Closing In

Back from a week of fun and sun in California. I know people don't believe me, but I really missed my kids! I was saddened by not being able to travel with them through the exciting climax of To Kill a Mockingbird. We only have a few chapters left in the novel and I am glad we have another month to proccess it all before school is out. The pace of the class feels much more managable without trying to stuff another book into the last six weeks, which started last week. It seems like the year is over already!

Do and Don't List of Parent/Teacher Conferences

After a week of student-led parent/teacher conferences, I have created my own survival list:

DO:

Remain humble. You may be an expert at school, but parents remain the expert of their children
Listen more than you talk. You talk all the time during class, let someone else share how they feel.

Stay positive. Focus on the future and stress that you’re main goal is the success of the student.

Create an atmosphere of openness. You have the home advantage; you’re on your turf. To make up for that, you must be extra welcoming and understanding.

Come prepared with students’ grades, examples of work, issues you have observed and (most important) suggestions for solutions.

DON’T:

Judge families or assume things about families. You only spent about an hour with them, you do not know them.

Ever talk bad about other teachers, parents or students in front of families.

Focus on negative aspects about the past. Even if this student gave you hell last semester, this is water under the bridge and it is time to move forward.

Waste parents’ time with explaining things that are unimportant or irrelevant. If the student does not have an attendance problem, don’t go over the attendance policy again.

Humanization

“I’ve come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate; it’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture, or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated or a child humanized or dehumanized.”
- Haim Ginott

Pedagogy of What?

I spent last night in the library, busily researching a paper I'm writing. I just learned about Paulo Freire, the godfather of critical pedagogy. He wrote The Pedagogy of Opression, which plays a large role in service learning education. Apparently, there are three main camps of education: conservative/traditional, progressive/liberal and critical. Dewey, the father of experiential learning, criticizes both traditional and progressive education . Dewey says that education is inseprable from democracy.

So, when my professor mentioned Dewey in class and received a room full of blank stares, I knew something was wrong. I had only encountered Dewey briefly in my Special Education class, and did not know his story. I feel like the more I learn, the less I know.

How are we going to be good teachers if we are not aware of the great philosphers who shaped our educational policy?

How are we going to defend our teaching methods when we cannot name them correctly, or comprehend them within the greater sphere of education?

I have been teaching on gut instinct. My college courses gave me a toolbox of methods and practices I can use in the classroom. But I have no idea where these come from or on what ideals they are based. I used to cling to the idea of teaching critical thinking. Our future is uncertain and by teaching kids to think critically they can learn to adapt. Now I am so unsure of the purpose of education.

I do not see students as empty vessels to fill, but as young people who need guidance. Literature is a place where they can find some guidenace about how to interact with others and be happy in their own lives.

I feel lucky to have another year of schooling. I think I'll just go for my PhD actually...

One Bone at a Time

From the Web site: "One Million Bones is a fundraising art installation designed to recognize the millions of victims killed or displaced by ongoing genocides occurring on our watch.

Our Mission is to increase global awareness of these atrocities while raising the critical funds needed to protect and aid displaced and vulnerable victims.

One Million Bones will represent victims of genocide, creating a visual demand for solutions to this issue. Ignored and therefore permitted, genocide continues today, while widespread awareness of it remains buried. One million people will each create one bone to represent one victim. Installed together, these million bones will flood the National Mall in Washington, D.C., unearthing the memory of these victims while calling citizens to action: mourning yesterday’s casualties, caring for today’s refugees, saving tomorrow’s people."

This is so amazing! I am beginning to create a unit plan for a paper incorporating the book A Long Way Gone: Memiors of a Boy Soldier with this wonderful project: One Million Bones.

The creater of the project even has a video on TED. I will share more as I collect information.

Student-led Conference

I just had my first official student-led parent/teacher conference! It went simmingly. The mother is invloved in her son's life, and that makes all the difference. We discussed all his classes, his strengths and weaknesses, and his goals for next year. Parent involvement is so important to the success of a struggling student. It was nice that I had called her a few weeks ago and we spoke on the phone for a bit about her son. She was comfortable speaking with me about her worries and her son's performance. The student was extremely nervous, which was adorable. I am guessing all conferences will not go as smoothly. It is great to start off on the right foot though!

I thought this was pretty funny, so I stole it from another blogger.

"TIPS TO SURVIVING PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES

1. Diet Coke

2. It's best not to laugh at the kids who you get in trouble while their parents are still sitting there.

3. Eat garlic before hand...parents tend not to linger.

4. When talking to parents avoid phrases like, "You look so familiar. Did I see you at the bar last weekend?" or "I'm not sure why your kid is failing. Maybe you should just stick him/her in special ed."

5. If a parent tells you that their child is too smart for your class--agree. Then send them directly to the principal to tell her how smart the kid is and demand that they be transferred out of your class and into honors English. Nobody likes those know-it-all kids anyway.

6. Be extra-nice to the parents whose kids are idiots...after all, they are stuck with them forever. You are only pulling a 45 minute shift a few times a week.

7. Never admit that you really have no recollection of ever seeing their child before.

8. On the day of P/T conferences make your kids feel sorry for you because you have to be there all day, and tell them to bring you stuff when they come with their parents.

9. NEVER eat anything homemade they bring you.

10. Make sure you've planned an easy teaching day for the day after because post parent/teacher conference hangover is a beast."

S-S-S-O-F-M-M-M-O-R, S-O-F-M-O-R Sophomores!

Other than the fact that we're teaching our sophomores to spell incorrectly, the spirit assembly was a blast. Today was my first assembly at AHS. It was a Spring Spirit and Sports Assembly. Which means it is an attempt to recognize student athletes and raise student involvement. About a third of the school was absent, since it is the first day back from a long weekend, and only juniors have to be at school for testing the rest of the week. Everyone else gets a second spring break. The assembly was chaotic and very, very noisy. The juniors won the Spirit Stick for being the loudest and rowdiest. The juniors and seniors rushed the floor and nearly trampled several people. I was glad to be up in the sophomore section, away from all the action. It was nice to see my students recognized for their commitment and acheivements to school activities. Attending the assembly made me remember a lot about my high school years. It was fun to see kids being kids -rowdy, loud, and disorganized.