Lukr

Post 1 So far I feel like my CT lacks the drive to push students further in their education and tends to stay at the bottom level of Bloom's taxonomy. When teachering about Jimmy Carter and what he did, she never asked them to evaluate why we should be good to each other or asked them to create a situation where you could be a humanitarian. When I try to push them, I don't seem to get any support from her to continue probing, so I don't know if they really learned anything or not. However, we are on a strict schedule set up by the admins. so perhaps when we start doing our own lessons she will want to push them and it will be different.

This might have happened because the GRPS gives us a lot of material and the teacher does not want to take the time to go deeper into a question. I also feel that after teaching for so many years she may have lost a little of the drive to teach. I hope that this will change after the MEAP test, but right now I feel like the district is making my students lose out on education, and my teacher is complying with them. I do not want to lose my young enthusiasm for teaching this early. When I teach I really want to take my curriculum apart (especially the stuff the district hands down to me) to see what goals really need to be accomplished and what information must be passed down. Then I will rewrite the lesson plans to fit more to my style and to use critical thinking to answer the same questions, so that hopefully the students truly learn the information, and not just repeat it.

Luke, I'm glad to see that you remain optimistic that you could take what the district hands teachers and nuance it to teach critical thinking. It sounds like you already identified one such place in the possible discussions that could have taken place about Carter. -LE

Post 2

During MAP testing, the students are herded, single file, down the hall and are told to stand against the wall next to the computer lab, facing the teachers. When the students move about to the left or right, or just move off the wall, they are told by the administrators of the MAP exam, "You, Back against the wall!" When students lean against the wall with one foot on the wall for balance, they are told, "You, foot off the wall!" Today, one student who was waiting for a laptop to be available was sitting in his chair, facing the administrator and remaining quiet. He was reprimanded for facing the wrong way, even though no rules were given to him prior nor could he cheat since he did not even have a computer in front of him. The administrator then told the student to turn around and face the wall. This probably happened because the administrators, who are also teachers, don't know the students and therefore do not treat the students with the same respect we might. It also might have happened because students do not want to be MAP tested and therefore the previous hours/years have acted out during the testing. The administrators wanted to convey the importance of the test and the seriousness of it, but we never communicated the purpose of it in the first place. I think that when I teach, I want to interact personally with the students, calling them by name and giving them leeway to not always "fall in line." I also want to convey the importance of why we are doing our activities so that there will be less attention problems and attitude problems.

How is it going learning students' names so far this year? -LE

Thanks for the concern and the memory! It is going excellent, I sat down one day and pegged them all, but I still have trouble when they are not in the classroom, like in the hallway or outside. It seems to be really easy to remember the good students and the troubled students, but not the students in the middle.

Post 3

How do I deal with students who don’t want to be in class and will do anything to leave class? I had a student who has had disciplinary problems in the past (expulsion) who showed up late to my class than preceded to mess around with other students. After threatening to move this student to a different seat, the student wrote “eat pussy” on his personal whiteboard used for writing “significant moments” in “Robin Hood” and then stood up and showed the class. We sent him down to the principal’s office, although he did blame it on another student during interrogation, so perhaps his determination to leave was not ultra-strong. He is still in our class, and I am unaware of the repercussions that he is facing, but it is seemingly nothing- especially because there are many other instances of misbehavior in the school setting. I want to reach out to this student, particularly because he is Native-American/Caucasian in a school where there are no other people like him. He listens to metal and heavy-emo music, and has long hair in a school where R&B and Latin music is popular I want to have this student feel comfortable to stay in class and not act out. My CT called his mom today to let her know about some fresh incidences on Friday, so we will see if his mom helps the situation out at all, although she did not enroll him in another school when he was expelled last year, so maybe she does not care either.

I think that the reason why this happened is because this student feels alone and vulnerable. He also understands that by acting out he can leave class, which is his ultimate goal. So far it seems that the mom has really helped the situation out, which is great. I think that he does not really want to act out, but feel like he does not have a choice as he is trying to find his identity.

Practically speaking, I want to teach in a way that is inclusive to all students, with a warm and welcoming environment. I want to keep all students in my class unless it is absolutely necessary to kick them out, because of a gun or a threatening situation. I think that it is important to compliment the good things in a troubled students life as well, since the majority of what he/she hears is negative criticism. I also would like to be in contact with the parents more often than most teachers, as they can sometimes have a much greater control of a situation than the teachers.

Hi Luke,

I can't help but think of this incident in relationship to the curricular content of the classroom. As Kohn wrote in our article for this week, students need less disciplinary intervention when they are busy and engaged with meaningful work. You beautifully identified many factors in this students' social isolation at school and your desire to make him feel included. How might the curriculum help rather than hinder? -LE

Post 4

I was teaching sans CT again, and the sub was not much assistance. During second hour, some of the students did not want to write their state-mandated 7 paragraph persuasive essay, and they were beginning to act restless and act out. It was hard for me to keep control because I felt that this essay was not that exciting and was not able to help the students since it was technically an individual-work exam. Several of the students asked for the blinds to be pulled down over the windows because the sun was in their eyes, so I had the students pull them down. One of the windows blinds repeatedly was mysteriously raised and when I would look up I would not see anyone moving but I did see a bunch of students laughing. I did not care if they were screwing around a little bit during the 40 minute period of “silent” writing, but it was distracting other students. After the fourth time this happened (and three times I had logically and calmly explained to them what they had to do and why, and what would happen if they kept doing it), I stormed over to the group and called them out in a not very nice way. The student who I mainly looked at claimed innocence, and said he did not do anything. Since I had no proof of who did what, I separated the group and made every student sit in a different seat. This probably happened because I made myself have a power struggle with the group of students, never a wise idea. I did not want to raise my voice, but I felt like I had no other option, and my emotions got the best of me. I should have split them up to begin with, especially because I was allowing them the privilege that day of sitting wherever they wished. In future experiences, I will learn to communicate with my students a. swiftly b. privately and c. unemotionally, even at the worst of times. This was a learning experience for me because I saw what happens when I am too loose in a classroom that is normally controlled pretty tight, and then I was bit for not squashing the rebellion right away. I want to be compassionate, but being too loose, and then yelling at the students is not how I want to be.

Luke, You are insightful and honest here. I respect your ability to look at your actions squarely and not only diagnose them in context, but also make a plan for future change. -LE

Post 5- reflections

I found out a few days after I was let go my my CT t ha t one issue she had with my teaching, but never told me or hinted about it, was that I had allowed my students to get to know me too personally by sharing a detail with them about my fiance. I believe this detail was totally appropriate and useful for stimulating thought. I will infer that she thought I was too personal overall with my students. We have different philosophies on this issue. I believe that teaching students about one's own life through anecdotes and becoming closer to them than people normally in the business world builds a relationship with them and teaches them about caring. I believe my teacher has a lack of care because of a combination of things. To begin with, her philosophy is the teachers teach and the students learn, with nothing else happening between the two. Secondly she has had teacher burnout- Never assigning homework because students won't do it? That's not how it should be done. Lastly, her role with the union has made her job more focused on Union matters and her colleagues than the students, which is a problem with the teacher's union. I do not want to be the student's friend, but I do want to act like team leader or captain. I believe that instilling a relationship with the students helps them want to show up and participate. In the future, I will make sure that I build relationships, but also cover my butt by making clear rules and boundaries and carefully documenting in case of accusation.

Smart comments, Luke. I agree that relationships do help students want to show up and participate, and combining this humanity with clear rules and boundaries will help students to relax, invest, and hopefully get excited about the learning community you create and are leading.

Post 6

I am currently in a situation where there are few problems in the class, because I am in upper-level classes in a well-run school. Most of the student's work, given the proper amount of time, is good. I think, then, that I have to expect much more from my students and become really nit-picky to ensure that when these students go off to college/work, they can be the most well-adjusted citizens as they can be. One problem I have is with a student who, given multiple days to work, has written nothing for her essay and says she does not get it. While perhaps she doesn't really understand, this info would have been nice to know the first day we started working and not the last. I understand that it is not my job to hound the students, so what do I do- let her fail? No. This behavior has probably been formed through many years of teacher help and little self-discovery. One thing teachers are tempted to do, especially at this level, is assume that all students are on the same relative level when in fact it is not possible. By this age the level differences are probably more distinct than ever before because of years of different training, thought, and capabilities. As a teacher I am going to have to remember to always, always check for understanding immediately after giving directions to avoid this situation. I also will want to establish a class identity (if I have upperclassmen) of no-nonsense teaching, where I am here to help and model but am not here to coddle you.

How did the student end up doing on the essay? Did she complete a draft on time? If you didn't just fail her, what intervention did you offer to make the assignment clear and help the student learn from the experience? It sounds like your new placement is prompting a lot of thought and personal goal setting. Cool!

post 7

Generally, I have used the linguistic method because, in general, my classes are English and require me to think that way. If I have to write a paper, I find the word, sentence, or paragraph that best illustrates the work and take it apart linguistically. Outside of papers, I love to work either existentially, interpersonal, or both. I believe that everybody has some art, or intelligence, that they excel at, and mine is relationships. I will never be a great author, but I hope I can be a great friend. I excel at group work and discussion, although oftentimes I catch myself dominating the conversation or project, which is not helpful. I then have to take a step back and realize that other people are hear to learn as well. I love speaking about the existential, but fins myself oftentimes missing the big picture while focusing on the small one- that's the main reason I am not a philosophy major, because I will get stuck on a cool thing that is not that important. I think learning about multiple intelligences is really cool and helpful for classroom instruction. If we can cover all of the intelligences in one classroom than we have had a successful day. One thing that interests me is the idea that we, individually, have more than one. I think that many students, once they reach the secondary, have an idea of one of their intelligences, so opening them up to the possibility of more is a challenge, because students don't like to change the way they have been doing things. However, after the initial resistance, I think having students understand more of who they are is essential and one of the major points of school.

Luke, I love your last sentence. Yes, isn't it refreshing to think of students not as having just one competency ("I'm a visual learner") but an array of relative strengths and weaknesses that all work in concert to accomplish a given task? This article made me, also, think of ways to assign the writing of papers in ways that allow students to approach the task with their strengths. I was also impressed, in this paragraph, with your maturity in articulating "I will never be a great author, but I hope I can be a great friend." I've found that a lot of my adult growing-up is about accepting the limitations of time and of my unique self and setting appropriate goals considering these limits. Sounds like you're already ahead of me here :)

Post 8

Yesterday, while I was teaching, I was having a great and engaging lesson. Everyone was paying attention and contributing. I was mad with power. At one point, a student fell asleep, so I took my dry erase marker and underhand tossed it at the student, hitting his desk beside his head. I meant to miss, which I did, and woke him up. I then told him good morning and continued with my lesson. The problem with this is that 1. He had laid his head down only for a minute. 2. He could have gotten angry and threw it back at me. 3. He could have tossed it at his friend. 4. I could have hit him and he could have put me in hot water.In the future, I really need to have a game plan for students that are sleeping. While I do not want the students to sleep through the entire class, especially with administration policies, I do not want to be mean or stupid about how I wake them up. More of this in the future to come.

Fascinating and self-aware, Luke. You acted in a long tradition of teachers throwing non-harmful objects (like chalk) at students to get their attention or wake them up. That said, I agree with you that the risks of this choice don't outweigh the benefits. It opens you up to lose more power than you gain once the eraser is in the student's hands. And, as you mentioned during our conversation today, it doesn't strengthen a relationship of mutual respect with that student, which is your ultimate goal. I like your CTs approach of simply making note of who is sleeping, and talking one on one with students for whom it becomes a pattern in order to help the student make a plan to change his/her behavior. If a student is snoring, or it becomes distracting/demoralizing to other students to have a peer sleeping, you might walk by and place a kind hand on his/her shoulder. But I would check with your school's policy on touching students even on the shoulder. These are suspicious times :(

Great job today getting students to concentrate on the text of Catcher in the Rye in order to generate interpretations at deep levels! -LE

Yesterday I had a class that I was teaching and I did not do an effective job. This is because my CT, who had known that I would be doing this lesson for a week, forgot to make copies (Really I should have reminded him) of my main worksheet. So I had to rework my plan last minute, which is never good. We posted the worksheet on the overhead, but we are not allowed to dim the lights because we have a partially blind student in the classroom. Instead of having the students skim this worksheet in class, ask questions, and take it home for a homework assignment, I had the students take notes while I hastily skimmed the pages, reading them out loud. At the end of the lesson, I felt like some information was passed on, but we did not take time for critical thought. I will grade the homework assignment tomorrow to figure out if the students learned anything. My Ct apologized, but reminded me that often this sort of thing happens while teaching, and learning to roll with the punches and stay on your feet is a good skill to have. I think when I am teaching I will plan extra excercices and activities that I can always have on the side.

Thanks for sharing your experience honestly with us! How frustrating to not have the resources to carry out the lesson you planned. In retrospect, do you wish you had done something completely different ("extra exercises and activities") rather than go through the worksheet without students having a copy? Or did they learn in the direction that you wanted them to go despite the absence of the paper? -LE