How I feel today

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Wait! This is not just how I feel today. It's pretty much every day of my life. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Happy Mother's Day to everyone who has touched the life of a child!

Individulaity and Duality

I love the end of the school year. I love it for several reasons. Some are obvious. For instance, summer is around the corner. I can breath a sigh of relief that this year is almost complete. One of the biggest reasons I love this time of year, though, is that I know my students. We have a relationship as a class and with one another. I understand them better and, hopefully, that means I understand their needs better. I am so blessed in my position because many of these kids have had me for two or three years which really improves that relationship. This is a great lead in to something about public education that has been puzzling me lately.

Teachers are sent to many trainings. Most of these trainings focus on the individuality of the child. That is beautiful. I completely agree. All children learn differently, bring something new to a subject, come from a different background and have different needs. I buy into this completely. So, at these trainings we are taught ways to individualize education, ways to make this experience meaningful for each, separate, entirely different child. As a middle school teacher this gets tricky because so many students are added to that scenario. Still, I embrace the challenge and I work very hard all year to get to know my students and their needs.

Ironically, as we are being pushed to examine each individual child, we are also being told that we need to keep our lessons more uniform throughout the school and district. Some schools I have worked at have taken this to the degree that, honestly, we should just be given a script. These two trends do not mesh well in my mind. Yes, I'm creative and I will find ways to cover the whats and whens in my class while trying to maintain a classroom that considers each student. However, it still seems that this creates confusion and possibly has created the reason many students go through their school years as a name and number. It takes an immense amount of thought, planning and experience to be able to exist and do well in the dichotomy that the 'powers that be' have mandated. I want to tell the government and the board and all of these politicians that they cannot have it both ways.

When I was in school my teachers knew nothing about me. They barely remembered my name. I was a good student and I completed my assignments. I learned the one way they offered, I was one of the lucky few that did. I did not talk to them outside of class assignments, they likely did not remember me when I left their room each day. Teachers did not individualize instruction and they did not know us. I think that trend has shifted and the relationships are being built and I believe this is a positive change. However, with so much emphasis on student's performance on a single test(jobs being threatened, kids tested so often they don't even care how they do) we are not going to be able to maintain this ideal utopia of mutual understanding and respect between teachers and their students.

Doubting

I try to stay away from politics. It is a world that I know nothing about. I don't speak its language. However, right now it is affecting my life directly. It is affecting the way I teach and what I am considering teaching in my class. Everyone seems to have a strong opinion about standardized testing. I want to give the teacher's perspective.

I teach the advanced English classes at my middle school. These students are expected to perform above their grade level. I expect them to dig deeper, explore further and be self-motivated to do so. From my perspective, I should not worry about a minimal standards test in my classroom. I am taking them so far beyond what that test will cover that it should be easy for them. That does not seem to be the case though. My students have only sat in classes that were teaching to the test. They do not know how to dig deeper, nor do they have any desire to do so. They are frustrated with me because I'm asking them to do more than complete worksheets. They have said this to me in those words.  What they are seriously lacking is vocabulary. They are capable of making great connections and answering tough questions but they do not know the meanings of many of the words they read. If you gave them a passage and asked what it meant, they could tell you easily. But if you give them a multiple choice question and they don't understand three of the four words from the list of choices, they are going to miss the question.

So, back to my original thought that this test is affecting what I teach in my classroom. I pulled out Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing". They got excited about the story line. They got excited about the list of vocabulary words I gave them from Shakespeare's time. They started shouting insults to each other and laughing over the fact that their teachers wouldn't realize they were insulting them. I have not seen this enthusiasm all year. We are plowing through the second act currently. It's not easy stuff. But we're taking it slow and really trying to understand the writer's craft. This is all totally my ideal for my classroom. My huge worry is that it won't prepare them to take the state test in May. In fact, it worries me a lot. So I will probably resort to giving them homework each week that tests them on reading a passage and answering multiple choice questions. This angers me and it's so disconnected from how people learn. Yet I'm stuck.

In life my problems have never offered me multiple choice solutions. They have taken problem solving, thinking and planning. We aren't teaching these students how to apply things they learn in school to real life. We are teaching them how to take apart a test. It makes me extremely sad and it makes a great argument for homeschooling. Another solutioin is that parents can opt out of the test for their child. I'm sure the rules are different in every state, parents would have to do some research to find out what is required in their state but at least it is an option. But is one parent in a school district, pulling their child from testing going to make changes? No. What will make things change? I'm just not sure.

That's Not Exactly What I Meant

In my classroom it is important to me to build trust and an open dialogue. I want my students to feel like they can contribute to class discussions without worrying about being teased and laughed at. I try to build that trust early on and have a lot of dialogue that first week of school. I also, along with every other teacher, reach into my teacher bag of tricks and find an opening activity that will provide an atmosphere of ownership. This year I chose an activity wherein my students could make nameplates. Inside their large block letters they were to write words using the letters of their name, that describe them. For instance - my daughter is Brooklyn and B could be bossy, bubbly and bold. I was showing the students the one I made for an example. I told them that not every trait had to be positive. For instance, for my 'O' I wrote obstinate. I asked them in anyone knew what obstinate meant. One boy's hand shot right up and I called on him (by name, I was so proud of myself for remembering). He proudly and loudly said, "It's a word for someone who waits until they are married to have sex." Giggles erupted and I must admit I joined them. I try so hard to never laugh at a student, unless they want me to. I couldn't keep the grin off my face though. "No," I explained calmly and seriously, "that would be abstinent. My word is obstinate. Does anyone else want to try that one?" Of course by then no one was going to answer. I went on to explain that I was stubborn but could not used that word with no 'S' in my name and I had to choose obstinate instead. I feel that after my initial giggle, I saved it well and we moved on. Can I just add here, this example is one of the many reasons I love teaching middle school? These kids crack me up.

I'm Ready?

This is the night. All summer we dread it. We try to make those hot days stretch out as long as possible without dragging. How is that for a conundrum? But Labor Day comes and goes with good food, time with friends and family and one last day to soak up the sun before we go back to school.

I celebrated this day by doing things a great mom, readying her children for school, would do. I made them do chores, had them fix dinner and clean up, they showered and laid out their clothes. They fought with each other. They fought with me. They fought with themselves. This is a great way to end my summer because it allows me to look forward to school starting. Thank you kids. I do love you.

I did, however, take them to the playground and had a special back to school dinner for them complete with treats. It made me feel like a great mom. I had to relish it, it's so rare I feel like a great mom.

I do feel like a great teacher though. It's not hard when the students have yet to arrive. The wall of my room looks fantastic, I have the first three weeks of the 8th grade English class planned and a teacher that was leaving to stay home with her baby gave me a lot of neat crap! Teachery kind of crap. I can't wait to use it. Wish me luck!

Those Crazy Kids

Do you have kids? Do you work with kids? Do your friends have kids? Do you sometimes behave like a kid? If you can say yes to any of those questions you really have to read on. I am going to reveal something that may surprise some of you. Now, some of you may have surmised this at some point on your own, but perhaps I will enlighten a few. If, in fact, a few people even know this blog exists, which I doubt. Here it is: If your kids are acting crazier, moodier and louder than normal look at the moon. It will probably be full and if it is not full that night, it was the night before or will be the next night. Seriously. Now, I am not a Wiccan and I do not worship mother earth; however, everything in nature revolves around cycles and, dear reader, we are a part of nature. If the moon is not the culprit pay attention to weather forecasts. Whenever the weather changes, the kids go wild. Usually it is from hot to cold where we, as teachers, observe the most extreme behavior. And it really does get extreme. Those of you not in the school system would be shocked at the havoc a cold snap can wreak on a middle school. Which really makes me think of what happens in the spring, but  I won't even go into the whole twitterpated thing now. I'll save that for a spring post. Suffice it to say - blame it on the moon. That crazy moon.

Mom of a Middle School Kid

Not only am I a teacher of middle school children, but I am also the mother of one. Next year I will be the mother of two and, with five kids, it will just snowball from there. 'Raising kids today is harder than it was when my parents raised me", I hear this phrase often. I'm sure it's been said since the dawn of time because raising kids is indeed more difficult than being one. And, in this world of constant change we can not rely simply on our own experiences as a child to raise our own children, though that can enhance it. There are things out there today that my parents did not have to worry about - internet being the main one. However, I prefer to look at these things as tools to make my job easier instead of seeing them as making my job more difficult.

My parents were pretty naive. They were oblivious about the movies I watched, the music I listened to, and the books I read. I don't think they considered the impact it was having on the person I was becoming. I don't blame them really. They are great parents. I just think that, with their fond memories of childhood, they were not aware of what I was doing. There was no PG-13. There was no parental advisory tag on my music. Books were not labeled YA.

Now, when my children express interest in a song I can google a line, any line and all of the lyrics magically appear on my screen. I love it! Then I can say, and do often say, we won't be listening to that song again and no, you can't buy it. When my children beg to watch the newest movie out in theaters I hop on to imdb.com and read through the parental advisory section before I give a yes or no. I love it! With Netflix movies that download I can see everything they have watched and with Netnanny I can keep them from as many unsavory websites as possible. I feel like there are many safety nets in place to help me do my job as mother. I suppose this is my 'glass is half full' thinking on a subject that I know worries so many parents. There are tools and people out there to help parents raise their children in today's world. Get out there and educate yourself so you can be their anchor!