Social Studies is different.

I taught my first social studies lesson on Thursday. It was on the causes of the Renaissance, most specifically about The Plague, The Hundred Year War/Joan of Arc, the Market Place, Italian City-States and the 'Spirit of the Renaissance' (or humanism and the well rounded individual). Each topic had a slide with some art on it, and I asked the students to tell me what they saw, and what it made them think of. We discussed each slide and topic, it was half me lecturing/leading them to answers, and half them discussing, theorizing about why, and providing the information themselves. I worked really hard to involve them in the discussion process, and keep them interested. I was really pleasantly surprised to see that several of the most knowledgeable and engaged students (even if their information did come from Age of Empires) were students that are often disconnected in my math lessons and do poorly.


I felt like I spent the entire time talking, and was afraid that I went on much too long, but my cooperating teacher said she thought that because of the pictures and the fact that I included the students in the discussion so much made it so it was manageable for them. Now the challenge is going to be figuring out how to vary the lessons so I don't spend every day lecturing with images and discussing with the students. Needless to say, I'm finding that teaching World History is very different then preparing to teach math, both in the planning and the execution of the lesson. Tomorrow, after we finish the slides, I have them doing an activity creating a compare and contrast chart with the classical era (Ancient Rome and Greece), the Middle Ages (in Europe) and the Renaissance. There is a section of the book that outlines that really clearly, so they should alsmost be able to copy it out, but hopefully they will learn something too. It is hard to find an assignemnt that is accessable, but challenges them to think more then just copy. Perhaps I'll also assign a critical paragraph as homework? It is particularly challenging that there are only class sets of the books, so homework needs to be something that doesn't require a book, and they can do at home. I have to keep in mind that not all students even have access to the internet, so that aspect should be challanging. I don't anticipate giving nearly as much homework in that class as I do in math. Any ideas for homework assignments that fit this bill?

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?

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.

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.