Day 4 of 4 of the state testing. All 8th grade students had to test two hours longer than everyone else. This put my testing group, who attend my early bird class for 50 minutes before we begin testing, in my classroom for more than 5 hours.
Five hours.
Two boys came up to me at 7:00 am and told me there was a pool going around about what time I would crack.
Crack? I'm not the one taking the test. Whatever.
Uh oh. They might do something that would make me crack. But how can that be since they will be testing? How can that be? The testing period is about twice as long as my students need. That's how.
We had about 2 hours after everyone was finished with the test where we were trapped like animals. Some of them acted like animals.
I didn't crack.
The geeky boys wouldn't detach themselves from me, and we created Dungeon and Dragon characters and almost started a campaign.
I'm telling you...they wouldn't leave me alone. Chirping in my ear. Creating characters distracted them for a few minutes.
I didn't crack, though. I just went with the flow.
But now I could use Happy Hour.
March 6, 2009
March 2, 2009
Please, Read My Shirt!
Smells like CRTs are in the air! CRTs? You know, the state mandated test that will determine AYP. For the past two years, we teachers have participated in a contest to see who can come up with the coolest, most inspiring shirt. A group of students vote, but I think we teachers do it to both inspire our student and to entertain ourselves.
The first year I won with this a clever tee (click on the link in the first paragraph to see the back of the shirt), and last year I placed either 2nd or 3rd with my "Kicking AYP" t-shirt, which is even cooler when you know that our mascot is a colt.
I thought I'd be way too busy to participate this year, but I've found the creative outlet rather refreshing. So, before I unveil my creations for my students, I am show my dear blogging friends.
Day 1: This design is a on golden yellow t-shirt. I'm always telling my students that it's important for them to show what they know.
Day 2: This design looks really sharp on a clean, white t-shirt. In fact it looks almost professional, so my fellow t-shirt designers weren't very impressed. They probably thought it was just a clipart that I downloaded. Some of you may not be impressed because you recognize this as a Wordle. I think it's cool because I was thinking of our IB program, and I had to find all the translations and plan the frequency and design. (I do hope all these words mean success and not something else.) This one took a while.
Day 3: I really wanted to wear this one for the first day, but the truth is that it's not printed yet. Oh well, I figure that by the third day, we might need a little humor. I also think this might be a winning t-shirt, but then sometimes people don't understand my humor. It will be on a white and blue baseball-style t-shirt.
Day 4: This last one is kind of lame, but it's kind of hard to come up with four inspirational t-shirts. It's on an orange and blue baseball-style t-shirt. The blue and orange look really nice together.
Today, a lot of the t-shirt designers wore matching t-shirts that parodied the Twilight book with "Proficiency" as the title. Since all the little teeny boppers have ruined any joy I had in reading the books, I decided not to join in. I did consider a Twilight t-shirt that might have said something like, "Edward is a vampire. Vampires don't exist. You can't marry him. Stop daydreaming and take your test!" I think I took a better road with the designs I chose, don't you?
The first year I won with this a clever tee (click on the link in the first paragraph to see the back of the shirt), and last year I placed either 2nd or 3rd with my "Kicking AYP" t-shirt, which is even cooler when you know that our mascot is a colt.
I thought I'd be way too busy to participate this year, but I've found the creative outlet rather refreshing. So, before I unveil my creations for my students, I am show my dear blogging friends.
Day 1: This design is a on golden yellow t-shirt. I'm always telling my students that it's important for them to show what they know.
Day 2: This design looks really sharp on a clean, white t-shirt. In fact it looks almost professional, so my fellow t-shirt designers weren't very impressed. They probably thought it was just a clipart that I downloaded. Some of you may not be impressed because you recognize this as a Wordle. I think it's cool because I was thinking of our IB program, and I had to find all the translations and plan the frequency and design. (I do hope all these words mean success and not something else.) This one took a while.
Day 3: I really wanted to wear this one for the first day, but the truth is that it's not printed yet. Oh well, I figure that by the third day, we might need a little humor. I also think this might be a winning t-shirt, but then sometimes people don't understand my humor. It will be on a white and blue baseball-style t-shirt.
Day 4: This last one is kind of lame, but it's kind of hard to come up with four inspirational t-shirts. It's on an orange and blue baseball-style t-shirt. The blue and orange look really nice together.
Today, a lot of the t-shirt designers wore matching t-shirts that parodied the Twilight book with "Proficiency" as the title. Since all the little teeny boppers have ruined any joy I had in reading the books, I decided not to join in. I did consider a Twilight t-shirt that might have said something like, "Edward is a vampire. Vampires don't exist. You can't marry him. Stop daydreaming and take your test!" I think I took a better road with the designs I chose, don't you?
February 23, 2009
Iffy
I can't remember how I arrived there, but sometime over the weekend, I ended up at RateMyTeacher. I've been there a few times over the years, and while I'm there, I always check to see what evil things have been said, but I don't have very many comments. Not exactly Miss Popularity on my team. I'm not that cool. The ones I have are favorable, but the I found one posted this month states, "Sometimes she's iffy."
There was still a smiley face, and a decent rating, but what does "iffy" mean to a middle schooler?
I don't know, but it might be a fair assessment.
I'm not trying to be an iffy teacher, but early this year, I conceded that this may not be my best year in the classroom. Teacher, student, wife, mother. Something has to give. I'm coasting this year. I'd like to think that my coasting is still pretty good.
Most days, it's pretty good.
I didn't go get bed until 1:30 am last night because I was working yearbook crap. Even without yearbook stuff, it's common for me to not sleep much--it's been going on since school started. The first few hours of the day were okay, but then I started feeling so lethargic that I swear I might have been shuffling across the room like some old lady on valium.
And then I remember the "iffy" comment.
So, I was shuffling around the classroom mumbling, "Iffy. Iffy. Which one of these kids would actually say something like that? Iffy. I feel iffy. Is that a real word? Like something an old man would say. Which one of them said it?"
Not so much iffy anymore. Eccentric, crazy English teacher is more like it! And I didn't think that would come for another 5 years.
It's only Monday--and the week before the Big State Test. I should try to get more sleep.
Iffy? That's no way to be.
There was still a smiley face, and a decent rating, but what does "iffy" mean to a middle schooler?
I don't know, but it might be a fair assessment.
I'm not trying to be an iffy teacher, but early this year, I conceded that this may not be my best year in the classroom. Teacher, student, wife, mother. Something has to give. I'm coasting this year. I'd like to think that my coasting is still pretty good.
Most days, it's pretty good.
I didn't go get bed until 1:30 am last night because I was working yearbook crap. Even without yearbook stuff, it's common for me to not sleep much--it's been going on since school started. The first few hours of the day were okay, but then I started feeling so lethargic that I swear I might have been shuffling across the room like some old lady on valium.
And then I remember the "iffy" comment.
So, I was shuffling around the classroom mumbling, "Iffy. Iffy. Which one of these kids would actually say something like that? Iffy. I feel iffy. Is that a real word? Like something an old man would say. Which one of them said it?"
Not so much iffy anymore. Eccentric, crazy English teacher is more like it! And I didn't think that would come for another 5 years.
It's only Monday--and the week before the Big State Test. I should try to get more sleep.
Iffy? That's no way to be.
February 22, 2009
Impaired By Wordiness* and Helpless in General
I know verbosity is my downfall. You don't think my entries are so long that nobody reads them sometimes? I know. I do. I use the delete key. Really. You should see my posts before I use it.
This is the week that I have to be a good team player in my grad class. In every class so far, there are always two assignments with my "Collaborative Learning Community." It's kind of a joke. I think we're suppose to actually talk to each other, but mostly we divide and conquer the work. This week my share of the work was to analyze this research study, and wouldn't you guess it? It's too long!
I admitted it when I posted my part (a little late), "Hey guys, my article was longer than I remembered--50 pages! I know the analysis is a little long. I'll take any suggestions to pare it down!"
Brown-Noser Woman replied, "I focused mine on blah, blah, blah rather than what you did in yours. The instructor asked us to keep the whole paper to 3500 words, and I think we should or we might be marked down."
I did what brown-noser #1 did, of course, but I used details from the article and the textbook to illustrate my points--quite eloquently, I'd say. And by saying the instructor asked us to do anything specific is a load of crap. It's in the syllabus, which I am sure exists with or without the instructor. What are you afraid to disappoint the teacher?
Do-Good Girl replied, "HappyChyck is ther any paragraps that we might be able to take out from your analysis? I read it over and it all sounds good but I don't have the article in front of me. I think we should try to keep it under the requirements."
I would normally ignore the abominable errors, as I know I need an editor, but I toiled over my part for hours, and I think this would be a good time for someone offer up some better insight, but that won't happen since we only read our own studies. Yeah, let me just take out some paragraphs. Thanks for the help. No, really. I'm probably better off without it.
Out of curiosity, I looked up the articles the others analyzed. Their studies were a maximum 12 pages compared to my 50 pages. Much easier to write a short analysis on a short study. I'll keep that in mind next time.
So, I took the delete key to my analysis. I started with paragraphs--or half paragraphs. Then I took out any unnecessary adjectives. I reworked sentence structures. I summarized in places where I originally gave details. I cut out information I thought was important but maybe we could get by without. After the first 400 words, I thought maybe it was a better paper, but after that, with each deletion, anxiety attacks started. How could I submit such a terrible paper? Was the instructor going to know how much I was leaving out?
Finally, after 900 words deleted, I quit.
It feels so wrong.
This is one of the definitions of verbosity from Merriam-Webster. Ouch!
This is the week that I have to be a good team player in my grad class. In every class so far, there are always two assignments with my "Collaborative Learning Community." It's kind of a joke. I think we're suppose to actually talk to each other, but mostly we divide and conquer the work. This week my share of the work was to analyze this research study, and wouldn't you guess it? It's too long!
I admitted it when I posted my part (a little late), "Hey guys, my article was longer than I remembered--50 pages! I know the analysis is a little long. I'll take any suggestions to pare it down!"
Brown-Noser Woman replied, "I focused mine on blah, blah, blah rather than what you did in yours. The instructor asked us to keep the whole paper to 3500 words, and I think we should or we might be marked down."
I did what brown-noser #1 did, of course, but I used details from the article and the textbook to illustrate my points--quite eloquently, I'd say. And by saying the instructor asked us to do anything specific is a load of crap. It's in the syllabus, which I am sure exists with or without the instructor. What are you afraid to disappoint the teacher?
Do-Good Girl replied, "HappyChyck is ther any paragraps that we might be able to take out from your analysis? I read it over and it all sounds good but I don't have the article in front of me. I think we should try to keep it under the requirements."
I would normally ignore the abominable errors, as I know I need an editor, but I toiled over my part for hours, and I think this would be a good time for someone offer up some better insight, but that won't happen since we only read our own studies. Yeah, let me just take out some paragraphs. Thanks for the help. No, really. I'm probably better off without it.
Out of curiosity, I looked up the articles the others analyzed. Their studies were a maximum 12 pages compared to my 50 pages. Much easier to write a short analysis on a short study. I'll keep that in mind next time.
So, I took the delete key to my analysis. I started with paragraphs--or half paragraphs. Then I took out any unnecessary adjectives. I reworked sentence structures. I summarized in places where I originally gave details. I cut out information I thought was important but maybe we could get by without. After the first 400 words, I thought maybe it was a better paper, but after that, with each deletion, anxiety attacks started. How could I submit such a terrible paper? Was the instructor going to know how much I was leaving out?
Finally, after 900 words deleted, I quit.
It feels so wrong.
This is one of the definitions of verbosity from Merriam-Webster. Ouch!
February 19, 2009
Illiteracy Saves HappyChyck Money
Would you believe that a woman who could not read saved me $85?
It's true!
Something my three readers may not know is that I clip coupons. I mean, seriously clip coupons. I've always done it, as my mother did, too, but last summer I made it a hobby. Now I'm one of those women who has stories about how I went to the store and purchased $130 worth of groceries for $30. That was my very best, and it happened a few weeks ago, but usually my savings are closer to 40-50% when I use coupons.
It takes a little work to do this, and it often involves shopping different stores when prices are rock bottom and then using the coupons. I had time in the summer go to different stores on a weekly basis, but now I keep it to Smith's (a Kroger store), CVS, and Walgreens--and only when it's a great deal and I can make it during my schedule.
(Part of this whole couponing thing is that I have a stockpile, so except for basics, like fruits, veggies, and bread, we are rarely desperate for me to get to the grocery store when I am up to my ears in work and grad school.)
If I need to go to Target or Wal-Mart, I will check out the deals they have there, but both of those stores are known throughout the the Internet coupon networks as wildcards when it comes to coupons. Sometimes you'll be hassled, and sometimes you won't. I've experienced this, so it's not worth my time to take a gamble unless I'm going there anyway.
With that background, I needed to get a water filter for our faucet-mounted purifier, so we planned little trip to Wal-Mart. (We have such exciting plans on the weekends, don't we?) I made a list of things I could use while I was going, including, but not limited to, things I could buy for hardly anything with coupons. We were in the store for about an hour, leisurely shopping, and of course, doing price comparisons.
And then there was the checkout. The checker rang up my order, and I handed her my coupons. She immediately started scrutinizing every single one. With the very first coupon, not even an Internet printable one, which often freaks people out, she started questioning. She printed off a copy of the receipt to compare items. Then she wanted to see the item that had already been bagged. The coupon said, "Save $1 off any StarKist Creations or StarKist pouch," but the there was a picture on the coupon that showed two packages of tuna, which basically indicated options. She tried to tell me that I needed two packages of tuna to use the coupon.
I was a little surprised by the situation as it was unfolding because I am used to visiting my local grocery store where I hand over thick stacks of coupons, and they don't even blink an eye. Seriously, you've got to know that to save as much as I do, sometimes I have a coupon for every single thing in my basket, and the cashiers even commend me on my savings, but here I was in this giant chain store with a mere 10 coupons, and she couldn't even push through a basic coupon. I didn't lose my patience, though.
"Oh, ma'am, it's not the picture on the coupon. It's what the words say!" I pointed out what the words said.
And then about 2 seconds later, I realized she couldn't read, and I suspected she didn't understand spoken English very well either, and with 5 people waiting in line behind me, I didn't have time to teach her about singular and plural.
Fortunately, she realized this, too, so she turned on her light to call for a customer service manager to assist. (Maybe her realization was not quite the same as mine, but pretty darn close, I'd imagine.)
Unfortunately, in the next 5 minutes no manager came, even after trying to call someone on the phone, and she continued to scrutinize the coupons by asking us to unpack items from the basket. Nothing met her approval! They were all pretty straightforward: purchase a particular item, get money off! This concept has been around for over a 100 years!
Rather than strangling the woman, I told her to forget it, to cancel my order. I had lost my patience by then--I was, in fact, IRATE--and it was all I could do scream the obscenities that were rattling around in my head. Of course, I had already swiped by card, and a manager had to cancel the order, so I had to continue to wait for someone to come.
I have no doubt that the manager would have been able to resolve the situation had I not lost my temper and given up on the whole thing, but when the manager came and didn't even ask what the problem was--why I wanted my transanction cancelled, why I was an angry customer leaving behind $100 worth of items spread across the checkstand--that sealed the deal. Frankly, I was surprised by that, too. The last time I had coupons problems at Wal-Mart, it was because the coupons were complicated (like buy 3 of a certain product and get a different product free), and the register wasn't taking them despite the fact I met the conditions, and it took 2 managers, including the assistant store manager, who were more than happy to make me happy. Obviously, nobody cared if I left and bought my damn tuna at Smith's because someone can't read a coupon.
So, that's how illiteracy saved me money.
I'm thinking since coupons are so hard to read, maybe I should make a real-life reading lesson out of it.
I stopped at another Wal-Mart on the way home to purchased the much-needed water filter, but I decided that the other things weren't crucial. Kind of. All week long I've thought of things I almost purchased that day...I wish I had some ketchup...I really did need that bottle vinegar to clean the coffee pot...new hand towels for the bathroom would have been nice...I'm tired of banging the lotion bottle on the counter to get out every ounce...
Sigh. If only the woman had been able to read, she would have seen that I was not doing anything wrong. Maybe I would have inspired her to use them, too. Apparently, it's quite trendy to save money these days.
Just as every serious couponer has stories of success, we all have horror stories about how we were made to feel like criminals by simply using the marketing strategies manufacturers intend for us to use, and those of us who are savvy use to its fullest benefit--honestly. This is one of mine, with an educator's slant.
It's true!
Something my three readers may not know is that I clip coupons. I mean, seriously clip coupons. I've always done it, as my mother did, too, but last summer I made it a hobby. Now I'm one of those women who has stories about how I went to the store and purchased $130 worth of groceries for $30. That was my very best, and it happened a few weeks ago, but usually my savings are closer to 40-50% when I use coupons.
It takes a little work to do this, and it often involves shopping different stores when prices are rock bottom and then using the coupons. I had time in the summer go to different stores on a weekly basis, but now I keep it to Smith's (a Kroger store), CVS, and Walgreens--and only when it's a great deal and I can make it during my schedule.
(Part of this whole couponing thing is that I have a stockpile, so except for basics, like fruits, veggies, and bread, we are rarely desperate for me to get to the grocery store when I am up to my ears in work and grad school.)
If I need to go to Target or Wal-Mart, I will check out the deals they have there, but both of those stores are known throughout the the Internet coupon networks as wildcards when it comes to coupons. Sometimes you'll be hassled, and sometimes you won't. I've experienced this, so it's not worth my time to take a gamble unless I'm going there anyway.
With that background, I needed to get a water filter for our faucet-mounted purifier, so we planned little trip to Wal-Mart. (We have such exciting plans on the weekends, don't we?) I made a list of things I could use while I was going, including, but not limited to, things I could buy for hardly anything with coupons. We were in the store for about an hour, leisurely shopping, and of course, doing price comparisons.
And then there was the checkout. The checker rang up my order, and I handed her my coupons. She immediately started scrutinizing every single one. With the very first coupon, not even an Internet printable one, which often freaks people out, she started questioning. She printed off a copy of the receipt to compare items. Then she wanted to see the item that had already been bagged. The coupon said, "Save $1 off any StarKist Creations or StarKist pouch," but the there was a picture on the coupon that showed two packages of tuna, which basically indicated options. She tried to tell me that I needed two packages of tuna to use the coupon.
I was a little surprised by the situation as it was unfolding because I am used to visiting my local grocery store where I hand over thick stacks of coupons, and they don't even blink an eye. Seriously, you've got to know that to save as much as I do, sometimes I have a coupon for every single thing in my basket, and the cashiers even commend me on my savings, but here I was in this giant chain store with a mere 10 coupons, and she couldn't even push through a basic coupon. I didn't lose my patience, though.
"Oh, ma'am, it's not the picture on the coupon. It's what the words say!" I pointed out what the words said.
And then about 2 seconds later, I realized she couldn't read, and I suspected she didn't understand spoken English very well either, and with 5 people waiting in line behind me, I didn't have time to teach her about singular and plural.
Fortunately, she realized this, too, so she turned on her light to call for a customer service manager to assist. (Maybe her realization was not quite the same as mine, but pretty darn close, I'd imagine.)
Unfortunately, in the next 5 minutes no manager came, even after trying to call someone on the phone, and she continued to scrutinize the coupons by asking us to unpack items from the basket. Nothing met her approval! They were all pretty straightforward: purchase a particular item, get money off! This concept has been around for over a 100 years!
Rather than strangling the woman, I told her to forget it, to cancel my order. I had lost my patience by then--I was, in fact, IRATE--and it was all I could do scream the obscenities that were rattling around in my head. Of course, I had already swiped by card, and a manager had to cancel the order, so I had to continue to wait for someone to come.
I have no doubt that the manager would have been able to resolve the situation had I not lost my temper and given up on the whole thing, but when the manager came and didn't even ask what the problem was--why I wanted my transanction cancelled, why I was an angry customer leaving behind $100 worth of items spread across the checkstand--that sealed the deal. Frankly, I was surprised by that, too. The last time I had coupons problems at Wal-Mart, it was because the coupons were complicated (like buy 3 of a certain product and get a different product free), and the register wasn't taking them despite the fact I met the conditions, and it took 2 managers, including the assistant store manager, who were more than happy to make me happy. Obviously, nobody cared if I left and bought my damn tuna at Smith's because someone can't read a coupon.
So, that's how illiteracy saved me money.
I'm thinking since coupons are so hard to read, maybe I should make a real-life reading lesson out of it.
I stopped at another Wal-Mart on the way home to purchased the much-needed water filter, but I decided that the other things weren't crucial. Kind of. All week long I've thought of things I almost purchased that day...I wish I had some ketchup...I really did need that bottle vinegar to clean the coffee pot...new hand towels for the bathroom would have been nice...I'm tired of banging the lotion bottle on the counter to get out every ounce...
Sigh. If only the woman had been able to read, she would have seen that I was not doing anything wrong. Maybe I would have inspired her to use them, too. Apparently, it's quite trendy to save money these days.
Just as every serious couponer has stories of success, we all have horror stories about how we were made to feel like criminals by simply using the marketing strategies manufacturers intend for us to use, and those of us who are savvy use to its fullest benefit--honestly. This is one of mine, with an educator's slant.
February 15, 2009
On Being Successful in Life
My last post about an irritating sub may have bugging me more because of a a sub I had earlier this year who preached to my students while he was in my classroom.
The students told me that the sub had talked to them most of the period, but they didn't give me details. It wasn't until a few weeks later when the sub showed up in another teacher's classroom and one my students, who is also on publications staff, revealed her supreme irritation at what the sub preached in my classroom a few weeks before.
Apparently, he told the students that they wouldn't be anything without a master's degree.
These are not the encouraging words I would use with inner city immigrant kids. Nothing without a master's degree. Wow.
My irritated student is one of my best and brightest in the magnet program. She is college-bound, but she was offended at what the man was saying. Her own mother is a teacher who started her master's degree but decided to wait until her children were older to continue. The girl's father attended a tech school and works for a casino doing something with slot machines. (Maybe not a well-known career world-wide, but here in Nevada, it would be considered a skilled trade, and I'm sure he makes a good living.) I could imagine her offense because I know her family, and they are intellectual and successful. How could a stranger offend her family?
I was irritated, too. Seriously? To be anything in life, you have to go to college and get a master's degree? That's a bit short-sighted. When I was young, I also once thought to be the most successful, one had to go to college. So I did. I pushed my students to do the same, and I suppose I still do to some extent. Telling students they have to go to college to be successful in inaccurate at best. What was right for me, isn't right for everyone.
Over the years, I've taught more students who were not college material that who were college material. And when I mean college material, I am talking about their abilities and their interests in attending college. Many of these students barely squeaked by, earning the bare minimum grades to earn credit, but when it came to working their after school jobs, they were model employees. Sure, money might have been a motivating factor, but many of them were simply built to learn more from the workforce than from in a classroom. College is a waste of time and money for students like this.
I encourage my students to be productive members of society and to choose careers that make them happy. Not just jobs. Careers. Maybe it's just semantics, but it's really about taking pride in what you do and doing it well. I encourage them to continue their educations with some sort of trade school or apprenticeship training if they are not interested in careers that require college. (If they are interested in college, but seem insecure, I suggest a junior college first.) One of the things our school district is doing right is building more technical magnet high schools. It truly reflects current workforce of our city, and recognizes the needs and interests of our students. Can you imagine the idea of students who are ready for the workforce upon graduation of high school? More power to them!
There was a time when a lot of my students joined the military (when I worked in a rural school), and for many of them, it was because they didn't know what they wanted to do with their lives and joining the military provided a lot of opportunities and a steady paycheck. I was never so proud as I was of the large group of boys from the Class of 2003 who enlisted in the Army, knowing full well that it was not the same Army their friends and brothers had joined a few years before. It would be unwise for anyone to disparage the choices of these young people in my presence. Them's fightin' words!
What is being successful anyway? If success is about money, I know plenty of people who don't have any higher education and make more money than I do. Their high pay comes from years of experience of a job well done. If success is about respect, that's something that can be earned through several means, such as knowledge, experience, and they way you treat others. If success is about happiness, that's a personal issue. Some of us find happiness in our jobs and careers, but other of us find it in the time we have outside of the workplace.
So, what of the students who never go to college, trade school, or into the military? What of the students who simply find jobs that will pay the bills? That comes down to simply finding happiness. Are they happy with their lives? Are they fulfilling their dreams, even if it's bit by bit? Do I look down my nose on that former student who has been working in a mine for the last 10 years and is proudest when he shows me pictures of his wife and children? Do I say, "Did you go to college?" No! I shake his hand, give him a hug, pat him on the back, and say, "Congratulations! You have a beautiful family, and I am happy your life turned out so well!" Am I as happy and proud of him as I am of his classmate who spent years in college and has finally become the lawyer she always wanted to be? You betcha.
I don't know who that sub was telling students what they had to do to be successful in life, but I know he's not me. He hasn't seen what I have seen in the lives of students. I know my philosophy about higher education and what it means to be successful in life come directly from being a teacher. I'd really like to know where his comes from.
The students told me that the sub had talked to them most of the period, but they didn't give me details. It wasn't until a few weeks later when the sub showed up in another teacher's classroom and one my students, who is also on publications staff, revealed her supreme irritation at what the sub preached in my classroom a few weeks before.
Apparently, he told the students that they wouldn't be anything without a master's degree.
These are not the encouraging words I would use with inner city immigrant kids. Nothing without a master's degree. Wow.
My irritated student is one of my best and brightest in the magnet program. She is college-bound, but she was offended at what the man was saying. Her own mother is a teacher who started her master's degree but decided to wait until her children were older to continue. The girl's father attended a tech school and works for a casino doing something with slot machines. (Maybe not a well-known career world-wide, but here in Nevada, it would be considered a skilled trade, and I'm sure he makes a good living.) I could imagine her offense because I know her family, and they are intellectual and successful. How could a stranger offend her family?
I was irritated, too. Seriously? To be anything in life, you have to go to college and get a master's degree? That's a bit short-sighted. When I was young, I also once thought to be the most successful, one had to go to college. So I did. I pushed my students to do the same, and I suppose I still do to some extent. Telling students they have to go to college to be successful in inaccurate at best. What was right for me, isn't right for everyone.
Over the years, I've taught more students who were not college material that who were college material. And when I mean college material, I am talking about their abilities and their interests in attending college. Many of these students barely squeaked by, earning the bare minimum grades to earn credit, but when it came to working their after school jobs, they were model employees. Sure, money might have been a motivating factor, but many of them were simply built to learn more from the workforce than from in a classroom. College is a waste of time and money for students like this.
I encourage my students to be productive members of society and to choose careers that make them happy. Not just jobs. Careers. Maybe it's just semantics, but it's really about taking pride in what you do and doing it well. I encourage them to continue their educations with some sort of trade school or apprenticeship training if they are not interested in careers that require college. (If they are interested in college, but seem insecure, I suggest a junior college first.) One of the things our school district is doing right is building more technical magnet high schools. It truly reflects current workforce of our city, and recognizes the needs and interests of our students. Can you imagine the idea of students who are ready for the workforce upon graduation of high school? More power to them!
There was a time when a lot of my students joined the military (when I worked in a rural school), and for many of them, it was because they didn't know what they wanted to do with their lives and joining the military provided a lot of opportunities and a steady paycheck. I was never so proud as I was of the large group of boys from the Class of 2003 who enlisted in the Army, knowing full well that it was not the same Army their friends and brothers had joined a few years before. It would be unwise for anyone to disparage the choices of these young people in my presence. Them's fightin' words!
What is being successful anyway? If success is about money, I know plenty of people who don't have any higher education and make more money than I do. Their high pay comes from years of experience of a job well done. If success is about respect, that's something that can be earned through several means, such as knowledge, experience, and they way you treat others. If success is about happiness, that's a personal issue. Some of us find happiness in our jobs and careers, but other of us find it in the time we have outside of the workplace.
So, what of the students who never go to college, trade school, or into the military? What of the students who simply find jobs that will pay the bills? That comes down to simply finding happiness. Are they happy with their lives? Are they fulfilling their dreams, even if it's bit by bit? Do I look down my nose on that former student who has been working in a mine for the last 10 years and is proudest when he shows me pictures of his wife and children? Do I say, "Did you go to college?" No! I shake his hand, give him a hug, pat him on the back, and say, "Congratulations! You have a beautiful family, and I am happy your life turned out so well!" Am I as happy and proud of him as I am of his classmate who spent years in college and has finally become the lawyer she always wanted to be? You betcha.
I don't know who that sub was telling students what they had to do to be successful in life, but I know he's not me. He hasn't seen what I have seen in the lives of students. I know my philosophy about higher education and what it means to be successful in life come directly from being a teacher. I'd really like to know where his comes from.
February 13, 2009
Just Babysit
Have you heard my rant about substitutes who monopolize the classroom to the point that students do not get their work done? I can't find it, so maybe I've been holding back. Or maybe I mentioned it in a comment on someone else's blog.
Yesterday I had to go to a special luncheon for one of my students, so I was out of my classroom for two periods. One of the classes was publications, and I left them the feature article from a recent Time about print newspapers. They knew what to do, but they probably weren't going to do it until I threatened their grades. Whatever. With only 18 students in that class, even if they are off task, they are a peaceful bunch. The other class is my biggest, yet smartest English class, which is right after lunch, and they really needed to get some instruction on adverb clauses before our big writing exam on Tuesday.
And that instruction did happen. I didn't expect the sub to do it. I expected the sub to direct the students to the information on the board and in the textbook, and give them the assignment. In fact, the sub could have been a mute because all the instructions were on the board. Or, he could have simply read everything to them and made it look like he was doing his job. This lesson was hardly ideal on a day when I was going to be out of class, but I figured I could pick up the pieces today.
Of course, the students all claimed they didn't know about the writing assignment they had to do, and they only knew about the exercises. Seriously? It was all on the board. When the best student in the class came up, freaking out that she didn't know about the writing assignment and wanted to know if she could do it, I knew something had gone wrong. It's okay. We are going into a three-day weekend, and when we come back, we are going into two days of the writing proficiency test. It's not worth the headache to make them do the writing assignment when we won't have a normal class until next Thursday. Irritating, yes, but I can let it go.
Apparently, the sub read every single part of the board and gave multiple examples for everything, and the students were irritated because they didn't need that much instruction. That's okay, though. I didn't expect him to do anything, so it was nice that he was trying.
(I guess he didn't get to the part where he read them the whole assignment, but seriously, I'm over it. I'll let it go.)
But then...the students started telling about how he was talking about memories, and then something about the speakers. What about the speakers? Did he need to audio enhancement? I didn't leave out the mike. No, he was playing music. What?! What music? Oh, great, the music from my computer, and I guess that triggered some memories--and he was probably hoping to get the music to go through the speakers, but that's a technical issue that still hasn't been resolved in my room. Did I ask him to play music from my computer? No. Did I ask him to reminisce about his childhood while my students should have been practicing using complex sentences? No.
And what's even more troubling, is that 70% of the music I have on my computer is for my enjoyment while I am on my prep or after school, and I would NEVER play it for my students. Now, if he was remembering the good ole days, he probably wasn't playing Beethoven. I hope he was playing Lynard Skynard or the Eagles and not Metallica or The Dead Milkmen. The latter two aren't censored Wal-Mart versions. (They aren't completely obscene, but there are probably some random F-bombs.) Our administrator has warned us about playing music that does not have educational merit in our classrooms, and since I'm a rule follower, I generally stick that. Okay, sure, I might play some mellow jazz or classical music on quiet writing days, and that has little to do with educational merit, but I think we can all see the difference. And I think we can all see how HappyChyck could get her bum in a tangle because some idiot decided to play her iTunes playlist during class time.
Regardless of what my playlist might have, I didn't need him wasting my students' time. Sometimes I'm imperfect, and I might tell a little story here and there, but I have a point! You won't catch me reminiscing on grammar days! What would be the purpose in that?
I guess I need to start leaving explicit notes in my lessons to the substitute that say, "Do not waste their time! They have work to do! You are not a guest speaker today. You are a guest teacher, and really that is a euphemism for babysitter. Just make sure nobody gets hurt."
That's already setting the bar lower than I usually do.
I need a good sub.
Yesterday I had to go to a special luncheon for one of my students, so I was out of my classroom for two periods. One of the classes was publications, and I left them the feature article from a recent Time about print newspapers. They knew what to do, but they probably weren't going to do it until I threatened their grades. Whatever. With only 18 students in that class, even if they are off task, they are a peaceful bunch. The other class is my biggest, yet smartest English class, which is right after lunch, and they really needed to get some instruction on adverb clauses before our big writing exam on Tuesday.
And that instruction did happen. I didn't expect the sub to do it. I expected the sub to direct the students to the information on the board and in the textbook, and give them the assignment. In fact, the sub could have been a mute because all the instructions were on the board. Or, he could have simply read everything to them and made it look like he was doing his job. This lesson was hardly ideal on a day when I was going to be out of class, but I figured I could pick up the pieces today.
Of course, the students all claimed they didn't know about the writing assignment they had to do, and they only knew about the exercises. Seriously? It was all on the board. When the best student in the class came up, freaking out that she didn't know about the writing assignment and wanted to know if she could do it, I knew something had gone wrong. It's okay. We are going into a three-day weekend, and when we come back, we are going into two days of the writing proficiency test. It's not worth the headache to make them do the writing assignment when we won't have a normal class until next Thursday. Irritating, yes, but I can let it go.
Apparently, the sub read every single part of the board and gave multiple examples for everything, and the students were irritated because they didn't need that much instruction. That's okay, though. I didn't expect him to do anything, so it was nice that he was trying.
(I guess he didn't get to the part where he read them the whole assignment, but seriously, I'm over it. I'll let it go.)
But then...the students started telling about how he was talking about memories, and then something about the speakers. What about the speakers? Did he need to audio enhancement? I didn't leave out the mike. No, he was playing music. What?! What music? Oh, great, the music from my computer, and I guess that triggered some memories--and he was probably hoping to get the music to go through the speakers, but that's a technical issue that still hasn't been resolved in my room. Did I ask him to play music from my computer? No. Did I ask him to reminisce about his childhood while my students should have been practicing using complex sentences? No.
And what's even more troubling, is that 70% of the music I have on my computer is for my enjoyment while I am on my prep or after school, and I would NEVER play it for my students. Now, if he was remembering the good ole days, he probably wasn't playing Beethoven. I hope he was playing Lynard Skynard or the Eagles and not Metallica or The Dead Milkmen. The latter two aren't censored Wal-Mart versions. (They aren't completely obscene, but there are probably some random F-bombs.) Our administrator has warned us about playing music that does not have educational merit in our classrooms, and since I'm a rule follower, I generally stick that. Okay, sure, I might play some mellow jazz or classical music on quiet writing days, and that has little to do with educational merit, but I think we can all see the difference. And I think we can all see how HappyChyck could get her bum in a tangle because some idiot decided to play her iTunes playlist during class time.
Regardless of what my playlist might have, I didn't need him wasting my students' time. Sometimes I'm imperfect, and I might tell a little story here and there, but I have a point! You won't catch me reminiscing on grammar days! What would be the purpose in that?
I guess I need to start leaving explicit notes in my lessons to the substitute that say, "Do not waste their time! They have work to do! You are not a guest speaker today. You are a guest teacher, and really that is a euphemism for babysitter. Just make sure nobody gets hurt."
That's already setting the bar lower than I usually do.
I need a good sub.
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