rubinc in nyc!

Today was pretty crazy, since the kids were just as ready for the long weekend as the teachers. We had another fire drill (this one went better than the last - no one ended up in tears), and one class lost the Bill Nye video we were going to watch because they were getting light in the classroom, but for the next four glorious days I can sleep in past 6 am and not tell anyone to sit down or stop talking, hooray!

The weekend isn’t totally TFA-free, though. I am sort of bummed because I finished grading the Unit 3 tests and the average was only a 58%. The Unit 2 Average was a 68%, and I thought that I taught this unit better than the last so I was really looking forward to seeing higher scores. I have to figure out what happened there. I also have to grade their unit projects - the ones that I got, at least.

Anyways, as a happy ending for this entry, one of their questions on the Do Now today asked what they were doing for the long weekend. The best answer I got by far was, “do wat ever I want in my underwear.” Right on.

Okay, fire drills actually aren’t that exciting. We’ve had four of them since Friday, because apparently there’s some quota every school must meet by a certain day and we only started having them three days ago. But today one happened in the middle of our unit test on rocks and minerals, and it was a pretty spectacular disaster. Kids started literally screaming and running in circles, and before all was said and done I had two students in tears - one because he got kicked in the chest, another because he got perfume sprayed in his eye (and no, I have no idea why Marie thought it was necessary to spray perfume during a fire drill). Needless to say, we’re going to have a second attempt at the test tomorrow.

Also, I’ve gotten three new students in the past week. One transferred from another school, and two were just mainstreamed from self-contained special education classes. I know that it’s likely I’ll keep getting new students all year, but I still find it very annoying. Especially the ones that transfer in from special ed., since they don’t know what’s going on in class, are already self-conscious about where they came from, and often feel the only way to save face is to majorly flip out. I’ve been trying to catch them up one on one and get on their good sides, but it’s going to be an uphill battle…

I skipped grad school and stayed after school for several hours today working with kids on their projects, vocabulary logs, and studying for the test tomorrow. I am still amazed how some kids are totally paralyzed by working independently, and insist that they “can’t” do things unless you hold their hand the entire way. I need to work on finding a balance between giving them enough help that they get it done, but not so much help that they never learn to do things for themselves.

My favorite part of today was after school when two kids with a history of not turning assignments in made a pact that if either of them didn’t bring in the finished project tomorrow, the other one got to punch them in the face. Whatever works, I guess.

That’s how many kids I called on the bus ride back from Boston, to remind them that their Unit 3 Projects are due Tuesday and to study for the test. I left 21 messages and actually talked to 39 kids and/or their parents, and 10 of the numbers were disconnected. It took four hours and drained my entire cell phone battery.

They better frigging turn in those projects and do well on the test, or I will kill them.

I got straight on a bus to Boston after school yesterday, and straight off the bus into bed, so I apologize for the delayed update.

I’ve heard a lot from other TFAers about students giving up on themselves/their ability to do things, but for the first few months I was so overwhelmed with behavior management issues that I never really noticed my students who didn’t do anything - they don’t talk or get out of their seats, but they also don’t do classwork, homework, or pass tests. Another teacher at my school pretty aptly refers to them as the “invisible children.”

Our unit on rocks and minerals is wrapping up next week, and on Tuesday they have a mini-project due: to draw the stages of the rock cycle in the form of a comic strip (I got the idea from the charter school visit I went to last month). Since this is the first time I’ve assigned them a project, it requires no extra research on their part, and the assignment sheet gives them step-by-step instructions starting from dividing the paper into eighths down to what each of the seven steps I expect to see is. The only place where they have to think independently is coming up with their own title and plot - and even there I gave them several ideas they could use. I thought this would be the easiest project ever, since it’s pretty much done for them, but I’ve been surprised to discover that some of them are utterly incapable of starting it by themselves.

For instance,  Germaine is a pretty good kid. He’s in my CTT class, he sits in the back and usually doesn’t talk, and he got to go on the field trip last unit. He’s also a prototypical invisible child, who doesn’t do his work and fails quizzes and tests. So I wasn’t surprised to overhear him say to a friend in class yesterday that he wasn’t going to do the project. I kept him after class and asked him why, and his response was that he didn’t know how. I asked him if he’d like to stay with me during lunch for help, and he agreed to.

The first thing I did when I sat down with him was ask him to get out a piece of paper and divide it into eighths. He got out the paper, but then handed it to me and asked me to do it. I asked him why he couldn’t do it, he said “I can’t.” A very frustrating conversation followed:

Me: What do you mean, you can’t fold it?

Germaine: I can’t.

Me: You don’t know how to fold a paper in half?

Germaine: No, I can’t!

Me: Why don’t you watch me do one, and then you can copy.

Germaine: No, I can’t, just do it for me!

After at least five minutes of this, I finally got him to do his own alongside me as I did an example. The entire lunch period continued like this, even for steps as basic as “now outline the eight boxes you made” or “write your title on the paper.” It was truly amazing to me how hard it was to get him to even try to do it independently, and how sure he was that he couldn’t and I just needed to do it for him. I think he’s so used to not being able to do things, and teachers eventually just giving up and doing them for him, that he’s just given up on trying. It was really sad, especially because he’s not the only student like that, and even though we did the entire comic together by the end of the period I didn’t get the sense that he had any more faith in his ability to figure things out for himself. I guess it takes more than one lunch period to undo years of thinking a certain way.

On a more cheerful note, I had two kids call me while I was on the bus to ask questions about the project. I love it when kids call me for help, they’re always so weirded out by talking to their teacher on the phone that they are hilariously awkward. I have a list of kids who usually don’t turn things in, and on the busride back to NYC Sunday I’m going to call them all and make sure they’re working on their project. I can’t wait!

Today was day two of parent teacher conferences. It was a half day for the kids, and then the parents came in the afternoon (the thought being that parents who can’t come in the evening can still get a chance to meet their kid’s teachers). At first I was really excited when I found out about the half day, because Thursday afternoon is when I have my terror class for the never-ending double period from Hell. But this morning I arrived at school to find out that instead of only teaching the morning classes, or even teaching all the classes but for half as long, I would be teaching all my classes except for the first and last two periods - which were my planning periods. Sigh. At least there was a fire drill “first” period (my second period class). And the terror class actually went okay, thanks in large part to Ms. L giving up one of her preps to help out - even though within the first five minutes Yenesy told her to “shut the f*** up.” After Yenesy was removed from the class, I taught the rest of them this dorky rock cycle card game, and it was pretty cool to see some (though not all) of them get into it. I actually heard kids calling out things like, “you can’t play heat and pressure on sediment, it’s created by erosion!”

The conferences today weren’t quite as stressful as yesterday, since less parents came and therefore we could have longer, less rushed conversations. I have to say, it is extremely satisfying to see kids get an earful (or in some cases an ear grab) from their parents when they find out what they’ve been doing in class. I’ve added about 20 parent cell phone numbers to my cell phone contacts, and have now seen four of my kids cry.

I’ve started bring my camera to school for a cool teacher trick I recently learned. When a kid is doing something that is visibly ridiculous, such as rolling on the floor, dancing, standing on their desk, etc… (all of which I have kids do on an almost daily basis), I just calmly pull out my camera and take a picture. When they ask why, I say “Oh, I just think your parents would be interested to see what you choose to do in science class.” The first couple of times the kid in question FLIPPED OUT, but now all I have to do is reach for my camera and they instantly stop whatever they’re doing and sit down.

Anyways, while I can’t show you my hilarious collection of misbehaving student pictures, I can show you some of the other random pictures of my daily life I’ve been taking. For instance, my lovely cart:

This cart holds my entire teaching life. It’s parked in the seventh grade math room in this picture, but it goes with my to the five different rooms on two different floors that I teach in. One time the elevator broke, and I thought I would die. On the top is a bottle of vinegar and a piece of chalk in a beaker, for illustrating the reaction of some minerals (the chalk in calcite) to acid. The boxes on the bottom are full of rocks. My beautiful stoplight timer is on the middle shelf, objected by the day’s agenda.

Next is my Science Information Station, which did not get quite as time as my “Journey to the Center of the Earth” board the night before bulletin boards were due. The coming attractions are a little outdated, as our field trip is over, but the “Platinum Paychecks” get updated every Monday with the names of the kids who have the highest paychecks from the week before.

Next is my Science Word Hall. Pretty much every classroom ever has a Word Wall, with all the class vocabulary on it, but since I see all my classes in multiple rooms I got permission to take over part of the seventh grade hallway. I’m not sure if the kids appreciate my dorky teacher pun, but at least it gives them something educational to stare at while they stand (and run, and dance, and everything else) in the hallway.

And here’s a closeup of the section for our current unit. I recently discovered that I have access to a color printer in my school, so that has increased the quality of my illustrations considerably.

And that is what I do when I’m putting off grading.

Today was the first day of parent teacher conferences! They started at 5, so between the end of school and the start of the conferences there was a school potluck. It was really nice to spend time with the other teachers and school personnel outside of the context of meetings, and also to hear lots of good gossip about both teachers and students. I felt bad because all I had time to make was cookies from pre-made dough, but then some other teachers brought food from the KFC near the school so I felt better

The actual conferences went pretty well - there were no major meltdowns or confrontations. I met with 24 parents in two and a half hours, and it was surprisingly mentally draining. I felt like I kept having the same conversation over and over again, “I can tell X is very bright, but I’ve noticed that his/her behavior in class is affecting their work…Have you heard about our paycheck system? Let me explain…” That’s teacher talk for, “Your kid is a jerk, and needs to learn how to sit down and shut up.” One of my worst-behaved girls was in tears before she and her mom even got to me (from the teachers they had been to beforehand), and that was almost as satisfying.

Also, Dijoinnaise (of “it wasn’t me!” breakdancing fame) has been cracking me up lately. As poorly behaved as he is, he’s also hilarious. For instance, I kept him after class today to discuss his problem with staying in his seat. I proposed the tried-and-true TFA system of putting five tokens on his desk, and removing one (without saying anything) every time he gets up - that way he has a visible reminder of his five chances, and then if he loses all five tokens he has a detention. As I was walking out with him, he ran into one of his friends, who asked him what we had been talking about. Dijoinnaise launched into a dramatic narration of our new system, which started with an explanation of what we had actually talked about, but then built up to, “…and if I lose all five again, I don’t get gym. And if I lose them again, she’s calling home. And if it happens again, she’ll kick me out of school. And if I lose all five again, then she’ll call the police and I’ll go to jail!” I hadn’t actually threatened a single one of those things, but it’s good to have next steps.

…because today he paired it with giving me a big hug, right before running away from the line to do acrobatics. Sigh.

Tomorrow is day one of parent teacher conferences. I think I’m more nervous than the kids.

I didn’t post on Friday because I had a guest speaker and didn’t actually teach much - thanks, Mr. B! He might eventually write a guest blog post about his experience in my classroom, in case you’re dying to know exactly what happened on that particular day. I will say that the class that had seven parents come and sit in on it went extremely well, though - not a single paper ball!

Today was more of the same in terms of student behavior. I gave them samples of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks to examine, and of course - despite my very clear instructions not to - in three out of four classes, at least one kid threw a rock. I was going to do this cool lab with them tomorrow where you simulate the rock cycle with crayons (first you shave them into “sediments,” then smoosh the shavings together into “sedimentary rock,” then heat it and press it more into “metamorphic rock,” etc…), but I’ve decided to cancel that in favor of a “paper lab,” because clearly we are not yet at a place where we can handle real lab activities. Bummer.

There were a few funny things that happened today. One kid, Devon, who is pretty flamboyantly misbehaved (and yes, I use that adjective with purpose - he routinely breaks dress code to wear things like tight-fitting turquoise polo shirts with popped collars because they are “too fabulous” not to wear), was up to his usual antics during class. I gave him a teacher look and a firm, “Devon, you need to stop,” to which he responded with his most charming smile and an exuberant, “I love you!” Nice try.

Also, one kid saved up enough paycheck points to buy a positive phone call home, which was quite an accomplishment because she is extremely chatty. So I called her mom and started raving about her daughter, but her mom kept responding with, “What are you talking about, I know she talks too much in class!” I replied that she is a little chatty, but she’s obviously very bright and she probably talks because she’s not being challenged enough (which was a bit of a stretch, but not a complete fabrication), and her mom came back with, “That’s no excuse, she knows how to behave!” So I feel really bad, because I think my “positive phone call home” ended up getting her in trouble…oops.

More useless grad school tonight, and then Ms. L and I were at the TFA office until almost 10 pm lesson planning and making copies. Only seven more school days until Thanksgiving break…

I am getting increasingly frustrated with how much time I have to spend on behavior management as opposed to actual teaching. I spend hours planning lessons and preparing labs, and then we don’t get to do them because we spend the whole period trying to come up the stairs from lunch. I try to have differentiated, hands-on group activities, but the second I try to conference with one group, any student who is not in my direct line of vision gets up, starts throwing paper balls, smacking their neighbor with a ruler, or otherwise acting about ten years younger than their actual age. The thing that kills me is that when we actually get to have a “real” science class (like when we got to do our minerals lab yesterday because the administrators were in the room and the kids were behaving), they really enjoy it. But as soon as no one is breathing down their neck for them to act right, they go back to acting out - and then they complain when they don’t get to do a lab activity.

Starting tomorrow, one of my classes is on “lock down.” This particular class has had trouble with all the seventh grade teachers, even the veteran ones who know what they’re doing, and frequently wastes entire periods due to their inability to correctly walk in the halls. So they are no longer allowed to go down to the cafeteria for lunch and recess, instead they have to sit in their homeroom and have PBJs brought to them (for some reason the kids all hate PBJs, even though I think the hot school lunch is way grosser) while they spend the period making up all the work they’ve missed by losing class time. On the one hand, I’m excited that they are going to be dealt with by the whole seventh grade team, but on the other hand I’m worried that the pushback will be disastrous for the teachers who are already having trouble with them (me!).

Another one of my classes has been having a huge problem with throwing paper balls - all of my classes do it, but in this one class it’s like a constant, all out war. So tomorrow the AP has arranged for about half of their parents to come in and sit next to their kids in class, since, in his words, they “apparently need a babysitter.” Again, my excitement is mixed with trepidation - what if some of the parents are harder to manage than the kids?