Week 9: Parent-Teacher Conferences, a New Insight

 

I had the opportunity to participate in my first-ever parent-teacher conferences this week.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't apprehensive at best and terrified at worst!  To my pleasant surprise they went very well and I realized that one of the best ways to get to know your students is to know where they're coming from.  I found out that some of my quietest students have a sense of humor that could have the entire class in stitches.  Other students who seemingly only love joking around are actually huge fans of history and of the class.

It feels good to know that I'm at least making enough of an impact that the students tell their parents about the things they are learning in class.  Not every student will like history, or even the class, but I hope I can reach as many as possible and make a positive impact.  In my own experience in high school, a few of my history teachers made the largest impact of my life (the reason I'm where I am today) and I hope to be that positive force for students down the road.

-MB

Week 8: March Madness

This past week included a whole bunch of March Madness fever!  Between dress-up days, shamrock scavenger hunts and two, yes TWO afternoon assemblies where competitions ranged from sumo wrestling to "Don't forget the lyrics" I have to say it was a very exciting week.  It's always good to let off a little steam and have some fun with the students. 


Next week is back to work though. It's difficult sometimes to find the balance between hardwork and a little bit of socializing time.  While the amount of information that needs to be covered seems daunting, I've received some good insight this week that it all gets done, and it's more about quality than quantity.  So whether or not the students skim from the beginning of civilization through to the Industrial Revolution all in one year doesn't make too much difference so long as they have a really good understanding of what they've covered.


I've also tried to find the balance between teacher-centered and student-centered activities.  I think this will be a work in progress for the rest of my career.  There are days where it seems the only way to get across the information is through lectures and note-taking.  Other days there's an activity that takes up the entire day.  It's not too often that I've been able to find a middle ground or consistency with these and often find myself giving notes day in and day out.  Hopefully through continued work and some help from my very helpful and supportive colleagues I'll be able to find the happy medium and keep it going.


I had a wonderful opportunity last night to be a judge for a pageant/talent competition for the senior guys at my high school.  It was very entertaining and I really felt like I've become a member of the community.  It's amazing how in such a little amount of time you can make connections with students, faculty and staff on many levels and I look forward to having a long-time career in a high school much like this.


Now, it's St. Patrick's Day so I'm going to go and enjoy my afternoon! 


-MB

Week 7: Professional Development, So THAT'S what they do on days off...

I had my first opportunity to attend a full-day professional development at my school this week.  As the teachers rolled in around 8am it felt like the roles had reversed, the faculty were now the students, all sitting to one side towards the back of the auditorium (I don't think people sit in the front of rooms until after retirement...) awaiting whatever enthralling lecture would be taking place, our topic: the new teacher evaluation system.  This abstract topic that I have been reading about in the news finally became a semi-reality for me.  And at the end of the hour-long session I can accurately and confidently say, I don't have a clue what she was talking about!

Image - www.educationworld.com

Luckily it wasn't our only task that day, we spent a chunk of time looking at the Common Core standards.  While history isn't a major component of the Common Core (much to my chagrin) we were able to find some varied assessments that can be incorporated into the world history classes next year.  It felt good to be able to provide some of my own insight, however limited, to this discussion.


Lastly, our day ended with a guest speaker from the MARC center (Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center) which was extremely informative and well done.  Not that you'd ever expect to laugh during a presentation on bullying, our speaker Dr. Englander, had a few humorous quips that helped lighten the mood on this topic.


Overall, with the mystery of PD days finally gone, I have to say I'm a little disappointed...  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the day was very low-key.  One thing I wasn't disappointed with was having a day during the week to regroup before a few more days of teaching, can't ever complain about that.


-MB

Week 6: Get Out That Bag of Tricks

Anyone who has ever taken an education course has probably heard something like this; "make sure you keep this activity and use it when you're in a pinch, add it to your bag of tricks" or "add it to your toolkit" or "keep it in your back pocket."  As I get further along into my teaching experience I have had more opportunities to open this "bag of tricks."  

image - translorial.com

This week was a perfect example of that: Upon my arrival to school, I realized that my fantastic lesson on Renaissance artwork, which was entirely reliant on the use of very colorful and entertaining Renaissance artwork postcards, would have to be post-poned; I left the postcards at home!  My first reaction was utter panic - I had about 50 minutes to either re-work that lesson or scrap it and make up something else.  As I was really proud of my work on the original lesson, I decided to whip up something else instead.  So I did an introduction to some of the great Renaissance thinkers Francesco Petrarch and Leonardo da Vinci.  Now lecturing and having students take notes is straightforward, but the "bag-of-tricks" idea was pretty great.  As most historians know, Leonardo was famous for mirror-writing, or writing all of his letters and words backwards from right-left across a page.  So I demonstrated this for my students on the board (being left-handed myself I used to practice this when I was bored in class, I've developed a certain skill) and they were fascinated.  So I told them to try writing a sentence using this mirror-writing technique.  Then, as I knew would be the case with adolescent females, a few girls whipped out their mirrors and they were passed around the class so people could see how well they'd done.  A simple fun fact turned into a 10 minute activity that truly engaged the students in the subject matter - DEFINITELY keeping that in my bag of tricks.


While I usually try to keep my posts to one major topic, I just can't help but mention my first experience with  student assemblies. Today, each grade met during a different period to receive information about their course selections for next year.  Most teachers didn't remember this was occurring until yesterday afternoon, and most thought it would last the entire period.  


Fast forward to this morning, teachers find out that the assembly only lasts about 20 minutes and I am teaching a class in 15 minutes that I have NOTHING prepared for... (might I add this is only my 2nd time teaching this class)  Luckily, my cooperating teacher opened up her bag of tricks and saved the day. 


 So, I guess I really only had one topic, but I finally understand why my teachers in high school would get so frustrated and dread assembly days; not even a math teacher can formulate how to lesson plan for a class period that is lasting x amount of minutes starting at t time with a 50% margin of error...


-MB

Week Five: Buzzword- "Vacation"

I can recall my days as an elementary and high school student to a certain extent (they weren't THAT long ago), but I seem to have forgotten one of the key elements in the rhythm of the school year - vacations.  Starting at 1:50pm on Monday afternoon, each and every student flipped the internal switch that started a countdown to vacation.  Lesson learned - you have to be extremely motivated and over-prepared to have a successful lesson once this countdown has commenced.  The week inches on slower than a normal week, with each day seemingly lasting an eternity (for both students and teachers alike!) culminating in the infamous "X-day."  What is "X-day" you ask? Well, it's a made-up day where all 7 periods meet from 7:30am to 10:50am including a lunch block.  Essentially, planning a lesson for 20 minutes is all but impossible, and yet, about 50% of teachers found a way to sneak in that one last quiz, PowerPoint, or activity before the vacation.  

Image - suzysaid.com

Taking a more panicked, under-prepared approach, I used these 20 minutes to try and get all students caught up on their missed assignments so that their progress reports would accurately portray their performance at this point in the semester.  The little time that was left over was a perfect opportunity to build a report with the students I might not otherwise have a chance to reach out to during class.  From what I can see, the small inroads made in a side-bar conversation can sometimes be all it takes to connect with students on a level that they can comprehend and to remove some of the stoic teacher image that tends to turn students off to interaction, socializing and humor.

Speaking of humor - I am well aware that not all people will find jokes about history funny, however, that does not stop me from routinely making bad jokes or puns about the topic of the day.  It was extremely gratifying to have one student chuckle at one such bad joke about an image of a party of skeletons from the black plague.


With my second observation under my belt (went much smoother than the first one) I am starting to feel a sense of comfort when in front of the class.  Hopefully, with a week to recharge the batteries, I can head into the next 8 weeks of the semester with a vigor that will keep my momentum going to the end.


-MB

Week Four: What Makes Them Tick?

It's. Friday.  No, I'm not quite that excited for the week to be over, though the prospect of not having to project my voice over the masses for two days will be rather nice.  I almost forgot that I needed to sit down and write this weekly reflection due to the fact that it was nice to sit down and do nothing!  I would like to take this brief moment to thank all of the teachers I had throughout my years in school for all of their hard-work, dedication and patience in working with the under-appreciative, and sometimes unwilling participants in education, the students.  Not that I was naive in thinking teachers had it easy, but I may have underestimated the physical wear and tear on the body after a week of being on your feet, moving around, and talking above the din.  While I wouldn't go as far as to call it manual labor, it's no office job either.


My first experience with student projects occurred this week.  Many students rose to the occasion and turned in creative, dynamic and otherwise insightful posters.  Then there were the two or three who "left it on the kitchen table" and will be sharing their posters with the class next week at a "discounted rate."  And then there were a couple who didn't turn in anything, nor did they come up with excuses, they simply didn't do it.  These are the students I hope to appeal to over the course of the next couple of months. The highly self-motivated will turn in perfection at the drop of a hat, the chronic procrastinators will turn it around after a few kicks in the pants from bad grades, but the truly unmotivated, disinterested and otherwise unaffected students are the ones I hope to crack.  I want to learn their story: What do they like? What are their hobbies? What makes them tick? Again, do not mistake my desire/motivation for naivety, I know that my chances of succeeding in this mission are slim, but that does not mean I shouldn't try.

I suppose the best way to sum up my experiences this week is to say my passion for teaching increases each day, and while I have a LONG way to go before I can call myself a successful teacher, I will make it.  Each morning I wake up and the first thing I see (after the time on the alarm clock... ew.) is a plaque my parents gave me for Christmas that reads: "To teach is to touch a life forever."  Sure, we've all heard it before, but I make it my goal each day to live that message and take all the outside pressures in stride.


-MB

ps. my favorite line from a crusade recruitment poster was: "Join the Crusade and whet your blade" (this is why I love high school)

Week Three: Notes? Pages of Notes?

Third week done and I think I've almost got a handle on this rotating schedule.  The fact that I can look out at a class and say with confidence, see you Tuesday, because my mind has already worked through the mathematics that says that period is dropped on Monday means I'm in a groove.


Speaking of grooves - nothing throws you off your teaching groove quite like having a 30+ year teaching vet come sit in the back of your classroom and take literally 15 pages of notes!  As she pointed out during our debriefing, I had nothing to be concerned about, she just wanted to write down EVERY word I said.  However, I made more mistakes (rather, had more things that needed correction or improvement) than I thought possible in a 68 minute time-frame.  Though, I suppose if I was so good that I needed no direction, anyone could become a teacher at the drop of a hat.  It is, however, amazing to consider that one person has so much knowledge about teaching locked up in one brain!  She has an answer to every question, a suggestion to every comment, and a compliment (there were a couple) for every job well done.  That being said, I'm not entirely enthusiastic to cross paths with her again on Feb. 13th...


But what about the students, you ask? Well, I have to say I burst a few (and by that I mean all) bubbles this week when I not only assigned homework, but a project AND told the honors class they would be having a quiz next week.  I guess you can say the honey-moon is over, and they're starting to realize that I'm not going to  just be all fun and games (though, I wouldn't MIND playing 7-up if there was a way to make it educational.... yes, a girl asked to play that this week).

Image - www.cartoonstock.com

But some of the best moments of the week did not occur in the classroom, instead they were in the hallways in between classes or at the end of the day.  There is nothing more gratifying than seeing a student in the hallway and hearing "hey Mr. B!" or "Have a good weekend Mr. B!" because whether or not they enjoy your class (and I'm not naive to believe they enjoy it at all...) they at least acknowledge your existence and it feels nice.  One girl, who is totally vying for the favorite student/teacher's pet award, even told me after my supervisor had visited that she thinks I'm going to be "a great teacher someday."  Regardless of the underlying motivation, it was nice to hear.

Now for the Super Bowl and some Patriots action! - wouldn't mind if the weekend dragged just a little...


-MB