Wrap Up

So we have reached the end of the class.  I have taken several things away from this class.  Most were affirmations of things that I had previously thought, but some were new.

First, it was truly impressive to hear just how dedicated a group we had in our class.  While everyone had different ideas about what it meant to be a great teacher, no one was necessarily wrong.  There's no "great teacher" cookie cutter.  I think the takeaway was that a great teacher is able to adapt and meet the needs of a diverse population of students that changes from year to year, month to month, and often day to day.  Issues may arise and it is our job to be flexible enough to handle whatever our students (or other adults) may throw at us.

Second, even in the whitest classroom in America, there is diversity.  Diversity isn't just race.  Diversity is really anything that sets anyone apart.  Even if you had a class that was totally white, totally heterosexual, and totally male or female there would still be diversity.  It is truly crazy to think about how different one person is from the next, but it is something important to keep in mind for our students.

Third, this class affirmed my belief that what I am doing is a good thing.  Again, cookie cutters don't fit teaching.  You can't stick to one formula and run it into the ground.  It is all about adapting and being able to keep up with the students.  That's not to say that you should be familiar with every song that they like or every movie they watch, but you also shouldn't be closed off.

Finally, something that I took away was that not only is it crucial for us to be understanding of various situations, but oftentimes when we fall into a minority category (or can relate) it benefits our students immensely.  Confession time: despite being a (somewhat) mature 24 year old who is comfortable with who he is, I hid part of that from my students last year.  I think that much of the fear for GLBTQ students in coming out is that people will change their opinions of them.  This was one thing that I felt last year.  After having shed that concern so long ago, it came back in a different form.  After having talked in class and hearing Arthur talk about how he had "come out" to his students, I finally decided that there really wasn't anything to lose.  I run the Gay-Straight Alliance and I figured that if that were a big enough hint to students and they wanted to know, I shouldn't hide it from them.  It's all about being a positive figure.  Really, as I am sure most people can guess, when students found out that I am gay, nothing really changed.  Students who are GLBTQ were excited.  One girl told me "It's so cool!  Usually your teachers are just boring, but you're different!".  It has really opened up a lot of helpful and insightful dialogue and has provided another way to connect with students on a personal level.

I think that if I were to give advice to anyone who is not yet in the classroom it would be as follows.
1.  Don't take things personally.
2.  Laugh it off.
3. Don't forget why you got into teaching and constantly try to achieve that
4.  Don't be afraid to have fun
5. Blaze your own trail (but tread carefully until you have tenure :D )

Overall, this class has affirmed my belief that maybe, just maybe, the youth of today aren't totally screwed.  At least not if we as teachers do our best to help everyone.

Thank you to the class for providing a lot of awesome discussion and thank you to Phitsamay for helping me to see so many more ways to help my students.

Parent Involvement Seen as a Lack Thereof

These papers really hit home.  For the past two years I have been hearing "It's because the parents don't value education" or "We don't have ANY parent involvement".  To be completely honest, I agreed.  Oftentimes parents wouldn't even show up for IEP meetings.  Some parents seemed to have no clue that their child was failing.

...And to be honest, a lot of the blame is on the teachers.

Shocking as it may be, I too take some blame.  I HATE calling home and/or talking to parents.  I have a hard time understanding accents, I worry that they may put me in an awkward position (i.e. blaming me and having the situation blow up) or something similarly negative.

But if we want all of this "parent involvement", which the Auerbach paper suggests we reconceptualize, I think that we need to take active roles in getting what we want.  In truth, my idea of parent involvement is definitely different from that of my students' families.

While Auerbach suggests that "parent support" is the same as "parent involvement" I have to disagree.  I support my students, but I also actively involve myself in their grades and their lives.  I feel like, with many parents, it isn't enough to simply support their child.

That being said, I think the biggest issue at hand is the lack of parent-teacher communication.  I honestly feel that communicating more with the parents can (and will, next year) truly open up a lot more achievement.  Does this change the fact that some students simply aren't motivated to succeed for whatever reason?  Certainly not, but it may change the attitudes of some students.

Politics of Caring: First Hand

So I wanted to share a story that ties in with a lot of what we have been talking about.

As many of you know, a large percentage of my students are Hispanic or Latino.  Coming from a culture where machismo is expected and feelings are kept private, it is often difficult to get students to open up.  I like to think that there is something about me that puts people at ease; earlier I stopped at the liquor store (for cooking purposes, not because I desperately need to binge drink) and the clerk there tried out a few jokes that I am assuming are destined for her open mic night stand up act.  Be that as it may, it is often difficult with some of my students.

One in particular did a stellar job first term.  He had all A's and B's in every class.  Then second term rolled around and he slipped.  "It's an off term" I told myself.  I checked with him, he said nothing was wrong, and we moved on.  Third term showed a huge drop in his grades, effort, everything.  He would show up to class unprepared, no work from the previous day, no pen.  I asked him every day what was going on and got nothing.  Eventually I expressed my frustrations to him.  He told me that he didn't like his history teacher and that if he did well he would get put into honors history next year and have the same teacher.  I explained that his Biology grade has nothing to do with his history placement and things seemed to change for the better.  Within days it was the same song and dance.

He came in to talk to me on Friday last week because he was in a class that he didn't want to be in.  Surprise surprise, it was history.  He often does this, but this Friday they had gotten report cards.  "What's wrong with you??  Unsatisfactory effort?  Inconsistent work?  What the effffff!".  I told him flat out "You have been a mega slacker this term" and went on to explain what I meant by that.  I again asked him what was going on and he told me the history thing.  I again explained how it works and followed up with "What's going on?  Why the change?"  It was at this point that he told me it was my fault and that I needed to yell more (oddly enough this is something that a couple of kids have requested).  Finally he told me "I can't tell you.  It's family stuff".

This wouldn't be the first time, nor will it be the last time that I have heard this.  When faced with this all that you can do is say "OK well if you want to share, let me know".  His first instinct was to refuse but then he kind of shocked me.  "Actually you're the only teacher that I can trust on in this whole school"  He went on to explain that second term his grandfather had passed away.  After that, things started going downhill, he started getting angry, and his grades started slipping.  I took that opportunity to thank him for sharing that with me, assured him that I wouldn't share it with his guidance counselor or his other teachers if he didn't want me to, and shook his hand.  I knew that it took a lot for him to share that and I knew that the ball was now in my court to help him.

Yes, this is just one student.  Yes, in the grand scheme of things, I have invested boatloads more time on this one student than many of my others.  Yes, that five minutes on Friday made a huge impact on both of us. 

I think that, for me, this is a sign that I am doing something right.  Certainly not everything, but at least something.  Some students latch on very quickly and open up just as easily, with others it takes an investment of time and caring, but when students see that you care and students see that "My other teachers are mean, but you're the only nice one" it opens up so many possibilities.

Dreamkeepers

The first thing that I thought upon beginning Gloria Ladson-Billings book was something that I have struggled with for a while. Are the struggles of minority students because of poor education or are they receiving a poor education because of the socioeconomic conditions that they face? Is it a never ending cycle? Many of the ideas presented in the book posed a challenge to my preconceptions and opinions. What kind of effect would separate schools have on our society? Certainly minority students have different needs and often vastly different life experiences than do white students, but isn't there a way to get everyone the education that they need without segregating schools again? I truly feel that minority students should get the help that they need in schools, but I do not believe that separate schools are the way to go. This then leads in to chapter 2. Do African American students deserve harsher punishments or less harsh punishments in school? I think that both situations paint African American students in a "civilized savages" light. Arguments such as the idea that they "don't know any better" or that they "need a break" echo the idea of the white man's burden. They do not show cultural sensitivity and certainly don't lend themselves to culturally relevant teaching. If teachers cannot realize the innate racism of these arguments, there is little chance of them honestly reaching their African American students. I think that teachers like Ms Hilliard who connects learning to life are truly the types of people that can reach minority students. When students are invested in their learning and are enjoying it, they get so much more out of it. My students enjoyed designing their own enzymes. They got to pick the medium in which they wanted to "advertise" their product and got to decide what they would want their enzyme to do. It was fun and got them interested. In the end, students learned so much from it. When students (minority or majority) can connect to the topic or activity at hand,they take that much more from it. In conclusion, I think that separating minorities and white students is the wrong answer to the dilemma. Instead teachers need to focus on embracing difference. A quote that I truly love, by Dr Adela A Allen states that "We should acknowledge difference, we should greet difference, until difference makes no difference anymore."

A Little Off Topic

While this isn't directly connected to our class, I feel that this is a good forum to get some opinions.

I have recently come up against a lot of resistance from another teacher on the way that I am running my classroom.  I said at the end of last year that I was done giving quizzes.  It was too much hassle for me, too much hassle for the students, took away valuable class time, and really didn't do much.  If students passed or if students brutally failed, we would continue on.  Too much curriculum and too little time to go back and, by the end of the term, I had to have covered the exact same amount of material as the other Freshmen Biology teachers.

Personally, I hate quizzes.  I hated taking them when I was in school, I hated giving them as a teacher, I hated grading them, and I hated the fact that they fed so heavily into a student's grade.  I decided that this year was going to be project based.  At the end of each subunit we would complete a new project with a new product that students needed to create.  It would focus on strengthening their writing and the only tests they would take would be the mandatory end of term common assessments.  Aside from this, I wanted to introduce more labs.  Biology is, afterall, a lab course.  Were it not for the labs, I would have hated Biology.  Not only that, but as vocational students, they are all about hands on learning.

This was working just fine for me until this other teacher caught wind of the fact that I haven't given a single quiz.  She is very by the books.  Present the information, take notes, do some worksheets, take a quiz, pass the MCAS.  I explained what I am doing and also pointed out that (in my second year of teaching) my midterm scores were comparable to hers and better than some of the other teachers.

Since then it has been a constant push to do quizzes.  I borrowed a system of TurningPoint clickers and found that the students LOVE them and it allows me to see what each individual student knows, but even that isn't enough.  "They should be writing... They need to take the MCAS in June".  I believe that I have them writing enough and that, maybe, the real issue is that if my way of doing things works better, everyone else might have to follow.

I will provide some examples of the projects that I have had students do.  Some need a little refinement before next year, but overall I have been thrilled with what I have been getting from them.

Towards the beginning of the year, after learning about enzymes, I assigned students this Enzyme Invention Project where they had to invent and market their own enzymes with the option of making a pamphlet, an infomercial, or a small poster.  The results were awesome and students REALLY understood enzymes afterwards.

Later, while learning about bacteria, students paired up and collected bacteria samples from two different locations in the school.  They then grew it, tested it to determine whether it was disease causing and then wrote a Letter to the Principal.  While students were initially doubtful of her involvement she came by once the letters had all been revised and graded and talked with students about their ideas and what the school would do to follow through.  Personally, this was my favorite project of the year.  It was writing with a purpose and some students really loved this.

Most recently, students conducted a lab in which they tested cellular transport in eggs.  They then had to give an Egg Lab Presentation in front of the class after having prepared their scripts.  This was a little rough, but in the end students "shelled out" some great projects.  Everyone was able to explain just what they believe had happened in their labs.

Overall, I have been thrilled with the writing that they have been doing, but I guess only time will tell if their success on common assessments as well as on my projects will translate into MCAS success.  Quick formative assessments with MCAS questions have, overall, been very good.

To conclude this very long blog entry, what do you guys think?  I know that a lot of you aren't in classrooms yourselves, but how do you feel about the quiz vs project debate?

What Does it Mean to Really Care?

I found the article on caring to be really interesting.  There were a lot of parallels that I saw with the school that I work at, as well as with the students that I work with.

One of the things that jumped out at me was in one of the discussions where Reina, one of the students being interviewed said " 'Cause if it ain't clean then I throw stuff around.  But if it is then I won't".  This actually made me laugh out loud.  This is something that I have run into a lot.  If one class leaves a mess, the other classes think that it's alright to do the same.  It is one of those vicious cycles.  The same, according to Reina, goes for the school as a whole.  If it's already a mess, why bother trying to keep it clean?  While the girls tie cleanliness to "Whitness", I don't think that that is necessarily the case.  Believe me, I know some messy white people!  It is more an attitude of "Why should I bother putting in the effort if no one else is.  I can get away with it."

Another comment that struck me, for a different reason, was where Ms. Evans explains that "I think that they need to realize that this child could be your child.  You have to treat that child as if they have your last name.  And what does that call for?  Patience, tolerance."  Many teachers at my school assume that these kids are bad.  Their home lives may not be great, their parents probably don't care, and they need to be sent out every chance they get.  I myself have been guilty of depleting my patience with a certain student and snapping.  It's one of the most difficult things sometimes NOT to snap at a particularly challenging student.  That being said, I completely agree with Ms Evans.  I think that not only is it important to have as much patience and tolerance as you can, but also not to pull a Mr Rosenfield and run your classroom like an army general.  That is also an easy role to fall into, especially in particularly challenging classes, where positive behavior is rare.

Finally, I think the main takeaway of the article was in the last section.  In my personal opinion, the most important part of teaching is not "getting through the curriculum", it is "listen[ing] to stories, of all sorts, in order to enrich [your] own reality".  That entire section really hits the nail on the head.  Whenever I get a chance I sit down with my students and chat.  I ask them about where they came from, I ask them about their weekends, I ask them about their vacations, what they had for breakfast, whatever!  I think that it makes a huge difference.  Caring is not telling your students "I want you to pass the MCAS and get a good grade in this class" caring is listening to what they have to say and acknowledging that it has merit, even if it is something that seems trivial.  Everyone wants to feel important and wants to feel like what they are saying matters.  To me, we have the ability to do that everyday.  This past Thursday students had 3 minutes to complain.  We didn't get a snow day and everyone was upset.  I sat there quietly while the classes shouted their complaints about the snow day, and homework from English class, and whatever else.  It doesn't have to be big.  You don't have to be Dr. Phil.  You just need to listen and let students know that you are there for them.  As the article said, positive relationships are what learning is built on.  If you aren't interested in what students have to say, why should they be interested in what you have to say?

Masculinity

I thought that Kimmel's paper was particularly interesting this week.  The idea that there are "rules" to being a man is something that comes up often.  It was funny that Kimmel lists the ideas that others have had.  While some of these rules are unwritten and, in a way, can't be put into words, some are written.  "No Sissy Stuff!" is one example of the rules of being a man, but there are other rules as well.  In the end, things come down to the homophobia that Kimmel describes.

I run the Gay Straight Alliance at my school and was talking to two students about their ideas about gay people.  They immediately asked me if I was gay and then began to argue with one another.  "Well he runs this club... but I don't think he is gay.  He has two earrings, but if he had one then he would definitely be gay."  The other student agreed and added "Yeah you don't dress or walk gay".  I find this particularly interesting that they have such rigid definitions and rules about what makes someone gay or straight.  While I agree that oftentimes there are very clear (for most people) signs, there are also many gay people who, like me, do not "follow the rules".

When it comes to students, it can be very difficult dealing with these rules.  For many young people the idea that something they do might betray the secret that they are trying to hide is terrifying.  This comes out in various ways, including homophobia.  As David Leverenz states, "Homophobia is the fear that other men will unmask us, emasculate us, reveal to us and the world that we do not measure up, that we are not real men".  Needless to say, this makes high school especially difficult and scary for some students.

Just as people come from different countries and backgrounds, have different skin colors, and speak different languages, there is no set gender role that people must follow.  It is just another spectrum along which everyone falls.