16 posts from 2008

My response to this article.

First, I need to find and destroy whatever study it is claims that class size does not have a significant effect on student performance.   I understand the point being made (in this article and the study) that an effective teacher is more powerful than the teaching conditions, but I have a feeling that the study was culturally biased.  Of course 15 respectful students sitting quietly will not be much different than 30 respectful students sitting quietly.  But HELLO!!  Places exist where students come to school not accustomed to the sit-down-and-be-quiet school culture.  In these schools, 15 bouncing, yelling students are much easier to manage (and thus teach!) than 30 of them.  Not to mention, students performed noticeably better (and were more engaged) in my 18 person class than in my 36 person class.  That miserable study was not conducted at PCHS, HSHS, or any other critical needs district, so we shouldn't even try to apply its conclusions at our schools.

Alright, to the heart of the matter.  I loved Gladwell's idea to have a teacher apprenticeship system to find truly good teachers.  The fact that teaching allows for a wide range of personalities (the entertainer vs the nurturer) and skill sets (withitness and flexibility vs authority and humor vs organization and dedication etc) makes it impossible to find a secret recipe for a good teacher.  We've even talked about the prediction problem in terms of MTC and now Principal Corps.  It's just nearly impossible to predict who will stay teaching and who will leave before June is over.

 I have no problem "lowering standards" as far as test scores and formal training to invite more people into the profession as long as that change is coupled with a solid evaluation system (even though I don't really care if math teachers can write term papers, I do care that they can use proper grammar and know who the president is). But the kicker of it all was Gladwell's final question:

 What does it say about a society that it devotes more care and patience to the selection of those who handle its money than of those who handle its children?

Nothing in public education's history suggests that it will go to great lengths to find the best (or even good) teachers.  The system being proposed is not a shortcut (and public education craves shortcuts like Dauwalter craves Laffy Taffy).  What I mean is, I highly doubt teacher training and selection will be overhauled for the sake of improvement.  On the whole, public education is functioning.  Public education (public anything) does not move from decent to great voluntarily.  So even if this is a perfect plan, I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for its implementation.

My second period came in quietly, sat down in the correct seats, opened up their books, began their warm-ups.  They listened respectfully as I outlined the day's lesson, and it made me sad.

"How long has BB been suspended?" I asked.

"Permanently."  KJ handed out calculators.

On Monday, BB got in his second fight of the school year.  This was his first year back to Potts Camp after being expelled for bad behavior two years ago.  Rumor has it that his time here was probationary... in other words, two fights is one and a half too many.

Honestly, I'm okay with my students settling down quicker and listening closer now that BB is not in the room.  One troubled student can quickly derail a lesson and distract the eagerly distracted.

But what happens to BB?  Like so many of my HSHS students, BB is well-intentioned, smart, and caring... and uncensored, loud, and energetic.  Potts Camp was a great place for BB to grow and succeed because he never slipped through the cracks-- all of the teachers know him, his family, his history, and his missing homework assignments.  If BB stayed at Potts Camp, he would graduate and probably go on to college should he cooperate with our amazing school counselor.

But now that he's not here? 

This is how it works: Potts Camp is a highly functioning school.  It functions so well partly because students who do not behave according to policy (ie by fighting) are expelled or taken to jail or get tired of being in trouble and transfer.  That means that the students who would most benefit from the structured and respectful environment at Potts Camp do not or cannot stay in the school.  But what good is a good school if it can't help BB?

How do we make good schools for the emotionally unbalanced/unparented/overly energetic students?  It's like that silly quote, "I wouldn't want to be a member of any club that would take me."  Who said that?  Karl says Marx Brothers.  Anyway.   What I mean by that is, I don't want BB at any school that would take him.  He belongs at a school that is so highly functioning that it would kick him out. 

BB will have his best chance of success at schools that won't keep him.  Something's wrong here.

Let me type for you a flyer floating around the high school that I intercepted yesterday.  I think it’s very telling of the difference between HSHS and PCHS.  This is verbatim, even caps:

Dear Potts Camp student body.
We the class of 2010-2011 will like to saw we love attending POTTS CAMP and we truly love to attend POTTS CAMP again.  But we just cant take the pressure there’s entirely to much DRAMA going on to many RUMORS going around We love being a 4.7 but everything going on in this school we’re acting like a 1.7 (HOLLY HIGH) in we don’t want to be on there level.  So next time you want to saw well (WELL I HEARD, or MANE SHE/HE, or :ET ME TELL YOU GIRL) just think before you let that mouth run

P.S In for the record no on is GAY at POTTS CAMP.
Love,
2011-2011

This letter/flyer inspires so many reactions in me.  I love being at a school in which students enjoy being there.  I’ve noticed this from day one.  I’m proud that the students have stepped up to confront a problem that they find in their school.  I’m proud that the students are trying to handle this problem in a mature way.

Most of all, though, I’m surprised at how quickly anyone in Marshall County points to Holly Springs as the bottom of the barrel.  No wonder my HS students didn’t have any pride in their school—everyone is saying that they shouldn’t.  That Holly High is not the place to be.  That students at Holly High are on a lower level (the state agrees).  These words are hurtful and contribute to the morale problem at HSHS. 

At the same time, there is a reason HS's reputation started, and this flyer represents the different school cultures.  Students at Potts Camp keep each other and themselves in check because they like the school and they want to make it a good place to be.  I hope I’m not raising my own expectations of PCHS too high only to be disappointed later.  Whatevs.  I’m sure the blog will eventually answer that question.

 And, as a sidenote, I think it's important that people in Marshall County know that Holly Springs is making it's way "up a level."  That HS has had a string of bad leaders, and they finally have a principal now who is serious about change and discipline and improving the school.  Good things are going to come.  I know I've been the first to write hopeless things about that school on my blog, but I don't want Marshall County to lose hope for Holly Springs.

(Molly, I have a copy of the flyer for you.)

I think my biggest area of improvement is in being able to see each day’s lesson in part of a larger context.  By nature, I am extremely detail-oriented and I have a hard time focusing on general trends because I get caught up in all so many mini-patterns on the small scale.  Last year, I planned my lessons individually—each one with a set, lesson, GP, IP, and closure—and they were pretty good on their own.  But, my kids didn’t learn as much as they could have because there wasn’t a sense of continuity.  We weren’t checking homework from the last day or pausing to remediate.  I went from lesson to lesson, and didn’t really give my kids effective check-points (a big-picture skill).  This year, I have days devoted to checking work, making test corrections, and breathing back in the lessons from a week or so ago.

I think I’ve been improving on this because I’ve learned to step back and look at what’s actually going on in my classroom, instead of focusing just on what performance I’m putting on or what I’m supposed to be monitoring in the room.  I think, too, I’ve been improving because the students at Potts Camp actually work when I assign work.  It was necessary to commit so much energy to classroom management at HS that I was thankful if they were quiet—I didn’t care all too much if they actually learned.  I considered the day a success if they settled down and pretended to work.

Also, I had a conversation over the summer with Ms Goldwasser and Mr Guest about expectations for a lesson.  Ben (I hope I’m paraphrasing right) pretty much said that he doesn’t go into the classroom with any expectations for the lesson— that expectations aren’t helpful.  As long as the students are working and learning, they are making their ways toward the larger goal (whether that is higher test scores or hitting the state frameworks).  That viewpoint resonated with me, and I’m trying to incorporate it more this year.  I’m not as worried about planning Madeline Hunter’s perfect lesson as I am about whether the students are learning something.  I feel freer to plan lessons that benefit the students instead of lessons that look good on paper and “should” provide mastery of an objective.

I don’t think I have much advice that hasn’t been said before, but, well, let me blog.  I could write a story or paragraph about each bullet point here, but I'm not feeling it.  It's a lot to type.  Call me if you are interested. Or if you are bored.  Or if you are interested in being bored. 

Essentials for Basic Survival
1) Don’t work too much
        (ie absolutely no more than a total of 3 hours outside of school per day, aim for 1-1.5).
2) Sleep.
3) EAT.  Eat well and eat often.
4) Find something you enjoy doing after school
        (running, walking, talking to a neighbor, painting, baking, writing, yodeling, whatever)

Advice for the Living
5) Don't be forgiving of misbehavior because students aren't used to your rules yet.  They know your rules.  If they             forgot, the consequences will cement the rule in their minds.
6) Don’t reinvent the wheel.  Your time is in very limited supply, so don’t waste it.  Find resources you can print off or         photocopy or "steal" from other teachers.
7) Make and find shortcuts—streamlined systems, easy grading.  Don’t grade everything you assign.

Pointers for Efficiency
8) Use your activities well. Have students check their homework and review/correct tests.
9) Go at the pace of your students.  Too fast or too slow causes problems.  They will let you know.
10) Show interest in your students without losing your classroom management. Greet them outside of class, be                 receptive to their hobbies and stories. Some of them can be annoying or frustrating or clingy or bratty, but they             will respect you more if they sense that you care about them.  And, face it, you do.

    My philosophy of classroom mangement went from cuddly and adaptable to severe and unbending over the course of the year.  I believed initially that students needed to feel safe to open up in the classroom.  I now realize that need to be heard and to hear me before any actual learning can take place.  Thus, my new philosophy is that students at holly high do not know how to conduct themselves, so I must restrict them in inane ways-- No, E, you may not get out of your seat because that will cause a 6 minute distraction of people poking you, tripping you, laughing at you, and ignoring me.  Class did not improve until I seriously restricted talking and movement (Rule 1: No talking.  Rule 2: stay in your seat.  Rule 3: Do what I say)
    The most difficult aspect of classroom management for me was enforcing my policies without seeming like a complete witch.  The harder I pushed, the more they fought back against the white girl *itch.  I didn't like that.  I like to be in positive, affirming atmospheres.  My classrooms (on the days I had to fight tooth and nail) were not.  Eventually I got the hang of this, but not before days and days of rainclouds in my room.
    The major change since my first classroom management plan was in my rules.  They went from being flexible and tolerant to being completely strict.  For me, this was necessary.  A common stat that illustrates my point: 3 classes of 30 students back to back to back with only 28 desks.  At the beginning of the year, it was 30-36-32.  Just having all those bodies in the room requires no tolerance policies, let alone having hormonal teenagers on sugar highs.
    I guess my warning to new teachers would be more like advice.  Decide what you will enforce and what you will not.  Do not make rules you will not enforce, and do put into words and communicate your big pet peeves that you will want to address in the classroom.  You have the make the classroom a place where you feel comfortable teaching as well as a place where students feel comfortable being.  Keep the first in mind first.

I was very skeptical about fitting all of the PreAlgebra objectives into the summer session, but we did it.  I still doubt that we will cover everything when the teaching gets started.  It’s hard to gauge exactly how long teaching/learning different concepts will take.   This year it seemed like no matter how thoroughly I planned or perfected a lesson, something would slow my already “easy” pace (3 + x = 3x, right?), so I’m very nervous to watch a curriculum map speed, or even stroll, through material.  A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do, I guess.  So, challenge #1 would have to be anticipating—guessing, really—how much we can compact both the deceivingly trim and the obviously unwieldy objectives.  

Challenge #2 was definitely Heather’s hives.  Lady Tabitha wanted to plan by the pool, Heather’s hives just couldn’t take it.  We were in quite a spot.  But, our time in Northgate worked out just fine.  We even had a little DDR thrown in.

I did use a curriculum map this past school year, and it was a HUGE help for me.  Even though it functioned mainly as a reminder of how far behind we’d fallen, the map gave me manageable goals for each week and helped me not to become overwhelmed by the amount of material we “needed” to cover.  I would say that this second time of making a curriculum map was actually harder.  I had less class time and more teachers—less material and more input.  I love Tabitha and Heather to pieces (seriously, they make me smile), but making decisions generally gets harder as more and more people have input. It was more (and better) opinions to consider.

Today I gave my Transitional Algebra students a river crossing puzzle.  If you've heard it before, I told it with my own spin to get their attention.  Here's the (shortened) story:

A farmer is sitting at home one night when his wife starts complaining that they have no money.  So, the farmer decides that he can sell his goat, some cabbage he raised, and a wolf he just caught.  So, the farmer starts traveling towards the market and comes upon a river.  Oddly enough, there's a boat waiting for him, but it's small so he can only take one thing across the river with him at a time.  He can't leave the goat with the cabbage since the goat will eat the cabbage.  He also can't leave the wolf with the goat since the wolf has been looking pretty hungry lately.  How can the farmer get across and get to the market without anything being eaten? (He needs all the money he can get.)

Instead of brainstorming the different orders to take things across, my kids had the following suggestions:

-make the goat get pregnant, then you have two goats to sell
-Milk the goat and sell the milk
-put a muzzle on the wolf
-put a muzzle on the goat
-put the cabbage in a box, but not a paper box because goats eat paper
-leave the wolf cause I don't like wolves anyway
-make the goat swim
-kill the wolf and just take the meat to the market
-kill the goat and do the same
-put the cabbage under your shirt and take the goat with you

hahahahahah
They may not think like mathematicians, but they sure do think.