stories from the classroom

Kindergartener (with very concerned, slightly agitated tone): "Mrs. Cook, why is your tummy getting so much bigger?"
Me: "because there's a baby inside and it's getting bigger."
 [background - all kindergartners in the room comment on how their mommies all just had a baby or are currently having a baby.] 
 Still concerned kindergartener: "well, when is it coming out?"
Me: January
kindergartener: "how?"
me: okay boys and girls, show me how you find your seats.

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So I'm sitting at a table in the hall on the night of parent teacher conferences and this sweet 2nd grader comes up to the table with her parents. She waves shyly at me and then leans down under the table and waves (presumably to my baby in my stomach)?  :)

 ----------------------------

So I'm wearing a belt with an outfit somewhat like this

 looking, of course, much more pregnant than the skinny lady in this picture.  and this kid raises his hand & asks, "uh, mrs. cook. why are you wearing a belt all the way up there?"  and before I can answer, another kid responds "it's to hold her baby in."
i just left it at that.

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2nd grade music class.  we do the same 3 activities at the beginning of every class:

practice a rhythm pattern on the board

the kids echo patterns i sing with solfege (you know, do-re-mi... i just make up different little tunes and they sing them back with the solfege.) 

then we sing a scale.

they love echoing back the patterns as they get trickier and trickier and they love singing the scale.  (I play this accompaniment on the piano... not sure why it's so enjoyable but they always want to sing it just one more time.)

anyway, yesterday in 2nd grade we learned our last solfege note in the major scale - ti. 

(order going up: do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do).

so up until now we have been singing a "5 note scale" where they sing do-re-mi-fa-sol and then go backwards.

well yesterday we practiced lots of patterns with "ti" and then I sang for them [drum-roll please] the major scale.  And they were so excited. and we sang it 5 times. and then just one more because they begged. and after the sixth time, a girl raised her hand.  when I called on her she said, "I don't know if anyone has already told you this but you have the most beautiful singing voice in the whole world."  and after i said "thank you," all the kids chimed in agreeably.

sometimes these kiddos are just too sweet.

how to walk into the room

disclaimer: this is a teacher-y post.

one thing i learned from both of my (awesome) cooperating teachers during student teaching is.... procedure, procedure, procedure.  and every good teacher i have ever seen has lots of procedures.  (why didn't they teach me this in college!?)

procedures for...
sharpening pencils
walking in
walking out
sitting down
standing up
passing papers
moving to the floor
writing your name

because when you have 25 6-year-olds in a room, well, you can imagine...

i have noticed there is a serious lack of music-teacher blogging going on, so maybe I'll somehow be able to use this to connect with others.  (i think media/tech + music teacher doesn't necessarily go together, understandably.)  hence, the teacher-y post.

so for teacher-y people who read this blog (or my mom who is kindly interested in everything i say - or at least pretends to be) I will describe some procedures I use in elementary music.

how about something basic like walking in the room? (oh yes, walking needs a procedure. haha

 K-2 enter in their straight line.  They walk their line through the room until everybody is in through the door.  I call people who look 'ready' to be in music class to go to their seat.  (I call them one by one.  This helps me learn names too!)  For the first SEVERAL music classes we watch each person or 2 walk to their seat and I point out all the right things they are doing (walking as opposed to running; walking around the chairs as opposed to moving chairs out of the way; not moving their seat out of it's spot in the row, etc...).  By now, all the kids have learned how I would like them to walk to their seats in my room.  It is safe and efficient.  Procedures mean minimal time-wasting.  Of course, this whole process sounds like it 'wastes' a lot of time, but in the long run, it is VERY beneficial.  It takes 5 minutes the 1st day of class when I have to learn their names and assign seats.  Other days it takes 2 minutes.  By the 6th or 7th week of school, it will take 30 seconds.  So worth it.

3-5  For the first few music classes, they did the same line procedure.  (one by one with me pointing out the way they should walk to their seat.)  This was to help me learn names, and because you just can't take for granted that they will enter your room like people (as opposed to crazy hyenas.)  In some classrooms, they are allowed to run to their seats, so I explain the first day the way I would like them to come to their seats in music every time.  If I see somebody do it wrong (by choice or accident), I simply say "the correct way to go to your seat is _______.  Please go back and try again."  After the few few music classes, we have 2 days where they stay in their line and I shorten the procedure to this: "please look around the room.  think about where your seat is.  when you walk to your seat, please be polite to those around you and careful not to mess up the beautiful rows of chairs.  give it a try."  and they all go at once.  this usually works out great and i shower them with praise.  for the next few class periods, i greet them in the hall, remind them of the walking-to-your-chair procedure and tell them they may head to their seat when they enter the room immediately.   Eventually, they can just come in and sit down the way I'd like them to.

step-by-step directions + practice, practice, practice = good procedure.

a 3rd grade teacher observed her kids stacking the chairs in my room to make room on the floor and said 'wow! that is a well oiled machine!"  she might as well have given me a christmas present :) that was HIGH praise :) it made my day!!

i love procedures. 
you? 

toothpick rhythms.

we don't often use books but they do have some cute songs and the kids love it when we get to use them to sing a song!  (plus the music reading skills are good) :)

1st time with books for 2nd graders... you may or may not be surprised to know there are so many things to learn about how to use a book in 2nd grade.  (oh, that's half the room!)

2nd and 3rd graders are combined at one of my schools.  I'm still not sure how to teach this group.  these pictures are of them working on rhythm with toothpicks and cheerios.  first, we all create the same rhythm and practice clapping it.  then, they get to create their own and show me when they know how to 'perform' it.  my principal walked in during this activity and it was surprisingly quiet and nearly all the kids were doing their work.  i have some... interesting... kids in this class, so let's just say that moment was a miracle.  she looked at me and smiled and said 'you are brave. very brave'  haha!!

they can be crazy sometimes and i'm not really sure how things are going.  we'll evaluate in a couple months.

but, pretty cute, huh?

funnies

Ohhhh elementary school... maybe these funnies will brighten your Tuesday.


kindergartener (after not getting the instrument he wanted): "i don't want to play your instruments anyway. they're all broken and dirty."

4th grader (after waiting with his hand in the air for like 8 minutes): "i have a hole in my hand like Jesus."  he showed me the 'hole.' it was a tiny scrape in the middle of his hand... looked like it was made with a pencil.

1st grader (to me in the middle of our activity): "I like you."

:)

harry wong

Today we had a new teacher orientation session about what to do the first day and week of school, based on the work of educator, Harry Wong.  Part of our session was watching him present (on video) and I found him both helpful and inspiring.  Here are some of his ideas that stuck out to me the most:

“The only difference between an effective and an ineffective teacher is that the ineffective teacher isn’t doing what the effective teacher is doing.”   [sounds obvious but apparently something we're missing]

In his opinion, the number one problem in classrooms today is the lack of procedures and routines.  He specifically noted that it is not lack of discipline.  

He differentiated between discipline and procedures.  Discipline concerns how students behave and has penalties/rewards.  Procedures concern how things are done and do NOT have penalties/ rewards.

His argument for emphasizing procedures is... people learn by doing.  Procedures concern how things are done.  Procedures, therefore, are necessary for learning.  The point of teaching is getting students to DO things.  The students should be doing more work than the teacher (because the students are the ones who should be learning... and people who are working are learning), and the only way that students can learn and work successfully in a classroom is if there are routines in place.  Whew.  If you feel like I'm talking in circles, I probably am.  Reread.  It makes sense.

Procedures are good for everything including (but not limited to) turning in work, giving information to the teacher, walking in the room, walking out of the room, lining up, walking in the hall, cleaning up, sharpening pencils, getting students' attention, if a visitor walks in the room, if the phone rings, speaking inside, speaking outside, if they have to go to the bathroom or get a drink, if they come back to the room from the hall, if they are called to the office, if a message is delivered to the classroom, getting books, getting material, emergencies, if they finish work early, if they are absent, if there is a knock on the door, if they are working with groups... etc. 

In order to help procedures become routines for the students, you must clearly explain the procedure, make sure they understand it, practice it, and rehearse it over and over.  

He summarized his procedures spiel by saying some teachers complain that you don't do much learning the first day or week of class. His response is - spend the first day teaching and the rest of the year zookeeping/ chasing kids around.  Spend the first week on procedure and spend the rest of the year learning.  

If you have ever set foot in an elementary school, you can imagine how this is true.

What helpful procedure do you use?! 

the gist of bist

Today I started school.
what? your jaw dropped? did you check your calendar?  yes, it's August 1.  and yes I started school.  well the new-teacher orientation part of school.

today we got laptops in the morning + 3 hours of laptop training.
i thought it would be lame... like, how to use microsoft word and the internet.
but it was actually really helpful.  they have all kinds of cool things in the district for technology.  (because they have a whole staff of people to write/ develop software and programs just for this district!) and it seems to mostly work.  this is a first in my limited school experience thus far.  we automatically get wordpress logins so i'm going to work on a classroom blog.  who knows? maybe i'll be come a wordpresser instead of a blogger :)

in the afternoon we received our BIST training.
BIST stands for Behavior Intervention Support Training.  hahaha my husband rolled his eyes when I told him that too.
I subbed in this district last year and was told the gist of BIST (rhyme!) and I was skeptical.  But after today, i realized most of what i was seeing was poor implementation.  user error, if you will.
it's actually a pretty helpful technique for dealing with kids prone to "chaos."
i'll spare you the details for now, but the highlights rolling around in my head are...

• BIST is secondary to good classroom management.  5-10% of kids do not respond to basic classroom management and BIST is helpful for them.
• The goal is to help kids acquire skills they're missing.  i.e. "I can do something even if I don't want to." or "I can be angry and upset and still not get in trouble." 
• Changing lives comes from implementing grace and accountability.  No matter the situation, all kids should be held accountable for their actions.  Do not lower the standards.
• Watch for behaviors that, when ignored, might get out of control... intervene early.  
• When intervening, act calmly, quickly, firmly, kindly.
• Do not engage outrageous behavior.  

At one point the trainer said, "Compliance with defiance is never okay.  The students must do what they're asked when they're asked to with a good attitude so that we can keep them safe."  I'm no parenting expert but it sounded like parenting 101 goals to me...  I'll file that one away.

She also said a teacher might be the only consistent adult in their life - the only person who means what they say and says what they mean. That's a big responsibility.  It might not be ideal but that's the way it is.   

Lots to think about.

Subbing

Yesterday, I subbed. 
I have been subbing at least once a week in all sorts of subjects and grade levels.
I haven't seen much thinking required of students.
You know, stretching the brain. doing things that aren't easy.
I've seen some thinking.  but not much.

Yesterday I noticed lots of behavior-emphasis.  Come to school.  Learn behavior.

I wish kids could learn to love learning in school.
Some do.
Some get great teachers.  Who will do anything to help them love learning.
Some don't.
Some see school as one big beat-down.  Or they learn that if they just sit quietly, don't cause problems, and get their busywork done, teachers will leave them alone and they can make it through.  Others learn that if they act crazy, cause lots of problems, and never turn in their work, they will get lots of attention.
We call this "negative reinforcement."  Reinforcing negative behavior.

I usually pay no attention to "naughty" kids.  Unless the behavior is hurting someone else, I usually pay them no attention.  Eventually, most stop the behavior that has for so long drawn attention.  I try to pay the most attention to students who are working hard.  Because that is the behavior I want to reinforce.  I learned this from both mentor teachers in student teaching.  They were both really great teachers.  I don't think I've seen as good of teaching since then.  And that was in the "big bad inner city." :)

I am not perfect at classroom management by any means.  But I'd like to become better.  Subbing gives me opportunities to see a variety of classrooms.

On the other hand, I miss having 'my own' classroom.  With 'my' kids.  With students that I grew to know and love.  But, with private lessons,  I don't have lesson plans. 
I don't have to refer students to the discipline office.
I don't have to call home to discuss the profanity they yelled at me.
I don't have to work 50-60 hours per week to get the "must haves" done.
I don't have to...  a lot of things.
And I still get to teach.
I like both.  I like a classroom, and I like private lessons.  I'd like to plan where I'll be in 5 years, or next year.  Which type of job I'll have.  Should I look for classroom jobs or not? I think about these things and then I am reminded...  We are not guaranteed tomorrow.  We should not be anxious about tomorrow, but let tomorrow take care of itself. The Lord cares for the birds and flowers, so He will certainly care for me.  For the desires and gifts He's given me.  Because He is good and He loves me, although I am undeserving.
And so, I'll take it one day at a time.  And today, it's subbing in high school choir :)

friends

Here's a scene from last week's recess on the playground while I was subbing

Melanie (1st grader) is sitting alone, building mountains with the rock/sand/dirt.
Anna approaches Melanie, skipping.
Anna: "Can I play with you?"
Melanie: "Sure. you can build another mountain."
Anna: "ok."
1 minute later
Anna: "do you want to be my friend?"
Melanie (smiling): "yea. sure."

Lessons I learned as a first year teacher

Well, my first and last year at Simeon Career Academy High School is over.  I took the job, thinking I'd be here for as long as I'd be teaching in the classroom, but God has different plans.  Of course, He knew the end from the beginning... but I didn't.  And I'm glad.  I could not have put the energy and effort into my students this year if I knew all year long I'd be leaving at the end.

Anyway, I definitely couldn't describe my experience in one word, but I can say that overall, I loved it.  There were days I wanted to quit (literally), there were days when I thought "okay, I'll stick out this year, but I am definitely applying elsewhere for next year," and there were days when I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.  But, overall, like I said, I loved it.  I loved my students (on most days).  God taught me lessons that one blog post can't even BEGIN to cover. 

Over the past couple days, I've been thinking about things I learned from this year, as a teacher specifically.  I suppose I'll continue thinking about things I learned as a person, a Christian, a wife, etc... But today, I'm thinking about teaching.

[I'm writing this sentence after writing the list below - it's a sporadic collection of thought.  Nothing refined or categorized.  Sorry for the lengthy randomness, but I think this is one of those posts that's more for my reflection.  Sometimes I need to just get all the crazy thoughts simultaneously running through my brain out in words in order to think clearly.] 


1.  Throw most things from college out the window once you enter a classroom.

2.  The Chicago Teachers Union, as an organization, thinks they're at war.  Their monthly publications often speak about "news from the home front," "30,000 members strong," "protesting the attack on the children," etc...

3.  Classroom management - learned a lot of don't lessons from this one, although I don't know if I have a lot of "do's" yet. 

4.  Make teacher friends at your school.  I did a TERRIBLE job at this.  I felt isolated, like I didn't know anyone except the band teacher who shared my office, the assistant principal, and the principal, none of whom I could go out with after work for a bite to eat.

5.  Ask a lot of questions.

6.  Teenagers are teenagers.  There are a lot of factors that influence a high school student.  However, the "teen" part - hormones, facebook obsession, attachment to cell phone, thinking high school drama is as problematic as the war on terrorism, mood swings, etc... - all that is the same across the board.  Regardless of where you come from or who yo' momma is, teenagers are teenagers.

7. Be as perfectly consistent as is humanly possible.

8. Admit mistakes to students.  If you tell them when it's your fault, you have more "cred" when you tell them it's their fault."

9. Greet students by name as they come in the class.  Your smiling face greeting them at the door each day of the week as they walk into your classroom (slow moving and gloomy) might be the only thing that is consistent in their day.

10. Although "teenagers are teenagers," where you come from makes a difference.  What happens at your house, who supports you, how many jobs you work, how much money you have, it all makes a difference in your education.  Some kids have to overcome a lot more obstacles than others to get that 23 on the ACT. 

11. The #1 most accurate predictor of a child's ACT score is his or her family's income.

12. "African American" is not a term to describe all black people living in America.  As a friend put it so bluntly, "not all black people are from Africa."

13.  Black teenagers and white teenagers, generally, view cops very differently.

14.  Don't box kids in - try new things.  You might be surprised by what they might enjoy.  I took 20 students to the opera this year and they talked about it for the rest of the school year, begging to go back.  When I announced I would not be returning, a few of the kids that got to see the opera asked if the new teacher would take them.

15. Love love love your students.  It is almost impossible to teach a child you don't care about.  As my principal says, "I'm not asking you to buddy up or live here on the weekends or run after school programs...just like them enough to teach them while they're in your room."

16. As a teacher, you can come to work late every day (as in, later than 1st period actually starts) and not loose your job, thanks to the union.  [And no, I did not learn this from experience.]

17.  On "professional development days" (aka teacher institute days), your itinerary will tell you that teachers are to report at 7:30 (the start of the normal work day) and the first meeting is at 8:30.  This is code for "we will look the other way if you come in closer to 8:30."

18. Most students will not come to school on the following days: the last day before any sort of break, the friday before a 3-day weekend (i.e. friday before Columbus day), the first day after any sort of break, the days before and after mid-week standardized testing, days when it snows or rains heavily (i.e. 3+ inches of snow), the last week of school after final grades go in.  Also, some seniors habitually do not attend school Mondays and Friday.  When you ask them where they were they will respond with "ugh, it was a monday!" or something similar.

19.  Be sarcastic as little as possible to the class as a whole when teaching, especially not at first.  They get a LOT of sarcasm from adults already. 

20. When 2 students escalate a fight, don't try to ask them to stop - just get security to get them out of your room.  They're putting on a show.

21. Come up with a filing system at the beginning of your first year, and keep up with it! 

22.  Keep your room neat.

23.  Do not make a habit of free days.  For 2 months straight, my students asked for "free days" without one given.  (They told me all their other teachers give free days and "it's a friday... ugh.")  I believe without "free days," they learn better work habits.  Plus, then if you do give 10 minutes of free time after finishing an assignment, it's a BIG deal.

24.  Come up with an orderly way to begin class as soon as the bell rings.  Stick to it every single day.  If I were returning to Simeon,  I would start class COMPLETELY differently.

25.  If you stick with something, the very thing they hate might be something they come to love.  In my case, singing.  I couldn't get them to open their mouths, much less sing, in September.  At the end of the year, I asked "what do you wish we would have done in class?" on a class evaluation and 90% of the kids said something about singing more, or performing a concert. 

26. Have inside jokes with the class and with individuals.  It communicates they are important to you.

27.  Establish a positive working relationship with students.  "Positive" is different in different classrooms, but make it positive in whatever way it works for you.

28.  Do not make a habit of taking days off. 

29.  You know you're doing an okay job of teaching if the students are glad when you are back because they'd rather have you than a sub.

30.  Do not take a week off.  (woops!)

31.  Many teenagers like doing favors for teachers as much as 2nd graders do.  "Hey can you do me a favor" goes a long way, especially with that "special" kid that drives you crazy :)

32. Do not cuss at students.  They will notice.

33.  Ask questions about their lives outside of your classroom.

34.  It is easy to let those 2 problematic kids take over your mental energy and to forget about the other 198 students who are working, learning, improving, and fun!  Consciously focus on the 198.  It'll make your job more enjoyable.

35.  Tough situations will come up.  VERY tough situations.

36.  Pray for your students.  I can name 3 instances off the top of my head where a child's behavior and learning in my classroom took a 180 degree turn (for the better) after I prayed for them by name!

37. God is faithful.  If he puts you in a teaching job (or any job for that matter), He will equip and strengthen you to complete the job.

It's the end of the year as we know it

Here is our end-of-the-year schedule at Simeon.

Wednesday June 1                   Final exams for seniors*

Friday June 3                            Grades due for seniors

Mon June 6- Wed June 8         Seniors are supposed to report to 1^st – 3^rd periods, then go to graduation practice from 10:30 - 2

Wednesday June 8                   Final exams for all other students

Friday June 10                          Grades due for all other students

Friday June 10                          Prom - seniors

Monday June 13                       School for all students

Tuesday June 14                       School for all students & graduation (seniors) at night

Wednesday June 15                 School for freshmen – juniors (originally a teacher institute day, changed to student attendance day to make up for a snow day)

Thursday June 16                     Teacher institute day

Friday June 17                          Pick up report cards 8:30-10:30

*I have seniors mixed into all my classes, so all my students completed a final in my class on June 1.

Please notice that students are supposed to attend school for 6 days after their final grades go in.  What a waste.  This is a good example of why the people who decide things like when to have days of student attendance should not be people with no previous experience in a school building.  Because if anybody who works in the infamous “downtown” was making up the schedule, they would add those 6 days on earlier in the year.  The would know that putting them after finals gives students a reason not to come to school, gives no opportunity to “celebrate” at the end of the school year, wastes 6 days of potential academic instruction, and increases the number of “behavior” problems (fights, pranks, etc…). 

Over the past 10 days or so, attendance has gradually dwindled.  Today, I had the following numbers:

1^st period – 1 out of 29

3^rd period – 0 out of 56 (seniors)

4^th period – 10 out of 49

6^th period – 8 out of 43

8^th period – TBD J

What have I been doing for 7 hours a day these past couple weeks you wonder? 

Grading final exams (until grades were due)

Creating piano and voice lesson advertisements for private studio

Looking for apartments

Reading lots of blogs

G-chatting with my brother

Looking for jobs in Lincoln

Getting latte's and doing target-runs on lunch period

Writing rec letters for students' summer jobs

Cleaning classroom and packing up my stuff

Chatting with students about summer, prom, etc...

Organizing resources I created this year for teaching

Working on our home budget

Pizza party with 8th period!

Let me just say that I did EVERYTHING I COULD THINK OF that was school related before I started doing personal stuff, but I just ran out of stuff to do for work... 
Maybe if the people downtown knew what they were paying teachers to do these last 2 weeks, they would rework the schedule.

In closing, I heard the following announcement over the intercom yesterday in the middle of 6th period (name changed): "Ms. Williams, please return to your classroom.  There are students waiting for you and you are supposed to be in your 6th period classroom."  [You should know that Ms. Williams was suspended earlier this year for sleeping in class.]

Signing off from the almost-end-of-my-first-year-in-CPS,
Ren

8 days

As a teacher, my calendar year goes from September to June, so this year is almost over!  (June 17 to be specific)  

I love teaching because it's a gift from God that I can use and because I love working with young people.
I also love breaks.  Particularly, summer breaks. When I was a high school student, I really liked summer break.  Now that I'm on the other end, I realize that teachers like breaks WAY more :)

Thinking back on this school year honestly makes my head spin.
Did I really ever "manage" my classroom?  Did they learn anything?  Where did that one kid who just stopped coming go?  And what about that other one that went to jail?  I should have done an end-of-the-year-concert.  I really wanted to do more field trip with the kids.  Am I failing them by moving to Nebraska?  Who will they have next year?  Will I wish I was there or be glad I'm not?  Why are so many still so lazy?

It goes on and on.

Oh, and Friday, I am going to tell them I'm not coming back next year :( We'll see how that goes,

When I have clearer thoughts, I'll write more, but for now, that's all I got

When it get's hot...

Recapping some recent events at school (this week - once the temperature hit 80) so that next year when my kids go crazy at this time of year, i am not a surprised new teacher.  [while the tone of this blog is sarcastic and dry, please don't take it to be complaining - i'm not.  it's supposed to give you a giggle.]

Most students that walk in the room and complain that it is hot.  [wait? what!? you mean this room I've been in since 7am is 95 degrees and rising and smells like freshmen boy B.O.??? thank you for informing me, i hadn't noticed...]

Dress code.  Do I have to say anything except that the principal was standing at the girl's entrance with a pile of gym shorts and tee shirts to hand to girls who woke up confused and thought they were going clubbing instead of going to school...? 

Malfunctioned fire alarm during the middle of homeroom.

2 of my students have been escorted out of the building in cuffs, which the whole class can witness since i have a first floor room with giant windows... the only downside of windows i guess. no complaint there though.  [somehow, the arrests bring about laughter... still trying to figure that out]

Today, there was a food fight AND water balloon fight in the lunch room.  My question, how did the kids get water balloons into the building?  If they were already full, the video scanners they put their bags through in the morning (while they go through metal detectors)... think airport security... should have detected them.  More likely, they filled them up during the day.  Because a student can leave class for 15 minutes and what are you gonna do about it?

So, they shut off the water.  Naturally. And then, the students are mad because the water fountains aren't working.  Well, should have thought twice about that water balloon fight [which, by the way, was planned school-wide yesterday with a text] before you realized that water was apparently a privilege at school.

Speaking of water, something leaked or exploded... not sure about the details, but the entire south wing of classrooms on 3 floors was flooded.  and all the teachers took their kids outside to have class... 80, sunny, no trees, no park... city schools.

Picture this scenario.  Every student who walks in the classroom groans that it's hot.  When the bell rings, the kids proceed to yell at me that it's too hot to do work and we can't do anything and and and... I listen, and calmly try to explain that i understand, and i hope they fix the air asap and i too am hot and uncomfortable, but we are in school until June 17 [insert mass groan] and we can't sit on our butts until then.  [i give this "speech" with no sarcasm.  it's good to know when to be sarcastic and when not to be.]  So, we turn off the lights, and stay seated and learn the next section of the song we're working on.  Mid singing, this girl stomps to the front of the room to proclaim [very loudly] that her mom texted her and is picking her and her cousin up for early dismissal.  My response: okay, she should have the attendance office contact my room [thinking to myself, just like everyone else... duh!  and, wait, you're not supposed to have your phone in school and your mother, who knows this rule, is texting you to leave in the middle of your class??? WHHAAT?]  She rolls her eyes, turns around to head back to her seat with the loudest groan/sigh/scream I've heard.  I just raise my eyebrows [so as to imply the "yikes! don't mess with her" look and everyone laughs.  not sure if that was the appropriate teacher response.]  then, there is a knock on the door.  [i have to lock the door during this period b/c of all the sillyness in the hallways and the kids that randomly used to open the door and scream profanity inside the room and run away, or the kids that come into the class and say, "oh i just need to give shamequa her phone" or.... or... or.... you get the picture. the door is locked. so i go open the door, and it's the girl's mom.  no way!! haha she has bypassed the front desk and attendance office and is knocking on my classroom door to disrupt her class to pick up her entitled child who proceeds to storm out of my room. hahaha but when you see the parents, a lot makes sense about the kids.  [can i get an amen?]

8th period has it the worst, because there have been nasty, sweaty, classes of 50+ in my room all day, so it's the hottest and the smelliest by the time last period rolls around.

But, it wouldn't be fair to tell you all that unless I told you... once we get past the complaining and the disruptions and everyone is able to semi-focus, they learned a new part of a song, worked at it for at least 25-30 minutes straight (which is a long time for one task these days, especially considering they are doing NOTHING in most classes) and I would say 60-75% of kids were engaged/ trying their best [the best a 16 year old can give when they are tired and hot and it's the end of the year].  Usually, it's probably more like 90-95%, but this week, i'll take 75% of kids working as hard as they can.

Movie Fridays

I have instituted "Movie Fridays" in my classroom.  Whenever I tell people that I show a movie once a week, I feel like I have to justify that seemingly poor teaching decision.  Movie Friday started mainly because of poor attendance on Fridays at our school (an inner-city phenomenon of which the effects are greatly underestimated).  Anyway, at first, we did tests/quizzes every Friday, but because so many students were absent, it was a hassle for make-ups.  (I guess tests were not a good motivation to attend class.)  When so many students are absent, it's hard to teach something new, so then I would do review.  Well, the students who come to school on Fridays are the kids who do not need review... naturally.  Thus, movie Fridays.  Movies about music, classic must-sees, etc...  Some are educational in the traditional learn-something-new way and some are "educational" in the part-of-your-cultural-expansion way.

Currently, I'm showing The Sound of Music, which most of my students have never seen.  It falls in the classic-part-of-cultural-expansion category.  For each Friday, there is an assignment that accompanies the movie (yep, I'm one of those teachers).

Disclaimer: I LOVE this movie.  I watch it 4 times per Friday, once with each class (which is a little overkill).  When I was little, we watched it all the time, and sang the songs all the time.  I have most memorized.  (Music geek confession)

Anyway, watching it with my students opens up a whole new side to the movie.  I have never before realized how funny it is.  Here are some scenes and their reactions to those scenes.

When Maria leaves the convent to head to the Captain's house for the first time, she sings the song I have confidence.  Towards the end of this song, she is dancing down the street swinging her guitar and travel bag, singing all the while.  One student explained, "Ms. Cook, if you saw a lady doing all that down 79th, you would call and have her committed.  She too excited."

Then, at the end of the song, Maria arrives at the captain's mansion.  Several students responded, "Dannng."

When the Captain first appears on the scene, he bursts through these double doors between the parlour and balroom, where Maria is snooping around.  As he burst through the doors, my students burst out laughing.  I never thought of that scene as funny.

My all time favorite.  When the Captain calls down the children to meet Maria for the first time, he uses a loud whistle with signals.  Suddenly, all the children burst forth from various rooms upstairs, line up by height and march military-style down the stairs into their appropriate line order.  In a couple classes, at least one person yelled, "aw hellllll no."   hilarious!

The Captain then instructs the children to march forward and announce their names when they hear their respective whistle signals (so that Maria can learn the whistle signals for each child).  As the Captain is whistling and the children are introducing themselves, at least one student in each class called out, "ugh, he be doin' too much!"

Have you seen The Sound of Music lately?  Stop by room 151 if you'd like a good viewing ;)

$15.00 Opera

Earlier in the year, I found out that the Lyric Opera of Chicago puts on one of the operas of the season as a matinee for students and offers the tickets at the low rate of $8.00-$15.00.  I thought it would be a neat experience for my students, but then I quickly thought again... in a perfect world, i'd take my students and they'd develop some newfound appreciation for opera.  haha if someone had taken me to an opera in high school, i probably would have hated it forever.  [Actually, my mom and I went to see Porgy and Bess last year at the lyric.  It was beautiful.  I could appreciate it because I studied opera in college.  But, when it came down to staying for the last 15 minutes or catching the train so as not to have to wait 2 hours in Ogilvie... we left early!] 

Anyway, I had resolved not to take students because I didn't want to turn them off to classical music.  In a passing conversation with some of my "after-school-choir" kids, I mentioned the opera. 

student: "we want to go!"
me: "are you sure?"
"yeah!"
"it's 4 hours long..."
"we want to go."
"it's in french."
"we want to go."
"it's 15.00"
"we want to go."
"i'd love to take you but i want you to know what you're getting yourselves into..."

we're going tomorrow.  20 students + me + my mom (the other chaperone)

"Ms. Cook! yo momma comin to the opera wit us?"
"yep."

(they are very excited - lots of momma questions) 


I ordered more tickets than I had originally received money for, so I offered to all my students in all my classes - the first 7 people to pay me $15.00 could go - initially the trip was for after school choir students only.

As of yesterday afternoon, I only had 1 ticket left.  First thing this morning, a student I'll call Kiara brought me a note and the signed permission slips.  The note read something like this: "Ms. Cook, Kiara really wants to go on this trip to the opera.  Her appreciation for music is growing and she is very excited about the possibility of seeing the opera for the first time.  I do not have the $15.00 today, but could you please hold a ticket for her?  She will have the money and more for dinner tomorrow.  I promise.  Thank you for your help and support."  Of course she's coming!  By the way, I've heard nightmares about this girl from other teachers.  But in my class, she's respectful, gets all her stuff done, helps other kids who don't understand something, and extremely quiet.  She doesn't really like to sing (I've asked her one on one... she says she's too shy) although she has a nice voice and her mom is forcing her to learn to sing at church.  Anyway, I wouldn't have pegged her for dying to go to the opera.

I announced this trip a couple months ago to prepare students for the cost ($15.00 ticket + $12.00 dinner + bus money).  Since then, I have heard a couple students mention scraping up the money... "I didn't have the money either but I found a way man... cant buy those sodas at lunch." 

I'm not sure what to expect - will they like it? what are they expecting? will they be surprised by the singing?  will they fall asleep?  will they understand the plot?

It's going to be a great experience.  For some of them, a once-in-a-lifetime-thing.  Sure, it's just one opera.  But it's more than that - it's a cultural experience.  It's something new.  (And it's a professional world class opera production for $15.00 ticket on the main floor.)  By the way, I just checked - there are 5 seats left on the main floor for Sunday's production of Carmen and they are going for $247.00 each.

Au Revoir,
Mrs. Cook

Vocabulary

Here are some words and phrases that have come up in ACT class;

allocate

haphazardly

relentless pursuit

Fundamental

This person’s deformity

Accepted the situation peaceably

Scientific inquiry

Tolerate adversity

Overriding concern

Did you know what most of them meant?  My students didn't.  Today, I gave them that list as a review of phrases we've seen in different readings.  We discussed the phrases when we first saw them.  (They ask when they don't know a word and we discuss the meaning.)  This exercise was supposed to be a quick review... it wasn't.  They didn't remember ANY of the phrases :( 

We've also been doing 2 vocab words per class (4 per week) that I've taken from a list of common ACT words.  Though we review them each class, they don't know more than 1 or 2 of the words :( Part of the reason is because they don't do the outside of class work.  I tell them to review their flash cards (which I provide) and/ or write the words and meanings out... they don't.  But, I'm also wondering if there are better ways to teach vocabulary... when the test is in April and they haven't seen such commonly used words! yikes! 

I don't spend too much time on vocabulary b/c I think it is in some ways close to a lost cause... not quite, but close.  They are behind in this category because of... well for a lot of reasons.  That's a whole different post.

Any ideas for teaching/ cramming vocab? 

ACT Prep

I have found out that I will be teaching the English and Reading portion of ACT prep, 2 days a week after school for the next 10 weeks.  I don't know how many teachers get excited about ACT prep, but I am (hey, I new...)!  The gap in ACT scores fascinates me.  To be honest, it's something they should start in September.  That's obvious, right?  If the gap is so big, our students should be preparing for a longer period of time...

Anyway, 10 weeks is what it is.  I found out I'll have the group of kids with the lowest scores because "Ms. Cook has the patience for them."  haha I think that was a compliment and challenge all tied up in one.

Here's the thing about the ACT - for a very short period of time in life, your score is very important.  I have kids who get a 3.8 GPA and are Mr. and Mrs. school involvement.  Their 15 on the ACT (which they have been told is better than others) sets them way back in the college competition.  With a 25+ they might have been in the running for some extremely elite universities.  (No one at our school scored a 25 last year.)  But the ACT average at a school likes ours takes universities like those entirely out of the question.  The point is often raised in our meetings that the test is racially biased, as well as a poor assessment overall, and a poor assessment for students in a low socioeconomic bracket.  Our principle's response: "but, it's the test they're using, and I don't want a separate test for poor kids."

I like his brutal honesty. 

I'll be working on a planning team with 2 English teachers - and me, the music teacher. Yikes! Intimidating.

By the way, I get paid.  Booyeah!

Cheers to ACT,
Ren

This Week.

Finals happened this week.  I learned that I will always be giving my finals 1 week before the rest of the finals.  End of discussion.

My students are... animated... to say the least.  They are dramatic to the extreme.  But most of them never cross the line.  They might swear at each other, but if I hear them, they apologize to me  (which is funny - they yell f-you to someone else, but apologize to me).  They might roll their eyes when I ask them to put their phone away in school AGAIN, complain when I give them work to do on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or any day, or yell "I'm not late" when I ask them to sign the tardy sheet... but that's about as rude as it gets.  Until this week.  I took a student's iPod after repeatedly asking him to put it away and repeatedly he took it back out again.  The school's policy is that a parent has to pick up the electronic device on Friday between 3 and 5.  The policy sucks but it is what it is.  It's meant to motivate students to not use them in class - they do what they want anyway.  So, I took this kids iPod.  When he asked for it after class, I said his parents could pick it up Friday.  He started talking about how ridiculous that was.  I calmly stated "that's the policy. it's not up for discussion."  he then proceeded to storm out.  (There were other students in the room...) Not just storm out, but push every desk over on his way out while screaming profanity that I refuse to repeat or write down.  Let's just say - think of every cuss word you've ever heard and combine them in one sentence.  Yep, that was me.  I said (again, calmly), okay I'll go ahead and add that to the write up.  His response: "yeah, you do that B***"

He came back 2 hours later to apologize.  "Uh, Ms. Cook, I'm really sorry about earlier.  I'm not usually that disrespectful.  My friend was shot this morning and I was pissed and taking out my anger on you.  I'm sorry."

The situation was confirmed when I ran into my assistant principal who asked if Brian apologized to me yet.  I said, "yes how'd you know."  "Oh, he's my little project.  I love that kid and he has a lot to deal with.  He's got some tough stuff and is working on managing anger in a healthy way - which is not what he's learned in life so far.  He has a lot of potential.  He came to me frantically explaining he had exploded on his music teacher and felt terrible and didn't know what to do. I told him 'boy, you gonna march back down there and apologize to that lady.'"    And that was the end of that.  He still picked up his iPod friday.

Not 5 minutes after Brian stormed out screaming profanity, I met Jamequa (*name changed*).  A student that I have a good relationship with brought her to me.  The student that is in my class explained her friend had a problem and that she trusted me and Jamequa needed help.  I then learned that Jamequa's uncle had been raping her since she was 7.  Yeah, that's how I felt too - shocked.  Tears started streaming down my face.  I wasn't qualified to handle this.  I called DCFS for the first time as a teacher.  Hopefully, this will not be a common occasion.  Long story short, Jamequa told the DCFS investigator she made up the whole thing.  I still don't know if it's true.  The story changes a lot.  Either way - true or not- this precious 16 year old girl needs a lot of help.  Bottom line - she needs the saving grace and hope found only in Jesus Christ.

My 1st period seniors did so terribly on their final (which I graded towards the end of the week) I started crying.  Probably the tears were a result of the entire week.  But, I was so disappointed.  They didn't even try - most of them didn't do the review guides.  Most of them skipped the essay.  Just skipped it.  I'm realizing the low academic standard that most of these students have been held to throughout their education and they have created terrible habits.  I could go on and on about this, but mostly, I am just relying on the Lord for wisdom - how do I continue to hold high expectations and teach them in a way that helps them see they can reach them.

After a ridiculous week, Friday was the BEST!  The students had off - professional development day.  So, I went to Kelly HS, where I student taught, and watched their advanced choir rehearse.  Their top choir has rehearsals on every professional development day - the students come in from 8-12.  Amazing.  The guy I worked with there has built the best neighborhood high school choir program in CPS, no doubt about it.  His group performs the quality of literature that most of the suburban schools attempt (where all the students take private lessons) and competes with the best of the best fine arts schools in the city.  Yesterday, they sang in Russian, French, German, Slovak, English, Spanish, and Chinese.  Wow.  I was so encouraged.  (And it only took him 4-5 years!)  His students have become sweet, hard working.  They care for each other, they practice their parts, they help each other out...   He spent the afternoon giving me advice and answering my questions.  How do I get the beginners to sing more?  How do I cultivate appreciation for choral music?  How do I .... How do I .... How do I...

Bottom line - teach to the best.  Move forward with the best kids and many more, who see their success, will pick it up.  There will be some in every class who don't care and don't want to and never will.  And you can't bring the entire class down with them.  You have to move forward.  That is my goal for 2nd semester.

When I explained I don't really have a budget - we have no money in our music department - he said, "Make a list of what you want and we'll buy it for you.  We have the money."  I could have cried (which, as we've established, isn't saying much this week since it was an emotional roller coaster).  The best part was connecting with another music teacher (2 actually) in another school where the choir program is working.  I often feel isolated at work.  The Lord brought this along and I am so thankful to him.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Heavenly Father, who is unchanging."  (James 1:17)


Thankful for the end of this week and for a fresh start,
Renee