Not in Public

My 11 year-old son and I went shopping for school clothes today, and when we were nearly finished we stopped to have lunch. I rarely go out with just one of the children, but I decided a little one-on-one time would be good for the kids, and for my sanity.

You see, they love each other dearly, but they fight and bicker. Oy!

One of the major activities they have been doing this summer is going to the community swimming pool, which is nice enough that it also has come slides. It's good for them to get out of the house, and I love them better when I don't have to listen to them all day long.

But, wait! Am I subjecting others to their drama?

So in casual conversation, I asked my son, "How are you and your sister doing a the pool? Do you get along, or do you fight?"

He shook his head like I was nutty and replied, "No, we get along."

"But not at home?"

He shook his head.

"Well, what the difference?" I asked him.

"That's public. We aren't going to fight in public." Again, the look that makes me think I'm crazy.

Well, isn't that bittersweet?

They know enough to act right in public, but it's absolutely okay to make my life miserable in the sanctuary of my home?

This parenting business is complicated.

Soliciting Guilt

It's only mid-July, and stores are already selling school supplies. Eep! I suppose I better get to it.

At few stores last week, I was solicited to donate supplies or money at the checkout for students in need. While I think this is a wonderful idea, and a cause close to my heart, I do not want to donate. At one store, I swear the lady at the checkout gave me a funny look like, "How could you be so cruel, woman? Just buy a $1 pack of pencils to add to the box!" It might have been my guilty imagination. I don't know.

I could have said, "Oh, I just spent $30 on basic supplies for my classroom at the teachers supply store. Please don't judge. Plenty of my paycheck goes to the children." I didn't, though. Sometimes I just like to be a normal person.

Perhaps donating that pack of pencils might have curtailed the lack of pencils students will have in my classroom. Unlikely, though. Las Vegas is huge, and I was technically in Henderson, which is miles and miles from where I teach. Of course, my magnet students are bussed around from everywhere. Naw. Still unlikely.

Will I end up buying that extra pack of pencils this year for the kids?  You betcha. I'll contribute to my  own cause. You'll find extra pencils--and paper, erasers, markers, colored pencils, stickers, glue, tape, staples, notebooks, folders--in my classroom closet.

Phew. Okay. I don't have to feel guilty for not helping the kids.

No Rest for the Wicked or the Teachers

Summer Break is finally here!

I think I just finished my 14th year, or maybe it was my 15th? I don't know. Time kind of blends together. Princess Diana died the week I started teaching. It was a long time ago!

Today was one of those time warp things where it really felt like just another year when I am packing up my classroom like I'm having to leave, but alas, no, I am just putting things away for the summer. Is it true that I won't have the Sunday Blues? No stacks of papers? No more endless meetings?

I wish.

Early Monday morning, I have a training on iPads in the classroom. It's kind of mandatory training, but then it's not really because my contract is finished, but since we are going to a 1:1 iPad program next year, this is the first in a few trainings. Apparently, at this training I will receive my iPad, so at least there's that--oh, and it is a paid training. Honestly, there are multiple sessions in the next few weeks for my school and others who were accepted into this special grant program, and as you can see, I picked the FIRST one after school ended. Let's get this "mandatory" training over with. Let's try to stretch out my summer, shall we?

Oh, never mind. I'm also taking three online professional development courses this month. They should be short and easy to finish. I took two of them in the last month while I was working my regular 60 hours a week, so I think I have this handled. I hope.

By June 22, I be completely ready for a break, and in fact, I'll be hittin' the road. As in the past, I take the entire month of July off from anything work-related. Just a few more weeks, and I'm going to totally take a break.

I promise.

Rites of Passage

One of the units in the Spanish class that many of my students take is about rites of passage. Of course, learning about the quinceañera is rite of passage that kicks off this idea that many, many cultures go through rites of passage.

Although my students may not fully realize it, they are going through a series of passages themselves this week as they end their time in middle school. This past Wednesday, we had awards night to celebrate our top students. Friday was the semi-formal dance for 8th graders only, and on the last day of school, after we usher all 6th and 7th graders off campus, we'll celebrate 8th graders being promoted to high school in a short ceremony in the gym.

All of these occasions give students opportunities to dress in their best clothing, something that shows more style than their standard blue and gray polo shirts. With the boys in combed hair and pressed shirts and the girls in their impossibly high heels, I start to image what they might look like four years from now as they graduate high school--or sometimes I even imagine them after college in their successful careers and as caring parents to small children. I'm no fortune teller, but sometimes I feel as if I can see the people they will become. It's pretty exciting!

Some of the students do not realize what a special time this week is for them. Many had no desire to attend the dance, to wear something nice and spend time with their friends. A few are balking at having to attend the promotion ceremony, which is also optional. I'm sympathetic to their feelings on this time, as I am not the type of person who enjoys a big to-do either. Perhaps these moments are partially for loved ones to celebrate the rites of passages for our young ones. If nothing else, I do hope my students are reflecting back on their time--briefly--and looking forward to the adventures that await them.

I know that middle school completion is not that big of a deal. Seriously, what does completing middle school get a young person? Not much. A ticket to high school? Uhm...wahoo? Oh, for most of my students, their success in middle school has opened opportunities to better high schools, but ultimately, finishing middle school is really not that big of a deal in the scope of life.

If we're talking about the scope of life, the long road, the journeys, the quests, why celebrate the little successes along the way? Why not embrace the celebrations?

I know some of my students balk at the idea of this week being a rite of passage for them, while others are too well aware, and maybe a little more freaked out or emotional than usual. Whatever it is to them, I hope they will accept the handshakes and hugs and just enjoy the moment.

Stupid Memorial Day

I love and hate Memorial Day.

First of all, let me say that I am so grateful for servicemen that this holiday celebrates. My feelings for this holiday have nothing to do with its true purpose.

Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer, right? Warm weather, barbecues, sun, and fun. As a teacher, summer is even more than that. Summer means no work less work. Wahoo!

Only...wait...I still have two weeks of work until my definition of summer begins.

Every year, it's the same story. I am so thankful when Memorial Day rolls around because it has been a long time since Spring Break, and I am just tired. It is always a blissful weekend of relaxation. This Memorial Day, I had absolutely no papers to grade, and no lesson planning to do. I read 2 books, hung out with my family, and also had time for some friends, too. Ah...life has been good!

As I was sitting on the patio this evening, after a delicious beer butt chicken dinner, I lamented to a friend that my mind and body are already of summer break, but I still have 9 days of work. Nine days of final projects, reviews, final exams, packing up my classroom for summer storage, cleaning up a year's worth of memories and learning, and worst of all, 8 of those nine days include restless students whose mind and bodies have told them it's time for summer, too.

Stupid Memorial Day. Such a damn tease for what life can be like if I can endure just a few more days.

New Adventures?

It was almost a week ago that I chided myself for not writing more often. I decided that because there are so many changes coming my way that this would be a good time to pick up the old blog again. Do people even blog still, or do I really need to do something more cutting edge? I see in my feeds that some of my old friends are still writing away, so that is a good sign!

Next year, there will be exciting changes at my school. Some good...some bad...all potential for new adventures I've told myself.

• Our school was chosen to do a 1:1 iPad program. Very cool, right? We used to have a 1:1 laptop program in our magnet program, but my entire school is not magnet, so it was a little different. This is school-wide. I've had mixed feelings about this all along, and a few years ago, I struggled with its use in the classroom and decided that since it was a such a personal device, it was hard to use just one in the classroom. I have tried it a few times with my low-level ELL high school students, but it is difficult to find apps that are appropriate to their maturity. My trepidation this time relates back to my experiences with our 1:1 laptop program, when in reflection, I realized that we have to be careful that we are not using technology to novelty's sake but as a tool to help students learn. For example, students are often so obsessed with the product of their project--like how cool it looks--that they skimp on the content and quality. Or, what about administrators hound us to use certain programs that are not more effective than what I have to offer as a teacher? I know how to deal with the students, but the administrators are trickier for sure! I have already been exploring, and I have district training this summer, so the adventure has already begun!
• I made it through one year of Common Core Standards. It was pretty "exciting" last fall when it was dumped out our laps, along with a new district website where we were mandated to do our lesson planning. I kind of blew it off, as we have gone through several years of new and revised standards, and in the end I was always teaching English. My administrator claimed that these new standards would help us align more to IB standards. Since I have been complaining for years how complicated it is to align IB ideals with testing mania standards, I really wanted to believe her. So how did it all work out? I still do not understand the hype, but it has been easier working with these standards than some that have come before.
• I'm still excited about IB. Although, I've been teaching in an IB program for years, it is a complicated program to use in a public school obsessed with testing. Some years I really tried, but I was ill-prepared and floundering alone. This year we had a theme coordinator who was out of her classroom for half the day to assist us, and we really focused on assessments. I was one of the few in my department--and maybe across the school--who was using IB assessment, but then after I attended specific training on it last spring, it really had to walk the walk. Between that at CCSS, things have been pretty rigorous in my classroom, and that is the way I like it! I'm looking forward to refining next year. I drink the IB kool-aid. Might as well enjoy it.
• We are losing so many teachers next year, and I'm so bummed. We are slated to lose 7 positions at our school, but half of those were unfilled from last year anyway. No, I'm losing dear friends, and it will change the dynamics the 8th grade and of our school. In the 8th grade, we are losing our algebra teacher of 5 years (leaving education entirely...) and our department chair, the one of who had a way with the way-ward pre-algebra students and who had been at our school longer than anyone, passed away suddenly from a heart attack two weeks ago. We had another strong algebra teacher come in this year, and I am sad to see him go, too. It's hard to find math teachers, and it is especially difficult to find secondary math teachers who want to teach middle school. Our science department is similarly decimated, but 7th grade is mostly affected, as all the 7th grade teachers are moving on to other things. One of our 8th grade teachers, and a leader on our 8th grade team, is moving down to fill one of the positions. Our foreign language department has been wonky for a few years, and last year we lost our long-time French teacher who had been a real team player. The Spanish teacher, who has been around longer than I have and who keeps me informed and in check, is leaving this year to go to Florida where her husband, who has been unemployed for 2 years, has some connections to find work. I'm exhausted at the thought of bringing in new people to try work together to build our IB program--and how I do not envy our coordinator who will take the brunt of mentoring them--but to spin this awful mess into something positive, I am holding out for new blood to our school who bring fresh ideas and positive energy. Please!
• My son is entering 6th grade in the fall, and he coming to my school! I'm not sure how that will really affect me, but it will be weird dragging one of the kids to school with me. (I opted to give my daughter space, and I sent her to our zoned school, which I sometimes regret.) I do not have much association with the 6th grade teachers--although, they are all awesome--and so I will not see him much, but it still changes my everyday life. Our elementary schools start around 9:00 am, and at my middle school, our magnet students start at 7:00 am with a 0 hour class. I think the sleep schedule might kick his butt a little. I typically stay and work after school for at least an hour, and some days that might be more than he can handle. Or some days, I might want to bug out, but he might have activities. This kind of coordination will be weird. There are quite a few of us staff members who have entering 6th graders this year, so I hope they end up being a good class!

I haven't even finished the school year yet and I'm looking forward to next year. What can I say? It's what we teachers do!

One Obstacle Down

Last week was a big week on campus, as the 8th graders took their state writing exams. I bumped into a 7th grade reading teacher in the office, and she told me that one of our 8th grades said that she could now check that off her 8th grade checklist. That's right--it is a kind of rite of passage!

For years the 8th grade exam was a narrative or descriptive writing that students had two English class periods to complete. Last year, we were all thrown into chaos it was changed to resemble the high school exam, which is two prompts to be written in one testing session--and one of the prompts would most assuredly be some type of expository writing. I nearly wore myself out trying to get students ready. The rest of the department joined in with focusing less on narrative and more on expository, along with increasing stamina. Two essays in one sitting is brutal!

This year, along with the Common Core hysteria, we 8th grade teachers found ourself slammed with yet another new format to the state writing exam: one "task" to be written online. To make matters worse, the state did not release any practice prompts or exemplars. In fact, this year is a pilot year for this test, and it does not count toward our AYP, but that is something that we do not mention to our students. Sure, it may not count on any official paper work, but there will still be plenty of people looking at our scores, so it's really business as usual as far as I'm concerned.

With a lack of direction from the state, except for character count (2,000 maximum), and potential modes of writing to be tested (narrative, expository, and argumentative), I did the opposite of worry. I just taught good writing the best way I know how. In fact, I didn't even worry about the exam until the few weeks before, particularly when I realized just how short 2,000 really is. My goodness, in this case, if I taught only to the test, my students would be horrible writers!

Most of the students appeared to do pretty well on the exam. Because it was done on the computer, I was more clearly able to see their writing as I was walking around monitoring the test. I hated that part! Anyway, I harped on a few points, and I observed most of them no making the critical errors I warned them about, so I am actually pretty anxious to get their scores back, which won't be for months, so see if they did as well as I think they did.

For now, it's back to teaching. Only now we have the state reading exam coming up, so it's time for me to abandon my regular teaching for teaching for the test. I can't wait finished with that next obstacle!