Joining the Crazies

At the last minute I decided to dress up and participate this lame holiday we call Halloween. I rarely go all out, but the last few years I've tried to make a sincere effort. Unfortunately, I guess my sense of humor is just too bizarre for most people.

In 2004, I dressed up as myself in 25 years. I thought it was a subtly brilliant idea, but my students didn’t even notice that I had wrinkles and gray hair, nor did they notice my insanely tacky, cheesy old-lady clothing. Perhaps it spoke more of my rudimentary theater makeup skills and my lack of current fashion sense than my students’ observation skills, but I seriously doubt it. That was the year I almost quit teaching. Ironically those students gave me real wrinkles and gray hair. (Also, very few students in my classes dressed up, so it was just another day for me to look like a fool.)

In 2005, the objective of my costume was to be unusual and comfortable. I stole an idea I read somewhere about attaching a big yellow circle to white t-shirt and putting on devil horns and a tail to become a deviled egg. (After I made it, I spotted a packaged costume with that same concept.) Very few people guessed what I was, and most of the students, once told, were still quite confused.

In 2006, with comfort and creativity still the most important idea, I donned a pink sweat suit, draped and wrapped myself in a plastic tablecloth and went to school as bubblegum—the ABC kind. My students ended up taking guesses about my costume, and their guesses were much more creative that what I actually was. Technically, I was a fat chick dressed in way too much pink. The lengths I go to humiliate myself.

So, what did I come up with this year? I almost came up with nothing, as I didn't want to spend any money--nor much time putting it together. Gotta get use out of that Hawaiian shirt I bought for a luau last summer. I know, I know. How boring. A tourist. But never fear! I tweaked it a little by adding a third eye, thus becoming a tourist from another planet.

Everyone loves a vacation in Vegas, baby!

A Great Day to Succeed!

My night school students are incredulous that they have to come to school on Halloween Night. Most of them won't come, but there are about 50 students who need to attend because tomorrow is the state proficiency writing exam.

You know the proficiency exam that determines whether students can graduate? (Okay, so they do have more than one chance to take the exam.) The same proficiency exam that determines AYP for high schools? Yea, that proficiency exam.

Night school students have to suffer because they'd rather run the streets like wild animals go trick or treating. Boo-hoo. We feel so sorry for them. Taking an important test isn't going to affect regular high schools on Halloween because the students will surely attend during the day since all the fun is at night.

Yea, and in what crazy costumes will these students be taking this exam? Will their minds be on this important test? Will they be all hyped up on Smarties?

I believe that most of us teachers try to carry on with school during these crazy holidays. Sure, maybe we deviate from the regular curriculum and do something related to the spooks within our content area, but do we plan important tests on Halloween? (Or on Valentine's Day? Or Homecoming Week? Or the day before Winter Break?) I doubt it.

The hardcore teachers don't care what holiday it is or what teen distraction there might be when they plan exams. Of course, it's up to the students to grow up and be prepared. I can respect that point of view.

When it comes to graduation rates and meeting AYP, would even the hardest, most cynical teacher still give a test?

I wonder.

So, who exactly in the state department of education thought that it would be a good idea to administer a state-wide proficiency exam on Halloween? I'm sure there are teachers and testing administrators asking this question in every single high school in the state.

Game On!

Beginning of the 2nd quarter. Lesson plans in on time. Quarter project information delivered to my students. A plan in place...for the most part.

November is going to be exasperating. We begin the month with two day of testing. During one day in the second week, our team will be out of the classroom to participate in a special event sponsored by the social studies teacher. The third week will begin on Wednesday, as we all take Veteran's Day off, and then the student get to enjoy an additional day while we teachers have an in-service day. The following week is, of course, Thanksgiving. Oh poo! I just remembered that the English department has planned a mock writing proficiency exam that week--you know because it's such a difficult week to count on students showing up anyway. Finally, at the end of the month, I'll get a full week of instruction.

So what are we doing? Writing and reading My students will be writing a book this quarter in the spirit The House on Mango Street. Basically, it will be a book of vignettes about their own lives. I tried to convince them that it wouldn't be so painful because each piece of writing will start in their writer's notebooks, which is something my students are accustomed to anyway. They just aren't used to having to polish every piece they write in their notebooks.

I'm also going to introduce writing response groups into my classroom this month. I had been spoiled the last few years because the 7th grade teacher trained them on the protocol, which she modified from our work in the Southern Nevada Writing Project, so I was able to jump right into using response groups without much modeling. The students I have this year had a different teacher last year, so I will need to establish the protocol. I'm a little rusty at it, and I am sure I'll forget some important points that I'll need to make it run more smoothly, but it will be well worth it when we get going. (I keep telling the students that, too. They are skeptical of permanent response groups.)

Although I'm not ready to present it to my students yet, I am raising the bar on their reading goals this quarter. I'm still irritated that some of them chose not to do any reading at all last quarter. (Some of them appeared to be reading, but I believe they did not follow through and actually finish anything--in 6 weeks!) I spent some time collaborating with the librarian today, and she helped me firm up some ideas on some specific reading tasks I'm going to ask my students to complete this quarter. Of course, these reading tasks aren't just reading...there will be thinking and writing, too.

Reading, thinking, and writing. That's right, students. This isn't cushy first quarter, anymore. Game on.

Commitment

I'm going from persistent absence from this blog, which was so bad that my Dad called to see if I was still alive, to participating in NaBloPoMo. Frumteacher's and pissedoffteacher's comments from my last post struck a cord with me. Yes, it is therapeutic, and ranting blogging does help bring clarity to this crazy life.

I seriously contemplated NaBloPoMo last year, but didn't think I could do it, mostly because I was planning on being gone for the holiday. As it turns out my stepson came down with some infectious disease, so we had to stay home. (Those of you who followed the whole Thanksgiving trauma series know some infectious disease was to be expected. I'll link back to the series closer to the holiday.) I did make a sincere effort last November to blog more frequently, and I believe I did post 17 days. That's much better than going 17 days between posts, aye?

Back from Being Buried Alive

I understand the teachers who go missing from their blogs for weeks, but I can't understand those of you who somehow find the time to blog everyday. I know it's a discipline, but I've a few weeks where I seriously could not find the time. I thought about it a lot, though! So, here are some random ideas in HappyChyck's brain:

• Safety Issues. I noticed in the news that there was a gang/race riot in the area where I work last night. Specifically, it was in the neighborhood where I work and drive through at night. Note to self: It might seem quiet at night, but when residents are quoted as saying that fights happen there often, they know more than you do.
  

• ChChChChanges.We've had a change in administration at our school in the last month. Our wonderful principal was offered a job in the district office. You can't go around being Principal of the Year, leading a Title 1 Distinguished Award-winning school, and dragging a school up from Watch List to Meeting AYP (and High Achieving one year) without getting snatched up by district level administration. It's been a rough few weeks for us, but the district wisely hired our vice-principal to take over as principal, so we are again in safe and competent hands. Our new principal is not as beloved as our old principal, but those who don't love her are quite happy with having the devil we know at the helm. I get along quite well with the devil and am happy for her promotion. Isn't it nice to have administrators that we hold in esteem?

• Get a Book! For the most part, my students read a lot of books. Some do it willingly, while some are forced. We use Accelerated Reader at our school, although it is more elementary geared and we 8th grade teachers don't do much with it. I use to to set reading goals for my students, and these goals are based on individual reading abilities. Meeting the AR goal counts as a test grade at the end of the quarter, and it's basically an independent project. It should be something every students can do during a quarter, yet every year I have students who do not read even one book! This quarter it I had about 20 students who chose not to read anything. Therefore, they also chose to take a 0% on a test grade. Assessments are weighted at 50% of their grades. Average a 0% into that, kiddo! Can anyone explain to me how damn hard it is to read a couple of books in a quarter--especially when it's a standing homework assignment to read 30 minutes a night?

• What Essay, Miss? It took me two weeks to give feedback to my students on an essay. I cannot believe what a struggle it is! Sure, I only teach one English prep, but when papers are due, there are over 100 of them. It took me a few years to figure out why it has become so hard for me to process essays. At my last school I taught 2-4 preps, but I certainly did not assign essays all at the same time. So, if I had over 100 essays waiting to be graded or evaluated it was my own poor planning. Now, it's just life. Unfortunately, some of my students waited so long to get their essays back that they forgot about them. (Student mentality: I did it. It's done. Don't give it back to me.)

• What if... While I've been buried under a mountain of essays, I've caught myself daydreaming about a different path my life might have gone down if I had made a few different choice. I was hired for my first teaching job just days before school started. I didn't want to leave Utah, but there weren't any full time jobs in hometown area, so I did apply all over the West. I also applied for some less-than-desirable jobs in my hometown area, just in case I didn't get a teaching position. The whole idea of not getting a teaching position was an fear I'd had, so minored in business information systems, thinking that if I had to I could work in an office. (The need for computer knowledge and skills was just becoming a necessity when I was in college.) I had some opportunities on that business/computer related path that came up just about the time I left Utah to take a position in rural Nevada. (By the way,CaliforniaTeacherGuy's Jewel School Town sounds suspiciously like my rural Nevada town.) One was for as a computer lab "aide" at an elementary school 3o miles away, and the other was for a computer/keyboarding instructor at the local technical college. Both were part time. Part time work does not pay the bills, especially when student loans are coming due. Although I really wanted to stay in my hometown area, I needed a full time teaching job. Of course, I made the right and only decision I had to move to Nevada, I can't help but wonder where the business/computer path would have eventually taken me. Probably not chained to a bottomless file folder of ungraded essays...

• Mama Drama. Last weekend, I discovered that my stepchildren, who live with us, had Myspace accounts. Wow, pretty interesting considering that they don't have e-mail addresses and their computer usage is monitored and limited! The edgiest site they visit is Starfall.com--they are only 6 and 8 years old, afterall! It took a few days, but after notifying Myspace, the accounts were deleted. As it turns it, the accounts were new, and it was one of the first thing my first grader told us about when he came home from visiting his maternal family: "I got a Myspace!" (We found the spaces first, though.) Of course, the accounts were created so the kids could communicate with other family members, and that is a nice idea, but a tad ignorant. I seriously doubt our kids would fall prey to pedophilic predators on Myspace, but Myspace is an adult space. It is designed for adults and features adult things. Here I mean simply, grown-up, but we all know there are other kinds of adult things that young eyes could accidentally stumble upon--more easily there than another other place young people might go. In fact, these other kinds of adult things can be found on profiles of their own family members. Talk about poor judgment! I don't really consider myself conservative, but I feel like such a Pollyanna in trying to keep our children innocent, and well, simply children in our world.
  

Wasted Class Time

Forget how many hours a year are wasted waiting for students to pass their papers in.

Forget how many hours a year are wasted when kids pack up their things two minutes early.

Forget how many hours a year are wasted digging in backpacks for the assignment that should have been ready at the beginning of class.

Forget how many hours a year are wasted dealing with computer problems.

I'd like to know...

How many hours a year are wasted watching Ms. HappyChyck
--reduced to a cartoon-character of a teacher--
as she struggles to get the projector screen to stay down?

The Great Shoelace Rebellion

I heard whisperings that Friday would be No-Shoelace Day. I didn't think anything of it because there is a group of 8th graders who like to declare special dress-up days on Fridays. We've already had Greaser Day (in remembrance of a group of boys who were at our school last year) and Cowboy Day (uhm, yea) this year. It's a pretty small group of students, mostly girls, who have their little fun, and considering these little theme days must work within our dress code (solid colors, and collared shirts), an outsider probably would not even realize they were dressed differently. It mostly has to do with hair and accessories, of course.

Before school started on Friday I had dozens of students in my classroom trying to print their weekly assignments for Ms. Social Studies, and while they were in line, many of them were discussing whether they would remove their shoelaces or not. As it turns out, one of their classmates was written up for dress code violation because he had taken the shoelaces out of his shoes. Of course, this was just wrong in their eyes because there isn't any such rule about not having shoelaces. So, they were going to show those deans and not wear their shoelaces, too.

A couple of students asked to borrow safety pins on Friday morning, and it turns out they were using them to hold their shoes on after they removed their laces. Once I learned what they needed the safety pins, I reminded them that shoelaces serve a purpose. Determined to make a point, they ignored me while shuffling around with the tongues of their Chucks flopping around.

Ah, the rebellion! Cracks me up.

I decided that perhaps they didn't want to hear the reason why not having shoelaces might be a problem. God forbid that we should have to evacuate the school with these loose-shoed teens. And people, that is not a far-fetched idea. We've had fires at our school twice in the years I've been here, and just last week we had to evacuate because of a gas leak on the adjacent construction site of our new school. Oh, well. I'm an adult. I'm way over 30, and I don't know anything.

Instead, I went next door to share laughter with the 7th grade English teacher who had my group of students last year. We giggled and rolled our eyes over our goofy kids. She told me that particular group of students did have a tendency to get riled up. She admitted that had she not been a first year teacher last year, she might have been able to channel their rebellious energy into something positive. (Sounds like a challenge to me, doesn't it?)

I'm not sure if anything came of the great rebellion. I know a few students were late to class because they were detained so they could lace their shoes. I also know the student who had first endured the injustice earned himself two days of detention, but I don't know if it was related to his shoelaces.

Throughout the day I'd hear snippets of conversation related to the shoelace rebellion, but it wasn't until after lunch that I found a copy of the student handbook where I looked up the dress code. Okay, so I fell down on the job because it plainly says (in kid speak, not lawyer speak) that if students wear shoes that have laces, those laces should be laced. Of course rather than being mildly amused by their antics, I should have set them straight and enforced the code. Oops!

I do feel a little bad for my students, though. The code pertaining to shoes is black and white. There was nothing to dispute. Those shoes came with laces? Wear them! Poor kids wasted their energy on an issue where they were clearly in the wrong.

I'm sure they'll find a better cause next week.