Wild as the Taliban
I love nine weeks' tests. Perfectly silent, their knotted brows bent over the exam, writing furiously. So peaceful. When not walking around, I'm grading research papers at my podium, looking up and and frowning sternly every so often for good measure, although it's hardly needed.
The research paper, the third I've done as a teacher, was a great experience for me-- they chose community issues, like crack, teen pregnancy, black men in prison, highschool drop outs, lack of male role models in the home-- they came up with their own topics. We did it in MLA format-- the whole deal with the notecards, the outline, rough draft, final draft. Typed. 12 point. Times New Roman. Head your paper properly. No, I do not need a cover page, much less a binder for you to display your work. That seems a little form over content. I would prefer proper citations and a works cited page. Thanks to the rubric, I graded about half of them yesterday. I love the pilot G2 red pens. A satisfying click to them, and the gel means they just roll over the page. Built for speed. Since it's for work, I can just barely justify the expense. I love reading research papers; it's a great way of getting to know them-- I am making a list of the low and high-end kids-- going to start assigning certain remediations certain days, one of which is going to be a getting-into-college club. So much unrecognized genius. Whitney Gabriel, the girl with two first names. So quiet, so clean, always comes early, always sits in the back. I feel so guilty for never recognizing her. She is a shining star-- creative, literate prose. Brilliant use of metaphor. Maybe we can get her in somewhere, provided she doesn't already have a kid. Xavier Harris-- writes on an actual 12th grade level-- I had always pegged for a joker. He's probably just bored-- my sixth period in general, I now realize, needs higher-level stuff, because it's full of high achievers, prone to talking when left unchallenged.
Of course, there are quite a few research papers I haven't received. It's a conundrum: homecoming week (last week) is a classic case of school getting in the way of education, and I had already extended my due date for the research paper. Since there's less accountability this year (last year, you could write them up and depend on immediate and appropriate action), they only show up when they feel like it. It's kind of sad. I said I wouldn't accept research papers past Monday, and I meant it. Now I have kids trying to push their papers at me and I have to shake my head. I'm trying to be consistent, plus, I don't want them to think I'm bluffing all of the time.
The principal told me to overnight suspend all of the kids who were serious discipline problems. I wrote them up, and I turned the list in, updated it, turned it in again...three times. But nothing happened. One of my students told me the students thought I was bluffing. He didn't mean anything by it, but I realized that the administrative inconsistency made me look like an idiot. This seems unfair, and makes me angry. Obviously I'm not going to hold detention (why punish myself?) but I also need to see what happens when I fail a whole bunch of kids this nine weeks. I've got documentation aplenty (all I'd have to do is point to the roll book and the grade book), and the sad thing is, a kid can't really try in my class and fail. When it comes to Fs, I'm not trigger-happy: failing's reserved for the kids who skip class, the kids who don't turn anything in. Last year, very few students failed-- mostly because I could write them up for not turning in their work, they'd go to ISS (aka 'the hole') and they wouldn't get out until the work was done. This year, I figure it's the first nine weeks, and maybe they deserve a wake up call. So they flunk the first nine weeks. As far as what's feasible and what makes sense, it's the only accountability I know.
The immediate classroom management stuff-- keeping it quiet and productive in room 17-- is easy for me, even with this year's changes. I can still control the climate of my classroom, barring homeroom (which we still, inexplicably, hold for one hour a day...God save us. It wouldn't be a problem if I had seniors, but I have sophmores, 32 of them, who generally disregard me. We've tried to give them work for ENG II, but perhaps they need to actually SEE their grades, which is a ton of work for their ENG II teachers, getting it all organized, getting in touch with all of the teachers who hold 10th grade homeroom, getting work to them, taking it up, reorganizing it by class, averaging in ALL THOSE ZEROES...it's strange, it's more work for everybody, and it doesn't make any sense. If my homeroom were made up of my students, I think I could do some interesting things and use that time productively. 32 sophmores, however...the're like aliens to me). I DO have my students under control, behaviorally speaking. But what happens when they just don't do their work? What happens when they just don't show up? I call parents, but for the most part, the ones who are failing are the ones whose parents aren't involved in the first place. God help me when those same parents are banging down my door with report cards in their hands. I have yet to see where the administration will stand on that issue.
Mr. Mc always used to say, "they'll lie to you, they'll lie on you, but they won't lie for you." More than teaching English, it is my job to teach them social responsibility. This job is meaningless unless you love the kids. I do love the kids, which means I owe them that much: my Fs stand, let the administration stand where it may.
The research paper, the third I've done as a teacher, was a great experience for me-- they chose community issues, like crack, teen pregnancy, black men in prison, highschool drop outs, lack of male role models in the home-- they came up with their own topics. We did it in MLA format-- the whole deal with the notecards, the outline, rough draft, final draft. Typed. 12 point. Times New Roman. Head your paper properly. No, I do not need a cover page, much less a binder for you to display your work. That seems a little form over content. I would prefer proper citations and a works cited page. Thanks to the rubric, I graded about half of them yesterday. I love the pilot G2 red pens. A satisfying click to them, and the gel means they just roll over the page. Built for speed. Since it's for work, I can just barely justify the expense. I love reading research papers; it's a great way of getting to know them-- I am making a list of the low and high-end kids-- going to start assigning certain remediations certain days, one of which is going to be a getting-into-college club. So much unrecognized genius. Whitney Gabriel, the girl with two first names. So quiet, so clean, always comes early, always sits in the back. I feel so guilty for never recognizing her. She is a shining star-- creative, literate prose. Brilliant use of metaphor. Maybe we can get her in somewhere, provided she doesn't already have a kid. Xavier Harris-- writes on an actual 12th grade level-- I had always pegged for a joker. He's probably just bored-- my sixth period in general, I now realize, needs higher-level stuff, because it's full of high achievers, prone to talking when left unchallenged.
Of course, there are quite a few research papers I haven't received. It's a conundrum: homecoming week (last week) is a classic case of school getting in the way of education, and I had already extended my due date for the research paper. Since there's less accountability this year (last year, you could write them up and depend on immediate and appropriate action), they only show up when they feel like it. It's kind of sad. I said I wouldn't accept research papers past Monday, and I meant it. Now I have kids trying to push their papers at me and I have to shake my head. I'm trying to be consistent, plus, I don't want them to think I'm bluffing all of the time.
The principal told me to overnight suspend all of the kids who were serious discipline problems. I wrote them up, and I turned the list in, updated it, turned it in again...three times. But nothing happened. One of my students told me the students thought I was bluffing. He didn't mean anything by it, but I realized that the administrative inconsistency made me look like an idiot. This seems unfair, and makes me angry. Obviously I'm not going to hold detention (why punish myself?) but I also need to see what happens when I fail a whole bunch of kids this nine weeks. I've got documentation aplenty (all I'd have to do is point to the roll book and the grade book), and the sad thing is, a kid can't really try in my class and fail. When it comes to Fs, I'm not trigger-happy: failing's reserved for the kids who skip class, the kids who don't turn anything in. Last year, very few students failed-- mostly because I could write them up for not turning in their work, they'd go to ISS (aka 'the hole') and they wouldn't get out until the work was done. This year, I figure it's the first nine weeks, and maybe they deserve a wake up call. So they flunk the first nine weeks. As far as what's feasible and what makes sense, it's the only accountability I know.
The immediate classroom management stuff-- keeping it quiet and productive in room 17-- is easy for me, even with this year's changes. I can still control the climate of my classroom, barring homeroom (which we still, inexplicably, hold for one hour a day...God save us. It wouldn't be a problem if I had seniors, but I have sophmores, 32 of them, who generally disregard me. We've tried to give them work for ENG II, but perhaps they need to actually SEE their grades, which is a ton of work for their ENG II teachers, getting it all organized, getting in touch with all of the teachers who hold 10th grade homeroom, getting work to them, taking it up, reorganizing it by class, averaging in ALL THOSE ZEROES...it's strange, it's more work for everybody, and it doesn't make any sense. If my homeroom were made up of my students, I think I could do some interesting things and use that time productively. 32 sophmores, however...the're like aliens to me). I DO have my students under control, behaviorally speaking. But what happens when they just don't do their work? What happens when they just don't show up? I call parents, but for the most part, the ones who are failing are the ones whose parents aren't involved in the first place. God help me when those same parents are banging down my door with report cards in their hands. I have yet to see where the administration will stand on that issue.
Mr. Mc always used to say, "they'll lie to you, they'll lie on you, but they won't lie for you." More than teaching English, it is my job to teach them social responsibility. This job is meaningless unless you love the kids. I do love the kids, which means I owe them that much: my Fs stand, let the administration stand where it may.
posted by Elizabeth at 5:31 AM
2 Comments:
What's up Ms. Savage? I try to read the Gentry blogs from time to time to check up on my kids. It's good to see that you mention how much you love them--you won't realize how much you miss everyone until you leave Gentry. Keep up the good work and hang in there. From what I've heard, it doesn't sound like the principal is very effective. Oh, and Whitney Gabriel does have a kid. She was in my home room last year (whitney, not the kid hehe). I remember her saying she wanted to do accounting, but she might have changed her mind by now.
later!
I gave many F's this nine weeks. Report cards come out Wednesday. Some kids just aren't doing any work! And I'm normally too exhausted,behind, etc. to do anything about it. I haven't called parents in a while.
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