- Debate Team preparations for meetings
- Earth Day celebration plans (finalized)
- Letter to Ms. Rhee
- Class lessons for 3 different classes
- Project for AU Assessment Class
- Project for AU Foundations Class
- AP Syllabus Submition
- Junior Class Meeting to discuss change of plans
- Readings for classes (yeah... right)
- Prepare for Praxis Pedagogy on April 25 (sorta need that to get my license)
- Survival?
Monday, March 30, 2009
This can't be healthy
Things that have to get done:
Apparently it has been a long day...
The school counselor came in just now to make an announcement and asked "where are all the students? I have been looking around and they're just not in the classrooms. Why is that?" It was 3:35, class had ended 20 minutes prior.
Yeah it was that kind of day...
Yeah it was that kind of day...
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Poor Leadership
I am tired of being blamed for things that are a result of poor leadership. I am new to this system, in my second year of teaching, and am being blamed for taking initiative to help students without going through the 'proper' channels. Now I understand following the rules and I am more than willing to. But it is hard to do that when you don't know the rules exist. When I ask my leader a question or inform that leader that I am doing something and they say 'great' and tell me nothing else, then I'm going ahead with what I'm doing. If a student clears something with that leader then tells me about it later then I assume the leader took care of everything which is why they signed off on the endeavor.
This "leader" has already driven away a good science teacher. She's now driving away the math teacher. And she is certainly driving away me. And she wonders why this Academy is in constant danger of being closed.
There is a reason I am sending my resume out to schools with real leaders. I am a beginning teacher, I cannot be expected to run this school, and I need real guidance not just trial by fire (and we'll yell at you when you mess up). When a group of students comes to you and you tell them about a 'free bus' and tell them to 'write this person' and they do that, don't send me a condescending email (that is cc'd to said students) telling me that I should have written to that person about a free bus and that the students didn't do the letter right. Why didn't you tell them to tell me, or better yet tell them what should be in that letter? Why am I all of a sudden the poor, disorganized teacher who has no idea what she's doing (when I didn't even know about this free bus)? I know it makes her feel better to blame me, because then she takes it off of herself. But she's driving away the one teacher who is going above and beyond the call of duty, who has taken 4 days off over 2 years, who comes in over an hour early almost every day and stays late, who runs clubs, is always there for her students and actually teaches (and yes the students and I all know that we have maybe 2 or 3 teachers who do that here). So she is, in her own words, reaping what she sows.
This "leader" has already driven away a good science teacher. She's now driving away the math teacher. And she is certainly driving away me. And she wonders why this Academy is in constant danger of being closed.
There is a reason I am sending my resume out to schools with real leaders. I am a beginning teacher, I cannot be expected to run this school, and I need real guidance not just trial by fire (and we'll yell at you when you mess up). When a group of students comes to you and you tell them about a 'free bus' and tell them to 'write this person' and they do that, don't send me a condescending email (that is cc'd to said students) telling me that I should have written to that person about a free bus and that the students didn't do the letter right. Why didn't you tell them to tell me, or better yet tell them what should be in that letter? Why am I all of a sudden the poor, disorganized teacher who has no idea what she's doing (when I didn't even know about this free bus)? I know it makes her feel better to blame me, because then she takes it off of herself. But she's driving away the one teacher who is going above and beyond the call of duty, who has taken 4 days off over 2 years, who comes in over an hour early almost every day and stays late, who runs clubs, is always there for her students and actually teaches (and yes the students and I all know that we have maybe 2 or 3 teachers who do that here). So she is, in her own words, reaping what she sows.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
One down, three to go!
I just sent in my cover letter and resume to Banneker SHS. I applied last year and was not hired, but I was given the impression that I was the 2nd choice, which isn't too bad. I teach Saturday School with a teacher who works there and heard that the person they hired over me was fired halfway through the year and now they have a permanent substitute.
This means that my dream position is going to be back on the market. In an attempt to get it once again, I am applying early and worked really hard on my cover letter and CV. I think my application is a lot stronger this year. I have grown a lot as a teacher and taken on a lot of additional roles here at the Academy. I also am getting much more direct in selling myself to Banneker in particular, making sure they understand that I will be a good fit for the long term and not just some kid who plans to go to law school in a few years (not that there's anything wrong w/that, I'm just not that person).
I have three more schools that I will apply to, just to see if anything comes of them, but really Banneker is my top choice. It has the IB program, a strong set of students from around the district, is not a charter school, has a good number of students and has high standards for everyone involved. I can see myself having a long career there and really growing and learning from my fellow staff members and administration. Especially because, by all accounts, it is a school that actually works.
I do feel a little guilty about leaving my students here, especially because the programs I am setting up aren't necessarily short term. But I deserve the chance to work with people who know what they are doing and actually try. People who don't come to work late every day, people who really teach lessons and don't just use the poorly written textbook, faculty who don't do the bare minimum and people who follow school, state and federal regulations and don't discriminate against those that are different. I know I deserve that, and I'm sorry to the students that I may leave behind if I do get offered another position (because I know I would be leaving you behind with nothing), but at some point I have to do something that is for my own benefit, or I may not make it to that long-term goal I see for myself in the future.
This means that my dream position is going to be back on the market. In an attempt to get it once again, I am applying early and worked really hard on my cover letter and CV. I think my application is a lot stronger this year. I have grown a lot as a teacher and taken on a lot of additional roles here at the Academy. I also am getting much more direct in selling myself to Banneker in particular, making sure they understand that I will be a good fit for the long term and not just some kid who plans to go to law school in a few years (not that there's anything wrong w/that, I'm just not that person).
I have three more schools that I will apply to, just to see if anything comes of them, but really Banneker is my top choice. It has the IB program, a strong set of students from around the district, is not a charter school, has a good number of students and has high standards for everyone involved. I can see myself having a long career there and really growing and learning from my fellow staff members and administration. Especially because, by all accounts, it is a school that actually works.
I do feel a little guilty about leaving my students here, especially because the programs I am setting up aren't necessarily short term. But I deserve the chance to work with people who know what they are doing and actually try. People who don't come to work late every day, people who really teach lessons and don't just use the poorly written textbook, faculty who don't do the bare minimum and people who follow school, state and federal regulations and don't discriminate against those that are different. I know I deserve that, and I'm sorry to the students that I may leave behind if I do get offered another position (because I know I would be leaving you behind with nothing), but at some point I have to do something that is for my own benefit, or I may not make it to that long-term goal I see for myself in the future.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Interesting (read: depressing) Stats
Today a new report was released by the District talking about the HIV/AIDS rate in DC.
It is approximately 1:33 and disproportionately affects African Americans
Another interesting statistic I just found out: 2 seniors and 1 sophomore are pregnant in the Academy
We have about 96 students
That means approximately 1:32 students are pregnant (having unprotected sex).
Coincidence?
It is approximately 1:33 and disproportionately affects African Americans
Another interesting statistic I just found out: 2 seniors and 1 sophomore are pregnant in the Academy
We have about 96 students
That means approximately 1:32 students are pregnant (having unprotected sex).
Coincidence?
Monday, March 16, 2009
The Grand Experiment
I know it has been a long long time since I have posted here, and probably nobody is checking it. Things have been hectic this year and I will go back and write a few posts describing some of the big events of this year.
This post is about my newest informal experiment in student communication: Text Messaging.
I was due for a new phone, so I decided to also get an upgrade to my current plan. I have noticed that my students text a lot. Possibly more than they talk. So what I am going to do is communicate with them the way they are most comfortable communicating. The cheapest way to accomplish this was to add unlimited text messaging to my phone and then collect all my students cell numbers (on a volunteer basis). I believe I got about 2/3 of my students to give me their numbers without any incentive, which I would say is pretty good, and for most the only reason I'm not closer to 100% is that the other students are absent.
I have given them my cell number and have told them they can text me with any questions, comments, concerns, etc. that they have.
I will also text them reminding them about big assignments, homework, binder checks, to check their email if I send them an assignment, etc. Some students are also signing on to a "wake up text" where I text them around 7:45 to wake up.
Due to all this potential texting I bought a phone that has a full keyboard so that I can type much faster. I also am able to create 'groups' by class so I can send out classroom texts and other things. If a student goes to the bathroom for too long I can text them telling them to get back to class, etc.
This is an experiment to see if this increases communication and assignments being turned in. I know not all students will respond to it, but there are quite a few who have proven very responsive already (or at least very excited about the prospect of communicating via texting).
My plan is to see how it works for this last advisory of the year (which starts right after spring break in 2 weeks) and see if I can find a noticeable difference in work getting turned in and people coming to class on time and prepared.
I will need to see if this will get abused by the students, but I honestly doubt it. They've had my apartment landline number for a long time and hardly any of them call it, so we shall see. The great thing about this plan is its flexibility. If my students don't text me all that much then I can reduce the number of texts I need per month and pay less. If it doesn't work at all I can just cancel the unlimited text messages. So there really aren't that many extra costs. I also can probably write this off my taxes as a business expense (it would have to be proportional to the amount of texts I use for work vs. personal - but that isn't too hard to figure out)
Anyways I am excited to see how things go! I am going to start posting more regularly in the future, both to track my own progress and to keep people more up to date on what is going on over here in DC.
This post is about my newest informal experiment in student communication: Text Messaging.
I was due for a new phone, so I decided to also get an upgrade to my current plan. I have noticed that my students text a lot. Possibly more than they talk. So what I am going to do is communicate with them the way they are most comfortable communicating. The cheapest way to accomplish this was to add unlimited text messaging to my phone and then collect all my students cell numbers (on a volunteer basis). I believe I got about 2/3 of my students to give me their numbers without any incentive, which I would say is pretty good, and for most the only reason I'm not closer to 100% is that the other students are absent.
I have given them my cell number and have told them they can text me with any questions, comments, concerns, etc. that they have.
I will also text them reminding them about big assignments, homework, binder checks, to check their email if I send them an assignment, etc. Some students are also signing on to a "wake up text" where I text them around 7:45 to wake up.
Due to all this potential texting I bought a phone that has a full keyboard so that I can type much faster. I also am able to create 'groups' by class so I can send out classroom texts and other things. If a student goes to the bathroom for too long I can text them telling them to get back to class, etc.
This is an experiment to see if this increases communication and assignments being turned in. I know not all students will respond to it, but there are quite a few who have proven very responsive already (or at least very excited about the prospect of communicating via texting).
My plan is to see how it works for this last advisory of the year (which starts right after spring break in 2 weeks) and see if I can find a noticeable difference in work getting turned in and people coming to class on time and prepared.
I will need to see if this will get abused by the students, but I honestly doubt it. They've had my apartment landline number for a long time and hardly any of them call it, so we shall see. The great thing about this plan is its flexibility. If my students don't text me all that much then I can reduce the number of texts I need per month and pay less. If it doesn't work at all I can just cancel the unlimited text messages. So there really aren't that many extra costs. I also can probably write this off my taxes as a business expense (it would have to be proportional to the amount of texts I use for work vs. personal - but that isn't too hard to figure out)
Anyways I am excited to see how things go! I am going to start posting more regularly in the future, both to track my own progress and to keep people more up to date on what is going on over here in DC.
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