Friday, April 24, 2009

Where do you draw the line?

Each student is an individual. As a teacher, your expectations for each student are not the same. This is especially true when dealing with SPED students.

In my math support class, called Math 360, I have to boys in particular who have special expectations. They both have IEPs (I think), and probably ADD or ADHD, although I haven't actually had access to their files. These boys are always out of their seat, talking, and they both seem to want to slap themselves, hit their heads against things, over react etc. They're both fairly bright, but can't focus for long periods of time.

So where do I draw the line with these students as far as sending them out of the room and to their advisers, rather then just dealing with the discipline issues in classroom. I don't like to take things out of the classroom if I can help it. I don't want to escalate things for the students, I don't want the paper work, and there is probably a little bit of ego that tells me that I can deal with it myself.

Today I should have sent both of them to their advisers. My co-op teacher for that class, Zach, interjected on my behalf a couple of times, and separated one of the boys at one point, but he wanted to allow me to retain the power of sending them out of the room, rather then taking over, which I appreciate.

My problem I think was that I was so involved with trying to keep them doing something, and trying to keep the other students engaged that I didn't realize how bad it had gotten until only a minute or two were left in the period. At that point it was too late to send the student out.

So when you have students with behavior problems like that, how do you make the call about when their behavior has crossed the line. I would never tolerate their behavior today from a "normal" student, but how bad do you let it get in the interest of compassion for the student?

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Can you hear my voice?

Last Friday I learned that I don't have quite as much stamina as I thought I did. Friday was my first day teaching two class periods. Soon I will add a third. Friday I started the day observing and helping out in World History with Rebecca.

She had a really interesting topic tying their history topic to today. They were studying Imperial China, and specifically discussing the Great Wall of China. The students were doing an assignment writing a mini paper comparing the Great Wall of China with the potential 'Great Wall of Mexico', specifically they are asked to discuss why both walls were built, and how they functioned, and what caused it to eventually fail (in the case of the Chinese wall) or why it may or may not work in the case of Mexico.

I think it's a really fascinating topic for kids to look at, especially 7th and 8th graders, however because of the split focus, and the style of the lesson, it was really disjointed and full of tangents. Basically, the teacher talked a bunch, and then assigned a reading and the kids had to fill out a worksheet while they read. It was terribly boring, but then again, she tried to do a role play, and it was well explained and prepared, and the students just wouldn't buy into it. I'm really excited about my unit, I have the great fortune to be teaching a period that I have great personal interest and knowledge in, I just hope I can instill some of that passion into the kids.

After the social studies class I teach a Math class full of the loudest most talkative 30 7th graders I've ever met. I spend way more of the period shouting then I'd like, but the feed back that I'm getting (and comparing my lessons to the ones Marna, my Co-op teacher taught) I'm actually don't pretty darn well. The material is a bit challenging, percents, ratio proportions are not easy concepts to get, but most of my kids will do anything they can to get out of working.

After a prep that usually doesn't feel nearly long enough, I teach my second Math 7 class. Friday was my first day of teaching this class, and about half way through my lesson I quickly realized that if I didn't start doing things a little different my voice wouldn't last until the end of the day once I started teaching my third class.

Though my last class is smaller, and more cooperative, it's the end of the day, and kids are antsy.

So my new goals for myself include working on keeping the pitch of my voice low. 'Going under them' as Marna puts it, rather then getting shrill or shrieky. I'm also trying to employ a tactic that Jenn, a member of my cohort, mentioned, of quietly saying sit down and look at me if you can hear my voice, over and over again until the whole class is seated.

Fortunately I seem to have established a pretty positive relationship with several of the more challenging students, so even if they aren't inclined to pay attention, when I ask them specifically to do something, they smile, knowing they've been caught, rather then getting upset at being asked to stop.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Will work for salary...

On Tuesday, I attended the Oregon Professional Education Fair. This is a huge job fair in Portland attended by many districts in the area, and not a few districts from other areas, especially Washington and California, but also from as far as the Bering Strait and El Paso, Texas. I arrived early and with optimism, but despite the fact that I felt confident and positive about all of my interactions with districts it was a discouraging day.

I left my resume with ten districts, but one has to wonder how much that really matters. In the world of EdZapp and internet, especially when there are hiring freezes, is handing someone a resume going to make any difference? Even if I did make a really positive impression on people, even impress them to the point where they want to hire me, are they going to remember that they felt that way about me in a month when they perhaps have an opening I'm qualified for? At least with theater, when I gave a resume, it included a head shot so the directors could remember which one I was.

Because of my personal situation (my fiance is going to school in Eugene, and we own a house in Springfield) I cannot consider moving to a new area, which means that I could only consider districts close enough for me to drive to. There was not a single district from my county at the fair. One had been signed up, but they had canceled at the last minute, an event which was particularly frustrating for a colleague of mine that had attended the fair specifically to talk to that district (Bethel).

So I talked to Corvallis, Lebanon, Roseburg, Salem... ten districts total. Not a single district had a job available that I was qualified for, although most of them also said that they didn't know what jobs they might have at all. In general it seemed as if the fair was happening to early. I heard the same story over and over again, "we just don't know yet."

The most frustrating experience was Woodburn, which is probably too far for me to travel to, in reality. I waiting in line for at least 45 minutes. I of course had chosen the slowest moving line. It was the last school on my list, and I was already achy and tired. It moved so slowly... and when I finally arrived up to the front of the line, my mini-interview was conducted to the side of the booth, standing, in the walk way, very quickly. At that point was so terribly discouraged and convinced that there was no way I was getting hired.

I was surprised at how many positions required advanced math, so I will be actively pursuing that in the next couple years. If I am indeed unsuccessful in getting a job in the fall, I will re-take those more advanced math classes that I don't remember as well. They will likely be easy classes, and it will probably come back to me, but by taking the classes, I can also steal some ideas on how to teach the material (or how not to teach it, depending). Even if I do receive a teaching position, I still want to work towards passing that praxis. Because I have already done practicums in math, I should only have to pass the praxis in order to receive the endorsement.

Regardless, I am not terribly optimistic about finding jobs, nor was anyone else at the fair, or anyone who I've talked to who is in the same position as me. And combing the district websites for openings sure makes for tedious work in the evenings.

Monday, April 6, 2009

New School, New term.

This term I am at Roosevelt Middle School which is one of the 'premier' middle schools in Eugene, it's long had a reputation for being innovative and highly rigorous academically. It's got a fairly high SES and is a feeder school to the high school with the same reputation, South Eugene High School.

The culture of the school is very, for lack of a better term, Eugenian. Equity and diversity are highly valued, though there is still a fairly traditional status quo. But students call their teachers by their first names, they get to pick their teachers and their classes with surprising freedom. It's also the only middle school that I know of that has a semi-open campus. Students are free (with parent permission) to go across the street to the local convenience store, organic grocery, or funky coffee shop.

As far as math, there seems to be a very strong program. For the at level students they rely on a curriculum called Connected Math. This is very application based, and the books don't actually ever tell students how to do anything. Instead they lead them through 'investigations' that cause students to apply the math. The downside of this highly constructivist approach is that the students often lack the concrete rules, algorithms or equations that they would gain from a more direct instruction oriented curriculum.

For those students who are below level, either because of learning disabilities, other IEP issues, or simply because math is particularly difficult for them, they take, instead of one of their electives, a class called Math 360. This class is taken on the opposite day of their regular math class and pairs pre-teaching and over-teaching with structured and guided homework help, and time using the 'Bridges to Algebra' computer math practice program .

For students who are above level, there are several class opportunities, as high as Algebra II offered, as well as math club(s) and quiz teams for those who truly enjoy math. RMS is moving towards an 'Algebra for All' approach which would place all (or nearly all) 8th graders in an algebra class, verses Algebra being an at level class for Freshman. This is likely in response at least partially to the new state requirements of three years of math Algebra or above in high school .

My situation, being paired with four total teachers, may seem chaotic or busy, but compared with my physical classroom situation last term, I don't mind a bit. My 'home location' is with Marna, and two of my other classrooms are just down the hall. My other Math 7 class is on the opposite side of the school. Despite moving around, I feel like I have had ample time to get to know and get a feel for each of my math teachers. My Social Studies teacher has been absent, so I have had a limited opportunity to talk with her. The math teachers work together very well, and have a fairly effective communication mechanism.

Right now it seems that my challenges for this term will be juggling more then one class preparation, shifting to fit in with several different teacher's house rules and styles, and integrating skill practice and drill into a highly application centered curriculum.