So those of us who always get to school early so we can get ready are learning that we shouldn't bother, because in most cases there is no paper in the copy machines (or one of them is out of service). Now wonderful John, who had top secret clearance in the Air Force in the missile silos, volunteered to take care of the machines and make sure they are filled every morning, since he is one of our true early birds. The admin will not trust him with a key.
One of the teachers standing with us while John is telling us this had, at her last school, a retired captain in the Navy who used to command a submarine. The admin wouldn't let him near the copy machines to fix them if there was a problem.
And we wonder why education seems not to be working....
Then I read my email to find the weekly memo, with a note from Tom Horne, our illustrious (sarcasm intended) Superintendent for education for the state. And I quote...
1)The US Department of Education has completed their review of the Department of Education’s request to change the use of calculators by special education students to a standard accommodation. They have denied our request. They will not permit the use of calculators as a standard accommodation. Therefore, the use of a calculator will not be allowed as an accommodation on AIMS Mathematics.
2)(District) has received a letter from ADE indicating that there will be no tutoring funds available to students in need of passing AIMS at the high school level due to state budget constraints and short falls. We are very concerned about this lack of tutoring funds for our schools.
Now Arizona does not allow calculators on major tests, like so many other states - and the College Board - do. Because...drum roll, please...it would cost money. That's the reason - to allow calculators and consequently more meaningful problems, would mean the state would need to be sure every student in the state had access to a calculator, and they would need to front the money. Just another example of short-sighted thinking in this state.
As for the tutoring - NCLB evaluates us every year and assigns failing labels to schools based on the AIMS test. So let's just forget about tutoring, and put more money into prisons.
I sure went into the wrong growth industry years ago.....
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
$(*&($%&(W$*(%&@%$^$&$*
Welcome to Monday...I really tried to go in positive, but...I had emails in response to the analysis I had completed of the last benchmark test my students took. The principal wanted to know if I felt my kids were making adequate progress. Uh, no.....they don't want to do the work. So I invited him to come in and hear the discussion I was planning on having with the math class today - but he is so overwhelmed with work he can't make it. Guess it's not that important....
And then another email saying I no doubt would have to reteach some skills, based on the results. Uh, ya think? Forget the fact that the skills are being taught out of any consistent context, of course I need to reteach.
So by the end of the day I was pretty pissed, and so I emailed the principal and said if AIMS are so important, then I need to get some extra time away from the art classes to do more preparation. We'll see just how important this is.
Then when I was working with the kids in math class, I asked them what we needed to do to change their progress, and they took the opportunity to dump on me. We need more worksheets to practice" - uh, well, you don't work on the ones I give you, and so on. The thing I found most interesting is that they think the stuff I give them is too easy, and the AIMS stuff is harder. Well, I give them open-ended problems that they need to bring forward information and use it practically - not multiple choice. According to brain research, this is a more difficult task. But they want all multiple choice so they can guess.
Just can't win....
But the best part was in the computer with the 8th grade art class (what an obnoxious group of children) - computers are deadly slow, can load the sites, kids are messing around with YouTube, after they have been specifically told they can't go there - if the district is so concerned with making this failing school better, then at least we should be able to hhave more up-to-date computers, servers, and so on. It was an extremely LOOONNNNGGGGG 90 minutes.
And then another email saying I no doubt would have to reteach some skills, based on the results. Uh, ya think? Forget the fact that the skills are being taught out of any consistent context, of course I need to reteach.
So by the end of the day I was pretty pissed, and so I emailed the principal and said if AIMS are so important, then I need to get some extra time away from the art classes to do more preparation. We'll see just how important this is.
Then when I was working with the kids in math class, I asked them what we needed to do to change their progress, and they took the opportunity to dump on me. We need more worksheets to practice" - uh, well, you don't work on the ones I give you, and so on. The thing I found most interesting is that they think the stuff I give them is too easy, and the AIMS stuff is harder. Well, I give them open-ended problems that they need to bring forward information and use it practically - not multiple choice. According to brain research, this is a more difficult task. But they want all multiple choice so they can guess.
Just can't win....
But the best part was in the computer with the 8th grade art class (what an obnoxious group of children) - computers are deadly slow, can load the sites, kids are messing around with YouTube, after they have been specifically told they can't go there - if the district is so concerned with making this failing school better, then at least we should be able to hhave more up-to-date computers, servers, and so on. It was an extremely LOOONNNNGGGGG 90 minutes.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Sunday Depression
I would venture to say that any good teachers out there get depressed come Sundays. We end up spending the day doing lesson plans and marking papers, just so we can get a start on the coming week. But it never seems enough - funny how many of us, as we approach the end of the school year, have already turned our focus to planning for the next school year.
We work and work, but we never get caught up with everything - there's always cleaning the room, getting papers sorted, updating the grades, planning for the next units, calling parents. On Sunday we make the lists for the week - for me, the list is usually just what has to happen on Monday so I can get through the day. Sometimes I end up spending all the prep period, at what I call fifth gear, trying to get ready for the first class. I hate it when I have to spend all the prep periods doing meetings and getting ready for the class, just the physical stuff. It is so nice when I can actually sit at my desk and work on some papers and record grades.
Last year I was able to get progress reports out to my kids at least every two weeks. This year, not a chance for that, as most of the time I can't even get the papers marked, let alone the grades entered. So here it is Sunday afternoon - a lot of the time I put things off till Monday, especially since I have first period planning. But for today the structure is done - just need to run copies tomorrow and get the computer sites set up for art. It makes a huge difference having three different classes to prepare for - I know how much easier things would have been without having the art classes to plan for. I could have spent more time on the math, and more time planning activities. But I need to have a life...so enough is done to get set for tomorrow, and now I can continue with what's left of Sunday - for me.
We work and work, but we never get caught up with everything - there's always cleaning the room, getting papers sorted, updating the grades, planning for the next units, calling parents. On Sunday we make the lists for the week - for me, the list is usually just what has to happen on Monday so I can get through the day. Sometimes I end up spending all the prep period, at what I call fifth gear, trying to get ready for the first class. I hate it when I have to spend all the prep periods doing meetings and getting ready for the class, just the physical stuff. It is so nice when I can actually sit at my desk and work on some papers and record grades.
Last year I was able to get progress reports out to my kids at least every two weeks. This year, not a chance for that, as most of the time I can't even get the papers marked, let alone the grades entered. So here it is Sunday afternoon - a lot of the time I put things off till Monday, especially since I have first period planning. But for today the structure is done - just need to run copies tomorrow and get the computer sites set up for art. It makes a huge difference having three different classes to prepare for - I know how much easier things would have been without having the art classes to plan for. I could have spent more time on the math, and more time planning activities. But I need to have a life...so enough is done to get set for tomorrow, and now I can continue with what's left of Sunday - for me.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Despair Squared...
It's Monday, and only a three-day week, since we take Rodeo break off as a mid-winter vacation. Yet today seemed like forever. My eighth graders do not want to do art - they want to cook. Can't help them there - it's all about scheduling. Trying to do meaningful activities, but I gotta tell ya, giving them compasses with sharp points isn't always a great idea.
My math class has reverted to old behaviors - they just don't want to do anything. I tried breaking the time up in some practice, and turns out none of them can do double digit multiplication - well, let me rephrase that - they have trouble doing single digit multiplication. Now I gotta say, how much is actual missing the concept, actual laziness, and maybe some other educational problem. In seventh grade they should be able to multiply. I should be able to expect that. And when I give them problems to practice, I expect them to take the opportunity to do so.
But no, socializing is so much more important. I finally stopped with about 20 minutes left in the period and started to do other things. I am so tired of trying to fight them. I call home - nothing. I send them out - that's what they want/ I assign detention - they don't show, and no one forces them or makes them accept responsibility.
Things will get really interesting after AIMS is over - then they won't want to work for anything. Forget trying to make meaning - they just don't want to work. And this is the first time I have really confronted this in all my years of teaching.
Then we sat through another interesting meeting (sarcasm intended) on language registers - like I need to understand that the kids drop into casual and intimate ranges when they shouldn't. So upshot of that meeting is we need to "train" our kids on how to speak properly and when to use correct English....like we need more to do - and of course, this would lend itself to making meaning really well. Can you see them yawning now?
My math class has reverted to old behaviors - they just don't want to do anything. I tried breaking the time up in some practice, and turns out none of them can do double digit multiplication - well, let me rephrase that - they have trouble doing single digit multiplication. Now I gotta say, how much is actual missing the concept, actual laziness, and maybe some other educational problem. In seventh grade they should be able to multiply. I should be able to expect that. And when I give them problems to practice, I expect them to take the opportunity to do so.
But no, socializing is so much more important. I finally stopped with about 20 minutes left in the period and started to do other things. I am so tired of trying to fight them. I call home - nothing. I send them out - that's what they want/ I assign detention - they don't show, and no one forces them or makes them accept responsibility.
Things will get really interesting after AIMS is over - then they won't want to work for anything. Forget trying to make meaning - they just don't want to work. And this is the first time I have really confronted this in all my years of teaching.
Then we sat through another interesting meeting (sarcasm intended) on language registers - like I need to understand that the kids drop into casual and intimate ranges when they shouldn't. So upshot of that meeting is we need to "train" our kids on how to speak properly and when to use correct English....like we need more to do - and of course, this would lend itself to making meaning really well. Can you see them yawning now?
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Welcome to the Funny Farm
So I got selected today to contribute a regular weekly column for Eric Maisel's creativity blog. Yea, me! I love writing, and this will get me to focus in on making meaning in education. I see the work moving between both blogs, but what I like about this is hopefully it will keep me more centered on looking at what is happening in education, especially from the perspective of a failing school.
I still need to do lesson plans for today - I am actually ahead for the next few days - managed to get a lot done during my planning periods this past week, so I might be able to head into Rodeo break with very little to do. Fingers crossed....
I still need to do lesson plans for today - I am actually ahead for the next few days - managed to get a lot done during my planning periods this past week, so I might be able to head into Rodeo break with very little to do. Fingers crossed....
Friday, February 15, 2008
Finally - Friday...
So it's finally Friday, after a very long week. Lots of tired teachers floating around, just waiting for 3 PM. The grind is amazing, and I continue to lose sleep, worrying about the upcoming AIMS. How do you get kids to actually do the math - how hard is it to add a series of numbers - not even fractions or decimals? The kids just don't want to do it.
That is probably the most eye-opening issue this year - the kids will not do the work. I have never been in that situation before. Usually I am pretty good at getting kids to do the work, but not this year. Even walking around trying to assure that they are trying the math doesn't work. This is not a language issue - the kids understand fine what I am asking - they will be the first ones to say they don't want to do the work.
The lack of any light of learning at this school is making me nuts. Not only am I having to constantly work with a "laser-like focus" on the math standards, but I am constantly trying to work on ways to make a 98-minute period more exciting. And I have to take additional classes for the English-language learner, learn more about inclusion, try to develop an art program, score papers, and plan. For two weeks I haven't gotten my lesson plans in.
Seventy school days - time to begin looking for something else, but if the district closes schools, there will be four schools of elementary teachers looking for work. Just give me a classroom where no one will bother me and perhaps we can enjoy some learning for the pure enjoyment of chasing an idea. What a novel thought....
That is probably the most eye-opening issue this year - the kids will not do the work. I have never been in that situation before. Usually I am pretty good at getting kids to do the work, but not this year. Even walking around trying to assure that they are trying the math doesn't work. This is not a language issue - the kids understand fine what I am asking - they will be the first ones to say they don't want to do the work.
The lack of any light of learning at this school is making me nuts. Not only am I having to constantly work with a "laser-like focus" on the math standards, but I am constantly trying to work on ways to make a 98-minute period more exciting. And I have to take additional classes for the English-language learner, learn more about inclusion, try to develop an art program, score papers, and plan. For two weeks I haven't gotten my lesson plans in.
Seventy school days - time to begin looking for something else, but if the district closes schools, there will be four schools of elementary teachers looking for work. Just give me a classroom where no one will bother me and perhaps we can enjoy some learning for the pure enjoyment of chasing an idea. What a novel thought....
Monday, February 4, 2008
I am so depressed....
...and it's got nothing to do with the Patriots losing. Notice I didn't say Giants winning. Isn't it interesting this game that all the talk will be about the Patriots losing, not the Giants winning.
School sucks. I have ten special ed kids in my art class, all of whom are wonderful except for one. People keep saying don't I have an aide? Uh, no - brought that up five weeks ago at the beginning of the new semester. This one kid has to go - he pokes others, he is obnoxious - and all I was told for accommodations is "treat him like any other kid." Well, any other kid would have been written up by now. The counselor tells one story - gosh, she can't understand why I have so many kids in that class - well, bozo, you did the scheduling.
Enrichment went well - time went quickly, and all the kids commented on it - for a change they weren't saying they were bored...working on solving equations, and the Connected Math program has a great activity to introduce it. So that was a good class.
Fourth period was its usual - five absent, no one really wants to learn anything. And then I went to our content meeting after school to listen to two other teachers explain these incredible activities they are doing. I feel so stupid and worthless. One thing for me about teaching, my self-esteem is really tied in to how I do in the classroom.
12 days till rodeo beak. I hate my job. Soul-sucking incompetence....
School sucks. I have ten special ed kids in my art class, all of whom are wonderful except for one. People keep saying don't I have an aide? Uh, no - brought that up five weeks ago at the beginning of the new semester. This one kid has to go - he pokes others, he is obnoxious - and all I was told for accommodations is "treat him like any other kid." Well, any other kid would have been written up by now. The counselor tells one story - gosh, she can't understand why I have so many kids in that class - well, bozo, you did the scheduling.
Enrichment went well - time went quickly, and all the kids commented on it - for a change they weren't saying they were bored...working on solving equations, and the Connected Math program has a great activity to introduce it. So that was a good class.
Fourth period was its usual - five absent, no one really wants to learn anything. And then I went to our content meeting after school to listen to two other teachers explain these incredible activities they are doing. I feel so stupid and worthless. One thing for me about teaching, my self-esteem is really tied in to how I do in the classroom.
12 days till rodeo beak. I hate my job. Soul-sucking incompetence....
Friday, February 1, 2008
Non Illegitimati Carborundum (thanks, Dad)
Don't let the bastards grind you down. My dad always kept that in his various offices. I've often thought I should make that into a needlepoint/cross stitch for framing in my classrooms. Probably not enough educated people around who would get the Latin.
The grinding down of spirit in this district - and school - is pretty amazing. Computer dude gets reamed for keeping all the teachers up and running, but not working within the district parameters for one of the programs. Well, hell, Windows crap was not meant to run on a Mac, and I have refused to use it, because I know what will happen. Not so many of the other teachers. So CD (compute dude) has been making it all work. Thanks? Not in this joint....
I don't get my grades uploaded in time and I get an email saying I am not meeting the district standard in uploading grades every week. So, remembering that I am working to contract (and certainly not on mental health days, especially since I don't have access to the grading program from home because I am on a Mac), it is a case of planning a good lesson, with all the components they want (three lessons, mind you, because of all the preps) or uploading grades.
That's why I took two days of mental health - at least I was able to go back today in a better frame of mind and enjoy the kids - and actually have some learning happen - and then spent my prep period uploading at least one set of grades for each of my classes so I am in compliance for this week....now I get to do all the planning over the weekend.....
The grinding down of spirit in this district - and school - is pretty amazing. Computer dude gets reamed for keeping all the teachers up and running, but not working within the district parameters for one of the programs. Well, hell, Windows crap was not meant to run on a Mac, and I have refused to use it, because I know what will happen. Not so many of the other teachers. So CD (compute dude) has been making it all work. Thanks? Not in this joint....
I don't get my grades uploaded in time and I get an email saying I am not meeting the district standard in uploading grades every week. So, remembering that I am working to contract (and certainly not on mental health days, especially since I don't have access to the grading program from home because I am on a Mac), it is a case of planning a good lesson, with all the components they want (three lessons, mind you, because of all the preps) or uploading grades.
That's why I took two days of mental health - at least I was able to go back today in a better frame of mind and enjoy the kids - and actually have some learning happen - and then spent my prep period uploading at least one set of grades for each of my classes so I am in compliance for this week....now I get to do all the planning over the weekend.....
Teaching to the Test, Redux
So I finished analyzing the test results from the benchmark posttest that I taught to. Hmmm...not as great as I would have liked.....I was anticipating kids scoring in one class around 14-15 right, and it was 12. In the other class I was thinking 16-17, and it was fifteen. Still - a huge jump (200%) from the pretest in both classes.
Analysis - the vertex-edge graphs the kids either got all right or all wrong - if they didn't work them out, they didn't get them right through guessing. I can only do so much with that. It has taken three weeks, but we finally now do not have to have the kids do the benchmark testing on anything other than the MACs, so they can have some room on their desks to do the math work. Hurray.
Still problems with vocabulary, but we just have to keep working on that. To help with this, I have been doing "foldables," which are folded pieces of paper, usually colored so kids can find them easier, and help the kids organize material. I did the first one on Tuesday - working with all the different types of angles and estimating angle measurements. Kids felt really comfortable with the information after we finished (sarcasm intended - I went over the objectives during closure, and all the kids felt they had attained the information, just like I'm supposed to....).
Yet the worksheet that I left, that they could use their foldable with, wasn't as great as I wanted - a lot of kids still are guessing and not using the materials they have made.
So now part of me is trying to figure out how to get this specific information across even better - yet the understanding piece is seriously missing. Kids still do not understand some of the concepts at all - they are just trying to do some rote work, when it isn't a rote concept. Sheesh.
Analysis - the vertex-edge graphs the kids either got all right or all wrong - if they didn't work them out, they didn't get them right through guessing. I can only do so much with that. It has taken three weeks, but we finally now do not have to have the kids do the benchmark testing on anything other than the MACs, so they can have some room on their desks to do the math work. Hurray.
Still problems with vocabulary, but we just have to keep working on that. To help with this, I have been doing "foldables," which are folded pieces of paper, usually colored so kids can find them easier, and help the kids organize material. I did the first one on Tuesday - working with all the different types of angles and estimating angle measurements. Kids felt really comfortable with the information after we finished (sarcasm intended - I went over the objectives during closure, and all the kids felt they had attained the information, just like I'm supposed to....).
Yet the worksheet that I left, that they could use their foldable with, wasn't as great as I wanted - a lot of kids still are guessing and not using the materials they have made.
So now part of me is trying to figure out how to get this specific information across even better - yet the understanding piece is seriously missing. Kids still do not understand some of the concepts at all - they are just trying to do some rote work, when it isn't a rote concept. Sheesh.
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