Substitute Teaching

I had my first day as a sub on Wednesday, the day after Jesse had other students share their advice for subs.  It was really helpful and put me at ease as I went into my first day. 

I was at a middle school and started each class with taking attendance.  While taking attendance, each student had to share what they either like or don't like in a sub.  I was actually expecting silly answers but what I got from just about all the students were serious answers.  Here is some of what they said:

LIKE:

• know what they are talking about
• nice
• try to learn our names
• follow our teacher's lesson plans

DON'T LIKE:

• scream at us
• act bossy
• don't do anything

I will be subbing at middle and high schools and I've decided I will continue doing this when I sub.  On subsequent assignments to the same school I'm going to do something similar during attendance taking with short answer questions that help me connect with the students.

What's the Matter with Parents These Days?

2/15/12, Facebook in review:

Morning -- posts on APS and news station pages from parents bitching about how APS didn't cancel school.  (God forbid they choose to educate our children during bad weather!)

Afternoon -- parents bitching about NCLB waiver and how APS isn't doing their job in educating our children.

I always feel drawn to read these comments even though I know I'll just get upset and regret it.

My bias -- PARENTS!

MY children are successful in school.  MY son graduated 4th in his class and is now in college.  MY son received numerous academic awards in chemistry, physics, government, and was just barely beat out for the calculus award.  MY daughter in the 6th grade took a placement test that put her in the top 10 in the entire school (the same test was given to all students, 6th-8th grade).  MY daughter just started high school and is on the Honors/AP track.  MY kids were read to regularly and didn't watch a lot of television.  MY kids spend their summers in libraries, museums, watching educational programs, taking classes, and doing math and reading activities.  MY kids participate in extracurricular activities that promote positive development.  MY kids show up for school on time, fed, with homework completed, and cell phones turned off.  MY kids see me involved in activities at their schools.  MY kids are asked about what they learned in school that day.  And, guess what, MY kids did this while on the Free/Reduced Lunch Program.

So what's the problem?  Not ME!  Well then, it must be YOU!

I know that my tendency when a child is not doing well in school is to blame the parent.  I question why the parent isn't doing their job.  I see my role as a parent to be their primary teacher.  I have told my kids that I have always been and will always be their primary teacher, that school teachers are simply contractors that work for me.  This is absolutely how I see MY job as a parent and I expect all parents to think similarly.

I know it's much more complicated than that.  I know this on an intellectual level.  But my gut reaction says something very different.

During my first classroom observation interview, I talked with the teacher about parents.  She shared with me some of the struggles she sees her parents facing that interfere with their involvment in their child's education.  It did make me think and we ended that topic with me telling her that this was an area I need to work on.  I don't really know yet what this will mean for me once I am in a classroom but awareness is always the first step.

2017 National Teacher of the Year

Donna Boston has been named 2017 Teacher of the Year for her work with pregnant and parenting students.

"O-M-G! Mrs. B totally deserves this," says Gabrielle, a 17-year-old parenting junior at New Futures High School in Albuquerque, NM. "If it wasn't for her believing in me, I probably would have dropped out."

Boston teaches child development, parenting, and family financial management.  She aso developed a new class designed to help students explore college and career options which is now a required course for all students.  In addition to her work inside the classroom, Boston established a relationship with Big Brothers Big Sisters to provide students with Big Sisters who were themselves teen parents and overcame the obstacles.

Jinx Baskerville, principal at New Futures says, "Mrs. Boston has been instrumental to the success of our students.  Our test scores have risen, absenteeism is down, and our graduation rate has increased every year since she has been with us."

Stacy Carter, mother of a graduated student, says, "Mrs. B is the reason my daughter is in college now."

Boston's style comes from an asset-based approach.  "I believe it's important to find out what is going right in a child's life and build upon that in order for them to be successful.  This applies not just in school, but it builds resiliency when facing all of life's challenges."

Purpose for Becoming a Teacher

To be honest, my purpose for becoming a teacher is based on what I need.  I haven't worked a full-time job for a very long time due to health problems.  I was only recently diagnosed properly this summer at the Mayo Clinic.  To put it very short, if I don't eat a low-fat/high carb meal or snack every couple of hours my body starts to break down my muscles effectively immobilizing me.  Once I learned that I could manage my condition easily through diet, I started thinking about going back to work.  I realized though that I would need a job that would make it easy for me to follow my prescribed diet or I wouldn't be able to maintain working for very long.  Light bulb...why not teach high school?  Classes change every hour and a half which would then signal snack time.  So, here I am.

Having said that, I wouldn't have pursued this if I didn't know I would also enjoy it and be good at it.  When I did work, it was always serving children and families.  Most recently I spent the last year as a tutor and found that I received a lot of feedback from students that my methods were helpful to them.  I also spent some time homeschooling, including teaching classes in a co-op, and I really enjoyed it.  My goal for my classroom will be to create an environment that is respectful and nurturing.  I hope build relationships with all my students so that they feel safe,  cared about, and that their contributions to the class are important.  I want my students to learn the material they need to learn while also developing good thinking and problem solving skills.  I think my job as a teacher is not only to teach subject matter, but to prepare them for their future in general.

My prediction for the Super Bowl is that I will keep my spending under $100 at the mall while my husband is with his friends watching the game.

Stump the Teacher

A blog I found that I am enjoying reading is Stump the Teacher (http://stumpteacher.blogspot.com/) by John Stumpenhorst, a 6th grade language arts and social studies teacher in a suburb of Chicago, and Illinois’ 2012 Teacher of the Year.  I went back to the beginning of December and read all the posts since then in order.  What I like most about this blog is that he writes reflections of his experiences, not summaries of what he’s doing in his classroom.  I won’t be teaching middle school, nor will I be teaching his subjects, but what he has to say is completely relevant to my development as a teacher. 

One post that stuck out for me is I’m Going Streaking (12/31/11) were he says that instead of making resolutions, he is going to go streaking.  He discusses his plans for attempting two daily streaks during 2012 -- running and taking a photograph.  The blog ends with the following:

“…I am brainstorming how to bring this idea to my classroom.  How can I incorporate streaks with my students?  What streaks can I start with them?  How can I help them create yearly challenges and support them?”

I thought about some of the ideas we are discussing in EDUC 2252 and how this would be a good tool to individually challenge students and help them set goals.

Another post I liked is Be There (1/3/12).  In this post he describes being at his son’s  swimming lesson engrossed is his Words with Friends game when he looks over at his son who says “Daddy, did you see that?” to which he lied and said he did.  What struck me first was how his reflections as a parent impact his role as a teacher.  He asked himself how many times has a student needed validation and he wasn’t there for them.  He made a goal to return to work and spend less time when students are present sneaking away for quick managerial work, saying “I want to watch them work and be there to encourage them, support them, and give them the thumbs up when they look at me.”  It made me think of that saying “A teacher on her feet is worth two in her seat” but I think that two is a quite conservative number.

Something fun from his blog, December 23, 2011:

Twas the Night Before Testing…

Twas the day before testing, when all through the school

Not a student was learning, not even the fool.

The pencils were sharpened and laid out with care,

In hopes that learning soon would be shown there.

The children were crowded all cramped in their seats,

While visions of bubbled answers danced on the sheets.

And teacher in their desk, and student their chair,

Both settled their brains for a long blank stare.

When out in the hall arose such a noise,

Students sprang from desks, the girls and the boys.

Away to the door they flew in a flash,

Tore down the testing sign and left in a crash.

The hallway lit with the glimmer of neon light,

And students called back to seats with fright.

When, what to their wondering eyes should appear,

But endless questions and answers to fear.

With children back in their seats,

They settled for testing feats.

More quickly than lightning, directions were read,

As teachers spewed and spit words of dread.

“Now fill in the bubbles with pencil number two!

Use your time wisely for the minutes will be few.

Do your best and show what you got,

There may be pressure but perform on the spot."

Kids said not a word but tried their best,

And worked continuously without rest.

Some were finished and some were not,

Regardless all were done when clock hit the spot.

Kids sprang to the door and down the halls,

Answering their texts and taking their calls.

Teachers collected the tests in a nice neat pile,

Brought them to the office, heels clicking on the tile.

As all tests were collected and locked up so neat,

Teachers and students both happy it complete.

A day without these tests both are yearning,

They wish to say, “it’s about the learning.”

Happy Testing to All and To All a Good Score!

Another Kohn Article

I found Kohn’s article interesting and it lead me to read another, “From Degrading to De-Grading” (Kohn, 1999).  In this, Kohn begins by discussing the three main effects of grading:

1.      Grades tend to reduce students’ interest in learning itself.

2.      Grades tend to reduce students’ preference for challenging tasks.

3.      Grades tend to reduce the quality of students' thinking.

Point #2 is the one that really stood out for me for a couple of reasons. 

I am dealing with my daughter right now who doesn’t want to take any more honors/AP classes because she sees her friends getting higher (I’ve had to work really hard when talking to her to say “higher” and not “better”) grades in the regular sections.  It's been a challenge to keep reinforcing to her that she is a good student because she has learned that her grades tell her whether or not she is a good student.  As a high school freshman, she is now also learning about class ranking.  She recently found out that she is #124.  I think that’s pretty good but she doesn’t see it that way.  And then, to put the icing on this cake, she came home with her PSAT scores yesterday and she was not happy at all with them even though they were not bad scores.  (These issues combine with Kohn's point #9: Grades spoil students' relationships with each other.)

I had a college professor who did something really interesting.  On the first day of class we got to decide what our grade would be.  We were handed a matrix that showed all the possible grades and what you would have to do to earn that grade.  The higher you wanted your grade to be, the more challenging the assignments were that needed to be done to earn that grade.  We had to select our grade and sign a contract stating which assignments we were going to do and that is what we were held accountable for that semester.  All of our assignments were passed back to us without a grade, only comments, and part of each subsequent assignment included that we would show growth by improving on areas noted in the previous assignments.

I had another college professor who told us that we learn the most when we are pushed beyond our comfort level.  It is a hard thing for all of us to do, so given the choice it is easy to understand that students will choose tasks that are within their comfort level but it is our jobs to push them further.

Kohn continues in the article with many other reasons against grading.  If you found Kohn’s article that we read for class interesting, I recommend you read this one too.  http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/fdtd-g.htm