Fun with Wordle

A fellow teacher told me about a website called Wordle.net that creates word art from a chunk of text.  The size of each word increases in proportion to the frequency of the word's appearance.  I am planning on using this in my class to create Wordles for each class.  I will put in all the student's names and ask them to choose three words that describe themselves.  I am planning on posting the word art on our class website, as well as printing it and hanging them in the classroom.  This is part of our class culture building we are doing this week.

Why teacher blogs are never updated...

I started this blog in part to chronicle my adventures as a new teacher, and I know that when I was considering undertaking a career change into teaching, I was interesting in reading about other people's teaching experiences.  What I found then was that most of the "I'm a new teacher" blogs were neglected and rarely updated.  I suspected the same might happen to my own attempt, and it did.

So I guess I am long overdue for an update.  Today was the end of second quarter!  So I have officially made it half way through my first year.  I have a million crazy stories, I have learned so much, I have cried (a lot) and laughed (a lot) and get no sleep and I love it (usually) and I hate it (sometimes).

Just as I thought things were settling down a bit for me (I have made a lot of progress in building relationships with my students, I am more organized and efficient, basically getting into the groove of things), I found out today that when I come to school on Tuesday, my world will be upside down.  Let me explain.

I have been teaching 7th grade math all year to the same groups of students.  Three of my four classes are co-taught, that is myself and a Special Education teacher both teach the class which consists of a mix of general education students and students with special needs.  (I should write a lot more on this later...)  Math is an all year course, so usually a teacher has the same students each quarter and semester.  Our school is making some adjustments to our staffing, we just hired a new math teacher (which is a good thing!).  And the admin team decided to play a little musical chairs with a few of the teachers.    The new teacher is taking my place , I am switching to another teacher's class, and that teacher is taking yet another vacancy with all new students.

I am sad about leaving just when I felt like I was making progress, and apprehensive about starting over with all new kids.  But I am excited that I will now be teaching two classes of gifted students!  I am also nervous about now having to prepare lessons for 3 different classes each day.  I used to only teach Pre-Algebra.  Now, I teach 3 different classes: pre-algebra, ADA, and Algebra I.  So, it is going to a lot of work.  Luckily I have a wonderful network of teachers at my school who are willing and able to help me by sharing their resources with me.  The other nice thing about this is that the 2 groups of gifted students are very well behaved, so classroom management won't be as big of a struggle.

I am also getting a fresh start to build my classroom culture from scratch.  I can learn from past mistakes and try to get a better handle on things from day 1.  The first few days, I am supposed to use as getting-to-know you days, establish my rules and procedures, etc.  Just like you do on the first day of school.  I am going to try to share some of my plans and ideas over the next few days.

Overwelmed but still here

Every day I have some great or terrible experience or insight or just huge blunder that I think would be a great thing to share on my blog.  But all of these things never make it to the page.  I usually come home and collapse, then get up to spend more hours lesson planning and grading until I have to get my 3-4 hours of sleep so I can do it all again tomorrow.  I knew this would be a difficult and challenging experience.  I have had many moments where I have just broken down, and other moments of hopelessness.  But you can't dwell on these things for too long. 

I am trying to continually remind myself everyday of the many good things happening at school.  Right now, I am trying to focus on the kids and remember that they are in fact children.  They are often so frustrating, I start to see them as my adversaries and as the problem to be solved.  They can become this faceless mob in my mind too easily.   When I take a moment to remind myself of who they are, and why I am here, I see their faces again.  These kids, as frustrating as they can be, are smart and funny and often very thoughtful young people.  Some of my favorite students are also the most frustrating because I know they can do the work, but they do not apply themselves for whatever reason, and I have thus far not been able to motivate them.  They are 11-12 years old, even the ones that seem so much older.  They act tough and think that they are "grown", but they are also scared and excited and unsure. 

I am noticing that the days I go into the classroom with a more positive outlook, and a focus on the kids and on their learning, those are often my better days.  When I go in there focusing only on how I am going to control them, or worried about being able to complete all of my planned lesson activities, those days often are not as good.

Right now, I am trying to focus on relationship building.  Trying to make some sort of connection everyday with a student. I want them to know I actually do care and that I want to be there with them (even on the days I don't) and that I am there to help.  The other side to that is teaching them that learning is a two way street and that I need them to participate in their own success.  It is a slow process, but in the end probably the most effective way to win them over. 

No forward progress.

I'm getting ready to start the 4th week of school, and I am full of anxiety and apprehension.  I am being pushed by my Math department head to keep my teaching aligned to a schedule.  I am supposed to administer the first unit exam this week and then move on to the second unit.  But I know my student's are not ready to take a test yet.  I have failed to successfully teach them the information, and giving them the test now would just ensure that many of them do poorly on it.  The other faculty members who teach the same math course feel they are in the same position I am in.  They also do not feel ready to give any exams. 

The reasons my students are not ready, and the reasons I feel they are not making any progress still, is two-fold.  My classroom management is still very poor, therefore instruction cannot occur.  I also don't feel that my instruction is well designed or well implemented, and that contributes to problems with classroom management.

I certainly feel like I am the worst teacher ever.  I am getting lots of good advice from other teachers and administrators and it is up to me to implement it and make it work.  I am trying to stay optimistic and keep trying, otherwise it is just too easy to give up.

Inspiration: Remembering why I am here

I notice my last few posts have been me talking about my frustrations and the things that are not working in my class.  I want to counter that by telling a story about one of the good things.  I do have good things that happen each day and I must not focus only on the bad things. 

I teach one period of 7th graders who are already taking 8th grade math.  Like a parent, I know I should not have favorite kids, but these guys are the bright spot of my day every day.  These students genuinely enjoy school and value learning.  They ask questions that blow me away.  We usually get to laugh and learn and I think I am teaching them a few things at least.  Last week during a warm up (3-4 problems we do at the beginning of class everyday), I gave them a problem I didn't know if they would know how to do. These students are more advanced than my other classes, but they certainly don't know everything.  The problem was adding and subtracting positive and negative integers. We will learn about this topic in class in the next unit. It was something of the form:  5 - (-2) = ?

A few students got the right answer, and most did not know how to do it.  I asked one student to share his correct answer and how he got it.  His explanation was so wonderful.  I expected him just say that he already knew that two negatives make positive from a previous math lesson.  He said that he remembered from science class that 2 negatively charged objects will repel each other.  So when he saw two negative signs, he figured they should be positive.  I thought that was a wonderful display of critical thinking.  I praised him in front of the class and I made sure to share the story with the other teachers.  I know I am not responsible for this student's prior knowledge, but I am going to do everything I can to make sure all of my students in all of my classes learn how to think and problem solve. 

This is a bright spot I like to think about when I am having trouble remembering why I am here.

New Year

Today school is closed for Rosh Hashanah.  When my students asked me what that was, all I could say is that it is a Jewish holiday, but I had no further information.  That prompted me to learn more about it, and I found out that it is the New Year celebration.  I think it is fitting then to take this opportunity to look back at the last few weeks of the new school year and try to reflect a little.  We are only in the third week of school, so it is still the New Year.

I am working many things out in my classroom still.  As much as I tried to have the appropriate procedures and classsroom management systems in place before school started, there are so many things that I never anticipated.  I feel like the systems are in constant flux, so even though I try to be consistent with my students, it is no wonder that they are confused.  I am confused.  I understand the importance of giving clear and explicit expectations.  This is the goal, but I feel so far from there.

What I have learned so far:

1.  Collecting student work. My students do not seem to take a task seriously unless then physically will hand me a piece of paper and get some sort of mark on it, even if it is just a check mark.  Previously, I had been trying to track classwork points by marking their papers with a check and recording it on my clipboard during class.  This week, I started collecting the classwork at the end of class each day and then giving it back.  Now that they are turning it in, they seem to take it more seriously.  As much as I would prefer to not have to deal with collecting and then passing back so much paper each day, I plan on continuing to collect the work each day for the foreseeable future.  I am also not getting enough homework participation. I will be issuing interim progress reports this Friday.  I am hoping that students who see they are failing because they do not turn in homework will begin to realize that they are in fact responsible for their grades.  I do not normally accept late homework, but I am going to let them turn in any late work up to this point for a max of 80% of the credit.  I hope many of them will turn in their late work so they do not have to start off the year with such poor grades. 

2.  Staying Organized. Managing the paperwork that comes in and out each day from students, other teachers and administration is overwhelming.  I am used to doing a lot of things electronically, but I find that I do not have the time during the day to ever be near a computer, so I am back to pen and paper record keeping.  One of the best tips for trying to stay organized came from a member of the TNTP staff and it is helping so much.  I have folders for the following things:  "To Read", "To file", 'To Copy", "To Grade".  I deal with these four folders everyday and try to clear them each day, or at least every other day.  I also have taken the advice from other teachers that the best systems are often the simplest.  My phone log for keeping track of parent communications is just a spiral notebook.  So far it is working. I also have a lot of random papers that are hard to classify, forms, memo, things from administrations, etc.  Right now, they go into a binder just because I don't know what else to do with them.  As far as emails, I usually cannot check more than once a day.  I use the popular "inbox zero" system and have folders in my email for everything.  If there is an item that needs my attention I flag it and it stays in the inbox until I take care of it.  Everything else gets sorted into a folder.  The goal each day is to have nothing in the inbox.  I use this system for my personal email too and I like it.

3.  Make-up Work.  I have endeavored to establish a make-up work procedure in my class for students who are absent and need the assignments, but it is failing.  My policy is that students who miss a day are responsible for checking the make-up work binder, prominently labeled and located in a place where they are forced to see it.  I put the make-up work in there each day.  I remind students over and over.  It was communicated to the parents in the parent letter and the class syllabus. It is on the website.  (No one besides me has ever looked at the website.  I am going to show it to them in class now that I have a computer and LCD projector.) No one is getting it.  I don't want to scrap the system, I would prefer to get them to use it.  But right now, I don't know what else to do and I am looking for suggestions from anyone who will listen to me.  I know other teachers at my school get this system to work for them. I wanted to avoid having to keep track of who is gone each day and making sure they get the work, but I might have to establish a system in which I write down the absences and then make students sign when they get the make up work from the folder and when they turn it it.  I don't know.

4.  Setting clear expectations.  When the kids are acting crazy, I know it is because I have failed to let them know what I want them to do.  I was discussing with my father recently that I have difficulty getting students to raise their hands and not shout things out.  He asked me if I was being clear about when it is OK to shout out and when it is required to raise hands.  He took a foreign language course at the community college over the summer, and he found that even in an adult classroom, he was often confused about when the instructor wanted hands raised and when he wanted everyone to just respond.  My father felt that he was always doing the wrong thing, so he stopped volunteering responses.  He is completely correct.  The students get mixed signals from me.  I am trying to make sure I specify when I want hands raised and when I want "popcorn" or shouting out, or when I want a group response.

5.  Focusing on positive behavior.  I have many kids who are doing a great job and really trying.  But I get so distracted with the few that are disruptive I feel I spend all my time punishing bad behavior and not rewarding good.  I am setting a goal that each day, I make sure to give a "Good Day Note" to a minimum of 1 person in each class.  I also will keep track of who they are going to so I don't miss anyone who deserves it,  and be sure that the other students know exactly what the good behavior was that earned that recognition.  We are also implementing a school wide reward system in which students earn "bucks" as rewards.  They will get to use these bucks for whole-school rewards.

The second week of school

I am ending the second week of school feeling a little down.  I know that it is important to establish your authority in the classroom and to establish the procedures and routines that will make it an environment for learning.  I feel like I am failing in all aspects of this.  The only thing that cheers me in the least is knowing that I am not alone.  The other teachers at my school, veterans and new teachers like me, are feeling the same way.  I am trying to keep it all in perspective, keeping in mind that everyone says it will get better. 

The good news is, that while I feel like my classroom management is just awful and not working, my biggest fears are no longer things I am worried about.  When I was trying to imagine what this career would actually look or feel like, my worst fears were losing control of my class, having kids that refuse to listen to you, having kids start a fight in the classroom.  What if I cry in front of all of the students?  What do I do when they curse me out?  All of these things that I didn't know if I could handle at all.  But I am finding that I am no longer afraid of those things.  I have already lost control of my room, at least once when one of the Assistant Principals was there.  I did get it under control at least once while she was still in the room, but unfortunately it didn't last the rest of the lesson.  I do have kids that refuse my directions or won't listen to me.  But when you are in that moment, you sort of just react and know how to handle it.  I have not had a fight, but I know of teachers that have already this year, and I can see even handling that.  I haven't even felt like crying in front of the kids, no matter how frustrated I am.  (I have cried at the end of the day though, but never in front of them.)


Now, my biggest fear is that I am not going to teach anything to anyone  ever.  I have 2 classes in which I actually feel I get to teach, because they are classes that are smaller with fewer behavioral disruptions.  I have 2 other classes that are larger (but not outrageously large, 29 is the largest) and extremely diverse.  I am in a co-taught classroom in which myself and another teacher who is getting certified in special education teach together.  We have many young people with special needs that include specific learning disabilities, as well as many with behavioral and emotional issues.  In my two larger classes, I feel that no learning is taking place.  In one class, it feels like a good day if I can get most of them in their seats.  We spent a week doing fraction to decimal conversions.  I gave a quiz today, and even the kids that I thought had it, don't have it.  I feel like a failure as a teacher so far.

I know I am not alone in feeling this way right now.  I also know I have to keep trying.  I know there is a way to teach these kids.  I know others manage to do it everyday.