Algebra Block

"Ms. Jiang, I miss your class! I don't like my new class. Everyone in there's just like...ME! It's not right, I'M the only ME." - One of my Algebra 1 kids that got moved to our Algebra Block class

Algebra Block is our support class for students who are at risk of failing Algebra 1. Basically, we put them in two periods of Algebra. They do all their work in class, and have extra time to go over each concept. Generally, the kids in these classes also have behavioral issues. The kid with the quote above was a character. Nice kid, but could NOT stop talking. I thought his comment to me was both amusing and sad.

Concrete Operational v. Formal Operational

Each day, I spend quite a bit of time thinking about which problems in the book are unneccessary for students to do for homework. Because of this, I end up with problem sets that look like this:

p.150-151

#2-5all

#10-14even

#18-24all

#27, 30

I spend quite a bit of time on this, so it's frustrating that students complain that there's too much homework, when I went through the trouble of making sure there were actually fewer problems in the homework set.

The thing is, when I give them problem sets that look like this:

p. 150-151 #2-30, 31

They don't complain as much, despite the fact that there are exactly the same number of problems.

I was thinking about this and about achievement in my class, and some of my Psych background popped back into my head. Could it be that most of my students are not yet in the formal operational stage of development? Or, more importantly, will they ever reach that stage?

Anyways, not a fully formed thought, but I better get back to lesson planning...grading actually.

The Student View of the Teacher

The longer I teach, the more irritated I get when talking about education/the classroom/teaching with non-teachers. I could go on and on with other teachers about work/kids/etc., but somehow, when it comes to talking to people outside the profession, I find myself getting annoyed by little things that people let slip out.

For example, the other day in a conversation, someone said, "So what do with your afternoons since you get out at 4 every day?" I know it wasn't meant to be offensive, but I found myself snapping back, "Uh, I DON'T get out at 4 pm every day. I get out between 5pm and 7pm and then go home and do MORE work...often in the middle of the night because I'm so tired when I get home I can't stay awake and need to wake up to finish tomorrow's lesson."

I think the frustrating thing is that most people think they know what teachers do. After all, they attended school for at least 12 years and saw what their teachers did, right? WRONG. I think the thing that irritates me is that most people actually still carry around a STUDENT viewpoint of what a teacher does. They see the lecture or the activity, but not the time spent on designing the lecture/activity. Papers are magically graded and if a teacher can't get a paper back to you fast enough, they are "lazy." They see teachers as good or bad, but don't see what goes on in the teachers' mind.

I think it's especially difficult to talk about it with many of my peers because so many of my peers went to schools like my high school where, let's face it, student achievement would happen regardless of what the teachers do. I think this leads to the mentality that teachers don't do all that much.

Do crappy teachers exist? Without a doubt. There are some people who probably shouldn't teach. But I also happen to know a ton of really amazing teachers who pour their hearts and souls and TIME out. And large chunks of this TIME is UNPAID. Contrary to popular belief, I even see many tenured teachers (who according to popular belief must be lazy and incompetent), who go way above and beyond because they love the kids and they love what they do.

And then there's the ever popular, "But you get the WHOLE summer off." While this admittedly feels wonderful during the summer (for those of us who have the luxury of NOT teaching summer school), we essentially have no choice in when our vacation times occur (we don't have vacations days during the school year - and if we do once in awhile use a sick day for vacation, we still have to prepare stuff for the sub...almost more work than it's worth) and all our vacation time occurs during peak travel times (i.e. it costs mucho dinero). I happen to live at home, which means I have a good chunk of spending money, but I know a lot of teachers who just work through summer.

Almost more frustrating than talking about "What teachers do with all their free time" is talking to people about students. Once again, the school background people come from has some influence on how other people talk about the kids. As much as I bitch and moan about my students, it's annoying to hear other people make generalizations about them, when they don't really know them. It's like when you complain about one of your family members. It's okay for you to do it, but when someone outside the family talks about "Yo Mamma"...shoot, that's not okay.

Finally, I know people mean well, and sometimes they have some good advice (especially people who have had frustrating teaching/tutoring experiences). But sometimes people give you advice that is clearly given from the point of view of someone who has no idea what you actually do. And it's kind of annoying.

Anyways, I suppose that's the end of my rant. I don't really know why I was thinking about this. Maybe it's because I find myself getting more and more snappy when I get into conversations like this.

Counterexamples and couches...

Of all high school Math subjects, Geometry is the one where you deal with the most reading and writing. Let me just say, I feel bad for the English teachers. My kids can't even spell words correctly when they're in front of them (i.e. the word is written in the question, but they still spell it wrong in the answer).

Anyways, it's getting late and I'm way behind in grading & planning. Therefore, I am online procrastinating. I blame it on the spelling mistake though. Here is one where it took me several minutes to figure out what she meant, but it's pretty funny.

Question: Find a counterexample for the statement: "If you are wet, then you are swimming in water."

Answer: (something about you can be wet without swimming) "...like when the players pour juice over the couch."

In my mind I saw a bunch of kids playing a board game and pouring juice on the couch. I thought, "What kind of game does she play that requires pouring juice on the couch?"

Then, I realized that she meant gatorade (the juice) and "coach" instead of couch...

Halloween

"Ms. Jiang! You should be a deviled egg!!! Get a big piece of yellow paper and a big piece of white paper to be like an egg. And put on devil horns and a tail! I just thought of that." - N on what my Halloween costume should be.