Coyote

It's been way too long since I have been to a Caleb Stine show.

So hot

I don't think I can begin to describe just how overwhelmingly hot and humid it was in my school today. I taught with a sweat towel in my hand and, literally, on my head at times.

It was bad.

O

This year with the 9th graders, I eschewed Romeo and Juliet in favor of Othello. It was a tough decision, and one I'm not sure I'll do again (I really missed Romeo and Juliet), but over a third of my 9th graders had read R&J in middle school, and I just wanted to give them a different experience with Shakespeare.

One of the biggest drawbacks to not teaching R&J, for me, was not using Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet in the classroom. This is one of my favorite films, and such a great teaching tool, and I knew I would miss it.

However, during the teaching of Othello, I discovered the film O, which is just as good. In fact, I can't believe I've never watched it before, and it was so good, so powerful. I highly, highly recommend it if you've never watched it or never taught with it before. I sent home permission slips for the 'R' rating and fast-forwarded through the violent sex scene in the middle.

The kids love it. Or, their reaction is something like this: "I hate this movie. It's so sad. Dag, why'd you have to show us that? I'm crying." That is an actual quote today. The movie is really powerful and really well-made.

Reminders of why you do what you do

This made me feel really good; it's seriously about the best gift I could have gotten from this class. It was anonymous, unassuming, sincere, and very meaningful for me.

BCPSS Teacher Blogger Kate Hooks with a new entry

A new blog entry by Baltimore teacher Kate Hooks is always cause for celebration. Please go read it.

And see her tell one of her stories live at The Stoop Storytelling series at Center Stage on June 3rd. I'll be there! It looks like you can also listen on the radio.

If you've never read this feature about Kate, her blog, and her students in Baltimore Magazine, I recommend reading it.

HSA Week

In Maryland, there are four High School Assessments: Biology, Algebra, Government, and English 2. I'm not sure why those disciplines were the ones chosen to assess (why Biology over Earth Science? Why Government over History? Why English 2 over English 1?), but those are pretty close to the end-all, be-all for what the state cares about. Since they eliminated writing from the tests a year or so ago, everything is multiple choice. English and, I guess, Algebra, are skills-based, but Biology and Government both have got to be mainly content-based, I'm guessing.

*****

Assessing these four subject areas creates an entire week of basically very little instruction. Students test from 8 o'clock until noon, then have shortened classes in the afternoon. However, attendance gets pretty poor in the afternoon, so the days are mostly wasted. I make it very, very clear to students and parents that I expect them to be there in the afternoons for class, but I still missed about a quarter of my students today. Those students -- the 9th graders -- had an HSA in the morning. I'm not sure if attendance will increase or decrease the rest of the week, when their grade level does not have an HSA. That means students have to report to school at noon, and that prospect seems dubious for a lot of them. It's frustrating, to say the least, especially with only 8 days of class left in the school year (exams at our school start on June 2).

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It's worth noting that our district has lost roughly three weeks to snow emergencies this year. I'm not sure what the final day count was, but we lost the week before Christmas, plus the roughly two weeks of blizzard in February. The state did not push back testing dates despite the snow, something that I find entirely ridiculous.

*****

For us non-HSA tested-area teachers, the HSA week is remarkably easy. I arrive at my usual time, then have four hours of time in my classroom. Today, I spent much of the morning grading papers for students I will teach text year. In a two-year course, I'm trying to return their two-year essay first drafts before the summer. This has never been attempted before, but I think it could lead to an easier senior year for them and for me. I also planned a bang-up Othello lesson, and did some organizing of files.

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The way teaching should be

My seniors are now done with their international assessments. All I can do now is pray that my borderline kids make it. I've worked my butt off but I still heard reports of (a) 3 students dozing off during the testing; (b) 1 student writing a letter to IB thanking them for the interesting books, instead of an analysis essay; (c) 1 student coming very late to the exam and not finishing. On the other hand, several came back to me proud of their efforts. All I can do is hope. I really will be upset -- question my abilities upset -- if I don't get a 90% pass rate. I'm really hoping for 100%, but the reports back suggest that this isn't going to happen.

Now, with those 12th graders are done, my day consists of teaching just three sections of 9th graders. And, folks, this is how teaching should be. I teach as much time as I give feedback and plan. For example, I gave a test yesterday and got it back to the kids today. They were shocked, but, really, this is how things should be. I should be able to give immediate, or near-immediate, feedback. It took me a long time to grade them all, but I did it all during the school day. Then, I stayed until around 5 to plan a lesson that I'm really excited about. And I don't feel exhausted right now. I then, somehow, didn't bring work home today, for the first time all school year.

This feeling of being on top of my work and my students is all about time and student load. Being given 100 more minutes of planning time so far this week has totally increased the quality of my 9th grade classes, as well as my ability to give regular feedback and assessment. Similarly, my student load being dropped from ~150 to ~100 give me more focus time on each individual student.

As a teacher in the city, I think my salary is pretty fair. My benefits are good. However, my working conditions are decidedly not good. They're still full of small miracles and enthusiasm and love and learning, but I work so freaking hard. More planning time, less students at once, more opportunities to extend myself and learn about my craft -- that's what I crave. I'm feeling that now. I'm taking breaths and smiling while staying on top of things. I wonder if these two weeks of teaching mecca that I'll have to end my year can be replicated more long-term somehow.

May Day

Only 6 entries in all of April, and still not one in May. Why am I not blogging? Many reasons:

1) Extreme over-work.

2) Lots of sensitive issues at the job that I won't write about on the Internets.

3) Extreme over-work.

4) I'm kind of down and out a bit. I really am lookinf forward to the summer, more than ever.

There is plenty of good happening right now, though. With coaching, I lost a third of my team due to grades when 3rd quarter report cards come out. I was disheartened about it, and twisted and turned in my mind about whether I had enough study halls or was on them enough about their grades, but it turns out that losing a third of the team has made the team in a leaner, hungrier batch of kids. Now, your absence is felt if you are late to practice. Now, you can't not cheer on the bench or everyone will know. The results have included the first victory in 16 years against a longtime rival. That, alone, has made the season a success. It was sincerely one of the happiest, proudest moments of my life.

Additionally, my Seniors took the first of two IB English tests on Monday. Never before have I been so invested in an external assessment. In fact, that's an understatement. The test results come back in July and they need to be what I expect or I'll really question my abilities as a teacher. I've taught many of these kids two years in a row, so, yeah, it's on me. It's been a weird year, losing 3 weeks to snow, but I need to maintain the 95% pass rates that our previous years have yielded. With only 42 kids, that means no more than 2-3 can fail. I already heard the 2 fell asleep during the first exam: so, yeah, I'm freaking out. The second test is Monday. Then, I'm done with them for good and can start on next year's batch (hopefully the pass rates won't be bad and the class won't be taken away from me in the summer).

With my 9th graders, who are, by the way, a group of 9th graders with whom I've had more issues than any other group of 9th graders ever, just so many who weren't ready for high school, we are are finally enjoying each other, I think. I wish I hadn't saved Shakespeare until the very end of the year because it has been the best teach of the year. The kids are invested and figuring out the language. I love it.

I'm most inspired by a young man who reads at a 5th grade reading level. He's struggled much of the year, but has worked hard. However, he is one of the best Shakespeare readers I have. I told him this was because he knows what it means to work at reading while he's doing it and the other students don't. He is willing to sit and grapple with the language and the other kids who are not used to working hard are not willing to. Therefore, he's getting it quicker than the others. For example, his explanation of the lines "Come, my dear love, / The purchase made, the fruits are to ensue. / The profit's yet to come" of "That mean he hasn't hit her yet, right?" came quicker than anyone else's.

So, that's all for now. Maybe I'll try to write more. I'm already thinking about next year.