It's been an emotional week for me. Kids are testing my patience, making me laugh, infuriating me, and filling me with love all at the same time. Some are rising to the occasion and others are falling deeper into the cracks. And I'm angry. So, so angry. Because I'm not sure what to do right now. I don't know how to make things better. I imagine it's what a doctor feels when s/he is trying to help a patient but none of the medicine is working.
I'm not alone. I'm surrounded by a lot of tired teachers who are asking themselves the same question. Lately, when I walk into school I wonder what it's like to be at a school that isn't so emotionally taxing. There, I said it. Sometimes I feel like I can't say that. Afraid that it'll make me seem like a bad teacher, disloyal to my school or kids, or a horrible leader. I also fear that it perpetuates every negative stereotype that exists about urban schools. But I think that maybe being able to say that actually makes me a good teacher, makes me more loyal, and an even better leader. I don't have my head in the sand. I don't try to pretend that the things that are wrong at my school don't exist. I don't try to act like I don't teach in an urban public school.
I chose and choose to stay at my high school. That doesn't make me a martyr or a saint, nor does it make me a fool. It might make me slightly crazy. It definitely makes me tired. And I hate that being a teacher makes it nearly impossible to tell people in other professions that I'm tired. That I'm somehow being silently judged. In other cases openly.
I watched a video this morning that one of my friends posted about a high school in Philadelphia. It made me cry. Because this is the reality for so many teachers and so many students. It's the reality for me. The students and teachers in the video could have been any of my colleagues. The students could have been any of ours. Thankfully, my school has better resources and doesn't have metal detectors or the same amount of fighting. But we are fighting the same fight and anyone who doesn't think it isn't a battle doesn't have a clue.
I encourage you to watch this video, and I encourage you to learn more about the way your state funds public education. I encourage you to think twice about what you think it means to be poor in America. I encourage you to think about how you can make a difference in the lives of today's students.
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Prove It!
It's hard to believe that it's already November 1st, which means I'm two weeks away from the end of the first trimester. Fall has been busy, which is pretty typical during cross country season. I'm looking forward to having more time to plan, to write my concept paper, and breathe again.
I'm also looking forward to integrating some of the new CCR standards into the classroom. This week I started with EBC, which is short for evidence based claims. While Indiana didn't technically adopt the Common Core, anyone who has looked at the standards can tell you that they're pretty much identical. There's been much debate about the Common Core and honestly I'm impartial. I see merit to the standards, as well as the flaws. At the end of the day, I still have to make sure my students can think critically, analyze and understand texts, and write for different audiences.
One aspect of the new standards that I am excited about is the use of evidence based claims in students' thinking. It's a skill that everyone should have and is one that is extremely important in the tech savvy world we live in. In a nutshell, students have to be able to make a claim, provide reasons why the claim is true, and support their reasons/claim with text based evidence. The evidence piece is the part I'm loving most, because it forces students to engage in metacognition, to analyze the text in different ways, and support their argument with proof.
Too often, we take things at face value. This is dangerous, because it creates a mindset where we trust anything we see without checking to see if there's legitimate proof or evidence. Someone's opinion is simply an opinion and sometimes opinions are dangerous. We see a post, video, or infographic on social media, and we click share without even checking the link's authenticity. As a result, society is plagued by misinformation, biased information, and some information that is downright false. As a result today's students are walking around in a world filled with half truths, blatant lies, and amazing spin masters. That's a dangerous world, and I'll do whatever I can to prevent them from becoming easy prey.
Here are some great resources:
http://langwitches.org/blog/2012/03/01/annotexting/
www.engageny.org/resource/making-evidence-based-claims-units-ccss-ela-literacy-grades-6-12
http://www.clearbiology.com/helping-students-make-evidence-based-claims/
http://www.cojusd.org/Page/1152
I also suggest checking out pinterest for more great resources!
I'm also looking forward to integrating some of the new CCR standards into the classroom. This week I started with EBC, which is short for evidence based claims. While Indiana didn't technically adopt the Common Core, anyone who has looked at the standards can tell you that they're pretty much identical. There's been much debate about the Common Core and honestly I'm impartial. I see merit to the standards, as well as the flaws. At the end of the day, I still have to make sure my students can think critically, analyze and understand texts, and write for different audiences.
One aspect of the new standards that I am excited about is the use of evidence based claims in students' thinking. It's a skill that everyone should have and is one that is extremely important in the tech savvy world we live in. In a nutshell, students have to be able to make a claim, provide reasons why the claim is true, and support their reasons/claim with text based evidence. The evidence piece is the part I'm loving most, because it forces students to engage in metacognition, to analyze the text in different ways, and support their argument with proof.
Too often, we take things at face value. This is dangerous, because it creates a mindset where we trust anything we see without checking to see if there's legitimate proof or evidence. Someone's opinion is simply an opinion and sometimes opinions are dangerous. We see a post, video, or infographic on social media, and we click share without even checking the link's authenticity. As a result, society is plagued by misinformation, biased information, and some information that is downright false. As a result today's students are walking around in a world filled with half truths, blatant lies, and amazing spin masters. That's a dangerous world, and I'll do whatever I can to prevent them from becoming easy prey.
Here are some great resources:
http://langwitches.org/blog/2012/03/01/annotexting/
www.engageny.org/resource/making-evidence-based-claims-units-ccss-ela-literacy-grades-6-12
http://www.clearbiology.com/helping-students-make-evidence-based-claims/
http://www.cojusd.org/Page/1152
I also suggest checking out pinterest for more great resources!
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