This Child Left Behind

Want to read something awesome?

2012-01-30T21:02:00.000-08:00

Click here. This person just described every. Single. Day. Of my life in the classroom.

Except sometimes - just sometimes ::ahem:: - it doesn't turn out as peacefully as that.

Control issues

2012-01-05T19:18:00.000-08:00

WTFreak?

Question: What are some good tips on how to handle students who highly enjoy minding everyone's business but their own?

Three school days only since winter break and I'm ready for another two weeks off.

If I don't get to that problem, let it go.

If I don't teach them that procedure, let it go.

If I haven't succeeded at making a positive connection, let it go.

Let it go, let it go, let it go.

2012

2011-12-25T23:46:00.000-08:00

A little more than a week has passed since the last day of school before winter break, and yet I feel so much more relaxed. What have I done since then?

~ participated in a "teacher flash mob" for the winter assembly
~ drove home to see my parents for a night
~ flew to Japan
~ flew to Hong Kong
~ saw all my relatives
~ ate a lot of really good food
~ shopped a lot
~ people-watched a lot
~ rested a lot

I've also had a lot of time to think. In general, I think too much, and I don't act enough. Thinking a lot about the new year...about being closer to 30 than to 25...about the future and what it holds...

Professionally, I would like to accomplish these things in 2012:

~ become tenured at my school:lots of people have this thing against tenure. So do I, actually, if it's automatically given and never contested in the future. But I think I'm well on my way to earning that status. I work really, really, REALLY hard. I have positive results. Last year, I had better CST scores than the other Algebra Readiness teacher - who, according to the principal, is the best teacher on campus. By the end of June, tenure would be deserved.

But I don't mind the possibility of it being taken away if I don't work hard, or show positive results. I don't mind that kind of pressure. I don't mind that kind of fire. I'll simply continue proving to everyone that I'm a great teacher.

~ learn Spanish. Just cuz' this skill is a no-brainer in Cali.

~ restart that dang masters program I've been procrastinating on. Yep, I keep saying I will, and I keep telling people I will, but in the end, I haven't yet. I push it aside, convincing myself it's not urgent. It's certainly not as urgent as handling Textbook ADHD Boy, or Rude Boy, or I-Double-Dog-Dare-You Girl (huh, I haven't blogged about these students have I? The stories I can tell about these kids are killer). No, it's not urgent.

But that doesn't mean it's a good idea to purposefully make it non-urgent.

Patience is not a thing

2011-12-12T17:42:00.000-08:00

Patience is not a thing right now. It is an escapee of the prison that is my soul.

Ha. Was that emo enough for you?

Even without a calendar, it's really easy to tell when it is the last week before winter break. The students are tired. I'm tired. The admin is tired. The support staff is tired. I think even my backpack straps are tired.

Four more days until break.

Four more days until HK (!!!).

Four more days of 6th period (actually, three! I don't see them on Wednesdays! gasp!).

Four more days. Hanging on for four more days.

Cancellations

2011-12-10T19:18:00.001-08:00

Dear Sub Who Bailed on Me:

This does not bode well towards you being called back. Nuh-uh.

Small logistical steps, big leap for me.

2011-11-28T17:41:00.001-08:00

Riding on a positivity wave, results of the 10 day Thanksgiving Break. It wasn't great in 6th period today - but it wasn't terrible either. Chatty, at least no one was rude.

I also have a plan. A glorious, mind-boggling, complicated, life-long-work-type of plan. It involves that D-word: Differentiation.

I love the idea of differentiation. I love it in theory. I have yet to love it in practice. So many places to begin, and seemingly each thing can't live without the other being implemented at the same time as well. Which only adds to the "Dude, I am SO. Not. Doing. That." feeling.

But I must. Hell if it's done piecemeal in a haphazard fashion! The kinks can be ironed out later - nothing can be ironed out at all if it isn't implemented first.

It also looks like those 12-hour days are coming back.....hm. That doesn't sound appealing. Setting a limit for myself to no more than two 12-hour days in the classroom.

Things I'm looking forward to

2011-11-27T10:40:00.001-08:00

Winter assembly is coming up! I wonder what the teachers' skits will be like? It's time to start brainstorming.

Wrapping up the first half of the Algebra Readiness curriculum and giving the semester final BEFORE winter break. Gotta love that!

Writing more. Just, writing more. Carving out time to write, on purpose. Not just because I feel like it, or want to, or have a few minutes to spare. But consciously making it a priority.

This time of year makes me want to set and plan goals. Come on ideas! Bring it!

Break

2011-11-26T10:26:00.001-08:00

I remember it being really difficult to go back to work after Thanksgiving break last year - much more difficult than after winter break. Not quite sure why - it certainly isn't because of length.

Perhaps it's because Thanksgiving break comes during a time when a break is needed - highly needed. I've needed this break a lot. I've cut my hair (after 1.5 years without a hair cut!)//got a flu shot (after 5 years of no flu shots!)//got my car serviced (6 months since the previous service!)//baked//read//wrote Christmas cards and sent them out//bought a pair of waterproof boots//organized personal papers//slept a lot.

I love Thanksgiving break. I also love the fact that I got to spend a whole day in the classroom - no students, no colleagues, just me. Prepping, cleaning up, grading, organizing. You would think I do that everyday anyway - and I do. It's just never enough to keep up with the rest of the action. New system perhaps?

Leisurely breakfasts were also taken during break. So nice.

Recent teaching mistake

2011-11-24T11:35:00.001-08:00

I make a lot of these, from the small, to the big. This time, I'm telling the whole interweb, just so I remember and can prevent it next time:

I. Printed 36 copies of the old Algebra 1 benchmark 1 test, instead of the new one. Only found out when a student noticed that the number of bubbles on the OARS scantron didn't match the number of questions on the test.

PREVENT: Double-check the hell out when setting up materials for class.

Paper is expensive, and we only get two reams each month from the school. Also: it's a pain in the butt to correct scantron tests by hand.

Baby names: teacher version

2011-11-23T18:06:00.001-08:00

My colleagues, like myself, have vowed to never name their kids after certain students - mainly because of the student's personality. There's just a connotation that is difficult to get over.

We also all agreed that it's a horrible thing to name your kid after yourself - as in exactly after yourself. Not the "Jrs" or "the IIIs" or nicknames based on your name - those are ok. But the exact same name? Bad move.

Yes. Get a bunch of teachers together, two of whom are preggers, and you get this kind of conversation. It was kind of fun, actually.

We do conferences different

2011-11-19T09:47:00.001-08:00

Yesterday and Thursday were parent/teacher/student conferences at my school. I love conference time. It sounds a little weird I know, but no matter how low a student is, or how poorly behaved they are in class, the conference always turns out positive - and from what I remember last year, it always ends up with at least some positive results as well.

Things I love about the way we do conferences:

~ It's right before Thanksgiving break

~ We take a minimum day on Thursday to make room for conferences starting at 1pm

~ Then we continue in the morning the next day

~ Which means we get to do conferences without the pressures of daily lesson planning and grading on our backs

~ The PTA makes an AWESOME soup supper for the teachers on Thursday night, since we are usually at school until 8pm

~ The 8th grade team chips in for breakfast the next morning

~ Some of the younger teachers go out for Cheesecake Factory after all conferences are over on Friday

~ All the teachers are there, and it's pretty insightful to hear from the other subject matter teachers on any one particular kid

I don't usually have down time during conferences - at least on Thursday. If I'm not at my own conference, I'm translating for someone. I had 2-3 appointments at each time slot from 1pm through 7:30pm on Thursday and it was INSANE. However, I only had two conferences on Friday morning. It was just nice to sit, and chat, and grade, and help the other teachers do some organizing, and munch on snacks. Especially the snacks part - I don't normally get a chance to eat anything from 6:30am through 12:40pm on a regular work day.

Notice all the comments about food? Yeah. I like food.

Another Jonah day

2011-11-14T19:02:00.001-08:00

But the thing is, it wasn't all bad! The good stuff:

- I did yoga!
- I did laundry!
- I left school before the sun set!
- I arrived at school after the sun rose!
- I had a really good conversation with a parent of a student
- I had a really good conversation with the student who is the child of the parent
- It was just a really good conversation between the three of us. Productive.
- I scrounged together a last minute cumulative review on the past first four chapters for Algebra 1...typed it up, printed it out, xeroxed it, hole punched it, and set it in the "Today's Handouts" tray in record speed.

But it is all for naught when one bad class period ruins the entire day. It's worse when that class period is that last class of the day. Reminders to self:

These kids are NOT bad - their behavior is bad.

I am NOT a bad teacher - but I can be better.

We can all be better. It takes blood, sweat, tears, and time. But we can all be.

Better.

On problem solving

2011-11-09T19:23:00.000-08:00

Problem solving is funny. It is hard, it is both long term and short term. True problem solving doesn't create another problem in the solution. True problem solving contains truth.

~~~

I walked in on an EL teacher's meeting today at lunch, thinking I was just going to another colleague's classroom to hang out. To be in some place other than my own classroom. It was rather interesting.

~~~

I traced my hand onto a sheet of blue construction paper, and cut it out. I glued it onto a sheet of yellow construction paper, then used blue painters tape to attach it onto a spot next to my clock. It is a visual aid for me - to remind me to be more consistent about hand-raising procedures. To value the procedure more than the answer. Because I've got WAY too much blurting out of turn going on, especially in 6th period.

On change at a time. One goal at a time. Focus. Follow-through. Flake-outs eliminated. There are enough flake-outs in my students lives. They don't need to add their teacher to the list.

I Am a Teacher

2011-11-02T20:35:00.000-07:00

I am:

~ an eScript subscriber
~ a card carrying member of the Will-Shush-Your-Child-On-Airplanes-If-You-Don't club
~ a suburbanite
~ a spectator at school sports events
~ a dance chaparone
~ a "homework nazi," as one kid I overheard say today
~ a change machine for whenever your child wants a drink from the vending machine
~ a Girl Scout cookie shareholder

I do nearly everything on the list of things my 18-year-old self would have thought was too mundane/boring/suburban/2.5-kids-and-a-mini-van-soccer-mom-ish.

I've had approximately 650 kids in my life, an counting.

I am a teacher.

What are you?

Chinchillas vs. MacBook - Chinchillas win!

2011-10-29T14:13:00.000-07:00

It's been an exceptionally good week. Even 6th period was decent. Even the science teacher's chinchillas escaping and ruining my laptop cart that he was borrowing for his class can't get me down.

Actually, the chinchilla thing is pretty funny.

My laptop cart contains twenty 13" MacBooks set up for student use. My school subscribes to Study Island, which I have never used just because there's not enough time in the day. But I was planning on incorporating some of it this year.

The science teacher - our official school Zookeeper - borrows my laptop cart a lot. We have to share; there are only 5 laptop carts on campus. 100 Macbooks + 35 Mac desktops in the computer lab + 15 odd PCs in the library = the combined computing power available for students on a campus with a 1300+ population.

Yeah. We're working on the student-to-computer ratio. It's going to take some time.

Anyway, I have Mobile Lab 4, one of the newer additions to our computing arsenal. I used it a lot last year for students to research definitions and the properties of addition and subtraction. We also played a few games that came with our online textbooks. It costs $25,000 for the whole kit and kaboodle: the laptops, the software, the cables, the attached printer and wireless router, the cart itself.

$25,000 worth of equipment. Taken down by a pair of rampant chinchillas. Dude, don't mess with chinchillas.

Relativity

2011-10-20T20:17:00.000-07:00

Let's get something straight. I am not the best teacher in the world. I am not even the best teacher that I could possibly be.

I have a lot to learn.

I have a lot to practice and improve upon.

I make mistakes on an hourly basis.

However...

When I speak with different people, and hear their stories, I realize: Hey. I'm pretty good at this. Not the best. But pretty good.

Story #1: Teacher A has 3 classes of 15-18 students in each class. She's drowning in paperwork. She wonders in awe how I manage 5 classes of 30-35 students worth of paperwork.

Story #2: I have a student whom I shall call Elf, because he has super large ears. He tends to bounce off the walls, distract others and succumb to distractions. It's constant. It's annoying. It's one of the reasons why I've had a serving of Hagan Daz everyday for the past two weeks. It takes every fiber of my being to be patient with him. To keep up the energy. To make sure he's on task - or as on task as a kid like him can possibly be. Yet, I still have a good impression of him, on a personal level. He's not malicious, or hateful, and even though he drives me nuts he hasn't been outright defiant or rude towards me. He has good days and bad days. He tries - usually. He raises his hand to participate - and is actually pretty bright, under all the obnoxious shoe squeaking and bird whistles.

And then, one of his teachers from last year says, "You think he's horrible. Just imagine him on his worst day, multiply it by 100, and that's how he is with his mother all the time. She has given up on him, and he knows it. He's probably given up on her. Mr. Awesome 7th Grade English Teacher had to call Elf out on his rudeness to his own mother when they were having a parent conference last year. Actually, the way you describe him makes me think he's really matured since last year."

I am so glad I am not in his mother's shoes. That poor, ignorant, worn-down woman.

Elf doesn't respond to detentions though. I'll need a different tack on this one.

Story #3: SPED teachers deserve their own castle in heaven, and I have the utmost respect for them. But there is one at my school who seems just as ditzy as some of the students. She calls an IEP meeting, then doesn't give the time for it. She calls the time for it, but doesn't give the location. She calls the location, but doesn't actually tell the necessary teachers until literally 5 minutes before it's supposed to start, and then decides to call a new day because no one can make it. But when she calls for a meeting on a new day, SHE DOESN'T GIVE THE TIME OR LOCATION, NOR DOES SHE TELL THE APPROPRIATE GEN. ED TEACHERS. Again.

And then she meets me in the staff copy room and gives me a half-hour spiel on how the kid is doing, asking for the same from me in return, when I no longer have the kid in my class anymore due to a schedule change THAT SHE MADE HERSELF.

Um. Yeah. So, that's why I think I'm not so bad at what I do after all. I can't be all bad when Elf actually follows directions from me, or the daily 160 homework papers is a breeze to correct and grade, on top of the weekly 160 test and quiz papers, on top of the 160 bi-monthly appetizer papers, on top of the 160 quarterly benchmark tests, on top of whatever other papers that float through my hands regarding bulletins and assignments and projects and syllabi and progress reports.

And that's not counting the 22 chapters worth of lessons to keep organized.

*****

On a lighter note: earthquake! On the Great California Shake-out, no less.

Stress management

2011-10-15T17:46:00.000-07:00

Some yummy Thai food, a good night's sleep, and a Saturday filled with watching Gilmore Girls has lifted my mood significantly. Writing it out in a rant also helped.

But just in case Monday is awful, here's a little reminder to myself:

I have the right to do my job. It is possible to have my rights infringed upon. I am in charge, I don't apologize for it - for when I'm wrong, yes. But NOT for being the teacher, not for being the one who makes the decisions for my classroom.

I don't need to reward students for doing what they should be doing in the first place. They shouldn't even need a warning. They should already know, and should already do it. Because they are students, and that is their job. The rewards and positive reinforcement structure I have - built in all over the place, by the way - is just a perk. A privilege. Their greed is apparent when they want more.

And as their teacher, I am in charge of curtailing that greed before it gets out of control. I am in charge of making sure they grow up to be minimally obnoxious.

Apparently, I am their parent. Geez. I should have a universal license for discipline. Like a doctor. Or something.

Walk in, walk out

2011-10-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

I walked in assuming the best.

I walked out not.

I hate this, and I don't know how to make it better. I can try all I want, but I don't know.

Assume the best

2011-10-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

Rick Smith says in Conscious Classroom Management that great teachers:

...assume the best...When we start to assume the best about our students and ourselves, teaching changes and results happen."

I've been trying my best to assume the best in my 6th period class. I've adusted my management so that they get a daily reward for good behavior (on top of the quarterly reward). They have a visual aid that reminds them of how they are progressing during the class (a pocket chart with colored cards - you know, the blue/yellow/orange/red kind). I have consequences for inappropriate behaviors, acknowledgements for appropriate ones.

6 weeks into the school year, I'm STILL pulling my hair out with this class. It's one of the reasons why I haven't blogged a lot lately. I promised myself that I would only blog about positive things.

And 6th period is most definitely NOT a positive thing.

But it's my job to turn it around so that IT IS.

So what's my action plan? Besides continuing what I already have in place, that is. Because I firmly believe that what I have in place is good - hell, it's working wonders for my 4 other classes. SOMETHING must be going right.

I need something else. I need something else. I have not thought of ANYTHING else this evening except that I NEED SOMETHING ELSE.

And then it hit me.

I need to make 6th period as positive a place as I'm trying to make my blog.

Because, as of right now, it isn't. I haven't assumed the best in my 6th period - or rather, I've grown to un-assume the best because I've done things that, in combination with the personal histories and temperament of 6th period, has snowballed into the most horrific class I've taught since my failed phase 2 of student teaching at EIB.

So I've got to change my behavior. Because God knows the kids won't do initiate it. They don't have the self-control - nor the self-assurance, nor the self-confidence - to do so. At least, not yet.

So I'm changing my behavior, in order to affect my experience, which will affect my 6th period's experience, which will affect all of our attitudes.

Which will then affect behaviors - for the good, and benefit, of all.

I'm starting with notes inspired by thingsweforget. I'm making, printing, and choosing some in each set to hand-write an additional note. Something more personalized. Then I'm giving them out to 6th period at the end of the day.

These notes will only be positive. Appreciations. Observations. Thank you notes. Encouragement notes. These notes will have a space for students to reply (optional). These notes are intended to say the things I forget to say during class - things I forget because I'm so busy playing "wack-a-mole," as one of my colleagues put it the other day, as a form of classroom management. And Wack-A-Mole is tiring, for me and for the moles.

Get informed

2011-10-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I get the feeling I'm the only teacher who enjoys chaperoning middle school dances. That is, until I take a look at all my super colleagues who also enjoy chaperoning middle school dances.

At our dances, students wear wristbands which get cut off if they do anything inappropriate - dirty dancing mostly, but it also includes gum, shoving, pushing, and PDA. I love cutting wrist bands. It's a power trip.

This past friday was our first dance of the school year. I cut of bunches and bunches, but there was less whining and running away in the process. And after I cut off the first few, the students loosened up and focused less on trying to get away with bumping&grinding, and focused more on just being kids and enjoying the first dance of the year.

I did escort a young lady - one of my students from last year actually - out of the dance for PDA with a boy (a current student). She denied ever knowing it was inappropriate, that she was never told, that she was absent during the day the school broadcasted dance procedures during advisory period. The excuses never ended about how "I didn't know!"

I told her that her problem was she didn't do her research. She didn't get thoroughly informed before she did something, and that can be fatal in the real world. I also told her I was glad she got to experience this at a middle school dance, which doesn't at all matter in the long run of things. Because after she was done denying any knowledge that PDA was unacceptable at school, she started on how dances weren't important, and that she never wanted to go to a dance again.

The father came to pick her up and we had a little chat. They are good people, and they try their best, but in my opinion, they are too strict with procedures and not strict enough with values. That made absolutely no sense huh? It's hard to describe. It's like those people that always say no, for the sake of having said no, rather than for anything else. It's like the Zero Tolerance policy and the expulsion of a student for bringing a butter knife to school so that they can eat hummus on crackers for lunch.

Anyway, that little incidence gave me some experience on what to say and do now when students give that "I didn't know!" excuse. GET INFORMED. There is no excuse for voluntary ignorance.

Weekends are for weekending

2011-10-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

Fun only!

This weekend is the first since school started where I don't have any papers to grade, I don't have lessons to plan, I don't even have ideas to flesh out and bring to reality.

It's been wonderful.

What HAVE I been doing then?:

~ ate home cooked meals properly, at a dining table, not at my desk, or on my lap, or standing up.

~ read Goliath. Leviathan and Behemoth were better stories. Goliath just seemed like a hurried wrap-up to the trilogy, with explanations thrown in at the last minute to fill in the gaps in detail. Westerfield seemed more interested in pulling together a wide variety of minor characters than in putting more depth into his main ones. Still, I like Deryn/Dylan, and Alek. I wish there could have been more to their story.

~ watched a whole bunch of season premiers online.

~ getting more use out of my Netflix subscription before I close it down (again) in a few days.

~ BOOKED TICKET TO HK! super yay!

Things I did today

2011-09-27T18:50:00.000-07:00

- cut and paste stuff to prep for a Properties of Addition activity that will occur in the following two days

- update grade reporting for mid-quarter progress reports

- edit RTI plan and email to admin as well as participating teachers

- type up Homework ER schedule

- reassure the SDC teachers and aides that it's no bother (although it kinda is, and they know that too, but they are just doing their jobs, as am I)

- bring two students who were sitting at Fs back up to Bs by making them do all of their absent work, and having them do the tests they missed. ABSENCES MATTER!!!

- messed up on teaching my Algebra 1 kids...but they ended up figuring stuff out by themselves, which is what I expect them to do, which is AWESOME

- skipped lunch. Again. Starving. Ate an entire salmon when I came home

- grading, grading, grading

- planning, planning, planning

- finally got my lesson binders organized, after a month of dishevelment and loose papers flying everywhere

- made a list of students who scored at 3 or below on their 7th grade CST...

***

Seriously, I can live at school for all the work I need to do. Has it already been a month of school? Thank goodness the first pay check is approaching at the end of this week. Thing I will do for myself once I get said pay check:

Buy my plane ticket to HK for Christmas. Oh yes.

In on the ground floor, part 2

2011-09-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

Pretty amazing week of ideas, idea sharing, and implementing some new things at my school. All thanks to the legislation called RTI!

The very first thing the 8th grade math team is starting is "Homework ER," which, essentially is homework detention for students who habitually don't turn in their homework - as defined by 3 or more assignments missing within two weeks. I already have a list of students who fall in this category, and thus will receive this intervention.

The entire plan for the 8th grade math team, including Homework ER is still very experimental (ER - as in Emergency Room, although the one time I was actually in an emergency room, this acronym was used for something else, so we might be perpetuating a common mis-nomer....). It may or may not get the results we want. But Homework ER is supposed to be structured in a way that gets students to do what they are supposed to do. It's to change their behavior, which will change their experience, which will change their attitudes - or so goes Gardner's theory. More updates to come. The first Homework ER is in October.

But besides that, I do want to change up a whole bunch of things about my own instruction. It's mind-boggling to think about right now - so I'm only handling it one piece at a time. Still very excited about what will happen.

Ducks in a row

2011-09-19T19:54:00.000-07:00

Positive things that happened today:

- Grievances Boy came in for after-school tutoring today. He got all his math and most of his history homework done. He was not surly, nor rude, nor disrespectful. I had fun looking up the Bill of Rights for him on my teacher computer. This kid has deep-seated emotional and social issues that are way too low-brow for his intellect. He is my first tutor candidate for the year - note to self: get pre-tests made for Grievances Boy.

- I was asked last minute to attend a 2-day conference in Santa Clara. Soooooo glad I typically plan ahead anyway, or else sub plans would have been chaos. Also glad that tomorrow is a minimum day, and Algebra 1 is only taking a quiz. And Algebra Readiness is still doing easy-peasy things so no matter if the sub lied and said they can do math when they really can't, most of my kids will understand the material anyway. And the ones that don't will either ask their buddies in class or their case workers in resource

I'm kind of looking forward to the conference. I had no idea what it was going to be about when the math coach pleaded for me to go (Dept. Chair #1 refused to go, and the district had already paid for it). It sounds exactly like something up my alley - equity, accessibility, intervention, prevention, and all sorts of good stuff like that.

- I was WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY more consistent with behavior management today. I've been so excited with the start of school - and to be honest, I've been relying too much on my enthusiasm and cheerfulness to get through the day (which is good because it's positive and the kids get enthusiastic too, but bad because I get WIPED OUT and sometimes the kids get a smidge TOO excited). There is still structure, there is still calm, and I can still get everyone's attention within seconds of a consistently given and reinforced signal. Consistency = the first layer of my classroom management "to work on" list.

But really, I am so excited with this year's crop of kids. They are unbelievably positive, they try so hard, they have a lot of school spirit, and their basic math skills are much more solid than I expected. Already in the first 3 weeks, I've seen my AR kids grow a LOT. It's awesome.

Paradigm shift

2011-09-18T21:45:00.000-07:00

Happy candy for happy thoughts.

I read a lot of blogs. Probably less than others, but still a decent amount. I love blogs. I have/had a blog at some point in time with most of the major blogging platforms (i.e. livejournal, xanga, blogspot, wordpress, tumblr, twitter).

Funny thing is, I rarely follow education blogs.

Fashion, definitely. Food, yep. Tech, of course. Animals, hands down. Art, sure. Architecture, yes.

Education, not so much.

I do pop in with the education blog-o-sphere every so often, but it's not nearly as much as the others. Weirdly enough, I blog the most at TCLB - way more than my other current blogs (although, still not as much as others).

Why?

I can think of one reason right now: we are a bunch of negative souls who whine and complain - albeit in a sarcastic way, but still. Very negative indeed. I've been told outright by a good friend (so I know she has my best intentions at heart) that I come across as very negative on this blog.

I don't mean to. But I do.

So my blogging goal for this year is to only write about positive things. Things I can be happy and excited about. In short, it's the tone of voice found in a lot of fashion/food/tech blogs.

Now, I don't mean to be unrealistic. Because there are a lot of unhappy things going on in education today. But there are also lots of AWESOME things going on as well. There are lots of stories - heroic stories - of teachers and students and people working their butts off AND getting the results they hoped for, if not more. I'm going to be a voice for that. There's enough negativity on the planet without me adding to it.

It starts today.

"There's the best, the middle, the worst, and then the OH-MY-GOD-YOU'RE-STUPID"

2011-09-17T13:34:00.001-07:00

This is most interesting.

This week in bullets

2011-09-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

Department Chair 1 calls them "ping pong" kids, Department Chair 2 calls them "boomerang kids." I call it "Ms. Ng's Headache Machine." The Admin - in their grand and almighty wisdom, and without any advice from actual math teachers - have decided to rearrange the placements of 20-odd 7th and 8th grade students, redistributing them among the Algebra Readiness, and Algebra 1 classes. Most of my time and energy this week have been taken up with keeping track of who is in my classroom and who is not. It is no fun. Thus, I volunteered myself to make sure these seemingly random schedule changes get minimized for next year.

BSTA coach keeps telling me to pre-test my AR students who have behavior or academic issues already - and then offer them alternative assignments if they pass the pre-test. I'll do it, but give me some time lady! Planning, preparing, and implementing that activity won't happen overnight. It won't even happen within a week. But it will happen. So chill out.

I spent five minutes trying to decide whether to get the super big post-it notes or the 3in. x 3in. post-its that I normally use. I just stood there, staring at them stupidly until a store clerk came up to me and asked if he could help. I replied, "Only if you can somehow make each day 30 hours instead of 24."

Bought myself the most comfortable pair of shoes for teaching. Why are they so comfy? Because I splurged $30 on them instead of limiting myself to less than $15 like normal.

Can someone show me how to either grade more efficiently OR create fewer things to grade? I would really like some practical tips.

It is an everlastingly long time between my last paycheck of the previous year (June) and the first paycheck of this year (October).

2011-09-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

Would you care about this moth in a baggie?

What Kids Need Most: A Culture of Caring by Scott Carol

Why does our culture not care? How do we get people to care? Why is it necessary for someone else to "get" a person to care? How does a person begin to care for themselves, by themselves?

Tom Brokaw said something to this effect recently: We have 2% of the population fighting our wars for us. We demand so much from them, and they rise up to the challenge beautifully. But we don't demand enough out of the other 98% of us.

How does one demand proper parenting from the families of students? What are their rewards? Consequences? Well, I guess the consequences include a society that doesn't care. But then, what happens when people don't care about the consequences either?

2011-09-08T18:36:00.000-07:00

Second week of school drawing to a close. So many things to think about, but only two at the top of my head right now:

1. With the exception of the first day of school, I've been able to pull myself away from my classroom by 4:30 PM each afternoon. That said, I still get to campus by 6:30 AM at the very latest. Last week, I got to school at 6 AM...and set off the security alarm. The plant manager officially hates me now.

2. I've been pretty unreliable concerning grading so far this year. Got stacks and stacks of it piled up. I don't remember it being this backed up this time last year. But then, last year, I stayed at school until 6 or 7 PM most days. And I still got there at 6:30 AM.

Two main lessons so far: haters gonna hate, and why do today what I can put off for tomorrow?

But really, other than the stress that each of the above provides in over-abundance, this year is looking pretty good.

Oh wait, I forgot. My students have no decision making skills whatsoever. Even the brighter ones are constantly asking needy, repetitive questions again and again. It's as if they have never been allowed to think for themselves in their entire lives.

Which, when I think about it, they probably haven't.

If you want schools to be run like businesses, then make sure you get things taken care of at school like a business would

2011-08-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

It's official. We have rats in the F-wing. I will spare you the photos of rat crap. Instead, enjoy this photo of my hamster Yuki, RIP 2003-2004

In on the ground floor

2011-08-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

Building, creating, linking, making - with my own hands.

For the past few days, I've been doing some exciting - and apparently VERY cutting edge - stuff with a group of secondary math teachers. Basically, we are writing highly targeted, standards based, leveled assessments to give to students in order for them to understand where they are at, where they need to go, and how they (and us) can get there.

There's way more detail involved of course, but I'm talking here about the chance to even do something like this. To be in on the ground floor of something awesome. To make decisions with other like-minded professionals. To be challenged and to ask ourselves questions that probably don't have answers.

And I'm stoked. Because this is exactly the type of thing I wanted in a teaching position when I was job hunting a little more than a year ago. Getting a wish granted so directly has only ever happened to me once before: when I was in the second grade and I wished for a dog, and my dad brought a Chow Chow puppy home the next week.

On a similar note, last week I sat on an interviewer panel for a math position at my school. Please note: I AM ONLY A SECOND YEAR TEACHER. Yet, my principal, the AP in charge of taking care of the details of hiring, and my department chair all valued my opinion enough to let me have a say like this. I keep getting told how awesome I am for my school. And here I am, thinking I'm the one who got lucky.

Maybe we are both lucky. Maybe that's what it takes to have an ideal employer/employee relationship.

11 more days!

2011-08-18T19:35:00.000-07:00

Summer 2011 has been one of the most delightful summers ever. I pretty much spent every day without caring or following a clock or calendar - and it was perfect. Just what I needed. I probably talked about it before, but just so I can relive this summer later - specifically when this coming school year has gotten tiresome - here's a comprehensive list of what I enjoyed these past couple months:

~ Downton Abbey, Wives and Daughters, other BBC drama marathons ~ cook and bake new, exciting dishes like Russian potato & dill salad, Mexican wedding cakes, chicken in tarragon cream sauce, turkey feta tomato burgers, Greek chicken salad, and lemon butter tilapia ~

~ read read read ~ hang out with friends, old and new ~ met more new people than I've ever done since undergrad days ~ steam clean the carpet ~ frame completed puzzles for wall art ~ attend roomie's wedding ~ bike bike bike ~ go to the Asian Art Museum ~

~ organize personal papers ~ hike Lake Chabot perimeter ~ clean out kitchen drawers ~ attend my old youth choir's annual concert ~ reorganize personal finances ~ swim swim swim ~ go to the Oakland Museum of Cali ~ saw the dentist ~ rearrange Algebra Readiness curriculum with Super Colleague ~ go to the beach ~ go to ACCLAIM Institute ~

~ shopping shopping shopping ~ get sick and then got better ~ garden garden garden ~ blog blog blog, both reading and writing ~ digitize all my Algebra 1 stuff (still need to tweak, but everything is on a flash drive now so all other adjustments will be easy peasy chicken greasy from now on) ~ update my resume ~

~ complete change my way of eating (more protein and veggies, less carbs and high sugar stuff, even fruit) and enjoyed seeing/feeling the benefits of such diet ~ snail mail far-flung friends ~ went to the SF flower market ~ write write write ~ window shop at Ikea (will actually shop in the fall, probably after first pay check of the school year) ~ picnicked ~ ground floor planning of cutting edge education stuff which I will blog about later because it deserves it's own whole entry!

And most of all:

~ slept ~ ate ~ played ~ relaxed ~ lazed about as much as humanely possible ~

It's a summer well and worthily spent when I'm refreshed and ready for the new school year. Bring it on, 2011-2012!

Graduation bouquet...who will get one?

2011-08-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

18.2% of California students drop out before they finish high school, or receive a GED. And apparently, it starts at the 8th grade.

Dude. I teach 8th grade. Some of my students will drop out, statistically speaking. But why?

Pressure to work? Pregnancy and pressure to start families? Did they move out of state? Did they unfortunately meet with an accident and pass away?

Are they freaked out about college pressure? Do they not see themselves fitting into a college experience? Do they enter a vocation track?

Or do they turn to crime? Become imprisoned? Sit at home in their parents/grandparents/guardians' places and live a life of "hikikomori?"

I would like to know more about the reasons, the why, and less about the percentages. Because, even this math teacher knows, percentages can only get you so far.

Read about it here. And here.

And tape. THAT STICKS.

2011-08-13T17:02:00.001-07:00

Thanks Target. Your encouragement towards consumerism comes at just the right time.

EDIT: Here's the 8th grade PE coach version. Thanks to dkzody for the heads up.

The rebel and the sloth

2011-08-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

Hm. This is interesting. One the one hand, states are standing up and being heard with their dissent for NCLB. On the other hand...without a doubt, something needs to change. It's just that change doesn't necessarily have to be in the form of NCLB, and the like.

In other news, the countdown to the first day of school begins! I've got 22 days - well, 21 in reality. Today is almost over. It's been a really great summer. No clock watching, no calendar ticking, no need to keep track of time at all. Just what I needed.

How to live comfortably on a teacher's salary

2011-08-06T15:21:00.000-07:00

Alternative title: Way Too Much Info About My Income and Expenses

I was at Magpie Cafe with a friend last week and got into a conversation with two dudes who were at the table next to ours. It's nice like that at small, hippy-dippy, organic/local places - people are open and friendly and willing to talk and ask questions and be, well, human. Unlike the hordes of people at the Westfield food court at Powell station who don't talk to each other at all, but sit elbow to elbow like sardines in a can.

Anyway. These two Magpie dudes talked about their kids who went to CSUS, and I said I went to CSUS, and they asked what I studied there, and I said I was in the teacher credential program, and they got to talking about how teachers are underpaid and not given the respect they deserve, and I thanked them for their support, etc.

The thing is, whether teachers are underpaid or not, they can still live decently. My high school econ teacher showed us in graphs and charts how even a minimum wage earning janitor can be a millionaire by the time he/she retires. It takes a lot of work, of course, but it's possible. I still believe it is possible, even in the economy today.

Disclaimer: I am single. I have no spouse, no kids, no mortgage, no car payments, not even student loans (thanks Mom&Dad!). Although rent is high throughout the bay area, I don't live in an area with the worst of it. I am young and healthy; I'm not on life-sustaining meds. My district has a decent pay scale - although not nearly like the $60,000-$150,000 that Arne Duncan thinks teachers should receive. These things vary from situation to situation, and for the most part, I am lucky. And I know it and am thankful for it everyday. It certainly would be more difficult if my situation was different.

But it's not. And as this is my blog, and my life, I'm going to write about my experience. I have enough to live on, I enjoy nice things on occasion, and I save like my social security is on fire.

Oh wait. It is. Haha!

So a little bit about what my situation actually is:

- I opted for the 10 month paycheck distribution, rather than the 12 month. I do not get paid in the summer (unless I teach summer school). There is no difference between the 10 month and 12 month option except that on the last day of June, you get 3 pay checks instead of just one. I would deposit all three right away anyway, so I went with the 10 month.

- I have very good medical and dental coverage. What that means on a practical level is: I have no copay when I see the doctor, any medications I take are covered as long as they are generic, eye exams are covered and I pay 50% of what my glasses/contacts would cost, and I write a check for ~$20 to my dentist after each visit. Cosmetic procedures (like lasik) are not covered.

- My district matches my retirement contributions, which is an automatic, set percentage from my salary.

- I do have to shell $119 each pay check towards the teacher's unions - local and state.

- I also pay taxes and support the old people now on social security and medicare, like a good citizen.

So at the end of pay day, I'm taking home ~$3,300 for each of those 10 months.

Rent is by far my biggest expense - and for the most part, it can't be helped. I can look far and wide and long, but the cheapest it'll get without compromising the level of security and safety I feel at home, and without getting into a massive commute, is ~$750 a month. Currently, my landlady includes water, electricity, gas, wireless internet, and basic cable in my rent. I do have 3 other roommates, including the landlady who owns the condo I live in. I do have my own room and bathroom. I dislike the dinky fridge space and kitchen storage that I get. There are areas where I have to swallow my pride and make a compromise in order to achieve something else. If I lived in a studio or 1 bedroom apartment with the kitchen all to myself, I would be paying at least $1,200 on rent alone, utilities not included. And I know I won't take up the entire kitchen with just my stuff.

But that fridge needs to be bigger. I cook a lot, which allows me to save in the next area.

My next biggest expense is food. I spent ~$2,800 on groceries and eating out this past year. This expense can't really be helped all that much either. The weird thing is, the healthier and less I eat doesn't necessarily mean I'm paying less for food. This is why I started growing my own basil. That's a start at cutting costs here, but it depends on whether you have the space for a garden or not. Once again, luck. I can, however, eat out less, and I'm working on that. I've vowed to not eat out next year unless it's with people. Because then, there's more worth in shelling out $15 for a salmon salad that I could have made at home for less than $5.

Third biggest expense: gas, car maintenance, and other auto expenses; ~$2,400 last year. I include parking and bridge tolls here, but not insurance or registration. I'll tackle that separately. This next year, I'm biking/BART-ing to school every day - yes, even in the dark. I'm debating whether I'll still do it in the rain. Maybe I'll just get mud guards and a good poncho. Or maybe I'll cave and drive on those days. But the comparatively low BART ticket costs will definitely save in gas money.

The last category that rounds out my big expenses, although I don't actually consider it an "expense" technically, is what I contribute to my parents in their old age. ~$350 per pay check. This not only helps to cover my share of the insurance and registration - which is in my parent's name because my car is in my parent's name - but covers the "Asian Filial Duty/Guilt Trip" responsibility on my part. My parents work hard and brought me up to the best of their ability. They supported me through school and those first few years right out of college. They deserve some love back. That, and the recession has done horrendous things to their retirement funds.

A note about insurance: I don't have life insurance. I won't get life insurance until there is someone in my life who won't be able to live comfortably without relying on my income. It's not needed. I do have car insurance. HOWEVER: did you know that you can haggle the price down? When I was a student, I flaunted my good grades and that fact that I'm a girl. Now, I flaunt my excellent credit rating and accident-and-ticket-free record. My dad's agent also gives us an additional discount for the three of us together.

So let's tally that up: ~$9,000 + ~$2,800 + ~$2,400 + ~$3,500 is approximately $17,700 in expenses so far.

Everything else is pretty flex: I supported my church, friends on missions, Charity Water, and Operation Christmas Child this past year. I need to wear clothes, and use office supplies. I've been on airplanes a few times this past year and apparently they make you pay for that. I've bought books and magazines occasionally, and subscribed to a newspaper. I've bought canvases and gardening things, which I list in the "home improvement" category. I give gifts to my friends when they let me crash on their couch, or when it's their birthday, or when they got married, or when it's Christmas, because, you know, otherwise I wouldn't have friends. I have a cell phone and I ACTUALLY PAID FOR TEXT THIS YEAR. I need to buy soap and shampoo and toilet paper and dish detergent and sponges, because I'm not that much of a hermit. I went to museums and zoos and the kind of parks that make you pay to enter.

All of that totaled up was less than $3,000 for the year. If you're keeping track, I still have a good $12K left over.

Which gets funneled into my Roth IRA or stocks account or high interest savings account. Like I said before, my social security is on fire.

Still, though, HOW do I do it? Well, there's basically only two money rules I follow. First: If I don't have the cash, I don't spend it.

I watch out for traps like, "next month's pay check will pay for it" or "it's cheaper if I buy more." Because it's NEVER cheaper if you buy more. One pre-made salad in the deli section may be $3.99 each if you get 3 of them, but I only wanted one at the regular $4.99 price. If I bought 3 of them, it would be $11.97 subtotal and I would have two extra salads I didn't want. Although, I guess a nice thing to do would be to give those salads away to a homeless person on the curb outside of the grocery store.

But that leads to the second money rule I follow: If I can't take care of myself and the resources I am blessed with, I can't take care of anyone else.

Money tips and tricks are very practical. I do look for deals, and shop in season, and I never buy any non-essential item unless it's on sale. However, there's a huge mental game played out as well. I view money as a tool and a weapon that can get used up if I'm not careful with it. I don't assume it will be replaced, especially not in this profession. At the same time, I don't value it like our consumer culture has taught me to. I have plenty of fun, and do plenty of good work without any money at all. Often times, I appreciate life a lot more when doing something that doesn't cost a cent.

I'm pretty much at the limit of the amounts I can save without being a total penny-pinching scrooge. So the next step? To increase my earning potential. Story to be continued...

DISCLAIMER: I would totally NOT turn down a higher salary schedule for teachers, if that ever comes to pass.

Bleach it

2011-08-06T14:38:00.000-07:00

I've been spending this summer getting reacquainted with some of my favorite reading material. It's been great, really great.

One of my all time faves is Bleach. It may sound familiar because many people know of the wildly popular, and exhaustingly long-running anime. But if you haven't read the manga, then you haven't really experienced Bleach yet. It's one of the most visually arresting reads out there.

What I like about it the most is that it contains some of the strongest female characters in the history of female characters in "boy's genre" manga - perhaps in the history of female characters EVER. None of them are infantilized, sexually objectified, nor are they given one-dimenstional roles to play. They are drawn with (what can be considered in manga) wide variety in face and body type. Their personalities range from taciturn, to wise, to vulnerable, to witty, to charming, to spunky, to emotionally drained. They've seen things and done much. These are female characters of both action and thoughtfulness, and it's all treated with respect.

There needs to be more female characters like that.

Business minded

2011-08-02T13:30:00.000-07:00

Some people think schools should be run more like businesses. Opponents immediately balk when they hear this. But today, I want to ask: which business?

Because I wouldn't mind schools running along the lines of Zappos.

Their core values are here.

Doesn't that sound like a wonderful place to work? Doesn't that sound like what education needs right at this moment? Doing the unconventional, innovative, fun, and weird stuff. Grow by learning, communicating, and doing more with less. Building a family spirit. Being humble.

Actually, that's all what American society at this moment needs a bit more of.

Augmented Reality

2011-07-31T21:24:00.000-07:00

I saw this awhile back on another edublogger's page and have been meaning to write about it. I thought and thought and thought and I'm still not sure what I think about the "augmented reality" aka extrapolation, aka wishful thinking (?) part of the timeline. Quote:

The future history presented is intended to be edgy, but also as a conversation starter on futures for education and future thinking in human capital development.

Edgy, certainly. I'm all for edgy things. I'm just not sure I would want to worry about the future - especially as far off as 2045 - when there's so much to worry about the today. It's a good idea to keep a balance in mind I suppose. Where I want the future to go affects what my decisions today are.

So, in the end, no big epiphany here. Just...more questions and wonderings. Which I guess is the whole point.

By the way, is anyone else a little squeamish at the term "human capital development?" Just me? Hm.

The Thief

2011-07-30T14:16:00.000-07:00

This 1997 Newberry Honor story by Megan Whalen Turner has a wicked twisty plot and lots of descriptions of what people in Ancient Greece would have worn and eaten.

No plot giveaways here! The twists are too good for that. But here's a short premise: Gen was imprisoned for stealing, and now the King and the King's magus [wise man/scholar] has appointed him to commit espionage, and to steal something from the neighboring country.

A fun read. I liked it. It takes quite a long time for the story to spin its way around all the twists, and the ending felt kind of rushed - almost to the point of being half-thought and half-baked - but overall, fun.

The main character is humorously self-centered, which, I suppose is a good indication that he's a teenager; his age isn't specifically given, neither is his physical description. Which is refreshing. I like imagining what a character would look like solely based on his, well, actual character.

Re-thinking the way we re-think

2011-07-29T18:21:00.000-07:00

Seagulls...are they related to this post? Yes. Why? I leave that up to you.

Despite the profuse supply of The Bachelorette video clips and the like, the internet is still a grand source of inspiration and thoughtfulness.

Any savvy consumer of information would have by now encountered kottke.org by now. I stumbled upon this article there and it very concisely phrased what I've been trying to put into words. Granted, the writer is talking about workspace design and working, while I'm talking about technology and teaching. But in essence, it's the same.

I love technology, I really do. But my use of it for teaching is not what will make me a great teacher in the end. I can show endless Khan Academy videos, use those little remote control "voting" things for students to punch in their answer, wear out my (non-existent) SmartBoard and (arrived! or at least my colleague's has; I'm assuming mine is here too since the principal ordered both of ours at the same time, although I haven't checked yet) ELMO, and go through enough cans of Dust Air cleaning my LCD projector and it STILL will not make me a great teacher.

What will make me a great teacher?

~ practice

~ life-long learning

~ bouncing ideas off of colleagues

~ professional respect and trust

~ discovering new ideas in both familiar and surprising places

~ experimentation (aka "making mistakes")

~ time and space to recharge my batteries

So what will make my students great learners? Laptops for all? Fancy phones that can text their answers to the professor's iPad? Olympic-sized school swimming pools? Shiny, new hardback textbooks? I don't know about all that.

I only know that this coming school year, I will fuss less about the arrangement of student desks in my oddly proportioned classroom.

Shabanu

2011-07-28T18:01:00.000-07:00

Not the most uplifting of endings, but still an interesting read. Life was like that - IS like that, in the Pakistan, Afghanistan, India region. Lots of details of daily life and daily struggles. Although the ending is realistic, I'm not entirely sure the personality of the title character is.

But then, I've never been there myself. I only know of one Afghani girl - a former student, ten years old when she was in my class, and had been in the country for about five years - but she was pretty spunky as well.

Warning: not a book for impatient readers - I skimmed over the second half. Phulan, Shabanu's older sister is quite annoying.

40 minutes fast

2011-07-24T20:53:00.000-07:00

Summers are for leisurely made and eaten Greek salads.

Dug up this 2009 article from the New York Times after talking to a colleague about our short lunch times. Apparently, when my colleague (in her 40s) was in school, she had a full hour for lunch from elementary through high school. I remember my high school lunch period being 50 minutes - enough time for me to go home for a decent lunch and get back with time to spare.

My middle school has a 40 minute lunch period, including the 5 minute passing period at the end for students to transition to 5th period. When I worked at the elementary level, I had a 35 minute lunch period.

It sucks in elementary - by the time the kids are all lined up, out the door, and safely under the supervision of the lunch time staff, there's about 25 minutes left until lunch is over. And it was expected at that school for teachers to start going out to the playground by 5 minutes before to pick up their class. My master teacher, Mr. B, taught me the trick of lining the class up at least 5 minutes before the bell so that when it finally did ring, we would be half-way to the cafeteria. This takes A LOT of practice, timing the lessons just right and making the morning sessions as productive as possible. Fortunately, that was my 5th/6th split and they were savvy enough to catch on - if we worked hard in the morning, we got to go to lunch first. And 5th/6th graders love being first.

My colleague, Ms. O, has this theory that kids no longer know what to do with themselves in their free time, leading to more behavior problems, which is why there is a seeming trend that school lunch periods are getting shorter and shorter. I say seeming because I haven't come across any documentation or studies on this. This is the first I've ever heard of Ms. O's theory, but it sort of makes sense.

So here's my first question I've ever directly posed to my blog audience (if there's anyone reading this): Have you noticed the trend of shorter lunch times? What do you make of it?

Planning for change

2011-07-23T12:17:00.000-07:00

From the start, this has been the most frightening thing about teaching to me. Not the possibility of weapons or gangs on campus, not learning to deal with violent or serious behaviors (that comes a close second though), not even the fact that I might be pink slipped at any time.

I'm scared of quitting. More specifically, I'm scared of being backed into a corner, like the teacher in the CNN interview, and having no better option than to quit.

Quitting any job isn't a simple decision, although people water down their explanations so that they sound much more sane to their family and friends:

"I want to travel and spend more time with my family."

"I'm not working at my fullest potential."

"I've hit a pay wall."

"I'm just being shuffled from side to side in the company."

All really logical and proper and socially acceptable reasons to quit. But I really believe that underneath the soothing words are much more complicated things happening.

Of course, once again, I am astounded at how lucky I am that I got the position I have today. According to my district's salary schedule, I won't hit a pay wall until my 17th year. I started out at a significantly higher salary than the teacher in the CNN interview. As I accrue units and finally complete my masters, I'll have additional stipends. There is even a stipend schedule for Ph.D..

I am also young, healthy, and single: no kids, no car payments, no mortgage payments, no serious medical expenses. I don't even have credit card balances or student loan debt. Bureaucratic interference is easy to ignore. My district office does have some rather incompetent people, but it's saved by the genius who created and installed the system years ago. Morale is medium to high at my school, for the most part. Yeah, there are certain lack of resources that plague me but I've found creative ways to get around it. My principal has been nothing but supportive of me. The compensation isn't spectacular, but it's also not horrendous either. Too-little decision making authority...hm, frankly I don't think I want to make any of the big, nasty decisions - let me stick with the small ones that are of no matter on paper. Too little time for planning...fake it 'till you make it - lost count of how many times I've flown with no lesson plan, or had to scrap plans and completely wing it. Accountability pressures...sure, I feel the CST pain, but once again I'm lucky to be at a school that has (yet) to be touched by PI status. My team that I work with is awesome. Weird of course, and sometimes we grate on each other socially, but I know they are good teachers and they trust that I aim for excellence as well.

So by any standard, I've been lucky. Yet, the fear lingers. All of that luck can change instantaneously. Expect change. Plan for it. Be prepared.

Queen had it right

2011-07-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

Bicycles! Bicycles!

This is way cool. I'm all for greener urban living. And this, well, this takes the cake.

On a math note: 175,000 bikes @ 1 RMB per bike per day = US$27,144.77. Um, city debt reduction plan #1, right here. That's if American cities charges riders the same as Hangzhou does - approximately 15 cents for the 2nd hour. Because, remember the first is free.

But of course, Americans would never charge that cheap. Let's say $1 per hour, with the typical bulk shopping mentality of "increasing number of hours at a discounted cost" that Americans love so much. And we're even scratching that "first hour free" thing. And let's decrease the amount of rental bikes to 50,000 in, say, San Francisco.

If all 50,000 bikes were used at least once per day, which wouldn't be a far reach in a place like SF, that would be an income of $1,500,000 per month for something that is relatively low maintenance (unlike, say, buses - and rental bikes in strategic locations would increase the use of buses anyway, hence another added layer of income). Yep, that's in the millions, baby. Hey politicians and voters, let's make this happen.

Although, oddly enough, the most astounding thing to me was that one dude who said "the people love the bikes and won't do anything to ruin them" or something to that effect. That's real ownership of a city. It's our city. It's our earth. We take care of it.

Hey parents and teachers, let's make THAT happen.

2012

2011-07-21T12:42:00.000-07:00

It. Is. On.

Little Blue Envelopes

2011-07-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

I'm totally not a chick-lit type of reader, although there does actually exist good books that fall in the chick-lit genre. These two were surprisingly sweet and decent.

Synopsis: Naive, sheltered teenager (obviously from affluent, white America) goes on a European tour by way of her dead aunt's instructions. On the way, she discovers the wonders of Harrod's, the creepiness of over-sexed Italian men, that cool travel buddies come from down under, and the intrigue of art dealing. Well, I found the art dealing part intriguing at least.

My favorite parts are the letters from said, deceased aunt, and the main character's interactions with Richard - who probably is a paler-than-pale, uptight English dude between 35-40 years old, but I first imagined him to be rather dapper, and younger than he was described later on in the books.

The main character herself is rather forgettable. Actually, I have already forgotten her name. Um. Sorry. But really, she could have been the fictional doppelganger of that bland, squeaky, blonde girl from my high school chem class. Her sympathetic grief over the sudden disappearance and death of her aunt saves her from complete character boredom.

Overall, decent read. And yes, I cried. Which is what all good chick-lit should make you do.

Disappearance/Vanishment

2011-07-17T17:12:00.000-07:00

The Suzumiya Haruhi franchise all started with a little book that many adults would scoff at just from looking at the cover. But inside this little book is some heavy, mind-boggling, hilarious, and thought-provoking material. Excellent reading fodder for young people, and people young at heart.

It's a very strange story, with a premise that could go very wrong - have gone very wrong in the hands of a less talented author than 谷川流 Tanigawa Nagaru. It's a very modern story - or at least, it speaks in a very modern way about very ageless things. A quick google search will provide loads of background, and a video search will provide the youtube links to the actual film, so I won't say much about the plot here.

I will say a little bit about why I want this series to be apart of my classroom/personal library. I go for quality reading material, and I walked into my job on the first day vowing that I will never fill my shelves with "filler" books. It's much more effective to have a small, carefully chosen library than shelves and shelves of penny paperbacks where the next book is as dry as the paper it's printed on.

Smart, fun reading material for middle school is few and far between, despite the huge army of YA authors out there. I blame Stephanie Meyers. Let's actually take a look at the books I have in my collection so far, and their respective publishing years, and discover a pattern:

Wolves of Wiloughby Chase, 7-9 novels, depending on who you talk to, by Joan Aiken (1963)
Anne of Green Gables, 8 novels, by L.M. Montgomery (1908)
Fruits Basket, 23 manga volumes, by 高屋奈月 Takaya Natsuki (1999)
Harry Potter, 7 novels, by J.K. Rowling (1997)
The Hunger Games, trilogy, by Suzanne Collins (2008)
The Golden Compass, trilogy, by Phillip Pullman (2007)

Target audience age range: ~10 to ~16

The odd Diana Wynne Jones, and some pre-20th century classics are thrown in as well, but the above forms the core of my classroom library. All have spent time on my personal bookshelves long before they migrated to school. Maybe with the exception of The Hunger Games.

The Suzumiya Haruhi series is quite something else - very different from the above, but excellent story-telling like the above. There's something else to it too, I can't quite put words to describe it. Something intellectual about the S.H. series, deeply so, and it's all hidden in the folds of a sci-fi/fantasy light novel WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. To the people who say nothing intellectual can come out of a book with illustrations, I say you haven't met the great Haruhi and her minions.

Behemoth

2011-07-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

Read and done. Usually, I categorize a series of books together, and this really should be clumped with Leviathan. However, I enjoyed Behemoth a lot more than it's prequel so I'm giving it its own post.

Three main things I got from this book: fast paced plot, Deryn/Dylan is way less annoying, and ohmygoodnessMr.Westerfieldwillyoupleasestopwiththecliffhangers!

Ok, now go read.

Poverty

2011-07-07T11:55:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about poverty lately. How it affects learning, how it affects businesses and general economics, how it affects emotional and physical health. No answers to the many questions, but I do have these questions that I haven't seen many people ask:

Would poverty be such a big deal if the other side of the spectrum didn't exist at such extreme levels?

Would people feel the effects of poverty so much if western consumerism and our impulses for immediate gratification wasn't as intense as it is now?

How many people can be lifted out of poverty just from practicing conservative money management and investment?

Are we expecting money to solve problems on a near impossible level? Can we throw cash into the coffers of public education and hope it'll all turn out well automatically?

Why do we expect to have the fanciest luxury items and at the same time hold out our hands for government intervention for our basic needs?

Who else out there is liberal on social issues but conservative on economic issues?

But they they'll be the type of people who know math

2011-07-06T15:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the laughs, http://www.joannejacobs.com/.

Leviathan

2011-07-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

By the same author as The Uglies series. One of my colleagues told me this wasn't as great as The Uglies, and I have to disagree with her. In general, I like steam punk stories. They have a certain twist of imagination that sci-fi doesn't. Sci-fi is an extrapolation of reality, if it isn't already reality by now. Steam punk - that's a vision of something completely different.

Alek is a likable character - sympathetic, and you get to see more of his character development in this first of the trilogy. Daryn (aka Dylan) is, so far, just an annoying brat of a tomboy. For someone who defies gender conventions, she is all too ready to follow the rules and protocols of other things.

The artwork is amazeballs. Makes up for Daryn's annoying character.

Yobibyte

2011-06-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

I think I just found my inspiration for next year's wall display.

The Hunger Games

2011-06-24T22:49:00.000-07:00

See what I mean about the cover having a "Nazi" feeling?

It's summer and the start of reading season. The very first book I picked up was The Hunger Games so it's the first book I'm going to review this year. I have to explain the back story of my experience with this book a little, because I'm not going to give away any of the plot here. Because I walked into this book completely blind and I walked out with the best reading experience I've had in years. So if you really want a synopsis, go google it. But try to not google it too much.

I had seen it around campus, in the hands of many of my students - from the best and the brightest to even DG, The Boy Who Would Do Nothing. The very first time I saw the cover, back in November (during DG's parent/teacher conference no less), I thought it was a historical novel about WWII - the cover seemed to have that "Nazi" feeling to it.

I put it out of my radar for the next several months. I've read enough WWII novels in my pre-teen and teenage years to know what they are generally like, at least in the YA category. If it's not a carbon copy of Anne Frank's story, it's bound to be something like Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan. It's one of the reasons why Inglorious Basterds was so interesting, because it told a different story.

It blipped back onto my radar around spring break when I saw PP (unfortunate initials, seriously bright student) lugging the book and it's sequels around. PP is the kind of kid whom teachers always keep an eye out on - you know, the one that doesn't necessarily stick out in terms of behavior or personality, but I just had to be observant of because he walked around like he belongs in another dimension. If he was older, and if his personality were less sweet, he could be described as having a stick up his butt. But he's just a kid, a really sweet kid who enjoyed my class and let me know that he enjoyed my class often, so I kept a lookout and snuffed any hint of teasing or bullying that came his way. That, and his mother turned out to be an incredible ally during a time when I was battling with some other parents over grades and whatnot.

Not that I would take special observations of a kid solely because his mother is helpful and kind and respects education and educators the way I believe education and educators should be respected. Just saying.

I asked PP how he was enjoying The Hunger Games one day. He said he was enjoying it a lot. I asked if he recommended it. He said he did.

During Open House in the spring, my school has this thing set up with the annual book faire where teachers can request books and the visitors to Open House can buy the books for us. It would only work at a school like mine: the many donations I've seen this year wouldn't have happened in the Title 1 schools I taught at before. Although, if I were a very bold admin, I would set up something like the book requests during book faire time.

Most of the books at the book faire are your usual Scholastic stuff - filler for SSR bookshelves. I knew long before I got the keys to my first classroom that I would not fill it with cheap fillers bought at yard sales and thrift stores. I wanted my shelves to be select, with the goal of quality over quantity.

So I didn't intend to request anything. But I spied The Hunger Games nestled on a top shelf when I went to peruse with some other teachers right before Open House. I remembered what PP had said about recommending it. A kid like that doesn't recommend things lightly. I listed my request, and later that night, when Open House was ending, PP and his mother came back to my room bringing The Hunger Games for me.

I thanked them, and wrote a nice note to be mailed later, and then promptly put it on my classroom bookshelf because it was the middle of May and I was going crazy with the pile up of year-end paperwork, and the only other teacher who teaches the exact same subjects as me broke her water on Open House night, and we had to scramble through a series of subs as well as a horrific grading fiasco.

Once that was all over though, and my advancement and check-out duties were over, I went straight home and plopped down with this book and a bowl of kettle chips.

I didn't let it go until 3.5 hours later when I was finished with all 374 pages. An adult flying through more than a hundred pages an hour gives you a hint as to the difficult of the language used. But oh, was this book sure dense with meaning.

I also immediately bought Catching Fire and Mockingjay on Kindle, and read one each day for the next two days.

Maybe it's because I was over saturated with anime during my college days, but its books like these that strike a match in my imagination and illuminates something I didn't know was there before. It's what all YA books should aim to do, considering the target audience. Well, it's really what all books should do when it comes right down to the heart of the matter.

I can tick off on one hand the number of authors who have hit so deeply in my imagination, and influenced so much of my writing ideology: Philip Pullman, Joan Aiken, Natsuki Takaya, and now Suzanne Collins. Coincidentally, the first four are also young adult novel writers (of sorts). They - plus J.K. Rowling, who leans more towards classical rather than unconventional themes, thus didn't quite rock my literary world in the same sense as the others - are the ones I've turned back to, over and over again in re-reads, whenever I want to escape something in the real world that I don't like.

As a kid, I really believed that poster propaganda saying "you're never without a friend when with a book." I used recess time to read, I held books clandestine-like under my desk during classes, I never leave home without one, and when I am at home, there is always one within arms reach. I didn't have much to escape from as a kid - your usual drama of course, but overall a pretty happy childhood. However, more and more in the grown up's real world, I find things I want to escape from. People I want to escape, because their words and actions infect the space around them with something gross and sticky.

The main character is described, at one point in the trilogy, as "pure." She's definitely not innocent, but I understand what he meant. Katniss, either by nature or circumstance, doesn't let other people's words and actions infect her with their gross stickiness.

And I like that.

Summer 2011!

2011-06-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

Like a great, big pile of dishes to be done after a party.

I finished! I survived! Those last two weeks of school, I have to honestly say I had checked out.

I switched with another teacher and had Great America duty with the 8th graders instead of the lake with the 7th graders. It was fun. Did not ride the drop tower. Did ride the upside down boat. Sat in the cool darkness of a Snoopy ice show after wandering around in the heat and sun for six hours. Told off a few of our boys who decided it was ok to go around shirtless. Told off even more of our girls who decided skimpy bikini tops were enough to wear in public places. It's as if they all stripped once they got off the bus.

Read names at advancement of my first period advisory class. Next year, I'm wearing a hat. We sit with our class, and walk up with our class, and walk back down at the end of the line with our class. It was oddly satisfying to see my students dressed up and behaving like proper grown up people. Proud of them.

Cleaned and checked out my room for the summer. Holy cow was there a long list of signatures to get! I didn't even check any books out this year and I still had to have the librarian sign my form. The most confusing thing was getting a handle on my students' textbooks. Thank goodness I only teach math, and that my kids are only issued one book each. Can't imagine what it's like if each kid had two or three books all year, like in English. Learned a few good lessons about textbook inventory time, which I will apply next year.

Next year. I will be a 2nd year teacher. Met up with a friend from UTEC this past Monday - one of the first summer-type things I did - and we both congratulated each other on a 1st year well done. She said,

"Who knew we would get this far?"

Who knew indeed? In June 2009, I was in despair of ever getting a teaching credential at all. In June 2010, I was in despair of ever getting a teaching job at all. Well, I got both with a lot of hard work, a lot of luck, a lot of persistence, and a lot of drama (on my part).

Less drama now, but I'm still relying on the hard work and luck and persistence. Just because it's summer doesn't mean it's completely a down-time season for me. I've got things in the works, projects to do, people to meet, lessons to re-work, assessments to create, ideas to fully flesh out.

But for this first week of summer, I'm doing nothing related to teaching. Gotta give myself that much.

I take it back

2011-06-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

Did I say the end of the school year is my favorite time of year? Can I take it back? No?

Well, I'm gonna. Grrrr.

P.S. Dear students and parents: Extra credit opportunities will be available when they are available. NOT when you demand for it.

EDIT: Currently 9:01 PM. Spent the past two hours writing a three pager on my reasoning for not relenting in terms of grades. ~~I believe I am right.~~ I am convinced I am in the right. Preparing for the confrontation tomorrow.

Summer plans

2011-06-04T07:06:00.000-07:00

This is about all I want to do during the summer. But I better do other things as well. Like reading, or learning, or networking, or lesson planning, or studying, or inventing, or writing, or some such productive nonsense like that.

But I'll definitely do some of this. It would be lovely. The end of the school year is probably my favorite time of year.

15 level jump

2011-05-25T18:46:00.000-07:00

Student: Ms. Ng! You have a tumblr?!
Me: Yes...
Student: Wow! You just upped like, 15 levels of coolness!
Me: Um, thanks.

The dangers of tutoring and reading emails from my non-school account at the same time. This kid has eyes like an eagle - or maybe she is just particularly sensitive to the word "tumblr" - to be able to see that one message title among 50 on my screen.

~~~

On a more disappointing note, I caught one kid whispering the answers of a test to the kid behind her during class today. The saddest part is that the test wasn't even for their overall grade! It was a diagnostic test to see how ready they are for Algebra 1.

I sent them to the office with referrals right away. Head of student services has a tendency to slap kids who cheat with an automatic Saturday School. Which is well deserved.

But I can't say how much that bummed me out. I really like these two kids too. I am so disappointed in them. They need to be disappointed in themselves.

So goes life

2011-05-24T23:32:00.000-07:00

It's the end of the school year and I'm wrapping things up. Perhaps it's because I have my eye on next year, but there are so many things floating around my head, bouncing through that space like little lightening bolts. The constant thought I have throughout the day is, "Oh, that would make a good blog entry."

But of course, can't blog through the great school firewall. And I can't be attached to my email all day with 160+ young people waiting to react to what I do and say. So the ideas wait. And then I forget about them the moment I get a second to write something proper.

On a different note. I'm beginning to hate those old non-digitized scantrons - the ones where you have to bubble in your own name and ID number. Mainly because I told my class to bubble in their ID number left-justified when it should have been right-justified and now I have to go through 33 scantrons by hand and fix them myself. Idiot.

My summer 2011 reading list

2011-05-21T22:14:00.001-07:00

Right here.

STAR is over!

2011-05-16T18:52:00.000-07:00

w00t! It's over! I know my students are super tired and cranky, but I kind of liked STAR week. I got 2 whole hours first thing in the school day to prep. Got. So. Much. Done. Seriously, we have to get this teacher work day going! Actual work: no meetings, no students, no nada except me, my brain, the curriculum, and my lesson creations.

Let's create something cool! Like this thing! What is it?

More than once this past week, I've had students and parents complain about how we didn't learn the entire curriculum before the STAR. No surprising, since we start on the waning days of August.

Well, I've remedied that - at least for next year. I used iCal to plan the entire 2011-2012 year of lesson pacing (terminology?) during STAR week, and I'm going to BOOK IT from August 29th up to spring break. The goal is to teach everything by spring break, leaving the time from early-mid-April to review for the STAR. This also means that I have to get through half of the curriculum before winter break in order to hold the semester final before students go on their 2-week brain drain.

After STAR, we'll do fun projects and games, I'll also assign homework packets to be turned in once a week rather than on a daily basis (yay! less paper work for me!). We'll spend the week after Memorial Day to review for the semester final and boom! Done!

Wiskey cookies

2011-05-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Parent,

Thanks for notifying me that your child had strep throat when I saw him last - a day which just happens to be the last day my throat didn't feel like it was on fire.

Because at least I know.

~

I think teaching is turning me paranoid about all the germs I'm exposed to on a daily basis. Should spend this summer getting updated on my vaccinations, really should.

Oh yeah, the title? Total inside joke. May not be the best idea for a title, but I'm a little delirious right now from all the Nyquil.

Fancy feast

2011-05-08T09:35:00.000-07:00

Really, NYC prep schools? Really?

Not that a kid shouldn't have one of these hippie-dippie-haute cuisine meals every so often (it's a good experience). But every day? What are you, a trust fund kid?

Oh. Wait.

I'm super interested in meals served at school. Super fascinating topic to me. I've seen the lunch menu at my school before, but I can't rattle it off the top of my head. And I don't really know what each complete meal looks like. When students come to my classroom for lunch, they tell me they don't usually take the complete meal - it's either only the hamburger, or corn dog, or orange chicken. I don't usually see vegetables or fruit (unless it's an apple, and that usually gets thrown away by the students) on their styrofoam plates.

New project: have school lunch?

Weird things

2011-05-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

I think I just taught my worst lesson in front of my principal today. It was disjointed, disorganized, rather haphazard (see Monday's post).

But I kinda had fun. I think the students did too. Quote:

Me: So, tell me what P.S.T. stands for.

Student: Pacific Standard Time!

I had to laugh. I think my principal did too.

Note: P.S.T. is my short-hand for Perfect Square Trinomials.

Don't tell my admin...

2011-05-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

Three wheelin', free wheelin'.

...or my department chair, or my BTSA mentor, or my old CT's, or any of my pedagogy professors, teachers, and, most of all, my students:

I have not created a solid lesson plan in a week, starting with the first day we came back from spring break (aka last Monday).

And it has been AWESOME.

Hm, that sounds kinda weird. Let me explain.

What I mean by "not created a solid lesson plan" is that I have not written something like this in my plan book:

~ warm up
~ homework check
~ new lesson: 10.6 Solving quadratics by completing the square
~ in class practice: problems 1, 2, 3, and 4
~ homework assignment: page and problem #s

I know what I'm doing today, but I don't have a very clear idea of what I'm doing tomorrow, or the day after. I kinda let that sit on the back burner until today is done before I figure out what needs to be done tomorrow.

Some people may consider that as "planning," but certainly not the old me that plans literally down to the minute of what goes on. Things that I should be doing, things that my students should be doing, the outcomes and expectations, objectives, procedures, the standards, list of needed materials, and how it's connected to previous and/or future lessons. I'm the type of person who keeps journals like:

10:46 am - Wash face and eat breakfast of toast and oranges
11:21 am - Leave for post office and bank
11:32 am - Arrive at post office, drop off packages, leave for bank.

Really. I am not joking. I should be officially diagnosed or something.

But something happened during spring break, when I was sitting outside in my backyard, enjoying the sunshine and humming birds and the blue, blue sky, with my plan book and pencil in hand (n00bie lesson #1: always, Always, ALWAYS plan in pencil!) that something inside me snapped.

I put down my pencil.

I closed my plan book. Haven't opened it since.

I showed up last Monday. I relied on my pedagogical practice, my content knowledge, my knowledge of my students, the routines I set up, and my decision making skills. I had a vague idea of where I needed to take my students, but other than that, it was a flight by the seat of my pants.

And it was GOLDEN. I felt so free and unconstrained by an agenda or a list of goals. I could take a teachable moment and go with it. I never realized there were SO FREAKING MANY teachable moments in a day. I enjoyed my time with my students, and it was fun.

Granted, I know this isn't the most sound method of teaching. Which is why I know I'm going to return to solid planning sooner or later (later?). I also don't want to forget what it's like to walk into a classroom with 35 people staring at you and BE IN CONTROL WITHOUT STARING AT A POST-IT LIST OF PROCEDURES ALL THE TIME.

It's great. The lesson plan as my best friend? Nah. My well-honed and practiced skillz are my best friends!

The only keep calm and.... poster that I actually like

2011-04-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

From here.

Failure. Again.

2011-04-27T19:17:00.000-07:00

Pensive reflection of self.

I sent a student to the office for the first time. For defiance. Not the first time he's shown defiance, but I was just sick and tired of it. Didn't want to deal with it. Not today. Not 4th period. Not this kid. He has a lot of issues. I've tried to help. Repeatedly. I've tried to convince him he could succeed. That he could do the work and pull the grade and make the effort.

But not today.

It's a failure. I don't like sending kids to the office. I've never done it before today.

But I don't regret it either. When he was out of the room, I could focus on the rest of the class. I don't want to do it again, however. Will be better tomorrow.

On a completely different note: block days suck. Coincidentally, I don't see 4th period tomorrow, so for them, I'll have to be better on Friday.

I hope I remember.

Spring fever

2011-04-26T18:18:00.000-07:00

Blue and gray skies.

I've been getting lazy as the weather warms up. Well, I guess I've always been lazy - just even more so now.

I still get work done.

I still spend hours grading every day.

I still plan and prep and organize and discipline and hold students to high standards.

But I care a little less about work than before spring break.

...

My attitude is more carefree, less stressed out. Which is kind of the opposite of what should be the norm. CST season is upon us here in Cali and the pressure to not fall down the program improvement plan steadily increases.

Yet, I'm rather detached from all that right now. I don't know if it's because I really don't care how well my students do on the CST, or if it's because I know they'll do decently ok so I'm free to not care.

Or am I deceiving myself into a false sense of security?

Study like a scholar, scholar

2011-04-21T09:46:00.000-07:00

Kind of an oldie, but it never gets old. Spice! Hahaha!

Anyway, I'm on spring break. It's lovely. Unlike winter break, I've been able to wake up no later than 8 AM, and sleep no later than 11. I've been:

- shopping
- flea marketing
- museum-ing
- biking
- Animal Crossing-ing
- cooking
- eating
- cleaning
- organizing
- Handbook-ing

And today, I'l be LA-ing with the prospects of broomballing! Spring break is so much better than winter break. All the fun & friends, without the family obligations.

Re-reading this post, I find that I wrote like a teenage girl blogger. Hey, at least I'm not emo-ing.

Linked

2011-04-12T18:35:00.000-07:00

Today's chain email.

One of my goals is to do one of these WCYDWT activities per term.

And this completely unrelated conversation:

Student: Ms. B, do you like spring break?

Me: Yes I do!

Student: Oh, I thought teachers didn't like breaks from school.

Debunking misconceptions since 1983. That's me.

Mac::Utilities::Grapher::AWESOME

2011-04-09T15:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I showed my Algebra 1 classes how to graph parabolas on Mac's Grapher utility. It was so much fun! Dept. Chair at my school doesn't like to use technology all that much - even though she DOES have an ELMO (uses it like an overhead by the way - she doesn't believe me when I told her you could put the ELMO any where in the room and it'll still project onto the screen ::shrug::).

Going to let them play with Grapher next week to discover the patterns between the graph and equation of a parabola. Gotta make it really structured though. Every time I've used the mobile lab, some stupid kid always ends up doing something they aren't supposed to do.

Being positive about being negative

2011-04-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

Luck and happiness all laid out in a row.

Last summer, one of my closest friends (and a reader of this blog) told me I can sound really negative and jaded sometimes. I told her that she can too. We had a little spat, and then made up, and each have tried to be more positive since.

Whenever I read education blogs, it's easy to stumble upon some really negative ones. No need to point fingers here, since I've been there too. But it really makes me not want to read education blogs - which is kind of sad because these teachers have a lot of good stuff to share underneath all the whining and complaining and negativity.

At the same time, it's necessary to be real as well. This job is tough - and only a truly oblivious person would think otherwise. Frankly, I don't know anyone personally who looks down on the job of teaching. And the pundits who pop up on the fake news circuit every so often are loud, and seemingly in the minority. They can seem more like the majority however, just because they are loud.

Whoa, doesn't that sound a lot like some of the classes I have? The loudest ones are the ones who generally don't rely on themselves to work hard and be nice. There's a lot of blame, and a lot of anger.

I have to remember that some of those people are PAID to be loud and obnoxious. Their very job is to stir up some crazy to get attention, or so they can put something entertaining on the tube. Even the fake news people are rather loud and obnoxious sometimes.

And all this negativity? All the "I can'ts" and "That's stupids" and "We get paid so little and yet do so muches": it won't get me down. There's a way to make things ok. It's not going to be easy. It's not going to be quick. It's not going to be smooth. The plan will change, the results will vary.

But things will be ok.

New Leaf

2011-04-02T12:07:00.000-07:00

All the light blogging for the past month has cleaned my blogging palate. Ready for a fresh start? You bet!

I've been taking a lot of grading home because I've broken Mr. B's Rule #2: Keep on top of the paper work, or else you'll drown. Well, I've drowned and drowned again. The goal this weekend is to get it all done and go back to school on Monday with no grading whatsoever.

Mr. B's Rule #1, of course, is: Take mental health days. At least I followed THAT one.

Spring break and STAR/CST testing seems way closer on this side of April Fool's. It'll be ok, and if not, well, it's not the end of the world.

Stamina - gotz none

2011-03-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, also at this delicious burger - my first one in ages!

This has always been in issue with me. I don't have much stamina - never had. I could sprint the 100 meter dash in the top 5 of my PE class, but I was always dead last when it came to running the mile. I can beat anyone in my tennis group - as long as the match is under 2 hours.

So thus, I am rounding the corner of the 4th and final lap of the school calendar and I. Am. Exhausted. Running on fumes. Beat.

Took two days off - my first official mental health days of the entire year so far. 4 sub days total - not bad, considering. And the first two were because I was sick and had lost my voice.

I foresee at least another sub day before spring break. Spring break! Lovely thought! It won't be a mental health day though, I plan on using that sub day to observe the other math teachers around campus. Whoever is willing to let me swing by and watch for 20 minutes or so.

It'll still be an easier day than a regular teaching day.

And I guess it could be worse. I'm usually in bed, asleep by 9pm. I leave work in the classroom. I exercise and eat healthy things. I read, and cook, and hang out with friends, and journal, and get sunshine (albeit, there has not been a nearly decent drop of sunshine to be had in the past three weeks - maybe that's why I'm a little gloomy) But there's nothing like a long yoga session to make me realize I haven't been breathing right, or holding proper posture, during school hours.

Without all these things, I would be a zombie.

Even with all these things, I'm still more wiped out than I am comfortable with. ::shrug::

Ack! No! Let's think of positive things! This cloud of negativity is horrible. Things I enjoyed during my self-declared 4-day weekend:

- delicious eats like strawberry shortcake, red curry bisque, dad's home cooking, chili baked potato, pineapple baos...
- reading without a time limit
- hanging out with cool people like P Jeh
- sleeping in past ::gasp!:: 7am!
- playing animal crossing like crazy
- buying myself new shoes
- finally getting a chance to watch Avatar all the way through (one LONG movie, but actually pretty good)
- enjoying gifts from my favorite place to get gifts from! (heavy duty Thermos with folding spoon, 0.3mm pencils, 2.3mm erasers, black raspberry eye cream by skin food [the korean one, not the weda one], chinese fashion magazines, korean movies)

Just thinking about the good things has made me less stressed out for tomorrow. Oh tomorrow, you will not beat me!

New home

2011-03-24T18:09:00.001-07:00

This Child Left Behind has moved to tumblr. Or, at least, I'm hogging the url name.

Notes and keys

2011-03-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

Been giving myself a lot of excuses lately. NO MORE!

Reality is reality. Make a change, a little at a time. Reality will still be reality, but some parts can be a dream.

Practice dignity and restraint. Students are watching and every moment is a teaching moment.

Be persistent.

Be consistent.

If you're tired, take a break. A proper break. Not a "crash-and-space-out" break that makes you more tired than before.

Come back stronger.

Hamsters, the other white meat

2011-03-09T18:42:00.000-08:00

These would be a closer guess.

This week has been full of zingers - too many to count. I come home, lock myself in my bathroom and laugh like a lunatic.

Because laughing in front of the students' faces would make them feel bad.

The best one this week so far:

Me: *makes a joke* What do you call a an ambulance for pigs?

*dramatic pause as all eyes stare at me*

Me: A HAMbulance! Hahahaha!

Student #1: I don't get it.

Student #2: Because HAM comes from pigs, dummy.

Student #1: REALLY? Miss, is that true? Ham comes from pigs??

Me: Yes.

Student #2: Where did you THINK ham comes from?

Student #1: I don't know, hamsters?

A teacher's wish list

2011-03-07T17:27:00.000-08:00

It's the 7th month of my 1st year teaching middle school math. I am enjoying the experience. I am learning a lot.

And I think I have finalized my classroom wish list.

This is no ordinary wish list of donations like tissue boxes and reams of copy paper. This is a professional wish list, and it goes something like this:

Wish #1: I would like one full teacher work day for every 10 days of instruction. By "full teacher work day" I mean no meetings, no training sessions, no students, no parent conferences, nada. Just me, in my classroom, prepping. Period.

Wish #2: I would like a week of non-school for every 10 weeks of school. I've already discussed this before, but it never hurts to reiterate it. Seriously, over-work is no-good for anyone.

Wish #3: I would like to watch someone teach MY subject in MY setting to MY students every so often. I would like to hang around to observe, side-teach, etc while this occurs. And I would like to discuss the lesson with this someone.

Wish #4: I would like to be observed by someone every so often, and discuss this observation in relevance to MY setting only. No "what ifs," no "you should do these things." Just "this is what I saw happen, the good and the not so good; do what you will with this information."

Wish #5: I would like to teach some demo lessons in a colleague's setting, to THEIR students in THEIR subject. With chances to repeat with the same class/subject/setting later in the year.

Wish #6: I would like to involve my students in the community, and vice versa.

Wish #7: Tied to wishes #3-5 in a way, I would like to share the observation/demo lesson findings in an academically systematic and journalistic way to whoever would like to know about them. I would like to see the observation/demo lesson findings of other teachers in an academically systematic and journalistic way. I would like to see this happen at local, state, national, and international levels.

When I was 6, I wished for a dog. I got a dog when I was 7.
When I was 14, I wished for a car. I got a car when I was 16.
When I was 17, I wished to study and live abroad. I studied abroad when I was 21. I lived abroad when I was 23.
When I was 25, I wished for work that I liked and my own place to live. I got both when I turned 27.

I've been pretty lucky with my wishes. I'm going to work hard to make that luck happen with these wishes too.

Demoralized

2011-03-06T14:57:00.000-08:00

I watched the March 3rd Daily Show this weekend. This interview, and Ravitch's book, is interesting. I haven't actually read the book, but I've flipped through it recently at the bookstore and would like to read it in depth some time.

The Daily Show interview with Diane Ravitch

A couple funny things: first, the discussion on the education system in Finland. Over a year ago, I wrote a paper citing Finland's turn around of failing schools for one of my master's classes. I actually knew what they were talking about! In detail! This rarely happens for me. I don't read primary source articles often enough, which is why my default statement when asked about what I think on current issues is, "I don't know that much about it, I'll need to study up a bit to form an opinion."

Second, I was highly amused by Stewart's comment on how the teachers who leave work at 2:30 to go shopping with their kids are "sh*t teachers." I know this may or may not be - some of my colleagues do leave school right away, to pick up their own kids and to take care of their families (which probably includes shopping at some point in life). But I also know that these same colleagues put their kids to bed and come back to campus to work in the classroom in the evenings (it's one of the reasons why our school gates don't get locked up until 9pm from Mondays through Thursdays). From waitressing to movie theater ushering to teaching to being the CEO of a company - I believe that you really aren't working at your highest potential until there's some blood, sweat, and tears involved.

Thirdly, there ARE bad workers everywhere. This is why I frequent certain shops and gas stations. Safeway is usually better than Food 4 Less. Chevron is usually better than the local QuikMart. Tacos from a taco truck taste better than Taco Bell's. Even for fast food, Panera and the like are a cut above Subway. There are going to be bad teachers. There are going to be bad days for good teachers. There are going to be good days for bad teachers. There are going to be good teachers. Such a wide variety of situations makes a one-size-fits-all-type system rather ridiculous.

Fourth, the problems of our education system is highly interwined with the problems of our cities and towns. Poverty, crime, unemployment, a lack of community, homeless rates, division between the wealthy and the poor, race tensions, cultural and language differences. Public schools is the locus where all these things meet under one roof. And because it happens in the schoolhouse, the schoolhouse is blamed.

Last but not least: teachers are demoralized. We are wiped out. Exhausted. Broken down. We haven't been able to catch a break since NCLB began. I've experienced this too. I've just gotten lucky with my school and the demographics I teach. I can still teach Title 1 students, but in a place where I am supported by the admin, the veteran staff, and the resources of the community. I have variety in the type of students I teach, from high achieving, high SES, to low achieving, low SES, and everything in between. Despite all the frustrations, I'm constantly reminded by how fortunate I am. This really is the best first year teaching that I could have ever asked for.

Not many teachers have that same luck. Many first year teachers are thrown into an urban, segregated school with little more than warped desks and a cracked whiteboard. And they still perform the miracles that they do: the miracle of teaching a 5th grader how to read a kinder level book. The miracle of convincing 9th graders that they can acheive more than the occupations of their migrant worker parents. The miracle of managing to get through 6 hours without students from rival gangs killing each other because they were enclosed in the same room with bars over the windows.

It's no wonder the nation sees the test scores that it does. It's no wonder that 3 out of 5 teacher quit after their first 2 years.

What is a wonder: that those statistics are not any worse. I'm the first to admit that I can improve my pedagogical skills. But really, it could be worse, much, much worse. Especially if certain policy makers truly have their own way.

Why on earth IS Geometry inserted between Algebra 1 and Algebra 2?

2011-02-26T20:47:00.000-08:00

Maybe only mathematicians and math teachers would understand this but it still might be a good read if you are at all interested one person's opinion of why American mathematics education is full of crap.

I would take it with a grain of salt though. It IS important for students to know math facts - just as important as the discovery of mathematical relationships. I don't know any math person who can't tell you what the square root of 144 is. Instantly - off the top of their heads.

This same math person should also be able to explain, in simple terms, why the square root of 144 is 12 too.

And thus, the conundrum.

That's not my job

2011-02-25T20:29:00.000-08:00

My 4th period class is my Waterloo this year. They drive me insane. So I took away their privilege of choosing their own seats. There was an up roar from certain students - which I expected.

Always Asking For One More Chance Kid: But Miss! Give us one more chance!

Me: No.

AAFOMCK: I'm not happy with this, Miss.

Me: My job isn't to do things that make you happy.

WTGHOWK: This is different Miss. You've changed.

Me: And so too shall you, if I have anything to do with it.

WTGHOWK better make a change. He is pulling a D right now, when he can do so much better than that. It's not even a D due to laziness (which is part of his problem). He's pulling a D because he's getting distracted and not engaging in the math we do daily.

I also made a bit of a break through - well, it feels like a break through right now. It might not actually turn out to be a true break through. But I've finally identified the one thing that makes 4th period the source of all my ulcers this year. And it is Alpha Male Boy.

Alpha Male Boy is very popular, very behind-the-scenes-grandstanding, and very, very charismatic. I had him leave the room to do his work in a different classroom at the top of the class period...and I did my teaching as planned, as I had practiced and adjusted and readjusted...AND I HAD COMPLETE CONTROL AND PARTICIPATION FROM EVERYONE ELSE. I taught the best lesson I had EVER taught to 4th period. I am not even using all caps for hyperbole. It was THAT great of a lesson.

Alpha Male Boy came back about halfway through the class period and the moment he walked back in, I knew it. It was instantaneous. The entire class' attention was back on him. The change was PALPABLE. Even the students who normally pay attention in class without any intervention from me - even THEIR attentions were back on him.

I had never realized just how much this kid had a hold on his peers before. Not until today. I wouldn't be surprised if some of my 4th period class heard my mind being blown away. I cannot fight a magnetic personality like that. It's a power struggle in which I won't win - in which I will drain myself of all energy and life-affirming beliefs if I even try. I just won't win; not at the middle school level, nor with the demographics and individual personalities of my 4th period class.

So I'm not going to fight it. I'm going to manipulate it. I have to make Alpha Male Boy my ally.

And I knew what I had to do. I pulled Alpha Male Boy aside after class and talked to him about leadership. When I asked, he told me he realized he can command his peer's attention. He admitted that he liked it. I told him that his natural talent to hold people in awe isn't a bad thing. That liking it isn't a bad thing either. But the way he uses this power determines not only his own direction in life, but other people's as well. And his direction in life right now, is a direction that was most definitely NOT good.

He had this smirk on his face the whole time. I didn't even have to ask him if he cared, I knew the answer to that already - it was written all over his smirk. I just told him point-blank that he probably doesn't care all that much about where he is going, or what he wants out of his education. I told him that's normal - many 8th graders don't care and don't know.

But I told him that I cared, and I know, and that's all the matters to me because it's my job to make sure he DOES care and DOES know - maybe not now, maybe not by the time he graduates 8th grade and leaves my classroom, but definitely when he's grown up and fully independent.

At this point, I asked him if he thought this was too much pressure. He said no. Knowing him, I guessed as much.

So I told him that he has to exhibit proper leadership qualities that benefit himself and others. That he could come up with his own incentive if he achieves that much (with my approval of course). He said he didn't know what would motivate him (his father had told me all of Alpha Male Boy's privileges at home have been taken away, but it hasn't worked, obviously).

Thus, I'm going unconventional. I'm pretty sure Alpha Male Boy will turn up Monday with no better idea of what he would like as in incentive to be a good leader than today. So I'm going to set up some independent study projects for him including but not limited to:

- mentoring younger students in a buddy classroom (most likely a 6th grade classroom, have to get a 6th grade math teacher in on this plan though, but I have an idea of who I can ask)

- some sort of tech-rich project where he has to create something, like a blog or a video, and share it with the whole of the internet (with parent permission)

These projects will replace the day-to-day assignments that I normally give. He will still have to take the tests and quizzes, but essentially his homework assignments are not practice problems, but a differentiated, guided independent study.

I better get some admin backing on this.

I should also run the idea by the parents.

But my initial gut feeling on this plan is: it'll work. Because throughout our conversation, his smirk slowly but surely drifted away. It came back right at the very end when I let him go - I don't know what that means right now, but I'll figure that out too.

I hope to the good Lord Almighty that it works. Please, let it work.

Student vs. Faculty BBall Challenge!

2011-02-25T05:28:00.000-08:00

Why The Faculty Will Always Lose, Reason #212:

Student From The Top Of The Stands: (shouts at me during the warm up pre-game) Miss!! Go for a 3-pointer!

Me: What's a 3-pointer?

SFTOTS: It's where you shoot from the line!

Me: (looks at the crisscrossed gym floor) Which line?

SFTOTS: That one! No, THAT ONE!

Me: Kid, you've got to be more specific!

SFTOTS did eventually tell me which line was the 3-point line. Needless to say, I did not make the basket. Faculty lost, 51-30. It was awesome.

4-day weekends should happen more often

2011-02-22T15:38:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, it's better to rest than to work.

Sometimes, it's healthier to relax than to stress.

Sometimes, it takes a lot of reminding to remember that it's ok to turn your back to all the demands (i.e. from students, parents, admin, the world, yourself, etc) and just face the sun.

Because the sun doesn't demand anything out of you.

Overheard on the front lines 2

2011-02-20T15:30:00.000-08:00

Where's the innocence? Where's the wonder?

::As I was passing out test papers::

Boy Wonder 1: (whispers to his friend) Man, this is going to be hard.

Boy Wonder 2: (whispers back) That's what she said.

::Me - ><::

I no longer wonder HOW 8th graders know these kinds of jokes - I consume too much of the internet to be naive enough to wonder that anymore. But it doesn't seem like they should be developmentally able to UNDERSTAND these jokes. That's what makes me wonder.

A truer word never said

2011-02-19T15:02:00.000-08:00

Presenter at a district training I went to recently:

"Why do we still persist in teaching students to look for 'key' words in word problems? It's a WORD PROBLEM. All the words are important!"

In terms of grading

2011-02-17T19:15:00.000-08:00

I give myself a treat every so often, like the one above, too.

Several weeks ago, I caught a glimpse of Dept. Chair's grade book on her monitor and was kind of shocked to notice that over a third of one of her classes were getting Fs. She had more F's in one class than I had F/D students in ALL my classes.

I thought it was me - I didn't organize my class rigorously enough, I was being too easy on students, I wasn't properly teaching them.

But I knew that can't be right - at least not completely. I require a lot out of my students. They need to have excellent math syntax, they need to use the vocab correctly, they have a lot of homework, and their tests are the same as Dept. Chair's tests.

Still, it didn't occur to me that something else was going on until I had my mid-year review with my principal. He said that I was among only three 7th/8th grade math teachers with low D/F numbers. Which, to him, is a good thing. He didn't think I was being any less rigorous with grading and academic expectations, but there wasn't a lot of other commentary on it either.

So I took some time to analyze it myself. Here's the break down:

Algebra 1
Period 1: 1 F only, out of 35 students. This kid was absent for an entire week. I have every confidence that he'll catch up.

Period 2: 2 Ds only, out of 33 students. Both students do well on tests, however they have refused to turn in any sort of homework assignment since the first week of the 3rd quarter. I attribute their grade to their own choices, which are well deserved, especially since I allow late work and have been reminding both of them to turn in their stuff.

Period 6: 1 D only, out of 32 students. Kid was absent for a week and a half; is catching up and I'm making sure of it.

Algebra Readiness
Period 3: 1 D+ only, out of 33 students. Also due to many absences. Future absences predicted, since mother informed me this kid has a high chance of being in and out of the hospital in the near future. Preparing material for student's independent study.

Period 4: 3 Fs and 2 Ds, out of 33 students. 2 of the Fs have been getting themselves suspended every other week since January. 1 of the Fs has been in school only on Fridays - literally, her other teachers and I now call her Our Girl Friday - since December. Both Ds are boys being distracted with everything under the sun - with girls, with drama, with girls, with the fact that they won't be at this school next year, with girls, with rivalry with other boys, with girls, etc. Have yet to find a solution outside of suggesting to their parents to send them to a monastery, which may not even work that well for these two gentlemen.

Me thinks it to be fair and awesome, if my two classes with the solo Ds can pull themselves up and out, to reward them with a treat for working hard and letting the hard work pay off. Perhaps brownies would be suitable.

2011-02-16T19:11:00.000-08:00

From here.

It's posts like the picture above that make me want to switch over to Tumblr permanently.

In reality, I just need to work on the content of this blog. It doesn't matter which blogging platform I use - crap will still be crap on either side of the fence.

Yearning to breathe free

2011-02-14T17:26:00.000-08:00

From here.

Couldn't say it better.

I am 8th grader, hear me ask weird questions

2011-02-10T18:35:00.000-08:00

A question of hair.

KoreanKid is in my 3rd period class. He is super smart, super clingy, and super weird. He has lived in this country for less than a year. His English vocabulary, especially when it comes to math terms, is limited, so whenever he asks questions, he becomes rather long winded and I've lost most of the class by the time he finishes asking.

I try not to call on him too often when he wants to ask a question during whole class teaching. This does not deter him from asking his long winded questions anyway.

Today, when he walked into the room, before the bell, he had this doozy of a question for me:

KoreanKid: Ms., is your hair magic?

Me: *gigantic*pause*trying*to*understand*what*he*means*

KoreanKid: Like, how come your hair is short one day and the next day it's long again?

Me: ...Um, probably because I tie my hair up some days, and leave it down other days.

oh-uh-oh-uh-u-h-oooh-oohowhooa-oh-uh-uh-oh

2011-02-07T18:30:00.000-08:00

From here.

There is nothing to do here today, but laugh.

Values, part 2

2011-02-06T15:11:00.000-08:00

A perfectly valid reason: being able to put food on the table.

Awhile ago, I commented about wanting to perform this experiment on my Algebra Readiness students.

Well, this past Friday, I did. A mini version, that is. Most of the quizzes we give fro Algebra Readiness are written by one of my co-workers, who is an excellent teacher. She likes to put random "Starter Questions" for students to answer in the space directly under where they are supposed to write their names. Some sample questions from the past quizzes this year were:

What is your favorite color?

Pepsi or Coke?

What is your favorite candy?

Where would you like to travel?

The students like answering these questions - or I assume they do, since nearly everyone always writes something down pertaining to the Starter Question. It's pretty fun to read them.

The quiz this past Friday was an unplanned quiz that I ended up doing because the math instructional consultant for my school district asked to do a demo lesson for me on Thursday, and she mentioned a quiz to the students. I hadn't told her we would be doing a quiz. I think she just assumed because the lesson she demo-ed on was a mid-chapter review. However the current chapter is so short - only 4 sections - that all the AR teachers just agreed to skip the quiz, even though we all did a mid-chapter review lesson.

Anyway, we had a quiz. I didn't want to back out on that since I had the time and it was a good idea to quiz them before moving on to the next section's material anyway. Most did decently well, which is good.

But since this quiz didn't exist in the first place, I had to write it up myself. As I was writing it, I also took the opportunity to make my own Starter Question.

That is how the story finally comes full circle and relates back to the Scientific American article about students and their values. My question was:

What is your reason for doing well in school?

I did a little number crunching while grading these quizzes. Out of the 49 students who took the quiz, here were their answers:

3 said I don't know

3 said they just wanted to work hard/liked working

3 said they were doing it for the grades

4 wanted good jobs/money

4 wanted to be on sports teams and go to field trips (which require a certain GPA, as well as other things, at my school)

4 said they wanted to succeed/be somebody in life

5 said they wanted to please their parents OR to get their parents off their backs

7 said they wanted to go to college

If you are counting, that's 33 students with one of those above answers so far.

The remaining 16 left it blank.

As I said earlier, nearly all students write something when it comes to these Starter Questions. It's rare to have more than a handful who don't write anything at all. So why 16?

Possible reason #1: They don't know what their reason is, so left it blank.

Possible reason #2: They felt rushed on the quiz (I only gave them 15 minutes on 10 questions - unplanned quizzes are rushed, that's a lesson for me) and skipped it.

Possible reason #3: They don't really care about doing well in school, which is similar to the "I don't know" answer.

Weirdly, most students finished the quiz well within the time limit. So for the purpose of my experiment, I'm going to assume that these 16 blank answers are "I don't knows," making a total of 19 "I don't knows." This assumption may or may not be valid. Further study needs to be done - quite possibly in a more systematic and scientific way than this little mini experiment turned out to be.

19 out of 49 of my 8th graders say they don't know their reason for doing well in school. That's almost 39%.

Wow.

Overheard on the front lines

2011-02-04T18:04:00.000-08:00

I have two legs, what am I?

Actual test question: A farm as chickens and pigs. There are 13 animals in all. Altogether there are 40 legs. How many chickens are there? How many pigs?

Student says: Ms. B, how many legs does a chicken have?

Demographics

2011-01-31T17:35:00.000-08:00

This is really cool.

Really, really cool. It goes down to ethnicity and all the way back to the 1940s. Interesting...

Tiger teacher

2011-01-29T13:19:00.000-08:00

Yeah, yeah, it's a lion, but that's the closest photo I have.

No, I haven't read the book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. It sounds interesting, but it's not at the top of the my To Read list. Maybe because I had a Tiger Mother, and so the story would be old news to me.

The commentary surrounding the book is more immediately consuming for me, particularly two quotes from Nancy Gibb's essay in Time.

First:

Their [what Gibbs calls "Choppers" aka helicopter parents] fury at a bad grade is more likely to land on the teacher than on the child.

And this one:

I suspect one reason the book has touched such a nerve is a suspicion among the Choppers that an excessive fear of failure guarantees it - that if you don't let your kids get clobbered now and then by a tough teacher, they'll never have the resilience to thrive as adults in a competitive economy.

These two quotes basically sum up my week. It's the end of the semester, and I gave some low grades to students who can do better than what they got but didn't, because they didn't turn in assignments on time, or showed little-to-no effort, or were just making some jerk wad choices. I clobbered some of my students because I expected better from them.

And the backlash from certain parents towards my choices have been overwhelming. Not just the parent of T, by the way. There are more.

I know I can't give up being a tough teacher. I can't let myself allow students to slack off. I can't slack off myself. It really is a tiger battle with my students. And the path of least resistance is one I don't want to take.

But sometimes, a tiger needs a quiet place sheltered from the battle to lick its wounds.

An email with humility and sincerity

2011-01-27T18:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Parent of T, I hope your day went well.

Here's an update on what I did for T today:

T came in to see me from around 3-4pm today. She was able to copy the original notes from sections 5.1 to 5.2. Unfortunately, another student had borrowed my 5.3 notes and have not returned them yet, so T did not copy those original notes. However, I did give her an impromptu lesson on 5.3 without the notes anyway.

Then, T took a different, abridged version of the 5.1-5.3 quiz. She was able to get a 100% on it. I put it in the grade book and it does not seem to affect her overall grade significantly - it is a B+, the same as before the retake today.

I would also like to reiterate that re-teaching happens in-class. If students would like more individual attention, they need to see me during my drop-in tutoring hours. I did give the quiz to T right after she returned: it would have been unwise to give her instruction on the quiz material while the rest of the class were sitting in the same room, taking the same quiz. That is why I instructed T to try the quiz anyway: test taking is also a method of learning, and she would be doing the same thing her fellow classmates were doing. I also told her to get a copy of the notes, either from a fellow classmate or from me after school, and to take home the 5.1-5.3 quiz for her re-take. The quiz that I had was the only quiz in my possession in her file, so I assumed she had turned in her re-take. If it is still the first quiz, as you believe it is, then I suppose T never turned in the re-take - of which I am certain I gave her. She was not the only student who was absent, and thus missed the quiz, so I had plenty on hand for them. I do toss out the old quizzes in order to keep the paperwork under control. Perhaps I should not do that anymore.

T never showed up during my tutoring hours to get the notes, so I assumed she was able to find a friend to copy the notes from. This, I also admit, was my fault. I do need to do more binder checks with all students in order to keep them accountable for their note-taking. T was doing well with in-class activities (albeit a little distracted, which is normal after coming back from such a big trip) so I decided to push forward. It is very difficult for students to catch up, as well as keep up with the current material, after a long absence. Pushing forward together with the whole class and doing review daily was a better choice, in my opinion, than holding T back because she had missed some material. I hope you understand, even if you don't agree with, my methods.

I feel the need to lay out my case, and hold that I did everything in my power to help T bridge the gap from her absences, even before today. I do not like the fact that I can't shake off the feeling that T's retake today felt unfair and unjust - not to T, but to her classmates. Although it's probably not your intention, I do not like how this situation feels as if I was being attacked for not doing my job. I am generally flexible with second, and third, and fourth chances. I am also flexible with giving extra time to students to turn in missed work. I do not, and will never, intend to disregard student needs and I hope you do not think I disregarded T, or her learning. I do my best with the time and resources that I have, both of which are limited in supply, so at some point there has to be an end.

I know you may not agree with me, but I still hope that this end is satisfying to you. I have really learned a lot from this event.

With humble regards and sincerity,

This Child Left Behind

**I've already pressed the send button, but on hindsight, it might have been better to swing this by my principal, or dept. chair first. whoops. oh well.

Uptight spinster school marm says...

2011-01-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

I will so go to hell for posting this picture here. But really, it speaks so very loudly.

Last night was the second 7th/8th grade dance of the year. As if it was even possible, students were nastier than at the first dance. The things I saw/disciplined for included, but not limited to:

- grinding
- bumping
- touching; of the inappropriate and the more innocent natures
- moshing
- mushing
- climbing
- swearing
- hollering
- PDA-ing
- excessive hip swinging
- excessive protesting for when they got caught and they knew it

Although I have to say, the boys were much more gentlemanly than at the previous dance. The girls, however, were a whole different story. For example, here's a conversation I had with one of my students near the end of the dance.

Me: Are you having fun?

Girl: Yes.

Me: Are you having too much fun?

Girl: No! No, I'm not Ms. Ng!

Me: Don't you think the boys around you were having too much fun?

Girl: Yes, but I couldn't get out of the crowd! I was stuck in the middle! I wanted to move away, I swear!

(which, to be honest, is kind of fair. I got stuck in the middle of the crowd while trying to sift through the students and create a little space in that space-less amoeba)

Me: Did you tell them you wanted to move away?

Girl: No...

Me: The boys at this school are very gentlemanly. If a girl asks for them to move away a little to get some air, they will oblige. However, if you don't ask, their (tiny hormonal peas for) brains won't think it.

(although, I suspect she actually liked the gaggle of boys that were dancing all around her when I pulled her out)

Dear girl students: RESPECT YOURSELVES! It's not just about inappropriate behavior at school - no. It is much more than that.

Dear boy students: FREAKING POOHCOW. Just because a girl wants to dance with you doesn't mean you need to be so nasty about it. Control is a very manly skill. Get some.

Sigh of relief

2011-01-19T18:55:00.000-08:00

Today was a pretty good day, teaching-wise. The bad days might be over.

For now.

2011-01-18T19:34:00.000-08:00

It's been a weird type of day. A weird type of week. I'm planning a Mental Health day soon. And it's really sad because this past weekend was so much fun and so relaxing. All it took was one day back in the classroom to ruin all the good that resting did.

It's also only been three weeks since winter break.

Today, we had a department meeting to talk about schedule changes. I don't like the bell schedules - we have at least 5 different ones for all the special days we have.

But I'm more than a little ticked off about the school days schedule. It's not something each school can change though - it goes down with the district. Which is just too bad.

Because I absolutely HATE having the end of the first semester after winter break. It's awful.

Why my week sucked

2011-01-14T17:15:00.000-08:00

Reason #6,247:

The setting - 4th period today. Wood Shop Boy is in this class. I call him Wood Shop Boy because his elective is wood shop, and he is forever showing me his creations from that class. He's actually quite talented, artistically and design-wise. He is not so great at math though, VERY teacher intensive. But he tries hard, is polite to everyone (except peers who get on his nerves), and calls me "ma'am." As a general rule, I hate being called "ma'am." However, I don't think I mind it when Wood Shop Boy calls me "ma'am." He doesn't say it like he thinks I'm a "ma'am." He says it like he thinks he is a kid and knows that whatever I'm telling him is for his benefit.

He is not the bad part of this week.

This past week. Students worked together to make a presentation that teaches how to solve a particular problem. Wood Shop Boy and his group walk up for their turn at the front of the room. All of a sudden, Under-Achiever Kid shouts out:

"Border control!"

Oh yeah. Wood Shop Boy is hispanic.

It was not loud enough for everyone in the class to hear. But I heard it, and was livid. I only told him that his actions deserved a double detention at the time, but later I hunted him down and had a serious conversation with him.

Who is he to judge who he thinks belongs here just by the color of people's skin?

He is an immigrant himself. Immigrants work hard to get here. They have to learn a new language, new customs, new education and traffic systems. They have to find a job, and a place to live. They miss their own home, friends, family. But they still come here. They still stay here. There is a reason for that and it is not just because they like an over-abundance of fast food and gas guzzling cars.

By saying this, he just insulted every immigrant in that classroom, which includes many of this fellow students (not just Wood Shop Kid), his teacher - who is also an immigrant, and himself and his family.

Whatever the government is doing with their border laws is the government's business. Whether you agree with the government or not, publicly insulting someone on this derogatory level is absolutely unacceptable in my classroom.

Under-Achiever Kid quickly agreed to double detention and a formal letter of apology to Wood Shop Boy when I told him that if he ever does something like this again, I will personally see to it that he receives a suspension.

I was told later by the 8th grade counselor that handing out suspensions is not within my authority. No, I won't hand out suspensions.

But I can still present my argument for it to the VPs who do.

I don't expect Under-Achiever Kid to do this again - at least not while I'm around. But still. I was so shocked and so angry! I like this kid, he is super-smart and funny. I think that's what makes his actions today so very disappointing.

Chinese Mothers

2011-01-11T19:26:00.001-08:00

On a related note to yesterday's post, here's something interesting to read.

And yes, I am a TOTAL Chinese Mother to my students - and it is indeed a war zone. Every single day.