Topic: Daily teaching reflection

Reflection continues to be important to me, as each day
brings new knowledge about my students, my subjects, and my profession.  D….. proved to be my most challenging
student today.  She made me frustrated
when she got up at the start of our literacy lesson, and despite her small
figure and quiet voice, she fired off cannons, “I don’t care, this is
stupid.”  She walks away with a shrug,
completely defiant.  Psychologically,
she appears as though she expects me to scream at her.  After making comments, she will look my
way.  She has even criticized me openly
for being, “too nice.”  But, this is a
girl who won’t be controlled by me. 
Still, this girl is a child, and she cried in class when I called home
one time.  Her mom beats her when she
misbehaves, and after sending home a note on Monday, she commented, “my mom
didn’t hit me last night.” 

A blog linked from EdWize spoke about the uncivility of
working in schools.  My two female
students define uncivility at times. 
They walk out of the room when they want, they speak in a loud and
threatening tone for the smallest of things, they create activities for
themselves that are unrelated to what is being taught and are sometimes
inappropriate.  They decide when they’re
going to the library, when it’s time to paint, when it’s time to move books.

I’m aware that part of the problem is these students have
been in school for the last 5 years, and I’m back in it for the first time in a
while.  I can’t meet all their needs,
and expectations for how they’re used to their classroom. 

What I think I realized today is that I need to become more
in charge, while also balancing the fact that my students won’t always do as I
say.  On the side of control, I need to
set my expectations and reward students who go along with them.  Students who are on task, kind, focused, and
making an effort will all be rewarded. 
Students who are not, I am communicating that message to home, and at
the end of the day reflecting on why the student is acting as they are.  What do they need to learn socially, and how
can they best learn that? 

Despite my idealism coming into teaching, the one thing I’ve
learned is that like most things in life, experience matters.  I don’t yet have a bag of tricks for the
different students in my classroom, and I’m trying to absorb all the ideas
coming my way from other teachers.  My
librarian suggested giving them choice, since pre-teens don’t like to always be
told what to do.  So maybe letting them
choose when to do literacy and when to do math.  Psychologically, this might help them participate rather than
rebel.  I’ve begun starting the day with
a game of hangman, and beginning the last hour of the day after lunch with a
game of word bingo, to give the students the “fun,” that they and all people
really crave.

I’ve become so focused on getting through the literacy
and math, that I’ve forgotten my true values of education.  I want my students to enjoy coming to
school, and to teach things in fun and creative ways, while promoting positive
social behaviors.  Now…on to the hard
part of putting this into action.

Topic: Edwize.com

Hey, I hope I have some new readers who saw my post over on edwize.com  Glad to have you!  I haven’t been blogging too consistantly, although I’ve been keeping a daily journal of my teaching experiences.  It’s late now, and my eyes are burning, but I want to make a quick post before going to bed.

Yesterday, I wanted to quit.  My idealism was shattered, for a day at least.  My 5-students made me lose my cool, and since I’m not a yeller, it meant a lot of hopeless please for my students to stay in the room, stay in their seats, and keep their mouths closed.  I didn’t even want to wake up this morning, I was not prepared for another beating.  But, kids will be kids, and this morning started fresh, with bright, smiley, faces running to say good morning and give me a hug.

Today went smoother, in part because I introduced a “student of the day” reward system as an external motivator for behavior and focus, but also because it was Tues, and perhaps my students were wild on Monday simply because it was Monday.  Also, throw in the fact that I’m starting a new class in February, and most classes spend almost 2 months just trying to get students to become familiar with the routines of the classroom.

I fully appreciate the many challenges of this job, and how those challenges only distract from our students learning.  In a calm environment, children can thrive, but that’s not what I’m dealing with.  I have students who want to “duff” (punch) each other over a game of Connect 4, or simply brushing into someone by mistake.  It’s like a class of pit-bulls sometimes, and you can see the little ones trying to imitate the big dogs.  You could laugh at the randomness of these fights, except for the fact that my students can’t read even these words that I’m writing!

But…tom is another day.  It can be easy or hard, but I will learn something and surely so will my kids.

If you build
it…they will learn 

Educational change begins with
teachers and curriculum.  Teachers can
best inspire and manage their students through curriculum designed around real
issues that affect our students.  Our
philosophies and attitudes towards our profession and our students spell our
success and failure.  This is what a
movie like Freedom Writers is all about. 
It’s not about a teacher losing her marriage and her life in order to
help kids, nor is it meant to give a false sense of what a school really looks
like.  It’s about a philosophy of
education that says all students deserve to be treated with respect, and a
curriculum that validates our students’ experiences, and challenges them to do
something with them.

Freedom Writers is based on a true
story.  The main teacher, Erin Gruwell,
discovers a racist note being passed around her classroom, and compares the
event to Nazi propaganda.  When she
discovers her students are ignorant of the Holocaust, she sees the need to make
tolerance the focus of her curriculum. 
Through literature such as The Diary of Anne Frank and Zlata’s Diary,
combined with journaling, and discussion, Gruwell did something that wasn’t
heroic.  She merely taught, and the
content naturally inspired her students to change.  In my own school, the mere act of bringing in a copy of The
Freedom Writer’s Diary transformed certain challenging and apathetic students
into passionate readers. 

            Critics
complain that such inspiring stories are not real, and cannot be
replicated.  Nevermind the fact that
they are based on true success stories, and how the book The Freedom Writers
Diary makes wonderful classroom curriculum. 
Tom Moore, in his Jan 19^th NYT op-ed piece, focused his ire on
the idea that the underlying cause of movie miracles comes from the personal
sacrifice of a teacher.  He says these
movies create unrealistic expectations on teachers, who cannot succeed without
“better and safer workplaces.”  On February
5, a teacher on the education blog EdWize, described the movie Freedom Writers
as propaganda for its message that a maverick teacher could inspire her
students.  “Starting out as a teacher, I
was well aware of a system fraught with problems so deep that one person could
not change it. I did not see myself as the person who comes into a classroom
and stands and delivers.”  

Although the hesitations of these
critics are not unfounded, their skepticism is one of the main points this
movie seeks to address.   Idealist
teachers abound, and their success in transforming classrooms and helping their
students comes not only in the face of everyday school challenges, but despite
these critics reminding them who they are not supposed to be.   “You’re a first-time teacher, you can’t
make someone want an education.”  This
is the negative support Gruwell receives from her supervisors, and resembles
the critics who saw Freedom Writers not as a model for what is possible, but as
treatise on what cannot be.

Our profession may be complex in
many ways, but stories of classroom success reveal simple truths about
teaching.  Films such as Freedom Writers
allow us to reflect on our own craft, and to think how each one of us, despite
the odds, can transform our classrooms into energetic learning communities.  While critics may see only propaganda, self-destruction,
and fiction, the change agent sees the creativity and ideas that can
potentially shift the classroom culture that is long overdue for change.

…………..please share your comments.  Thank you!

Helping Hands

            I’m not
good at organizing.  My suitcase is
still un-unpacked from a trip this summer, and I have papers and other
belongings scattered around my bedroom. 
My classroom doesn’t look much different.  Debbie, my 6^th grade ELA compadre, helped me daily to
organize my desk area.  She got me
folders, cabinets, boxes, and an extra bookcase for my belongings.  Still, she sounded like my mother,
threatening to throw things out by weeks end.

            My new
classroom, room 209, is in a similar state of disaster.  There are three tables littered with books,
the locker area is full of boxes, the shelves in front of the bulletin board
covered in old reference material. 
There’s enough books in the room to last a lifetime, but with no order
to them, I really haven’t a clue where to begin.

            That’s
where the trusty students come in. 
Starting with two of my new students, Dominsha and Ryann, and moving
onto my 6^th grade allies, Kathy, Jalice, and Nancy, these ladies
began boxing and moving, clearing things out so by days end the room has
actually begun to resemble a classroom. 
My 6^th graders really made me feel special.  Kathy comes rolling out with, “Mr. L, we got
you covered.  This place will look like
a classroom by the time we’re done with it. 
That’s a promise, and I don’t break promises.”  They set out baskets with labels for books, wrote out a welcome
sign for the front door, and wrote out the headings for my “Wall of questions.” 

            The
experience made me feel respected.  I’ve
been in the weird position of being in complete charge of a space, and
responsible for directing people to make it come alive.  I’ve mostly allowed others to take charge,
standing back and struggling to find my own vision for the place, but
interjecting when I see something I like. 

            It’s been a
strange experience being separated from the 6^th grade, but I feel
like I’ve earned a new status.  One
student pointed out, “Mr. L, you’re finally a teacher, like you always wanted
to be.”  I never in my life have said to
myself, “I want to be a teacher,” but I’m now starting to really embrace that
identity.  As I walked by Earic, a touch
of sadness came over me, and I challenged him to a quick game of chess.  Walking back into room 217, I felt at
home.  While Debbie tried to settle the
class down, I was simply enjoying the afternoon playing chess with one of my
closest students.

            A lot of
people have confidence in me, and are actually excited for me to have my own
room.  My graduate professor last night
emphasized the importance of relationships, and that’s something I have made
central to being in my school.  I’m even
trying to pop my head into the older classes, just to observe and to gain a
feeling that I can lend a hand in some way to every child in the building.  All of this is making me feel like one day I
may want to run my own school!

            And
I’m learning so much personally.  I’ve
just begun a book of Malcolm X by Walter Dean Myers, in an effort to celebrate
Black History Month, and to educate myself about history and important figures
in the civil rights struggle.  I’ve
begun engaging people in interesting conversations about race and social
class.  For example, I have only
recently become exposed directly to the low-income welfare mentality, as
exemplified by a student commenting, “I don’t need school, I’ll be getting my
welfare check either way,” and another student who, back from suspension, is
only staying in school till tax season so he can help his mom earn a tax
credit.  Then there was the comment by
Presidential candidate Joe Biden, commenting on black candidate Barak Obama as
“the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean
and a nice-looking guy.”  I guess we all
have our stereotypes…