This weekend was really great (especially after Friday's day-long adventure), giving me a chance to put school-life on hold (harder said than done, as you'll see) for a moment to just feel like a person again, doing normal things.
The 5-and-a-half hour car ride with my roommates was actually a lot of fun, minus the constant razzing over my selection of music. It seems country and hip-hop are just not that popular with guys from the Northeast.
We had a lot of fun discovering the French Quarter. We never really left this area since our hotel was in walking distance and so was the Superdome. Kyle had been before several times, so was able to give us the 50-cent tour. Our romp across New Orleans included stops at Mother's for some po' boys, Cafe du Monde for some benients, and Bourbon Street for some... bourbon.
We topped it all off with a trip to the Superdome to see the Saints battle the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens are Brian's hometown team, so you can guess who the rest of us were pulling for. Unfortunately, the Ravens dominated the entire game. I have to say though, I was thoroughly impressed with the Saints' fans - the Superdome was the loudest place I have ever been, and the game wasn't even that close.
We got back around 10pm Sunday night, so I've been playing catch up since then. I did get a little work done on Saturday. We found a sports bar in a nearby Hilton and graded papers and lesson-planned as we all watched the Georgia-Florida and Mizzou games. But I still had a lot of work to do Monday morning since this week is my observation window. That means that my AP has to observe me for 40 mins and submit an evaluation to the district. I also have to take a test over the 7 hours of ESL training I received last week for my certification.
Luckily, today I had both occur. My AP dropped in during my second period today. I'm not sure if it went well or not - it was up and down as per usual. She kept getting up and helping kids also, which I'm not sure was due to her perceiving me as a bad teacher so much as is in her nature to help out while she's in the classroom. She said that I did a "nice job" so I guess I'll be looking for good marks on that evaluation that I should see sometime next week.
I also went ahead and knocked out my ESL test this afternoon. I actually scored an 80% on it. The training required me to read writing samples of English-as-a-Second-Language students and categorize them according to their ability. Out of 15 sets of writings, I only missed 3. That sounds easy, but considering the ESL coordinator at my school has been teaching for some 20 years and is a native speaker, I was shocked to learn that she didn't pass this test on the first go-round (neither did my partner teacher). I have a whole laundry list of reasons why our ESL coordinator is too inept for the job, though.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Friday, October 27, 2006
No Lights = No Fun
Editor's Note: This story was written last Friday, but due to reasons you'll soon understand is only now being published.
This morning I was really excited about the day. It's Friday and I'm headed to New Orleans right after school, so there's no way it was going to be a bad day. Then the lights went out in homeroom.
The power company is installing a traffic signal in front of our building to accomodate the new elementary school going up across the street. Somehow, they cut the wrong line and the power was out for about half an hour. We thought we had it restored, but due to it being an extremely windy day today (not typical) the lights have continued to flicker throughout the remainder of the day.
A classroom of 11 year-olds is crazy enough without surprises, but take away the lights then turn them back on and take them away and turn them back on and take them away again... well, it just creates chaos. We were in lockdown mode through lunch, which we had to eat in our classrooms by the way. The only thing that got me through that little treat was the Chick-fil-A milkshake one of the teacher's had her husband bring us. Thank God for cookies and cream!
Right now, my students are reading silently as part of DEAR-time (Drop Everything And Read), a half-hour we devote to reading each day. This is the first point today where I've been able to catch a breath and mentally regroup. Because of all the chaos, we haven't had a break all day (which is technically illegal) and I'm stretching this silent reading out as long as I possibly can.
This morning I was really excited about the day. It's Friday and I'm headed to New Orleans right after school, so there's no way it was going to be a bad day. Then the lights went out in homeroom.
The power company is installing a traffic signal in front of our building to accomodate the new elementary school going up across the street. Somehow, they cut the wrong line and the power was out for about half an hour. We thought we had it restored, but due to it being an extremely windy day today (not typical) the lights have continued to flicker throughout the remainder of the day.
A classroom of 11 year-olds is crazy enough without surprises, but take away the lights then turn them back on and take them away and turn them back on and take them away again... well, it just creates chaos. We were in lockdown mode through lunch, which we had to eat in our classrooms by the way. The only thing that got me through that little treat was the Chick-fil-A milkshake one of the teacher's had her husband bring us. Thank God for cookies and cream!
Right now, my students are reading silently as part of DEAR-time (Drop Everything And Read), a half-hour we devote to reading each day. This is the first point today where I've been able to catch a breath and mentally regroup. Because of all the chaos, we haven't had a break all day (which is technically illegal) and I'm stretching this silent reading out as long as I possibly can.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
NOLA-bound
It's Thursday night, which means it will be Friday in a few hours. And that means that I'll be on the way to New Orleans very soon. Brian's birthday was Tuesday, so a while back all my roommates decided to go to New Orleans for the weekend to treat Brian to the Saints-Ravens game (Brian's from Baltimore).
Today was a little out of control in my third block. I blame it on the rain. We've had a lot lately, and it doesn't bode well for recess tomorrow.
There's just something about rain that affects a person's psyche. You know what I mean - that feeling you get when you look outside and see a gray sky and a downpour. Now imagine you're 11 years old.
We have no windows in my room, but we can definitely hear when it's raining. Whenever it rains, my students flip out. They suddenly can't sit still, can't keep quiet and can't stay on task. All this makes me go crazy too, which means my classroom is just one big nuthouse.
Life is not so bad though. Today I bought an EZtag so that I can take the tollroad to school, saving me 900 hours of driving a month!
Today was a little out of control in my third block. I blame it on the rain. We've had a lot lately, and it doesn't bode well for recess tomorrow.
There's just something about rain that affects a person's psyche. You know what I mean - that feeling you get when you look outside and see a gray sky and a downpour. Now imagine you're 11 years old.
We have no windows in my room, but we can definitely hear when it's raining. Whenever it rains, my students flip out. They suddenly can't sit still, can't keep quiet and can't stay on task. All this makes me go crazy too, which means my classroom is just one big nuthouse.
Life is not so bad though. Today I bought an EZtag so that I can take the tollroad to school, saving me 900 hours of driving a month!
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
All I Ask for is Respect
I had it in college - from everyone. Teachers respected me as a student and treated me as an adult. They knew my time and money were both precious and wasted neither. Advisors/Supervisors knew that I had little experience, but respected the hard work and effort I put into all my endeavors. They helped to point out areas where I could improve, but in doing so, treated me as a professional, with respect.
At Miller Intermediate, life is a little different. While I feel that I have respect for the most part from the parents, the administration, and my supervisors, it is more than lacking from the students. It's just so hard to put so much into a job when your target audience treats you like shit everyday.
Today, my nastiest student crossed a line. I threw her out of my classroom and called the AP. I told the AP that I refused to take verbal abuse from a 12 year-old. And I shouldn't have to.
Sierra entered my room today chewing gum (there has been a severe breakout of gum-chewing lately), so like I do with all offenders, I asked her to spit it in the trashcan and asked for her planner so that I could give her a discipline mark. At first she complied, understanding that she violated a rule. But she refused to let me give her a mark and wouldn't give me her planner, despite my stern protests.
Finally, I gave her an ultimatum. I told her that she could a) receive a mark and we could move on, or b) she would have to leave my room. I refused to allow her to hijack my classtime, as happens on a regular basis. Eventually, she folded and handed over her planner. As I walked away after marking her planner, I heard her mutter "I wish he'd die."
I was on my way across the room to help another student when I heard it. My instinct was to go ballistic, but instead I stopped. Allowing Sierra to bait me into a confrontation never works, so I chose instead to ignore this comment since it was said under her breath and only 1 or 2 other students heard her. I pretended that I never heard the comment and proceeded to help other students.
Meanwhile, Sierra decides that she is not going to do the in-class assignment and out of the corner of my eye, I notice she is throwing hers away in the trashcan. Fine, I tell myself; that's her choice. I decide not to say anything about it and allow her to sit quietly at her desk and make paper fans, which is currently keeping her silent and in her desk. As long as she's not disturbing any other students, she can make origami for all I care.
The portion of class dedicated to Science ends and I ask for everyone to turn in their assignments. Sierra is continuing her silent protest, so I continue to leave her be.
Then, the downward spiral suddenly entered hyperspeed.
As I was beginning Social Studies, Sierra takes advantage of a pause in my instruction to blurt out a question.
"Mr. Wilson, why did you decide to teach? Because you suck!"
That was it. That was beyond it. She not only crossed a line, she was running past it. Without missing a beat, I demanded that she leave my classroom as I walked over to the phone and informed the AP that I was putting her out in the hallway and she would have to come get her. I will not be the verbal prisoner of a 12 year-old!
I mean, ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?
The one factor compounding the situation is that Sierra is one of my highest performing students. She made one of the highest scores on our most recent DCA. Why, then, is she resorting to such belligerent misbehavior?
I called Sierra's Dad and he'll be meeting with me at school tomorrow to further discuss what happened. He kept me on the phone tonight while he chewed her out - that was nice to hear. Hopefully it has some impact on her behavior.
At Miller Intermediate, life is a little different. While I feel that I have respect for the most part from the parents, the administration, and my supervisors, it is more than lacking from the students. It's just so hard to put so much into a job when your target audience treats you like shit everyday.
Today, my nastiest student crossed a line. I threw her out of my classroom and called the AP. I told the AP that I refused to take verbal abuse from a 12 year-old. And I shouldn't have to.
Sierra entered my room today chewing gum (there has been a severe breakout of gum-chewing lately), so like I do with all offenders, I asked her to spit it in the trashcan and asked for her planner so that I could give her a discipline mark. At first she complied, understanding that she violated a rule. But she refused to let me give her a mark and wouldn't give me her planner, despite my stern protests.
Finally, I gave her an ultimatum. I told her that she could a) receive a mark and we could move on, or b) she would have to leave my room. I refused to allow her to hijack my classtime, as happens on a regular basis. Eventually, she folded and handed over her planner. As I walked away after marking her planner, I heard her mutter "I wish he'd die."
I was on my way across the room to help another student when I heard it. My instinct was to go ballistic, but instead I stopped. Allowing Sierra to bait me into a confrontation never works, so I chose instead to ignore this comment since it was said under her breath and only 1 or 2 other students heard her. I pretended that I never heard the comment and proceeded to help other students.
Meanwhile, Sierra decides that she is not going to do the in-class assignment and out of the corner of my eye, I notice she is throwing hers away in the trashcan. Fine, I tell myself; that's her choice. I decide not to say anything about it and allow her to sit quietly at her desk and make paper fans, which is currently keeping her silent and in her desk. As long as she's not disturbing any other students, she can make origami for all I care.
The portion of class dedicated to Science ends and I ask for everyone to turn in their assignments. Sierra is continuing her silent protest, so I continue to leave her be.
Then, the downward spiral suddenly entered hyperspeed.
As I was beginning Social Studies, Sierra takes advantage of a pause in my instruction to blurt out a question.
"Mr. Wilson, why did you decide to teach? Because you suck!"
That was it. That was beyond it. She not only crossed a line, she was running past it. Without missing a beat, I demanded that she leave my classroom as I walked over to the phone and informed the AP that I was putting her out in the hallway and she would have to come get her. I will not be the verbal prisoner of a 12 year-old!
I mean, ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?
The one factor compounding the situation is that Sierra is one of my highest performing students. She made one of the highest scores on our most recent DCA. Why, then, is she resorting to such belligerent misbehavior?
I called Sierra's Dad and he'll be meeting with me at school tomorrow to further discuss what happened. He kept me on the phone tonight while he chewed her out - that was nice to hear. Hopefully it has some impact on her behavior.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Somber Numbers
I spent this weekend grading the DCA that my students took prior to my leaving for Georgia. It took me a week to come to the realization that the answer Scan-trons that I had to turn in were never actually coming back to me, bound instead for district headquaters. Sometimes you just wonder about people who come up with these rules that make absolutely no sense.
Regardless, I was a bit disappointed to see where the numbers fell. Out of 72 students taking the test, I only had 17 pass it. The class means were 66%, 46% and 41% - none of which are passing. Overall, the all-student mean was 55%... somber numbers to say the least.
My Science Curriculum Specialist at my school assured me that my numbers were right on par with the rest of the 6th grade, as well as the school average. I'm not depressed at these numbers - they're actually pretty good considering where my students started. One class' beginning-of-the-year diagnostic score was a measly 19%, so these numbers are significant improvements.
I am realizing, however, just how hard it is going to be to push them over the 80% bar. I thought that I had really laid everything out for my students, in a way that they were sure to make at least an 80%. But now I realize just how layered the instruction is going to need to be.
Now if I can just get a chance to make some changes! If there's one thing that I've learned at Miller that I didn't learn at Wainwright (summer school) it's how much time you really have to spend each night tweaking the next day's lesson based on the information you received that day from your students. These DCA numbers show me that I'm going to really have to tweak some things, in a major way.
It frustrates me though that it will be next week at the earliest before I'll be able to change anything in my classroom. I found out Friday at 4pm that I was required to participate in two Professional Development courses Monday (tonight) and Tuesday from 4-7:30pm. Since I also have my graduate class on Wednesday from 5:30-8:15pm, my nights this week will all be spent in class - ridiculous.
Regardless, I was a bit disappointed to see where the numbers fell. Out of 72 students taking the test, I only had 17 pass it. The class means were 66%, 46% and 41% - none of which are passing. Overall, the all-student mean was 55%... somber numbers to say the least.
My Science Curriculum Specialist at my school assured me that my numbers were right on par with the rest of the 6th grade, as well as the school average. I'm not depressed at these numbers - they're actually pretty good considering where my students started. One class' beginning-of-the-year diagnostic score was a measly 19%, so these numbers are significant improvements.
I am realizing, however, just how hard it is going to be to push them over the 80% bar. I thought that I had really laid everything out for my students, in a way that they were sure to make at least an 80%. But now I realize just how layered the instruction is going to need to be.
Now if I can just get a chance to make some changes! If there's one thing that I've learned at Miller that I didn't learn at Wainwright (summer school) it's how much time you really have to spend each night tweaking the next day's lesson based on the information you received that day from your students. These DCA numbers show me that I'm going to really have to tweak some things, in a major way.
It frustrates me though that it will be next week at the earliest before I'll be able to change anything in my classroom. I found out Friday at 4pm that I was required to participate in two Professional Development courses Monday (tonight) and Tuesday from 4-7:30pm. Since I also have my graduate class on Wednesday from 5:30-8:15pm, my nights this week will all be spent in class - ridiculous.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Why Can't I Just Teach?
Today was my first day back since I was out, and let's just say my desk was a little cluttered. I also found out today that we lost one student, and gained another. What does that bring the total up to now - I've lost count.
That's not all - Monday night one of the 6th grade Science teachers resigned. He sent the principal an email letting her know that he wasn't coming back to school. On one hand, I understand how he must have felt overwhelmed and underappreciated. But on the other, what a freakin' jerk! Are you kidding me? He's just going to up and leave the 9th week of school?! Like that's going to solve anything - now his class has a long-term sub until they can hire someone new. Then that person has to go through a learning curve, so at best, the students in that class will only be about 8-10 weeks behind come Winter Break!
I'll stop that rant right there, because it's actually not what I wanted to tell you about. I found out today that I have to scrap my lesson for next Wednesday because the entire school will be in TAKS-mode. TAKS is the "Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills" and serves as our "high-stakes exam." Since we are a Title I school who didn't pass our AYP (Annual Yearly Progress, a part of 'No Child Left Behind') last year, we HAVE to pass the TAKS in every subject this year, or risk the state taking over our school.
So, this means that on 5 occasions this year, every teacher in the building will be administering either a math or reading TAKS test (full-length) to prepare our students to take the actual TAKS tests in February. This means that on those days, no teacher will be able to actually teach the material that we were hired to teach; that no teacher will be able to actually teach the material that our kids need to know in order to pass the TAKS test; that no teacher will actually be able to do the one thing that we are expected, but never allowed, to do - TEACH!
I was furious when I learned of this information this morning - ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! My kids have a Science Fair in 3 weeks and a Science benchmark exam administered by the district in 8 weeks - and right now we're behind! This goes without mentioning the fact that poor Social Studies has been sacrificed for about 2 weeks now so that we can catch up in Science - the one subject that is tested of the two. But now, I'm expected to just put all that on hold a day - AN ENTIRE DAY - so that they can practice reading? I THOUGHT THAT WAS WHAT READING CLASS WAS FOR!
I know you might be saying, "But Matthew, it's only one day." That's true, but that one day is a Wednesday. And that means that the entire week will be a sacrifice because whatever we learn on Monday and Tuesday will be put on hold for Wednesday, then I'll spend all of Thursday reviewing what we learned Monday and Tuesday and then it's Friday, which is suppossed to be test day. By the way, there is no substantive material that can be taught in two days. I NEED FULL WEEKS HERE!
I wrote a kind of nasty email to one of the APs, expressing my discontent with the situation, but doing so in a manner that would allow me to return to work tomorrow. I think she got the message, but it's not going to change anything.
The one ray of hope in all this is that I was appointed to the school committee that is able to make executive decisions about things like this. Granted, this is probably a district mandate, but at least I can bring it up at the end of the year so that I can at least get the administration to understand how little sense this makes.
A test is a test is a test. The more we practice for the test, the less teaching we can actually do. So in February, our kids will be very familiar with the layout of the test and how to bubble-in answers on a Scantron, but will have no idea WHAT THE ACTUAL ANSWERS ARE!
That's not all - Monday night one of the 6th grade Science teachers resigned. He sent the principal an email letting her know that he wasn't coming back to school. On one hand, I understand how he must have felt overwhelmed and underappreciated. But on the other, what a freakin' jerk! Are you kidding me? He's just going to up and leave the 9th week of school?! Like that's going to solve anything - now his class has a long-term sub until they can hire someone new. Then that person has to go through a learning curve, so at best, the students in that class will only be about 8-10 weeks behind come Winter Break!
I'll stop that rant right there, because it's actually not what I wanted to tell you about. I found out today that I have to scrap my lesson for next Wednesday because the entire school will be in TAKS-mode. TAKS is the "Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills" and serves as our "high-stakes exam." Since we are a Title I school who didn't pass our AYP (Annual Yearly Progress, a part of 'No Child Left Behind') last year, we HAVE to pass the TAKS in every subject this year, or risk the state taking over our school.
So, this means that on 5 occasions this year, every teacher in the building will be administering either a math or reading TAKS test (full-length) to prepare our students to take the actual TAKS tests in February. This means that on those days, no teacher will be able to actually teach the material that we were hired to teach; that no teacher will be able to actually teach the material that our kids need to know in order to pass the TAKS test; that no teacher will actually be able to do the one thing that we are expected, but never allowed, to do - TEACH!
I was furious when I learned of this information this morning - ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! My kids have a Science Fair in 3 weeks and a Science benchmark exam administered by the district in 8 weeks - and right now we're behind! This goes without mentioning the fact that poor Social Studies has been sacrificed for about 2 weeks now so that we can catch up in Science - the one subject that is tested of the two. But now, I'm expected to just put all that on hold a day - AN ENTIRE DAY - so that they can practice reading? I THOUGHT THAT WAS WHAT READING CLASS WAS FOR!
I know you might be saying, "But Matthew, it's only one day." That's true, but that one day is a Wednesday. And that means that the entire week will be a sacrifice because whatever we learn on Monday and Tuesday will be put on hold for Wednesday, then I'll spend all of Thursday reviewing what we learned Monday and Tuesday and then it's Friday, which is suppossed to be test day. By the way, there is no substantive material that can be taught in two days. I NEED FULL WEEKS HERE!
I wrote a kind of nasty email to one of the APs, expressing my discontent with the situation, but doing so in a manner that would allow me to return to work tomorrow. I think she got the message, but it's not going to change anything.
The one ray of hope in all this is that I was appointed to the school committee that is able to make executive decisions about things like this. Granted, this is probably a district mandate, but at least I can bring it up at the end of the year so that I can at least get the administration to understand how little sense this makes.
A test is a test is a test. The more we practice for the test, the less teaching we can actually do. So in February, our kids will be very familiar with the layout of the test and how to bubble-in answers on a Scantron, but will have no idea WHAT THE ACTUAL ANSWERS ARE!
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Sick Day 2
Today I'm feeling a lot better. Granted, I panicked a little when I woke up at 9:30am and momentarily forgot I took the day off.
My voice is definitely coming back and should be back to 90% by tomorrow. The meds I've been taking have definitely made a difference. I felt so good today that I decided to go run a few errands. As I began driving, I realized that although I wasn't tired, my brain seemed to be running sluggishly. After a little bit, I recalled the doctor saying to me not to do anything that involved mental alertness after taking the medicine he gave me. Hmmmm.... driving must be on that list. I cut my errands short and went home from the bookstore.
I stumbled into quite a good deal at Borders today. I was wanting to buy a new book with what was left of a graduation gift card. I took a long time before finally deciding on "Second Acts," a book about presidential life post-White House. It was a little over what I had left on the gift card, but hey, why not splurge a little, eh?
Once I got to the checkout counter, I was asked if I was ever a teacher. Well, yes. Turns out, I got a 25% discount - just for being a teacher! How awesome is that!
Once I got home, it donned on me. I wonder if the discount will work on a DVD boxed set... say West Wing?
My voice is definitely coming back and should be back to 90% by tomorrow. The meds I've been taking have definitely made a difference. I felt so good today that I decided to go run a few errands. As I began driving, I realized that although I wasn't tired, my brain seemed to be running sluggishly. After a little bit, I recalled the doctor saying to me not to do anything that involved mental alertness after taking the medicine he gave me. Hmmmm.... driving must be on that list. I cut my errands short and went home from the bookstore.
I stumbled into quite a good deal at Borders today. I was wanting to buy a new book with what was left of a graduation gift card. I took a long time before finally deciding on "Second Acts," a book about presidential life post-White House. It was a little over what I had left on the gift card, but hey, why not splurge a little, eh?
Once I got to the checkout counter, I was asked if I was ever a teacher. Well, yes. Turns out, I got a 25% discount - just for being a teacher! How awesome is that!
Once I got home, it donned on me. I wonder if the discount will work on a DVD boxed set... say West Wing?
Monday, October 16, 2006
Diagnosis
So I went to the doctor, and only after having to explain that I wasn't in high school and was actually a middle-school teacher, I received the diagnosis. It appears that I have a viral infection with laryngitis.
The doctor told me that under no circumstances was I to return to school prior to Wednesday, so I get tomorrow off also. As bad as this will be once I return to school, I'm actually taking this as an opportunity to get caught up on all the little things I've been needing to do - vacuum the house, go grocery shopping, write my paper for grad class, etc.
There was major rain all night and day in Houston today. Flooding was rampant. I drove through three lakes on the way home from the doctor today. Several school were cancelled - of course mine was not one of them.
In true Houston fashion, the forecast for tomorrow is all sun and 96 degrees.
The doctor told me that under no circumstances was I to return to school prior to Wednesday, so I get tomorrow off also. As bad as this will be once I return to school, I'm actually taking this as an opportunity to get caught up on all the little things I've been needing to do - vacuum the house, go grocery shopping, write my paper for grad class, etc.
There was major rain all night and day in Houston today. Flooding was rampant. I drove through three lakes on the way home from the doctor today. Several school were cancelled - of course mine was not one of them.
In true Houston fashion, the forecast for tomorrow is all sun and 96 degrees.
General Update
Now, for a more-generalized update.
1) Master's Degree - I've been considering the past few weeks staying for a third year in Houston, in order to earn a Master's of Education degree from the University of Houston. I keep going back and forth on this. On one hand, I really like the idea of spending another year exploring big issues in educational policy. On the other hand, knowing that I am headed to law school, I don't really need a Master's degree. And another year in Houston, is another year standing between me and being a lawyer.
I don't have to have a decision until the end of the year, so I have plenty of time to weigh the pros and cons.
2) Dogs Fall - I went home this weekend for Homecoming and while I had so much fun catching up with all my friends and advisors from college, Saturday was depressing. The fact that we, the Georgia Bulldogs, allowed a win to Vanderbilt - VANDERBILT - is just sad. We've only allowed a win 3 different times (in 26 years!) and the last one was 12 years ago. That's also the last time we lost a Homecoming game.
Wow - this is bad. Our season is all but over. This loss, coupled with Thomas Brown's season-ending knee injury and a host of others, we're done for.
3) Athens - Despite Saturday, I had the most fun I've had in a while. It was so great to have the time to catch up with Raj and Casey, Laurie and Laura. I also got to spend some time with Ashley on the drive from Hartsfield to Athens. I also had the chance to catch up with several of my advisors at Georgia, which provided much-needed inspiration and motivation.
All in all, it was a great weekend.
The one bad thing (number 2 above as an aside) was this illness that I've gotten, most likely from going from 87-degree Houston to 62-degree Athens all weekend. I'm starting to feel better already though, thanks to being able to sleep in until 10:30 this morning.
1) Master's Degree - I've been considering the past few weeks staying for a third year in Houston, in order to earn a Master's of Education degree from the University of Houston. I keep going back and forth on this. On one hand, I really like the idea of spending another year exploring big issues in educational policy. On the other hand, knowing that I am headed to law school, I don't really need a Master's degree. And another year in Houston, is another year standing between me and being a lawyer.
I don't have to have a decision until the end of the year, so I have plenty of time to weigh the pros and cons.
2) Dogs Fall - I went home this weekend for Homecoming and while I had so much fun catching up with all my friends and advisors from college, Saturday was depressing. The fact that we, the Georgia Bulldogs, allowed a win to Vanderbilt - VANDERBILT - is just sad. We've only allowed a win 3 different times (in 26 years!) and the last one was 12 years ago. That's also the last time we lost a Homecoming game.
Wow - this is bad. Our season is all but over. This loss, coupled with Thomas Brown's season-ending knee injury and a host of others, we're done for.
3) Athens - Despite Saturday, I had the most fun I've had in a while. It was so great to have the time to catch up with Raj and Casey, Laurie and Laura. I also got to spend some time with Ashley on the drive from Hartsfield to Athens. I also had the chance to catch up with several of my advisors at Georgia, which provided much-needed inspiration and motivation.
All in all, it was a great weekend.
The one bad thing (number 2 above as an aside) was this illness that I've gotten, most likely from going from 87-degree Houston to 62-degree Athens all weekend. I'm starting to feel better already though, thanks to being able to sleep in until 10:30 this morning.
Classroom Update
It's been two weeks since my last post... things have been a little crazy to say the least.
Today I'm home sick with some head/chest cold or maybe it's a sinus infection - either way, that means that I'm getting a lot of planning done, as well as updating the blog.
As far as updating what's been happening in the classroom, several things in particular stand out in my mind.
1) DCA - My students took their first DCA (District Common Assessment - it's a TAKS benchmark exam) for Science this past Thursday. I anticipate the scores should be hovering somewhere around 65-70%, just under our class goal of 80%. Hopefully, I'll be getting the scores sometime early this week.
2) Taylor showed some very concerning signs 2 weeks ago. One day, he came and just stood beside me, waiting to be recognized. When I asked him what he needed, his reply was "A father." Another day, he flat out lied to me and said that both of my partner teachers had given him a failing conduct grade for the day. In fact, he had received two "A's." Yet another day, he told me that his mom was moving him to another set of teachers. When I talked to her that afternoon, she said that he was lieing again.
I spent last week meeting with all his teachers and the school counselor to try and figure out a way to turn his misbehavior around and get to the bottom of all these public cries for help. Something is going on at home; something is so bad in his life right now that his public behavior at school (in front of all his peers, nonetheless) is completely uncharacteristic of an 11 year-old, but more like a 6 year-old, complete with tantrums and crying. Together, his teachers and counselor decided to recommend his seeing a pyschologist. I think it's a very good idea - hopefully we can convince the district and the mother that it is warranted.
3) Antonio was expelled from school last week for a third sexually-inappropriate outburst. We've been struggling with him for about 4 weeks now, trying to get to the bottom of what's going on at home. His other teachers and I suspect there might be some sexually abuse going on at home by his grandfather, as we also suspect the mother is leaving Antonio at home completely alone while she goes to work.
The first incident occured in my classroom about 4 weeks ago. We were taking a test and he raises his hand. Over the course of the next 5 minutes, we engaged in a conversation of his asking me to go to the bathroom, and my reminding him that the bathroom was off-limits during a test. Eventually, Antonio let me know that he had an erection, and his behavior showed me that he a) had no idea what was going on, and b) didn't know what to do. I gave him a few minutes to settle down and then let him go to the bathroom. I talked to him afterwards, letting him know that it was completely normal for his age and that nothing was wrong with him. He seemed okay with that.
The second incident occured in my partner teacher's classroom. She intercepted a note from him to one of the girls in the classroom. When she read it, she discovered it was of an inappropriate and sexually-explicit nature. When she talked to Iris (the intended target of the ntoe), Iris said that she was completely uncomfortable by Antonio's behavior towards her and that it had occurred before.
The final straw occured last week in chorus class, when for whatever reason Antonio pulled down his pants in front of a group of girls. His underwear was still on, but regardless, this was quite a red flag.
Over the course of the next few weeks, the administration will be working with district psychologists and Antonio's mother to figure out what it going on at home and determine whether Child Protective Services will be involved.
That's about where I stand coming into the classroom this week. Despite how bad it sounds with Taylor and Antonio, I really am excited about the general upbeat nature my students have after taking the DCA. They said it seemed "easy," so we'll see how that plays out in the scores this week.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Delta Weekend
This weekend was a blast - and was just what I needed to recharge my batteries.I took Friday off and spent the day driving to Leland, MS (home to Missy) with Serafin. We got there about 6pm, just in time to catch Missy at the Leland football game. Once the game was over, we made the trek to Helena, AR (about an hour and a half) to spend the night with Amanda. Amanda had some other college friends staying with her also, so her house was hopping.
We slept in till about 11am Saturday and awoke to an amazing breakfast feast that Amanda had homemade. Nothing makes a weekend better than some homemade bisquits and grits.
We headed over to Oxford and got there about 1pm, and setup our tailgate in "the Grove." The Grove is a huge quad that everyone tailgates on. It's really neat to have everyone in the same place. I enjoyed walking around and seeing so many of my Georgia friends. Of course, walking around with Missy was like having a movie-star as a best friend, but I still enjoyed it.
Speaking of celebrities, we actually had Cooper Manning at our tailgate! He was just walking around and saw our TV and so stopped to ask about the Florida game. As he was leaving, it donned on us who he was. Needless to say, Amanda was in histerics, being so close to achieving her life's goal of marrying into the Manning family.
The game had me worried, but we pulled it out in the end. I don't know why we keep stumbling with these unranked teams. It's like we get cocky and then just trip all over ourselves. Let's hope we pull things together for No.13 Tennessee this week.
Serafin had to catch a 4pm flight to New York to interview Wendy Kopp, so that meant we had to leave the game about 15 mins early and start the journey back home--all 9.5 hours of it! At first it wasn't so bad. Thank goodness for Red Bulls, otherwise those last 4 hours would have been impossible.
Now I'm back home, refreshed and recharged. Which is a good thing, because I just found out that our teacher call-in program never registered my absence and therefore never called a sub for me. So, my classes were split among the other 6th-grade teachers. This means things tomorrow are going to be very interesting.
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