So Much Hate (part 2)

He tells his parents he is getting bullied. I have yet to see anyone threaten or intentionally harm him. If anything, he is the one who does things that scare the other kids. I don't want to sound like I'm being one-sided, but everything I am saying is coming from what I have seen from him... EVERYDAY. But at the same time, I don't think he is simply telling blatant lies. He really does BELIEVE that people are out to get him. And that is what sucks. Big time.

I have a conference set up with his parents and the principal on Monday.

I am worried for this kid.

So Much Hate

I have a boy who thinks everyone hates him. A boy who thinks his parents hate him, I hate him, and his classmates hate him. A boy who will yell and burst into tears of frustration if anyone tries to point out the fact that he is not following directions.

He is EXPLOSIVE. The class walks on egg shells around him.

And here is my dilemma. Why should we have to do that? I have analyzed this situation many times hoping to find an explanation for his behavior. How convenient would that be if I could link his behavior to turmoil at home... but that is not the case. Here is what I know: His parents don't hate him, I don't hate him, and his classmates don't hate him. There is something within this kid that is raging, and I don't know why.

But there are 27 other kids in the class. Kids who are going through their own battles. And they are still genuinely trying to help him. I am trying to help him. But he doesn't see it as help. He sees it as an attack. And he attacks back.

I will keep trying to help you. I promise I won't give up on you. But I will not sweep 27 kids under the rug, for you.

Week 8 Reflections - Teaching as Evolution & Inspiration

Teaching is inspiring me.

I came into teaching after college as one of those "I'll teach in an urban area for two years, then migrate elsewhere." Yet, it is now year four and while I've seen many of my OTF cohort move onto new fields, I'm still here and I see myself staying put.

Only an hour ago, I was in a staff meeting. The principal presented recognition to our freshmen house and shared the new resources we're receiving because of the work we've done. I heard of schools across the nation looking to replicate a form of our model to better serve their student populations. The principal tells us we are the drivers of this school, we are the leaders in the culture change. I see it happening before my eyes.

In my first two years, staff meetings were not nearly the same. There was no direction nor purpose to what we did. There was virtually no positivity and way too much gritching (grief + bitching). A sliding door of principals and assistant principals led teachers to create their own solutions. What we see now is a blend of those teacher-driven projects with an administrative team whose finally got vision. It's refreshing and validating.

As I said in previous posts, there's something special in the air. I realize the benefit of teaching in an environment already well-established and conducive to student learning and teacher sanity, but undergoing and contributing to the process of the creation itself is something inspiring. My high school is still an ongoing project, but it's on the rise. I can sign off as witness to it's evolution and as a piece of it's legacy.

I realize the rainbows and butterflies and cliches I've presented in this post, but whatever - I've allowed this blog to be my go to spot for teaching thoughts and this is what I've got now. Holla.

Post-Quiz Noise Stopper & Mind Occupier

You give a rigorous quiz. To begin, everyone is working diligently. But people work at their own pace. Soon, the quick test-takers will finish, raise their hands and submit their finished product. You walk over. Collect. Then, a few more. Then, more. Suddenly, more than half the class is finished w/ nothing to do. The rest are still working hard and are normally the type who NEED the extra silent time to finish. Some finished students are getting impatient. Human nature pushes them to start actin' a fool.

How do I stop it? A post-quiz riddle. Hand in the quiz, I hand you a mind twister. Kids read, then proceed to sit dumbfounded (and silent). They've got something to chew on while the rest of the kids test-take. Periods later in the day, a few students STILL have their mini sheets trying to decipher the answer. I pass them to other teachers I catch in the copy room and we've got a topic to discuss for the rest of the day.

Answers aren't revealed til next week, on the next post-quiz riddle:The buy-in is zero in-class time but the pay out is immense and hella fun.

Week 5 Timeline

I'm considering updating supteach with posts similar to those I did on my first teacher blog. The reflections are therapeutic, as is the feedback. They keep me centered and remind me of why I'm here, especially on weeks when I'm dragging my heels.

So, here goes:

Weeks 1 through 4 were honeymoonish. I still smell "special" in the air now that I'm in week 5. The students have entered their "let's see what I can get away with" phase and this is manifested so clearly in other classes. Nightmare stories are being exchanged about how student A did so-and-so to student B. Or how student C said this and that when all I was trying to do was teach!

Students A, B, and C through even Z have thus far been fine in my classes. I'm happy. But, we're walking through a new zone of the school year where math deficiencies become relevant. I start to see students who, in their first year of high school, still have difficulty following the order of operations. I have students who still use fingers to add.

I gave my first progress reports today. No doubt, I had several kids angry and wondering what they could do to raise their grades. It's no longer about school, learning, and getting to know each other. Grades have come in the picture. When that happens, the ball game changes. After explaining to them how to read my progress reports, I had to show them a happy video. Perfect timing, I'd say. I needed to make sure all kids were still capable of smiling.

Anyway, I'm beginning to feel the monotony that is learning math "the traditional way." Teach something, practice something, review something, quiz. I mix in the fun stuff on a daily basis, sure. But I must begin contemplating more groupwork, more projects, and more real-world application so that this algebra and geometry is not so abstract. Any ideas, teacher friends? HELP ME!

Also, back-to-school night happened last night. It's become an experience that's transformed form something queasy to something enjoyable. I called all my advisees' parents during the day. I'm proud to say I spoke to several in Spanish... which reminds me of a story I must share at a later time. I love meeting parents. I love meeting siblings. I love shaking their hands and I love learning of my students' home lives.

There's so many stories to be told. Week 5. Marking period 6 coming to a close next week. Onward we go.

Make It Meaningful

I'm in my fifth year of running an outreach program at at California Community College and something that still continues to get me is when I let Student Ambassadors know they're hired. Their passion and excitement to work to help fellow and potential students truly inspires me to make their experience meaningful. We're not going to be young forever. Folks like my Student Ambassadors are the future of education.

Staff Morale.

Needless to say, things at school can get, well, er, rough. After a particularly bad end to week three, I took a day off to catch up. The resulting grading day finally gave me a chance to read my World History Assignment #1: The History of Your Life in a Paragraph. Here is the email that I wrote to the staff.

good people,

just felt compelled to report:

one of the first assignments in world history was to attempt to write your entire life story in a paragraph, as a challenge to understand how telling the history of the world can be at times be a silly and impossible task.

reading and responding to the paragraphs now (finally) has opened up my eyes, once again, to the incredible stories that our youth have to tell, stories that can only come from their voices in this specific time and place. It is both fortunate and intimidating that our task is to guide these young folks to the portals of their own minds and hearts.

so as school gets tougher, and we sweat and struggle and curse in between what can feel like breathless days, remember that it is OUR students who write something like this:

"Born from a small town in Mexico, and immigrating to the United States--California, to be exact--was not easy. Adapting to the laws, languages, and people was not a piece of cake. I'm the middle child of 3 girls, the daughter to a very strong woman, and a man that I would rather not speak of. There is a fatherly figure in my life though, like say they in Spanish, "mas padre el que cria, que el que hace." That means a father is not who makes the baby, but rather who takes care and supports it. I would describe my life in three words: Determined, Hurtful, and Love. Determined because I strive to break barriers that statistics have put me in. Hurtful because I've had many people taken away form me, and also people walk away. Lastly love: why love? Love is what keeps me going. The love my family and friends provide me with is enough to make the hurtful go weak the determination grow stronger."

Keep it with you.

peace&love always

A

As teachers, WE GOTTA LOVE AND SUPPORT AND INSPIRE EACH OTHER. It's the only thing that'll keep us alive.