Controlled Chaos

Students are taking the math and English assessments today.  So many things are unfair about this situation that I have to blog.  A lot of things around here signal to me that there is an inequity between the educational experience I received and the ones students in the South Bronx receive, but today I can so easily qualify and quantify it that I have to write.

 First, we all planned to give this assessment on October 3rd, but I guess plans change.  Now the students have to take both the math and english exams today with no forwarding warning.  Throw in there that they already had a Global Studies exam, and you get the epitomy of unfair diagnosis - these students are taking 3 tests (out of 5 classes) today with absolutely no forward warning - I always had time and never had any other tests.

Second, the numbers…I SHARE a classroom with another teacher, and in her fifth period class, she has the state maximum - 343 students.  There are 33 chairs in the room, so Leo always has to sit on a milk crate.  Today, as he was administered his assessment, he said “this has to be illegal.  I think he’s right.

 Third, the company accidentally forgot to include a teacher prompt booklet for any of the tests.  So all of the teachers have to wing it using student booklets.  I don’t know how standard that makes it, but my guess is not very.

Fourth…a student is actually sharing the desk with me right now, because we usually sit 7 kids at desks meant for 6 (even with Leo on the crate).  So my typing is probably incredibly disruptive (I now realize), and while there is more to say, she is more important…

Mine, unfortunately. The house my parents designed and built, and that I lived in for the longest of any house in my life (I think…anyway, that I was mature enough to remember). I’ll be sad to see someone else living in it.

African penguins move into igloo development

Conservationists have built fiberglass homes for jackass penguins, now known as African penguins (how generic!) in Africa.

The article has a couple of typos, and questionably false info.  I’m pretty sure guano is bat droppings, not bird droppings.  Anyway, I hope those penguins are able to pull through - even though they aren’t my favorite kind of penguin.

TGIR.  I arrived at school today knowing that I had a good lesson in store.  I slipped a copy in my principal’s mailbox, inviting him to come and see $11,000 worth of computer equipment put to use.  The tools in question are called “Smartboards” and they are essentially interactive blackboards.  And they are cool.

But first, my advisory.  I started with a Do Now:  “Are animals more happy in the wild, or in a zoo.  Defend your answer.”  I gave students five minutes to come to a decision, then I had them stand up.  I had each side of the argument move to opposite sides of the room, then line up.  I gave both groups two minutes to brainstorm, instructing them that each would have to give one justification for his or her belief.  We made it all the way through, and had some interesting answers.  I closed by telling them that the lesson had two purposes - dfirst, to get them thinking about this before our trip to the zoo on October 18th.  Second, to demonstrate that rational people can hold differing opinions, but that doesn’t make them wrong, stupid or worthy of ridicule.

I transitioned from this to admitting to the kids I had a bias.  Schools are REQUIRED to give the military public information for drafting UNLESS students specifically request that this information be withheld.  My amazing school printed up the forms needed to complete this process for each student.  I told them that I’d rather see all of them be agents of peace, and get an education - not join the military.  I then distributed the forms, and as I did I watched every kid start to fill it out right then and there.

During my ELA class later that day, I unveiled the smartboard.  Just after, my principal strolled in.  I then commenced to go through an amazing lesson which engaged students while also educating them.  Then I brought them out for independent practice, just like the workshop model suggests I do.  I saw lightbulbs going off, which I’ve found can be hard in an high school English classroom full of English Language Learners.  At the end of class, my principal informed me that I had just completed my first formal observation.  I wasn’t aware that this was happening, but I was happy to hear it when all was said and done!

After school, we did the yearbook thing.  Just like on Tuesday, sudents broke out into applause on multiple occasions.  And I was getting paid like $36/hour to do it, too.  =)  I think my yearbook staff is going to make things happen.  Energetic group wth a lot of different personalities.  I’ve invested them in the idea that this is “your yearbook,” not mine.  Wish me luck.

Now, to prepare for another day…

be sure to read the comic below this one FIRST!

It’s going well.  I spend too much time at my school, but I can already see my kids learning a lot.  I have 14 of them, and they range from advanced to true beginner.  We’ve got a good culture going, and they set big goals for themselves that exceed the state standards - they even argued with me when I tried to bring them down on 30 books per person!  I’ve shown them how the words in our word journal and the books listed in our annotated bibliographies will lead me to fill in those charts, and I’ve explicitly told them that our big goals will help us pass the NYSESLAT and the Regents exams.  They got excited by that, so I must be doing a lot right.  Now if only I could get home before 8…
Actually, I stayed that late tonight trying to set up smartboards and configure my printer.  I succeeded in both, but figured out that smartboards aren’t as cool as I thought - they require a projector, whereas I thought they were backlit.  Anyway, I have my supplies neatly organized, systems in place, and life more or less figured out.  Now if only I could find time to administer the rest of my DRAs…

Today, I taught a high school classroom for the first time in my life. I wasn’t too shaken up, but it’s obvious that there is a lot of work to be done. Some of my students speak fluently in both English and Spanish, and one even named the skeletal, circulatory, and lymphatic systems from memory in the Living Environments class. On the other end of the spectrum, I had a student come to me after class and say “Hablo en ingles, pero no leo o escribio.” (Her English may be better than my Spanish). Luckily, while that students simply preferred to tell me that in Spanish, she can speak some English. I’m up for the challenge, I think - and it doesn’t hurt that, as of now, I only have 11 students in my ELA class.
I played Tupac Shakur’s “Dear Mama” when introducing my second consequence. When Tupac Amaru Shakur misbehaved, his mother would make him sit and read the newspaper from cover to cover, then she’d quiz him on the stories. One can only imagine what this did for his use of words, attention span, sociopolitical consciousness, and ultimately art (yes, it’s art.). Thus, when my students break the rules twice in a day, they go to the computer, find a news article, and write a two-paragraph brief about it. The first paragraph contains a five-sentence summary; the second, a five-sentence text-to-self, text-to-text, or text-to-world connection. Anyway, it was fun to play the song.

Overall, I am happy with the way things got started. There’s plenty I will do better - tomorrow. But I didn’t expect to be perfect on the first day…

I wish I could write more, but it’s time to LP (lesson plan).