of those downsides of having such a close community. The mother told me about how last nine weeks the father was let out of jail after 14 years and the son had moved in with him while the mother had moved away to another city. She was totally unaware of how the son was doing at school. The father was recently put back in jail, and the son is not living with either parent right now. She pleaded with me to give her son another chance so that he can graduate this year. I agreed to let him try to make-up the work from last semester, which I am already regretting. I gave the student a second chance last nine weeks when I gave him all the homework assignments for the second time in a packet. This will be my third time to put together work for him to complete. And it isn't up to the mother, it's up to the student who just doesn't care. That same day that I met with the mother, the student did not come to tutorial after telling me many times during the day that he would. There's really nothing you can do for a student who isn't motivated, and I just feel so bad for these parents.

First Semester of Teaching

2005-12-03T15:24:00.000-08:00

Teaching is definitely not what I thought it would be. It's not that it's harder, it's just crazier. Something crazy happens every day without fail. Kids are so crazy. They make up some weird stories to try to get out of class, to get out of doing work, to get out of a test, .... I wasn't expecting to have to spend so much class time not teaching but passing back work, giving worksheets to students that were absent, filling out another form that the office needs immediately, telling twenty kids each period that they can't go to the bathroom, telling another twenty kids each period that they can't go to their locker, reminding kids that they have a warm-up just like every other day, that the date is on the board just like it is every other day, that the homework is on the board just like it is every day, ... It's just crazy. The teaching is easy; the hard part is keeping all the other stuff "skraight" as my kids would say.

I'm glad we're getting close to Christmas break-- I can tell that my kids are slacking, I'm slacking with management, my principal hasn't done anything with a single one of the referrals that I've turned in since 10/19..... We all need a break to get everything together and ready for next semester.

Over all, though, I would call the semester a success. I had three kids who don't take me come by this week and say that they wished I had been their geometry teacher since my kids say they're actually learning. Made me feel pretty great.

It's All Downhill from Here

2005-11-22T09:42:00.000-08:00

For some reason, I feel like it's downhill from here. I mean, one more class at Ole Miss this semester, 17 days of teaching left this semester,... I think the next year and a half are going to fly by from here on out.

I'm home for Thanksgiving, doing all that stuff I miss. I can't believe we still got the whole week off even though we have missed about 7 days of school due to weather (one of those days is really two half-days put together). They closed school on last Tuesday around 12:45 because it was going to rain, which it didn't until 5:00. My school loves to close. I would be so surprised to see each class five times a week. I don't think that has happened yet at my school.

Reflection on Summer Blogs

2005-11-21T16:54:00.000-08:00

The first thing I have to comment on from my summer blogs is on my reaction to Belzoni. I wrote about how much technology my school had and how impressed I was. . . I didn't get a working computer until the beginning of November, and that computer still does not have Word or the Internet, so basically it just sits there. Also, I have 11 scientific calculators. What am I supposed to do with 11 calculators and 29 students? I have lots of EEF and district money, none of which I'm allowed to spend on calculators. In that same blog, I wrote about how I would go back soon to Belzoni to pick up textbooks. . . I didn't find out what I was teaching until July 25, and my school didn't finalize my schedule until the second day of school.

Then there were our summer school kids. They were so much smarter, nicer, and more motivated than my students now. They really worked hard. And they wanted to learn the material. In my blogs, I complained that they didn't turn in assignments. I thought that made them terrible students at the time. But they worked during class, and now I think that's more important, because I always give them enough practice in class as well. One difference between my students now and my summer school students is that the summer school students seemed to take more responsibility for their grades. When my students now start failing, they tell me that I should change my grading; they blame me and not themselves.

I wrote about how I need to put everything on transparencies since I'm left-handed. I've really stuck to that. Every night I make up all my transparencies using sharpies and cut-up report covers. A lot of the other teaching strategies I tried worked only in an English class, like reading aloud and writing stories.

Success Story

2005-11-12T10:27:00.000-08:00

One of my students was having such a hard time learning about special right triangles in my geometry class. We had a quiz on it, and of course he failed. The bonus for the quiz was a self-grading sheet-- he gave himself a zero in my class. He was so frustrated with himself, and it showed.

I wrote him a note on his quiz-- "Come to tutoring; I promise I can teach you this!" So he came, and it took me about 5 minutes to explain it to him. He was like, "That's it?" He was so happy. He gave me a hug and said, "Thank you, Ms. Bartlett!" And then he just couldn't help himself-- he picked me up. It was probably one of the most unexpected moments in my life. I of course screamed, and my other students in tutoring were laughing so hard. It was great.

First Nine Weeks Breakdown

2005-10-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

Here is the breakdown of how the first nine weeks turned out.

For geometry:
Total number of students: 96
As (93 - 100): 16
Bs (85 – 92): 16
Cs (75 – 84): 17
Ds (70 – 74): 8
Fs (below 70): 30
Incompletes: 8

For pre-algebra:
Total number of students: 19
As (93 – 100): 0
Bs (85 – 92): 1
Cs (75 – 84): 7
Ds (70 – 74): 3
Fs (below 70): 6
Incompletes: 1

I teach one more class of pre-algebra, but Meredith has those grades since we co-teach.

There’s a lot of pressure here to pass students, so I feel like I passed more than those who earned it, but I know my principal and assistant principal think I failed too many. However, I only had 8 students fail that turned in all major work and didn’t cheat on anything. I had 28 students out of 96 cheat on a test or a quiz. I even had two students cheat on the Nine Weeks Test, which is 33% of their grade and an automatic failure in my class. I’ve even told them I give different versions. I had 11 students out of the 88 who did not receive incompletes that never made up a test or quiz, and I even allow them to take the tests or quizzes during class if they can’t come after school. I’m not even going to bother counting the number of students who didn’t turn in their notebook or project. I’m supposed to give zeros if a student cheats or doesn’t turn in the work, but I’m not supposed to fail anyone. The administrations’ solution to poor academic achievement seems to be that the teacher should change the grading. Of course it isn’t the students’ fault—it’s the teachers’ fault. No wonder the students act this way. Even with my grading, I still had 10 students make a 98 or above.

Thankfully, it’s only this way in the high school. The junior high principal stands behind her teacher’s decisions, which I really appreciate. She sees that if a student doesn’t do the work, that’s their decision. I think most of the students here choose to fail, although I’m sure they don’t see it that way.

That’s the one thing that bothers me the most about the students—lack of personal responsibility. I’m one of those people that if I’m supposed to do something, I do it and I do it right and I do it on time. Anytime I have ever been put in a group I have completely taken over the group and done all the work myself because I think I’ll do it better than anyone else. That’s just me. And now I feel like I’m responsible for these students’ behavior and actions and there is only so much I can do to control them and it makes me crazy.

Deductive vs. Inductive Teaching

2005-09-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

I've tried both inductive and deductive teaching, and I have to say that deductive has worked best. I try to give the students a problem in the warm-up that makes them use inductive reasoning to figure out, and then I reinforce it with deductive instruction. The students don't seem to understand the importance of what they are learning unless I put it on a transparency or on the dry erase board. The information matters more to them if I explain it to them and tell them they need to know it. Plus, they get frustrated with inductive teaching. The set-up is different from what they expect, which is for teachers to tell them, not to let them figure things out.
I will say that some of my shop students, who have used angles in shop class, have done a great job with the material in my class. Hands on, practical experience with the material helps.

By the way, if you're wondering why I'm not at school teaching right now it's because my school was damaged in a tornado. We probably won't have school for the rest of the week.

Starting the School Year Off Right

2005-09-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

Before I forget it, I'm going to write down everything I wish I had gone over with my students at the beginning of the year-- that first week of school that is all review. I have realized now some of the skills that my students needed to do the work in my Geometry class that they learned from Algebra I, which is what I'll review at the beginning of school next year.

First, anything with negative numbers, especially adding and subtracting. They always get confused with that. And doing it on a number line. They've had a hard time with the distance between two points on a number line.

Second, graphing on the coordinate plane. They still get the x- and y-axis confused, and which number comes first in an ordered pair.

Third, solving for variables in equations.

Fourth, the equation for a line and the distance formula. I taught my students the distance formula, which I just found out they were supposed to have learned last year and they all looked like they had never seen it before.

And finally, order of operations.

Classroom Management Plan Evaluation

2005-09-10T18:05:00.000-07:00

Here are my rules: 1. Be in your seat by the time the bell rings. 2. Raise your hand before speaking or getting out of your seat. 3. Respect the teacher, your classmates and the classroom.

There is one of my rules that I have a hard time enforcing, #1. It seems like none of the other teachers require their students to be in when the bell rings, and also the kids coming from the vocational school are always late. Plus, I'm passing out papers at beginning of class and taking attendance instead of standing at the front of the room writing down their seat numbers on the board.

I like rule #2 and I'm pretty good with it, but I need to add "and wait for my permission" because otherwise they think that if their hand is in the air they can talk/get out of their seat.

I'm good with #3 as well. It cuts out the disrespectful comments most of all.

I wish that at the beginning of the year I had told them more about why I had these rules, how my rules would help them in the real world (college, job). I always get "but it's so childish to have to raise your hand to talk." Also, I should have given a talk on cheating at the beginning of the year, because that seems to be a favorite pastime for a number of my students.

The other part of my classroom management plan, creating the environment, has worked really well. My class is very pleasant and positive. I smile all the time, regardless of those people who say don't smile for the first month. I've been called "Ms. Happy" when I walk down the hallway. I can't count the number of times I've been asked why I'm always smiling, or "are you going to teach us to smile like that?" It has worked really well getting the students to participate-- I love when I start the class with review questions and the hands shoot up in the air.

My Favorite Math Teacher

2005-09-02T17:01:00.000-07:00

My favorite math teacher was Dr. Allan. I had him for pre-calculus and calculus in 11th grade. He didn't do anything in particular that stood out-- he was just really nice and patient. His only teaching method was solving example problems on the dry erase board. His door was always open to students. He was very respectful to us, even though there was probably 60 years between him and the students.

Even though we all thought Dr. Allan was great and we learned a lot from him, he isn't the person that I try to copy when I teach. There really isn't a teacher that I try to copy exactly when I teach, because I don't think it would fit with my students or my personality. Of course I try to be nice and patient, and I invite students to come before or after school. I do use the dry erase board, but I also use transparencies and worksheets. Dr. Allan didn't have any rules in his classroom-- he's one of those teachers that just doesn't need rules. I, on the other hand, need my rules and my procedures and my whole crazy organizational system (labeling, color-coding, ...). I move through the room a lot more, and ask more questions. I put problems on the board and then send students to the board to solve them after everyone has had a chance to work them out on their own.

Dr. Allan was a great teacher-- perfect for the kind of student that I was-- but my students don't learn as much by just watching me solve a problem. Also, a lot of my students need to hear the information to be able to understand it. After the first week of school, I really changed the way I taught by saying as well as writing, and by making sure the students tried problems on their own before we worked them as a group.

First Week Teaching

2005-08-13T12:08:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I have finished my first week of teaching! Everything is going great-- the kids are really wonderful, and so is the staff. The only problem I'm having is memorizing 150 names with faces by open house next Thursday. I teach two periods of pre-algebra in the junior high (one period I co-teach with Meredith) and four periods of geometry.

The greatest classroom management tactic in the world is writing the student's seat number on the board. That has been awesome for controlling behavior. I haven't sent anyone to the office, just out into the hallway to cool off and think for a minute.

I also love having a "star of the week"-- every kid wants to be star of the week. I pick one in every class, and they get candy, pens/pencils, bathroom passes, or homework passes. One of the kids I picked was so surprised he was star of the week-- he had all his class materials in his arms which he threw up into the air in his excitement. His stuff went everywhere-- it was great.

Class Assignments for the Fall

2005-07-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

Yeah! I found out what I'm teaching! Well, of course it isn't definite, but still... I found out that I am teaching Geometry at the high school (Humphreys County High School) and Pre-Algebra at the junior high. The high school and junior high are connected, but I will still have to have two different classrooms because the junior high and high school kids don't mix. Never fear, they're giving me a cart to wheel around my stuff. Jealous much?

The Pre-Algebra class is in one of those "I Can Learn" labs, where each student gets their own computer and basically it's self-paced. I really, from what I understand, just tutor students. The system works very well, though, so it doesn't bother me. Meredith, Reggie, and I have workshops to go to for the lab on this Friday and Saturday in Yazoo City (PARTY!). Then we start professional development on Tuesday, and classes start the following Monday. I can't believe how soon that is! It's crazy! I have a lot of fun this summer, getting to know everyone, learning about teaching. I'm very excited to start the school year.

Critique of Videoed Lesson

2005-07-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had my lesson for Ms. Cornelius videoed, and thankfully I was able to watch it in its entirety before the video tape was eaten by the library VCR. Check Ruth's blog for a visual.

I am teaching 10th grade Geometry, and I had a lesson on postulates (facts), segments, rays, and opposite rays. To start, my set was awesome. I'd been losing points everyday for my set so I made sure it was great yesterday. We had to define postulates, so for my set I put up a transparency with "10 things you didn't know you didn't know." It had facts like, "Horses can't vomit, pigs can't look up into the sky, it's impossible to lick your own elbow..." Then, I asked them for a new title for the transparency, which they gave me "Facts," and there we had it -- they defined postulates. Oh, and it was really funny to watch five adults try to lick their elbows.

One thing I need to start doing is having everything on transparencies, already written transparencies, because I'm left-handed. If I write on the board, I can't look at the class; and if I write on the transparency, they can't see what I'm writing. I also need to start using many different colors of dry erase markers to illustrate different things.

I laugh all the time in class. I had no idea I was having such a good time, but apparently everything is exciting to me when I teach. I can't decide if that's good or bad, but no one has said anything about it, usually just that my class feels "comfortable" or "inviting" or "friendly" or something like that, so I don't think I'll change. That's just my personality.

I liked my questions. I used a lot of comparison questions, and explain why, and "can you have a different answer for this question and still be correct" ... That was good. And I didn't let my students off the hook if they couldn't answer my question. I would just break the question down into the steps needed to answer the original, big question.

I thought it was kind of boring when I taught the lesson, mainly because I had to do definitions, but when I watched the video I actually liked it. There was enough activity to break up the definitions so that it didn't seem to drag. For example, they did a definition, said it in their own words, and drew pictures to illustrate the definition.

Overall, I thought it was my best lesson yet, and I liked seeing it from the students' view.

First time TEAM teaching

2005-07-10T23:08:00.000-07:00

I taught my first two lessons of the school year on Friday to Ruth, Anderson, Amy, Lee, and Mrs. Youngblood. I tought 10th grade geometry.

I was stressing out on Thursday. We got done with class around 12:30 and I worked straight from then until 10:00. The first day needs a ridiculous amount of planning. I wrote out my syllabus, made posters for rules and consequences, numbered the desks, had a homework basket... And that was still a reduced amount of work that I need to put in for the real first day. My second lesson definitely required less planning.

When I gave the first lesson, I completely forgot my set but other than that it went great. And I was much more comfortable for the second lesson.

Mrs. Youngblood was great. She really helped us ease into this awkward situation, teaching our friends. That is a little strange. And it's funny having only four "students" in the class; I walked by everyone's desk like fifty times during the forty minute lesson.

2005-07-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

Tiffany Bartlett

Student Teaching

2005-07-03T08:51:00.000-07:00

I finished student teaching a few days ago, and I have now had enough sleep to properly comment on it. It was great. I loved the students; they were wonderful. I got some really good ideas from it, and I found out how prepared I need to be for each day to run smoothly. We were definitely spoiled, though; I had three other student teachers and a veteran teacher in the room with fourteen students. Our veteran teacher was very supportive, and I really appreciated her letting us take over the class.

One thing about our students I wasn't expecting was their lack of motivation. I can't remember a time when I didn't turn in an assignment on time; I would have had a heart attack if I had to turn in something late. But our kids repeatedly didn't turn in assignments, and had a whole list of excuses. They were nice kids, but they didn't see the importance of education, especially those that didn't have parental support or those that didn't plan on going to college. We also had one incidence of cheating on a test.

Our teacher, right before the last day of school, was informed by a football coach that she would pass one of our students. Our teacher refused to pass the student unless he actually made the grade, but I found out that there is still a chance that the coach will have the grade changed after the teacher submits it. How frustrating.

On the last day of class, the student teachers let the students guess our ages and our first names. It was too funny. They thought I was 24 and that my first name was Jennifer. They thought Sarah's name was Chastity and she was 24. They thought Jake was Jack, age 22 (even with the beard), and they thought Mason was Thomas, age 27 (though there were shouts as high as 32). That was so fun.

Cold Calling

2005-06-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

I used Cold Calling in my lesson on Friday. I wrote all the students' names on sheets of paper, I mixed them up, and then I drew one student's name at a time to give an answer to a question on a worksheet. We were working on semicolons, and each student gave the correct answer when called on, but each student still cringed when I held up his or her name. I don't know why, but they seem more eager to answer a question if I just select them than if I draw them.

My guess is that when I call on them randomly, they think that I am favoring them or that I believe that they are smart enough to answer the particular question. They just seem more eager to please me if I choose them. It's kind of a positive reinforcer to be selected by the teacher. Sometimes if I ask a student, "Do you want to go to the board?" they respond with, "Do you want me to go to the board?" When I tell them how much I would appreciate it, they never fail to go to the board. With Cold Calling, it's less personal, it's just going when it's your turn. It probably worked in some of the other classes, but my class didn't respond well to the method.

"Reluctant Disciplinarian"

2005-06-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

I loved "Reluctant Disciplinarian." I thought it was a great book. I wish Gary Rubenstein could have just told us flat out what works, but I know every class is different and every teacher is different. He had some great tips, and now I just have to put it all together and find something that works for me.

I think the best tip was to be traditional the first week of school. I want my students to know that I'm a teacher, and that we are going to work in the classroom. The best way to let students know that I'm a teacher is to show them, and to fit into what they think a teacher is, at least at first. I'm going to give students textbooks, rules, consequences, procedures, the works. I also like the idea of a quiz on Friday of the first week. Then, the students know that they really have to start learning. And, once they all score well on the first quiz, they will think positively of themselves as well as my teaching ability. It's a good way to start the year. I know that I wanted all my teachers to act like teachers. Once everything is settled, I can do more creative activities.

The other tip I really liked was Rubenstein's reward system. I really like the lottery system, and baking cookies, so it seems like a match for me. It's so much easier to reward the students than to discipline them. I've really seen that in student teaching. The students now feel comfortable enough to speak out and come to the board because they know I'll encourage them and never let them feel embarrassed about their work. And it makes class so easy and fun. I finish teaching with so much energy. The students are just perfect.

Formal Lesson Evaluation

2005-06-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching my formal evaluation, which is thoroughly embarrassing. I didn't look half as cool as I thought I would.

Anyways, I thought it went pretty well. My objective was "using consistent verb tense." I gave the students a worksheet to complete first. Then I had an activity where I gave each student a piece of poster board with half a sentence on it and they had to find the person with the other half of their sentence. So I rewrote the same sentence two or three times in different tenses. I had them lay out all of the poster board sentences on the floor, so they got to move around a little.

I was a little nervous at first, especially since we were having trouble figuring out the camera. After a while, though, I completely forgot I was being watched. My lesson was exactly 30 minutes, which is how long I said it would be. That was awesome. The students all scored high on the worksheet I gave them, so I think they understood the material. They all worked well together during the activity and tried to help each other out.

I didn't have any discipline issues to deal with during this lesson. Anything I asked of my students they did. All they need is a smile and a little encouragement. So, I think what I need to work on is my discipline plan for the fall when my students won't be as perfect.

I have to say I am relieved that I'm done with the formal. Dr. Sullivan comented on how relaxed I looked for class today.

A Country Dictionary from a City Girl

2005-06-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

I have realized that certain terms are loosely used in the country parts of Mississippi. I was raised in Dallas, and I went to school in Austin, so I have found myself creating new definitions of terms as used in my new surroundings.

highway: a long stretch of road with one lane going in either direction, usually flanked on either side by fields

traffic: a slowing of vehicles due to the large number of tractors on the "highway" (see above) during the Fall

a long commute to work: a 20 minute drive in "traffic" (see above)

downtown: one or two blocks of shops and a restaurant built very closely together

grocery: often used in place of restaurant

Feel free to add more definitions as needed.

A Couple of Teaching Ideas

2005-06-14T16:53:00.000-07:00

I had a couple teaching techniques that have worked that I wanted to write about. And also a couple things that I'm going to steal.

I had to teach verb tenses on Friday, June 10, so I wrote a story about going on a field trip with the class. For every verb, I gave them a choice of verbs in parentheses and they had to select the correct verb. I used my students as the characters, and they had to read the part of the story that had their name in it. They really seemed to like that, and it was a fun assessment of what they knew about verb tenses.

I also used inductive teaching during that lesson. I made a chart with different subjects (he, she, they, we, I) and then they told me what helping verb to use with each subject (such as am, is, are, was, were). They used the chart to create rules for helping verbs.

I got some good advice from a student today. He told me he had trouble with the assignments in the book because he usually didn't understand the directions. The book always gives an example of what the answer should look like but it doesn't describe how to reach the answer. The student told me that if we (the teachers) worked out the first two or three on the board, he would spend less time trying to figure out what to do and more time on the assignment. Rewording the directions isn't enough-- he wants us to clarify the thought process needed to answer questions in the book. I like that.

I'm doing my formal observation on Friday from 8:30 to 9:00. I wanted to go ahead and do it so that then I could observe some high school math classes. The only thing that's still hard for me is timing-- anything I think is going to take 5 minutes ends up taking 30. Hopefully I can cut down and really fit a lesson into that 20-30 minute period.

Teaching-- For the First Time

2005-06-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

I was the teacher today-- for all of 45 minutes and with 6 other adults in the room, but still, I was the teacher.

I'm in a 9th grade English class with Jake, Sarah, and Mason. I'm teaching math in the fall, but this has been good practice. I did an activity with the parts of the speech that went over very well. I made the students do a worksheet and explain to a partner how to find the correct answer, which really made them think about "why did I choose ___ as my answer?".

I feel like I'm really starting to get to know the students, which helped a lot. Some of them want to go to board, some of them would rather die. Some of them can't stop moving for a second. No, most of them can't stop moving for a second. But I love that they all call me "Ms. Bartlett" and say "ma'am" with every response. I just love it, but I try not to let it show.

Visiting My School for the First Time in Belzoni

2005-06-03T19:36:00.000-07:00

Today, Meredith, Anderson, and I left for Belzoni at 6:30 in the morning. We were surprisingly awake for the drive, and it was a fun, scenic trip with only a couple of wrong turns. We made it to the school, Humphreys County High School, around 9:30 and immediately met with the principal, assistant principal, and a lead teacher in the junior high school for our group interview. We then went on a tour of the high school, which had more technology than any of us were expecting. The high school and junior high are connected, and right down the road is the lower elementary, upper elementary, and central office. We were able the visit the central office and meet the superintendent. Then the principal drove us around Belzoni.

Belzoni is the catfish capital of the world, and the town is covered in painted catfish sculptures. Belzoni is a small town, and the people are very friendly. They just got a McDonald's, which is a huge deal there. We stopped by a BBQ on the side of the road for lunch, but nothing was ready when we went by so we ended up at the Sonic. But good food is definitely something to look forward to. We took a different route back to campus that involved more highways, which was easier for us city folk to figure out than the small country roads. We are all looking forward to going back. I am planning on taking my mom to see the town next weekend, and I know Anderson plans on returning then as well. We were told that we should know which subject we are teaching for the fall by mid-June, so we will also want to take a trip to the school to pick up the required texts. We all left with a great impression of the town, the school, and the people, and the excitement just seems to keep building as the summer progresses.