Why we teach...
Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 7:47am
If there's any way to describe my first year...it would be the following:
There were moments of frustration...irritation...complaining (by your students AND you)...you carried burdens home...both the physical grading/lesson planning and the emotional baggage...150 kids who love you...hate you...or maybe just act like they hate you...you weren't always ready for lessons...sometimes the lessons you poured your heart into failed miserably...you were tired......sometimes to the point of tears...there were times you wanted to quit...
...and then...you remembered why you teach...a successful lesson...something a kid says...a "thank you"...a hug...a "this is the first math test I've ever passed!"...an "Oh my gosh, I actually understand this!" moment...a chat about life/the future/etc...and you realize...I love these kids...they drive me nuts...but I love 'em...
I'm going to miss my kids...
here's a letter from one of my students (they had to write letters of gratitude to one of their teachers for one of their classes)...this one was especially special to me because of who the student is and how her year has been...it's been a rough year for her...I don't know the details, but she came into my classroom a bright, motivated student and then struggled...grew an attitude...we butted heads for awhile, but I was always hoping to help bring back out the girl from the beginning of the year...I feel like we ended the year on a good note...but it's been a journey...
"Dear Ms. J,
I am writing this letter to let you know that I am truly grateful for you really helping me out towards school and trying to get me to stay after school and help with my grade. I truly am grateful for just taking that time that you really did not need to take out of your time. The time you could be doing something else. =)
At the beginning of the year I realized how focused I was and how I [was] just so into math. I realize now there has been a really different me. I don't really do the work and I am not focused. You made me see that math does count and we will need math. I just really am so happy that you are my teacher even if sometimes I don't really like being in your class but you have always been the best...so thanks!!!!
Respectfully yours,
--------------"
AND THAT is why I teach...
So...to the FIRST YEAR TEACHER CLASS OF '09! We made it! Congrats!!! we are no longer newbies! woohoo!!!
Too bad I have to go back to school to finish my classroom and turn in grades and check out...
Jaded?
Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 10:08pm
jad·ed - adj - Cynically or pretentiously callous
Someone made a comment to me awhile back, saying that I sounded like I was getting a little jaded when it came to teaching...
I've been thinking about it, and it's true. But I'm beginning to think that to survive as a teacher you need to be a little jaded. Obviously if you're too jaded, that's not good. But there needs to be a delicate balance between that hopeful idealism I believe all good teachers have and preparing yourself not to be constantly depressed when reality falls well short of the ideal.
...on a somewhat related note - a story that started me off on this train of thought:
Setting up the scene
date: yesterday
who: a senior who is precariously close to failing my class (and thus not graduating)...who came in for extra help for the first time yesterday (there are 2 weeks left in school for seniors)...and who has only turned in 65% of the homework (which is graded completely on effort)
background: before every test I give a practice test which is almost exactly like my test (i.e. same/similar questions with different numbers). Every time we have a test I tell them: "The test will be almost exactly like the practice test." And some questions are even exactly the same as the one on the test and I give them the answers. Inevitably, right after I tell them that the test will be just like the practice test, 10 people ask if the test will be like the practice test, and I repeat to them that, "Yes, the test will be just like the practice test."
student's are allowed a cheat sheet...(one page of handwritten notes)
the student in question has just come in for help with the practice test to prepare for the unit test which is tomorrow.
Student: Ms. J, I just blank on the tests. On the last test I had everything on my cheat sheet and when I got the test, I just couldn't do it. I had all the formulas and everything.
Ms. J: Well we need to make sure you put the right things on your cheat sheet and make sure you understand the problems on the practice test.
Student: You mean, if I don't understand the practice test I won't be able to do well on the test?
Ms. J: (in her head - are you kidding me? are you pretending?) Umm...noooo. The practice tests are almost exactly the same as the tests, so if you don't understand them you won't understand the tests.
Student: Oh...
Ms. J: so for the last few tests, did you understand the practice tests?
Student: not really.
(end of scene)
I was dumbfounded. I don't know how I could have made it more clear in class that the practice test and the test are pretty much the same thing. I flat out tell my students 50 times that they're the same thing. Then again, the student could very well just be playing the innocent fool, but still, I could not believe I was having this conversation with a student who I'm pretty sure is already 18, or at least 17.
Also up there on the list was the kid who exclaimed that everything made so much more sense when he is awake in class rather than sleeping.
Sometimes I feel like when I tell my kids stuff I'm like the adults in Charlie Brown where it's just trumpet noise and not actually words.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
learned helplessness...
One of the things we learned about in psych and in education classes is the idea of learned helplessness:
The idea that a person feels like they have no control over a situation and therefore can do nothing to improve it.
I'm coming to feel that this is also the reason so many teachers burn out.
As the year comes to a close and I continue grading failing papers, sometimes I just feel like no matter what I do, .it doesn't make any difference. I put in more work this year than I ever have before, and the results seem worse than anything I've ever done, and in part this is because the results depend on other people.
In school, if I did poorly on a test or paper I could study harder and improve my score. Now, I put in hours planning, tutoring, etc...but it seems as if nothing helps...
Monday, March 09, 2009
staying sane...
by planning my spring break and summer vacation...
Sunday, March 08, 2009
sunday nights...
are often the most depressing night of the week.
I was talking with another first year teacher and we agreed that Sunday nights are even worse than Monday...
Are you facebook friends with your students?
Monday, March 2, 2009 at 7:50pm
one of my freshmen found me on facebook...my instinct is to tell her I won't be her facebook friend until she graduates...
what do you think? to all the teachers, are you facebook friends with your current students?
I don't have anything too crazy on here, but I write about being stressed out by students a lot...and I'd also have to make sure i blocked them from some photos...that'd be a pain...
Monday, March 02, 2009
quiz averages by period
Same quiz in every period
Period 1 (Freshmen Geometry): 70%
Period 3 (Geometry 10th-12th): 44%
Period 4 (Freshmen Geometry: 68%
Period 6 (Geometry 10th-12th): 49%
*sigh*...
Monday, February 23, 2009
pushover...
The Friday before this break was particularly rough. I tried actually teaching a lesson (never a good idea the day before break), and 6th period was horrible. Kids were complaining and talking back. It was to the point where a girl who rarely speaks up, told everyone to stop talking back.
I felt pretty bad, mainly because in that class I'm letting down the kids who are actually trying to learn. I am a pushover. This is one of the biggest things that jeapardizes my teaching career. How do I learn to not be a pushover?
Anyways, I had a conversation with the girl who spoke up and a couple other students after class about consequences and things I should enforce.
Here is an email she sent me later that night.
"Hello, Ms. Jiang! So you would like some ideas on some of the consequences..... I think, first off, don't be too much of a pushover...and you have to lay down some ground rules...YOU'RE the boss and if we decide to tell you otherwise then straight to the office they go. Don't let the students take advantage of you, it's YOUR classroom, they are YOUR rules and YOU are the teacher! You should only give us one warning and one warning only and if we just don't listen then BAM....referral to the office. Don't let the students argue with you, if they start to do that then, I think, that they should go to the office because they have absolutely no right to talk to a teacher in that way. Okay I hope you found that informative... Thanks!"
haha...if this wasn't about me, it would be pretty amusing. But now all I can think about is how I'm going to lay down the law...I think where I get stuck now is trying to be "fair" or, more accurately, consistent. I have trouble being consistent, so when I do try and enforce things, it doesn't work out well. I can't keep track of things...and by 6th period...I'm so drained...><
Depressing
Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 3:16am
My Algebra class average on the last quiz was 50%, and most of that 50% was people who either took the class last year (and failed because of laziness even though they knew the material), or people who transferred into my class at the semester from a class that was a chapter ahead.
Seriously, I think maybe 1 person out of 18 learned something new in the past 2 weeks.
I think I could just not teach anything and they'd score about the same as they do on the quizzes and tests.
On a side note, one kid who didn't do homework all last semester (one of those kids who knew everything, but just didn't do the work), but aced all the tests last semester. Well this time, he's been doing the homework, but bombed the quiz. Kind of throws off the correlation between homework and test scores.
BTSA
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 11:45pm
Yes, this is a rant.
Right now, BTSA is ridiculous. I think it's actually detracting from my teaching because tonight I have to catch up on a bunch of useless paperwork rather than sleeping. I think sleeping would be more helpful to my teaching than filling out a log of all my interactions with parents and students for the past couple months.
The frustrating thing is I already technically have a log of my parent and student communications, but it's just not in a form where I can turn it in. So I have to waste a couple hours retyping all this stuff up.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
my body...
has finally decided to quit on me.
Sick two weekends in a row, plus eczema all over my hands, feet, and now elbow...
Too bad I need to be there tomorrow to start the new semester.
I can't believe it's already been half a year. I also can't believe it's ONLY been half a year. That means I have a whole other half to survive.
Dear Inventors…inventive people…etc.
Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 1:02am
If it's not already invented, whoever can invent a machine that can automatically ensure all cell phones in a certain vicinity are turned off or won't work could be very rich, and would have my eternal gratitude.
If it is already invented, why the heck don't all classrooms have one? It would save me from a huge headache.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
the extent of laziness...
me: oh wait, you don't have these homework problems tonight (I erase some of the homework problems)
J: what? you made me write it down?
me: you want more homework?
J: no, but you made me write it down!
me: you can do the problems if you want
other students: shut up, J!
J: But she made me write it down!
me: J, if you keep complaining I'll assign you those problems
J: No, but I wasted time writing it down.
other students: J, BE QUIET! who cares, geez!
I don't know what it is, but one of my classes in particular is the whiniest class ever, so many whiners. At least this time most of them realized that my erasing problems from the board was a good thing, but I just thought it was hilarious that this kid was complaining that I erased problems, obviously not because he wanted more homework, but just because he had already written it down.
Monday, December 01, 2008
mornings
I don't know if this happens to any other teachers, but in the mornings I really just want to be alone. I'm fine with kids coming in after school, in fact I tell them to come, but in the mornings I'm still sleepy and a bit cranky.
Well, I have this one kid whose mom drops him off 30 minutes early EVERY DAY. Really nice kid, good student, he even helps me do last minute prep sometimes, but every morning when he shows up at my room at 7am. I can't help but be annoyed, yet I can't really let him stand outside in the cold either.
But really, I just want to be alone in the mornings. Is that too much to ask for?
Thursday, November 20, 2008
goals for Thanksgiving Break
1. Catch up on BTSA paperwork. Goodness, .I am sooooo behind in BTSA paperwork it's not even funny. (BTSA is the new teacher induction program you have to go through to get your teaching credential cleared)
2. Clean out both my gmail and my school email account, email is becoming the bain of my life. If i don't check it daily, not only have i missed several important announcements for meetings i have to be at or meetings I need to set up or paperwork I need to send it, but I also have about a billion new emails the next time i do check it. On the other hand, if i do check it daily, I have to spend time responding or else I forget about the email and end up getting annoyed emails from parents. I hate having a cluttered emailbox. Need to organize my emails nicely into folders.
3. Actually do some backwards planning for the chapter I'm squeezing in between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
student: Ms. Jiang, when are you going to get a boyfriend and bring him here?
me: When I get a life.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Can I throw these away?
Student: Can I throw my old homework away?
Me: Why do you want to throw them away? You should use those to study...
Student: I didn't get them. I got the answers wrong anyways, so I can't study from them. It will just confuse me.
Me: So you should keep them and come in for extra help on them, so you can understand them.
Student: I just want to throw them away. I can't get any points for them anyways right?
Me: You can still turn these in for late credit. But you should really keep them anyways.
Student: Why should I keep them? I don't want to keep them.
Me: You can still turn them in for late credit, just keep them.
Student: Ugh...fine...
the one that drives you nuts...
Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 9:00pm
So...my freshmen Algebra class is a bit spazzy. One of my kids in particular really seems ADHD: either he's completely zoned out (eyes glazed over even when I'm talking directly to him) or he's completely hyper...never in between...
He's driven me a bit nuts because he can be very disruptive, but there's also that likeable quality to him.
At back to school night, I chatted with his mom, and she brought up her concerns, and some of the pieces of the puzzle fit together more in terms of his math history, and his "undiagnosed attention issues".
The more I get to know him, the more I've come to see, that this kid has a very black and white picture of "smart" and "dumb". To him, if you understand it, you're smart, if not you're dumb, and because all the material is new, he considers himself dumb and shuts down. Every once in awhile, we'll hit a topic he's heard about before or that he has a solid understanding of, and he'll perk up. One day he said, "I'm smart today!" However, most days, he considers himself not smart.
It's been frustrating trying to get through to him about the fact that just because he doesn't understand the material, doesn't mean he's dumb. In fact, when I work one on one with him, he picks up the material fairly quickly. I've tried to provide opportunities to assign competence, but then it just becomes "I'm smart today, but not necessarily tomorrow"...probably a defense mechanism in case he can't answer tomorrow's question. In terms of what he knows already, he's about on par with the rest of the class. But he has such a negative view of his math ability, that he just assumes if he doesn't understand it the first time, there's no point in trying, so he doesn't learn the new material.
Today, I had to move his seat because he was being disruptive, but it gave me the opportunity to sit with him one-on-one while he was working. He told me he just doesn't have the motivation and he's just not good at math. When we were talking about motivation, I asked him what he wanted to be in the future. What he said broke my heart. He told me that he had had plans for the future, but not anymore. When I asked if his plans required graduating from high school, he said, "Yeah, that's why I gave up on my dreams."
All I could tell him was, "Don't give up on your dreams. Work for them." Or something to that effect. It sounds so...movie clicheish...
There was also the textbook case of him saying, "I'm just lazy." I'm guessing he's heard that from people enough times that it's become who he considers himself.
I do think there are some underlying attention and/or learning issues, but it is hard to tell how much is just a lack of motivation and a feeling of defeat and how much might be an attention/learning issue.
Anyways, it's so often the students who frustrate you the most, that are the ones you're rooting for the most. While I have no rosy pictures about me turning this students' life around and making him love math. I just hope that he doesn't completely give up. My hope is that 3 and 3/4 years from now I see him walking across the stage at graduation.
After our chat he seemed to have renewed motivation to at least study for tomorrow's test.
I still have hope...
How do you judge your own teaching?
Sunday, October 5, 2008 at 8:56pm
I think I died a little bit today as I graded chapter 2 tests for Geometry.
My heart broke for the kids who came in for extra help, who I thought had it down, but who still ended up struggling.
But what really killed me was the disparity. My Geometry 9 class pretty much aced the test, while my Geometry 10-12 class pretty much bombed the test.
If I had never gone through STEP, I think I would just say, "Screw it, those kids didn't study...whatever..." but alas...I went through STEP and now, all I can think is: "I suck at reaching a diverse group of kids...I only seem to be able to reach those already inclined to learn math...what about those who struggle?"
I don't know what to do. I could split my curriculum so that my Geometry 9 is going faster than my regular Geometry class, but i'm already dying with 2 preps (algebra and geometry). Splitting the curriculum would be like having 3 preps and then I think all my classes would suffer. Plus, with our pacing schedule all the Geometry classes are expected to know the same thing at the end of the semester (we have a department-wide final), meaning I can't go that much slower than I already am...
I feel like I don't know how to apply anything I learned last year. My classes are so huge that groupwork seems impossible, my classroom management is simply not good enough for me to monitor 10 groups of 3 and 4 at once, and once again, I haven't set up group norms and feel like it's too late to try. My assessment has been horrible (pretty much just quizzes and tests)
And I pretty much just feel like I'm sinking.
Part of me says...I can't totally judge how I'm doing based on how my students are doing, but seriously, if over half the class can't identify perpendicular lines, there's gotta be something (or many things) I'm doing wrong.
But I don't know how to fix it. I feel like I need to reset, but there's never time.
I'm always running out of time.
If there is one thing that I think will kill me, it's grading. Every time I grade I get depressed.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
I am feeling...
overwhelmed...
running on odd hours of sleep...and very little of it...
new teacher meetings...
meetings with parents...
planning day to day...
writing tests...
writing quizzes...
BTSA...
grading...grading...and more grading...
semi-long commute...
turning in D and F progress reports.......late...><
Worst nap ever…
Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 5:58pm
I took a nap to get away from grading/entering grades, but seriously every time I fell asleep. I was grading again! I woke up in a dazed confusion: what happened to the papers that were just in my hands? why am i in bed? is that a student calling me on my cell phone?
Turns out it was my mom calling me, waking me up. I had already been woken up twice by my actual alarm, but fell back asleep...
back to grading...
I've made the decision that if I don't finish these at a reasonable hour. i'm not handing these quizzes back tomorrow. For my own sanity...sorry kids...
Sunday, September 21, 2008
is it already november?
Graph of new teacher attitudes throughout the year...
different mindsets
Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 11:14pm
I teach 2 classes of freshmen Geometry and 2 classes of regular Geometry (10th-12th grade) and it's very interesting to compare the freshmen Geometry classes to the regular Geometry classes.
I've been having students reflect on what they understand and what they want to work on for their portfolios. This past Friday, for their "Do Now/Warm Up", I had them answer the following questions:
1) What is one thing you felt you understood very well from this past week?
2) What is one goal you have for this unit? (What would you like to improve on?)
The answers to question number 1 was generally either "I understand conditional statements well" or "I don't understand much of anything that's going on in this class"
The answers to question 2 varied depending on the class. My freshmen mostly said "I would like to understand 2-column proofs better", whereas my older students said "my goal is to pass this class" or "my goal is to be an average geometry student" or "my goal is to do okay on the test".
My question was pretty broad, but clearly the focus of school is different for students who are either repeating geometry or on the "lower math" track than for the freshmen (who are on the CA standard track). What I got from this is that my older students either just want to survive math or are focused more on the grade than anything else. My freshmen seem to be focused (at least a little more) on understanding what they're learning.
I hope by the end of this year, all my students will be concerned more about the understanding. Knowing myself and students in general, the understanding will rarely be valued as much as it should be, while the grade will always be valued more than it should be, but I hope that by the end of the year when I ask my students what their goals are for a unit, they will tell me what they want to learn, not what grade they want to get.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 9:04pm
So many random thoughts...so little time...
Random thought #1a: It amazes me how differently my students all learn...more specifically, they learn so differently than me...it's a constant reminder to myself that just because "I learned it that way," it doesn't mean they will.
Random thought#1b: Related to the thought above...it also amazes me how I can say something in class and a student will have no idea what I'm talking about, but when they come in after school for help, I say the exact same thing and they understand it perfectly somehow...my theories for why this might be:
- I really do go slower when I explain it to them one-on-one (even though I don't feel like it)
- it's the second time they've heard it so it starts to sink in
- they are too overwhelmed in class
- they can't focus in class
- they are too far away to see the board in class
- the eye contact helps them absorb the information...this could also be related that when I'm not looking in class, students can be zoning out...
- I explain things differently one-on-one...
- some combination of the above...
But seriously sometimes, I don't feel like I'm saying anything different than what I said in class...and suddenly the student understands...
Random thought #2: I am meeting parents tomorrow night...geez...tomorrow's gonna be long...I hope the parents are nice...
Random thought #3: Cheating sucks...dealing with cheating sucks...
Thursday, September 11, 2008
my high school...
I really am starting to love my high school.
At first I was a bit apprehensive. I made my decision to come here partly because I hate uncertainty and it was the first place that offered me a job and it was in a district I liked. When I first started, I was a little uncertain. The pedagogy here is definitely much more traditional style, while Stanford had always leaned toward the progressive side. There are definitely aspects I could do without (i.e. the pacing schedule and the text book we're using), but I think I'm beginning to find a balance (in terms of curriculum) that I can live with, and I'm rediscovering my innovative side. Also, I'm getting some really cool ideas from other teachers (which are much better than what the text has given me). Though, we are adopting new books. Hopefully, the next one is better.
The math department is super supportive and the other teachers are always willing to spend their time calming me down or teaching me how to deal with classroom management issues or providing me with some of their materials. It's really been a lifesaver. Seriously, if I had to make my tests from scratch. I think I'd have died from exhaustion already. They've also given me some of their timesaving tips.
I really like a lot of the other teachers from other departments as well.
Today, our faculty drove through our school's boundary area and drove through areas where our kids live. It was eye-opening. We drove by some small apartments where a huge list of kids live. Then we drove through a rich area within our boundaries and only a few kids from our school live there. Turns out, most of the kids in the rich area that would have gone to my high school end up going to private school. Then, we drove by a bar with apartments above it, and it turns out some of our kids live there. We also learned that even though some kids live hecka far away, they can't get picked up by the school bus, only kids who live really really far away can get picked up. Our boundary area is huge. I'm not sure how they split it up between our school and the other school in our district. Anyways, I thought it was really cool that our administration set this up. I really like our admin because it's so clear how much they care for the teachers and the students. It's been fun so far, but completely exhausting as well.
The best part, though, is getting to know the students. I love my students. Not that I didn't love my students last year, but I feel like I never really got the chance to get to know them well because I wasn't on campus except when I taught. I actually have kids coming in for extra help this year! I know that some of the teachers have told me some times you have to say no, but helping the kids after school is actually my favorite part of the day. My lessons can sometimes be good, but especially in some of my larger classes, I'm still having trouble even remembering some of their names.
During the times that I get to spend one-on-one I feel like I've already gotten to know some of my students this year better than some of my students last year. It can be frustrating at times when I find that my Geometry students can't do Algebra, but it makes me happy that even though a couple of my Geometry students are struggling with Algebra, they're still coming in for extra help...most kids would have just given up.
I'm still struggling a bit with classroom management and making sure students are on time. I wonder if I'll ever be good at making sure student's aren't tardy. I'm not good at being "the boss," but I'm sure it will come with time. I signed my first referral today, made my first negative phone call home, and confiscated my first mp3 player. It was kind of nervewracking and I don't think I sounded very teacher-like when talking to the parent, but when it was over, it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. I still like teaching, despite hating having to be "the boss." Since I got a lot of firsts out of the way today, I figure, with more experience, I'll have an easier time doing the things I'm supposed to do when it comes to discipline. To balance out the icky feeling of having to call a parent with bad news, I've already lined up several parents who I want to call with good news. That'll be my task tomorrow or early next week.
Anyways, I should be lesson planning now, but had a lot of thoughts floating in my head. More to come.
last note:
one of my students today asked me if I had a boyfriend. When I told her "no," she said she'd hook me up with someone through e-harmony...hahahaha...I love my job...
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
teaching takes energy...
I've lost like 4 or 5 pounds since the school year started. Ironically, I've probably been eating more than usual. I'm constantly hungry. I eat breakfast (which i never used to do), and then I bring some extra breakfast, and then i usually eat half my lunch at lunch and half after school (except my lunch is actually larger than the lunch i used to pack myself). Then i come home and eat dinner.
Even though I eat in the morning, usually twice (once when i wake up and once during my 2nd period prep), my stomach is always grumbling during 4th period.
I think if I didn't live at home I'd starve to death or be spending a lot of money on food and i'd probably be eating a lot of fast food.
The weight loss could also be because I haven't been sleeping much, but still, I think teaching in general burns a lot of energy...
Monday, September 08, 2008
favorites...
I've been doing lots of complaining recently, so I thought I'd list some of the highlights of my first couple weeks as a teacher:
- having students come in after school for help. I love getting the chance to help them individually and to target individual student needs, but even more than that is that it gives me the chance to get to know who the student it individually
- 9th grade Geometry. While I'm still torn about tracking, and all my kids are pretty great, the 9th grade Geometry students are kind of a break for me during the day because they are pretty self-motivated.
- Algebra 1-9. I have fewer than 20 students in my one Algebra 1-9 class. It's amazing.
- 10th-12th grade Geometry. A lot of the older students are very mature and I like the energy they bring to class. If only class sizes were a little smaller, so I could remember all of their names.
- reading their "class expectations" and "dear math" letters
- getting to know about students and their lives
anyways...back to planning...
Sunday, September 07, 2008
top 10 worst weekends...
if I had such a list...this weekend would be up there...
I hate grading quizzes...
I feel like I've been grading nonstop since saturday morning...
I still have to lesson plan this week too...and make worksheets and tests...
geez...><
Saturday, September 06, 2008
180 days?
So I hear people say: "Oh, it must be nice to have summer off" and "for ONLY working 180 days, your pay is good."
Before I started teaching full time (two weeks ago), I did think of my work as 180 days (184 if you include professional development).
I'm beginning to realize that 180 days doesn't take into account weekends. So far i've been working 7 days a week. Weekends are becoming time for me to grade, write tests, and lesson plan.
So technically, a lot of teachers are working way more than 180 days.
Summer is more just like all the weekends we missed out on during the school year put together.
Granted, this is my first year, and once I have materials and stuff I'll have to do less on the weekend, but still, I think a lot of teachers spend some of their time on the weekends prepping.
...I missed my morning cartoons today because of grading.
TO DO THIS WEEKEND:
- go through 135 homework packets (thank goodness i'm changing my homework policy so I'll never have to do this again) (estimated time: 2-5 hours depending how lazy I get)
- grade 100 quizzes (estimated time: 5-7 hours)
- write a practice test (estimated time: 1 hour)
- write 2 versions of a test (estimated time: 2 hours)
- write make up quiz (estimated time: 30 minutes)
- lesson plan 1 week of algebra (2-3 hours)
- lesson plan 1 week of geometry (2-3 hours)
yeah...don't think I'll actually finish...have to finish the grading and practice test though.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
so...
I've graded about 30 quizzes...=\
100 to go (30 more kids took the quiz today)
This is not going to be a fun weekend.
Grading is my least favorite part of teaching. I wouldn't mind it so much if I didn't have to give points and take away points (aka assessment without grades), but alas that's not how the world works.
Lectures are a close second to grading as one of my least favorite parts of teaching.
So what exactly DO I like? I like watching the kids learn, and doing activities that engage them in the math, but I've been so busy trying to get my bearings that I haven't gotten the chance to think of any really engaging, yet relevant activities (aka groupworthy tasks).
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Tonight's goal:
grade 100 quizzes before 11
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
If math were a person...
he/she would be very very lonely...at least in high school...
I gave my students "Dear Math," where they write letters to math.
So far, out of all the letters I've skimmed (I have around 150 students), I think I've read 2 where the students sound optimistic about math. =( The rest have either always disliked math, grown bored with math, grown frustrated with math, etc.
Most have decided to "part ways" with math. A lot of my freshmen especially chose Biology/Science over math.
Poor Math...
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sustainable Teaching
definitely not what I've been doing for the past week...
where has my 3 day weekend gone? =\
Although...I did watch Saturday morning cartoons all morning yesterday......while making signs for my classroom...
I think Saturday morning cartoons will be one of my weekly routines...
Why we teach...
Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 7:47am
If there's any way to describe my first year...it would be the following:
There were moments of frustration...irritation...complaining (by your students AND you)...you carried burdens home...both the physical grading/lesson planning and the emotional baggage...150 kids who love you...hate you...or maybe just act like they hate you...you weren't always ready for lessons...sometimes the lessons you poured your heart into failed miserably...you were tired......sometimes to the point of tears...there were times you wanted to quit...
...and then...you remembered why you teach...a successful lesson...something a kid says...a "thank you"...a hug...a "this is the first math test I've ever passed!"...an "Oh my gosh, I actually understand this!" moment...a chat about life/the future/etc...and you realize...I love these kids...they drive me nuts...but I love 'em...
I'm going to miss my kids...
here's a letter from one of my students (they had to write letters of gratitude to one of their teachers for one of their classes)...this one was especially special to me because of who the student is and how her year has been...it's been a rough year for her...I don't know the details, but she came into my classroom a bright, motivated student and then struggled...grew an attitude...we butted heads for awhile, but I was always hoping to help bring back out the girl from the beginning of the year...I feel like we ended the year on a good note...but it's been a journey...
"Dear Ms. J,
I am writing this letter to let you know that I am truly grateful for you really helping me out towards school and trying to get me to stay after school and help with my grade. I truly am grateful for just taking that time that you really did not need to take out of your time. The time you could be doing something else. =)
At the beginning of the year I realized how focused I was and how I [was] just so into math. I realize now there has been a really different me. I don't really do the work and I am not focused. You made me see that math does count and we will need math. I just really am so happy that you are my teacher even if sometimes I don't really like being in your class but you have always been the best...so thanks!!!!
Respectfully yours,
--------------"
AND THAT is why I teach...
So...to the FIRST YEAR TEACHER CLASS OF '09! We made it! Congrats!!! we are no longer newbies! woohoo!!!
Too bad I have to go back to school to finish my classroom and turn in grades and check out...
Jaded?
Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 10:08pm
jad·ed - adj - Cynically or pretentiously callous
Someone made a comment to me awhile back, saying that I sounded like I was getting a little jaded when it came to teaching...
I've been thinking about it, and it's true. But I'm beginning to think that to survive as a teacher you need to be a little jaded. Obviously if you're too jaded, that's not good. But there needs to be a delicate balance between that hopeful idealism I believe all good teachers have and preparing yourself not to be constantly depressed when reality falls well short of the ideal.
...on a somewhat related note - a story that started me off on this train of thought:
Setting up the scene
date: yesterday
who: a senior who is precariously close to failing my class (and thus not graduating)...who came in for extra help for the first time yesterday (there are 2 weeks left in school for seniors)...and who has only turned in 65% of the homework (which is graded completely on effort)
background: before every test I give a practice test which is almost exactly like my test (i.e. same/similar questions with different numbers). Every time we have a test I tell them: "The test will be almost exactly like the practice test." And some questions are even exactly the same as the one on the test and I give them the answers. Inevitably, right after I tell them that the test will be just like the practice test, 10 people ask if the test will be like the practice test, and I repeat to them that, "Yes, the test will be just like the practice test."
student's are allowed a cheat sheet...(one page of handwritten notes)
the student in question has just come in for help with the practice test to prepare for the unit test which is tomorrow.
Student: Ms. J, I just blank on the tests. On the last test I had everything on my cheat sheet and when I got the test, I just couldn't do it. I had all the formulas and everything.
Ms. J: Well we need to make sure you put the right things on your cheat sheet and make sure you understand the problems on the practice test.
Student: You mean, if I don't understand the practice test I won't be able to do well on the test?
Ms. J: (in her head - are you kidding me? are you pretending?) Umm...noooo. The practice tests are almost exactly the same as the tests, so if you don't understand them you won't understand the tests.
Student: Oh...
Ms. J: so for the last few tests, did you understand the practice tests?
Student: not really.
(end of scene)
I was dumbfounded. I don't know how I could have made it more clear in class that the practice test and the test are pretty much the same thing. I flat out tell my students 50 times that they're the same thing. Then again, the student could very well just be playing the innocent fool, but still, I could not believe I was having this conversation with a student who I'm pretty sure is already 18, or at least 17.
Also up there on the list was the kid who exclaimed that everything made so much more sense when he is awake in class rather than sleeping.
Sometimes I feel like when I tell my kids stuff I'm like the adults in Charlie Brown where it's just trumpet noise and not actually words.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
learned helplessness...
One of the things we learned about in psych and in education classes is the idea of learned helplessness:
The idea that a person feels like they have no control over a situation and therefore can do nothing to improve it.
I'm coming to feel that this is also the reason so many teachers burn out.
As the year comes to a close and I continue grading failing papers, sometimes I just feel like no matter what I do, .it doesn't make any difference. I put in more work this year than I ever have before, and the results seem worse than anything I've ever done, and in part this is because the results depend on other people.
In school, if I did poorly on a test or paper I could study harder and improve my score. Now, I put in hours planning, tutoring, etc...but it seems as if nothing helps...
Monday, March 09, 2009
staying sane...
by planning my spring break and summer vacation...
Sunday, March 08, 2009
sunday nights...
are often the most depressing night of the week.
I was talking with another first year teacher and we agreed that Sunday nights are even worse than Monday...
Are you facebook friends with your students?
Monday, March 2, 2009 at 7:50pm
one of my freshmen found me on facebook...my instinct is to tell her I won't be her facebook friend until she graduates...
what do you think? to all the teachers, are you facebook friends with your current students?
I don't have anything too crazy on here, but I write about being stressed out by students a lot...and I'd also have to make sure i blocked them from some photos...that'd be a pain...
Monday, March 02, 2009
quiz averages by period
Same quiz in every period
Period 1 (Freshmen Geometry): 70%
Period 3 (Geometry 10th-12th): 44%
Period 4 (Freshmen Geometry: 68%
Period 6 (Geometry 10th-12th): 49%
*sigh*...
Monday, February 23, 2009
pushover...
The Friday before this break was particularly rough. I tried actually teaching a lesson (never a good idea the day before break), and 6th period was horrible. Kids were complaining and talking back. It was to the point where a girl who rarely speaks up, told everyone to stop talking back.
I felt pretty bad, mainly because in that class I'm letting down the kids who are actually trying to learn. I am a pushover. This is one of the biggest things that jeapardizes my teaching career. How do I learn to not be a pushover?
Anyways, I had a conversation with the girl who spoke up and a couple other students after class about consequences and things I should enforce.
Here is an email she sent me later that night.
"Hello, Ms. Jiang! So you would like some ideas on some of the consequences..... I think, first off, don't be too much of a pushover...and you have to lay down some ground rules...YOU'RE the boss and if we decide to tell you otherwise then straight to the office they go. Don't let the students take advantage of you, it's YOUR classroom, they are YOUR rules and YOU are the teacher! You should only give us one warning and one warning only and if we just don't listen then BAM....referral to the office. Don't let the students argue with you, if they start to do that then, I think, that they should go to the office because they have absolutely no right to talk to a teacher in that way. Okay I hope you found that informative... Thanks!"
haha...if this wasn't about me, it would be pretty amusing. But now all I can think about is how I'm going to lay down the law...I think where I get stuck now is trying to be "fair" or, more accurately, consistent. I have trouble being consistent, so when I do try and enforce things, it doesn't work out well. I can't keep track of things...and by 6th period...I'm so drained...><
Depressing
Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 3:16am
My Algebra class average on the last quiz was 50%, and most of that 50% was people who either took the class last year (and failed because of laziness even though they knew the material), or people who transferred into my class at the semester from a class that was a chapter ahead.
Seriously, I think maybe 1 person out of 18 learned something new in the past 2 weeks.
I think I could just not teach anything and they'd score about the same as they do on the quizzes and tests.
On a side note, one kid who didn't do homework all last semester (one of those kids who knew everything, but just didn't do the work), but aced all the tests last semester. Well this time, he's been doing the homework, but bombed the quiz. Kind of throws off the correlation between homework and test scores.
BTSA
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 11:45pm
Yes, this is a rant.
Right now, BTSA is ridiculous. I think it's actually detracting from my teaching because tonight I have to catch up on a bunch of useless paperwork rather than sleeping. I think sleeping would be more helpful to my teaching than filling out a log of all my interactions with parents and students for the past couple months.
The frustrating thing is I already technically have a log of my parent and student communications, but it's just not in a form where I can turn it in. So I have to waste a couple hours retyping all this stuff up.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
my body...
has finally decided to quit on me.
Sick two weekends in a row, plus eczema all over my hands, feet, and now elbow...
Too bad I need to be there tomorrow to start the new semester.
I can't believe it's already been half a year. I also can't believe it's ONLY been half a year. That means I have a whole other half to survive.
Dear Inventors…inventive people…etc.
Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 1:02am
If it's not already invented, whoever can invent a machine that can automatically ensure all cell phones in a certain vicinity are turned off or won't work could be very rich, and would have my eternal gratitude.
If it is already invented, why the heck don't all classrooms have one? It would save me from a huge headache.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
the extent of laziness...
me: oh wait, you don't have these homework problems tonight (I erase some of the homework problems)
J: what? you made me write it down?
me: you want more homework?
J: no, but you made me write it down!
me: you can do the problems if you want
other students: shut up, J!
J: But she made me write it down!
me: J, if you keep complaining I'll assign you those problems
J: No, but I wasted time writing it down.
other students: J, BE QUIET! who cares, geez!
I don't know what it is, but one of my classes in particular is the whiniest class ever, so many whiners. At least this time most of them realized that my erasing problems from the board was a good thing, but I just thought it was hilarious that this kid was complaining that I erased problems, obviously not because he wanted more homework, but just because he had already written it down.
Monday, December 01, 2008
mornings
I don't know if this happens to any other teachers, but in the mornings I really just want to be alone. I'm fine with kids coming in after school, in fact I tell them to come, but in the mornings I'm still sleepy and a bit cranky.
Well, I have this one kid whose mom drops him off 30 minutes early EVERY DAY. Really nice kid, good student, he even helps me do last minute prep sometimes, but every morning when he shows up at my room at 7am. I can't help but be annoyed, yet I can't really let him stand outside in the cold either.
But really, I just want to be alone in the mornings. Is that too much to ask for?
Thursday, November 20, 2008
goals for Thanksgiving Break
1. Catch up on BTSA paperwork. Goodness, .I am sooooo behind in BTSA paperwork it's not even funny. (BTSA is the new teacher induction program you have to go through to get your teaching credential cleared)
2. Clean out both my gmail and my school email account, email is becoming the bain of my life. If i don't check it daily, not only have i missed several important announcements for meetings i have to be at or meetings I need to set up or paperwork I need to send it, but I also have about a billion new emails the next time i do check it. On the other hand, if i do check it daily, I have to spend time responding or else I forget about the email and end up getting annoyed emails from parents. I hate having a cluttered emailbox. Need to organize my emails nicely into folders.
3. Actually do some backwards planning for the chapter I'm squeezing in between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
student: Ms. Jiang, when are you going to get a boyfriend and bring him here?
me: When I get a life.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Can I throw these away?
Student: Can I throw my old homework away?
Me: Why do you want to throw them away? You should use those to study...
Student: I didn't get them. I got the answers wrong anyways, so I can't study from them. It will just confuse me.
Me: So you should keep them and come in for extra help on them, so you can understand them.
Student: I just want to throw them away. I can't get any points for them anyways right?
Me: You can still turn these in for late credit. But you should really keep them anyways.
Student: Why should I keep them? I don't want to keep them.
Me: You can still turn them in for late credit, just keep them.
Student: Ugh...fine...
the one that drives you nuts...
Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 9:00pm
So...my freshmen Algebra class is a bit spazzy. One of my kids in particular really seems ADHD: either he's completely zoned out (eyes glazed over even when I'm talking directly to him) or he's completely hyper...never in between...
He's driven me a bit nuts because he can be very disruptive, but there's also that likeable quality to him.
At back to school night, I chatted with his mom, and she brought up her concerns, and some of the pieces of the puzzle fit together more in terms of his math history, and his "undiagnosed attention issues".
The more I get to know him, the more I've come to see, that this kid has a very black and white picture of "smart" and "dumb". To him, if you understand it, you're smart, if not you're dumb, and because all the material is new, he considers himself dumb and shuts down. Every once in awhile, we'll hit a topic he's heard about before or that he has a solid understanding of, and he'll perk up. One day he said, "I'm smart today!" However, most days, he considers himself not smart.
It's been frustrating trying to get through to him about the fact that just because he doesn't understand the material, doesn't mean he's dumb. In fact, when I work one on one with him, he picks up the material fairly quickly. I've tried to provide opportunities to assign competence, but then it just becomes "I'm smart today, but not necessarily tomorrow"...probably a defense mechanism in case he can't answer tomorrow's question. In terms of what he knows already, he's about on par with the rest of the class. But he has such a negative view of his math ability, that he just assumes if he doesn't understand it the first time, there's no point in trying, so he doesn't learn the new material.
Today, I had to move his seat because he was being disruptive, but it gave me the opportunity to sit with him one-on-one while he was working. He told me he just doesn't have the motivation and he's just not good at math. When we were talking about motivation, I asked him what he wanted to be in the future. What he said broke my heart. He told me that he had had plans for the future, but not anymore. When I asked if his plans required graduating from high school, he said, "Yeah, that's why I gave up on my dreams."
All I could tell him was, "Don't give up on your dreams. Work for them." Or something to that effect. It sounds so...movie clicheish...
There was also the textbook case of him saying, "I'm just lazy." I'm guessing he's heard that from people enough times that it's become who he considers himself.
I do think there are some underlying attention and/or learning issues, but it is hard to tell how much is just a lack of motivation and a feeling of defeat and how much might be an attention/learning issue.
Anyways, it's so often the students who frustrate you the most, that are the ones you're rooting for the most. While I have no rosy pictures about me turning this students' life around and making him love math. I just hope that he doesn't completely give up. My hope is that 3 and 3/4 years from now I see him walking across the stage at graduation.
After our chat he seemed to have renewed motivation to at least study for tomorrow's test.
I still have hope...
How do you judge your own teaching?
Sunday, October 5, 2008 at 8:56pm
I think I died a little bit today as I graded chapter 2 tests for Geometry.
My heart broke for the kids who came in for extra help, who I thought had it down, but who still ended up struggling.
But what really killed me was the disparity. My Geometry 9 class pretty much aced the test, while my Geometry 10-12 class pretty much bombed the test.
If I had never gone through STEP, I think I would just say, "Screw it, those kids didn't study...whatever..." but alas...I went through STEP and now, all I can think is: "I suck at reaching a diverse group of kids...I only seem to be able to reach those already inclined to learn math...what about those who struggle?"
I don't know what to do. I could split my curriculum so that my Geometry 9 is going faster than my regular Geometry class, but i'm already dying with 2 preps (algebra and geometry). Splitting the curriculum would be like having 3 preps and then I think all my classes would suffer. Plus, with our pacing schedule all the Geometry classes are expected to know the same thing at the end of the semester (we have a department-wide final), meaning I can't go that much slower than I already am...
I feel like I don't know how to apply anything I learned last year. My classes are so huge that groupwork seems impossible, my classroom management is simply not good enough for me to monitor 10 groups of 3 and 4 at once, and once again, I haven't set up group norms and feel like it's too late to try. My assessment has been horrible (pretty much just quizzes and tests)
And I pretty much just feel like I'm sinking.
Part of me says...I can't totally judge how I'm doing based on how my students are doing, but seriously, if over half the class can't identify perpendicular lines, there's gotta be something (or many things) I'm doing wrong.
But I don't know how to fix it. I feel like I need to reset, but there's never time.
I'm always running out of time.
If there is one thing that I think will kill me, it's grading. Every time I grade I get depressed.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
I am feeling...
overwhelmed...
running on odd hours of sleep...and very little of it...
new teacher meetings...
meetings with parents...
planning day to day...
writing tests...
writing quizzes...
BTSA...
grading...grading...and more grading...
semi-long commute...
turning in D and F progress reports.......late...><
Worst nap ever…
Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 5:58pm
I took a nap to get away from grading/entering grades, but seriously every time I fell asleep. I was grading again! I woke up in a dazed confusion: what happened to the papers that were just in my hands? why am i in bed? is that a student calling me on my cell phone?
Turns out it was my mom calling me, waking me up. I had already been woken up twice by my actual alarm, but fell back asleep...
back to grading...
I've made the decision that if I don't finish these at a reasonable hour. i'm not handing these quizzes back tomorrow. For my own sanity...sorry kids...
Sunday, September 21, 2008
is it already november?
Graph of new teacher attitudes throughout the year...
different mindsets
Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 11:14pm
I teach 2 classes of freshmen Geometry and 2 classes of regular Geometry (10th-12th grade) and it's very interesting to compare the freshmen Geometry classes to the regular Geometry classes.
I've been having students reflect on what they understand and what they want to work on for their portfolios. This past Friday, for their "Do Now/Warm Up", I had them answer the following questions:
1) What is one thing you felt you understood very well from this past week?
2) What is one goal you have for this unit? (What would you like to improve on?)
The answers to question number 1 was generally either "I understand conditional statements well" or "I don't understand much of anything that's going on in this class"
The answers to question 2 varied depending on the class. My freshmen mostly said "I would like to understand 2-column proofs better", whereas my older students said "my goal is to pass this class" or "my goal is to be an average geometry student" or "my goal is to do okay on the test".
My question was pretty broad, but clearly the focus of school is different for students who are either repeating geometry or on the "lower math" track than for the freshmen (who are on the CA standard track). What I got from this is that my older students either just want to survive math or are focused more on the grade than anything else. My freshmen seem to be focused (at least a little more) on understanding what they're learning.
I hope by the end of this year, all my students will be concerned more about the understanding. Knowing myself and students in general, the understanding will rarely be valued as much as it should be, while the grade will always be valued more than it should be, but I hope that by the end of the year when I ask my students what their goals are for a unit, they will tell me what they want to learn, not what grade they want to get.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 9:04pm
So many random thoughts...so little time...
Random thought #1a: It amazes me how differently my students all learn...more specifically, they learn so differently than me...it's a constant reminder to myself that just because "I learned it that way," it doesn't mean they will.
Random thought#1b: Related to the thought above...it also amazes me how I can say something in class and a student will have no idea what I'm talking about, but when they come in after school for help, I say the exact same thing and they understand it perfectly somehow...my theories for why this might be:
- I really do go slower when I explain it to them one-on-one (even though I don't feel like it)
- it's the second time they've heard it so it starts to sink in
- they are too overwhelmed in class
- they can't focus in class
- they are too far away to see the board in class
- the eye contact helps them absorb the information...this could also be related that when I'm not looking in class, students can be zoning out...
- I explain things differently one-on-one...
- some combination of the above...
But seriously sometimes, I don't feel like I'm saying anything different than what I said in class...and suddenly the student understands...
Random thought #2: I am meeting parents tomorrow night...geez...tomorrow's gonna be long...I hope the parents are nice...
Random thought #3: Cheating sucks...dealing with cheating sucks...
Thursday, September 11, 2008
my high school...
I really am starting to love my high school.
At first I was a bit apprehensive. I made my decision to come here partly because I hate uncertainty and it was the first place that offered me a job and it was in a district I liked. When I first started, I was a little uncertain. The pedagogy here is definitely much more traditional style, while Stanford had always leaned toward the progressive side. There are definitely aspects I could do without (i.e. the pacing schedule and the text book we're using), but I think I'm beginning to find a balance (in terms of curriculum) that I can live with, and I'm rediscovering my innovative side. Also, I'm getting some really cool ideas from other teachers (which are much better than what the text has given me). Though, we are adopting new books. Hopefully, the next one is better.
The math department is super supportive and the other teachers are always willing to spend their time calming me down or teaching me how to deal with classroom management issues or providing me with some of their materials. It's really been a lifesaver. Seriously, if I had to make my tests from scratch. I think I'd have died from exhaustion already. They've also given me some of their timesaving tips.
I really like a lot of the other teachers from other departments as well.
Today, our faculty drove through our school's boundary area and drove through areas where our kids live. It was eye-opening. We drove by some small apartments where a huge list of kids live. Then we drove through a rich area within our boundaries and only a few kids from our school live there. Turns out, most of the kids in the rich area that would have gone to my high school end up going to private school. Then, we drove by a bar with apartments above it, and it turns out some of our kids live there. We also learned that even though some kids live hecka far away, they can't get picked up by the school bus, only kids who live really really far away can get picked up. Our boundary area is huge. I'm not sure how they split it up between our school and the other school in our district. Anyways, I thought it was really cool that our administration set this up. I really like our admin because it's so clear how much they care for the teachers and the students. It's been fun so far, but completely exhausting as well.
The best part, though, is getting to know the students. I love my students. Not that I didn't love my students last year, but I feel like I never really got the chance to get to know them well because I wasn't on campus except when I taught. I actually have kids coming in for extra help this year! I know that some of the teachers have told me some times you have to say no, but helping the kids after school is actually my favorite part of the day. My lessons can sometimes be good, but especially in some of my larger classes, I'm still having trouble even remembering some of their names.
During the times that I get to spend one-on-one I feel like I've already gotten to know some of my students this year better than some of my students last year. It can be frustrating at times when I find that my Geometry students can't do Algebra, but it makes me happy that even though a couple of my Geometry students are struggling with Algebra, they're still coming in for extra help...most kids would have just given up.
I'm still struggling a bit with classroom management and making sure students are on time. I wonder if I'll ever be good at making sure student's aren't tardy. I'm not good at being "the boss," but I'm sure it will come with time. I signed my first referral today, made my first negative phone call home, and confiscated my first mp3 player. It was kind of nervewracking and I don't think I sounded very teacher-like when talking to the parent, but when it was over, it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. I still like teaching, despite hating having to be "the boss." Since I got a lot of firsts out of the way today, I figure, with more experience, I'll have an easier time doing the things I'm supposed to do when it comes to discipline. To balance out the icky feeling of having to call a parent with bad news, I've already lined up several parents who I want to call with good news. That'll be my task tomorrow or early next week.
Anyways, I should be lesson planning now, but had a lot of thoughts floating in my head. More to come.
last note:
one of my students today asked me if I had a boyfriend. When I told her "no," she said she'd hook me up with someone through e-harmony...hahahaha...I love my job...
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
teaching takes energy...
I've lost like 4 or 5 pounds since the school year started. Ironically, I've probably been eating more than usual. I'm constantly hungry. I eat breakfast (which i never used to do), and then I bring some extra breakfast, and then i usually eat half my lunch at lunch and half after school (except my lunch is actually larger than the lunch i used to pack myself). Then i come home and eat dinner.
Even though I eat in the morning, usually twice (once when i wake up and once during my 2nd period prep), my stomach is always grumbling during 4th period.
I think if I didn't live at home I'd starve to death or be spending a lot of money on food and i'd probably be eating a lot of fast food.
The weight loss could also be because I haven't been sleeping much, but still, I think teaching in general burns a lot of energy...
Monday, September 08, 2008
favorites...
I've been doing lots of complaining recently, so I thought I'd list some of the highlights of my first couple weeks as a teacher:
- having students come in after school for help. I love getting the chance to help them individually and to target individual student needs, but even more than that is that it gives me the chance to get to know who the student it individually
- 9th grade Geometry. While I'm still torn about tracking, and all my kids are pretty great, the 9th grade Geometry students are kind of a break for me during the day because they are pretty self-motivated.
- Algebra 1-9. I have fewer than 20 students in my one Algebra 1-9 class. It's amazing.
- 10th-12th grade Geometry. A lot of the older students are very mature and I like the energy they bring to class. If only class sizes were a little smaller, so I could remember all of their names.
- reading their "class expectations" and "dear math" letters
- getting to know about students and their lives
anyways...back to planning...
Sunday, September 07, 2008
top 10 worst weekends...
if I had such a list...this weekend would be up there...
I hate grading quizzes...
I feel like I've been grading nonstop since saturday morning...
I still have to lesson plan this week too...and make worksheets and tests...
geez...><
Saturday, September 06, 2008
180 days?
So I hear people say: "Oh, it must be nice to have summer off" and "for ONLY working 180 days, your pay is good."
Before I started teaching full time (two weeks ago), I did think of my work as 180 days (184 if you include professional development).
I'm beginning to realize that 180 days doesn't take into account weekends. So far i've been working 7 days a week. Weekends are becoming time for me to grade, write tests, and lesson plan.
So technically, a lot of teachers are working way more than 180 days.
Summer is more just like all the weekends we missed out on during the school year put together.
Granted, this is my first year, and once I have materials and stuff I'll have to do less on the weekend, but still, I think a lot of teachers spend some of their time on the weekends prepping.
...I missed my morning cartoons today because of grading.
TO DO THIS WEEKEND:
- go through 135 homework packets (thank goodness i'm changing my homework policy so I'll never have to do this again) (estimated time: 2-5 hours depending how lazy I get)
- grade 100 quizzes (estimated time: 5-7 hours)
- write a practice test (estimated time: 1 hour)
- write 2 versions of a test (estimated time: 2 hours)
- write make up quiz (estimated time: 30 minutes)
- lesson plan 1 week of algebra (2-3 hours)
- lesson plan 1 week of geometry (2-3 hours)
yeah...don't think I'll actually finish...have to finish the grading and practice test though.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
so...
I've graded about 30 quizzes...=\
100 to go (30 more kids took the quiz today)
This is not going to be a fun weekend.
Grading is my least favorite part of teaching. I wouldn't mind it so much if I didn't have to give points and take away points (aka assessment without grades), but alas that's not how the world works.
Lectures are a close second to grading as one of my least favorite parts of teaching.
So what exactly DO I like? I like watching the kids learn, and doing activities that engage them in the math, but I've been so busy trying to get my bearings that I haven't gotten the chance to think of any really engaging, yet relevant activities (aka groupworthy tasks).
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Tonight's goal:
grade 100 quizzes before 11
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
If math were a person...
he/she would be very very lonely...at least in high school...
I gave my students "Dear Math," where they write letters to math.
So far, out of all the letters I've skimmed (I have around 150 students), I think I've read 2 where the students sound optimistic about math. =( The rest have either always disliked math, grown bored with math, grown frustrated with math, etc.
Most have decided to "part ways" with math. A lot of my freshmen especially chose Biology/Science over math.
Poor Math...
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sustainable Teaching
definitely not what I've been doing for the past week...
where has my 3 day weekend gone? =\
Although...I did watch Saturday morning cartoons all morning yesterday......while making signs for my classroom...
I think Saturday morning cartoons will be one of my weekly routines...
Why we teach...
Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 7:47am
I'm going to miss my kids...
At the beginning of the year I realized how focused I was and how I [was] just so into math. I realize now there has been a really different me. I don't really do the work and I am not focused. You made me see that math does count and we will need math. I just really am so happy that you are my teacher even if sometimes I don't really like being in your class but you have always been the best...so thanks!!!!
Respectfully yours,
--------------"
AND THAT is why I teach...
Too bad I have to go back to school to finish my classroom and turn in grades and check out...
Jaded?
Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 10:08pm
date: yesterday
who: a senior who is precariously close to failing my class (and thus not graduating)...who came in for extra help for the first time yesterday (there are 2 weeks left in school for seniors)...and who has only turned in 65% of the homework (which is graded completely on effort)
student's are allowed a cheat sheet...(one page of handwritten notes)
the student in question has just come in for help with the practice test to prepare for the unit test which is tomorrow.
Ms. J: (in her head - are you kidding me? are you pretending?) Umm...noooo. The practice tests are almost exactly the same as the tests, so if you don't understand them you won't understand the tests.
Student: Oh...
Ms. J: so for the last few tests, did you understand the practice tests?
Student: not really.
(end of scene)
Sunday, April 19, 2009
learned helplessness...
One of the things we learned about in psych and in education classes is the idea of learned helplessness:
The idea that a person feels like they have no control over a situation and therefore can do nothing to improve it.
I'm coming to feel that this is also the reason so many teachers burn out.
As the year comes to a close and I continue grading failing papers, sometimes I just feel like no matter what I do, .it doesn't make any difference. I put in more work this year than I ever have before, and the results seem worse than anything I've ever done, and in part this is because the results depend on other people.
In school, if I did poorly on a test or paper I could study harder and improve my score. Now, I put in hours planning, tutoring, etc...but it seems as if nothing helps...
Monday, March 09, 2009
staying sane...
by planning my spring break and summer vacation...
Sunday, March 08, 2009
sunday nights...
are often the most depressing night of the week.
I was talking with another first year teacher and we agreed that Sunday nights are even worse than Monday...
Are you facebook friends with your students?
Monday, March 2, 2009 at 7:50pm
what do you think? to all the teachers, are you facebook friends with your current students?
quiz averages by period
Same quiz in every period
Period 1 (Freshmen Geometry): 70%
Period 3 (Geometry 10th-12th): 44%
Period 4 (Freshmen Geometry: 68%
Period 6 (Geometry 10th-12th): 49%
*sigh*...
pushover...
The Friday before this break was particularly rough. I tried actually teaching a lesson (never a good idea the day before break), and 6th period was horrible. Kids were complaining and talking back. It was to the point where a girl who rarely speaks up, told everyone to stop talking back.
Anyways, I had a conversation with the girl who spoke up and a couple other students after class about consequences and things I should enforce.
Here is an email she sent me later that night.
"Hello, Ms. Jiang! So you would like some ideas on some of the consequences..... I think, first off, don't be too much of a pushover...and you have to lay down some ground rules...YOU'RE the boss and if we decide to tell you otherwise then straight to the office they go. Don't let the students take advantage of you, it's YOUR classroom, they are YOUR rules and YOU are the teacher! You should only give us one warning and one warning only and if we just don't listen then BAM....referral to the office. Don't let the students argue with you, if they start to do that then, I think, that they should go to the office because they have absolutely no right to talk to a teacher in that way. Okay I hope you found that informative... Thanks!"
haha...if this wasn't about me, it would be pretty amusing. But now all I can think about is how I'm going to lay down the law...I think where I get stuck now is trying to be "fair" or, more accurately, consistent. I have trouble being consistent, so when I do try and enforce things, it doesn't work out well. I can't keep track of things...and by 6th period...I'm so drained...><
Depressing
Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 3:16am
My Algebra class average on the last quiz was 50%, and most of that 50% was people who either took the class last year (and failed because of laziness even though they knew the material), or people who transferred into my class at the semester from a class that was a chapter ahead.
Seriously, I think maybe 1 person out of 18 learned something new in the past 2 weeks.
I think I could just not teach anything and they'd score about the same as they do on the quizzes and tests.
On a side note, one kid who didn't do homework all last semester (one of those kids who knew everything, but just didn't do the work), but aced all the tests last semester. Well this time, he's been doing the homework, but bombed the quiz. Kind of throws off the correlation between homework and test scores.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 11:45pm
Yes, this is a rant.
Right now, BTSA is ridiculous. I think it's actually detracting from my teaching because tonight I have to catch up on a bunch of useless paperwork rather than sleeping. I think sleeping would be more helpful to my teaching than filling out a log of all my interactions with parents and students for the past couple months.
The frustrating thing is I already technically have a log of my parent and student communications, but it's just not in a form where I can turn it in. So I have to waste a couple hours retyping all this stuff up.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
my body...
has finally decided to quit on me.
Sick two weekends in a row, plus eczema all over my hands, feet, and now elbow...
I can't believe it's already been half a year. I also can't believe it's ONLY been half a year. That means I have a whole other half to survive.
Dear Inventors…inventive people…etc.
Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 1:02am
If it's not already invented, whoever can invent a machine that can automatically ensure all cell phones in a certain vicinity are turned off or won't work could be very rich, and would have my eternal gratitude.
If it is already invented, why the heck don't all classrooms have one? It would save me from a huge headache.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
the extent of laziness...
me: oh wait, you don't have these homework problems tonight (I erase some of the homework problems)
J: what? you made me write it down?
me: you want more homework?
J: no, but you made me write it down!
me: you can do the problems if you want
other students: shut up, J!
J: But she made me write it down!
me: J, if you keep complaining I'll assign you those problems
J: No, but I wasted time writing it down.
other students: J, BE QUIET! who cares, geez!
I don't know what it is, but one of my classes in particular is the whiniest class ever, so many whiners. At least this time most of them realized that my erasing problems from the board was a good thing, but I just thought it was hilarious that this kid was complaining that I erased problems, obviously not because he wanted more homework, but just because he had already written it down.
Monday, December 01, 2008
mornings
I don't know if this happens to any other teachers, but in the mornings I really just want to be alone. I'm fine with kids coming in after school, in fact I tell them to come, but in the mornings I'm still sleepy and a bit cranky.
But really, I just want to be alone in the mornings. Is that too much to ask for?
Thursday, November 20, 2008
goals for Thanksgiving Break
1. Catch up on BTSA paperwork. Goodness, .I am sooooo behind in BTSA paperwork it's not even funny. (BTSA is the new teacher induction program you have to go through to get your teaching credential cleared)
student: Ms. Jiang, when are you going to get a boyfriend and bring him here?
me: When I get a life.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Can I throw these away?
Student: Can I throw my old homework away?
Me: Why do you want to throw them away? You should use those to study...
Student: I didn't get them. I got the answers wrong anyways, so I can't study from them. It will just confuse me.
Me: So you should keep them and come in for extra help on them, so you can understand them.
Student: I just want to throw them away. I can't get any points for them anyways right?
Student: Why should I keep them? I don't want to keep them.
Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 9:00pm
He's driven me a bit nuts because he can be very disruptive, but there's also that likeable quality to him.
At back to school night, I chatted with his mom, and she brought up her concerns, and some of the pieces of the puzzle fit together more in terms of his math history, and his "undiagnosed attention issues".
The more I get to know him, the more I've come to see, that this kid has a very black and white picture of "smart" and "dumb". To him, if you understand it, you're smart, if not you're dumb, and because all the material is new, he considers himself dumb and shuts down. Every once in awhile, we'll hit a topic he's heard about before or that he has a solid understanding of, and he'll perk up. One day he said, "I'm smart today!" However, most days, he considers himself not smart.
It's been frustrating trying to get through to him about the fact that just because he doesn't understand the material, doesn't mean he's dumb. In fact, when I work one on one with him, he picks up the material fairly quickly. I've tried to provide opportunities to assign competence, but then it just becomes "I'm smart today, but not necessarily tomorrow"...probably a defense mechanism in case he can't answer tomorrow's question. In terms of what he knows already, he's about on par with the rest of the class. But he has such a negative view of his math ability, that he just assumes if he doesn't understand it the first time, there's no point in trying, so he doesn't learn the new material.
Today, I had to move his seat because he was being disruptive, but it gave me the opportunity to sit with him one-on-one while he was working. He told me he just doesn't have the motivation and he's just not good at math. When we were talking about motivation, I asked him what he wanted to be in the future. What he said broke my heart. He told me that he had had plans for the future, but not anymore. When I asked if his plans required graduating from high school, he said, "Yeah, that's why I gave up on my dreams."
All I could tell him was, "Don't give up on your dreams. Work for them." Or something to that effect. It sounds so...movie clicheish...
There was also the textbook case of him saying, "I'm just lazy." I'm guessing he's heard that from people enough times that it's become who he considers himself.
I do think there are some underlying attention and/or learning issues, but it is hard to tell how much is just a lack of motivation and a feeling of defeat and how much might be an attention/learning issue.
Anyways, it's so often the students who frustrate you the most, that are the ones you're rooting for the most. While I have no rosy pictures about me turning this students' life around and making him love math. I just hope that he doesn't completely give up. My hope is that 3 and 3/4 years from now I see him walking across the stage at graduation.
After our chat he seemed to have renewed motivation to at least study for tomorrow's test.
I still have hope...
How do you judge your own teaching?
Sunday, October 5, 2008 at 8:56pm
I think I died a little bit today as I graded chapter 2 tests for Geometry.
My heart broke for the kids who came in for extra help, who I thought had it down, but who still ended up struggling.
But what really killed me was the disparity. My Geometry 9 class pretty much aced the test, while my Geometry 10-12 class pretty much bombed the test.
If I had never gone through STEP, I think I would just say, "Screw it, those kids didn't study...whatever..." but alas...I went through STEP and now, all I can think is: "I suck at reaching a diverse group of kids...I only seem to be able to reach those already inclined to learn math...what about those who struggle?"
I don't know what to do. I could split my curriculum so that my Geometry 9 is going faster than my regular Geometry class, but i'm already dying with 2 preps (algebra and geometry). Splitting the curriculum would be like having 3 preps and then I think all my classes would suffer. Plus, with our pacing schedule all the Geometry classes are expected to know the same thing at the end of the semester (we have a department-wide final), meaning I can't go that much slower than I already am...
I feel like I don't know how to apply anything I learned last year. My classes are so huge that groupwork seems impossible, my classroom management is simply not good enough for me to monitor 10 groups of 3 and 4 at once, and once again, I haven't set up group norms and feel like it's too late to try. My assessment has been horrible (pretty much just quizzes and tests)
And I pretty much just feel like I'm sinking.
Part of me says...I can't totally judge how I'm doing based on how my students are doing, but seriously, if over half the class can't identify perpendicular lines, there's gotta be something (or many things) I'm doing wrong.
But I don't know how to fix it. I feel like I need to reset, but there's never time.
I'm always running out of time.
If there is one thing that I think will kill me, it's grading. Every time I grade I get depressed.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
I am feeling...
overwhelmed...
running on odd hours of sleep...and very little of it...
new teacher meetings...
meetings with parents...
planning day to day...
writing tests...
writing quizzes...
BTSA...
grading...grading...and more grading...
semi-long commute...
turning in D and F progress reports.......late...><
Worst nap ever…
Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 5:58pm
I've made the decision that if I don't finish these at a reasonable hour. i'm not handing these quizzes back tomorrow. For my own sanity...sorry kids...
Sunday, September 21, 2008
is it already november?
Graph of new teacher attitudes throughout the year...
different mindsets
Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 11:14pm
I've been having students reflect on what they understand and what they want to work on for their portfolios. This past Friday, for their "Do Now/Warm Up", I had them answer the following questions:
1) What is one thing you felt you understood very well from this past week?
2) What is one goal you have for this unit? (What would you like to improve on?)
The answers to question number 1 was generally either "I understand conditional statements well" or "I don't understand much of anything that's going on in this class"
The answers to question 2 varied depending on the class. My freshmen mostly said "I would like to understand 2-column proofs better", whereas my older students said "my goal is to pass this class" or "my goal is to be an average geometry student" or "my goal is to do okay on the test".
My question was pretty broad, but clearly the focus of school is different for students who are either repeating geometry or on the "lower math" track than for the freshmen (who are on the CA standard track). What I got from this is that my older students either just want to survive math or are focused more on the grade than anything else. My freshmen seem to be focused (at least a little more) on understanding what they're learning.
I hope by the end of this year, all my students will be concerned more about the understanding. Knowing myself and students in general, the understanding will rarely be valued as much as it should be, while the grade will always be valued more than it should be, but I hope that by the end of the year when I ask my students what their goals are for a unit, they will tell me what they want to learn, not what grade they want to get.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 9:04pm
So many random thoughts...so little time...
Random thought #1a: It amazes me how differently my students all learn...more specifically, they learn so differently than me...it's a constant reminder to myself that just because "I learned it that way," it doesn't mean they will.
Random thought#1b: Related to the thought above...it also amazes me how I can say something in class and a student will have no idea what I'm talking about, but when they come in after school for help, I say the exact same thing and they understand it perfectly somehow...my theories for why this might be:
- I really do go slower when I explain it to them one-on-one (even though I don't feel like it)
- it's the second time they've heard it so it starts to sink in
- they are too overwhelmed in class
- they can't focus in class
- they are too far away to see the board in class
- the eye contact helps them absorb the information...this could also be related that when I'm not looking in class, students can be zoning out...
- I explain things differently one-on-one...
- some combination of the above...
Random thought #2: I am meeting parents tomorrow night...geez...tomorrow's gonna be long...I hope the parents are nice...
Random thought #3: Cheating sucks...dealing with cheating sucks...
Thursday, September 11, 2008
my high school...
I really am starting to love my high school.
I really like a lot of the other teachers from other departments as well.
Today, our faculty drove through our school's boundary area and drove through areas where our kids live. It was eye-opening. We drove by some small apartments where a huge list of kids live. Then we drove through a rich area within our boundaries and only a few kids from our school live there. Turns out, most of the kids in the rich area that would have gone to my high school end up going to private school. Then, we drove by a bar with apartments above it, and it turns out some of our kids live there. We also learned that even though some kids live hecka far away, they can't get picked up by the school bus, only kids who live really really far away can get picked up. Our boundary area is huge. I'm not sure how they split it up between our school and the other school in our district. Anyways, I thought it was really cool that our administration set this up. I really like our admin because it's so clear how much they care for the teachers and the students. It's been fun so far, but completely exhausting as well.
The best part, though, is getting to know the students. I love my students. Not that I didn't love my students last year, but I feel like I never really got the chance to get to know them well because I wasn't on campus except when I taught. I actually have kids coming in for extra help this year! I know that some of the teachers have told me some times you have to say no, but helping the kids after school is actually my favorite part of the day. My lessons can sometimes be good, but especially in some of my larger classes, I'm still having trouble even remembering some of their names.
During the times that I get to spend one-on-one I feel like I've already gotten to know some of my students this year better than some of my students last year. It can be frustrating at times when I find that my Geometry students can't do Algebra, but it makes me happy that even though a couple of my Geometry students are struggling with Algebra, they're still coming in for extra help...most kids would have just given up.
I'm still struggling a bit with classroom management and making sure students are on time. I wonder if I'll ever be good at making sure student's aren't tardy. I'm not good at being "the boss," but I'm sure it will come with time. I signed my first referral today, made my first negative phone call home, and confiscated my first mp3 player. It was kind of nervewracking and I don't think I sounded very teacher-like when talking to the parent, but when it was over, it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. I still like teaching, despite hating having to be "the boss." Since I got a lot of firsts out of the way today, I figure, with more experience, I'll have an easier time doing the things I'm supposed to do when it comes to discipline. To balance out the icky feeling of having to call a parent with bad news, I've already lined up several parents who I want to call with good news. That'll be my task tomorrow or early next week.
Anyways, I should be lesson planning now, but had a lot of thoughts floating in my head. More to come.
last note:
one of my students today asked me if I had a boyfriend. When I told her "no," she said she'd hook me up with someone through e-harmony...hahahaha...I love my job...
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
teaching takes energy...
I've lost like 4 or 5 pounds since the school year started. Ironically, I've probably been eating more than usual. I'm constantly hungry. I eat breakfast (which i never used to do), and then I bring some extra breakfast, and then i usually eat half my lunch at lunch and half after school (except my lunch is actually larger than the lunch i used to pack myself). Then i come home and eat dinner.
Even though I eat in the morning, usually twice (once when i wake up and once during my 2nd period prep), my stomach is always grumbling during 4th period.
I think if I didn't live at home I'd starve to death or be spending a lot of money on food and i'd probably be eating a lot of fast food.
The weight loss could also be because I haven't been sleeping much, but still, I think teaching in general burns a lot of energy...
Monday, September 08, 2008
favorites...
I've been doing lots of complaining recently, so I thought I'd list some of the highlights of my first couple weeks as a teacher:
- having students come in after school for help. I love getting the chance to help them individually and to target individual student needs, but even more than that is that it gives me the chance to get to know who the student it individually
- 9th grade Geometry. While I'm still torn about tracking, and all my kids are pretty great, the 9th grade Geometry students are kind of a break for me during the day because they are pretty self-motivated.
- Algebra 1-9. I have fewer than 20 students in my one Algebra 1-9 class. It's amazing.
- 10th-12th grade Geometry. A lot of the older students are very mature and I like the energy they bring to class. If only class sizes were a little smaller, so I could remember all of their names.
- reading their "class expectations" and "dear math" letters
- getting to know about students and their lives
anyways...back to planning...
Sunday, September 07, 2008
top 10 worst weekends...
if I had such a list...this weekend would be up there...
I feel like I've been grading nonstop since saturday morning...
I still have to lesson plan this week too...and make worksheets and tests...
geez...><
Saturday, September 06, 2008
180 days?
So I hear people say: "Oh, it must be nice to have summer off" and "for ONLY working 180 days, your pay is good."
Before I started teaching full time (two weeks ago), I did think of my work as 180 days (184 if you include professional development).
I'm beginning to realize that 180 days doesn't take into account weekends. So far i've been working 7 days a week. Weekends are becoming time for me to grade, write tests, and lesson plan.
So technically, a lot of teachers are working way more than 180 days.
Summer is more just like all the weekends we missed out on during the school year put together.
Granted, this is my first year, and once I have materials and stuff I'll have to do less on the weekend, but still, I think a lot of teachers spend some of their time on the weekends prepping.
...I missed my morning cartoons today because of grading.
TO DO THIS WEEKEND:
- go through 135 homework packets (thank goodness i'm changing my homework policy so I'll never have to do this again) (estimated time: 2-5 hours depending how lazy I get)
- grade 100 quizzes (estimated time: 5-7 hours)
- write a practice test (estimated time: 1 hour)
- write 2 versions of a test (estimated time: 2 hours)
- write make up quiz (estimated time: 30 minutes)
- lesson plan 1 week of algebra (2-3 hours)
- lesson plan 1 week of geometry (2-3 hours)
yeah...don't think I'll actually finish...have to finish the grading and practice test though.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
so...
I've graded about 30 quizzes...=\
100 to go (30 more kids took the quiz today)
This is not going to be a fun weekend.
Grading is my least favorite part of teaching. I wouldn't mind it so much if I didn't have to give points and take away points (aka assessment without grades), but alas that's not how the world works.
Lectures are a close second to grading as one of my least favorite parts of teaching.
So what exactly DO I like? I like watching the kids learn, and doing activities that engage them in the math, but I've been so busy trying to get my bearings that I haven't gotten the chance to think of any really engaging, yet relevant activities (aka groupworthy tasks).
Tonight's goal:
grade 100 quizzes before 11
If math were a person...
he/she would be very very lonely...at least in high school...
I gave my students "Dear Math," where they write letters to math.
So far, out of all the letters I've skimmed (I have around 150 students), I think I've read 2 where the students sound optimistic about math. =( The rest have either always disliked math, grown bored with math, grown frustrated with math, etc.
Most have decided to "part ways" with math. A lot of my freshmen especially chose Biology/Science over math.
Poor Math...
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sustainable Teaching
definitely not what I've been doing for the past week...
where has my 3 day weekend gone? =\
Although...I did watch Saturday morning cartoons all morning yesterday......while making signs for my classroom...
I think Saturday morning cartoons will be one of my weekly routines...
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment