How much I hate packing?
I have? Oh. Never mind then.
Tuesday, May 27
Sunday, May 25
Wild Things
Monday morning I arrived at school anticipating a very boring last week of school as the seniors were already done and half of the freshmen class was going on a class trip to Valley Fair in Minnesota. I had decided not to chaperon the trip because so many freshmen weren't allowed to go because of failing grades, I thought I should stay back to work with them. At about 8:45 however, the teacher coordinating the trip told me that 4 parent chaperons had bailed at the last minute and they needed another female chaperon. So I ran home, packed a bag and boarded a yellow school bus filled with 9th graders!
10 looooong hours later we arrived in Shakopee, Minnesota. That night we went out to eat at Applebee's. The next morning we went to Valley Fair, rode the rides, bought ridiculous overpriced souvenirs, ate greasy food, and won a few giant stuffed animals. That night the kids hung out in the hotel pool and then went to Arby's and a movie. I toook the evening off to meet up with Chelsea, Alexis and Sarah who were nice enough to drive out to Shakopee to see me and provide some relieve from 15 year olds :-P
Wednesday morning we packed up and headed out early for another 10 hours on the bus. I got home about 7pm. Whew.
I'm glad I went. It was super fun to hang out with my students outside of school. Sitting at a table with 8 of my freshmen girls in Applebee's was way more fun than I could have guessed. They were all just happy normal giggly funny teenagers. It was fun to laugh and giggle with them. And fun to let them "drag" me onto all the big rides at Valley Fair (as if I didn't want to go on them all every bit as much as they did!), and to scream and laugh right along with them. I wish they could be happy normal teenagers all the time and not have to come back here to all the hard things that make them so angry, defiant, and apathetic in my classroom. Being at Valley Fair, the amusement park I went to every summer from 3rd-12th grade, I couldn't help but think about my high school days and how much fun I had and how many privileges I had that I didn't even think about at the time. I wish all my students had that.
They deserve happy lives and lots of privileges to take for granted every bit as much as I or anyone else ever did. And even though it broke my Minnesota heart a little bit to drive all that way and see nothing outside of Shakopee (not even the skyline!), the kids had a blast and that's what's important.
Thursday we came back for the last day of school. Not many kids were there. I don't think I really even said good bye to anyone. It was kind of weird and anti-climactic. Friday staff had a check out day and that was that. My classroom is all packed up and stacked up and locked up. When I come back in August it will be all cleaned out and ready for fresh crop of brand new 9th graders. 9th graders I don't even know yet who are going to be my future students! eep!
and now... Summer time here I come!
Monday, May 12
Tagged
I've been tagged. This is a bit chain letterish for me, but I feel like I need to prove to Shannon that I'm not some kind of exclusive or elitist save-the-world kind of blogger (at least not ALL the time).
So, here are some facts about me you may not know:
So, here are some facts about me you may not know:
- The only bugs that really scare me are moths, I think they're creepy.
- I've made four quilts (with some help from my mother).
- I took printmaking and bookmaking classes in college and some of my prints are hanging in our living room.
- My Fulbright research proposal (something of an add on to the TA assignment) was about the German Fascination with Native Americans. I also wrote a research paper on that topic in college- in German.
- My youngest brother was named after my elementary school bus driver.
- The only books I've re-read multiple times is the Anne of Green Gables series.
- I'm not really a movie person.
- I continued to go to Catholic mass after leaving home in college, in Germany, and at Georgetown in DC, but the Catholic church here completely turns me off to organized religion. I don't like missionaries and evangelism.
- I was a synchronized swimmer for 10 years and hope to be again someday.
- Senior year of high school I filled out an online application to join the Cirque Du Soleil "O" show as a synchro swimmer. Unfortunately you have to be nationally ranked to get in.
- I did the lighting for several musicals in high school.
- I went to Catholic school for K-6, but only ever had one nun as a teacher.
- I was a terrible student up until 9th grade. Teachers had to call home all the time because I never turned in homework.
- I've moved every year for the past three and it seems weird to me that I'm going to be staying in the same place next year.
- I hate politics, but I'd love to work on the Hill at some point.
- I collected Precious Moments as a child.
- I also collected tiny animal figurines and pigs.
- When I moved my South Dakota my grandparents somehow got the idea in their heads that I was going to be a German speaking tour guide at Mount Rushmore. Looking back, maybe I would have been better at that??
Monday, April 28
So close...
...and yet so far. For pretty much my entire life this time of year has been a time of counting down the days until summer, or graduation, or leaving Germany, or moving to South Dakota. And now I find myself counting down again to the end of the school year. As per usual I feel like there is far too much to do and fit into the last weeks of school, and at the same time absolutely cannot wait for it to be over.
Today I actually felt like I have taught my students to be better readers for possibly the first time this semester. All my classes are loving "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" and having a text that they are so engaged in makes all the difference. Even though we're still covering the same literary elements we did while reading "The Most Dangerous Game" and other texts, they seem to suddenly be actually getting it. Maybe it's the repetition, but I really think a big part of it is that with this book I actually have their attention! Finally they seem to getting how characterization works and they're able to point out examples and write and talk about it! And they're so good at finding similes and metaphors and explaining what they mean! They can even apply those skills to reading their own book independently! Amazing! It's like I'm really teaching something! remarkable.
After that teacher high in my morning classes the rest of the day was a pretty horrible let down. The entire school, k-12 participated in a completely unorganized and last minute "community clean-up" all afternoon. Which basically meant hundreds of children and teens were set loose on the town with very little reason or motivation to do any cleaning or stay together or anything else. On the plus side, it was a lovely day out and at least some trash got picked up, so who am I to complain?
Today I actually felt like I have taught my students to be better readers for possibly the first time this semester. All my classes are loving "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" and having a text that they are so engaged in makes all the difference. Even though we're still covering the same literary elements we did while reading "The Most Dangerous Game" and other texts, they seem to suddenly be actually getting it. Maybe it's the repetition, but I really think a big part of it is that with this book I actually have their attention! Finally they seem to getting how characterization works and they're able to point out examples and write and talk about it! And they're so good at finding similes and metaphors and explaining what they mean! They can even apply those skills to reading their own book independently! Amazing! It's like I'm really teaching something! remarkable.
After that teacher high in my morning classes the rest of the day was a pretty horrible let down. The entire school, k-12 participated in a completely unorganized and last minute "community clean-up" all afternoon. Which basically meant hundreds of children and teens were set loose on the town with very little reason or motivation to do any cleaning or stay together or anything else. On the plus side, it was a lovely day out and at least some trash got picked up, so who am I to complain?
Monday, April 21
Relentless Pursuit
I keep thinking to myself that I should write more book reviews in here, and then never getting around to it. But this a book I feel I have a somewhat unique perspective on. Plus it just came out last week, so I can be an early reviewer :)
The book, Relentless Pursuit: A Year in the Trenches with Teach For America, is by journalist Donna Foote who followed four 2005 corps members in one high school in L.A. for one academic year. I pre-ordered the book right after reading Mr. AB's glowing review. My roommate thought I was crazy for wanting to spend free time reading more about TFA and teaching, but I was sucked in immediately and in the end it made me feel more connected to the organization and the mission, and less alone in how I'm feeling completing my first year of teaching for America. Locke High School and LA are about as different as can be from from St. Francis Indian School and the reservation, but they're also remarkably the same. I feel the same frustrations and see the same dysfunctions at my school as the four corps members in the book do.
It's good to know that other first years are hitting the same highs and the same horrible lows in their classrooms and in their lives. It's good to know that other teachers feel so extremely isolated, even in a huge urban center. Other teachers come into a class with no curriculum and no support from administrators. At one point one of the corps members says she could be playing paddy cake in her classes and no one would know. That's what I've been saying all year!!! Only I usually substitute underwater basket weaving or German for paddy cake....
The sections about the Program Director and his struggle to support corps members also hit home. PD's have a tough job. It was nice to know that other corps members out there struggle with the limited support TFA offers which sometimes just feels like an extra burden.
There are lengthy sections of the book about Wendy Kopp and the history of Teach For America as an organization. I'm personally fascinated with the organization and it's success, so I enjoyed those sections. I could imagine readers who were more interested in the teachers being bored by them, however. I knew that TFA is data driven and tracks everything, but reading a little of the behind the scenes drove home the extent to which data and tracking dictate everything.
At the end of the book there seems to be little hope left for the future of the school. The TFA alum who had come on as an idealistic administrator quits to become principal of a charter school. Locke High School's test scores remain awful and violence is on an upswing. The book does not paint a hopeful picture of failing schools. But for anyone out there who thinks there is any kind of quick fix for schools- read this book! I'm going to make my mom read it because she's a professor of project management and I feel like I can never fully explain to her why my school can't just be better managed. This book is the answer, the problems are so complex and pervasive it seems nearly impossible to pull a school out of the spiral of failure.
I almost wish that the book could have included corps members in other regions, especially rural regions, but by following only one school Foote is able to narrow in on the outside factors affecting the city, neighborhood and particular school which are indicative of the factors affecting all high needs districts, urban and rural.
In case you're interested, here are a few differences between TFA LA and TFA SD:
I can't go out to happy hour when I've had a rough day or week.
Going "out" one weeknights is a no-go, but themed house parties are far more plentiful.
Two other corps members work at my school, instead of 22. And 0 alums.
None of my classed are overcrowded.
My school is small, I am the only freshman English teacher, I don't have other teachers to collaborate with or literacy coaches to guide me.
I can't go home to my posh apartment on the nice side of town, I live in a FEMA trailer about 100 yards from school.
I can't unwind by driving to the beach and apparently winter here lasts until mid-April.
My students are all the same race- 99% Native.
Less violence- a few fights, but no guns or shootings and I almost never feel unsafe at school.
The only other people my age in a very large radius are also teachers, predominantly TFA.
I know every current South Dakota corps member (40-ish) and PD (only 1!)
TFA doesn't organize "excellent school visits" for us, I suppose because the nearest excellent school is 300 some miles away.
I tried to list similarities, but they are too numerous. Poverty in America is the same everywhere. Gangs, violence, drugs, broken families, anger, hostility, and hopelessness abound. Trapped in the ghetto or trapped on the rez, it's the same cycle of poverty and oppression and the same struggling schools unable to serve the population that needs an excellent education the most. **One similarity I nearly forgot to mention because to me it goes without saying, is the potential of the students. Black, Latino, or Native; inner city or reservation; they are all just as talented and capable as their wealthier peers when given the opportunity to learn, and there is no doubt that they deserve that opportunity.
I thought that reforming an inner city school would be more possible. After all, it seems like it would be easier to get awesome administrators and teachers to live and work in LA than it would be to get them to move out here, but as it turns out it's not. One thing Locke High School does get, however, is a whole lot more media attention and general awareness of it's existence. Multiple celebrities and high up school officials and politicians visit Locke, and now someone's written a book about it. In the end that may be what will turn urban schools around, enough attention will eventually draw charter schools and education reformers to make radical changes or provide alternative schools in the area.
But what will happen here? Does anyone even know that there is a small failing high school out here? Does anyone care? Who will ever swoop in to save it?
But I digress. A lot. Relentless Pursuit is excellent journalism and as far as my experience goes, portrays 'the good, the bad, and the ugly' (as the principal in the book says) of TFA with great depth and objectivity. Read the book.
The book, Relentless Pursuit: A Year in the Trenches with Teach For America, is by journalist Donna Foote who followed four 2005 corps members in one high school in L.A. for one academic year. I pre-ordered the book right after reading Mr. AB's glowing review. My roommate thought I was crazy for wanting to spend free time reading more about TFA and teaching, but I was sucked in immediately and in the end it made me feel more connected to the organization and the mission, and less alone in how I'm feeling completing my first year of teaching for America. Locke High School and LA are about as different as can be from from St. Francis Indian School and the reservation, but they're also remarkably the same. I feel the same frustrations and see the same dysfunctions at my school as the four corps members in the book do.
It's good to know that other first years are hitting the same highs and the same horrible lows in their classrooms and in their lives. It's good to know that other teachers feel so extremely isolated, even in a huge urban center. Other teachers come into a class with no curriculum and no support from administrators. At one point one of the corps members says she could be playing paddy cake in her classes and no one would know. That's what I've been saying all year!!! Only I usually substitute underwater basket weaving or German for paddy cake....
The sections about the Program Director and his struggle to support corps members also hit home. PD's have a tough job. It was nice to know that other corps members out there struggle with the limited support TFA offers which sometimes just feels like an extra burden.
There are lengthy sections of the book about Wendy Kopp and the history of Teach For America as an organization. I'm personally fascinated with the organization and it's success, so I enjoyed those sections. I could imagine readers who were more interested in the teachers being bored by them, however. I knew that TFA is data driven and tracks everything, but reading a little of the behind the scenes drove home the extent to which data and tracking dictate everything.
At the end of the book there seems to be little hope left for the future of the school. The TFA alum who had come on as an idealistic administrator quits to become principal of a charter school. Locke High School's test scores remain awful and violence is on an upswing. The book does not paint a hopeful picture of failing schools. But for anyone out there who thinks there is any kind of quick fix for schools- read this book! I'm going to make my mom read it because she's a professor of project management and I feel like I can never fully explain to her why my school can't just be better managed. This book is the answer, the problems are so complex and pervasive it seems nearly impossible to pull a school out of the spiral of failure.
I almost wish that the book could have included corps members in other regions, especially rural regions, but by following only one school Foote is able to narrow in on the outside factors affecting the city, neighborhood and particular school which are indicative of the factors affecting all high needs districts, urban and rural.
In case you're interested, here are a few differences between TFA LA and TFA SD:
I can't go out to happy hour when I've had a rough day or week.
Going "out" one weeknights is a no-go, but themed house parties are far more plentiful.
Two other corps members work at my school, instead of 22. And 0 alums.
None of my classed are overcrowded.
My school is small, I am the only freshman English teacher, I don't have other teachers to collaborate with or literacy coaches to guide me.
I can't go home to my posh apartment on the nice side of town, I live in a FEMA trailer about 100 yards from school.
I can't unwind by driving to the beach and apparently winter here lasts until mid-April.
My students are all the same race- 99% Native.
Less violence- a few fights, but no guns or shootings and I almost never feel unsafe at school.
The only other people my age in a very large radius are also teachers, predominantly TFA.
I know every current South Dakota corps member (40-ish) and PD (only 1!)
TFA doesn't organize "excellent school visits" for us, I suppose because the nearest excellent school is 300 some miles away.
I tried to list similarities, but they are too numerous. Poverty in America is the same everywhere. Gangs, violence, drugs, broken families, anger, hostility, and hopelessness abound. Trapped in the ghetto or trapped on the rez, it's the same cycle of poverty and oppression and the same struggling schools unable to serve the population that needs an excellent education the most. **One similarity I nearly forgot to mention because to me it goes without saying, is the potential of the students. Black, Latino, or Native; inner city or reservation; they are all just as talented and capable as their wealthier peers when given the opportunity to learn, and there is no doubt that they deserve that opportunity.
I thought that reforming an inner city school would be more possible. After all, it seems like it would be easier to get awesome administrators and teachers to live and work in LA than it would be to get them to move out here, but as it turns out it's not. One thing Locke High School does get, however, is a whole lot more media attention and general awareness of it's existence. Multiple celebrities and high up school officials and politicians visit Locke, and now someone's written a book about it. In the end that may be what will turn urban schools around, enough attention will eventually draw charter schools and education reformers to make radical changes or provide alternative schools in the area.
But what will happen here? Does anyone even know that there is a small failing high school out here? Does anyone care? Who will ever swoop in to save it?
But I digress. A lot. Relentless Pursuit is excellent journalism and as far as my experience goes, portrays 'the good, the bad, and the ugly' (as the principal in the book says) of TFA with great depth and objectivity. Read the book.
Saturday, April 12
Snow Break
"Snow break" seems a more accurate description than "snow day" to describe this weekend. A spring blizzard found its way out to the plains this week, starting Wednesday evening and lasting through Friday afternoon. As a result school was canceled Thursday and Friday.
Because I come from a long line of Minnesota farmers and I'm mildly obsessed with radar weather, here's a radar image of the storm still moving in Thursday morning...
I've spent the last three days being very lazy and it has been glorious. I spent quality down time with great friends who I don't see enough of. There were movies, junk food, chit chat and card games. It hasn't all been mindless though-- I learned to play Spades AND Bridge in the past two days. That's an intense amount of skill and knowledge acquisition.
The down side is that if there were even a tiny bit of momentum left in my classroom before this weekend, it's pretty much going to be dead and gone on Monday. Blah.
There are about 28 days of school left. The light at the end of the tunnel is bright and it is distracting. Great things might happen in my classes before the end of May, or very little of anything might happen. One way or another, I'm going to make it.
Side note:
There was a great travel article on Munich in the NY Times today.
I miss it.
Someday I will live in Europe again.
Because I come from a long line of Minnesota farmers and I'm mildly obsessed with radar weather, here's a radar image of the storm still moving in Thursday morning...
I've spent the last three days being very lazy and it has been glorious. I spent quality down time with great friends who I don't see enough of. There were movies, junk food, chit chat and card games. It hasn't all been mindless though-- I learned to play Spades AND Bridge in the past two days. That's an intense amount of skill and knowledge acquisition.
The down side is that if there were even a tiny bit of momentum left in my classroom before this weekend, it's pretty much going to be dead and gone on Monday. Blah.
There are about 28 days of school left. The light at the end of the tunnel is bright and it is distracting. Great things might happen in my classes before the end of May, or very little of anything might happen. One way or another, I'm going to make it.
Side note:
There was a great travel article on Munich in the NY Times today.
I miss it.
Someday I will live in Europe again.
Sunday, April 6
Herons Nesting
My dad took this picture in Minnesota this week near our lake house. I like it. I kinda feel like those herons up in the trees waiting for the the ice to melt. I'm ready for summer.
Sickness and Testing
Over Easter break I went on a lovely trip back to Colorado for a few days. Upon returning home I came down with the horrible terrible flu that's been going around and was out sick for the entire 4 day week. Blah. I don't recall ever being that sick before. I've definitely never missed that much school before, as a student or a teacher and I felt pretty guilty about it especially because it was the week before standardize testing started and I missed out on teaching my mini test prep unit. So if my kids get bad scores I'm blaming the flu...
After sitting around my trailer for four days I was pretty ready to go back to school last Monday, but no. We had a snow day. That's right, a SNOW DAY on the very last day of March. Crazy South Dakota weather. I finally went back to school Tuesday and had a fun-filled (read: unbearably tedious) week of administering standardized tests. woo. The tests don't even really count for my 9th graders because the South Dakota state tests used to determine AYP are only given to 11th graders at the high school. So my kids just took the Standford 10 achievement tests, and I have no idea what even happens to those results. I don't think that all standardized testing is a bad thing, in fact it could be a great and useful tool, but pointless and poorly written testing is definitely a bad thing.
Now after two weeks of not actually having to teach anything or prepare anything I feel very derailed. Its hard to be excited about doing anything else the rest of this year when it pretty much just feels like it's all over and on the downward slide. Only about 6 weeks left. And I have to decide what to teach in those remaining weeks when there is SO much stuff we haven't read and learned... so many state standards I haven't even touched on. I'm going to plan better next year. I need to plan better next year.
Sometimes I hate having a job where my decisions dictate the high school literary experience of so many kids... It's a lot of pressure, you know?
After sitting around my trailer for four days I was pretty ready to go back to school last Monday, but no. We had a snow day. That's right, a SNOW DAY on the very last day of March. Crazy South Dakota weather. I finally went back to school Tuesday and had a fun-filled (read: unbearably tedious) week of administering standardized tests. woo. The tests don't even really count for my 9th graders because the South Dakota state tests used to determine AYP are only given to 11th graders at the high school. So my kids just took the Standford 10 achievement tests, and I have no idea what even happens to those results. I don't think that all standardized testing is a bad thing, in fact it could be a great and useful tool, but pointless and poorly written testing is definitely a bad thing.
Now after two weeks of not actually having to teach anything or prepare anything I feel very derailed. Its hard to be excited about doing anything else the rest of this year when it pretty much just feels like it's all over and on the downward slide. Only about 6 weeks left. And I have to decide what to teach in those remaining weeks when there is SO much stuff we haven't read and learned... so many state standards I haven't even touched on. I'm going to plan better next year. I need to plan better next year.
Sometimes I hate having a job where my decisions dictate the high school literary experience of so many kids... It's a lot of pressure, you know?
Monday, March 17
Break
break down? break free? breakfast?
Last week was "Spring Break". We had Thursday and Friday off so I drove home to Minneapolis. My students get big eyes when I tell them I went to Minneapolis for the weekend. To most of them it may as well be an alien planet instead of an eight hour drive.
It was an excellent break. I saw my little brother perform in the famous Passion Play at Holy Name, which was huge and impressively elaborate and well done for a group of over 100 9th graders. Such a different world from the one my students live in.
I also attended Chelsea's birthday cocktail party at their incredibly great apartment in Uptown. It was wonderful to go to a party and mingle with NEW people! Like-- people I've never seen before or talked to before! I love the TFA South Dakota corps, it's a pretty fabulous bunch of people, but I miss meeting new people. Especially new people who aren't teachers :-P
I'm SO ready to be home for the summer. I was ready to just stay home until August in fact.... There's still a lot of work to do and fun to be had here in SoDak this spring however. For example- teaching something for the rest of the year! eep.
Luckily today at school was pretty easy since tons of kids were absent or on an incentive trip and the rest were pretty mellow. I'm not really sure what I'm doing with my classes for the rest of the year. For the next two weeks we're doing a test prep packet to hopefully get them a little more reading for state testing. After testing... I don't know. I'm so far off from my original long term plan that it's pretty useless to me now. My options are-- Read Romeo and Juliet. Read "Absolutely true Diary of a Part Time Indian." Do a poetry unit. Read another short story, then have students pick another novel of their choice to read and have them do some sort of project with it that would demonstrate mastery of literary elements. I'm leaning toward the last option, because kids have been really engaged and doing really well with independent reading the last few weeks and they wrote some great book reviews. I'd rather let them do more of their own reading than try to get them all to read the same thing. They read and work at very different paces.
I think my curriculum next year is going to involve many more projects which can be completed independently or in small groups and can be at different levels for everyone. Whole group instruction just isn't effective here.
I'm scatted and rambling... ciao.
Last week was "Spring Break". We had Thursday and Friday off so I drove home to Minneapolis. My students get big eyes when I tell them I went to Minneapolis for the weekend. To most of them it may as well be an alien planet instead of an eight hour drive.
It was an excellent break. I saw my little brother perform in the famous Passion Play at Holy Name, which was huge and impressively elaborate and well done for a group of over 100 9th graders. Such a different world from the one my students live in.
I also attended Chelsea's birthday cocktail party at their incredibly great apartment in Uptown. It was wonderful to go to a party and mingle with NEW people! Like-- people I've never seen before or talked to before! I love the TFA South Dakota corps, it's a pretty fabulous bunch of people, but I miss meeting new people. Especially new people who aren't teachers :-P
I'm SO ready to be home for the summer. I was ready to just stay home until August in fact.... There's still a lot of work to do and fun to be had here in SoDak this spring however. For example- teaching something for the rest of the year! eep.
Luckily today at school was pretty easy since tons of kids were absent or on an incentive trip and the rest were pretty mellow. I'm not really sure what I'm doing with my classes for the rest of the year. For the next two weeks we're doing a test prep packet to hopefully get them a little more reading for state testing. After testing... I don't know. I'm so far off from my original long term plan that it's pretty useless to me now. My options are-- Read Romeo and Juliet. Read "Absolutely true Diary of a Part Time Indian." Do a poetry unit. Read another short story, then have students pick another novel of their choice to read and have them do some sort of project with it that would demonstrate mastery of literary elements. I'm leaning toward the last option, because kids have been really engaged and doing really well with independent reading the last few weeks and they wrote some great book reviews. I'd rather let them do more of their own reading than try to get them all to read the same thing. They read and work at very different paces.
I think my curriculum next year is going to involve many more projects which can be completed independently or in small groups and can be at different levels for everyone. Whole group instruction just isn't effective here.
I'm scatted and rambling... ciao.
Sunday, March 9
Springing ahead...
There are approximately 50 school days left this year. Too early to be counting down? nah, I don't think so. It's March! almost mid-March even. craaaaaaazy. I must admit that my thoughts are turning more and more to end of the year and summer time daydreams. More that that though, they're turning to next school year and how I'm going to do all of this a heck of a lot better the second time around. The two year commitment is definitely a good thing. I'm much more invested in improving my teaching because I know I'll be doing it for another year at the very least. I'm actually really looking forward to spending a lot of time planning my curriculum this summer and making it really solid and something I'm excited to come back and teach. Of course it helps to know that some of that time spent planning could happen, oh say, while sitting on the dock at the lake house in my swimsuit getting a tan. sigh....
50 days... I can do it! That still leaves time to learn many things and read many things. I must resist the feeling that I should just scrape by for the rest of this year until summer. This year counts too, these students have to learn just as much as next year's students. I'm just so... tired. Having summers off may seem like a sweet perk, but right now I really can't imagine surviving this job without it!
Next week we get Thursday and Friday off for a four day "Spring Break" and I'm grateful for the chance to go home once more before the end of the year. Also that I get to go to Chelsea's B-day party and see my little brother in the church Passion Play (he is far less thrilled about being in it I'm sure!).
Short post, not much to say right now, but I felt I should update.
50 days... I can do it! That still leaves time to learn many things and read many things. I must resist the feeling that I should just scrape by for the rest of this year until summer. This year counts too, these students have to learn just as much as next year's students. I'm just so... tired. Having summers off may seem like a sweet perk, but right now I really can't imagine surviving this job without it!
Next week we get Thursday and Friday off for a four day "Spring Break" and I'm grateful for the chance to go home once more before the end of the year. Also that I get to go to Chelsea's B-day party and see my little brother in the church Passion Play (he is far less thrilled about being in it I'm sure!).
Short post, not much to say right now, but I felt I should update.
Monday, February 25
My return to the world of professional associations!
This past weekend I attended a South Dakota Council of Teachers of English conference-- a regional branch of the NCTE-- in Chamberlain. It was pretty fun to be on the attendee side of a conference instead of the staff side. Instead of answering a million (seemingly) stupid questions, I got to ask them! I also go to go to a whole bunch of very interesting sessions and talk with lots of great English teachers. English teachers, by the way, are a kind of goofy/crazy bunch mostly obsessed with Shakespeare, MLA formatting, and topic sentences. That said, these people are doing cool cool things. A lot of schools in South Dakota are participating in a one-t0-one laptop initiative (partially funded by the governor's plan for SD education) in which all of their students get a Gateway tablet laptop for use at school and at home. This allows for some really neat projects, blogs, chat groups, wikis, and tons of other learning and teaching ideas that open up the classroom beyond four walls. Many teachers presented on the things they were doing online with students. I only have four computers in my classroom, but I am bound and determined to do a book blog this spring when we read Sherman Alexie's "Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian".
Of course, it's hard to make getting a blog going a priority when I can't seem to catch up on entering grades or planning lessons and units beyond the end of the week.... First year teaching is so hard and frustrating! I want to be doing so many cool things in my classroom, but I'm mired in issues of classroom management, organization, and other teaching basics. It's like trying to teach kids how to infuse their writing with a unique voice when they still don't know how to punctuate. I totally know how they feel.
Of course, it's hard to make getting a blog going a priority when I can't seem to catch up on entering grades or planning lessons and units beyond the end of the week.... First year teaching is so hard and frustrating! I want to be doing so many cool things in my classroom, but I'm mired in issues of classroom management, organization, and other teaching basics. It's like trying to teach kids how to infuse their writing with a unique voice when they still don't know how to punctuate. I totally know how they feel.
The conference made me think about myself as a teacher beyond these two years. I could get so much better. I could create such great curriculum and my students would learn more and more... but then I came back to school today, scrambled to get lessons together this morning and during prep period, shushed and yelled at kids all day, then stayed four hours after school and STILL didn't get my grading done and entered, and now I am exhausted and can't imagine ever being a teacher with any leftover energy to plan the cool fun things I want to be doing- not to mention having the energy for a weekday life outside of teaching!
They say it doesn't get any easier, but I hope at some point it gets more interesting and less tedious. Because it's hard not to get bogged down by the tedious things right now.
side note- perhaps my feelings of being mired and bogged have something to do with the growing mud pit as the weather warms up outside our trailer?
side side note-- upon searching for one-to-one initiative links I ended up browsing the OLPC project site, and I wonder again and again, if we have the technology to do this for children around the world, why aren't we doing it for children here?
They say it doesn't get any easier, but I hope at some point it gets more interesting and less tedious. Because it's hard not to get bogged down by the tedious things right now.
side note- perhaps my feelings of being mired and bogged have something to do with the growing mud pit as the weather warms up outside our trailer?
side side note-- upon searching for one-to-one initiative links I ended up browsing the OLPC project site, and I wonder again and again, if we have the technology to do this for children around the world, why aren't we doing it for children here?
Monday, February 11
Letter to Donor
One of TFA's fund raising campaigns in our region is the "sponsor a teacher" program in which a donor can help offset the costs for training and development for one corps member and in exchange receive periodic letters from that teacher about their school and classroom. So, I'm being "sponsored" this year and thought as long as I was writing an up-beat letter about my work I might as well publish it here too. This blog could use a little more positivity. So, here it is:
Dear [Sponsor],
Hello again from St. Francis Indian School! It is my pleasure to update you on the developments in my classroom over the past few months and to thank you once again for helping to make my work here possible.
First semester ended on an exciting high note in my Composition I class. For the final project in our persuasive writing unit my students and I read a series of articles recently published in a local paper on the topic of Lakota language preservation and revival. The students then wrote letters to the editor expressing their own views on Lakota language. My students blew me away with their interest and dedication to this topic. Their writing was profound and heartfelt. They wrote about their families, their history, and their identity as a people. I was deeply moved by their letters as was the editor of the paper who published eight of their letters during December and January!
This semester I am continuing the 9th grade Language Arts curriculum with a General Literature course. We’re building up basic skills in literary analysis now and I’m excited to dive into some great novels soon. My students have expressed interest in reading stories of young people overcoming challenges. They face so many challenges themselves; I hope that reading about others who have triumphed over diversity will inspire them to continue working hard to attain their goals.
January and February have brought days of blowing snow and subzero temperatures to the plains of South Dakota and I am thankful every day for the students who brave the weather to get to the bus and come to class eager to learn.
I am grateful for your contribution to Teach for
Warm regards from snowy
Anne S.
Teach For
Friday, February 8
you know you're a teacher when...
You start receiving e-mail forwards like this one and you actually want to pass them on just to let everyone know how hard your job is ;-P
Next season on Survivor
Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped in a high school classroom for 1 school year.
Each business person will be provided with a copy of his/her school district's curriculum (if there is one, if not they are required to make their own with little to no training), and a class of 28-32 students.
Each class will have a minimum of five learning-disabled, three with A.D.D., one gifted child, and two who speak limited English. Three students will be labeled with sever behavior problems.
Each business person must complete three lesson plans at least 3 days in advance, with annotations for curriculum objectives and modify, organize, or create their materials accordingly. They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute grades, complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, and arrange parent conferences. They must also stand in their doorway between class changes to monitor the hallways, without any time to prepare for the next class.
In addition, they will complete fire drills, tornado drills, and [Cod Red] drills for shooting attacks each month.
They must attend workshops, faculty meetings, and attend curriculum development meetings. They must also tutor students who are behind and strive to get their 2 non-English speaking children proficient enough to take the Terra Nova and PSSA tests. If they are sick or having a bad day, they must not let it show.
Each day they must incorporate reading, writing, math, science, and social studies into the program. They must maintain discipline and provide an educationally stimulating environment to motivate students at all times. If all students do not wish to cooperate, work, or learn, the teacher will be held responsible.
The business people will only have access to the public golf course on the weekends, but with their new salary, they will not be able to afford it.
There will be no access to vendors who want to take them out to lunch, and lunch will be limited to 25 minutes, which is not counted as part of their work day. The business people will be permitted to use a student restroom only as long as another survival candidate can supervise their class.
IF the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary materials before, or after, school. However, they cannot surpass their monthly limit of copies. The business people must also continually advance their education, at their expense, and on their own time.
The winner of this season of Survivor will be allowed to return to their job with a 1% raise in salary.
Next season on Survivor
Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped in a high school classroom for 1 school year.
Each business person will be provided with a copy of his/her school district's curriculum (if there is one, if not they are required to make their own with little to no training), and a class of 28-32 students.
Each class will have a minimum of five learning-disabled, three with A.D.D., one gifted child, and two who speak limited English. Three students will be labeled with sever behavior problems.
Each business person must complete three lesson plans at least 3 days in advance, with annotations for curriculum objectives and modify, organize, or create their materials accordingly. They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute grades, complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, and arrange parent conferences. They must also stand in their doorway between class changes to monitor the hallways, without any time to prepare for the next class.
In addition, they will complete fire drills, tornado drills, and [Cod Red] drills for shooting attacks each month.
They must attend workshops, faculty meetings, and attend curriculum development meetings. They must also tutor students who are behind and strive to get their 2 non-English speaking children proficient enough to take the Terra Nova and PSSA tests. If they are sick or having a bad day, they must not let it show.
Each day they must incorporate reading, writing, math, science, and social studies into the program. They must maintain discipline and provide an educationally stimulating environment to motivate students at all times. If all students do not wish to cooperate, work, or learn, the teacher will be held responsible.
The business people will only have access to the public golf course on the weekends, but with their new salary, they will not be able to afford it.
There will be no access to vendors who want to take them out to lunch, and lunch will be limited to 25 minutes, which is not counted as part of their work day. The business people will be permitted to use a student restroom only as long as another survival candidate can supervise their class.
IF the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary materials before, or after, school. However, they cannot surpass their monthly limit of copies. The business people must also continually advance their education, at their expense, and on their own time.
The winner of this season of Survivor will be allowed to return to their job with a 1% raise in salary.
Friday, February 1
Tuesday, January 29
Frozen pipes as a metaphor for education blockages....
Our pipes are frozen. Again. For the ten hundreth time. And the sewer line from our trailer is also frozen. About five guys have been out there working on it for over a week now. Shockingly FEMA trailers designed for New Orleans don't hold up well in South Dakota winters. Who'da thunk?
So I'm not very happy. Because I couldn't shower this morning and still can't now. And there was a bomb threat at school today. I'm not sure what went on exactly, they had the drug dogs in the school which they've done a few times this year. But this time after the dogs went through the made us all leave and get on buses and go sit in a parking lot half a mile away for about 30 min. Fun Fun. Tomorrow there are two different assemblies going on and we have some kind of crazy schedule where we only have 3rd and 4th period- or something, it's kind of unclear at this point. Between that and low attendance, kids leaving for basketball games, and being kids pulled out for various things, I don't feel like I'm doing all that much teaching anymore. I'm quickly losing motivation to spend much time planning lessons for kids who aren't there. Today I had 0,6, 7, 11, 2, and 3 students respectively in my six periods....
We're reading The Most Dangerous Game in Literature. So that's fun. Practicing lots of predicting. And finding details that create mood or characterization. Next week we'll get into plot mapping- woo! Literature is more fun than composition I think. The students would probably say they are both equally boring though I'm sure. Sigh.
Colorado last weekend was great! Check out pictures of the finished snow sculpture. It was good to see my parents and meet/see all my dad's snow sculpting buddies, plus I got in some really excellent cross country and downhill skiing.
Next weekend I'm off again- to Chaimberlain! For a "Take One" professional development weekend of some sort. I haven't even looked at all the materials they've sent me yet... hmm.
All for now- Think warm thoughts for me and my pipes please!
So I'm not very happy. Because I couldn't shower this morning and still can't now. And there was a bomb threat at school today. I'm not sure what went on exactly, they had the drug dogs in the school which they've done a few times this year. But this time after the dogs went through the made us all leave and get on buses and go sit in a parking lot half a mile away for about 30 min. Fun Fun. Tomorrow there are two different assemblies going on and we have some kind of crazy schedule where we only have 3rd and 4th period- or something, it's kind of unclear at this point. Between that and low attendance, kids leaving for basketball games, and being kids pulled out for various things, I don't feel like I'm doing all that much teaching anymore. I'm quickly losing motivation to spend much time planning lessons for kids who aren't there. Today I had 0,6, 7, 11, 2, and 3 students respectively in my six periods....
We're reading The Most Dangerous Game in Literature. So that's fun. Practicing lots of predicting. And finding details that create mood or characterization. Next week we'll get into plot mapping- woo! Literature is more fun than composition I think. The students would probably say they are both equally boring though I'm sure. Sigh.
Colorado last weekend was great! Check out pictures of the finished snow sculpture. It was good to see my parents and meet/see all my dad's snow sculpting buddies, plus I got in some really excellent cross country and downhill skiing.
Next weekend I'm off again- to Chaimberlain! For a "Take One" professional development weekend of some sort. I haven't even looked at all the materials they've sent me yet... hmm.
All for now- Think warm thoughts for me and my pipes please!
Sunday, January 20
I've been meaning to post these for a while. So, here are some pictures from a walk around St. Francis before christmas. 
Our teacher trailer neighborhood
Trail
Hay bale
The sprawling metropolis of St. Francis
In other more recent news... we went skiing this weekend! I love that over half of our entire corps was up in the black hills this weekend splitting two cabins. SoDak is the best. I'm looking forward to many more ski weekends in the near future.
The next couple weeks are kinda nuts. This week I'm leaving for Colorado on Thursday after school to visit my parents and see my dad's snow sculpture this weekend. Weee!
Tomorrow we don't have school and I fully intend to spend the day in my classroom catching up with life and figuring out what I'm doing for the week and for the semester. When I actually have time to plan strategically I really love teaching and planning and creating a long term vision for my class.
Any new '08ers reading this-- you're in for an adventure! It'll be great :)
Our teacher trailer neighborhood
Trail
Hay bale
The sprawling metropolis of St. FrancisIn other more recent news... we went skiing this weekend! I love that over half of our entire corps was up in the black hills this weekend splitting two cabins. SoDak is the best. I'm looking forward to many more ski weekends in the near future.
The next couple weeks are kinda nuts. This week I'm leaving for Colorado on Thursday after school to visit my parents and see my dad's snow sculpture this weekend. Weee!
Tomorrow we don't have school and I fully intend to spend the day in my classroom catching up with life and figuring out what I'm doing for the week and for the semester. When I actually have time to plan strategically I really love teaching and planning and creating a long term vision for my class.
Any new '08ers reading this-- you're in for an adventure! It'll be great :)
Wednesday, January 16
Whatcha gonna do?
Love this poem today:
****************************
The Wind Doesn't Know what to Do But Be Blue.
by Simon Ortiz from his book "After and Before the Lightning" written during a residency here at Sinte Gleska University on Rosebud.
The wind is blue
this morning
so blue, ooooing
at a lonely corner
of the house.
Look at the sun.
Look
at the sun.
But pays no mind.
Just so blue, it says,
just sooooooo bloooooooooooo
loooooo
blue.
Blooooooooo oooooo oo ue
Whatcha gonna do.
I don't know.
Whatcha gonna do.
I don't know.
The blues are blue.
The blues are blue.
The wind is blue.
It goes oooo.
It goes oooo.
Whatcha gonna do.
It goes oooo.
The blues go oooo.
I don't know.
That's what I'll do.
That what I'll dooooo.
****************************
I still have one section of Comp I that I'm re-teaching this semester for a few students who weren't enrolled in it last semester but should have been (don't even get me started on scheduling insanity around here). This semester I'm starting with descriptive writing and I'm cutting out all the get to know you/ goal setting/ what is writing? crap that I did at the beginning of last semester so we can get strait to writing and producing finished pieces asap. I'm thinking that the best way to get kids to think of themselves as writers is to treat them as such rather than spending lots of time talking about what writing is, why it's important, blah blah blah. So I just cut to the chase on day 1, gave them their notebooks and we started writing. Descriptive writing is definitely a good place to start. It has so far been far more successful than starting with memoir/ personal narrative. Memoir is too personal to start on with these students, they don't trust easily, especially not teachers and white people, so naturally they don't want to share much about their own lives just yet.
Anyway, the point of all this rambling is that today we read several poems from Simon Ortiz's book and then we all went outside and sat in the medicine wheel painted bowery (pow wow grounds) outside my classroom. The temperature today was about -5 with wind chill. They were not very happy with me. But it was super fun. I love being a crazy teacher sometimes. They did some pretty good writing too:
"My ass is cold sitting on the yellow of the medicine wheel.
I see the white on the ground.
I see the brown of the grass dying as I sit out here on the cold.
The noise of white cracking as I walk through the cold.
The sun shining down on me as I write in the cold.
My hands are going to fall off as I write through the cold."
"With a depressing look the the tree branches move back and forth from the force of the wind"
"It feels like I'm at a wake. Too cold to write so laters.
"I think I'm getting old with the weather that's so cold.
Wind blowin', just last night it was snowin'.
So it creeped up on us like a mole.
Up is dark, dark as coal.
Down is hard, crunchy, white, blowin', but it's only snow,
but it's still flows from up high and rolls down low.
I sit and shiver
the branch on the tree quivers as I shiver
my liver has never been so shivered."
(Elias is a rapper-- he can't write without rhyming)
****************************
The Wind Doesn't Know what to Do But Be Blue.
by Simon Ortiz from his book "After and Before the Lightning" written during a residency here at Sinte Gleska University on Rosebud.
The wind is blue
this morning
so blue, ooooing
at a lonely corner
of the house.
But pays no mind.
Just so blue, it says,
just sooooooo bloooooooooooo
Blooooooooo oooooo oo ue
Whatcha gonna do.
I don't know.
Whatcha gonna do.
I don't know.
The blues are blue.
The blues are blue.
The wind is blue.
It goes oooo.
It goes oooo.
Whatcha gonna do.
It goes oooo.
The blues go oooo.
I don't know.
That's what I'll do.
That what I'll dooooo.
****************************
I still have one section of Comp I that I'm re-teaching this semester for a few students who weren't enrolled in it last semester but should have been (don't even get me started on scheduling insanity around here). This semester I'm starting with descriptive writing and I'm cutting out all the get to know you/ goal setting/ what is writing? crap that I did at the beginning of last semester so we can get strait to writing and producing finished pieces asap. I'm thinking that the best way to get kids to think of themselves as writers is to treat them as such rather than spending lots of time talking about what writing is, why it's important, blah blah blah. So I just cut to the chase on day 1, gave them their notebooks and we started writing. Descriptive writing is definitely a good place to start. It has so far been far more successful than starting with memoir/ personal narrative. Memoir is too personal to start on with these students, they don't trust easily, especially not teachers and white people, so naturally they don't want to share much about their own lives just yet.
Anyway, the point of all this rambling is that today we read several poems from Simon Ortiz's book and then we all went outside and sat in the medicine wheel painted bowery (pow wow grounds) outside my classroom. The temperature today was about -5 with wind chill. They were not very happy with me. But it was super fun. I love being a crazy teacher sometimes. They did some pretty good writing too:
"My ass is cold sitting on the yellow of the medicine wheel.
I see the white on the ground.
I see the brown of the grass dying as I sit out here on the cold.
The noise of white cracking as I walk through the cold.
The sun shining down on me as I write in the cold.
My hands are going to fall off as I write through the cold."
"With a depressing look the the tree branches move back and forth from the force of the wind"
"It feels like I'm at a wake. Too cold to write so laters.
"I think I'm getting old with the weather that's so cold.
Wind blowin', just last night it was snowin'.
So it creeped up on us like a mole.
Up is dark, dark as coal.
Down is hard, crunchy, white, blowin', but it's only snow,
but it's still flows from up high and rolls down low.
I sit and shiver
the branch on the tree quivers as I shiver
my liver has never been so shivered."
(Elias is a rapper-- he can't write without rhyming)
Sunday, January 6
Happy 2008
Why does going back to school tomorrow after two and a half weeks feel like the first day all over again? Only worse than the first day because there's already a stack of uncorrected papers and unfinished work to be dealt with. I don't feel like a teacher right now. I expect that I won't until first period tomorrow when I'm alone with a room full of 15 year olds once again. This is such a strange profession...
Break was nice. Too short for me, but probably too long for the kids. Driving away from Minneapolis was a little tough, it's hard not to imagine the other lives I could be living right now- one of which would be in MN and filled with family and old friends- not to mention Caribou Coffee, preppy Uptown bars, and other perks of city life!
I'm very glad I decided to drive back to SoDak on Friday, however, so that I could look forward to getting here and socializing with lots of familiar faces for a couple days instead of just dreading work on Monday.
Work. Not just work, Teaching. I'm trying to find a renewed sense of possibility right now. I think mine is sick. Students are dropping out left and right, scheduling for second semester is going to be just as nightmarish as it was for first, and everyone seems to think this is normal. So I need to remember that I can still do good things in my room and that I can expand my circle of influence to help my students. I need to remember that I'm not just here to make it through two years so I can be a TFA alum with an impressive resume. I need to be here for the students. I need to work harder for them. I need to be as idealistic and determined every day as I was on the first day.
How's that for a New Year's resolution?
Anyway, going back to work will be fun. I'll be happy to see my kids safe and back in school. I'm excited (and overwhelmed) to plan and start new classes next semester including Literature and a new ACT prep course. Also I'm excited about the brand new pack of colorful white board markers I bought over break :) Sometimes its the little things....
Break was nice. Too short for me, but probably too long for the kids. Driving away from Minneapolis was a little tough, it's hard not to imagine the other lives I could be living right now- one of which would be in MN and filled with family and old friends- not to mention Caribou Coffee, preppy Uptown bars, and other perks of city life!
I'm very glad I decided to drive back to SoDak on Friday, however, so that I could look forward to getting here and socializing with lots of familiar faces for a couple days instead of just dreading work on Monday.
Work. Not just work, Teaching. I'm trying to find a renewed sense of possibility right now. I think mine is sick. Students are dropping out left and right, scheduling for second semester is going to be just as nightmarish as it was for first, and everyone seems to think this is normal. So I need to remember that I can still do good things in my room and that I can expand my circle of influence to help my students. I need to remember that I'm not just here to make it through two years so I can be a TFA alum with an impressive resume. I need to be here for the students. I need to work harder for them. I need to be as idealistic and determined every day as I was on the first day.
How's that for a New Year's resolution?
Anyway, going back to work will be fun. I'll be happy to see my kids safe and back in school. I'm excited (and overwhelmed) to plan and start new classes next semester including Literature and a new ACT prep course. Also I'm excited about the brand new pack of colorful white board markers I bought over break :) Sometimes its the little things....
Tuesday, December 18
Teacher Christmas List
Inspired by a few other teachers posting Christmas lists and one of the most frustrating days of my life, here are some things I would like for Christmas:
Schedules for my students and rosters for my classes next semester that make sense
Just a little bit of appreciation and positive feedback
A stronger professional community (TFA and beyond) and much more help with what I'm doing
Graded papers and an updated tracking system
Some organization in my life and my classroom
Enough make-up work returned to me to pass a few key students
A long term plan for next semester
Increased productivity during prep time and after school
A list of books to read next semester, plus many copies of the books themselves
A qualified special ed and literacy teacher
An endless supply of white board markers
A silent pencil sharpener (or self sharpening pencils)
"Because" "would" "should" "just" "kind of" "probably"-- all spelled correctly all of the time
Students who love to read
Students who are safe and loved in and out of school
A much bigger house
A Starbucks/coffee house with wireless internet that I can walk to
That all said, in the spirit of not focusing on all negative things, here's a few things I'm thankful for.
I'm thankful that I don't feel anxious every morning and that some days I actually have fun with my students.
I'm thankful that I have pretty much absolute power to make curriculum decisions in my classroom.
I'm thankful for my classroom library
I'm thankful for students who come to school and want to learn and make me laugh
I'm thankful for other teachers who blog
I'm thankful for new friends who feel like old friends
I'm thankful for old friends on G-chat and in person
I'm thankful that I'm here and have the opportunity to be a part of this movement
I'm thankful that I am able to share my experience with you (and I promise to keep it up and increase frequency and quality in the future)
Schedules for my students and rosters for my classes next semester that make sense
Just a little bit of appreciation and positive feedback
A stronger professional community (TFA and beyond) and much more help with what I'm doing
Graded papers and an updated tracking system
Some organization in my life and my classroom
Enough make-up work returned to me to pass a few key students
A long term plan for next semester
Increased productivity during prep time and after school
A list of books to read next semester, plus many copies of the books themselves
A qualified special ed and literacy teacher
An endless supply of white board markers
A silent pencil sharpener (or self sharpening pencils)
"Because" "would" "should" "just" "kind of" "probably"-- all spelled correctly all of the time
Students who love to read
Students who are safe and loved in and out of school
A much bigger house
A Starbucks/coffee house with wireless internet that I can walk to
That all said, in the spirit of not focusing on all negative things, here's a few things I'm thankful for.
I'm thankful that I don't feel anxious every morning and that some days I actually have fun with my students.
I'm thankful that I have pretty much absolute power to make curriculum decisions in my classroom.
I'm thankful for my classroom library
I'm thankful for students who come to school and want to learn and make me laugh
I'm thankful for other teachers who blog
I'm thankful for new friends who feel like old friends
I'm thankful for old friends on G-chat and in person
I'm thankful that I'm here and have the opportunity to be a part of this movement
I'm thankful that I am able to share my experience with you (and I promise to keep it up and increase frequency and quality in the future)
Wednesday, December 12
test bias
How's this for a classic example of tests written to favor middle class suburban students:
"The city council is considering an ordinance banning cycling on all sidewalks. Consider the effects such an ordinance would have, and decide whether you support or oppose the measure. Then, write an essay in which you express and support your opinion on the issue."
What??? Some of my students have probably never SEEN a sidewalk! And kids around here to not have/ride bikes. This is strait out of our brand new language arts text books. You'd think they'd be getting better about this by now. Something else that kills me about these books is that is comes with a separate soft cover book called a "Multicultural Reader". As in, "we think literature from other cultures is so important that instead of putting it in the text book we put it in a flimsy little separate workbook." jeez. What worries me is that the text books are written by the same company that writes the test.
"The city council is considering an ordinance banning cycling on all sidewalks. Consider the effects such an ordinance would have, and decide whether you support or oppose the measure. Then, write an essay in which you express and support your opinion on the issue."
What??? Some of my students have probably never SEEN a sidewalk! And kids around here to not have/ride bikes. This is strait out of our brand new language arts text books. You'd think they'd be getting better about this by now. Something else that kills me about these books is that is comes with a separate soft cover book called a "Multicultural Reader". As in, "we think literature from other cultures is so important that instead of putting it in the text book we put it in a flimsy little separate workbook." jeez. What worries me is that the text books are written by the same company that writes the test.
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