When my principal first switched me to social studies at my school, I was not especially happy with him. I had spent a whole year struggling to get a handle on how to teach reading and writing to middle schoolers, and now he wanted me to throw that all away ?!?!?! Not to mention the fact that I had to study for and take another Praxis test.
But now I'm starting to think this is the best thing EVER. Teaching social studies is (more or less) awesome. My kids aren't tested, but I wish they were, since they're so enthusiastic about stuff in my room. Not necessarily the parts of class where we take notes, of course, but I get to plan so much fun stuff for social studies. Today, I had more kids engaged in latitude and longitude game than I ever have before- we were racing in teams to track Carmen Sandiego (complete with some Rockapella background music...) across the globe, and kids were literally falling over each other to give me the correct answers and be the winning team. Talk about awesome! Well, maybe not the falling- we had to put a stop to that pretty quickly. We were supposed to have an assembly during class this afternoon- and the kids were actually glad that it got canceled because they wanted to finish the activity! Seriously, this is awesome. This is what teaching is supposed to be like.
And next week, my 8th graders are going to put the colonies on trial to see if they allowed as much religious freedom as we would expect they would based on their reasons for their founding. I am super-excited to get to that lesson next week- which makes me excited to go to school- which makes me happier all around.
Obviously, not every day gets to be this awesome, but its so nice to have the ones that are :) My kids can definitely get excited about education- you just have to find a way to make it worth their while.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
First Week Down!
Well, we've officially made it through our first week of school for year two of TFA. Let me tell you, if you had come up to me on September 12 of last year and said that this is where I would be in a year, I would have laughed at you (through the tears, clearly). Last year at this time, my roommates and I were spread out all over the dining room table, frantically trying to figure out what we were going to do the next day to keep our students from killing each other (forget keeping them in their seats). In between panic attacks, I spent a lot of time being really really upset and thinking about finding a new job in the tanking economy.
What a difference a year makes! Today, the first Saturday of the school year, my roommate and I started the day at the coffee shop down the street to get some grading and lesson planning done, came back here, watched this week's episode of Top Chef, had lunch, got the rest of the posters we have hanging around hung up, cleaned the kitchen, and then did a little more planning and relaxing. I'm lesson planned through next Monday, and all I have to do tomorrow is create/modify the worksheets that go with those lessons. Tonight, I'm going out dancing for a friend's birthday. Life seems pretty good right now :)
Of course, that was only week 1. Next week it will be time for the students to test me. But I'll be ready- this year I'm in control of my classroom. Now if I could only get used to waking up at 5:30 instead of at 9...
What a difference a year makes! Today, the first Saturday of the school year, my roommate and I started the day at the coffee shop down the street to get some grading and lesson planning done, came back here, watched this week's episode of Top Chef, had lunch, got the rest of the posters we have hanging around hung up, cleaned the kitchen, and then did a little more planning and relaxing. I'm lesson planned through next Monday, and all I have to do tomorrow is create/modify the worksheets that go with those lessons. Tonight, I'm going out dancing for a friend's birthday. Life seems pretty good right now :)
Of course, that was only week 1. Next week it will be time for the students to test me. But I'll be ready- this year I'm in control of my classroom. Now if I could only get used to waking up at 5:30 instead of at 9...
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Day 1: Check
Day 1 of school is down. It's going to be a good year- I feel way more confident than I ever did and I just had an amazing conversation with a parent. I got a text from my TFA program director (kind of like a mentor) this morning wishing me good luck and saying this was my year. I really think he's right :)
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The SDP should be a scary movie
Forget his reality show; Tony Danza ought to be making a horror film about the Philadelphia School District. Today was the first day of school for teachers, and inevitably all the roommates have arrived home with horror stories about new developments at their schools as of today. My roommate who teaches 9th grade English might have to cover a period of Spanish because there might not be a teacher hired for that position at all this school year. My roommate who teaches Spanish might have to cover a period of corrective reading (or corrective math...who knows which?), for which he has no training. On top of that, in all the high schools, students will be re-rostered after about 2 weeks of school once they have taken tests to determine whether they need to be in a corrective reading or corrective math class (which essentially is the curriculum used in special ed classrooms). My roommate who teaches 7th grade English won't have a curriculum until October, and is expected to just work with week-to-week "themes" until then. I just found out we will be doing gendered classes, meaning I will see all my boys in each grade in one class, and all my girls in each grade the next day, which means that in some classes I will have many more students than I have desks due to disproportionate numbers of girls versus boys. Even my roommate at a relatively awesome charter school is now on a cart in 3 different classrooms at his school.
And the kicker? Because they don't "have the funds" to post to hire a new English teacher at another friend's high school, she now has classes that number 65 (at least) on her rosters. They hope to have the classes down to "normal size" by October- based on massive truancy, I suppose...
Just how do they expect our kids to learn in this logistical mess?? When this is the best the educated, intelligent adults who are supposed to be running things around here can do, what can we hope for for the students who are stuck in this system?
However, not all hope is lost. Almost all of my roommates are currently working through ways to problem solve these new challenges- if we could all approach challenges in teaching, even ones that seem insurmountable, like that, we would eventually make the widespread changes we so desperately need around here. Here's hoping that at some point I'm in a position with enough power to say that and have it mean something.
And the kicker? Because they don't "have the funds" to post to hire a new English teacher at another friend's high school, she now has classes that number 65 (at least) on her rosters. They hope to have the classes down to "normal size" by October- based on massive truancy, I suppose...
Just how do they expect our kids to learn in this logistical mess?? When this is the best the educated, intelligent adults who are supposed to be running things around here can do, what can we hope for for the students who are stuck in this system?
However, not all hope is lost. Almost all of my roommates are currently working through ways to problem solve these new challenges- if we could all approach challenges in teaching, even ones that seem insurmountable, like that, we would eventually make the widespread changes we so desperately need around here. Here's hoping that at some point I'm in a position with enough power to say that and have it mean something.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Can't Stress it Enough: The Importance of Education
This past week, I (finally) finished reading Three Cups of Tea, a book that has been on my t0-read shelf for a long time. It's a non-fiction story about a man named Greg Mortenson, who, after getting lost in Pakistan after a failed attempt to climb K2, is struck by the need in the small mountainous villages of Pakistan for schools. He promises to return to one village to build a school for them after raising the money, but from there a whole enterprise was born. Today, he and the Central Asia Institute founded by Mortenson and his supporters, build schools in small villages all over Pakistan and Afghanistan. I was incredibly moved by this story, and I'm sure if I had not just spent more than I care to admit on supplies for my own classroom, I would have gone online and donated to his cause without hesitation.
However, I was more struck by Mortenson's message in America after 9/11 and the War on Terror began. He suggests, and I agree, that we do not do anything to help our cause or create any more goodwill toward Americans in the Middle East by being involved in conflicts in which we deliberately or as a side-effect destroy whole villages, promising aid to help the people who we may have disrupted, and then never sending the aid. This only opens the way for terrorist organizations with lots of money to fill the void, especially in education, and thus taking advantage of the desire for education of many non-extremist locals. They build schools because the government of Afghanistan has not, and because our promise of aid for schools has not come through, and churn out more young men who have been educated with an extremist curriculum full of western hatred. Mortenson argues that only by making education a priority (albeit a long-term one) can we ever hope to stop this area from being a hotbed for terrorism for good. A NY Times article circulating among people I know on facebook made a similar argument about education, specifically of girls, in the Middle East. Education is the single-best way to improve a region like this, that desperately needs it.
I can't help but think that Mortenson's ideas ring true in our country as well (and if we're going to give money away to other governments for education, I certainly hope we get some here too). While poor schools in America may not breed terrorism, they certainly do not help to improve things such as the high crime rate in urban areas, or help to improve the number of people who are on government aid and thus contributing to the strain on the nation's resources, or any other number of unpleasant statistics. We have just spent time bailing out big industries all over the country, realized that we seriously need to overhaul things like the healthcare system and social security, and more, and I cannot help thinking that by pouring more money into all of these systems, we are only helping (if we are helping at all) in the short term. We need to educate all of the children in this nation if we truly want to make things better, and yet education never seems to be at the top of anyone's priorities. Certainly, it is up there for most politicians, but it rarely makes it into position number 1 on the list of concerns the government must handle-but it should. A good education for all students is really in all of our best interests, just like it would be in the Middle East.
And by the way, I highly recommend Three Cups of Tea. You should absolutely read it if you have the time.
However, I was more struck by Mortenson's message in America after 9/11 and the War on Terror began. He suggests, and I agree, that we do not do anything to help our cause or create any more goodwill toward Americans in the Middle East by being involved in conflicts in which we deliberately or as a side-effect destroy whole villages, promising aid to help the people who we may have disrupted, and then never sending the aid. This only opens the way for terrorist organizations with lots of money to fill the void, especially in education, and thus taking advantage of the desire for education of many non-extremist locals. They build schools because the government of Afghanistan has not, and because our promise of aid for schools has not come through, and churn out more young men who have been educated with an extremist curriculum full of western hatred. Mortenson argues that only by making education a priority (albeit a long-term one) can we ever hope to stop this area from being a hotbed for terrorism for good. A NY Times article circulating among people I know on facebook made a similar argument about education, specifically of girls, in the Middle East. Education is the single-best way to improve a region like this, that desperately needs it.
I can't help but think that Mortenson's ideas ring true in our country as well (and if we're going to give money away to other governments for education, I certainly hope we get some here too). While poor schools in America may not breed terrorism, they certainly do not help to improve things such as the high crime rate in urban areas, or help to improve the number of people who are on government aid and thus contributing to the strain on the nation's resources, or any other number of unpleasant statistics. We have just spent time bailing out big industries all over the country, realized that we seriously need to overhaul things like the healthcare system and social security, and more, and I cannot help thinking that by pouring more money into all of these systems, we are only helping (if we are helping at all) in the short term. We need to educate all of the children in this nation if we truly want to make things better, and yet education never seems to be at the top of anyone's priorities. Certainly, it is up there for most politicians, but it rarely makes it into position number 1 on the list of concerns the government must handle-but it should. A good education for all students is really in all of our best interests, just like it would be in the Middle East.
And by the way, I highly recommend Three Cups of Tea. You should absolutely read it if you have the time.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
The Students Are Coming! The Students Are Coming!
Well, it's now late August. My roommates have almost all returned, those of us who were here have played so many games of quizzo we may actually be sick of it now, Charlie's party is this weekend, and TFA has started weekly Thursday blasts again- all of which can only mean one thing: It's just about time for school to start again. And underneath the sadness that summer (and thus my lazy days of sleeping until 9am instead of 6am) is almost over, I keep feeling something weird, something unexpected. It took me a long time to put a finger on it, but I think I might be able to call that feeling...excitement?
Excitement was not the feeling I was expecting to feel on the eve of my second year of teaching. Not after last year's numerous bouts of crying, minor depression, anger, frustration, and general terror about the path I had chosen for the next two years. However, as I walked into my new classroom, having moved down the hall now that I am Duckrey's only social studies teacher (and my new classroom is bigger!), and as I begin working through my incentives and management plan and my unit plans for the beginning of this year, I'm finding that I am kind of looking forward to having students again. This year, hopefully at my mercy, rather than me being at theirs. I am excited to teach social studies, a subject which, in previous years, has been neglected and left to a teacher who seemed less-than interested in his subject, and to teach it so that my students can have as good a social studies education as I had (thank you, Mr. Traester), and so that they leave me with a much better sense of their world than they had before they entered my room this year.
So overall, I can seriously say, I'm ready to head back to the classroom. Well, almost. I still have to finish 3 unit plans, make 587 posters, and spend ridiculous amounts of money on classroom supplies... But after that, I will be ready to make this the best year it can be.
Excitement was not the feeling I was expecting to feel on the eve of my second year of teaching. Not after last year's numerous bouts of crying, minor depression, anger, frustration, and general terror about the path I had chosen for the next two years. However, as I walked into my new classroom, having moved down the hall now that I am Duckrey's only social studies teacher (and my new classroom is bigger!), and as I begin working through my incentives and management plan and my unit plans for the beginning of this year, I'm finding that I am kind of looking forward to having students again. This year, hopefully at my mercy, rather than me being at theirs. I am excited to teach social studies, a subject which, in previous years, has been neglected and left to a teacher who seemed less-than interested in his subject, and to teach it so that my students can have as good a social studies education as I had (thank you, Mr. Traester), and so that they leave me with a much better sense of their world than they had before they entered my room this year.
So overall, I can seriously say, I'm ready to head back to the classroom. Well, almost. I still have to finish 3 unit plans, make 587 posters, and spend ridiculous amounts of money on classroom supplies... But after that, I will be ready to make this the best year it can be.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
School's Out For Summer
I know, I know. I fail at keeping up with this blog lately. It's amazing how busy the end of the school year ended up being (considering grades were due on June 1)- but I guess that was probably because I took on an extra job with TFA.
It's official, though- summer is way more awesome as a teacher than as a student. My students are already calling me because they're bored, and I'm sure not bored yet :) The year ended well for me too- PSSA scores came in, and although we didn't make AYP, half my 8th graders scored advanced or proficient- up from 21% scoring in that range when they were in 7th grade. Not quite what the government cares about for AYP, but exciting for me all the same.
Once school was out, we began Induction for the new TFAers in full force, and I have to say, it's much nicer being on this side of things. They had so many questions, and still seem so naive- it's nice to at least seem like we're the ones who know what we're doing. Plus, the 2009 crew are a pretty good bunch- I think we'll get along with them really well. They began Institute this week, and I hope its going well for them- although I guess they haven't started teaching yet, and that's when it all comes to a head.
It's nice to know that, even though a year ago I was beginning the hardest 5 weeks of my life, this year I'm kicking back and enjoying life. I still have stuff to do this summer- after all, I have to learn 6-8 grade social studies and take my Praxis test to be sure I know it- but I feel way more prepared for next year already, and I'm taking things easy for now. Plus, it's my birthday tomorrow, and I go to Canada in a few weeks, so at the moment, it's summertime, and the livin is very very easy.
It's official, though- summer is way more awesome as a teacher than as a student. My students are already calling me because they're bored, and I'm sure not bored yet :) The year ended well for me too- PSSA scores came in, and although we didn't make AYP, half my 8th graders scored advanced or proficient- up from 21% scoring in that range when they were in 7th grade. Not quite what the government cares about for AYP, but exciting for me all the same.
Once school was out, we began Induction for the new TFAers in full force, and I have to say, it's much nicer being on this side of things. They had so many questions, and still seem so naive- it's nice to at least seem like we're the ones who know what we're doing. Plus, the 2009 crew are a pretty good bunch- I think we'll get along with them really well. They began Institute this week, and I hope its going well for them- although I guess they haven't started teaching yet, and that's when it all comes to a head.
It's nice to know that, even though a year ago I was beginning the hardest 5 weeks of my life, this year I'm kicking back and enjoying life. I still have stuff to do this summer- after all, I have to learn 6-8 grade social studies and take my Praxis test to be sure I know it- but I feel way more prepared for next year already, and I'm taking things easy for now. Plus, it's my birthday tomorrow, and I go to Canada in a few weeks, so at the moment, it's summertime, and the livin is very very easy.
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