I'm less irritable and less stressed than I was on the first day, although if you ask the dean, he may not agree. Of course he's new, and he did not catch the sarcastic-jaded tone in my voice today when, after our final meeting before opening doors on Monday where we were instructed to go to the library for one last task, I found myself near the end of the line to pick up important documents that had to be handed out to students on Monday and ended up getting NONE of them. All wiped out like crab legs at a $5.99 buffet.
I would have been near the beginning of the line had I not opted to swing by my room to pick up my audio enhancement gear that someone decided needed to be serviced before we could use them. (That means that I will likely lose my voice by the end of the first day, as it is not conditioned, and I will not be spoiled by my mic.) You know...rather than two trips to the library, I was trying to be efficient.
Poor new dean...he thought I was about to lose my cool. What's the fun of sarcasm if you have to explain that it's not really anger? He'll learn. Seriously, if you are expecting things to go the way they are suppose to, DON'T BECOME A TEACHER! Or is that just me that these things happen to? Nah!
So, am I ready? Not as much as I could be. I do not have one piece of paper ready to give students on Monday, but I do have a plan about how they will get their important information, and that will by listening and taking notes. Can you believe how mean I am? No multiple page handout for me to read to them so they can get a little more sleep on their first day back. (Actually, they will get an official everything-you-need-to-know document before we're finished.) No PowerPoint notetaker. No supply list, which they should have already, anyway. No hippy-dippy interest inventory sheet. Haha! Just kidding. I am a dippy hippy, so they'll get that sometime during the week, too. It's not that I'm trying to save trees or anything, but that is a good idea. I just haven't quite gotten things together. So, oh well. The funny thing is that it's not like I have to create the wheel or anything. It's just that I've had so little time.
I had to give up my computer yesterday so I could get a new one that is compatible with the ones my students will have this year, but I was told it could take 48 hours to get a computer back. I was a getting a little afraid that the first day was going to be me and a white board marker. And come to think of it, I probably can't count on the fact that the ones that worked in June still work now. No worries, though. Our computer person is wonderful, and she finished imaging mine just before 4 pm. It's not going to be the year 1954 in my classroom on Monday afterall.
Unfortunately, for the first time since I started at this school, I will be going in tomorrow--on a Saturday--to put the finishing touches on the big back to school event in my classroom. Thank goodness the beginning is near. We're one day closer to the time of year when things are even, organized, and predictable.
August 24, 2007
August 23, 2007
Misplaced Wisdom: Keeping Students Digitally Locked Out
(Skip to the end if you want the shorter story on how I spoke out on what I believe. As short as I can be, anyway.)
Some of the bloggers on my blog roll are what I consider to be serious edubloggers who blog about their exciting adventures in Web2.0 and beyond. I am interested in what's going in that aspect of education, but at times I've found it difficult to join in.
One of the primary reasons I was interested in blogging was so I could get my students involved, too. I didn't blog about the walls I hit until a year later when I found myself planning work for my summer. Some were my walls of inexperience, but others were the walls of a highly locked down district Internet. During that summer, I taught myself as much as I could about some of the interesting tools I could use in my classroom, but when I returned to school, not one was available for me to use. All blocked.
In this past year as I beefed up instruction on how to use the web as a research tool, I had students researching about The Deletion of Online Predators Act. (Here are some sources we used.) I know it didn't pass, but effects and hysteria are long-lasting. Hey, kids! Do want to know why you can't access MySpace at school and why your teachers is bummed that she can't teach you some really cool web applications? Read all about it. Yea, I know. My lame jab and The Man, or something.
I did find a education blog host in the spring (for free--I need the free), which I tried out on my publications students. I don't think I blogged about it. We didn't have much time to work with it, and it was not easy to work with anyway. Utterly disappointing. It was just so wonderful that I've forgotten the name, too.
My greatest joy this summer was finding that wikispaces and del.icio.us were no longer blocked. Hey, I know this stuff is old hat for some, but for me, these are the steps I've been looking forward to. I set up a wiki for my team to use, although some could care less about collaboration. I am confident, however, that I will be able to implement the use of wikis with my students this year.
--->(Here is the shorter version without background.)<---
Along this whole journey, I have bought into the idea that blocking students from social networking sites is not helping them learn about the real world. It is very likely that their "real worlds" may include the ability to communicate intelligently using social networking tools. Students should be taught how to use these tools correctly--and wisely. Those stories about college grads whose employers Googled them and found inappropriate material is not a joke. It's reality. And you know how people conduct entire conferences online now? It's amazing to me, but I figure it's going to be quite commonplace very soon. The powerful online future will be a great place for my students to thrive, but we're building it right now.
I think students should learn intellectual ways to use social tools while protecting/establishing online personas. Are we handicapping them by not doing so? Probably. And for crying out loud, yes it might be wise to block students from inappropriate websites that are sexually perverse and/or violent. (Hey kids! If you're going to look at that kind of stuff--don't do it at school. Duh.) Is it really necessary to block students from social networking sites because they might use them inappropriately? Why not teach some web responsibility? Some professional integrity? Some freakin' common sense?
So, yesterday in a meeting when everyone started chiming in on websites that should be blocked for all the wrong reasons--like Wikipedia because some kids looked up some graphic material with pictures included--I just couldn't hold back. Wikipedia is a sore spot with me because the students use it, and it's not their best, most valid source of information, but in the real world, it's not going away. Sure, students, use Wikipedia, but don't you dare count it as a source. Double check your information. And, by the way, Big Brother is watching, so if you look up inappropriate material, you've lost your computer privileges at our campus--and your mother will know you're a pervert.
(Actually, no matter where you go, there will always be a Big Brother watching. Get used to it.)
In the end, I probably looked like a crazy lady with my impassioned speech--nice that I'm already on my way to becoming the eccentric old English teacher on staff. I know I also stepped on some toes of people I hold in high regard. Ugh. In the end, the powers-to-be in the room agreed with teaching responsibility and intelligent uses, but thought it would be best to block potentially dangerous sites like Wikipedia.
That's just the way it is.
Some of the bloggers on my blog roll are what I consider to be serious edubloggers who blog about their exciting adventures in Web2.0 and beyond. I am interested in what's going in that aspect of education, but at times I've found it difficult to join in.
One of the primary reasons I was interested in blogging was so I could get my students involved, too. I didn't blog about the walls I hit until a year later when I found myself planning work for my summer. Some were my walls of inexperience, but others were the walls of a highly locked down district Internet. During that summer, I taught myself as much as I could about some of the interesting tools I could use in my classroom, but when I returned to school, not one was available for me to use. All blocked.
In this past year as I beefed up instruction on how to use the web as a research tool, I had students researching about The Deletion of Online Predators Act. (Here are some sources we used.) I know it didn't pass, but effects and hysteria are long-lasting. Hey, kids! Do want to know why you can't access MySpace at school and why your teachers is bummed that she can't teach you some really cool web applications? Read all about it. Yea, I know. My lame jab and The Man, or something.
I did find a education blog host in the spring (for free--I need the free), which I tried out on my publications students. I don't think I blogged about it. We didn't have much time to work with it, and it was not easy to work with anyway. Utterly disappointing. It was just so wonderful that I've forgotten the name, too.
My greatest joy this summer was finding that wikispaces and del.icio.us were no longer blocked. Hey, I know this stuff is old hat for some, but for me, these are the steps I've been looking forward to. I set up a wiki for my team to use, although some could care less about collaboration. I am confident, however, that I will be able to implement the use of wikis with my students this year.
--->(Here is the shorter version without background.)<---
Along this whole journey, I have bought into the idea that blocking students from social networking sites is not helping them learn about the real world. It is very likely that their "real worlds" may include the ability to communicate intelligently using social networking tools. Students should be taught how to use these tools correctly--and wisely. Those stories about college grads whose employers Googled them and found inappropriate material is not a joke. It's reality. And you know how people conduct entire conferences online now? It's amazing to me, but I figure it's going to be quite commonplace very soon. The powerful online future will be a great place for my students to thrive, but we're building it right now.
I think students should learn intellectual ways to use social tools while protecting/establishing online personas. Are we handicapping them by not doing so? Probably. And for crying out loud, yes it might be wise to block students from inappropriate websites that are sexually perverse and/or violent. (Hey kids! If you're going to look at that kind of stuff--don't do it at school. Duh.) Is it really necessary to block students from social networking sites because they might use them inappropriately? Why not teach some web responsibility? Some professional integrity? Some freakin' common sense?
So, yesterday in a meeting when everyone started chiming in on websites that should be blocked for all the wrong reasons--like Wikipedia because some kids looked up some graphic material with pictures included--I just couldn't hold back. Wikipedia is a sore spot with me because the students use it, and it's not their best, most valid source of information, but in the real world, it's not going away. Sure, students, use Wikipedia, but don't you dare count it as a source. Double check your information. And, by the way, Big Brother is watching, so if you look up inappropriate material, you've lost your computer privileges at our campus--and your mother will know you're a pervert.
(Actually, no matter where you go, there will always be a Big Brother watching. Get used to it.)
In the end, I probably looked like a crazy lady with my impassioned speech--nice that I'm already on my way to becoming the eccentric old English teacher on staff. I know I also stepped on some toes of people I hold in high regard. Ugh. In the end, the powers-to-be in the room agreed with teaching responsibility and intelligent uses, but thought it would be best to block potentially dangerous sites like Wikipedia.
That's just the way it is.
August 22, 2007
Can I Get Some Prozac With That Exedrin?
Chiming in that I made it back for my first day--for us teachers, anyway. Before the day was out I was breaking into the headache medicine of which I am super stocked.
I know I wasn't psyched to go back to school, but after today, I'm just depressed.
The pressure of all the things we have to do to be effective teachers with all the best practices and documentation of all things behavioral and academic (for 150 students) is super stressful at times. Do this. Do that. Don't forget to do that other thing. Use technology. Make it all work together. Be sure to call the parents--for good and bad. And, by the way, you need to work closely with your colleagues because we can see how PLC is working for us. Ack!
I guess just sitting with my colleagues all day while they ask questions for which answers should be obvious just wore me down. I know I am going to have to work with some of them, yet some of them are not easy to work with. (When I have students who don't want to work with other students in class activities, I tell them it is real life experience and they need to learn how to deal with those situations. Boy, do I know.) I am not one for conflict, and I'm pretty easy-going. I'd imagine it's easy to walk all over me, but in my mind, I consider myself flexible. I've made it through a decade in this career, and I'd say that my ability to be flexible has been an important character trait in surviving. Yes, I'm one of those women who has a Plan B--and sometimes C and D--for everything. I learned it in the classroom.
Lately, though, I don't feel like bending over anymore. It is not worth my time to negotiate my way through everyone else's drama. Maybe it should my way or no way. Honestly, it seems like it usually goes one person's way, instead of compromising on all participants' accounts. Other teachers do not seem to have any qualms about going against the flow and doing exactly what they like. I'm so done with them. Somehow I feel like now I'm not being a good team player, but maybe the pleaser/do-gooder in me can get over that.
I had a conversation with a confidant of mine on staff. She feels like although the teachers at our school are all nice people, the atmosphere is too much like high school at times. There are very definite cliques. There's drama. There's gossip. There are even love triangles. I'd never really thought about it (other than some people act like middle school girls), but she's right. Those uncomfortable feelings of not quite fitting in... Most of the time I blow it off, and just social with whomever I like. Yea, I was one of those kids in school who didn't specifically fit in any one place. It's okay, but it is exhausting at times. I have to be careful because sometimes I feel caught between people who don't like each other. Seriously, what do I care about other people's lack of social graces? Oh, other than just like high school, not getting along with your colleagues can make your life a living hell.
Oh my gosh! Reality check. Now I'm all full of drama! I'm one of them. Maybe it's time for me to go back to teaching high school.
When you add up stressful working conditions with immature people, it's easy to get frustrated. These are not the feelings I want to start the year with. So, get my tantrum out. Have a good cry of frustration. Turn my frown upside. Get over it, aye?
That's right.
I know I wasn't psyched to go back to school, but after today, I'm just depressed.
The pressure of all the things we have to do to be effective teachers with all the best practices and documentation of all things behavioral and academic (for 150 students) is super stressful at times. Do this. Do that. Don't forget to do that other thing. Use technology. Make it all work together. Be sure to call the parents--for good and bad. And, by the way, you need to work closely with your colleagues because we can see how PLC is working for us. Ack!
I guess just sitting with my colleagues all day while they ask questions for which answers should be obvious just wore me down. I know I am going to have to work with some of them, yet some of them are not easy to work with. (When I have students who don't want to work with other students in class activities, I tell them it is real life experience and they need to learn how to deal with those situations. Boy, do I know.) I am not one for conflict, and I'm pretty easy-going. I'd imagine it's easy to walk all over me, but in my mind, I consider myself flexible. I've made it through a decade in this career, and I'd say that my ability to be flexible has been an important character trait in surviving. Yes, I'm one of those women who has a Plan B--and sometimes C and D--for everything. I learned it in the classroom.
Lately, though, I don't feel like bending over anymore. It is not worth my time to negotiate my way through everyone else's drama. Maybe it should my way or no way. Honestly, it seems like it usually goes one person's way, instead of compromising on all participants' accounts. Other teachers do not seem to have any qualms about going against the flow and doing exactly what they like. I'm so done with them. Somehow I feel like now I'm not being a good team player, but maybe the pleaser/do-gooder in me can get over that.
I had a conversation with a confidant of mine on staff. She feels like although the teachers at our school are all nice people, the atmosphere is too much like high school at times. There are very definite cliques. There's drama. There's gossip. There are even love triangles. I'd never really thought about it (other than some people act like middle school girls), but she's right. Those uncomfortable feelings of not quite fitting in... Most of the time I blow it off, and just social with whomever I like. Yea, I was one of those kids in school who didn't specifically fit in any one place. It's okay, but it is exhausting at times. I have to be careful because sometimes I feel caught between people who don't like each other. Seriously, what do I care about other people's lack of social graces? Oh, other than just like high school, not getting along with your colleagues can make your life a living hell.
Oh my gosh! Reality check. Now I'm all full of drama! I'm one of them. Maybe it's time for me to go back to teaching high school.
When you add up stressful working conditions with immature people, it's easy to get frustrated. These are not the feelings I want to start the year with. So, get my tantrum out. Have a good cry of frustration. Turn my frown upside. Get over it, aye?
That's right.
August 20, 2007
A Classroom Equipped for Anything
I picked up my keys today. I had a former student helping me, so she worked on setting up my room while I worked on cleaning out a couple of file cabinets that have been crammed with stuff—quite a bit from the teacher before me. Oh! I feel so light and free after filling a large trash bag.
Following is a list of some random things I found. Some things belonged to me. Some did not.
P.S. No air conditioning in my room today. It was 108° outside, so I doubt I'm exaggerating much if I said it was 100° in my classroom--it's been closed up with no air for 6 weeks. I probably would have gone home if I hadn't hadfree labor a poor kid trying to get ahead on her required community service hours.
Following is a list of some random things I found. Some things belonged to me. Some did not.
- a check made out to the school for $17 written in March of 2003
- cold medicine tablets that expired in December of 2005
- a red Matchbox Mustang
- 2 bottles of headache medicine
- a metallic green charger plate
- 1 package of strawberry fruit leather
- 2 packages of instant Miso soup
- $1.37 in change
- a package of sewing needles
- a package of safety pins
- blue and pink crocheted slippers
- a Twin Towers souvenir keychain
- 5 bottles of hand sanitizers
- a red metal chalk holder
- a 6-inch cleaver
- a brand new box of Bicycle playing cards
- 2 foam dice—1 blue and the other hot pink
P.S. No air conditioning in my room today. It was 108° outside, so I doubt I'm exaggerating much if I said it was 100° in my classroom--it's been closed up with no air for 6 weeks. I probably would have gone home if I hadn't had
August 18, 2007
"Teacher Arrested" Draggin' Us Down
There's one thing that we teachers we can count on when it comes to media coverage: we always come out looking bad.
I suppose it much the same in many places.
Unfortunately, this month we've had a rash of teachers who actually are bad. Coverage of three teachers (here, here, and here) and their criminal behavior with students has been in the news. When I heard continuous news of the first one who was in court, I was seriously irritated and disappointed by this person who had considered himself an educator, but his coverage was following the trial. Soon to be over, right? Unfortunately, with news of more teachers popping up all over the county, I'm cringing my way through the news each day.
It's bad enough that we are hundreds of teachers short for the start of school, but I guess the teachers we have left are creepy pedophiles. As a member of the community, that's what thought would be in my head, anyway.
One of the worst moments in my career was in the last year when some students were casually talking with me. I don't remember what the topic was exactly, but it had to be about trust. They asked if they could trust their teachers. It pained me to tell them that I'd really like them to be able to trust their teachers unconditionally, but I told them that that no, they could not. They could not trust us. There aren't any adults they should trust. They had to look out for creepy feelings of intuition and watch for inappropriate behaviors. Trust no one. How sad! (A couple of them told me they'd have creepy feelings around former teachers. Oh! I wanted to cry!)
Because of those depraved teachers, I need to be vigilant in keeping my distance from students. I get a little anxious if the door closes and I'm left alone with a student between classes. Sure, kid, you can ask me a question--just let me prop the door open. You know, so everyone knows I can be trusted with you in a room for 30 seconds. I know I might be extreme, but that's the world today.
That reminds me that I should review good touching and bad touching with my own children. What a great way to prep for the new school year...
I suppose it much the same in many places.
Unfortunately, this month we've had a rash of teachers who actually are bad. Coverage of three teachers (here, here, and here) and their criminal behavior with students has been in the news. When I heard continuous news of the first one who was in court, I was seriously irritated and disappointed by this person who had considered himself an educator, but his coverage was following the trial. Soon to be over, right? Unfortunately, with news of more teachers popping up all over the county, I'm cringing my way through the news each day.
It's bad enough that we are hundreds of teachers short for the start of school, but I guess the teachers we have left are creepy pedophiles. As a member of the community, that's what thought would be in my head, anyway.
One of the worst moments in my career was in the last year when some students were casually talking with me. I don't remember what the topic was exactly, but it had to be about trust. They asked if they could trust their teachers. It pained me to tell them that I'd really like them to be able to trust their teachers unconditionally, but I told them that that no, they could not. They could not trust us. There aren't any adults they should trust. They had to look out for creepy feelings of intuition and watch for inappropriate behaviors. Trust no one. How sad! (A couple of them told me they'd have creepy feelings around former teachers. Oh! I wanted to cry!)
Because of those depraved teachers, I need to be vigilant in keeping my distance from students. I get a little anxious if the door closes and I'm left alone with a student between classes. Sure, kid, you can ask me a question--just let me prop the door open. You know, so everyone knows I can be trusted with you in a room for 30 seconds. I know I might be extreme, but that's the world today.
That reminds me that I should review good touching and bad touching with my own children. What a great way to prep for the new school year...
August 17, 2007
Joey's Story
That kid really got on my nerves. He wasn't malicious, but he was out-of-control and irritating. I likened him to Jim Carey and Tom Green. Outside the classroom, I suppose he was quite amusing, but when I was trying to teach the students the difference between adverb clauses and adjective clauses, his antics were not appreciated.
I tried everything with Joey. I tried reasoning with him. It wasn't fair to the other students, and he wasn't doing the best he could do either. He understood and would try to control his antics, but in the end it wasn't possible.
I tried detention. In general I don't like detention. It hardly makes an impact.
I let him and his sidekick have the last 5 minutes of class to perform for their classmates IF he could control himself during class. It only worked once or twice. Again. No control.
I gave him time-outs. At that time I taught in a classroom that exited to the outdoors and had a bank of large windows, so I could keep an eye on the student I banished outside. It served as a great way to get him out of my hair and calm him down, but he ended up spending half his freshman year standing outside the classroom.
Of course, I also called his mom. She became my new best friend. She was in no way blind to her son's uncontrollable antics. She did not excuse them and worked on the issues at home.
Sure, Joey was a lovable kid. He was friendly, and because he was so full of school spirit, he was always at school events. So, as a person, I truly held nothing against him, but the thought of having him in my class again for his sophomore year made me want to put my head through one of those windows in my classroom. There was nothing I could do, though. I was the only sophomore English teacher at my small school.
A few months into his sophomore year I called his mom, "Jan, I'm just calling to tell you that I'm going to have to strangle your son. I'm sorry. It's just the way it is."
She didn't file a lawsuit against me. Instead, we again brainstormed ways to deal with Joey and came up with something revolutionary. She knew I was the drama coach, so she thought maybe he could help out around the stage as a form of punishment. Her ulterior motives were perhaps to help him find another outlet for his antics. Although he was the class clown, he and his friends were more into athletics. However, because of his exuberant personality, he didn't balk when he had to report to drama practice. He was up for anything. It actually worked out for me because in a community where athletics reigned supreme, I was forever producing shows with a skeleton crew.
Even better, Jan's suggestion was actually a lifesaver for me, as I had lost an actor and was in need of a replacement for the upcoming show. So, Joey was compelled to pay me back for his behavior in my classroom by becoming an actor who needed to quickly learn his lines for a performance that would happen in just a few weeks.
Recipe for disaster? Hardly. Joey was a natural on the stage. He could be himself there. His over-the-top antics smothered us in my small classroom, but it fit just right on a stage in an auditorium. It's the truth. He rarely irritate me at drama practice. Even better, he came out for every play after that and became a leader in the club. He didn't even bother with athletics, except in costume as the mascot. Drama is where he belonged.
Did his behavior in my classroom improve? To some extent. I had a special bond with my drama kids. If you've ever advised or coached an extra curricular activity, you know how that works. Once he became one of my kids outside of the classroom, he tried much harder to cooperate and please me in the classroom. I know his behavior improved, but I probably also had more tolerance for him, too.
During his senior year, I agreed to to let him be my student aide. Now, that's a special bond--or a whole lot of faith--if I'm going to let the the biggest class clown I've ever known be my aide. By his senior year, he had grown up and become more serious. He was calmer in class, and he was more serious about raising his grades. He wasn't totally serious, though. It was during his senior year that he made a moving swimming pool out of the back of his El Camino--just one of his crazy kid antics.
He was at times a high maintenance aide, but I quickly found that if I kept my desk full of snacks and drinks, he would happily work his way through his tasks without disrupting my students. What gangly teenage boy have you ever known that couldn't eat every minute of the day? It was kind of a running joke between us because initially he was not thrilled with my choice of snacks for him, which included fruit, nuts, and granola bars. Hey! I don't need junk food, and a hyper kid like him didn't either! However, he finally grew to like them and proudly told his mom that I was keeping him healthy.
During his senior year, he announced that he was going to study acting in college. I was proud that during high school he had found his true passion. Of course, I consulted him about perhaps having a double major just in case he had difficulty finding employment. I also warned him that based on what he'd done in our little drama club, he had a lot to learn about theater, so he should go in prepared to be the little fish in a big pond. I wished him the most success, but I wanted to keep him grounded.
Joey was one of those student who I felt was more than a student. He was family to me. My own kid. A little brother. I've had a few students to whom I've become that close, but I can probably count them on one hand. I always consider myself a mentor, but there are those certain students when you feel like you've truly given everything you have and you clearly see the impact.
My moral or point? I don't know. I can't help but marvel at how sometimes those kids you want to send to Siberia turn out to be the ones you remember the most. The ones you miss the most, too. Sometimes it takes just the tiniest little thing to make them come around to your point of view, and you earn their respect, and they settle down enough to learn a few things.
I tried everything with Joey. I tried reasoning with him. It wasn't fair to the other students, and he wasn't doing the best he could do either. He understood and would try to control his antics, but in the end it wasn't possible.
I tried detention. In general I don't like detention. It hardly makes an impact.
I let him and his sidekick have the last 5 minutes of class to perform for their classmates IF he could control himself during class. It only worked once or twice. Again. No control.
I gave him time-outs. At that time I taught in a classroom that exited to the outdoors and had a bank of large windows, so I could keep an eye on the student I banished outside. It served as a great way to get him out of my hair and calm him down, but he ended up spending half his freshman year standing outside the classroom.
Of course, I also called his mom. She became my new best friend. She was in no way blind to her son's uncontrollable antics. She did not excuse them and worked on the issues at home.
Sure, Joey was a lovable kid. He was friendly, and because he was so full of school spirit, he was always at school events. So, as a person, I truly held nothing against him, but the thought of having him in my class again for his sophomore year made me want to put my head through one of those windows in my classroom. There was nothing I could do, though. I was the only sophomore English teacher at my small school.
A few months into his sophomore year I called his mom, "Jan, I'm just calling to tell you that I'm going to have to strangle your son. I'm sorry. It's just the way it is."
She didn't file a lawsuit against me. Instead, we again brainstormed ways to deal with Joey and came up with something revolutionary. She knew I was the drama coach, so she thought maybe he could help out around the stage as a form of punishment. Her ulterior motives were perhaps to help him find another outlet for his antics. Although he was the class clown, he and his friends were more into athletics. However, because of his exuberant personality, he didn't balk when he had to report to drama practice. He was up for anything. It actually worked out for me because in a community where athletics reigned supreme, I was forever producing shows with a skeleton crew.
Even better, Jan's suggestion was actually a lifesaver for me, as I had lost an actor and was in need of a replacement for the upcoming show. So, Joey was compelled to pay me back for his behavior in my classroom by becoming an actor who needed to quickly learn his lines for a performance that would happen in just a few weeks.
Recipe for disaster? Hardly. Joey was a natural on the stage. He could be himself there. His over-the-top antics smothered us in my small classroom, but it fit just right on a stage in an auditorium. It's the truth. He rarely irritate me at drama practice. Even better, he came out for every play after that and became a leader in the club. He didn't even bother with athletics, except in costume as the mascot. Drama is where he belonged.
Did his behavior in my classroom improve? To some extent. I had a special bond with my drama kids. If you've ever advised or coached an extra curricular activity, you know how that works. Once he became one of my kids outside of the classroom, he tried much harder to cooperate and please me in the classroom. I know his behavior improved, but I probably also had more tolerance for him, too.
During his senior year, I agreed to to let him be my student aide. Now, that's a special bond--or a whole lot of faith--if I'm going to let the the biggest class clown I've ever known be my aide. By his senior year, he had grown up and become more serious. He was calmer in class, and he was more serious about raising his grades. He wasn't totally serious, though. It was during his senior year that he made a moving swimming pool out of the back of his El Camino--just one of his crazy kid antics.
He was at times a high maintenance aide, but I quickly found that if I kept my desk full of snacks and drinks, he would happily work his way through his tasks without disrupting my students. What gangly teenage boy have you ever known that couldn't eat every minute of the day? It was kind of a running joke between us because initially he was not thrilled with my choice of snacks for him, which included fruit, nuts, and granola bars. Hey! I don't need junk food, and a hyper kid like him didn't either! However, he finally grew to like them and proudly told his mom that I was keeping him healthy.
During his senior year, he announced that he was going to study acting in college. I was proud that during high school he had found his true passion. Of course, I consulted him about perhaps having a double major just in case he had difficulty finding employment. I also warned him that based on what he'd done in our little drama club, he had a lot to learn about theater, so he should go in prepared to be the little fish in a big pond. I wished him the most success, but I wanted to keep him grounded.
Joey was one of those student who I felt was more than a student. He was family to me. My own kid. A little brother. I've had a few students to whom I've become that close, but I can probably count them on one hand. I always consider myself a mentor, but there are those certain students when you feel like you've truly given everything you have and you clearly see the impact.
My moral or point? I don't know. I can't help but marvel at how sometimes those kids you want to send to Siberia turn out to be the ones you remember the most. The ones you miss the most, too. Sometimes it takes just the tiniest little thing to make them come around to your point of view, and you earn their respect, and they settle down enough to learn a few things.
August 16, 2007
Rambling Yearbook Reflection
The major thing I regret not doing this summer is tweaking my publications curriculum. I hate to admit that although we've put out a good book the last two years, the curriculum hasn't been rigorous enough. In the first couple of months I am able to do direct instruction, but once we start having deadlines, the class time is short for me. It's also pretty short for students who have deadlines, but they meet deadlines at different paces. So, it's not uncommon that there are students who are sitting around doing nothing. I know. It's terrible. I never allow that to happen in my English classes. It's my own stinkin' fault. I get buried with deadlines, and the lumps in the corner become my last concern for the moment.
Unfortunately, that laziness breeds laziness and I can't get many of them to do anything when I do need them. Some of them are so undependable that I can't trust them when I do need them in a crunch, so they've just scored more free time.
So, in the eleventh hour I am working on structuring much of the class so students have to work independently on a variety of modules when they aren't working toward deadlines. At this point I seem to have plenty of materials, and for the first time ever in my career, I will have a class set of textbooks--at their grade level--to use. (I don't know when they are arriving, though...) I am working on deciding what should come first. What will hook the students to be interested? (Most of the students I had last year didn't care about journalism and were there only for yearbook.) What essential skills and concepts do we need to get the newspaper off the ground and the yearbook a running start? What skills can wait?
You see, it isn't until about 3/4 through the year when students have explored the different issues in journalism, written different types of stories for the newspaper, practiced elements of photography, and designed yearbook pages that they truly understand what we are trying to accomplish in our publications class. My students are unskilled and unexperienced as we stumble our way through the year producing things that represent our school. Yikes! Once I have them fully trained, the year has ended, and they move on to high school. It seems quite unfair, doesn't it?
When I taught high school, I usually had students for two years, and the editors generally had been there for three. It makes the biggest difference if I have people on staff who know what they are doing and can help train new staff members. I don't have to begin from scratch each year that way--not to mention the amount of time I save establishing who is capable and willing on the staff.
Don't I have students who return for a second year? The majority of my students are 8th graders. Last year I had four students in my class who had taken the course in 7th grade, and this year it looks like I have four again. (I had more, but some aren't invited back.) I suppose is enough that I can assign each one a team to look over, but only one of the four is going to do any good. The rest will be like the near-sighted leading the blind.
And it is what it is.
Unfortunately, that laziness breeds laziness and I can't get many of them to do anything when I do need them. Some of them are so undependable that I can't trust them when I do need them in a crunch, so they've just scored more free time.
So, in the eleventh hour I am working on structuring much of the class so students have to work independently on a variety of modules when they aren't working toward deadlines. At this point I seem to have plenty of materials, and for the first time ever in my career, I will have a class set of textbooks--at their grade level--to use. (I don't know when they are arriving, though...) I am working on deciding what should come first. What will hook the students to be interested? (Most of the students I had last year didn't care about journalism and were there only for yearbook.) What essential skills and concepts do we need to get the newspaper off the ground and the yearbook a running start? What skills can wait?
You see, it isn't until about 3/4 through the year when students have explored the different issues in journalism, written different types of stories for the newspaper, practiced elements of photography, and designed yearbook pages that they truly understand what we are trying to accomplish in our publications class. My students are unskilled and unexperienced as we stumble our way through the year producing things that represent our school. Yikes! Once I have them fully trained, the year has ended, and they move on to high school. It seems quite unfair, doesn't it?
When I taught high school, I usually had students for two years, and the editors generally had been there for three. It makes the biggest difference if I have people on staff who know what they are doing and can help train new staff members. I don't have to begin from scratch each year that way--not to mention the amount of time I save establishing who is capable and willing on the staff.
Don't I have students who return for a second year? The majority of my students are 8th graders. Last year I had four students in my class who had taken the course in 7th grade, and this year it looks like I have four again. (I had more, but some aren't invited back.) I suppose is enough that I can assign each one a team to look over, but only one of the four is going to do any good. The rest will be like the near-sighted leading the blind.
And it is what it is.
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