Started my Native American unit today. And, sadly to say it doesn't seem to be going that well. I figure I have had so much to say, that a lot of times I just seem to ramble in front the class. They have been able to see my enthusiasm for the topic which I hope they get into, but content wise it is a little all over the place.
For my first period class, I told them "it's been two months since the start of school, I know all your names, so I figure at this point you can sit where you want." Then the kids moved around, spread out throughout the room. As I got going, I kept eliminating rows that they would have been able to sit in: can't sit in the back row, or side rows, or front row. Soon they were all boxed in together and I told them that they had to move all the desks closer to each other. They started to complain and whine about being so close to each other. One girl goes, "is this just like that fiancee story? Is this meant to be some historical lesson?" It was. I just yelled, "RESERVATION SYSTEM!" and tried to start a discussion about what it felt to be boxed in and so on. They didn't get into it because they were too upset about me moving seats around in the first place.
Oh well.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
11/11/11ish
Yesterday, I was trying to get my students to a deeper level of understanding about Reconstruction and the different viewpoints of it. One viewpoint was Lincoln's which called for the South to be forgiven and he wanted the US to move on after the Civil War ended. The other viewpoint is that of the Radical Republicans which called for the South to get punished for what they did, and forgiveness was not an option.
I talked a lot about how Lincoln was all about forgiveness, and I didn't think I was really getting the point across as to how much of an extreme idea this really was. How could you really forgive your enemy after you've fought for 4 years? So I asked the class, "How many of you, if you were in Lincoln's shoes, would forgive the South now that the Civil War has ended?" Just as I thought would happen, practically every hand in the class is raised. All of the kids swear they would forgive the South and then say that they wouldn't punish them.
So that's when I start to tell a story:
"I was talking to my friend from college the other day, just catching up and seeing how they've been doing. After talking for a while, we started to ask about our friends that graduated with us and if any news about them had happened. My friend told me how Danielle, our mutual friend, got engaged in April and is going to get married in about two weeks on 11/11/11."
- - - the kids start to get wrapped up in the story, some girls start to say how they think it's so cute getting married on 11/11/11 and how good luck that is and everything like that - - -
"So wedding is all planned out, a lot of the stuff has already been paid for, bought the dress and everything. Well, my friend just told me over the phone that last week, Danielle found out her fiancee has been cheating on her."
- - - at this point a giant gasp that goes through the room - - -
"I think it's ridiculous, she totally shouldn't marry the guy now. I think she should call it off. Well apparently Danielle has decided to keep going as planned. She figured she's already paid for everything, it's just over two weeks away, people have bought plane tickets, and all that stuff. She said that she'll just marry him like it was originally intended and they'll figure out their problems after the wedding and move on from there. I think this is crazy, what do you all [students] think about this? Is she insane? I'm asking you because I want to see if I'm being ridiculous for feeling this way."
- - - now the students start to chime in, girls are calling for him to dump him, someone else calls for some sort of physical altercation, one girl even says that Danielle should marry him and then divorce him right away so she can get half of all his stuff - - -
So I ask the class, how many would forgive the guy? How many would go along with the wedding as planned? No one raised their hands. When I ask if she should dump him and if he should get punished in some way, every hand emphatically shoots up in the air.
I ask them, "is she ridiculous to think that they should get married and move on and be a couple and figure out the problems later?" Everyone dramatically nods their heads, "so do you now see how extreme and radical Abraham Lincoln really was that he would want to forgive the South?"
At this point people start to get angry, "what do you mean that was all made up!?" "you lied to us! do you even have a friend named Danielle, was anything in that story real?" One girl says that she was unhappy with the ending of the story and wanted me to make it a happy ending that makes everything better, she claimed she really got into it and was upset it wasn't real.
But the students got the point, they realized Lincoln was extreme for his forgiveness and the Radical Republicans weren't even that radical because their viewpoint was that of human nature.
In any case, my kids probably don't trust me anymore.
I talked a lot about how Lincoln was all about forgiveness, and I didn't think I was really getting the point across as to how much of an extreme idea this really was. How could you really forgive your enemy after you've fought for 4 years? So I asked the class, "How many of you, if you were in Lincoln's shoes, would forgive the South now that the Civil War has ended?" Just as I thought would happen, practically every hand in the class is raised. All of the kids swear they would forgive the South and then say that they wouldn't punish them.
So that's when I start to tell a story:
"I was talking to my friend from college the other day, just catching up and seeing how they've been doing. After talking for a while, we started to ask about our friends that graduated with us and if any news about them had happened. My friend told me how Danielle, our mutual friend, got engaged in April and is going to get married in about two weeks on 11/11/11."
- - - the kids start to get wrapped up in the story, some girls start to say how they think it's so cute getting married on 11/11/11 and how good luck that is and everything like that - - -
"So wedding is all planned out, a lot of the stuff has already been paid for, bought the dress and everything. Well, my friend just told me over the phone that last week, Danielle found out her fiancee has been cheating on her."
- - - at this point a giant gasp that goes through the room - - -
"I think it's ridiculous, she totally shouldn't marry the guy now. I think she should call it off. Well apparently Danielle has decided to keep going as planned. She figured she's already paid for everything, it's just over two weeks away, people have bought plane tickets, and all that stuff. She said that she'll just marry him like it was originally intended and they'll figure out their problems after the wedding and move on from there. I think this is crazy, what do you all [students] think about this? Is she insane? I'm asking you because I want to see if I'm being ridiculous for feeling this way."
- - - now the students start to chime in, girls are calling for him to dump him, someone else calls for some sort of physical altercation, one girl even says that Danielle should marry him and then divorce him right away so she can get half of all his stuff - - -
So I ask the class, how many would forgive the guy? How many would go along with the wedding as planned? No one raised their hands. When I ask if she should dump him and if he should get punished in some way, every hand emphatically shoots up in the air.
I ask them, "is she ridiculous to think that they should get married and move on and be a couple and figure out the problems later?" Everyone dramatically nods their heads, "so do you now see how extreme and radical Abraham Lincoln really was that he would want to forgive the South?"
At this point people start to get angry, "what do you mean that was all made up!?" "you lied to us! do you even have a friend named Danielle, was anything in that story real?" One girl says that she was unhappy with the ending of the story and wanted me to make it a happy ending that makes everything better, she claimed she really got into it and was upset it wasn't real.
But the students got the point, they realized Lincoln was extreme for his forgiveness and the Radical Republicans weren't even that radical because their viewpoint was that of human nature.
In any case, my kids probably don't trust me anymore.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Nope, don't got one of those
Today was wicked boring. I even told the kids that up front. I said, "all we're doing today is taking notes. They are going to be boring notes, and there are going to be a lot of them. I'm trying my best to make this interesting, but we have to get through this because it is important ..." That is one of the many things that I still remember from student teaching. My cooperating teacher would always say, "they're going to be able to see right through you, so just be up front with them. If it'll be boring, just tell them. They'll respect you more for being honest about it."
In any case, we studied the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant and the Compromise of 1877 today. Both things I didn't even cover last year, so I feel like I'm teaching this year's students a whole lot more already. It was boring, but I did try to make it fun with my presentation. Trying to engaging, funny, and interactive. It worked with some of the classes, they're a good group this year. It's gotten to the point where they're talking and taking part in class so that's good. At the beginning of the year they would just sit there stone-faced and not say a word. I'm glad we've moved past that.
Tomorrow they're Twitter Projects are do (similar to the Twitter quiz from two posts ago) hopefully those turn out well. Also, I'm doing a surprise activity that I'm nervous about it because it may work really well, or it may blow up in my face. But I'll write about how it goes tomorrow.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For my internship for administration right now, I have to complete a series of projects within my school. For my first project I wrote out a twelve page evaluation and analysis of the Dean system my school uses for discipline. For my second project, I'm working with the school's Crisis Management or Emergency Plan. Every classroom has (or should have) an Emergency Binder. It's a simple, red, three-ringed binder that contains all the plans for evacuations, lockdowns, bomb threats, etc.
After school today, I went around to twenty different classrooms to see if they had their Emergency Binder. Out of the twenty, ten had them and ten didn't. I walked into a few rooms and right away I could find them without even asking where they'd be. One room I walked in, I asked the teacher there if he knew where the binder was, he just looked at me and said, "Yeah, I don't think I have one of those, and if I did I have absolutely no clue where it would be." So that's good.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
My Native American unit starts next week!
Recommendation count: 20-6
In any case, we studied the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant and the Compromise of 1877 today. Both things I didn't even cover last year, so I feel like I'm teaching this year's students a whole lot more already. It was boring, but I did try to make it fun with my presentation. Trying to engaging, funny, and interactive. It worked with some of the classes, they're a good group this year. It's gotten to the point where they're talking and taking part in class so that's good. At the beginning of the year they would just sit there stone-faced and not say a word. I'm glad we've moved past that.
Tomorrow they're Twitter Projects are do (similar to the Twitter quiz from two posts ago) hopefully those turn out well. Also, I'm doing a surprise activity that I'm nervous about it because it may work really well, or it may blow up in my face. But I'll write about how it goes tomorrow.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For my internship for administration right now, I have to complete a series of projects within my school. For my first project I wrote out a twelve page evaluation and analysis of the Dean system my school uses for discipline. For my second project, I'm working with the school's Crisis Management or Emergency Plan. Every classroom has (or should have) an Emergency Binder. It's a simple, red, three-ringed binder that contains all the plans for evacuations, lockdowns, bomb threats, etc.
After school today, I went around to twenty different classrooms to see if they had their Emergency Binder. Out of the twenty, ten had them and ten didn't. I walked into a few rooms and right away I could find them without even asking where they'd be. One room I walked in, I asked the teacher there if he knew where the binder was, he just looked at me and said, "Yeah, I don't think I have one of those, and if I did I have absolutely no clue where it would be." So that's good.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
My Native American unit starts next week!
Recommendation count: 20-6
Monday, October 24, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
This Week's Recap:
MONDAY - Civil War Test!
TUESDAY - Lincoln's Assassination, beginning of Reconstruction
WEDNESDAY - Johnson's Impeachment (GOT OBSERVED)
THURSDAY - Former Slaves in the Post-War South
FRIDAY - State Testing!
The week went generally fine, took until thursday to be fully recuperated from Sunday's half marathon. One of my classes found out (because I told them) about me running a half marathon and then winding up in the ER a few hours later for severe dehydration. By the end of the day, I had a student come up to me, "I heard you passed out halfway through a 5k." Glad to see my story was getting retold accurately.
In any case, yea Reconstruction! Last year I "taught" this chapter in a span of 2 days. I've extended it to a week and a half, still moving quickly though. Got observed wednesday and my program director loved the lesson! One the last page of the evaluation sheet he always fills out the sections that say Commendations and Recommendations. Under commendations, he wrote three comments, then crossed out recommendations, so he could write three more commendations. I thought the lesson was boring and dull, but he loved it. Also wednesday, I gave the kids a pop quiz on Lincoln's Assassination by making a fake trending topic Twitter page and the students had to fill out the real identities of the Twitter users based on their comments on the Lincoln Assassination.
ATTACHED:
On thursday, we talked about life of a former slave in the post-war South. We covered Jim Crow Laws, Plessy v. Ferguson, Black Codes, 15th Amendment, voting rights, and so on. When we covered literacy tests as a way for southerners to restrict the black vote, I wanted to give the kids an understanding of what it might be like to be illiterate. So I took a handout one of my roommate got in his class on Special Education, of what a child with dyslexia sees when he/she tries to read something. I thought it was really cool, and I could also brag to the kids that I could read the whole thing without even trying.
Here's a picture of it if you want to check it out, and the "translated" text is below it.
Children with particular
problems may reverse letters and
may not be able to make out what
they say. They may see some
letters for others, they may
pronounce letters so that they do
not form words that make sense to
them. If you study these w0-
-rds long enough you should be
able to figure out what they ar-
-e saying because you have had
certain experience that allows
you to substitute some letters
for others and then to make
sense out of them. The child
with learning problems has not
had the same types of
experiences that you have had
and so cannot substitute in the
same manner as others.
But on friday I spent the day grading the tests from Monday since the kids were occupied taking the state standardized tests. Woohoo free work day! Ended up finishing all the tests and found 8 tests where the kids just didn't do the second essay question that was worth 15 points. One girl managed to get an 84 without the second essay, another student ended up with a 59. But 8 students! Ridiculous!
Also so far this year, I have written 17 letters of Recommendation and I still have 7 more to go. Who knows how many more kids will ask me for one, this is just what I get for teaching all juniors.
TUESDAY - Lincoln's Assassination, beginning of Reconstruction
WEDNESDAY - Johnson's Impeachment (GOT OBSERVED)
THURSDAY - Former Slaves in the Post-War South
FRIDAY - State Testing!
The week went generally fine, took until thursday to be fully recuperated from Sunday's half marathon. One of my classes found out (because I told them) about me running a half marathon and then winding up in the ER a few hours later for severe dehydration. By the end of the day, I had a student come up to me, "I heard you passed out halfway through a 5k." Glad to see my story was getting retold accurately.
In any case, yea Reconstruction! Last year I "taught" this chapter in a span of 2 days. I've extended it to a week and a half, still moving quickly though. Got observed wednesday and my program director loved the lesson! One the last page of the evaluation sheet he always fills out the sections that say Commendations and Recommendations. Under commendations, he wrote three comments, then crossed out recommendations, so he could write three more commendations. I thought the lesson was boring and dull, but he loved it. Also wednesday, I gave the kids a pop quiz on Lincoln's Assassination by making a fake trending topic Twitter page and the students had to fill out the real identities of the Twitter users based on their comments on the Lincoln Assassination.
ATTACHED:
Here's a picture of it if you want to check it out, and the "translated" text is below it.
Children with particular
problems may reverse letters and
may not be able to make out what
they say. They may see some
letters for others, they may
pronounce letters so that they do
not form words that make sense to
them. If you study these w0-
-rds long enough you should be
able to figure out what they ar-
-e saying because you have had
certain experience that allows
you to substitute some letters
for others and then to make
sense out of them. The child
with learning problems has not
had the same types of
experiences that you have had
and so cannot substitute in the
same manner as others.
But on friday I spent the day grading the tests from Monday since the kids were occupied taking the state standardized tests. Woohoo free work day! Ended up finishing all the tests and found 8 tests where the kids just didn't do the second essay question that was worth 15 points. One girl managed to get an 84 without the second essay, another student ended up with a 59. But 8 students! Ridiculous!
Also so far this year, I have written 17 letters of Recommendation and I still have 7 more to go. Who knows how many more kids will ask me for one, this is just what I get for teaching all juniors.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Pre-Assessment
For our next chapter (Reconstruction) I gave my students an online survey-ish quiz to find out what they already know about this point in US History.
I assigned it this morning, so the responses have been coming in slowly up to now, but I figured I could share a few of the gems with you.
QUESTION: What ended Reconstruction?
QUESTION: What is the famous line from Plessy v. Ferguson?
QUESTION: What are Jim Crow Laws?
ANSWER: System that established segregation and black codes
QUESTION: Who was the first president to die in office?
I assigned it this morning, so the responses have been coming in slowly up to now, but I figured I could share a few of the gems with you.
QUESTION: What ended Reconstruction?
- Re-Reconstruction
- Me
- The builders were done
- Construction
- 50 Cent
- WWI
QUESTION: What is the famous line from Plessy v. Ferguson?
- It's on
- Never Lie
- Four score and seven years ago
- I love you, you love me, we're a happy family
- Let them eat cake
- To infinity and beyond
- Play. Laugh. Grow.
- To be or not to be
- I. Don't. Know.
- In any war, there are calms between the storms. There will be days when we lose faith. Days when our allies turn against us. But the day will never come when we forsake this planet and its people. For I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to the universe: We are here. We are home.
- Give me liberty or give me death
- Just Dance
- If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much
QUESTION: What are Jim Crow Laws?
- Laws that disallowed Jim to own crows?
- They kill crows
ANSWER: System that established segregation and black codes
QUESTION: Who was the first president to die in office?
- The 17th one
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Ronald Reagan
- JFK
Friday, October 14, 2011
All Hail the King!
Homecoming week is coming to a close. It officially ends tomorrow with the Homecoming Football game against a school rival, and then the Homecoming Dance tomorrow night.
This week was full of all sorts of random events. Twin Day on Tuesday where kids (and teachers) picked a twin and dressed the same. Thursday was College-Sweatshirt Day where everyone gets to wear a college sweatshirt over their uniform and then each class and the faculty has a 4 person team that plays in the College Bowl - a quiz bowl / trivia game. FACULTY WON! (I wasn't on the team though - absolutely not).
Today all the hallways were decorated to each class's theme: Freshmen - 20th Century, Sophomores - Ancient Egypt, Juniors - Wild West, Seniors - Future. Hallways were pretty good overall. We had our Homecoming Rally, complete with skits by all four classes.
Finally, they announced the Homecoming Court and the Faculty Homecoming King and Queen.
ALL HAIL KING ME! Yep, the seniors elected me Faculty Homecoming King - apparently my face was ridiculously red. They gave me a crown and everything.
This week was full of all sorts of random events. Twin Day on Tuesday where kids (and teachers) picked a twin and dressed the same. Thursday was College-Sweatshirt Day where everyone gets to wear a college sweatshirt over their uniform and then each class and the faculty has a 4 person team that plays in the College Bowl - a quiz bowl / trivia game. FACULTY WON! (I wasn't on the team though - absolutely not).
Today all the hallways were decorated to each class's theme: Freshmen - 20th Century, Sophomores - Ancient Egypt, Juniors - Wild West, Seniors - Future. Hallways were pretty good overall. We had our Homecoming Rally, complete with skits by all four classes.
Finally, they announced the Homecoming Court and the Faculty Homecoming King and Queen.
ALL HAIL KING ME! Yep, the seniors elected me Faculty Homecoming King - apparently my face was ridiculously red. They gave me a crown and everything.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Right ... Parents Night
Meant to update earlier about Parent-Teacher Conferences, but generally they went really well.
First off I saw more parents Thursday night, than I did all of last year - which was only about 33. Some of the teachers who teach freshmen saw at least 60+.
I got a lot of really nice compliments from parents. Many of them said how their son/daughter really liked by class, others said their son/daughter told them they had to come see me "because he's so cool." -- I take all of those with a grain of salt, the parents may have just been trying to be nice to me so I like their student better - Suckers that won't work!
I had another parent that said, "when he comes home at night he always talks about your class. He told me that in your class, when you talk it seems like you only talk for 5 minutes but then he looks at the clock and realizes it's been 40." I thought that was a great compliment because most times i feel like I'm just droning on in front of the class.
Another parent was trying to find my table in the cafeteria, and when she finally came over she told me she had asked one of the student volunteers where I was sitting. The student told her, "Oh, he's in the back corner, he's the one that looks like a teddy bear." Awesome - students think i look like a teddy bear. Really?
But I did have the classic parent conference mixed in with the others. I have a student who is a really smart kid, he might not appear to be paying attention but if you ask him a question in class, he'll get it perfectly. anything we do in class he is great at. However, he problem is that he doesn't do any work outside of school. At this point in the year, he's only handed in one homework assignment on time. It was clear his mom was very frustrated with him. It was also clear that she was on the verge of tears during the conference because nothing I said about the student was a surprise to her. Classic example of a kid doing nothing with his potential. I did say at least 25 times that he is a great kid - didn't seem to do anything for the parents.
- But, friday after school this kid came to talk to me. We talked about his homework, what he can make up, and different things from parent-conferences. So I'm hopeful maybe things might turn around for him - but that is pretty unrealistic of me.
First off I saw more parents Thursday night, than I did all of last year - which was only about 33. Some of the teachers who teach freshmen saw at least 60+.
I got a lot of really nice compliments from parents. Many of them said how their son/daughter really liked by class, others said their son/daughter told them they had to come see me "because he's so cool." -- I take all of those with a grain of salt, the parents may have just been trying to be nice to me so I like their student better - Suckers that won't work!
I had another parent that said, "when he comes home at night he always talks about your class. He told me that in your class, when you talk it seems like you only talk for 5 minutes but then he looks at the clock and realizes it's been 40." I thought that was a great compliment because most times i feel like I'm just droning on in front of the class.
Another parent was trying to find my table in the cafeteria, and when she finally came over she told me she had asked one of the student volunteers where I was sitting. The student told her, "Oh, he's in the back corner, he's the one that looks like a teddy bear." Awesome - students think i look like a teddy bear. Really?
But I did have the classic parent conference mixed in with the others. I have a student who is a really smart kid, he might not appear to be paying attention but if you ask him a question in class, he'll get it perfectly. anything we do in class he is great at. However, he problem is that he doesn't do any work outside of school. At this point in the year, he's only handed in one homework assignment on time. It was clear his mom was very frustrated with him. It was also clear that she was on the verge of tears during the conference because nothing I said about the student was a surprise to her. Classic example of a kid doing nothing with his potential. I did say at least 25 times that he is a great kid - didn't seem to do anything for the parents.
- But, friday after school this kid came to talk to me. We talked about his homework, what he can make up, and different things from parent-conferences. So I'm hopeful maybe things might turn around for him - but that is pretty unrealistic of me.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Parents Night
Hola,
Parent-Teacher Conferences are tonight for the first semester. Can't wait!
Beyond that not too much has happened lately. We've finished up the Civil War as of today. Long weekend approaches. Video projects are due on Tuesday ....
That's about it, a better update will come after tonight is over.
Parent-Teacher Conferences are tonight for the first semester. Can't wait!
Beyond that not too much has happened lately. We've finished up the Civil War as of today. Long weekend approaches. Video projects are due on Tuesday ....
That's about it, a better update will come after tonight is over.
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