So here it is.
I can see the end of the line, and it feels pretty damn good. I can concentrate on my teaching, and I'm actually getting some sleep. I'm even considering trying this whole "eating right and exercising" thing I've been hearing about. Who knows...
I think I must have convinced myself that the classwork at State wasn't really that much of a burden, but I have to say, I am finally getting ahead with my lesson planning! Yeah. I know. Obvious. The thing that sucked up so much time was just getting to- and being on campus. Now, I get home from teaching around 2:30, grab a bite, do some planning, relax, and I'm off to bed before midnight. Kind of gives me a glimpse into a possible future... maybe teaching is still a possibility for me. Who knows...
Well... I don't know if this post will even reach anyone at this point. I hope that some of you still post occasionally. I'd love to hear what's up in teacher-ville.
Good luck, all!
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Senioritis?
I'm not talking about them...
I'm talking about me.
This is just a little shout-out to my credential homies: I thank you for listening to my gloomy little rants about my doubts concerning teaching. If y'all were certified therapists, I'd owe about $4725... and it would be worth every penny (although if any of you try to send a bill I will deny I ever said this). I think we have all realized that a big reason we haul our asses down to SFSU each week is to make contact with each other. We see each other in classes, on campus, on Muni and BART... and we vent a little.
Or a lot.
(Or 'alot', as half of my freshmen still write it)
Or is it just me?
I'm talking about me.
This is just a little shout-out to my credential homies: I thank you for listening to my gloomy little rants about my doubts concerning teaching. If y'all were certified therapists, I'd owe about $4725... and it would be worth every penny (although if any of you try to send a bill I will deny I ever said this). I think we have all realized that a big reason we haul our asses down to SFSU each week is to make contact with each other. We see each other in classes, on campus, on Muni and BART... and we vent a little.
Or a lot.
(Or 'alot', as half of my freshmen still write it)
Or is it just me?
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Big steaming pile of URL
My master teacher does a unit in which the class analyzes the social commentary in photographs, poems and short stories. They then spend a few weeks in literature circles digging into the social commentary of several novels. I like the unit, but since I took too long on Macbeth, I have to compress her unit. To accomplish this I have decided to chuck my pseudo-neo-luddite tendencies and take my students on a trip to Blogville.
Today, I successfully got (nearly) all my students to make a blog, but I fear the next step. I intend to have them use their blogs to discuss their group's novel in between class sessions, so when they're in class the discussion is already primed and everyone is on the same page (so to speak).
The question is: How?
I have read about literature circles, and I have spoken with several teachers, but I would appreciate any advice. Also, if you want to check out what I have done so far, go to http://mrlyonshumbleopinion.blogspot.com/ , but I urge you NOT to respond to any posts there... I don't want any of my students sniffing their way back here!
By the way, their final project for this unit will be to produce a mock newspaper in which every student in each circle will produce an article. The group will decide who handles which parts of the layout. There will be both a group grade and an individual grade.
Today, I successfully got (nearly) all my students to make a blog, but I fear the next step. I intend to have them use their blogs to discuss their group's novel in between class sessions, so when they're in class the discussion is already primed and everyone is on the same page (so to speak).
The question is: How?
I have read about literature circles, and I have spoken with several teachers, but I would appreciate any advice. Also, if you want to check out what I have done so far, go to http://mrlyonshumbleopinion.blogspot.com/ , but I urge you NOT to respond to any posts there... I don't want any of my students sniffing their way back here!
By the way, their final project for this unit will be to produce a mock newspaper in which every student in each circle will produce an article. The group will decide who handles which parts of the layout. There will be both a group grade and an individual grade.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
???
So I have this brilliant student---amazing vocabulary, incredible artist, excellent writer, is on her second read-through of the novel we’re working on, and at lunch time engages me in these discussions about existentialism, gnosticism, and the existence of God. She asks me questions like "How do you think the concept of the ‘Old Soul’, relates to Nietzsche’s Eternal Return?", and "How do you think our greedy nature affects our spirituality?" She’s no ordinary freshman.
The problem is, her writing has become darker and darker, and she frequently includes some sort of violence, or threat of violence. Recently she has begun adding sexual content to her writing, and has said some slightly inappropriate and/or suggestive things to me. Now, I discover that the topic of her narrative writing assignment is "When I Discovered That I Don’t Fear Death", and it’s all about when she ran away from home because she was ashamed of an undisclosed incident. All indications are that this girl was abused, and her narrative indicates that something happened over four years ago that made her want to run away. Her story is heartbreaking, even though she doesn’t talk specifically about the abuse. I talked to my master-teacher about this and we ended up talking to this student about how she was feeling. She completely trusts my master-teacher so I felt like it wasn’t a betrayal, and I was correct. She seemed to welcome both of our comments. I told her that I was concerned for her well being based on her writing, her demeanor, and her many comments, and that the Wellness Center was available if she just needed to talk with someone. She said she could handle it herself. My master-teacher explained that everyone needs to vent once in awhile, and that it’s nice to be able to vent to a relative stranger. I concurred.
Fortunately, she seemed happy (if not a little taken aback) that we would show our concern the way we did. We didn’t tell her she had to go and talk to someone, but instead let her know what’s available and let her choose. Although I think I handled this okay, I don’t know if I can handle this on a regular basis. It’s too much. Also, I know that we are under legal obligation to report suspected abuse, but I think that this happened years ago. Anybody know the rules for this?
Ug.
The problem is, her writing has become darker and darker, and she frequently includes some sort of violence, or threat of violence. Recently she has begun adding sexual content to her writing, and has said some slightly inappropriate and/or suggestive things to me. Now, I discover that the topic of her narrative writing assignment is "When I Discovered That I Don’t Fear Death", and it’s all about when she ran away from home because she was ashamed of an undisclosed incident. All indications are that this girl was abused, and her narrative indicates that something happened over four years ago that made her want to run away. Her story is heartbreaking, even though she doesn’t talk specifically about the abuse. I talked to my master-teacher about this and we ended up talking to this student about how she was feeling. She completely trusts my master-teacher so I felt like it wasn’t a betrayal, and I was correct. She seemed to welcome both of our comments. I told her that I was concerned for her well being based on her writing, her demeanor, and her many comments, and that the Wellness Center was available if she just needed to talk with someone. She said she could handle it herself. My master-teacher explained that everyone needs to vent once in awhile, and that it’s nice to be able to vent to a relative stranger. I concurred.
Fortunately, she seemed happy (if not a little taken aback) that we would show our concern the way we did. We didn’t tell her she had to go and talk to someone, but instead let her know what’s available and let her choose. Although I think I handled this okay, I don’t know if I can handle this on a regular basis. It’s too much. Also, I know that we are under legal obligation to report suspected abuse, but I think that this happened years ago. Anybody know the rules for this?
Ug.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Plagiarism, Part II
Well, it happened again.
Another one of my students plagiarised, and I experienced the dilemma of equitable punishment. See, the first student who did it was a student who tries hard, participates in class, and is a positive element in the class. As I wrote in the last post, I felt that because of her exemplary behavior and genuine enthusiasm that she deserved another chance. Not so with student number two. Sure, he shows up every day, but he obviously doesn't give a damn about the class, the subject, or his grade. Before this essay, he had a whopping 41% on the grade sheet, primarily because he wasn't turning anything in.
When I found the essay he purchased (yes, it was off of one of those buy-an-essay websites), my first reaction was: Buddy, you're screwed. We're going to have a parent conference and you get a zero for the grading period. Of course, I quickly realized that this could backfire on me. What if he found out that I gave Student 'A' a break, but sent him to the gallows? Would I be able to justify my actions? I decided to give him the same offer (see below), knowing that he wouldn't produce anything (god, I'm already cynical).
He didn't produce anything.
The one positive thing I took from this was that now I have a great, real-world example to use next time I teach Macbeth. This student's actions paralleled Macbeth's actions in that he followed his ambitions (to pass the class), yet neglected his morals (by plagiarising) to do so. I pointed this irony out to the student, but I think he was too scared for it to register.
Another one of my students plagiarised, and I experienced the dilemma of equitable punishment. See, the first student who did it was a student who tries hard, participates in class, and is a positive element in the class. As I wrote in the last post, I felt that because of her exemplary behavior and genuine enthusiasm that she deserved another chance. Not so with student number two. Sure, he shows up every day, but he obviously doesn't give a damn about the class, the subject, or his grade. Before this essay, he had a whopping 41% on the grade sheet, primarily because he wasn't turning anything in.
When I found the essay he purchased (yes, it was off of one of those buy-an-essay websites), my first reaction was: Buddy, you're screwed. We're going to have a parent conference and you get a zero for the grading period. Of course, I quickly realized that this could backfire on me. What if he found out that I gave Student 'A' a break, but sent him to the gallows? Would I be able to justify my actions? I decided to give him the same offer (see below), knowing that he wouldn't produce anything (god, I'm already cynical).
He didn't produce anything.
The one positive thing I took from this was that now I have a great, real-world example to use next time I teach Macbeth. This student's actions paralleled Macbeth's actions in that he followed his ambitions (to pass the class), yet neglected his morals (by plagiarising) to do so. I pointed this irony out to the student, but I think he was too scared for it to register.
Friday, March 2, 2007
Plagiarism.
Here's a little tid-bit.
I caught one of my students plagiarising this week. She is an enthusiastic C student who always participates, always turns in work, and usually contributes positively to class discussions. Some of her skills are below average (whatever that means), but I was sad to find that she had cut-and-pasted half of her essay from something she found online. It was painfully obvious, and I found the essay (using Dogpile) in about 90 seconds.
On the recommendation of my more compassionate master-teacher, I printed a copy of the entire essay, stapled it to the student's paper, wrote "see me" on the front, and handed it back to her in class with the other students' papers. I let her consider the "see me" for most of the class, and once I had broken the class into groups to work on a project, I called her outside. She was obviously scared. I asked her if she knew what this was about. She said yes. I asked her if she knew that I could give her an F for the grading period and call her parents. She said yes. I told her that I was extremely disappointed and that I expected much more from her, but that since she had never done anything like this before, I would give her a chance. I told her to write a new paper, turn it in on Monday for 75% credit.
Was I too soft?
I caught one of my students plagiarising this week. She is an enthusiastic C student who always participates, always turns in work, and usually contributes positively to class discussions. Some of her skills are below average (whatever that means), but I was sad to find that she had cut-and-pasted half of her essay from something she found online. It was painfully obvious, and I found the essay (using Dogpile) in about 90 seconds.
On the recommendation of my more compassionate master-teacher, I printed a copy of the entire essay, stapled it to the student's paper, wrote "see me" on the front, and handed it back to her in class with the other students' papers. I let her consider the "see me" for most of the class, and once I had broken the class into groups to work on a project, I called her outside. She was obviously scared. I asked her if she knew what this was about. She said yes. I asked her if she knew that I could give her an F for the grading period and call her parents. She said yes. I told her that I was extremely disappointed and that I expected much more from her, but that since she had never done anything like this before, I would give her a chance. I told her to write a new paper, turn it in on Monday for 75% credit.
Was I too soft?
If they could only read MY subtext.
After discussing Shakespeare-engagement techniques with a fellow student teacher (thanks RS!), I decided to go with his suggestion and try a little lesson on subtext and inflection.
To begin the lesson I put up on an overhead the phrase:
"It's not so much what you say, but _____________"
thinking that of course they would finish it with: "...how you say it". I assumed too much, and the class chanted together: "It's not what you say, but what you do!", or some variation on that. Strike one. Fortunately, this just cracked me up, which in turn cracked them up, so it wasn't a complete loss. I applauded their declaration that actions do indeed speak louder than words, but told them that the phrase I was looking for was: "It's not what you say, but how you say it." They gave me a collective "ohhhhh...."
Pause.
I then asked them to visualize a friend of theirs who is in a relationship.
Pause.
I asked them to think about how the relationship is going. Are they happy? Is the relationship so new that they're all rainbows and sunshine? Do they fight? Are they about to break up? and so forth. I asked them not to say anything out loud, yet.
Pause.
Then I gave them a scenario: Imagine that you are at a party with this friend, when their significant other shows up unexpectedly. I told them that their friend says:
"I didn't think you were going to be here" (this was also on an overhead)
I had several students say the phrase as they imagine their friend would say it, and the class guessed how the relationship was going, based purely on the inflection.
It worked great, and they really got into the subtleties of how emphasis and emotional content affect the meaning of words. This brought me to subtext. After they figured out the approximate meaning of the word "subtext", I explained some of the ways we decipher subtext, and how so much meaning exists under the surface of the dry text. I then told them that if they are stuck on some line in Macbeth that they consider what they already know about the character. What is the character feeling? What is going on in the play? Knowing the context is key to knowing the subtext, and since we are most of the way through Macbeth, they pretty much know what is going on.
They then read some lines from Macbeth, but I gave each reader a new hypothetical subtext, so each reading of the same lines had a different interpretation. They seemed to enjoy the exercise, and I think we all had fun. Since then, I have spiraled back to subtext, and it seems to have helped a little with their understanding.
p.s. I stole a part of this lesson from the book, Shakespeare Set Free.
To begin the lesson I put up on an overhead the phrase:
"It's not so much what you say, but _____________"
thinking that of course they would finish it with: "...how you say it". I assumed too much, and the class chanted together: "It's not what you say, but what you do!", or some variation on that. Strike one. Fortunately, this just cracked me up, which in turn cracked them up, so it wasn't a complete loss. I applauded their declaration that actions do indeed speak louder than words, but told them that the phrase I was looking for was: "It's not what you say, but how you say it." They gave me a collective "ohhhhh...."
Pause.
I then asked them to visualize a friend of theirs who is in a relationship.
Pause.
I asked them to think about how the relationship is going. Are they happy? Is the relationship so new that they're all rainbows and sunshine? Do they fight? Are they about to break up? and so forth. I asked them not to say anything out loud, yet.
Pause.
Then I gave them a scenario: Imagine that you are at a party with this friend, when their significant other shows up unexpectedly. I told them that their friend says:
"I didn't think you were going to be here" (this was also on an overhead)
I had several students say the phrase as they imagine their friend would say it, and the class guessed how the relationship was going, based purely on the inflection.
It worked great, and they really got into the subtleties of how emphasis and emotional content affect the meaning of words. This brought me to subtext. After they figured out the approximate meaning of the word "subtext", I explained some of the ways we decipher subtext, and how so much meaning exists under the surface of the dry text. I then told them that if they are stuck on some line in Macbeth that they consider what they already know about the character. What is the character feeling? What is going on in the play? Knowing the context is key to knowing the subtext, and since we are most of the way through Macbeth, they pretty much know what is going on.
They then read some lines from Macbeth, but I gave each reader a new hypothetical subtext, so each reading of the same lines had a different interpretation. They seemed to enjoy the exercise, and I think we all had fun. Since then, I have spiraled back to subtext, and it seems to have helped a little with their understanding.
p.s. I stole a part of this lesson from the book, Shakespeare Set Free.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Success... I think.
I had a mildly successful lesson today that involved group work, a game, and Macbeth. Vygotsky would have been so proud. My seniors (bless their little apathetic hearts) have a test next Tuesday on Macbeth Act II. The format is the same as explained above. If you remember from my last installment, they didn’t do so well on their Act I test, so I thought I’d make the review more fun for them, and increase their chances for success on Tuesday. I put 24 passages from Act II in a hat, and they picked the passages ... well, here are the rules that I showed them on an overhead:
Object:
Each team tries to get the most number of points by correctly:
1. Identifying the speaker of the passage.
2. To whom the speaker is speaking.
3. Explaining the context/meaning of the passage.
Rules:
1. Six teams will be pre-determined by the teacher.
2. The first team to go will be determined by a die roll.
3. A random passage will be picked from a hat, and the team has exactly 1 minute to discuss the passage.
4. If they answer correctly, they earn a point.
5. If they answer incorrectly, a die roll will determine who gets a chance to steal.
6. If the same team is picked, that team gets another chance.
7. The stealing team gets 30 seconds do discuss the passage.
8. Each question has only one "steal" opportunity.
9. The play will proceed numerically so every team gets a chance to answer a question.
10. The team with the most points wins.
11. Each person on the winning team gets FIVE extra credit points.
12. In case of a tie, each team with the most points gets the credit.
Most of them enjoyed it, but some of them were frustrated by the competition element. The biggest problem was that one minute was WAY too long for the groups to confer. My master teacher though that with a little tweaking it would be an excellent way to study for this type of test.
Of course, I now question the purpose of this type of test. Do they really need to know these passages? Am I just giving a glorified plot summary/reading comprehension test? Sure, the writing portion of this unit will be analytical in nature, and there will be a performative assessment, but it feels like I’m just doing a variation of drill-and-kill. My master teacher is doing the same thing, but then again, she’s pretty old-school. I think I need to change my approach for the rest of the play.
I am getting headaches.
I never get headaches.
Friday, February 9, 2007
One 'A'...nineteen 'F's.
"I hate Shakespeare!"
"What's the point?"
"Why don't we just watch the video?"
Students don't seem to like Shakespeare. This comes as no surprise, of course, but it's amazing to see thirty-one seniors regress to an eighth-grade maturity level when they are faced with unraveling the words of ol' Billy the Bard. They whine. They squirm. They make excuses. Worst of all, they shut down... and as a result, they fail to get anything out of what could be a nice little linguistic exploration, and they fail my test. Nineteen of my thirty-one seniors failed my first real assessment, and that's scary. Here's the breakdown:
A 1
B 6
C 0
D 5
F 19
I gave them 10 quotes from Act I and asked them to identify the speaker (1pt.); identify to whom he/she is speaking (1 pt.); and explain the context of the speech (2 pts.).
Here's the setup:
Day 1. The class was given a four-page plot synopsis. I gave them background on Shakespeare and historical information on Macbeth.
Day 2. We went over the plot thoroughly for one class period after they were supposed to have read it. I explained to them that yes, Shakespeare is extremely difficult, and that we learn the plot because it provides a framework within which we can tackle the language.
Day 3. They took a plot summary quiz which consisted of 21 fill-in-the-blank, who-did-and-said-what-to-whom. Most of them scored in the B to A range.
Day 4. We read Act I, scenes 1 & 2 together in class, analyzing as we read. I got them to dig for meaning most of the time, and I explained things that they probably wouldn't have been able to decipher.
Day 5. Continued through scenes 2 & 3 the same way.
Day 6. They jigsawed scenes 4-6 with guiding questions to focus their reading.
Day 7. We went over scene 7 together, and then reviewed the entire act. I even read them four of the ten passages and told them that these would be on the test!
Clearly, I got through to some of them, because the Bs and the A were well written and showed deep comprehension. I should also point out that my MT is teaching the same thing, gave the same test, and only slightly better results. Today (after going over the answers and giving them "the talk"), I showed them most of Act I on DVD (the Polanski version) I'm going to show them through ACT II on Monday before we start actually reading ACT II. Hopefully, this will give them a visual reference on which to hang the words.
I just need to find something to spice it up.
"What's the point?"
"Why don't we just watch the video?"
Students don't seem to like Shakespeare. This comes as no surprise, of course, but it's amazing to see thirty-one seniors regress to an eighth-grade maturity level when they are faced with unraveling the words of ol' Billy the Bard. They whine. They squirm. They make excuses. Worst of all, they shut down... and as a result, they fail to get anything out of what could be a nice little linguistic exploration, and they fail my test. Nineteen of my thirty-one seniors failed my first real assessment, and that's scary. Here's the breakdown:
A 1
B 6
C 0
D 5
F 19
I gave them 10 quotes from Act I and asked them to identify the speaker (1pt.); identify to whom he/she is speaking (1 pt.); and explain the context of the speech (2 pts.).
Here's the setup:
Day 1. The class was given a four-page plot synopsis. I gave them background on Shakespeare and historical information on Macbeth.
Day 2. We went over the plot thoroughly for one class period after they were supposed to have read it. I explained to them that yes, Shakespeare is extremely difficult, and that we learn the plot because it provides a framework within which we can tackle the language.
Day 3. They took a plot summary quiz which consisted of 21 fill-in-the-blank, who-did-and-said-what-to-whom. Most of them scored in the B to A range.
Day 4. We read Act I, scenes 1 & 2 together in class, analyzing as we read. I got them to dig for meaning most of the time, and I explained things that they probably wouldn't have been able to decipher.
Day 5. Continued through scenes 2 & 3 the same way.
Day 6. They jigsawed scenes 4-6 with guiding questions to focus their reading.
Day 7. We went over scene 7 together, and then reviewed the entire act. I even read them four of the ten passages and told them that these would be on the test!
Clearly, I got through to some of them, because the Bs and the A were well written and showed deep comprehension. I should also point out that my MT is teaching the same thing, gave the same test, and only slightly better results. Today (after going over the answers and giving them "the talk"), I showed them most of Act I on DVD (the Polanski version) I'm going to show them through ACT II on Monday before we start actually reading ACT II. Hopefully, this will give them a visual reference on which to hang the words.
I just need to find something to spice it up.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
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