Yesterday my ninth graders started working on a drafting unit. I have them use drafting tools to draw simple geometric shapes with specific measurements. Eventually we get to the point where they are able to do scale drawings. Then when we start studying maps they have a better understanding of map scales and what they are showing. The first assignment involves drawing a 2” x 3” rectangle in the lower corner of a sheet of paper to be used for the student name, date, class, and assignment title. Then a 4” x 6” rectangle was to be drawn in the exact center of the same paper. All sides of the rectangles were to parallel the sides of the paper.
You would have thought I was asking them to do calculus. I had to baby them through the assignment. Eventually most of them completed the assignment with various stages of accuracy. In my last period of the day the students were getting their equipment together to begin work. I was helping some students get started when I heard a loud CRACK. Upon investigation I discovered one of the boys standing with his equipment and blood running out of his nose. He threw his drawing board across the room and started calling one of the girls a “fucking bitch’ followed by an interesting string of obscenities. Meanwhile the girl was just sitting at her desk trying to ignore him.
It turns out that he had used his board to push her board part way across her desk. She told him to stop and she stopped his pushing. He held his board in front of his face and she pushed it into his face, catching him across his nose, thus the blood. His response was to slam his board across her skull much like Randy Orton using a chair across the head of John Cena. The board was cracked and she appeared to be unaffected by the whack. He weighs about 80 pounds (35 kilos) and she weighs about 200 pounds (90 kilos). I turned the incident over to the administration and they proceeded to handle it since I had 31 other students working with the same equipment to monitor.
I am not really looking forward to teaching these students how to graft trees. I can almost imagine the carnage that might result when I put exacto knives into their hands.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Which High School Grade Has the Most Morons?
Today there were a few incidents at school that led me to think of this question, and at the same time also come up with an answer.
My school district has what is supposedly a cutting edge “deployment” of students. Our sixth graders go to our middle school, where the teachers want them segregated from the 7th and 8th grade students. Our ninth graders go to the high school where their middle school maturity leads to all kinds of interesting situations and the upperclassmen wish they were segregated from them.
This year we have been required to institute a half hour study session that actually runs twenty minutes for students in grade trouble. I have sophomores and seniors while my neighboring teacher has freshmen and juniors. We have been telling our students the expectations for three weeks. Many of the freshmen have no idea what is going on. Some of them have decided they don’t care if they are failing everything. Others are angry because they can’t go “hang out” with their friends who are passing everything. They have to stay in the “study hall” and do work.
Meanwhile, in my freshman science class, I had an interesting “moronic” incident. A boy was playing with a tennis ball and fifteen minutes before the end of class he shoved it down the front of his jeans. He then turned in his seat so the two girls to his left could see what he was up to. Somehow he thought I didn’t notice what he was doing. I was going to wait until the end of class (I was lecturing) to have a “chat” with him. But he kept playing with and adjusting it, so I told him to come up front. When he did, I told him I wanted the tennis ball. He had to reach next to his crotch and work the ball down the inside of his leg. He handed it to me with a smaile that disappeared real fast when I told him he was being reported for inappropriate sexual behavior. After class I explained to him that using a tennis ball to make a bulge like a big penis or large testicles was inappropriate and doing it to girls was a sexual harrassment.
When I asked him if his mother would be upset, he said it wouldn’t bother her. I said “We’ll see later tonight.” Ten minutes later I called his home and spoke to his mother. She had just talked to him and he explained that he had the ball in his pants pocket and I took it from him. When I hung up five minutes later, she was very upset, with him.
Yesterday I announced to my freshmen that too many were going to the bathroom during class so the privilege was taken away. They were just going for walks. One of them told me I couldn’t stop her from going and if she had to go, she would just go. I was so frightened!
Freshmen kick each other, throw things at each other, get the most F’s, walk around in their own little worlds, BUT eventually they grow up and become normal people.
My school district has what is supposedly a cutting edge “deployment” of students. Our sixth graders go to our middle school, where the teachers want them segregated from the 7th and 8th grade students. Our ninth graders go to the high school where their middle school maturity leads to all kinds of interesting situations and the upperclassmen wish they were segregated from them.
This year we have been required to institute a half hour study session that actually runs twenty minutes for students in grade trouble. I have sophomores and seniors while my neighboring teacher has freshmen and juniors. We have been telling our students the expectations for three weeks. Many of the freshmen have no idea what is going on. Some of them have decided they don’t care if they are failing everything. Others are angry because they can’t go “hang out” with their friends who are passing everything. They have to stay in the “study hall” and do work.
Meanwhile, in my freshman science class, I had an interesting “moronic” incident. A boy was playing with a tennis ball and fifteen minutes before the end of class he shoved it down the front of his jeans. He then turned in his seat so the two girls to his left could see what he was up to. Somehow he thought I didn’t notice what he was doing. I was going to wait until the end of class (I was lecturing) to have a “chat” with him. But he kept playing with and adjusting it, so I told him to come up front. When he did, I told him I wanted the tennis ball. He had to reach next to his crotch and work the ball down the inside of his leg. He handed it to me with a smaile that disappeared real fast when I told him he was being reported for inappropriate sexual behavior. After class I explained to him that using a tennis ball to make a bulge like a big penis or large testicles was inappropriate and doing it to girls was a sexual harrassment.
When I asked him if his mother would be upset, he said it wouldn’t bother her. I said “We’ll see later tonight.” Ten minutes later I called his home and spoke to his mother. She had just talked to him and he explained that he had the ball in his pants pocket and I took it from him. When I hung up five minutes later, she was very upset, with him.
Yesterday I announced to my freshmen that too many were going to the bathroom during class so the privilege was taken away. They were just going for walks. One of them told me I couldn’t stop her from going and if she had to go, she would just go. I was so frightened!
Freshmen kick each other, throw things at each other, get the most F’s, walk around in their own little worlds, BUT eventually they grow up and become normal people.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Phew!!!
This is my first chance to work on my blog since school started. I plan on retiring from teaching in three years and I guess I’ll go out “firing on all cylinders”. Chemistry is taking up a lot of my free time. I am so glad I spent much of this past summer building the curriculum and I was actually to get the first semester all set up. Doing a chem lab every week is very tiring but also very effective. I build each week around one basic concept or set of concepts with coordinated lecture, lab, and homework for the class.
I am enjoying teaching chemistry and watching student expressions “light up” as they understand various concepts. Their lab technique was not the best, but in just two labs I have seen a lot of improvement. The lab this week involves determining the thickness of the layer of zinc on a piece of galvonized iron. Hydrochloric acid will be used to remove the zinc and the students have to be able to work with mass, area, and volume to calculate the thickness.
Teaching a section of physics between my two chenistry sections is sometimes confusing to me. This is my third year of teaching physics and I am still becoming comfortable with the subject. So, of course, I had to also take on chemistry! I had a comment from one of my chemistry students the other day. “Why do the physics kids get to play with toys and we don’t?” I love questions like that. It shows that the kids are communicating with each other about science, not just what they did over the weekend.
Physics labs are set up differently from the chemistry labs. In physics I work on a number of basic principles to prepare the students to successfully complete a lab. The lab itself may take several days, unlike the single period labs of chemistry.
This week we are finishing the lecture/worksheet part of lessons on velocity and acceleration in physics. The lab I designed has several parts to it involving scale RC cars, friction powered cars, and model trains (HO and O scale). The kids will have some time playing with “toys” and learning science.
Then my afternoon classes become the focus for the rest of my day. I have two sections of Natural Resources, a class for students who have a history of difficulty with their science classes in the middle school. My major goal in these classes is not to simply teach subject matter. I also try to teach self esteem by helping them become successful without treating them like babies, not an easy thing to do.
We have been working on insects and the interest is high, as long as they don’t have to overexert themselves. For the past two weeks I have been after them to bring in jars so we can go outside and collect some insects. I have four jars from 60 kids (I have one class of 32 and another of 27) and 9 jars from one young lady, who insists on dressing like a boy. Last week she was punished by her mother. She was made to wear girl clothing and put up her hair.
The afternoon is when I have to fight the cell phone battle and stop kids from chasing each other around the classroom. One boy likes to take things from other students and run off with them. The other day in another class he knocked a friend’s hat off his head. The teacher had to intervene to separate them and prevent a fight. Then they were both supposed to come to my class but luckily one went home early. I have the kicking, socializing, forgetfullness, throwing of objects, refusal to do homework, and several other behaviors coomon to middles schools. It’s amazing how different these kids will be after I have worked with them for this year.
It’s too bad I can’t bring former students back who left the system and never finished. I know of several who have bad jobs or no jobs, with wives (whom they got pregnant in school) and kids to support, and have just about given up on having any sort of a good/happy life. Unfortunately the ninth graders have to learn these things for themselves since adults don't know anything about what they are going through.
I am enjoying teaching chemistry and watching student expressions “light up” as they understand various concepts. Their lab technique was not the best, but in just two labs I have seen a lot of improvement. The lab this week involves determining the thickness of the layer of zinc on a piece of galvonized iron. Hydrochloric acid will be used to remove the zinc and the students have to be able to work with mass, area, and volume to calculate the thickness.
Teaching a section of physics between my two chenistry sections is sometimes confusing to me. This is my third year of teaching physics and I am still becoming comfortable with the subject. So, of course, I had to also take on chemistry! I had a comment from one of my chemistry students the other day. “Why do the physics kids get to play with toys and we don’t?” I love questions like that. It shows that the kids are communicating with each other about science, not just what they did over the weekend.
Physics labs are set up differently from the chemistry labs. In physics I work on a number of basic principles to prepare the students to successfully complete a lab. The lab itself may take several days, unlike the single period labs of chemistry.
This week we are finishing the lecture/worksheet part of lessons on velocity and acceleration in physics. The lab I designed has several parts to it involving scale RC cars, friction powered cars, and model trains (HO and O scale). The kids will have some time playing with “toys” and learning science.
Then my afternoon classes become the focus for the rest of my day. I have two sections of Natural Resources, a class for students who have a history of difficulty with their science classes in the middle school. My major goal in these classes is not to simply teach subject matter. I also try to teach self esteem by helping them become successful without treating them like babies, not an easy thing to do.
We have been working on insects and the interest is high, as long as they don’t have to overexert themselves. For the past two weeks I have been after them to bring in jars so we can go outside and collect some insects. I have four jars from 60 kids (I have one class of 32 and another of 27) and 9 jars from one young lady, who insists on dressing like a boy. Last week she was punished by her mother. She was made to wear girl clothing and put up her hair.
The afternoon is when I have to fight the cell phone battle and stop kids from chasing each other around the classroom. One boy likes to take things from other students and run off with them. The other day in another class he knocked a friend’s hat off his head. The teacher had to intervene to separate them and prevent a fight. Then they were both supposed to come to my class but luckily one went home early. I have the kicking, socializing, forgetfullness, throwing of objects, refusal to do homework, and several other behaviors coomon to middles schools. It’s amazing how different these kids will be after I have worked with them for this year.
It’s too bad I can’t bring former students back who left the system and never finished. I know of several who have bad jobs or no jobs, with wives (whom they got pregnant in school) and kids to support, and have just about given up on having any sort of a good/happy life. Unfortunately the ninth graders have to learn these things for themselves since adults don't know anything about what they are going through.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
I Am Back and Primed For Another year
I don’t know if I have been missed but I have been on vacation from school and I was very busy at the end of last school year.
Today was a teacher work day at school. We always spend a couple of days before school begins doing things that are supposed to make us better teachers. I have been in the classroom for almost 40 years now and I have pretty much seen it all come and go and then come again. It is interesting how a new idea comes up to improve student achievement which on closer inspection is just a new packaging for something that has been done before.
At the end of last year the chemistry teacher at the high school was given a different schedule for this school year. Now I will be teaching two sections of chemistry, one section of physics, and two sections of natural resources (a course designed so a student can receive CTE or science credit). My CP Science 9 is now being taught by another teacher. I gave up the CP Science 9 in order to teach the chemistry.
The previous chemistry teacher did very few laboratories with her students. I believe chemistry needs extensive lab work to ensure an understanding of its basic concepts. This summer I spent a lot of time designing chemistry curriculum and have the basic course designed with the lectures and labs all prepared for the first semester. The basic plan is to do one lab each week to reinforce the topic covered in the weekly lecture/lesson.
Last year I was also involved with a group of teachers in designing a course about natural resources that met the requirements of a biological science course or a career technical education class. It is for ninth grade students who have problems passing a traditional science course. My goal is to show these students that there is some value in education and help them to be successful as high school students.
We also got some recent news that students in the state of Washington are scoring low in tenth and fifth grade high stakes exams. What a surprise! The state has been vascillating on this whole topic for years and gave an all new battery of tests last year. This reliance on standardized testing for high stakes is not only disrupting the educational process but is also helping to convince students that they are stupid.
Then throw in the Federal Government’s Race to Top money and how it is being applied to force Charter Schools into state programs through bribery and I begin to wonder if the people in charge care more for the kids across the country or their own political careers. If charter schools are so great, then why not let public schools operate under the same conditions. Besides, how does filtering off the best students from the public schools help them become better?
The Race to the Top money is also being used to force more teacher accountability into the educational system. The problem is coming up with a way to do a fair evaluation of a teacher, Right now a clunky due process procedure has to be followed that depends upon the competency of the principal. Letting student testing play a role is ludricrous as is any other method that could turn things into a popularity contest. I'll talk more about this in a later blog.
As usual it is time to dump the blame on the teachers, create assinine simplistic fixes to our educational system, and then compare us to other educational systems around the world that do not even attempt to educate everyone in a well rounded educational program that includes the fine arts, athletics, and academics.
I should have lots to talk about this year from the viewpoint of a science teacher who loves what he does and has little tolerance for anyone who uses his kids for their own advancement- be it at the local, state, or national level. Of course my main intent is to let my readers know what goes on in my classroom as I interact with my students but I will do some agitating from time to time.
Today was a teacher work day at school. We always spend a couple of days before school begins doing things that are supposed to make us better teachers. I have been in the classroom for almost 40 years now and I have pretty much seen it all come and go and then come again. It is interesting how a new idea comes up to improve student achievement which on closer inspection is just a new packaging for something that has been done before.
At the end of last year the chemistry teacher at the high school was given a different schedule for this school year. Now I will be teaching two sections of chemistry, one section of physics, and two sections of natural resources (a course designed so a student can receive CTE or science credit). My CP Science 9 is now being taught by another teacher. I gave up the CP Science 9 in order to teach the chemistry.
The previous chemistry teacher did very few laboratories with her students. I believe chemistry needs extensive lab work to ensure an understanding of its basic concepts. This summer I spent a lot of time designing chemistry curriculum and have the basic course designed with the lectures and labs all prepared for the first semester. The basic plan is to do one lab each week to reinforce the topic covered in the weekly lecture/lesson.
Last year I was also involved with a group of teachers in designing a course about natural resources that met the requirements of a biological science course or a career technical education class. It is for ninth grade students who have problems passing a traditional science course. My goal is to show these students that there is some value in education and help them to be successful as high school students.
We also got some recent news that students in the state of Washington are scoring low in tenth and fifth grade high stakes exams. What a surprise! The state has been vascillating on this whole topic for years and gave an all new battery of tests last year. This reliance on standardized testing for high stakes is not only disrupting the educational process but is also helping to convince students that they are stupid.
Then throw in the Federal Government’s Race to Top money and how it is being applied to force Charter Schools into state programs through bribery and I begin to wonder if the people in charge care more for the kids across the country or their own political careers. If charter schools are so great, then why not let public schools operate under the same conditions. Besides, how does filtering off the best students from the public schools help them become better?
The Race to the Top money is also being used to force more teacher accountability into the educational system. The problem is coming up with a way to do a fair evaluation of a teacher, Right now a clunky due process procedure has to be followed that depends upon the competency of the principal. Letting student testing play a role is ludricrous as is any other method that could turn things into a popularity contest. I'll talk more about this in a later blog.
As usual it is time to dump the blame on the teachers, create assinine simplistic fixes to our educational system, and then compare us to other educational systems around the world that do not even attempt to educate everyone in a well rounded educational program that includes the fine arts, athletics, and academics.
I should have lots to talk about this year from the viewpoint of a science teacher who loves what he does and has little tolerance for anyone who uses his kids for their own advancement- be it at the local, state, or national level. Of course my main intent is to let my readers know what goes on in my classroom as I interact with my students but I will do some agitating from time to time.
Friday, May 7, 2010
The Dropout Rate
We had a science department meeting this past week and one of the topics was our student dropout rate, which is above the state average. The principal would like ideas about how to reduce the rate.
Unfortunately that is a million dollar question. The federal government seems to think that the wholesale firing of teachers in schools that don’t become perfect is the solution. The department of education seems to think that requiring students to complete a battery of tests as well as three years of math through geometry and algebra II will help provide a solution to the problems of education. This emphasis on academics has not been without a decreasing emphasis on physical education classes (more fat kids) and tech education (fewer carpenters and plumbers).
The middle school philosophy is a great help. Spend three years developing a high esteem in each and every student at the expense of any substantial academic achievement. That way when they hit high school and academics are the focus, the self esteem inflation gets shot to hell when reality hits and students have to perform to advance. Too many students end up losing their self confidence and taking the “I am a loser attitude”. Or they do not accept the reality and responsibilities of high school, thinking they can be successful without it.
I have a number of students who will make no attempt at completing any in class or out of class work or assignments. They don’t just exhibit this behavior in science. It occurs in all of their classes. They have no explanantion for the behavior. They discuss the situation politely and then continue the behavior. Some come to school because of the courts saying they are required by law to be in school. Some try to go to job corps, thinking it is better than school for some reason. They can’t say why it is better. They just see it as some sort of a better alternative to what they are doing.
Some of these students are into drugs and incapable of making any sort of intelligent decision. We can hope they will turn their lives around but unfortunately many of them never do. However, once in a while I get through to one of them and that makes it all worthwhile.
They all want to live “the good life” but don’t necessarily want to work for it. Many of them just can’t make the connection between success and work.
Two hours ago I went to the front door and a former student wanted to say hello. He was in my science class five or six years ago and showed me almost no effort. But he had a bad situation at home and was living with relatives. When he asked me for a job, I hired him part time for a summer and worked with him on various projects. I treated him like an adult and gave him my trust. He was a responsible worker. The following school year he disappeared from school (dropped out) and I lost track of him.
Tonight he told me he has a good job where he is respected by his boss and has been employed for three years. It is a position with the possibility of advancement. He has his own place, pays his bills on time, and has benefits. He isn’t interested in getting a G.E.D. or any sort of diploma. He doesn’t need it right now and can always get one at some future time if he changes his mind. He likes the work and has job security.
Like I said before, the ocassional success makes it all worthwhile.
Unfortunately that is a million dollar question. The federal government seems to think that the wholesale firing of teachers in schools that don’t become perfect is the solution. The department of education seems to think that requiring students to complete a battery of tests as well as three years of math through geometry and algebra II will help provide a solution to the problems of education. This emphasis on academics has not been without a decreasing emphasis on physical education classes (more fat kids) and tech education (fewer carpenters and plumbers).
The middle school philosophy is a great help. Spend three years developing a high esteem in each and every student at the expense of any substantial academic achievement. That way when they hit high school and academics are the focus, the self esteem inflation gets shot to hell when reality hits and students have to perform to advance. Too many students end up losing their self confidence and taking the “I am a loser attitude”. Or they do not accept the reality and responsibilities of high school, thinking they can be successful without it.
I have a number of students who will make no attempt at completing any in class or out of class work or assignments. They don’t just exhibit this behavior in science. It occurs in all of their classes. They have no explanantion for the behavior. They discuss the situation politely and then continue the behavior. Some come to school because of the courts saying they are required by law to be in school. Some try to go to job corps, thinking it is better than school for some reason. They can’t say why it is better. They just see it as some sort of a better alternative to what they are doing.
Some of these students are into drugs and incapable of making any sort of intelligent decision. We can hope they will turn their lives around but unfortunately many of them never do. However, once in a while I get through to one of them and that makes it all worthwhile.
They all want to live “the good life” but don’t necessarily want to work for it. Many of them just can’t make the connection between success and work.
Two hours ago I went to the front door and a former student wanted to say hello. He was in my science class five or six years ago and showed me almost no effort. But he had a bad situation at home and was living with relatives. When he asked me for a job, I hired him part time for a summer and worked with him on various projects. I treated him like an adult and gave him my trust. He was a responsible worker. The following school year he disappeared from school (dropped out) and I lost track of him.
Tonight he told me he has a good job where he is respected by his boss and has been employed for three years. It is a position with the possibility of advancement. He has his own place, pays his bills on time, and has benefits. He isn’t interested in getting a G.E.D. or any sort of diploma. He doesn’t need it right now and can always get one at some future time if he changes his mind. He likes the work and has job security.
Like I said before, the ocassional success makes it all worthwhile.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Water Water Everywhere
We had some excitement in the remodeled biology lab this past week. Students had been working on a microbiology lab for almost two weeks. One of the basic procedures involved sterilizing an innoculation wire with a gas flame from a Meeker Burner. Unfortunately the fire control system used sprinklers installed directly over the lab tables at about a height of about ten feet (three meters). You guessed it- a sprinkler discharged during the last period of the day. The water sprayed over students, five computers and sundry books and clothing. By the time it was two inches (five centimeters) deep in the hallway, twenty plus gallons had gone through the floor into the technology computer lab immediately below the biology room. Luckily the teacher saw it coming and moved about ten computers out of the line of fire. Classes were back to normal the next day.
The fire department was a big help with controlling the water spray and replacing the discharged sprinkler head. They also pointed out that the sprinklers in the science labs appeared to be residential sprinkler heads. They have a temperature release rating of about 130 degrees fahrenheit (55 celsius). Much too low for a lab setting. Nothing like taking the lowest bidder on a construction job.
I also discovered this week that I will be having some major changes in my teaching schedule next year, I will be teaching a basic reading class using science as the conduit. To do that, I have to give something up. Right now it appears to be my two college placement nine classes. Then I will also pick up something else to replace the second cp nine class.
The fire department was a big help with controlling the water spray and replacing the discharged sprinkler head. They also pointed out that the sprinklers in the science labs appeared to be residential sprinkler heads. They have a temperature release rating of about 130 degrees fahrenheit (55 celsius). Much too low for a lab setting. Nothing like taking the lowest bidder on a construction job.
I also discovered this week that I will be having some major changes in my teaching schedule next year, I will be teaching a basic reading class using science as the conduit. To do that, I have to give something up. Right now it appears to be my two college placement nine classes. Then I will also pick up something else to replace the second cp nine class.
Friday, April 9, 2010
What's Been Going On?
I have been busy at school so I have been truant from my blog. A few things happened at school during the past month that have kept life interesting.
One student fell asleep during a video about the moon. When the class was dismissed, he was sound asleep. When that happens, I tend to let him sleep until the next class enters. One year I had a student wake up about a half hour into the next period. He was very confused upon awakening. It was good for a chuckle and a learning experience for the sleeper. That type of thing stays with the kid for many years. He never fell asleep in class again.
The week before spring break, a ninth grade girl was suspended from school for a day. She came back on campus during her suspension to see her boyfriend and refused to leave. The police had to be called to remove her. They had to take her down to the ground twice before they got her into the patrol car. She then had her suspension extended for 58 days. Surprisingly, her mother withdrew her from school. I am sure she was immediately enrolled in her home school district. (She was an out-of-school-district student). We take these kinds of students for the state funding that comes with them. Sometimes it benefits us financially and the student educationally due to a shortened bus route. Other times we spend more money on discipline and disruptions to the educational system than we get from the state.
My ninth grade CP Science students have completed several labs during the past month. They still haven’t learned to read the lab packet before starting to work. They start right in on the procedure without having preread anything. Then when they cannot complete the different steps they think it is too difficult to do and they get frustrated.
Unfortunately this behavior does not change very much through most of high school. Students just do not want to read and follow instructions when completing lab work. The minority who do read the instructions can only follow cookbook types of procedures. If they have to read and then interpret what they read to create a hypothesis, confusion and inaccuracies reign.
Either the instructional methods for reading trains students to regurgitate what they have read with little understanding, or the mental abilities of teenagers are restricted by their immaturity. I suspect the latter is the main culprit, since I remember how much easier I could interpret complex data/information to derive inferred hypotheses or mathematical data after I entered college.
Today we began a complex multimedia research project in CP Science Nine. Every student needs individual computer access. I will be sending five students to a neighboring biology class and five to the library to use PC computers. I have 14 student computers in my own room. The fifteenth needs a reinstall of the operating system. I have been waiting for three weeks to get the work done. Our district wide, two day a week, computer tech hasn’t gotten to me yet.
The first day of school the superintendent gave his welcome back speech and told us we have the best technology available for us and our students to use. Then he eliminated the district computer tech position and contracted with the local educational service district for a part time tech two days a week. Later all of the teachers were locked out of their computers and basically given student access levels. I can’t even correct the time of day on my computer. I have to do a work order.
In physics we are studying waves. I am spending two weeks doing lectures and labs about sound waves. One of the labs involved taking two paper cups and connecting them with 50 feet of string through their bases. The students were fascinted that they could talk to each other through the cups and that the sound waves went through the string. Then we spent two days manipulating a wave tank. Monday we work with resonance and will then be ready to study the properties of light.
Next week our sophomores will be taking the science WASL Exam. It is designed to show them how stupid they all are. Then the same students, and a large number of juniors and some seniors will take the math WASL to reinforce the idea of their stupidity. The juniors and seniors are exercising the rites of futility since they have failed it in the past and will probably continue to do so. As a trained educator, I abhor any test that is designed to punish and denegrate the intelligence and abilities of my students. It is not designed to improve education since the results are not fedback to any teacher in a way that can help that teacher improve the instructional methods in his/her classes for a better success rate. In a high stakes test having a high success rate is obtained by teaching to the test and the hell with anything else. Especially if merit pay is involved (a later blog topic).
Tomorrow I get to ride in a parade. I was selected by our school’s daffodil princess as her Educator of the Year. The Daffodil Festival is county wide and has been in place since 1933 (http://www.daffodilfestival.net/). The young lady who selected me was a ninth grade student of mine three years ago and last year took my physics class as a junior.
It is amazing what stays in kids memories. When she was in my ninth grade class, she was diagnosed with leukemia. It was during the first half of the school year. She had to leave school and do school lessons at home during the first year of treatments. During her last day in science class, she asked me if she and a few of her friends could make friendship bracelets from some wooden beads I had in a plastic box on a shelf. (I would not let kids play with the beads because I used them for a classification lab in my biology class.) I let them spend the class period making bracelets because I knew they would wear them and remember each other while she was undergoing her treatments.
When she surprised me with my selection as Educator of the Year two months ago, she gave me a copy of what she wrote about me. It was the bracelet story. I like to think that what I allowed her and her friends to do may have helped her just a little through her ordeal. She is a beautiful Daffodil Princess. She placed sixth out of twenty-two princesses. And most importantly, her leukemia treatments ended a few months ago (she had monthly chemo treatments while in my physics class) and now she will just be doing regular checkups as she lives a fairly normal life. Her college plans include training to be a pediatric nurse.
This is the kind of a story that makes me proud to be a teacher.
One student fell asleep during a video about the moon. When the class was dismissed, he was sound asleep. When that happens, I tend to let him sleep until the next class enters. One year I had a student wake up about a half hour into the next period. He was very confused upon awakening. It was good for a chuckle and a learning experience for the sleeper. That type of thing stays with the kid for many years. He never fell asleep in class again.
The week before spring break, a ninth grade girl was suspended from school for a day. She came back on campus during her suspension to see her boyfriend and refused to leave. The police had to be called to remove her. They had to take her down to the ground twice before they got her into the patrol car. She then had her suspension extended for 58 days. Surprisingly, her mother withdrew her from school. I am sure she was immediately enrolled in her home school district. (She was an out-of-school-district student). We take these kinds of students for the state funding that comes with them. Sometimes it benefits us financially and the student educationally due to a shortened bus route. Other times we spend more money on discipline and disruptions to the educational system than we get from the state.
My ninth grade CP Science students have completed several labs during the past month. They still haven’t learned to read the lab packet before starting to work. They start right in on the procedure without having preread anything. Then when they cannot complete the different steps they think it is too difficult to do and they get frustrated.
Unfortunately this behavior does not change very much through most of high school. Students just do not want to read and follow instructions when completing lab work. The minority who do read the instructions can only follow cookbook types of procedures. If they have to read and then interpret what they read to create a hypothesis, confusion and inaccuracies reign.
Either the instructional methods for reading trains students to regurgitate what they have read with little understanding, or the mental abilities of teenagers are restricted by their immaturity. I suspect the latter is the main culprit, since I remember how much easier I could interpret complex data/information to derive inferred hypotheses or mathematical data after I entered college.
Today we began a complex multimedia research project in CP Science Nine. Every student needs individual computer access. I will be sending five students to a neighboring biology class and five to the library to use PC computers. I have 14 student computers in my own room. The fifteenth needs a reinstall of the operating system. I have been waiting for three weeks to get the work done. Our district wide, two day a week, computer tech hasn’t gotten to me yet.
The first day of school the superintendent gave his welcome back speech and told us we have the best technology available for us and our students to use. Then he eliminated the district computer tech position and contracted with the local educational service district for a part time tech two days a week. Later all of the teachers were locked out of their computers and basically given student access levels. I can’t even correct the time of day on my computer. I have to do a work order.
In physics we are studying waves. I am spending two weeks doing lectures and labs about sound waves. One of the labs involved taking two paper cups and connecting them with 50 feet of string through their bases. The students were fascinted that they could talk to each other through the cups and that the sound waves went through the string. Then we spent two days manipulating a wave tank. Monday we work with resonance and will then be ready to study the properties of light.
Next week our sophomores will be taking the science WASL Exam. It is designed to show them how stupid they all are. Then the same students, and a large number of juniors and some seniors will take the math WASL to reinforce the idea of their stupidity. The juniors and seniors are exercising the rites of futility since they have failed it in the past and will probably continue to do so. As a trained educator, I abhor any test that is designed to punish and denegrate the intelligence and abilities of my students. It is not designed to improve education since the results are not fedback to any teacher in a way that can help that teacher improve the instructional methods in his/her classes for a better success rate. In a high stakes test having a high success rate is obtained by teaching to the test and the hell with anything else. Especially if merit pay is involved (a later blog topic).
Tomorrow I get to ride in a parade. I was selected by our school’s daffodil princess as her Educator of the Year. The Daffodil Festival is county wide and has been in place since 1933 (http://www.daffodilfestival.net/). The young lady who selected me was a ninth grade student of mine three years ago and last year took my physics class as a junior.
It is amazing what stays in kids memories. When she was in my ninth grade class, she was diagnosed with leukemia. It was during the first half of the school year. She had to leave school and do school lessons at home during the first year of treatments. During her last day in science class, she asked me if she and a few of her friends could make friendship bracelets from some wooden beads I had in a plastic box on a shelf. (I would not let kids play with the beads because I used them for a classification lab in my biology class.) I let them spend the class period making bracelets because I knew they would wear them and remember each other while she was undergoing her treatments.
When she surprised me with my selection as Educator of the Year two months ago, she gave me a copy of what she wrote about me. It was the bracelet story. I like to think that what I allowed her and her friends to do may have helped her just a little through her ordeal. She is a beautiful Daffodil Princess. She placed sixth out of twenty-two princesses. And most importantly, her leukemia treatments ended a few months ago (she had monthly chemo treatments while in my physics class) and now she will just be doing regular checkups as she lives a fairly normal life. Her college plans include training to be a pediatric nurse.
This is the kind of a story that makes me proud to be a teacher.
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