On the Write Track

Adventures of a first year teacher in a middle school. Things I find, things I experience, and things I think about the unappreciated world of education.

[edunewbie-blog]

Schooool's out for summer!

I did it.

I made it.

I survived.

Year one has been officially over for over a week now, but I took off almost right away for the trip of a lifetime--an Alaskan cruise!  It was my ultimate reward for surviving one of the most difficult 10 months of my life.  Going on such an adventure really forced me to "turn the teacher off" --- though it took me a while to do it.  And even now, I'm still having a little bit of difficulty reassuring myself that I have 2 months to recoup and I don't have to face the daily challenges for a good while.

So, how did it go?  Well, considering I went into the job being told one thing and got another, I think I did OK.  I feel bad for the kids who got landed in the one LA class; they needed a teacher who could devote his/her entire time to their curriculum and their special needs (I mean, I had 3 kids with third grade reading levels in an 8th grade class).  I honestly believe I taught them nothing; the curriculum was a joke and since I was building my writing curriculum from scratch for my other 5 classes, I did not spare much time to go over the county curriculum for LA.  Which, BTW, was 80% social studies materials.  Most of the text had a Civil War or historical theme, and I'm not a history teacher.  How do you teach material you are not very knowledgeable or passionate about?

On the flipside, while building my writing curriculum was a huge challenge, it was also liberating because I had 100% control.  My administration was wonderfully supportive and hands-off.  Now, based on the state writing scores, I'm not sure how much longer they'll necessarily be "hands-off" but naturally, I know a lot more now of what worked, what didn't, and what needs to be addressed next year to work on the problem areas.

I intend to post my most successful lessons and most disastrous ones over the summer.

[edunewbie-blog]

The End of the (1ST) Year

^ Last minute parent panic emails.

^ Administration that doesn't have it together but pretends it does and pats themselves on the back for it.

^ The kids right now.

^ Me right now.

This first journey is nearly over.

[heymissat]

Has anyone else noticed...

that at this point in the school year all your supplies seem to be breaking, broken, or missing?

Part of me is grateful things have lasted this long.

The other part of me is frustrated because kids seem to have no respect for things that don’t belong to them.

[edunewbie-blog]

Omg this! I was just looking at all my broken crayons and missing markers today.

[moosebagel]

I have this adorable student who has the most adorable crush on another student in class. They came up to me this week toward the end of the period and asked me a rather out-of-the-blue question:

“Miss _____, can I ask you to do me a favor?”

Cue my shifty eyes: “Uh, OK. What do you need?”

“Can...

[elvishness-deactivated20191104]

[mybuckystar]

crawling my way to the end of this semester

This is so relevant right now it hurts

[edunewbie-blog]

This is exactly me.  Right now.

[thisdelicatereprieve-blog-deact]

I can’t forget what I saw today; so many teachers punish their students for their own shortcomings. It is their own fault when they can’t manage their classrooms, and then they take away privileges and talk down to their students. Great teachers don’t have behavior issues in…

[moosebagel]

As I’m starting to wrap up my first year as a teacher, I have a big problem with playpretending’s comments.  I teach at a Title 1 school where most of the population comes from low socioeconomic status.  Many, if not most, of my students fall into that category.  Out of 134 students, I am lucky to get contact with 6 parents.  Many of my students have problems with authority and respect, which reflect their home environments.  I have students that are openly disrespectful to me, entitled, and lack the maturity to understand the consequences of their actions.  Many of my students celebrate their detentions and suspensions, as well as their failing grades.

There are some awesome veteran teachers at my school with over 30 years of experience.  Even they admit that the latest generations coming through our school are rough and difficult to handle.  They have the same exact behavior management issues as me.

My point is, if they are not getting the discipline at home, even the most “super” of teachers is going to have a difficult time with behavior management.  It also changes from day to day.  Sometimes my worst classes will have a “shockingly good” day.  Sometimes my best classes will have a “shockingly bad” day.  I have a positive behavior reward system into which I invest a couple hundred dollars each semester.  I had an event in my class just yesterday in which 3 of 134 sets of parents  showed up.  All 3 of them stated it was the first middle school event they had been invited to.  It got me thinking:

Behavior management is not the responsibility of just the teacher.  It is the responsibility of everyone involved in the life of that child.  Sure, my school hands out fliers to the kids for our reading nights and the fraction of our population attending our school for our engineering magnet program have events, but the rest of our school is not doing enough to reach out to parents to get them involved with the lives of their children.  We constantly make accommodations for socioeconomic status when we should be encouraging these populations to break the cycle.

So, the school should be doing more to help teachers with behavior management.  Because if even my principal cannot get my worst class to listen to her, I don’t feel so bad about my own skills.  Sure, with experience I should learn how to be more effective, but all the factors are not just ME.

[edunewbie-blog]

The last days of spring break.  ::dying whale noise::

[aroundthecoffeepot]

[edunewbie-blog]

An open letter to public education (x)

[edunewbie-blog]

SPRING BREAK!

I made it!

Spring Break is finally here, and man, is it needed.  Teachers and students alike have been crawling the walls.  I was warned behavior would continue to disintegrate, and I've been warned still that it'll continue to get worse until summer.  Y'know, considering behavior management is about 80% of the job, it's mind blowing that you get no instruction or counseling in it either while going through your program or at your school.

Now that I'm nearly at the home stretch of the end of my 1st year, I've learned a lot but still feel I have so much left to learn.  There are so many aspects to the job that requires mastering, finessing, and constant adapting.  What's sad is the one section of 8th grade LA that I have seems to be beyond help now.  It's really up to God to determine how well they do on the state tests and whether or not they pass my class.  They'll likely do the later, because the school likes to push children through who do not have the capacity to be promoted to high school.  I know much of it has been me.  I've been building and creating my own curriculum for writing, then relying on the other 8th grade teachers to tell me what to do for LA.  Only, we've been on different pages for over a month now, so much of what I've been doing in that class has been decided literally an hour before class begins.  The behavior is so poor, the class so unmotivated to cooperate and do well, that it just feels like crisis control for 55 minutes.  I've tried everything, everyone including and not limited to the principal have tried to intervene.  It's too late to move kids, but then there's only 1 other standard section for that same class period to move them to--and it's just as messed up over there, too.

Meanwhile, I have 3 great writing classes and 2 hellish ones.  One of those is just completely disrespectful, lazy, and unmotivated.  The other is completely out of control with physical behaviors and excessive talking.  Out of 22 kids in the later class, I only received 7 final projects the day it was due.  Contacting all of those parents, I only received feedback from one.

This break is like a Godsend and I'm trying hard not to think about the long stretch between the end of this week and the end of the school year without another one.

[edunewbie-blog]

Almost There

4 School days until spring break.

I can do this.

However, I need to grade poetry books right now.

I don't want to do this.

[edunewbie-blog]

You need to think. Come up with one thought. On your own.

Student: I don't know how to answer this question

Me: It's asking for your opinion--what you think of education development in third world countries. You need to support why you think or feel the way you do by citing examples from the video and article.

Student: But what do you mean...what I think?

Me:...Like your own thoughts. It's can't be wrong. You just need to support it.

Student: But like, how do I know what to write?

Me: It's your own thoughts. About what you think about this topic.

Student: *blank stare*

I literally do this EVERY.DAY. Twenty times a day.

[gjmueller-deactivated20181226]

Half of America’s public school teachers say they feel great stress several days a week and are so demoralized that their level of satisfaction has dropped 23 percentage points since 2008 and is at its lowest in 25 years, according to an annual survey of educators.

US teachers’ job satisfaction craters (via gjmueller)

[edunewbie-blog]

High Stakes

Already 6 weeks in to the second semester!  I'm not quite sure, emotionally, where I fall on the stereotypical "first year teacher" chart.  Compared to this point last semester, I think I can confidently say that I am ... more confident.  The small changes I was able to make for my new batch of students from day one have definitely helped with classroom management.  It is by far still far from perfect, but better.  These changes are primarily the rules for cleaning up and being dismissed.  The kids are definitely trained that the bell doesn't dismiss them, I do.

7th grade, also, seems to be a little better fit for me.  While I have 2 class periods in particular that are total hell--one is just flat-out rebellious, rude, and disrespectful and the other is just a preschool madhouse of behavior--I have 3 that are filled with kids who are a lot more cooperative, sweeter, and maybe just a bit more concerned about their grades.

But they have absolutely ZERO study skills.  After 3 weeks on the parts of speech (a 3rd grade concept), a test review, and 4 days to study--only a handful of my kids passed the 10 question quiz.  A quiz I was afraid I made way too easy.  A quiz that I basically gave them the answers to moments before they took it.  My rebellious class just didn't study at all; not only that, they didn't care and blamed me for them failing.  Many of them changed their tune when they realized how much it impacted their grade and that progress reports were coming out this week.  I'm plum at a loss at why so many still have not nailed down what a proper and common noun are ... or what the definition of a preposition is.  Especially after 3 weeks of differentiated instruction!

Then there's my one section of Language Arts.   We're nearing the end of a month-long intensive bootcamp for essay writing in preparation for the state writing test.  My group is not vested at all in their education, which had finally gotten the attention of administration--after all my calls for help.  The head of my department is now helping me daily in that class to whip them into shape, and I've had deans and the behavior specialist come talk to them--even the principal.  While there are some notable gains in their writing (thank GOD), their behavior and attitudes continue to keep me from doing my job.  Contacting home has been unsuccessful so far, and detentions don't work.

Stress is high because the state tests are looming and so much rides on them.  We're also forced into implementing a new initiative to have the kids use "scales" to monitor their progress--which we're being evaluated on over the next few weeks.  Scales that no one seems to know the correct way of writing, that the kids are intimidated by, that take time out of instruction, and that WE have to write--only to re-write them in 2 years for the CCS!

God bless the 3 day weekends--but then once spring break is over, we're in it for the long haul to summer.

[edunewbie-blog]

Actual reprimand in class:

Boy: Okay, so there is this Pandorica...

Girl: And it's a box?

Me: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, IF YOU DON'T STOP TALKING ABOUT "DOCTOR WHO" AND GET YOUR RESEARCH CARDS DONE FOR THE DAY I'M GOING TO START YELLING SPOILERS AT YOU.

Boy: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I'm working! I'm working! I'll work for 2,000 years for you!

[edunewbie-blog]

Hooters

Student: Miss ___! It was my birthday on Tuesday!

Me: Great! Did you do anything special?

Student: No, but I'm going to Hooters this weekend!

Me: I hope just for the wings.

Student: Of course. Have you been there?

Me: A long time ago, yes.

Student: But just for the wings, right?

[edunewbie-blog]

Back to School

Students return on Wednesday; today and tomorrow are teacher workdays, so it's a nice transition back into a routine.  My break was nowhere near relaxing enough.  There was crisis after crisis before school even ended, and things have only leveled out as of today, it seems.  Just in time for me to go back.  I have had anxiety dreams and anxiety in general since last Thursday.  Going back today, the anxiety peaked.  Not sure why, as I had no students--and most of my problem kids won't be with me again.  But the place just seems to trigger overpowering anxiety.

There's a ton to do, between cleaning the classroom and prepping for 5 new classes.  The anxiety triggered a health problem that wasted me for many hours, so I didn't accomplish as much as I wanted.  BUT.  I did manage to plan 4 weeks of lesson plans AND sketch a 6 week schedule until spring break!

My one prep for language arts, though, is another matter entirely.

I just may get my Sundays back.  Wish me luck.

[adiemtocarpe]

“Student A can’t sit by Student B, C, or D

Student B can’t sit by E, F

Student C can’t sit by G, H, I

Student D can’t sit by anyone…”

And so on…

[ohsnix]

Add to that “I think Student G and B get along well and would like to be together, but would they distract each…

[edunewbie-blog]

My school wants us to seat students by their standardized test scores.  A high needs to sit by a low.  The mid-low needs to sit across from the high, and the mid across from the low.

Yeah.  That doesn't happen in my classroom.  My students lack maturity, so I group them by behavior.  At a school in a more affluent area, maybe, but not at my title 1.

Nevermind that 5 of my 6 classes are primarily made up of the same tested proficiency level, so grouping them that way is a waste of time.  Because I have very little differentiation.