the lull before christmas break

i feel like both mine and my students' motivation is sinking. it's that time of year again!!

before thanksgiving the classes were getting out of control so i kicked off this week with a return to rules. good strategy. i called 3 parents today alone and got one student suspended. maybe things will get better...

i really really miss last year's students. but i'm starting to like this year's kids more, too. not all of them, but a few of them are growing on me.

bad habit of the month: i am coming into school with no lesson plans and just a general idea of where i'm going. i make up my lessons in between periods, or take 10 minutes during my preps. but i'm encouraged to keep doing this because it's working.

like today, in 15 minutes i came up with a full lesson that divided my room into 4 stations, with activities and a competition where each team got 10 minutes per station to complete the tasks then had to rotate. then they got 5 minutes to fix up their work and hand in a portfolio for immediate grading and a reward for the top team. i got lucky and found 2 activities online immediately, and then made up 2 of my own. and it went over amazingly! the kids loved it soooo much, i'm totally repeating this lesson for all my other classes.

shit like this tempts me to come in empty handed again.

proficient

pretty decent.

eight students were asked to go speak to the reviewer regarding the school environment, academics, etc. one student came to tell me she talked about how great i was. i thanked her for the flattery.

then in the presence of some school staff but no other teachers, my principal said that while she would never say this in front of the teaching staff, it was clear when discussing the teachers that the students overwhelmingly favored my class.

pretty awesome although i sometimes question my principal's motives and wonder if she's being 100% truthful. either way, it's a pretty effective strategy to help teacher feel confident in their practice.

oh also i found out the final regent's passing rate for last year including summer school: 78%. kind of overwhelming because i think it will be highly impossible for me to attain that again this year.

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note to self: i know that right now, i can't make my lessons interesting to the students every day. sometimes i even go day after day of difficult skills and practice. i found that right now, for me, the best way to engage the students is to alternate fun topics and projects with rigorous skill development. maybe one day i'll be masterful enough to teach every topic in an interesting, innovative manner. but for now, i'll stick with infusing the curriculum with chart paper, markers, projects, and games every 2-3 weeks. i stick out the tough stuff as much as possible, and push them to their limits of pure mathematical skill. then we take a breather and enjoy an easy, project based unit.

i know some teachers teach everything inquiry and project based but i haven't gotten to that point. in some ways what i do is a cop out, but OTOH it works for my students and i think the change of pace every few weeks invigorates them.

i'm interested in what my take on this method of teaching will be a few years down the line.

quality review

the inquiry meeting wasn't bad. i hope we got a proficient, but either way i found it to be a nice experience to talk with someone from the doe and get a feel for what kind of questions they ask, as well as what direction they want the school to go in. the woman gave us a lot of advice in terms of one issue we were having with part of the inquiry process.

so they were only able to visit two classrooms today out of 12. of course my principal brought them to mine. i know i should be proud, but it's so stressful!! my principal caught wind that the students were presenting projects they worked on and i guess she wanted to show them off. my kids actually did extraordinary well, except for the one group that burst out laughing in the middle and cursed each other :)

they're gonna be back again tomorrow. not sure exactly why they need two days, but i should be in the clear. i've already been observed by them and met with them about inquiry and about general school environment questions.

now i have to prepare for my observation on thursday. my professor is observing me in my CTT class, as usual. and i'm going to be out the day before so i might walk into pure chaos.

quality review

the quality review team is coming to my school in just a few short hours. as one of the inquiry team coordinators, i'm going to have to meet with them. i've been told just to listen to the other members BS and jump in when i feel comfortable. ugh, so not me.

i'm also giving the final assessment of the team based unit to the CTT class tomorrow. trying to get them above a 48% pass rate. i already have one special ed kid move to the passing side since this unit started. i have a few more who are getting much higher grades, but their homework is still holding them back. i have to figure out an action plan to get more work out of them or they still won't pass since they're test grades are borderline as it is.

score

i met with my principal this past week and scored 2 more per session hours a month (and a new responsibility-- i now have someone reporting to me!) so now i'm up to 14 steady hours, plus whatever random jobs i pick up.

such a headache

there is so much drama in my school and i just feel drained.

i'm trying to figure out whether last year there was drama and i was just oblivious to it, or this year there happens to be a lot more issues, or if it's a little of both.

i am not taking sides and i try not to get involved in any of the nonsense but it's still hard to constantly listen to what everyone is saying about each other. and, at the same time, wondering if they're talking about me, too.

i seriously hear complaints and gossip about people at my school on a daily basis. what really got me was yesterday, the assistant principal took me aside with the dean had the audacity to complain about a who i thought was a highly respected teacher, and then accused her of a conspiracy theory. who am *i* to be privy to this information? why do i even have to hear it? sometimes i wish i was still a clueless first year.

i know that the administration likes and respects me (for now) and i've been giving an increasing number of responsibilities (and per session money-- yay.) but with this responsibility has come the enormous burden of hearing all the bullshit that goes on in my school and it's wearing on me.

80%-- not really happening

one of my goals was for 80% of my kids to pass the Regent's this year. while i can already see that i have a higher percentage of high performing kids this year who i know will pass the Regent's with no problem, i have a much higher percent of special ed kids and no shows. and also kids that just can't do anything. literally.

some of the sped kids will pass. i'm working with them. but there are just a ton that don't have a shot in hell. i think if even the borderline kids pass, at most i will get a 75% pass rate. and i'm thinking it will be closer to 70%. it's a shame to fall so short of my goal, but there are some things i can't control, like the crack baby (teenager) who comes to school, fights, and then gets suspended or walks out every day, or the split personality boy who attempted to rape another student outside school and is on suspension indefinitely. then there's a girl who has potential; she shows some skills in math. but she is severely emotionally disturbed and acts as if the classroom is a jungle. her IEP calls for a para, but we still didn't get one for her yet. so she runs around the class like a chicken with no head while we're waiting for proper educational support services.

and there are more, so many more. i can only do so much. last year my students were overall at a lower level than this year, but at least they were almost all "workable." so we'll see what this year brings, but a lofty goal by august would probably look more like 75% passing.