I'm tired. I also know there are hundreds of teachers who are equally as tired. I'm ready for break and a chance to catch my breath. This is finals week so it's a chance to regroup, discover what my students learned (or didn't), and try to think about how I can be a better teacher come Monday.
On Monday my 1st hour began working on their full sized body biography (thank you Donorschoose.org for making that a reality!) assignment. I learned about this project my senior year in college and have done variations of it almost every year. This is the first time I have done the assignment with the novel Sold. I wish that I would have videotaped them working on these, because they are simply amazing. I love walking around in the hall listening to them discuss which adjectives, symbols, colors, quotes, and major events should be displayed on the portrait.
They are thinking, analyzing and working together to bring the character to life. I cannot wait to see the finished product because not only do I have some pretty amazing kids 1st hour, I also have some amazing artists (wait until I post a picture of Lakshmi!).
If you're a teacher and interested in using this assignment let me know and I'll email the directions. This could easily be applied to social studies and other classes that study people/characters.
I also gave my final exam today. I stole the assignment from my friend Kelli who used it with her students earlier in the year. One of the main themes that I tried to tie in all my units this year was the idea that even though life was difficult, it was still worth living. Our motto this year is to champion our futures. My favorite line from Sold is "simply to endure is to triumph". Sometimes I wonder whether my kids are really getting it or if I just hope they do. Today, I can smile because I know they do!
Their task what to write an advice letter to "Despondent Adolescent" who is struggling with the loss of her father to cancer, failing grades, and a mother she never sees. She wants to give up and doesn't know what to live for anymore. My students had to respond to her letter explaining why she should keep going...by using examples from the "Odyssey", The House on Mango Street, and Sold. They also had to incorporate 15 of the vocabulary words. They nailed it. They were awesome. Even the ones who have a lot of work to do in terms of writing, understood the enduring understanding of the literature. They owned it. They might not remember all of the characters' names, but they can relate the stories to a real life situation and can analyze the events of the works in a meaningful way. They owned Bloom's Taxonomy today, and I want to make copies of each of these letters and send them to all the so-called legislators who "think" they know something about education and what it means to measure learning.
I'm pretty sure they would be schooled.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Saints and Sinners
There are those out there who believe they are either saints or sinners and then there are those who realize we're all sinners trying to be saints.
My third hour is by far one of my biggest struggles in my 9 years of teaching. If I have a sub, I can count on having a letter devoted entirely to my third hour class. Last week they made my student observer cry (thankfully, it wasn't until after school), and they thrive off of pissing each other off.
The first 20 minutes before lunch was a disaster. A few kids came back after being suspended and they instantly reverted back to the same behavior that got them suspended in the first place. I was none too thrilled given that I had a tension headache that had been building since Sunday and had already turned off all the lights because of the pain. When the bell rang for lunch I curled up in my teacher chair and contemplated how I would make it through the rest of the day.
The bell rang and the kids returned and literally in that moment my tension headache turned into a migraine. My vision was spotty, my stomach was lurching, and tears poured from my eyes from the pain. My kids took one look at me, looked at each other and said "sit down and shut up (OK, we're working on that), something is wrong with Miss G".
They read the pages they were supposed to read in Sold, asked me if I needed anything, and said not to worry because they would be good. And they were. They were kind and compassionate and did the right thing, even if it would have been easier for them to take advantage of the situation.
They were saints today, and for that, I am extremely thankful.
My third hour is by far one of my biggest struggles in my 9 years of teaching. If I have a sub, I can count on having a letter devoted entirely to my third hour class. Last week they made my student observer cry (thankfully, it wasn't until after school), and they thrive off of pissing each other off.
The first 20 minutes before lunch was a disaster. A few kids came back after being suspended and they instantly reverted back to the same behavior that got them suspended in the first place. I was none too thrilled given that I had a tension headache that had been building since Sunday and had already turned off all the lights because of the pain. When the bell rang for lunch I curled up in my teacher chair and contemplated how I would make it through the rest of the day.
The bell rang and the kids returned and literally in that moment my tension headache turned into a migraine. My vision was spotty, my stomach was lurching, and tears poured from my eyes from the pain. My kids took one look at me, looked at each other and said "sit down and shut up (OK, we're working on that), something is wrong with Miss G".
They read the pages they were supposed to read in Sold, asked me if I needed anything, and said not to worry because they would be good. And they were. They were kind and compassionate and did the right thing, even if it would have been easier for them to take advantage of the situation.
They were saints today, and for that, I am extremely thankful.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
The Measure of a Test
This past week we conducted test talks. We adopted test talks when we became an 8-Step Process school. The idea is that stakeholders come to the high school and spend about 5-10 minutes with each student to talk about their ISTEP scores or previous ECA scores. The goal is to help students understand what they need to work on, what they are strong in, and to give the students a pep talk. I have to admit that when I first heard about test talks, I was a bit skeptical. Yet, seeing it in action is pretty special. Many of my students were eager to share their results with me, and it was clear that this was the first time that many had even looked at their scores before.
It was interesting for me because while I do not think standardized tests deserve as much worth as they are given, they do provide a meaningful snapshot of a student's strengths and weaknesses. Some of my students had scored Pass+ in English, yet they were failing my class because they don't find school entertaining or necessary. Then there were the students who were sitting at 490-503 ( A LOT) who work their butts off in my class, but missed the passing score of 508. Those are the kids I have to pay close attention to. I want them to be able to pass the test because they deserve to pass it. They are not failures, and I hate that high stakes testing has tried to label them as such. One of my students missed passing by 3 points. He also has a learning disability...in writing. He is an avid reader and has an A in my class. I'm pretty certain that anyone who sat down with this kid would be amazed at how smart he is. He's the kind of student who is deserving of the waver that Dr. Bennett is so eager to dismantle. I wonder how he would feel if he had to sit face to face with these students and have that conversation. Actually, I might pay to see that conversation.
In other testing news, grades were released this week. You know, the grades that are assigned to schools. We are a D. If the state would have used data from the 2012 school year-like they were supposed to-we would have been a C. We also made incredible gains in math and English, yet none of that matters unless we get to 70% passing. It's shameful what high stakes testing, accountability, and asinine measures have done to education. It's also painfully clear how punitive the grading policy is for high poverty schools.
So much for equity.
It was interesting for me because while I do not think standardized tests deserve as much worth as they are given, they do provide a meaningful snapshot of a student's strengths and weaknesses. Some of my students had scored Pass+ in English, yet they were failing my class because they don't find school entertaining or necessary. Then there were the students who were sitting at 490-503 ( A LOT) who work their butts off in my class, but missed the passing score of 508. Those are the kids I have to pay close attention to. I want them to be able to pass the test because they deserve to pass it. They are not failures, and I hate that high stakes testing has tried to label them as such. One of my students missed passing by 3 points. He also has a learning disability...in writing. He is an avid reader and has an A in my class. I'm pretty certain that anyone who sat down with this kid would be amazed at how smart he is. He's the kind of student who is deserving of the waver that Dr. Bennett is so eager to dismantle. I wonder how he would feel if he had to sit face to face with these students and have that conversation. Actually, I might pay to see that conversation.
In other testing news, grades were released this week. You know, the grades that are assigned to schools. We are a D. If the state would have used data from the 2012 school year-like they were supposed to-we would have been a C. We also made incredible gains in math and English, yet none of that matters unless we get to 70% passing. It's shameful what high stakes testing, accountability, and asinine measures have done to education. It's also painfully clear how punitive the grading policy is for high poverty schools.
So much for equity.
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