The Bayview

Thurgood Marshall is the high school that my school feeds in to - we literally share a fence with them.  The video that I've linked below was done by the peer resource group at Thurgood Marshall, which I think is very enlightening, but scares me to death to think that this is where my students are headed.  Welcome to the Bayview.

Moted.

I have a math support class, and under the orders of a District mandate, during this class our students are supposed to use the computer lab for a little program called EPGY.  EPGY is a web-based piece of computer adaptive software that supposedly scaffolds itself to the skill level of each individual student.

Now, I say supposedly, but that's not totally accurate because the program does do OK, you just have to tweak it a lot to get it there.  Anyhow, as per the district EPGY czar, our students are supposed to log approximately 100 minutes per week on this program - and as the district peon, I am lithe to obey.

As one might expect, if the district demands us to do something, naturally, the students are going to hate it.  And as far as EPGY goes, they do.  They will do ANYTHING to get out of working on EPGY, and due to this fact, my time in the computer lab is more spent as a policeman than a teacher.  It drives me nuts, because not only do I get to fill the role of a babysitter on a daily basis, but now I get to be a policeman.  As a policeman, there are two specific behaviors that warrant consequences.  One is if a student is out of their seat.  They aren't supposed to leave their seat at any time without permission.  The second is that they aren't supposed to visit any other website except for EPGY.  Within the lab, there is a "one strike and you're out" policy, meaning that if you break either of these rules, then I'm kicking you out of class with a referral, and the principal's blessing, and you'll spend the rest of the period in ISS (In-School Suspension).

Rule number one is fairly easy to enforce, but for rule number two, the best tool that I have at my disposal in the lab is some network monitoring software that allows me to view all the activity of the students - I can see each of their screens, what programs they have open, and what website they are on.  It's a great tool, but since I'm never sitting at a computer, and instead walking around the classroom helping students with questions, I don't get to utilize it much.  However, there are instances where it is really useful... like this one.

I walked around the edge of the room, as silently as I could, so that I could catch my students unaware.  There are tell-tale signs that a student isn't doing what they're supposed to be doing.  For instance:

1. The student keeps looking up at you to see where you are in the room
2. The student turns their screen away from you so it is angled away from you
3. The student frantically clicks their mouse as your approach
4. The student has a blank screen when you walk by
5. The student has "guilty eyes"
6. The student minimizes the window they are on right as you approach
7. They call to another student across the room to come look at their screen - honestly, who do they think they're kidding on this one?  HEY DESMOND!  COME LOOK AT MY SCREEN!  I HAVE A REALLY COOL MATH PROBLEM UP!!!
8. And my personal favorite - 5 students are standing behind another student's computer watching them "do math".  Now, if my kids were more "math olympian" status, I could actually see this being a thing.  But at the WB?  We're not quite there yet...

Desmond gave me #5, which drew me to his part of the room, which was quickly followed up by #3 and #6. Gotcha.  I go to the teacher station, and call Desmond over.

Desmond looks up at me, then back at his computer - probably making sure the screen is on EPGY - and then comes to my desk.  

"Desmond, why do you think I called you over here?"

"But I was on EPGY!!! (Note that I hadn't even accused him of anything yet)  Look at my screen and you'll see!"

I look on his screen from my computer, and pull it up.  Sure enough, the screen is showing EPGY.

So Desmond looks at me smugly and says "See?  You moted."  (for those who don't know what moted means, reference here)

One of the great things about this monitoring software is that not only does it show what programs they have open and what websites they are currently on, but it also shows their history, and what websites they've been on.  

So I give Desmond my death stare and say "Sure, now it's on EPGY, but let's check your web history..."  And as soon as I said history, Desmond looks at the floor and says "Damnit." and just walks back to his desk, logs off his computer, and heads towards ISS.  

I didn't have to say a word.  He knew the consequence, he knew he'd been caught, and he probably didn't want to wait to hear me call out after him "You moted!"  

I will forever love Desmond for this.

Student's Dilemma

I came back from my 4-day turned 5-day weekend to a national disaster of a classroom.  This is something that I would have expected from my students last year.  Truly, I would have anticipated leaving the classroom for a few days, and returning to find my room in complete disarray - that's just how things went.

However, this year, I'd hope that my rapport and relationship with my students would have prevented them from acting in such a manner.  After returning to my classroom, it was quickly apparent to see that it has not.  And as such, I am sorely disappointed in my students.  I do believe that it was not the fault of all of my students, because there are many of them who are just stellar.  Sure, they may be a little disrespectful and chatty, but fundamentally are great kids.  But there are a few who I am confident were the culprits to not only destroying my classroom, but stealing a lot of supplies from my closet.

Now, the supplies that they stole aren't necessary of immense value (maybe $20 at most), but it's the fact that they would get into my supply closet, and actually steal them from me.  I'm truly hurt for those actions, because I really did believe that my relationship with my students stood for more than that.  I guess that I was wrong.

So, in attempt to bring the guilty party(ies) to justice, I've devised my own version of the prisoner's dilemma.  Here's how it works:

As it stands, if none of my students confess to who the guilty party is in the classroom, I'm going to call every one of their parents, and tell them that their student stole from me (I have a list of things that are missing) and that I expect compensation.  However, the students have a chance to prevent this from happen by choosing one of the circumstances below, according to the guidelines I am going to give them.

Each student will have a chance to confess on a sheet of paper if they are guilty or innocent to committing any of the crimes I lay before the class.  However, not only can they confess their own guilt/innocence, but they can claim their partners in crime as well.

1.  Confess to their crime.  If they confess to their crime, then I won't alert their parents of their misdeeds, but I will require them to compensate me for what they stole from me.

2.  Claim innocence, but are guilty according to others.  If they claim they're innocent, but other students said that they are guilty, then I will call their parents and inform them of what they stole from me, and explain that i expect them to compensate me for my loss.

3.  Claim innocence, and are not condemned by their peers.  In this instance, there will be no punishment.

In the rare event that all my students claim innocent, then all the parents will be called anyhow.  I highly doubt this will happen.

The one situation that I can foresee happening is that someone claims that they're guilty, and then decides that they're going to bring down all their friends with them, even if they really were innocent.  I'm not completely sure how I'm going to handle that one... But the bell's about to ring and I have to get ready for class.  I'l let you know what I decide...

Strange

Why can't I get my class to stop talking long enough to hear the directions for a game we're about to play, but I can make them sit at their desks silently for 10 minutes when I'm ticked off at them?

The Parable of the 3 Legged Stool

Imagine a simple, 3 legged stool.  The stool has a flat, round surface at the top, and from the bottom extend three legs, spaced in even thirds around the outer edge of the round surface.  The stool works well when all 3 legs are on the floor.  The stool is stable, and you can use it for all sorts of activities.  You can stand on it to get the fondue pot down off of the top shelf in your storage room, you can sit on it at the kitchen bar while you have breakfast with your family, or you can use it as an extra stand to place food on during Sunday dinner when the rest of the table is overflowing with deliciousness.  It's useful, it's versatile, and it doesn't take a lot of upkeep to maintain its standing status.

Now imagine that someone has been leaning back on the stool while they sit on it, applying a concentrated amount of pressure to a single one of the legs on the stool causing it to snap off.  A stool with two legs has lost the majority of its value as a functional tool. About the only uses that I can think of for a two legged stool is to use it to prop up something else that is applying sufficient downward pressure on it so as to prevent it from falling over under its own weight, or to use it to lean against, but without being actually able to sit down on it.

Since the stool is already broken, the functionality of the stool has already been compromised, and the integrity of having the legs function in their proper manner is no longer in tact.  It is only a matter of time until a second legs breaks off.  And when it does, the once-three-legged-stool-turned-one-leg is now essentially useless as a functional platform.

While the stool can diminish in usefulness by the absence of legs, its usefulness can also be compromised by varying lengths in the legs.  If the legs are all of the same length, the stool will stand nicely on its own, and provide a great surface for the multitude of uses in which it may be applied.  However, if the legs are not the same length, depending on the degree of difference, the stool may lose its functionality all together, regardless of the fact that all three legs actually exist.

In addition to being connected to the flat, round platform at the top of the stool, the legs also need to be connected to one another further down via support struts. If the legs on a tall, 3 legged stool aren't connected to each other further down the legs, then the intense moment arm created near the base of the round platform by applied downward pressure will eventually cause the legs to split outward, and break the stool.

In this parable, the stool represent the functional platform of delivering a child's education.  The flat round surface is what the child actually receives - it's the educational device they "sit on" to perform.  If it is a stable platform with all three legs securely in tact, the stool can be used for nearly anything.  It is in this situation that the child has the greatest chance for success.

Each of the legs of the stool represents a different educational pillar that supports the educational platform.  The first leg represents the parents, the second leg represents the administration of the educational institution the child attends, and the third represents the teacher.

While each of the legs are necessary to create a stable educational platform, they don't each bare an equal portion of the weight, and the portion that each leg will bare changes immensely in every situation.  However, given the ideal situation where each leg is supporting 100% of their own weight, I believe that 30% of the responsibility is born by the parents, 25% comes from the administration, and 45% comes from the teacher.

As I mentioned, these numbers will change greatly under various circumstances, but the point that I want to make here is that placing the sole responsibility of a child's education any single one of these "legs" will result in complete failure.  In fact, in any combination, it will take a minimum of two of the "legs" to provide an educational platform that could even provide a possibility for success.

Teach for America would have us believe that 100% of the responsibility lies on the shoulders of the teacher.  In my experience as a teacher thus far, I would beg to differ.

Even if you were the most incredible teacher of all time, completely capable of differentiating to the exact need of every single student, capable of meeting each various demand of your time - if the student only shows up to class 2 days out of the week because their parents are too scared to wake their child up early for school, or unable to drive them to school if they miss the buss, or incapable of providing any level of support for their child for whatever reason from home - even IF you were the most amazing teacher, there's nothing you can do about that!  You NEED at least some minimal level of support from the parents at home.

Now, you're probably thinking that not all children need the parents to motivate them for every little task like that.  Well, from what I have seen, that is true.  But it only happens with students whose parents at some level have instilled in them an innate desire to succeed and do well on their own.  Which once again, falls back onto the parents.  If the child has not received this type of encouragement/training at home, it's like Newton's first law says - a body in motion (or at rest, in this instance) will remain in that state unless acted upon by an external, unbalanced force.

Let's suppose for a moment now, that the student is showing up to school every day.  Surely then, the teacher can have a much greater effect in the classroom now, and the administration doesn't really have anything to do with it - and surely not 25%?  The direct effect of the administration is somewhat difficult to classify, but allow me to throw out a few situations.

A number of students are continually acting out in class.  They are not receiving any type of discipline from their parents at home, regardless of how many attempts have been made by the excellent teacher to contact them.  The teacher is sending home letters, making phone calls, attempting house visits and parent teacher conferences on weekends, but to no avail.  The child knows they won't be having any level of discipline from their parents, and they can essentially run hog wild.  Regardless of how good the teachers' classroom management is, an effective administration can help control these types of situations by providing alternatives so annoyingly uncomfortable for the student outside of the classroom that the student is left with two decisions - face the consequence of getting sent out of class (which they should learn to HATE) or modify their behavior to act in an acceptable manner in the classroom.

But a great administration is so much more than this - they ensure that teachers have the resources necessary for them to function in the classroom, that they have opportunity to communicate, coordinate, present a unified front, and consistent systems throughout the school to provide the rigor of instruction and consistency that is necessary for the students to succeed.  The administration ensures that each teacher is performing at a level consistent with their expectations, and that if they're not, they provide them with the additional direct support, instruction, and resources to increase their abilities to be in line with such.  The administration ensures that the school environment is one of safety, of optimism and the possibility of achievement.  The overall tone for the school is set by the administration, and in no way does this fall within the realm of control of the teacher.

Finally, just having a strong "stool" with all the parts in perfect shape doesn't guarantee success - it still needs to be sat on.  And ultimately that choice comes down to the students themselves.  However, as a child, the number of viable "sitting places" is truly limited, and so they'll have to make due with what they have at their disposal for the time being, and if the stool is strong, sturdy, and available, there really isn't anything that would deter them from wanting to sit on it.  In fact, when faced with the choice of standing or sitting, 99% of the time they'll take that seat, regardless of how dysfunctional the stool may be.

----------------------------------------------------------

Great Teachers - Singlehandedly closing
the achievement gap

Teacher for America panders to this egotistical, goal oriented, delusional, type A mindset by creating this image of a teacher, who, with the right amount of drive and motivation, can singlehandedly close the achievement gap.  And I'll be honest, to generate the publicity that they have received in the last few years, this is exactly the type of people they need to attract for their organization to succeed.  By advertising to this crowd, they have attracted the dreams of the ivy league and elite society hopefuls - a sense of scarcity has been instilled by the difficulty of getting in to the organization, which in turn creates a sense of prestige and privilege by those who actually do.  Joining the ranks of Teach for America feeds the desire to be unique, to stand out from the crowd and to differentiate oneself, and as long as they can continue to feed that image, I believe that having 10% of the graduating classes of the Ivy leagues applying for TFA is near the low end of what we'll see in coming years.

Don't get me wrong - I whole heartedly support the mission of Teach for America and am truly happy that so many non-educationally tracked people are getting in to education.  I believe in the cause that I have united myself to, but that doesn't mean that I have to agree with all of their philosophies and propaganda that they feed us.  I believe in the power of an incredible teacher - it's why I joined TFA in the first place.  I do everything in my power to help my kids succeed, and struggle to cope with the idea that that there are forces at play in my student's education that I have no control over.   But, I will not delude myself into thinking that I am the sole factor in my students education, and I'm telling you now, anyone who joins TFA without eventually coming to this realization has a lot of stress in store - I sure did.

Babysitting

Why do some days just feel like I'm a glorified baby sitter?  It's hard for me to fathom how similar 7th graders can act to 4 year olds.

They have toys that they play with, that distract and demand attention from other students.  So I take it from them, and they cry.

They throw paper at each other, pencils, crayons, they EAT the crayons, candy, and whatever other garbage they can find, including but not limited to hot chips, hot fries, and the bottles that are stuck in their mouths, filled with all varieties of sugared beverages.  They cry for attention, they scream when they don't get their way, they enter a classroom, and completely forget their reasons for being there.  These kids are 13?  Not from everything I've seen.

I can't stand days like today.  5 referrals before lunch.  A bunch of babysitting in every single class, as I go from squabble to squabble, taking toys, putting out fires, telling kids to keep all their chair's feet on the floor, and not to turn around to talk to their neighbor behind them.  No responses from the office because everyone who could come to my classroom is already out on call.  So what can I do?  Because no matter what I do, I can't get Jakia and Amari to SHUT UP about who's smarter - it's a discussion that just HAS to take place in the middle of class, that just HAS to be disruptive and HAS to demand the attention of every single student in the classroom, and then every single student HAS to give their two cents on the discussion.  The way I see it, they both have F's right now, so it seems like they should be discussing who has the higher F (Jakia, at 24%, btw).

You know that analogy about the crabs in a pot?  How if you put a bunch of crabs in the pot, and set it to boil, even though any crab on their own could climb out of the pot, none of them will actually get out because as soon as one of the crabs starts to get a good way up the side of the pot, the rest of the crabs will pull them back down in.  I don't know if it's true or not, but that's sure what class feels like some days.  It's so hard for me to help these kids try to succeed, because it seems that any time any single one of them starts to get a handle on things, they're attacked by the rest of the students and pulled down to maintain the status quo of failure.

In reality, things really aren't that bad.  But on days like today... man - I just wanna see that pot freaking boil.