Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Low Stakes Writing with High Stakes Applications (crosses fingers)

I'm trying something new with my journal writing this year to encourage students to look at pop culture differently.  Instead of the standard, here's some ideas to write about, I've started handing out song lyrics and playing music videos for my students and giving them some time to think about the message of the song or music video before responding.  We then talk about the song/video as a piece of literature.

Our first Friday journal examined Elvis's "In the Ghetto."  Even my comprehensive 10th graders (those who are "on" grade level) were getting into the song and the subsequent discussion, pulling key elements of the song that furthered the plot and characterized the protagonist son and his hapless mother.  They did not have the vocabulary correct, but they understood the concepts.  Our second song "Wings" by Little Mix, a much more contemporary selection, had students eagerly discussing how symbols have gender biases and how diction can indicate audience.  These are students who stare blankly at me as we trying to discuss simple passages from their textbooks, but add some music and they show that they can process this information with ease.  I cannot wait for our next selection which is looking like it will be a selection from Broadway's Ave Q or the spoken word poem "To This Day" (not quite a song, but still a selection with music in the background and a compelling video).

Saturday, August 24, 2013

A Literal Society

This week, my students were instructed to interview one another to get information to write a piece of creative non-fiction based on the life and times of one of their classmates.  For homework the night before the assignment, they were told to brainstorm three questions to ask their peers that would get them to tell a story and then told the day of the interview that they were not limited to those three questions when interviewing their peers.  Throughout the class period, students were asking what to do when they finished asking their three questions--my response, ask more, make sure you have enough information to base a story on--their look:  quizzical.  Saturday, two days post interviews, I have students asking me if their stories should only be based on those three questions that they asked.

Now I could take this time to bemoan the very short attention spans of the modern student or their inability to reference materials that they are given before asking questions or even their lack of bravery in writing a rough draft, but no, I'm going to focus on their literalness ....

Does anyone remember the old color by number books?  The ones where you had a small palette of paints that were numbered instead of labeled by color and you colored all of the ones green because green was labeled one and the sevens were red, so every shape labeled seven became red and in the end, you ended up with something that looked similar to a Claude Monet masterpiece, and you never really varied from what the book told you to color because you wanted it to look like that Monet.  I feel like that is what is going on with our current students--they are so scared of making a mistake that they cannot look beyond the most basic of instructions.  If a teacher says that they want three questions, they are only going to get three questions.  If a teacher says that there is only one answer, the students will believe that that is in fact the ONLY answer.

I know that this should seem like a good thing, but it scares me.  I would rather have students who follow the advice of Miss Frizzle and take chances and make messes.  I would rather have to reign someone in than have them scared to charge forward.  Their timidity worries me.

I chose to teach English because I enjoyed the freedom that is inherently associated with the subject.  I like that in English there doesn't have to be one answer, that debate is an important part of the discourse, and that the most important skill is the ability to defend one's position.  I love that there is not a box associated with my subject and that our lines are written or recited rather than colored between.  It is hard to become complacent because in theory, there will always be students who will challenge you as an English teacher (and not in the disciplinary, administrative way).

In August, my students are so scared of making a mistake that they do not want to take risks; they create their own boxes to hide in as they figure me, the class, and in some cases, high school out.  By January, they challenge what I say and have figured out how to question an assignment to find a way to make it their own (though I do have some who can do it now, like the young woman who wants to write her interviewee into her interviewee's favorite movie).  Maybe as Common Core replaces VSC, and more students have had to exercise the critical thinking portion of their brains, August will look more like January.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Discovering new technology with a new school year

Edmodo made me feel like I have never used a computer before. A familiar looking layout, like the designers paid homage to Mark Zuckerburg.  I thought that this educational Facebook would take five minutes to acclimate to, but boy, was I wrong.  Intuition told me that things should be able to be dragged and easily integrated into each post and that Google Drive (which I am reliant on) should work just like it does with Google Sites.  Three days and one handout later, I was ready to return to Google Sites (at least I knew how to work it), but then I asked for help which is not something I am good at doing, especially when it comes to anything involving technology.  With a less than 3 minute conversation with a coworker, I figured out what I had been missing and have posted the information and assignments that I was wanting to.  When school begins on Monday, I will be able to give my students their codes and make this digital community work.  I'm excited.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Another Look at the George Zimmerman Case

A miserable evening, the prenight sky darken and dampened by a fine mist, not heavy enough to be rain, but far from dry.  A young man on a cell phone shuffles home from a convenience store.  Despite the drizzle, he moves slowly, enjoying his fleeting freedom.  He complains about his overbearing father, wannabe step-mother, and little brother to his companion on the phone.  He just wants to be home with his friends ...

A miserable evening, the prenight sky darkened and dampened by a fine mist, not heavy enough to be rain, but far from dry.  A young man starts his pick-up truck, debating whether or not he needs to turn on his windshield wipers.  As he backs up out of his space, he noticed a hooded figure walking towards the footpath behind the townhouses.  He flashes to the six month string of burglaries--each time, witnesses described seeing hooded figures carrying out the stolen goods ...

A young man in a dark hoodie notices a stopped car, lights on, driver is just staring at him.  What did he do to justify this?

A young man in a pick-up truck calls the police as he tries to follow the figure in his vehicle.  As the figure disappears behind the townhouses, the young man tells the 9-1-1 operator that he is getting out to follow the figure.  Though the operator specifically tells the young man to stay in his vehicle, he pursues the figure--this is his chance to be a hero.

"I'm being followed by some creepy-ass cracker."  Anger.  Annoyance.  First he cannot be where he wants; now he cannot go where he doesn't want to be without somebody up in his business. 

"He ran."  Assumed guilt--innocent people do not run.

A confrontation: a wannabe-G against a police wannabe.  Anger on both sides.  Betrayal and hurt.  A young man is dead. Another has killed someone who was innocent.  Both become folk heroes.  Both deified and exulted by their respective supporters.  One young man is dead.  The other, his life might as well be over.

We look at this case as a sign that racism is alive and well in this country.  Liberals line up on the side that is "right;" conservatives line up on the side that is "white."  We look at this case and see a dead Black boy and a living White Hispanic (which is the first time that I have heard that term and I am a "White Hispanic).  We want it to be about Black and White because that is easy, when the issues at play in this case are far more complicated and involve the nuances of Florida's "Stand Your Ground," self-defense and conceal-and-carry laws.  It involves understanding sociological archetypes that would drive this confrontation, and yes race may have played a factor, but it was not the only one.  It also means that we would have to look at this case as two young men instead of a man and a boy because 17 is still a minor, but far from boyhood and 28 is technically adult, but many 28-year-old men are still in the later stages of puberty.  We had a perfect storm, a convergence of many factors that resulted in unneeded death and destruction, but the media and in turn, society wanted to pare it down to race because racism is something that everyone easily understands and can fit into a sound bite for the teaser for the 11 o'clock news.

Society craves the easy way out which is why we, as teachers, must demand rigor.  We cannot let our students slide into black and white debates--they must see nuances--they must see the rainbow for all of its glory.

An affirmation to start the school year

Recently I had a discussion with a friend who has a one-year-old about what her educational choices will be for her son.  Her preference is to home school and if that is not possible, she will send her son (and future children) to private schools.  Public schooling was not an option because, as she stated, most public school teachers are terrible, do not care about their jobs, and ruin children.  After the obligatory "oh, I said most, it doesn't include you", she told me about her educational experiences:  most of elementary school included teachers that she felt did not care much about her as a person, though she noted two standouts, and middle and high school was filled with perverts, demagogues, and the walking dead.  The bottom line--public school teachers, by and large, are only in it to collect a pay check.

Now, this sentiment really bothers me because I know that I have students and parents who think that about me--I am a "tough teacher" who puts on a rather gruff exterior so students won't take advantage of my inherent kindness (I am the person who would love to give everyone extensions and As, but know that I would be doing more harm than good to do that).  I also know that this is how the public by and large judges teachers--we do it for the summers off and short days, tax breaks and great pay--at least those who have been deemed shitty teachers, the rest do it because of some calling from God, so of course we need no financial payment for our work.  It's a dichotomy that makes it easy for the public not to balk when teacher salaries are frozen and furloughed and jobs are cut.

So how are teachers supposed to function in a "profession" where we are both revered and reviled?  We grow scales.  We smile through conferences where parents accuse of us lying and discrimination, calming addressing their child's needs, rather than the fears that elicited the accusations.  We hit reset every time the bells rings because one bad class should not ruin an entire day.  We go to happy hour with friends and coworkers and take the time to bitch about work because teachers are not angels and a little bitching is therapeutic.  And we set time for ourselves, whether it is "I will not check my work email after 5 pm or on weekends" or "this whole weekend (or evening) is mine, regardless of how many papers I have to grade." But most importantly, we persevere--we do not let parents bully us, we speak up when there are unfair working conditions (but we do not make decisions that will harm the students [but limiting written feedback does not harm the students]), we put ourselves first because only then can we properly serve our students.

As this school year begins, I will make no promises for how long it will take to get an assignment back.  I will give myself weekends and evenings off.  I will find a hobby and read books that aren't on my students' reading lists and take long evening walks with my dog and not feel guilty.  The dichotomy of how teachers are viewed pushes those who want to be good to work too hard and while they might be "good" in the classroom, they are not good to themselves.  I need to be good to myself to be successful in the classroom. 

Something to think about

    As we begin a new school year, I found out that my 9-year-old dog who I have had since he was a nine-week-old puppy probably has cancer.  It is only probably because the conclusive diagnostic test is very expensive and the results would not have an impact on how we treat him because cancer treatments are very expensive and do not add much to the animal's lifespan and deteriorate the quality in the final days.
    Teachers, especially those of a transitional grade, like 6th or 9th, appear to have to make similar decisions. You have limited information--what's in their records and what you see in front of you.  While financial resources are an issue, the hardest to deal with is time and space. You have to make teaching decisions that are based on what you believe will benefit the most students possible (and remember that ability is not the only factor in teaching, especially with such an open subject as English) while fitting into the limited block of time that you have these students in front of you and within the confines of the classroom (and I don't know about you, but some days, I find the latter to be the harder to deal with).  Decisions that you make at the beginning of the year set the tone and the structure for the year to come.  You hope that you have made the right decision, not because you cannot change your mind later, but because once a routine is started, it's hard to get students to buy into a new one, which just means that you have to take more time, which as we discussed before, is a limited commodity.  You do not want to look back and realize that your decision caused pain and frustration and not just to the students.
    Now I will admit that I hope that the results of my teaching practices are not just palliative, like the decision that I made for my baby, but help expand my students' understanding and critical thinking, though truthfully I know that there are some who will take nothing from my class. For those I take a more Hippocratic approach and instead pray that I have done no harm.