Every Day Is Like Sunday

Well, I hope not. I'm at that middle point in my year where I'm no longer excited and anxious at the beginning of the new week, but I'm not really dreading the same-old yet. I haven't hit the doldrums yet. (Can you ever, when you work with 140 sprightly teenagers every day?)

On a Sunday evening in January, I guess I'm just vaguely apprehensive of what the new week is going to bring. That being said, I am sticking to my new philosophy, where Monday is the best day of the week, because it brings with it a new beginning, a chance to make the new week a really good one.

Where My Heart Is

This week, I really started to feel at home at school. Like I have a community, and I belong. It's a really nice feeling.

Adventures on Gchat: January 27, 2010, 7:57pm

7:57 PM Adorable But Slightly Sketchy Student: lat me know if u got the assay
7:58 PM i wrote real fast lol
me: yes, i got it
i can tell you wrote it fast - you misspelled every other word
Adorable But Slightly Sketchy Student: lolzzzzz

Hint: It's a Double Helix

I gave a quiz on chromosomes and the cell cycle to my biology classes today. I could write a book about my emotions before, during, and after quizzes, but tonight I am going to post some interesting responses to one simple quiz question: What is DNA?

We discussed DNA at length in class, and we reviewed it before the quiz. However, judging by some of the answers I got, I'm pretty sure my students pay much more attention to CSI than they do to me.

6. What is DNA?

-- blood. I don't know how to spell it.

-- DNA it's a type of cell in your body for example like blood or saliva that help you find out what type of thing you are.

-- DNA is something that comes out of you like blood, spit, saliva. It can tell people who that person was.

-- someone's blood?

-- sperm/egg

This final response is sort of on the right track, but I find it really funny:

-- DNA is information that tells you about your insides.

Do Now Sketchiness

My students must complete a Do Now at the beginning of class each day. On Fridays, I always assign a "Free Write," giving students the opportunity to write about whatever they want.

Here is Adorable But Slightly Sketchy Student's gem:

I chilling right now talking to mad females in myspace ya dig.

Some Notes on a Monday

Several things:

1. I wrote two students up for yelling curses at me when I asked them to stop talking and running out of my class. When I brought their pink slips to the dean of discipline, she told me that both girls were totally uncontrollable -- that not even their parents could control them. The dean told me she had no idea what to do with them -- and that I should continue putting up with them for the remainder of the year. Even at the expense of the education of the rest of the class, I asked? Yes, she said.

2. Faculty meeting blah blah blah

3. I love working in my school. I really do. But it sucks planning labs and realizing I don't have even the most basic chemicals and lab supplies. I'm limited to whatever I can buy at the local grocery store. Yay creativity?

And yes, I realize that soda was probably a poor way to illustrate anaerobic respiration. I promise better labs and demonstrations next year. If you have any suggestions/ideas, please share! I'm open to anything and everything!

Quote of the Day - January 22, 2010

Sorry I'm a little late with this one:

Likes to Make Out with Guys During Class: Miss, can I go get a drink of water?

Me: Okay, sure. Bright Kid with World's Biggest Attitude Problem, go sit down and do your Do Now.

Attitude: No, I'm going with her.

Make Out: Yeah, miss, I need him to help me get a drink of water.

Me: No, go by yourself. Attitude, go sit down.

Attitude: You just hate me because I'm gay.

Bridges

Well, the teachers' contract was ratified.


I just hope I get to keep my job... I really love my kids.

Quote of the Day - January 20, 2010

(Scene: The class is making soda to illustrate anaerobic cell respiration. I am distributing spoonfuls of sugar to each group.)

Partner in Crime: How come you gave us less sugar? Is it because Master of Righteous Indignation is black?


Me (exasperated and not really paying attention): Yeah.

Partner in Crime: Oh my god, Miss says the most racist things.

End-of-the-Marking Period Blues (and Greens)

Just when I'm down in the dumps, trudging through the doldrums of January, my popularity begins to soar. Why?, you ask. Turns out my students are under the impression that a little bit of sycophancy will salvage their failing grades.

Make that MOST of my students. One student, upon learning that she had earned a 34.8% in my class for the marking period, sent me the following message:

>> You get on my nerves i hate you dont say nuffin else to me <<

That's a good strategy for raising your grade. Riiiiiight.

Bliss Bliss Bliss

Martin Luther King, Jr, had a dream, and now I have a long weekend. In all honesty, I'm not sure a day off from school is the best way to honor Dr. King's work and vision, but I couldn't be more grateful. It was even worth to skip down the hallway 9th period and hear a student yell, "I think Miss lost her shit." It's going to be a very smiley weekend.

So, I Was Walking Through the Halls This Morning, And...

One bright young man yelled at me, "Looking sexy, miss. Do you do porn?"

Was he demeaning me or himself or both of us?

*********

Also, I'm trying to propose a new science course for next year. Let's see if I actually have the motivation to go through with it...

Quote(s) of the Day - January 13, 2010

This is getting really addicting!

Me (in the middle of teaching): Master of Righteous Indignation, please lower your voice.

Master of Righteous Indignation: But then Partner in Crime can't hear me.

Me: Well, then stop having a side conversation.

Master of Righteous Indignation: F*** no.

Me: Please, just stop talking.

Master of Righteous Indignation: Miss, you can't do sh** in this motherf***ing class.

~~~~~~~

(Master of Righteous Indignation is talking to Partner in Crime and playing with the zipper on his bag.)

Me: Make sure you're getting this in your notes.

Master of Righteous Indignation: Doesn't it look like I'm busy right now??

Quote of the Day - January 12, 2010

Brilliant But Easily Distracted Kid: Miss, I can't take notes anymore. I just sat on something green and sticky, and now it's on my pants.

Quote of the Day - January 11, 2010

Me: Bright Kid with World's Biggest Attitude Problem, stop showing Waste of Life But Not Disruptive your pictures and get back to your seat.

Bright Kid with World's Biggest Attitude Problem: What the f***, I'm sitting in a chair, get away from me.

Me: Bright Kid with World's Biggest Attitude Problem, please stop talking and return to your seat.

Bright Kid with World's Biggest Attitude Problem: How would you feel if I told you to stop talking? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Why Is It So Hard to Get By?

One of the benefits of being a Teach for America teacher is that you are smothered with support. I've come to realize this over the course of the school year... I use the word "smothered" deliberately -- You may not always welcome all of the support, in fact, it may be overwhelming or downright unwanted at times; but it is there if you need it.

Meanwhile, I am in dire need of support. I am searching, but it is nowhere to be found.

Mystic Seaport Is That Way

I don't think I ever understood the true meaning of a Friday in college. I think I do now -- the relief, the diversion, the weightlessness. Then again, I can never be sure I understand anything.

At any rate, Fridays also signal the beginning of a lot of time. Ample time for me to reflect, and forgive.

The Truth

The first week back has been pretty terrible, no lie.

So, I walked into the prep room during my free period, only to overhear something that startled me.

My best friend in the building was talking to one of his 10th grade classes: "You should see Ms. Cyanococcus's classes -- They talk all the time, throw stuff, write all over my desks. She has no control over them. No control."

Well, it's good to hear the truth, sometimes. Especially if it's said not TO you, but ABOUT you. Then you really know it's the truth.

What a Year for a New Year

"Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most." - Buddha

Life Without Gchat? No Way!

First day back at school, and calamity has already struck.

Gchat isn't working.

According to Gmail's helpful error message, my internet is experiencing problems, or my network administrator has blocked Gchat. Gmail (and every other non-blocked site on the internet) is working just fine. I wouldn't but it past the School District of Philadelphia to block Gchat, since I think their overall is to ban all fun.

This is serious. I may need to quit my job.

Another New Year's Resolution

Thoughts on Teaching with Powerpoint

Well, dear readers, I'm sorry about the hiatus from blogging. I've done my best to make my first winter break as a teacher not only a physical break from school, but also a mental vacation. And it's worked -- I've had a relaxing and invigorating week and a half. Nevertheless, real life beckons. One of my New Year's resolutions is to blog regularly -- we'll see how that works out.

2009 was a great year, but I'm confident that 2010 will be an improvement in every possible way. In other words, I will make 2010 a better year.

At any rate, I came across this excellent blog post about "Why Learning From Powerpoint Lectures Is Frustrating." The writer, a college junior, explains why Powerpoint instruction irritates her:
1. Instructors tend to teach quickly when they use Powerpoint. The time it takes to write something on the chalkboard or whiteboard is no longer a rate-limiting factor.
2. Instructors tend to leave visuals on the board until they need to free up that board space for something else, which gives students more time to copy notes and comprehend concepts. On the other hand, students cannot glean information from a slide once the instructor has moved on.
3. This results in a tendency among students to frantically copy everything on a slide before the information vanishes, at the expense of listening to the infinite wisdom of the instructor.

I rely heavily on Powerpoint for my instruction, so this post got me thinking...

I agree that lessons involving math are best taught on a board. Solving equations is often key to understanding a given mathematical concept -- and the process of solving equations is more intuitively thought through in stepwise fashion rather than seeing an entire solution on one Powerpoint slide. On the other hand, biology is an inherently visual subject, especially at an introductory level. There is no way my hand drawings on the board in a single color of chalk or Expo marker could do justice to a topic like cell organelles.

Also, for some reason, changing slides appears to be a good way to get my students to snap to attention. (Well, crawl to attention might be a more accurate expression.)

Yet, are they learning? I find that my students are more apt to copy every little thing that's written on the slides rather than pay attention to my explanations. As a result, they lack a key level of comprehension. I suppose I can make the text on my slides more scarce, thus forcing my students to listen to me, but I don't know how well that would work. They are pretty well trained to copy what they see in front of them. Most of them will vigorously deny that they are audial learners (which is totally untrue, given the absurd amount of TV they watch).

Anyway, that's my jumble of thoughts. This is really just what I need -- another reason to be insecure about how I teach.

Whatever, 2010's going to be a better year. I know it.

Via CarolynBlogs (via the AP Bio listserv)