Finishing Rome: Finally - 12/7/07

Today I finished my final lesson about Rome and administered the test to my first period honors class. I was relieved to know I had completed something I didn’t think I could complete, but at the same time I realized how much I’ll miss running the class on my own. Sure it was stressful and I was learning everyday right along with the kids, but I’ll definitely miss it. I know I will still be a presence in the classroom until mid January but I have successfully completed double of what was required of me in the internship program. I will never forget the four weeks I taught those students and how much I learned from them. I will never forget my experiences with them and how much I was made to grow up and be the adult in the room. The lessons I’ve learned through this internship I will take with me for the rest of my life. I truly believe I am a changed person, and for the better.

Recovering from the Power Outage Fiasco - 12/6/07

I was almost positive there was going to be fighting today. I’ve gotten very good at reading the signs in the school of a foreboding fight. The kids were on edge. Being sent home yesterday threw off their schedule for the rest of the week. I’d be surprised if they were even on track again tomorrow. I finished up the decline of the Roman Empire with first period and played Jeopardy with them to help them review for their test on Friday. They did well and I was pleased with their answers but they still acted strangely. Second and fourth periods were crazy. I had them working on individual tasks of looking up important and influential people from Rome. They couldn’t focus. I read them a story about the emperor Caligula but when I was done, I couldn’t bring them back to focusing. I guess sometimes every teacher has days like this. I just dealt with it as best as I could and when I left today, I left all the problems and the drama behind me at the school where I would like them to stay. I need to compartmentalize my experiences here more effectively.

Then the Lights Went Out - 12/5/07

Today was chaotic. In the middle of first period the power went out in half of the building. Unbelievable. My supervisor was waiting in the hallway because he had come in to observe my teaching. All he ended up seeing was me trying to control thirty kids for almost three full periods in almost the pitch dark because our classroom is on the inside of the building and we have no windows. I attempted to maintain control as much as possible. I was upset because I was on a roll teaching them about the decline of the Roman Empire. The students were eventually sent home at the end of third period but the teachers were instructed to stay. I stayed until my usual time but overall I felt as though the day had been wasted and the administration once again dealt with the problems in an incompetent way. I was thoroughly unimpressed with the lack of guidance and direction given to the staff who were suppose to some how control over 2,400 students in the dark. I wonder if my lesson plans would have been effective if the lights hadn’t gone out.

Ben Hur - 12/3/07

Today we briefly finished up Roman culture and then I showed them a clip from the movie, Ben Hur. I showed them the chariot race scene and I’ve never seen the students get so into a movie before. I asked them to simply watch the film, and try to analyze it as best as they could. The clip sparked conversations about Roman politics, religion, symbolism, and competitiveness. It was wonderful to see them so involved. I gave them each a worksheet that asked them to analyze the movie in three different ways: for drama, literary purposes, and for cinematic uses. They all filled in their sheets and we had a wonderful discussion about the movie on a number of different levels. The students critically thought about the movie and about the historical accuracy of it. It was a very effective technique that I will definitely use again.

Introduction to Rome! - 11/26/07

Today I gave an introduction to Rome and had them fill in some guided note sheets. I was so excited to start a new topic. Greece was getting to be boring and old. I know I’m teaching more weeks than I have to but I’m enjoying the experience, and everyday here is quite an experience! The kids were really interested in learning about the Coliseum and the culture of the Roman people. I showed them pictures and explained the history behind some of Rome’s architectural and technological innovations. I’ve found that they love looking at historical pictures and typically remember information much better if the lecture is accompanied by a picture. I will definitely use this technique throughout this unit.

The Day before a Break - 11/20/07

The day before Thanksgiving break!! I know it must sound bad to be excited for a break but I am! The vacation is welcomed, even though I worry about my students being away from school for so long. God knows what they’ll get themselves into over the long weekend. I always tell them, “Have a good day, stay safe!” I hope they do. I truly care about them all, even the ones that give me a hard time. Those students are the ones that need a lot of guidance or perhaps a different technique to get them interested. Regardless, today the students were bouncing off the walls. It was hard to get them to focus on anything. I am introducing my unit on the Roman Empire by showing them the movie Gladiator before Thanksgiving break. They really got into the movie and I had them fill in a worksheet asking them to describe specific social, political, and economic characteristics of the time period. This was for first period. Second and fourth periods are on a different schedule and since they have trouble staying on task there is no time for them to watch a movie. I had to lecture and do class activities. They didn’t like it, but I had no other choice. The day before a break seems almost pointless in any school because the kids have already mentally gone on vacation. I hope they all come back on Monday safe and sound.

Taking Control - 11/17/07

I am almost done with Greece with my second and fourth period classes. They are hard to manage and it’s amazing how the presence of one or two specific students can completely change the dynamic of the classroom. I usually give the students a number of chances and warnings. Today that wasn’t working. I had to call a hall monitor to escort a student from my classroom. By the time I turned around and hung up the phone the student had left on his own. The class never learned more with his absence. I know its wrong to want your students to get suspended but this kid keeps other students from learning. We focused on the city states of Ancient Greece and the students learned so much and really got into it. They are so interested in Sparta especially. With this one student missing, so many more were able to focus and pay attention. I need to take control everyday.

A Greek Food Adventure! - 11/9/07

Today was the completion of my unit on Ancient Greece and I thought it would be a great idea to bring the kids in some Greek food to really get them into the theme and reward them for being so well behaved and allowing me to get through the material I needed for them to know the previous week. I have never brought in food for a whole class before and I was completely on my own, my cooperating teacher typically leaves me for extended periods alone with the classes now in order for me to assert my authority. I brought in so much Greek food! I brought in Greek olive salad, pita break with eggplant dip, and phylo dough with fruit. Note to self: Fourteen year olds do NOT like olives. I had so much left over on top of the fact that the entire class period was chaotic. They liked the eggplant dip but apparently olives are too foreign to them. It was a rather fun day but I was exhausted at the end. They learned about Greek food and I learned that in a classroom of thirty students, bringing in that amount of food can only lead to chaos. I’m surprised there isn’t Greek food on the walls.

A Lunch Meeting - 10/31/07

Today was a strange day. A student from first period asked if she could come in and talk to me at lunch. I of course agreed. She came in and told me this terrible story about her childhood. I tried to be comforting but I am not a professional therapist and the things she told me were very personal and difficult for me to identify with. Today made me realize that in order for a person to work in this environment, one must have a number of different titles and fulfill a number of different roles for these students. I admire the teachers who still have the passion they originally started with and I ignore the pessimistic teachers who gave up long ago but refuse to leave the job for someone who cares. I hope I always have my passion for not only teaching, but for helping students find their way and realize their potential. It would be a complete shame to lose sight of those principles.

My First Lesson Plan - 10/10/07

Today I led the class with my own lesson plan for the first time! I was so excited. I concentrated on China and introduced early Chinese civilization to the students. Surprise! Surprise! It was a wonderful day. The students responded positively to the material and really paid attention to my lecture. I tried to teach them a little bit of Chinese to kick the lesson off and even though they giggled when they heard the foreign tones coming out of my mouth, they all tried to repeat it and most of them could pronounce the few words correctly. I made sure I walked around and asked questions and their responses to me were amazing and completely unexpected. I hope I have more days like today. There weren’t any behavioral issues either. It was a wonderful day.

Taking a Personal Day = Chaos - 10/2/07

Today my cooperating teacher called in for a personal day to catch up on school work. I had known he was going to do this but I had no idea that without his presence the students would go insane. A substitute teacher never came. I was on my own which is of course illegal, but this is Albany High School. First period listened to my directions and didn’t give me a hard time. I tried my best to control them but keep things interesting at the same time. Second and fourth periods were bouncing off the walls. These kids need structure and dependability and my teacher not showing up really messed them up for the day. It gave me practice though. I was insulted and threatened and ignored all at once, but I learned a lot from the day, especially not to take the things students say seriously. They are of course, only kids.

Uptown vs. Downtown - 9/20/07

In Albany there are notorious gangs that are either “Uptown” or “Downtown”. They basically shoot each other and beat the crap out of each other. They also bring their issues into the high school. Last night there was a big fight between the rival groups on Quall Street and some cops got injured. The mayor of Albany blamed the high school because a number of the kids involved were Albany High School kids. The teachers told me that today the school had extra security incase some students decide to fight. During the first lunch period there was a strange feeling in the air and the kids looked nervous and tense. You could see in their faces that something was going to go down that day. My cooperating teacher and I heard a fight break out in the hallway and some hall monitors ran by yelling to each other that the police had been called. We looked outside and the kids were running all over the place, completely out of control. What surprised me most was the principal’s decision to make nervous sounding announcements throughout the brawl. It made the kids more uneasy to hear her so afraid. My cooperating teacher told me about how they needed the riot police last year to bring order back to the school. By the end of the day there had been three fights and a few girls were arrested.

Assault in the Hallway - 9/13/07

Today I was sitting with my cooperating teacher in the corner of a hallway on “hallway duty”. The teachers are required to do this but are not given any type of communication devices so they can be potentially hurt in a dark corner of a hallway and never have a means to communicate. Today a student walked by and my cooperating teacher asked her to put her cell phone away. There are strict rules against the usage of cell phones. She replied with a rather disgusting and disrespectful come back and my teacher followed her down the hallway screaming; “Now we have a problem!” I was terrified someone would get hurt. He sent her to the office and she claimed he assaulted her, which of course wasn’t true. I was a witness. The administration asked my cooperating teacher to apologize and he of course said that he absolutely wouldn’t because he hadn’t done anything wrong. The administration should defend their staff members. If my teacher apologized he would have essentially admitted fault which would have made the school liable to get sued. It was just ridiculous.

Assassination List - 9/10/07

Today I was really on the receiving end of attitude. I’m not even teaching the class yet and the students have an issue with me. But I’ve learned that I cannot let them get away with saying whatever they want. They are allowed to be rough around the edges but they must also be respectful. I’ll have to work on being more of an authoritative figure in the room. Today I was walking around and helping students with their work when I overheard a conversation between a male and a female student. The female student had a notebook out and to my surprise the page it was opened to was labeled “Assassination List” and was followed with a list of her “enemies” with the words “bang, bang” written all over the page. I walked over and said in the sweetest voice possible, “What in the world is this?” and she openly told me that it was her was her assassination list and that the girls listed on the page were her enemies. She told me everything and didn’t leave much out. I was shocked. I immediately told my cooperating teacher and we both went straight to the girl’s guidance counselor after class. To my complete and utter surprise, she guidance counselor claimed she was too busy and later emailed my cooperating teacher, telling him that she has too much on her plate to deal with that issue now, but to contact a social worker if he felt the need. Couldn’t this staff member be fired for this? Isn’t there a zero tolerance policy on assassination lists? We contacted the social worker and got the student counseling. This is why there are so many shootings in schools…people don’t do their jobs and tragically people die as a result.

Keep on Smiling - 9/6/07

I tried to come into school with a positive attitude today. Everyone keeps telling me that perhaps my smiling face might be the only one the students see all day. So regardless of how intimidated I feel and how somewhat scared I am, I keep right on smiling. I greet the students with a smile in the hallway and as they walk through the door and regardless of what may be affecting me in my personal life I try my best to compartmentalize it and never bring it into school. Today I was able to actually help. I walked around the class and guided struggling students who were attempting to fill in some basic information on a map of the world. They have no idea where they’re even sitting let alone where South American is. One child labeled Greenland Central America and I had to explain to her in the most understanding and diplomatic tone that she was “a bit” off and helped her look at her map again. The kids weren’t even sure where the U.S. was located. At least I felt useful today. I felt a bit more comfortable and at home.