Teaching in the Southwest

Drawing the Colonies

2010-09-02T10:43:00.002-06:00

My US History students are drawing the original 13 colonies. They're using books & atlases to freehand or trace. It's probably lazy on my part, but they love it. We're on review right now. I'm giving the old stuff while I work up new lessons for the late 19th century on forward.

Parent Calls

2009-09-03T13:58:00.002-06:00

We have to make 5 parent calls a week and log them. I just made mine. Two bright students screw around too much in 4B. I left one message and talked to a mother. One student has 3 tardies (in 2 weeks) to the class after lunch, leading to an unhappy mother. And 2 good student calls, one a message and the other to a happy mother.

Reflect on this? I really don't like calling before there's a real problem. Maybe this will head one off? Maybe I should just start at the top of my 1st period roster and work my way to the bottom of my 5th period roster?

I'm back!

2009-09-02T13:30:00.002-06:00

It's been almost a year since my last post and 2 school years since I posted regularly. Now thing may change.

I'm halfway through an MA in Secondary Ed. The program is about Reflective Studies. I need to be reflecting on my teaching and classes and learning from that. Journaling is a good idea at this point. I thought, why go out and buy yet another notebook when I have this blog.

I'll keep short entries, but this seems like a good place to reflect.

Equinox

2008-09-22T15:25:00.000-06:00

It's the first day of Autumn and the last day of the first six-weeks.

Grading, grading, grading!

Wow!

2008-08-22T15:57:00.002-06:00

It's been 2 weeks, now. Things are actually going well. I've seen each class 4 or 5 times. We're in to content now. I've still got new students trickling in, and there are still a lot that I've yet to see, but we're moving ahead.

We've had a much better start than last year, and I'm positive about this year. The new high school made a difference. Even though they only took 9th graders from us, 500 less bodies is 500 less bodies. A smaller population makes a for more relaxed school.

And We're Off!

2008-08-14T07:53:00.002-06:00

It's our third day with students. It's our third day with the A/B Plus schedule, so this is my second day with these students.

I've spent the past two day playing Getting To Know Each Other. Today and tomorrow I'll teach them how I teach. We won't start substantial academics until Monday. Late registration still has the Library packed, so I'm just giving the laggards a chance.

I'll start implementing the new Tardy policy today, which means I'll lock the door on the last bell. I expect that in 2 weeks we will see a whole new level of promptness.

Set up

2008-08-04T22:40:00.004-06:00

My wife came by my classroom this afternoon and helped me set it up, to the tune of Sugarland's new CD, "Love on the Inside". I'm not much of a country fan, I've just got a couple of old Lyle Lovett CDs, but I do like this album.

I'd been worrying and / or ignoring the layout for my room this year. I'd spent part of the day giving a new dept. member a tour, introducing her to people and showing her things like the copy room and our dept. supply room. Otherwise, I was just working on notes and grumbling about still not having a network connection. Elena came in about 3 PM, took a look around, and said, "Let's take care of this." We worked about two hours and got everything done. Now it's just lesson plans.

And It's Almost Over

2008-08-01T07:26:00.003-06:00

We go back on Wednesday. We get students the following Tuesday. (sigh)

I've been into my classroom a few times, trying to set up. I got new furniture over the summer. I actually got more than I expected in the form of bookcases and storage cabinets. I wanted to arrange the student desks differently from last year, but I've got a half dozen more than I had and there just isn't room. I need those desks, though, since I have sophomores this year. My teacher desk is up on 2X4's because it's so small that that's the only way my knees will fit under it. And I'm only 6'3". Still, it's wonderful to have all these nice, clean, unblemished desks.

On the downside, I have no network connection. They've been doing a major remodel on the wing next to our portables, and we won't be reconnected until the day we start. I've got a whole bunch of stuff on the server and no access to it. I've just been working off of thumb drives. And I have to blog from home. I'm sitting on our front porch right now with my laptop and a cup of coffee, occasionally glancing at the roadrunner hunting lizards in the community area across the street. Man, he's fast!

I'm going to our church's Men's Retreat this weekend. It centered around meditation, so I'll be mellow on Monday.

Summertime, Summertime, Sum-sum-summertime

2008-07-13T13:50:00.002-06:00

We're into July now. I've rested, I've had toe surgery, I saw "Wall-E" with my grandson. Now we're focused on getting him and his mother moved to the southern part of the state so she can start graduate school next month. We'll be heading down there next week. I'll be driving with a "boot" on my right foot, because the stitches don't come out for another 11 days.

Right now my wife is outside with members of our community checking the sprinkler system. Apparently plants have been dying. I can see them through our open front door. I was happy to plead fatigue and a need to elevate my foot. I'm sideways on the couch with my foot up.

I went to the AP Summer Institute for US History. I came away a lot of ideas. I'm ready to use AP techniques in regular classes. I'm going to teach topics and posthole through history. If I can't meld Layered Cirriculum into this, I'll abandon it. I'm going back to testing, using objective tests with Scantron answersheets because they're all going to be taking standardized tests. They'll also be doing a lot of writing. It will be work, but they'll learn to think.

Home Stretch

2008-04-09T13:22:00.002-06:00

Seniors have 3 weeks of instruction left, as of today. They have a total of 16 days left all together. We're having potlucks in my 3 economics classes during block periods today and tomorrow. So far, the food's been pretty good.

Most teachers save the parties for the end of the year. I know from past experience that my students will be scrambling those last few days to get their final projects done. That's one of the reasons I haven't done this for a couple of years. The other is that they've been more hassle than nutrition. I even brought myself a sandwich today as back-up. However, this year I restricted it to my seniors and so far they've come through. We just spent a crushing week on monetary policy, so they needed the break. We got the food out and distributed, then I gave them the assignment of making posters of the functions of the Federal Reserve.

Down side: I have a student I took on for Independent Study of Gov't because he failed it last semester. He's been avoiding me for over a month. I'd track him down, he'd promise to start coming, then I wouldn't see him until the next time I tracked him down. I'm done. He's not graduating next month.

Break's Over

2008-04-02T09:01:00.002-06:00

We got back Monday. The seniors are more attentive than I expected. We're doing the Federal Reserve. I figure monetary policy such a complex subject anyway, they might as well work. So, I'm treating it as an AP level subject and teaching it as such. They'll be happy to move on to something else next week, but this week we're timely.

I wish I had a phone in my classroom.

They told us at our faculty meeting yesterday that on the next inservice day there will be a 90 minute block in which all teachers are expected to make phone contact with at least one parent for each of our students. We have less than a dozen phones available to us. When I, a social studies teacher, pointed out that the math didn't work, we were told, "Do your best." I'll do what I usually do, which is send home printed progress reports for a parent signature. I'll make calls on any senior who's failing, but that's not many.

The Break is Coming!

2008-03-19T08:01:00.002-06:00

It's my prep period on flex day. Two hours that I thought would be total solitude, but two seniors just showed up to work on their project. Unfortunately one needs constant reassurance that what she's about to do is right before she does it. I refuse to do that. I tell her to do what she thinks best and then I'll grade it. Fortunately, her partner seems willing to take the role I refuse. I'm just sitting here typing with the music loud enough that I can't understand what they're saying.

It's the week before Spring Break. Experience tells me this is one of those weeks when they're too squirrely for the usual academics.

My solution for the seniors is a project on moving out of home and into an apartment. This involves a deposit, furniture, utilities, and of course a monthly budget. I assign each student an hourly wage I get from a random number generator, so most of them band together with others in the class as roommates, though I don't require it.

My solution for the juniors is a movie, the only movie I show all year. We're on the Great Depression. I show "Cindrella Man" because it depicts what it was like for families then better than any other movie I've seen. And the boxing keeps them awake.

Two more days, then Vernal Holiday (Good Friday) followed by Spring Break. Next week, I'll be putting in a vegetable garden.

Back

2008-03-12T14:07:00.003-06:00

I'm back. I haven't posted for a while. The last two week of Feb. I was consumed with finishing and submitting my Professional Development Dossier. Then March started with Parent-Teacher conferences and 4 days of NCLB testing. And at that point I was catching up on all the grading I ignored while I worked on the PDD.

I not only didn't post, but I didn't read my favorite teaching blogs, either. In fact, I didn't practice my guitar. I canceled today's lesson because I haven't touched my guitar since last week's lesson.

I'll find out about the dossier on April 12. Now, it's just wait.

Late Work

2008-02-16T13:49:00.002-07:00

The 6 weeks ended yesterday. I've been warning all classes since we started the semester that I was on the verge of changing my policy on late work. I have been accepting late work within the 6 weeks it was assigned for half credit. This isn't make-up for an excused absence, and there's no make-up work allowed for unexcused absences. This is stuff that they were there to turn in, but didn't.

I feel they've been taking advantage of me.

Many students seem to think that they can wait until the last week and then pile it on me. They think that converting several zero's to 40 or 50% will push them up to an A. I spend the next few day slogging through stuff that we should be well past.

A colleague had his epiphany over the break. I've been envious. I think I'm going in on Tuesday and posting my decision in large letters on the whiteboard for all to see: EFFECTIVE 2/22 - NO LATE WORK ACCEPTED! I'll read it to each class. Then they'll whine. Then I'll ignore they're whining. Then we're done.

Finally, an end to Progressivism

2008-02-14T14:06:00.002-07:00

Today was my final day for Unit 8, Progressivism, in my 2 US Hist classes. The students have kicked in to the layered curriculum. We both learned from it, I think.

I learned that I have to allot at least a half hour each period to grading, time in which they can work. I also have to set a reasonable end date and stick to it. And I have to tighten up my lectures.

I'm hoping they learned that they need to keep working straight through to get it all done. I think I'm a quicker study. We'll see.

More Layered Curriculum

2008-02-11T15:31:00.000-07:00

I don't know how two classes can be so different. Fourth period is just eating up the assignments. Sixth isn't. Of course, sixth was my do-nothing class before.

I love how 4th is stepping up to it. They're doing the work. And I love the one-on-one. I really feel like I'm teaching. And I can tell they're learning.

I guess 6th period is going to have to crash and burn before they get it. The grading period ends Friday, so here it comes.

Layered Curriculum the Third

2008-02-07T15:03:00.000-07:00

I had to put down an insurrection in 6th period today. They wanted to abandon the Layered Curriculum and go back to tests. I pointed out that except for a couple of them, they all sucked at tests. They didn't care, they wanted lectures and tests back. I know why: Layered Curriculum forces them to work. I pointed out that I'm the one that plans the lessons.

We're sticking with Layered Curriculum.

Layered Curriculum 2

2008-02-05T12:58:00.000-07:00

Do they get it? I thought they did at first, but now it looks like the laziness has kicked back in. Or maybe they did get it. Maybe they finally see how much work is involved in passing, and they still haven't made the choice.

Layered Curriculum

2008-02-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

Fourth period had more ready than I could get to today. I couldn't speed up my discussions with each student as I checked work and assigned points.

Sixth period had almost nothing. One student had one piece of work.

This whole thing will take time to get rolling.

Practice Testing

2008-02-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

In preparation for our NCLB Standars Based Assessment of our 11th graders, we're having simulations. It's a free day for 9th, 10th, & 12th while the Juniors come in and do a cut down version of somebody's test, not ours.

It's about the testing, not the test. That's what we tell them. It's been 2 1/2 hours and their getting ansty. One more break, then one more hour, then 1/2 hour of feedback. Then we teachers spend rest of the day with our consultant.

I hope this helps. Personally, I think we'd get more results from starting school later everyday.

SNOW DAY!!!

2008-01-29T12:24:00.001-07:00

5th Period

2008-01-25T13:03:00.000-07:00

There was a time when I told my 5th period that they were my favorites. Today, when I called for homework, I found only 3 of them had done it. Two had excused absences and the rest offered excuses that were lame at best.

Since this is a screwed up week what with the holiday and testing, I had something for my Econ classes that was light, fun, diversionary, and informative. I gave 2nd and 3rd a geography test that they just ate up. It's the Baldridge test I give to my US History Class. Both classes loved it. Fifth is doing last night's homework in class right now for less credit. So much for fun.

By the way, my PDP went great! I got the highest possible rating: "Recommended for rehire." Our education bureaucracy is so sentimental.

Eval

2008-01-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

PDP tomorrow at 7:30 am. Working on it today.

The big difference between the old corporate Performance Reviews and these PDP's mandated by the state Ed Dept. is that I create an Action Plan at the beginning of the year and then show how I implemented it. I'm doing mine early because it must be on file at the district HR before I submit my dossier next month.

And I just wrote more than I intended. Back to it.

Back to School

2008-01-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

Today was madness. Between MLK Day & the competency test, it's been 4 days since they've been in class. Add to that the fact that we had real nice weather today, and they were out there.

ISS had so many kids they had to move from their classroom to the auditorium.

No lecture today. In Econ, I did a quick review, then set them to work on using the Decision Making Model I gave them when I last saw them a week ago. I'll do similar with US Hist tomorrow.

Merry Testing Season!

2008-01-22T15:24:00.000-07:00

And the first shot was fired across our/their bow.

Today we began our High School Competency Exam. This is generally administered to sophomores, but since it's required (by State law) to graduate, we had a lot of juniors and seniors doing make-ups. The sophs will continue on in their English classes for the rest of the week (everyone has an English class). The rest are done for this year.

I had junior make-ups in my classroom. They just had to do the sections they still needed, and they could leave. I had 30 students on my roster; 17 showed up.

And of course, this is just the beginning. Next month is A2L to determine what the boys and girls will need for remediation next year (no computer labs available to regular classes during this), and in March we have the Standards Based Assessment for NCLB. And all of these are counted as instruction days. Go figure. (Do I have a lot of parenthetical asides in this post?)

New Help

2008-01-10T21:05:00.000-07:00

I've been uncomfortable with US History this year. My old, free-wheeling style really hasn't been working with this year's Juniors. They need more structure than in past years. This morning I approach my colleague who teaches AP US History. He showed me what he does and then directed me to the website where he found it.

It's called Layered Curriculum. With each unit, I hand them a sheet of paper that tells them what assignments/activities they need to do to get each level of grade. Differentiation is built in. It was developed by Dr. Kathie Nunley and the basics are available for free at help4teachers.com.

I have a lot of work to do to prepare this, but I should be able to introduce it to my students in a week. I'm really excited.

My 6th

2008-01-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

They just tried and tried to sidetrack me. They got me to repeat a story I told them yesterday. That's OK. I stayed on task and covered everything I intended to cover today. They'll get a test on this material and tomorrow's on Friday, diversions or not. They know it's coming. We'll see how they do.

We're Back

2008-01-08T15:57:00.000-07:00

We had students today. We're back. The Spring 2008 Semester begins.

Grades are due by midnight Thursday and some of my colleagues are still grading. Thank God I'm done!

Most students were happy with their grades. Some weren't. Some of my seniors failed Gov't. They have to pass to graduate. That means Night School. I had a lot more Juniors who failed US History. Most of them didn't show up today.

District mandated in-service yesterday, followed by a faculty meeting today. Today we started haggling over which schedule we'll have next year. I have my preferences, I'd really like to see every student every day, but any of the proposed schedules is better than the stupid flex schedule we have now. It was bad last year; it's worse this year.

I guess I'll be going to Instructional Council meetings again, at least until this gets settled.

Whoo!

2007-12-29T15:08:00.000-07:00

Well, we got through graduation and the party. Bam! Finals! Then we could finally look at Christmas.

Christmas was good. And when it ended, we still had almost two weeks left of break. I like this schedule. I've spent two half days on grading. One more and I'll be finished. We've seen 2 movies in the last 2 days and we're going to see another this afternoon. And I bought a guitar. I'll start lessons next week with our former guitar teacher/music dept. chair from school. If he can work with teenagers, I'll be cake.

Next week, I also get down to serious with my Professional Dossier, so I can submit during the February window. Level 2, here I come!

She Did It!

2007-12-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

My step-daughter graduated from college last Friday. It's been a long, hard seven years since she dropped out of high school. Apartments, boyfriends, minimum wage jobs, it didn't look good. Then 5 1/2 years ago, she had her son & quickly realized she couldn't do much for either of them on $6.50 an hour & no diploma. Her adviser called her "amazing." She is. She has been.

Not to say it's been easy. Not for her, not for the rest of us. Like I said, it's been a long, hard seven years. And they ended on Friday. We threw her a party yesterday, all aunts & uncles & cousins & grandparents. My wife and I worked on it all weekend. We pulled it off. Then we had last night to rest.

Today, we start the last week of the semester. And we work on getting her into graduate school.

Rushing down the slope

2007-12-12T15:04:00.000-07:00

I'm spending the rest of this week in computer labs while my classes work on their Final Projects. Next week they present, then we're done.

But before that...my daughter takes her last final Thursday evening and graduates from university Friday afternoon. We're throwing her a party on Sunday. Today, Christmas doesn't exist for us. It won't until Monday.

In the meantime, I've turned in copies of both my Final Projects to my asst principal, but I haven't turned in a weekly lesson plan in over a month. She knows, and I know, but she hasn't said anything. At this point, I'll start off next semester right.

Man, where'd the time go?

2007-11-18T14:46:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month since my last entry. Wow.

We got my parents moved up here. It's been work since, helping them settle.

I've also been working to get our chapter of the National Honor Society going again after a 3 year dormancy. All that, plus a semester, and I haven't even been reading blogs, much less writing in one.

My wife is in Seattle this weekend with a group of students for a DECA thing. I've been grading and of course went out to eat with my parents after church today. Busy, busy, busy. I'll try to do better.

Another Break

2007-10-01T21:03:00.000-06:00

Got the grades in last week, then my wife and I packed up her car and headed south. We're moving my parents up to a retirement community near us. They're in their 90's; they won! But now it's time for them to give up their house and move somewhere where others will do the things for them that they can no longer do for themselves. And part of it is us doing the packing & overseeing the loading for them. Plus, it'll be easier for us having them 5 miles away instead of 225 miles.

I'm leaving my students with a sub for 3 days, the longest I've ever done that. I'm trying to have a "let the chips fall where they may" attitude. I've got a good sub. I left 2 1/2 pages of lesson plans. It'll be fine. Yeah, right. We'll be back to school Thursday and have two days before a three-day weekend. Whew!

So, the ragweed down here is kicking me in the face. My mother and I are watching the Patriots beat the Bengals, my wife and my dad are cleaning out and boxing all the crap in the cabinets in his bathroom, and I just want to go lie in bed and moan for a while. Some break.

Grading

2007-09-12T21:18:00.000-06:00

I spent the evening grading. I've still got more to do. The 6-weeks ends a week from Friday. We're going out of town this weekend. I don't care how much work I have left to grade, I need the mountain air.

Where was I when the world stopped turning?

2007-09-11T16:18:00.000-06:00

I had left the computer business (progamming & technical writing) for??? I didn't know. I was still a ways away from deciding on teaching. I was working in the hardware dept. of a Home Depot, hustling to get it open in a week.

On Sept. 11, 2001, I was scheduled to go in at noon or 1 pm, or something like that. My then girlfriend, now wife, called me and said she'd heard a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I didn't know, because I believed then as now that daytime TV makes you stupid. Anyway, I turned it on in time to see the second jet go into it. Then I just sat and watched it until the building came down.

I found that I didn't want revenge. I still don't. I can't see this as an act of war, to be responded to with war. This was a criminal act, to be treated with arrest and trial. I believe in the rule of law. I believe in courts and juries. I believe in punishment for crimes committed. From time to time I may think of revenge for situations, but I don't believe in it.

I love the direction I've moved in my life. I'm sad about some past events, including this one, but I'm happy.

(I got the title question from Janet at The Art of Getting By.)

Good Monday

2007-09-10T20:33:00.000-06:00

Today was a good day. I was in a good mood all day. I'm wiped. All that teaching is tiring.

Plus, I turned in at least 10 more attendance referrals. That makes over 30 in the past week. Almost a third of them were 2nd timers. If we could come up with a better system for dealing with no-shows, I wouldn't be doing as much.

Anyway, we're rolling right along in both US Hist & Gov. The Declaration of Independence in both preps. I'm going to be so tired of summaries of that thing. Fortunately, I won't have to revisit it for a year.

I tracked down the boy from 5th that I thought had my TE of the Gov book. He pointed me in the direction of another boy, who said he left it on the desk. I know it wasn't there. Today, I announced to the class that I was searching for it. I was just starting to offer a reward when I saw it sitting on the bookshelf next to those boys, along with an empty Powerade bottle. I don't know if it had been there all along. The first boy told me he thinks the second boy put it there when he came in today. Either way, it's back.

When in the course of human events...

2007-09-05T16:01:00.000-06:00

Today we tackled the Declaration of Independence. They read it around the room, one sentence at a time, then broke into groups and paraphrased it. There was a lot of complaining, but when they got into it, they got into it. It was a flex day today, so I only had two periods of Gov't. Two hour long periods. It was fun.

I have one more Gov't class tomorrow, so more fun. Then into the US History.

Funniest thing: I can't find my Teacher's Edition of the Gov't book. The last time I saw it, a student was showing me something in it. I think he walked with it. It won't help him with the class, but it could be interesting.

Short week

2007-09-04T20:38:00.000-06:00

Bam! It's Tuesday again.

We took Friday off so week could travel 250 miles south to help my parents start the process of moving up here. We came back Saturday so we could get a couple of days rest.

I was apprehensive about leaving my students with a sub this early in the semester, but they got a good sub report. Sigh of relief.

So, holiday yesterday, normal day today, flex tomorrow & Thursday, and in-service on Friday. Two classes with everyone. So, of course, everyone's squirrely. The juniors are the worst. But one of my senior classes was also too hyper for school today. And we're getting interrupted 3 times a period with lists of names of students who must report to the library because 3 weeks into the semester, registration is still screwed up. I would like to try teaching sometime.

Easy Tuesday

2007-08-28T15:21:00.000-06:00

I first saw this on leesepea's blog. She got it from Tense Teacher, so I went and grabbed it from her.

1. When was the last time you washed your hair?
This morning about 6:15.

2.What were you doing at 8 o’clock this morning?
I was in the middle of my prep, updating my attendance book with the new roster.

3. What were you doing 15 minutes ago?
Reading "But wait! There's more..."

4. Are you any good at math?
Yes. But I let GradeQuick average the grades.

5. Are you mad at anyone right now?
I'm not crazy about my 6th period US History class right now.

6. Do you know the words to your current favorite song?
What have I been singing to myself lately? "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing". Everyday while walking across campus and seeing all the make-out sessions.

7. Last thing received in mail?
My church's newsletter and the latest issue of "Sunset." Where's my "American Heritage"?

8. How many different drinks have you had today?
Coffee, green tea, Diet Dr Pepper, water, & V8.

9. Do you ever leave messages on people’s answering machine?
Everyone except my wife, who doesn't check messages. Lately, I've left them for parents who were trying to contact me (tag).

10. Any plans for tonight?
My wife's gone 40 miles south to her hometown to visit her parents, so I'll be home alone reading.

11. Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the beach?
Naw.

12. What’s the most painful dental procedure you’ve had?
I had a cyst removed from the base of a front tooth. Benign, but very painful.

13. What’s outside your front door?
Two blue, steel chairs and a whole lot of rosemary.

14. Do you have plans on Friday?
We'll be at my parents' home 250 miles south, interviewing movers and real estate agents. First sub of the year.
15. Do you like the ocean?
Yes, but I like the mountains better. (I have to ditto Tense Teacher. Though I snorkeled for the first time this summer and enjoyed it.)

16. Have you ever received one of those big tins of 3 different popcorns?
No.

17. Have you ever been to a planetarium?
Yeah, but not in too, too long a time.

18. Something you are excited about?
My job!

19. Who around you has the most problems?
I work with teachers and teenagers! Are you kidding?
20. Are any of your great-grandparents still alive?
The only great-grandparent that was alive when I was born, died when I was 9.

21. Describe your love life.
We're both teachers. It's the beginning of the school year. We're tired.

22. When was the last time you spoke in front of a large group of people?
Today. Five different times.

23. Do you like anyone right now?
Oh, yeah. Many, many people, starting with my wife.

24. What was the weather like on your birthday?
Sunny, clear, and hot. But the backyard party was great!

25. Do you sleep with the door open or closed at night?
Open. We're empty-nesters.

26. If you could change your name, what would it be?
Maybe Ken? Maybe Michael.

27. Do you like your middle name?
I used to hate it. Now...I don't mind.
28. Who are you thinking about right now?
My wife.

29. Do you consider your best friends family?
Definitely.

30. Favorite foods?
Enchiladas, tamales, Costco hotdogs, sushi, , most chocolate, salmon, my wife's chile.

If you're out there and reading this, go ahead and grab it.

More on the Class of 2009

2007-08-24T16:48:00.000-06:00

I was discussing our 11th graders with a fellow US History teacher. He said, "They seem immature." I said, "Thank you." It's not just me.

Today we had an 11th grade assembly. The purpose of the assembly was to sell them class rings. During 6th period on a Friday!!! Might as well just cancel the rest of the day. I butted heads with a couple of them. The day didn't end well.

Flex Days

2007-08-23T14:32:00.000-06:00

I don't want to be accused of waxing rhapsodic about last year's batch of 11th graders. I don't even want to be accused of using a phrase like "waxing rhapsodic." But compared to my US History classes of last year, these students I have now seem like a bunch of yammering fools. And young! If I didn't know any better, I'd peg them as freshmen.

Maybe it's the fact that it's just the third week in August and we're nearing the end of the second week of school. Maybe it's because we just had our first flex days of the school year. Maybe I'm just out of practice. Whatever...except for one group in one class, my seniors are different.

I'm it.

2007-08-19T20:39:00.000-06:00

I was tagged with a teaching meme by leesepea at But wait! There's more...

1. I am a good teacher because... I care, and they know it.

2. If I weren’t a teacher, I would be... retired? Building a cabin at the lake? Definitely hanging more with my grandson.

3. My teaching style is... evolving. My catch phrases this year are "personal responsibility", "peer instruction", & "extended response".

4. My classroom is... alive and colorful.

5. My lesson plans are... reminder notes.

6. One of my teaching goals is... to spend more time on the Civil Rights Movement.

7. The toughest part of teaching is... the kids who just don't care.

8. The thing I love most about teaching is... when a student who thought he couldn't succeed does.

9. A common misconception about teaching is... it's a cush job.

10. The most important thing I’ve learned since I started teaching is... you're not going to do it all.

Okay, that was my first. Now, to bed in preparation for week two.

First Week

2007-08-17T17:41:00.000-06:00

Well, the first week is done. I was working on next week's lesson plan, and I had to stop. I'll finish on Monday. I've got a full week of US History and half a week of Gov't planned out; I can do the rest in my prep.

I get my projector on Monday. I need to start making PowerPoints to back my lectures. It seems like it takes so long to get started and then I'm rolling in to the end of the first six-weeks term. This term ends the end of Sept. It just seems too early.

1 down, 180 to go

2007-08-14T15:41:00.000-06:00

We had students today. Today was icebreakers. Today was also high absenteeism. I'm glad. My 4th period has 37 on the roster. Third and fifth have 35. I have 31 student desks.

I'm tired. By 6th period, the students were tired too.

Registration II

2007-08-10T16:11:00.000-06:00

There was a distress call at 9 AM looking for workers to make up for those teachers who chose to skip registration. I ended up working it all day. For that, they fed me.

I haven't spent that much time on my feet in the past 10 weeks. I'm out of shape & tired.

Registration

2007-08-09T15:53:00.001-06:00

The place is crawling with students. I'm scheduled to work tomorrow 11 AM to 2 PM, the latecomers.

Fall already?

2007-08-07T13:54:00.000-06:00

I never did get around to reflecting on the last school year. I was just too tired. Now, we've come around. We start tomorrow and school starts next Tuesday. Summer just kind of phhhttt... But if you look at the calendar, Fall is starting in the middle of summer.

Vacation

2007-05-29T21:51:00.000-06:00

Today finally feels like vacation. We finished Friday. Saturday and Sunday were just another weekend. Then that holiday came along to interfere with our vacation. Finally, today, it was here. We went for a bike ride along the bosque this morning with good friends. My wife said, "I feel like I'm on vacation." And we all yelled, "You are!" Finally. I'll reflect on the past year in future posts.

Pomp & Circumstance

2007-05-15T13:16:00.000-06:00

Graduation was yesterday. There was a bunch of marching up and down the steps of University Arena. I was assigned to guard one of the ADA seating areas.

This really makes the last couple of months worthwhile. The kids are so excited. One girl, a former student and aide, was standing alone with a strange look on her face. When I asked her, she said, "I'm scared." Then she grabbed hold of me for dear life. I told her not to worry. Even though this big, familiar thing that had been with her for 12 years is now gone, the new stuff coming will be exciting and fun.

Girls were hugging me with tears and laughter. Boys looked about to explode while they shook my hand. I love graduation!

Life without Seniors

2007-05-09T21:07:00.000-06:00

Tuesday was the last day of senior finals. They're gone. Whew.

We've just dropped 500 in our student population. We're no longer overcrowded. Yesterday, we had 6 fights and an auto wreck. Today, none. The tension level dropped.

ISS has been full, but that's ditchers. The underclassmen need to find their balance. The staff is just breathing deep. We've still got a couple of weeks to go with everyone else. Snow days have pushed us out to Memorial Day. Coming soon.

First Day

2007-05-07T21:29:00.000-06:00

Today was the first day of senior finals. It could have been better. I expected better. Instead, it was just off. They were panicky. I'd lost a weekend's worth of grading. Everyone and everything was on my nerves. And they kept asking me to sign their *@$%! yearbooks. I will tell you that I didn't write "GO AWAY!" in any of them.

This day finally ended. The good thing about the flex schedule is I always have a pretty good idea of what to expect on Tuesday. And therefore, I'll be better prepared to cope tomorrow.

When I finally got home this evening, I checked my laptop and found the grades. I hadn't transfered them to the stick drive correctly. The day got better.

Long time - short time

2007-05-02T21:44:00.000-06:00

My father-in-law is in the hospital. He's been there over 1 1/2 weeks. This has been occupying our time outside of school. And we're tired.

The seniors only have two days of instruction left. They take their final next Monday and Tuesday. Then they're gone.

Of course, they have to pass first.

My Econ students have been having a terrible time with the Final Project I assigned. This was to take the place of a test. They would research a topic in macroeconomics and create a PowerPoint that they would present during their final exam period. I was afraid the project was too simple, too easy. They were struggling. The class valedictorian was struggling. Two other members of the Top Ten were struggling. Today, with two days left, I canceled it.

All I can say is that macroeconomics is too much for them. I forget from time to time that they're still kids. They only read the newspaper because I force them to do so. They never watch or listen to the news. All they know about economics is what they learn in my classroom. So instead of macroeconomics, we're going to do personal economics. I dugout an old project on buying a new car, reworked it some, and added the PowerPoint component. Then I lined up another day in the computer lab to work on this whole new thing.

I made this decision / had the epiphany / came to my senses during 6th period. When I told them what we would be doing (and apologized), there was a noticeable release of tension in the room. I think they'll find this new project to be fun.

Countdown

2007-04-17T20:42:00.000-06:00

The seniors have three weeks left. About a third of them are failing. They're in denial, or they just don't care. Or they have some kind of magical thinking that they can pull it out in 3 weeks. That goes with the same thinking that says you can rack up dozens of unexcused absences and still pass.

I read them the riot act in all three of my Economics classes. We'll see if it does any good. The thing is, 6th period has 4 A's. One is the Valedictorian, but the other's just do the work.

The thing is, my worst class is full of 11th graders. So much to look forward to.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr

2007-04-12T17:29:00.000-06:00

With all this noise about Imus, I'd like to acknowledge the transition of someone who truly mattered.

I first read Vonnegut when PIayer Piano was assiged to my Intor to Data Processing class in 1967 (we used punch cards on mainframes.) I encountered Cat's Cradle at the right time in my life, as a sophomore at NMSU in 1968. I remember reading Mother Night with laughter and outrage. I still count Slaughterhouse Five as right up there with Huckleberry Finn as one of the best American novels. He used satire in a gentle way. His whimsey was serious. He knew and used the language to take me somewhere else, with though and purpose. Kurt Vonnegut Jr was truly a Great American Writer.

Time's running out

2007-04-09T21:14:00.000-06:00

Officially, we have six weeks left, plus finals. The seniors have 15 instruction days, if you count each flex day as 1. They're getting squirrely. I'm getting ready. I'm almost to, "I'm only going to teach them what I have time to teach them."

The thing is, I've got a lot of seniors who are failing, and they either don't care or they're in total denial. I try to tell them. They know what they need to do to pass. But they just keep cruising along, screwing around. The thing is, this is a required course. They don't pass, they don't graduate. They have one more month.

Assembly Schedule

2007-04-05T12:17:00.000-06:00

What is it with word searches? They take to them like ducks to water, even the seniors.

Today we had our Spring Sports Assembly. It only cuts the normal period by 10 minutes, but you'd think by the reaction that we were doing a half-day. The assemblies are between 1st & 2nd periods, and it takes until 5th or 6th for them to settle. Since they won't/can't focus on most things, these are the days I give vocabulary worksheets. Try and get a student to answer an oral question today, or even hear it for that matter, and you'll beat yourself to death with futility. But put a word search in front of them, and they'll get right to it.

It's Pavlovian. They've been getting worksheets since they were 7 or 8 years old. They know what to do with them. I'm sure they don't even realize how they respond. I just sat back and worked on lesson plans. It's a trip to occaisionally look at them and see how hard they're working. Tomorrow starts a 3 day weekend, on the heels of Spring Break. They got some exposure to vocabulary, had fun with something familiar, and didn't drive me crazy.

Break's Over

2007-04-03T19:48:00.000-06:00

Spring break is over. We came back yesterday. I didn't like my students much yesterday. They all had head full of granite. It would have taken a diamond-tip bit to get anythng in there.

I posted grades today. Pandemonium! They've started counting. They've started paying attention. We'll see if they're ready to start acting.

Spring Break

2007-03-24T13:39:00.000-06:00

Thank God!

I was getting tired of them. They were getting tired of me. We all needed a break.

We spent a good portion of the week with PowerPoint presentations. They did okay on the PPTs, considering it was the first time for most of them. The presentations were a different story. I put a notice on the board to NOT read the slides to the rest of us. I read it out loud to them. Then most of them proceeded to read the slides. Their final project (no exam) will be a presentation. We'll work on it again before then. (Seven weeks of instruction!)

I brought a ton of grading home for the break. I really should be able to go through it quickly, I just need to sit with it. When we get back, I'll be presenting every student with a progress report to be signed by a parent and returned. This is mostly CYA for the seniors who are hoping to graduate in May. Eyes will open.

Projects

2007-03-15T17:06:00.000-06:00

My wife and I are collaborating. I'm taking my 2 US History classes into her Computer Apps classes to do PowerPoint presentations on WWII. Her students are teachinng mine how to create the PowerPoints. My students provide the content and her students provide the skill.

We weren't sure how it would go today. I didn't get word through to my inclusion teacher, so he brought his 5 students in unprepared. My wife was worried that the 9th & 10th graders in her 3rd period would be intimidated by the 11th graders in my class. Both classes worked well. With the exception of my perpetual whiner in 3rd whining about her topic, everyone was able to work. What I saw looked good. They were working together. We were both pleased. They have tomorrow to finish up.

My econ classes have been working all week on a "moving out" project. They're hunting apartments and furnishing them. It's been a hoot watching them. They've called numbers in ads and come back to tell me, "Ads lie!" Several boys discovered sofa beds and think they're the neatest things they've ever seen. One boy who's opted to live alone asked me if I'd heard of freecycle.com. They're working so hard on this in all 3 classes that I could walk out after I get them started and they'd never notice.

Saturday Grading

2007-03-10T17:48:00.000-07:00

I just finished grading notebooks. I go to the library to do this because it's easier for me to stay focused there than when I'm at home. With a few notable exceptions, the scores were low. Only a third of the students in my 2nd period turned theirs in. This batch of 11th graders we have this year are at best minimalists, at worst gross underachievers.

Of course, with the attendance so low at NCLB testing on Weds and Thurs, they were pulling the no-shows out of class on Fri to make numbers. Still, only 3 left my class when they heard the announcement.

It can be discouraging. I look at their grades, and there are so many F's. The thing is, they don't seem to care. They've got another year before graduation. That's plenty of time to re-take US History. And "everybody knows Night School is easier." (Real quote.)

The seniors are a different story. They're divided between those who are set to graduate in May and are going to let a 1 semester Economics class pull down their GPA (I have their valedictorian in 6th period), those who are set to graduate in May and figure they can take it easy and still pass with a D, and those who are ditching the majority of each week and will start freaking out around May Day when it's too late.

Extra credit for them is extra work for me. If they won't do the regular work, I'm not rewarding them with something special.

More Testing

2007-03-08T20:43:00.000-07:00

We just spent 2 days testing 9th & 11th graders. This was our annual NCLB extravaganza. The students I proctored actually worked on the test. Unfortunately, attendance was abyssmal. This means we'll be pulling students out of class to do what they should have done this week. I told my 11th graders that the only way to avoid this round of testing was to drop out of school. I have some of the no-shows from the group I proctored. They'll learn I was honest with them.

I doubt we'll make AYP. Again. We won't make AYP until we do something about our attendance problem. We have an attendance policy, but enforcement breaks down. The kids know there's no real consequences to ditching, so they go for it. So to get 95% attendance for the SBA testing, they have to drag in kids who haven't been in class a full month this year. To expect them to be able to post a score that will register anywhere is just silly.

Back to teaching tomorrow. March is a wasted month. With testing, holidays, spring break, and our lovely flex schedule, we only have 12 real days of instruction this month. But I'm still trying to teach my 12 grade Economics students how to survive on their own and my 11th grade US History students why the Germans followed Hitler.

Six Weeks

2007-02-27T21:18:00.000-07:00

I got grades in on time. Now I have more work. I used the online gradebook the district is looking at adopting. I'm going back to my old GradeQuick. It's more robust and easier to use. I was so tired of the new system by the time I finished that I couldn't take pleasure from the fact that I could submit just by pushing a button.

Tomorrow we start two days of open house. I'll be talking with the few parents that come by. I enjoy that. The rest of the time I'll be working at transfering the semester from the online system back to GradeQuick.

Grading

2007-02-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

The six-weeks ended Friday. Now it's marathon grading. What a way to spend a holiday weekend.

Metanza

2007-02-14T18:06:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we went to a metanza, a traditional pig roast dating back to Spanish colonial times. My wife comes from a town about 30 miles south of here. Two of her cousins, with adjoining property on the mesa overlooking town, hosted the metanza.

I rode down with our nephew. We got there at dawn, just in time for the killing. Then we stood around drinking really good coffee while the viejos (old timers) got the pig ready, dressing it, shaving it, cleaning it, skinning it, cutting off the legs and head. Once they had it prep and parcelled out to the rest of us to cut all the meat into something we could cook, they sat in chairs around one of the 4 fire pits and started passing the whiskey.

I spent two hours cutting meat for chile. It's something I'm good at. My wife didn't show up until 10:30, but she'd already done her part. She spent 5 hours Thursday evening making chile & adova.

After half a day of work, it was time to eat. We had chile, carne adovada, beans, calavacitas, Navajo fry bread, and more. The fresh chiccarones were heaven, and my mother-in-law's biscochitos melt in your mouth.

Winter Wonderland...Again

2007-02-14T07:30:00.000-07:00

Another snow day. (I'm including a picture of our house from the last one, because it looks the same. That bright dot in the sky is the sun, not moon.) This one is a bit different. Not only is it Wednesday & St. Valentine's Day, it's also a long scheduled In-Service day. Students were off anyway. They're not missing anything.

The day was planned for us to train for Next Step meetings at the end of the month. Next Step was ordained by the state legislature to track and guide students to life after public school. We teachers meet with parents and their students to go over transcripts and discuss options. I and others have been requesting better training. This was to be it. We also were to go through an "electives fair" to learn about electives available and how they relate to the Career Pathways we're going to next year. I consider this a big loss.

My wife and I are going in to work for a few hours, then off for a Valentine's Day lunch.

Schedule

2007-02-07T18:49:00.000-07:00

I went to a meeting after school today about next year's schedule. It was an emergency Instructional Council meeting where the Schedule Task Force presented their findings and recommendations to the IC and anyone else who wanted to attend. Most of Social Studies was there. We had by far the largest turnout of any department. But we've got one member who's on the task force and others who have had a rather heated email discussion going with him for over a week.

We're going to a block schedule next year. That's a done deal. Teachers get to vote on which type of schedule, AB or 4x4. The task force is recommending the 4x4.

I've never worked under either schedule, so I have to go by the information they presented today. I know which way I'm leaning. We probably won't know the results until March.

Seniors

2007-02-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

My seniors surprised me on Friday, in all three of my Economics classes. I gave them the assignment sheets for the project and told them to get into groups of 4 and start brainstorming. And they did! I didn't have to keep reminding the groups to stay on task. The questions were, "Can we do this?", not, "Would this be right?"

This is a one-semester, core class. This semester's crop aren't screwing around like last semester's seniors were. I don't know if it's because it's so close to graduation. I still have a lot of ditchers. I still expect them to start panicking around April. But for now, I'll enjoy the work ethic.

Kids

2007-01-28T17:00:00.000-07:00

I went off on a kid the other day. He'd stopped coming to my 2nd period US History class a few weeks before the end of last semester. He even skipped the final. The only time he's made class this semester was when Security dragged him in after the Attendance Office hunted him down.

A week later, I spotted him in the hall in front off Admin. When I confronted him, he said something smartassed and walked away. I chased him, yelling. He said he was on his way to counselling to drop my class, which I don't believe. I told him he was going to see a principal with me. I got him in the office, but he kept trying to get away, and I kept yelling. One secretary called Security while another got between us and told him to sit and me to write a referral. All the principals were off campus at a meeting, so he spent the afternoon in ISS.

I thanked the ladies later for keeping their heads while I lost mine. One said, "They really know how to push our buttons."

While I was in my alternative licensure program, a professor suggested we stop calling our pupils "kids." She thought "students" or "young people / men / women" was more appropriate. I tried, but it just doesn't fit. They're "kids." One of the problems for both them and us is them trying to be adults when they aren't. They're not ready for it educationally, emotionally, or physically. Even though they can do some things that adults do, they have little concept of the results or responsibilities of their actions.

This past fall semester, we had a slew of pregnant girls (not women) running around campus. (By my reckoning, it was one hell of a Prom.) They're gone now, but there are more starting to show.

My generation said that if we were old enough to fight and die in a war, we were old enough to vote. These kids say that if they're old enough to vote, they're old enough to drink. I tell them nobody's buying votes with drinks anymore, but if they feel that strongly about it, they should vote to change it. Of course, that would require time and work. Changing laws would require getting in the system and changing minds. That's a lot to ask from a group that can't see past next weekend.

As I said, they're "kids."

Testing...Testing

2007-01-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

We have begun the testing season. Today was the 10th grade Competency Exam. All students must pass all parts of this exam in order to graduate. This has nothing to do with NCLB. Our state has mandated this one for over a decade now. This is the standardized test that all students take seriously.

This is also the first full blown testing for our new Testing Coordinator. I wasn't sure how it would go. TC seemed a little flakey. She gave us (State mandated) Test Security Training last semester, then spent a lot of very visible time tracking down teachers who skipped it. Her emails were bad. Her lists contained errors. The room captains were announce two days ago and got no training or advanced instruction. It didn't look good.

It went great! She did what I'd been complaining about her predecessors not doing. She treated us like intelligent, educated professionals who were capable of reading directions, understanding directions, following directions, and guiding the students. It couldn't have gone smoother, and TC couldn't have been calmer through the whole thing.

Support

2007-01-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

This year my school has monthly meetings for first year teachers. It is run by the Student Advocate from our 9th Grade Academy. She taught for 30 years, retired for 2, and came back.

I sat in on today's meeting. I wish this had been around my first year. I got support from individual teachers when I started, but nothing like this. Half of the people at the meeting were experienced teachers. We all shared things we'd learned the hard way. It was a good experience.

Experience

2007-01-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

I'm surrounded by more experienced teachers, including my wife. I marvel at their experience and their ability to use it with something new. The other day, I was stalled on one of my classes. Stalled, hell, I was completely without any idea of where to go next or what to do when we got there. I told a colleague. This is a subject she doesn't like and hasn't taught in over 10 years, yet she was able to pull a 3-day project out of thin air. My wife says it's just experience, that it takes at least 4 years.

Of course, like all schools we have a group of burn-outs who are just holding out for retirement. Fortunately, most of them are on their last year. I won't be here 30 years, or even 20, so I shouldn't hit that point.

More games

2007-01-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, our girls basketball team was slaughtered two nights in a row. I still had a good time.

Two nights ago, they looked like they'd had a week of games cancelled and weren't allowed to practice in that same period. Last night, they played the #1 ranked team in the city. In the first game, they were flat. In the second, they still weren't hitting their shots, but they made the other team work for their win.

I know I'm writing a lot about sports in a teaching blog, but I believe student activities are an important part of what we do.

Games

2007-01-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

Early on in this career, I discovered a great classroom management tool. I go to games, plays, and concerts. I found that if I show an interest in the things in which my students are interested, my life in the classroom is easier.

Now, football and boys basketball are easy. Everyone goes to them. I go to the stuff no one else does. I'm always the only teacher at the girls basketball games. It's just me, their parents, a few boyfriends, and the principal assigned to the game. There are fewer of our fans at away games. I don't know why people from my school won't travel across the city, but they won't.

The day after the last band and orchestra concert, the music dept. chair was seeking me out because he knew I was there and he knew I'd give him an honest opinion. He told me that. I told him the truth.

My students tell me when they have a game or a concert or a match or an art show or a play and ask me if I'm going. I can't say no. I can't be one of those teachers who just goes to the football games. I can't be one of those teachers who want to be as far from the students as possible after the bell rings.

Finally, a new semester

2007-01-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

We're finally back. The students are back into it, though they won't admit it. I think every one of my collegues had a good day, at least until the faculty meeting after school. Why does admin beat-up all the staff when they're unhappy with a few teachers?

We started the week with the flex schedule: three 2-hour classes today and tomorrow. Three of my classes are brand new. I've got a few seniors who I had last year as juniors, but most of them are new faces. So, I'm starting all over.

Continuing Saga of Forced Semi-retirement

2007-01-05T07:25:00.000-07:00

My stepson emailed this picture yesterday of my father-in-law and my grandson. It's a couple of years old, but a great shot.

As I was hauling garbage out today, a day late due to the New Year's Day holiday, I met my neighbor, also a teacher. She said they've done nothing with her school. I told her we're going to our school today to check my wife's classroom for leaks and / or flooding. She teaches computer apps. Thirty-five PCs and a leaky roof just don't mix well.

The Holidays That Wouldn't End

2007-01-04T07:27:00.000-07:00

The last two days of 2006, we had record snowfall. We've had sub-freezing temperatures since. Clean-up has been difficult. Since we're in the "sunny" southwest, we're not used to or prepared for this type of weather. We were supposed to go back to work yesterday, but it was cancelled. Now, the district has cancelled the rest of the week. I'm starting to lose track of what day it is.

I'm starting this new year and new semester with a blog. I teach at one of the high schools in a city in the southwest. This year I'm teaching 11th & 12th graders. I don't know yet how often I'll post, but I imagine I'll be writing about my everyday experiences with the job. Right now, as I said above, there are none.