May 12, 2010
This was my 9th visit to my school. I have now logged 22 hours, and I plan on making one more trip into the Bat Cave. Today, the students Declaration project was due. They needed to memorize the first few lines of the Declaration of Independence, and be able to recite it to Mrs. Qwerty. Between the two classes that I help out in, only three students were able to successfully.
The problem that I saw with this process was that Mrs. Qwerty was grading these students completely arbitrarily. The students would either finish reciting what they had memorized, or they would do the best that they could, and she would randomly assign them a grade. I was there when the assignment was first given to the students, and there was no rubric given to the students. A student would go up and present it, and she would give them a grade like a “78” or a “96,” or whatever the grade was, but it did not seem like there was any rhyme or reason to it.
Today was also the day that the deficiencies were due. Deficiencies are given to the families of students who are not doing well in the class, so that their families will know how they are doing in class before report cards come out, in order to get their child to do better in school. Students were freaking out about getting deficiencies. Students who normally ignore their work were struggling to get half a quarters worth of work done in just one class.
I worked with one student in the second period that I tutored in, named “Ladybird.” I was working with her, answering questions at the end of the chapter as usual. I found that the could follow directions, but she could not think critically. I told her where to find an answer, or what paragraph she would need to read, and she would read it, and tell me that she did not understand what it said. She was constantly asking me what sentence she needed to copy to get the right answer. I would ask her what she thought each paragraph meant, and try to get her to understand what she was reading instead of just copying an answer.
I also finally learned Mrs. Qwerty’s creed today. She claimed loudly that school is designed to do nothing but teach students about deadlines. This, coupled with the fact that she only gives book work, and does nothing else in class, is exactly what Anyon was describing in her working class classroom. The students are not learning the value of thinking critically, but instead are learning to follow directions, and to get their work done on time, neither of which many of these students have been very successful at.
Friday, May 14, 2010
School Visit 8
May 7, 2010
This was my second visit where I stayed the entire day. I arrived for the second period again, and stayed for two classes, took lunch during the students lunch, and stayed out during Mrs. Qwerty’s planning period, where she was out of the school. Then I came back at 12:40 for the last two classes of the day. The board for the 8th graders read “*Journals Due Yesterday*, Word Wall, Finish p. 319 (1-7), Do Guided Reading W.S., Ch. 10-4, Quiz Monday.”
The first of the classes that I worked with were 8th graders, in which I worked with two students. These were students who normally do not do well in this class, and I had no problem working with them. What I was not expecting, was that these 8th grade students would be using the same text books as the 7th grade students. The 8th graders were further along in the book, chapter 10 compared to chapter 6, but the book was the same. This may explain why all of the books were in such terrible shape, with about a hundred students flipping through them every day. This also explains why none of the students are allowed to take any of the books home, there simply are not enough of them to go around.
This just makes me curious... If there are not enough text books to go around, then why does Mrs. Qwerty assign the students nothing but bookwork? This does not make any sense to me. I guess it is easier for her to grade, but I think it may have more to do with her being lazy than anything else.
The board for the 7th graders read “Projects Past Due, Exchange City Forms, Presentations, Declaration of Independence Due 5/12, Read pp. 181 – 185, Do p. 185, Guided Reading W.S., Ch. 6-3.” The presentations coincided with a larger project that the students needed to complete, which was comprised of a research paper, a poster, and an oral presentation. I saw only two students present in all three of the seventh grade classes that I tutored in this session. Many of the students readily admitted to me that they did not do their project. After reading some of the projects, I was forced to ask myself “where did these students learn to write?” The writing skills were very poor. Some examples of their writing (this is verbatim): “[about Patrick Henry] during the revolution war he create the stamp act. This all started as him being a farmer.” Another read “Elizabeth kept the household running like clockwise… soon of a later, Elizabeth passed away in 1829.”
One poster in particular was clearly plagiarized from Wikipedia. There were footnotes that did not lead to anything, and words that were clearly links to other pages. Yet I do not entirely blame the students. I heard testimonies from them that they did not know what was expected of them, and Mrs. Qwerty was little help. I know that many of the students have limited resources that they can use to get their information, and it is difficult for them.
It was during this session that I learned about Deficiencies. Deficiencies are given out in the middle of the quarter to students whose grades are a D, E or F. These are given to the students families, so that they are forewarned that their child may be failing the class. I am getting the feeling that a lot of students will be getting deficiencies, but as of now, most of them are treating them nonchalantly.
This was my second visit where I stayed the entire day. I arrived for the second period again, and stayed for two classes, took lunch during the students lunch, and stayed out during Mrs. Qwerty’s planning period, where she was out of the school. Then I came back at 12:40 for the last two classes of the day. The board for the 8th graders read “*Journals Due Yesterday*, Word Wall, Finish p. 319 (1-7), Do Guided Reading W.S., Ch. 10-4, Quiz Monday.”
The first of the classes that I worked with were 8th graders, in which I worked with two students. These were students who normally do not do well in this class, and I had no problem working with them. What I was not expecting, was that these 8th grade students would be using the same text books as the 7th grade students. The 8th graders were further along in the book, chapter 10 compared to chapter 6, but the book was the same. This may explain why all of the books were in such terrible shape, with about a hundred students flipping through them every day. This also explains why none of the students are allowed to take any of the books home, there simply are not enough of them to go around.
This just makes me curious... If there are not enough text books to go around, then why does Mrs. Qwerty assign the students nothing but bookwork? This does not make any sense to me. I guess it is easier for her to grade, but I think it may have more to do with her being lazy than anything else.
The board for the 7th graders read “Projects Past Due, Exchange City Forms, Presentations, Declaration of Independence Due 5/12, Read pp. 181 – 185, Do p. 185, Guided Reading W.S., Ch. 6-3.” The presentations coincided with a larger project that the students needed to complete, which was comprised of a research paper, a poster, and an oral presentation. I saw only two students present in all three of the seventh grade classes that I tutored in this session. Many of the students readily admitted to me that they did not do their project. After reading some of the projects, I was forced to ask myself “where did these students learn to write?” The writing skills were very poor. Some examples of their writing (this is verbatim): “[about Patrick Henry] during the revolution war he create the stamp act. This all started as him being a farmer.” Another read “Elizabeth kept the household running like clockwise… soon of a later, Elizabeth passed away in 1829.”
One poster in particular was clearly plagiarized from Wikipedia. There were footnotes that did not lead to anything, and words that were clearly links to other pages. Yet I do not entirely blame the students. I heard testimonies from them that they did not know what was expected of them, and Mrs. Qwerty was little help. I know that many of the students have limited resources that they can use to get their information, and it is difficult for them.
It was during this session that I learned about Deficiencies. Deficiencies are given out in the middle of the quarter to students whose grades are a D, E or F. These are given to the students families, so that they are forewarned that their child may be failing the class. I am getting the feeling that a lot of students will be getting deficiencies, but as of now, most of them are treating them nonchalantly.
School Visit 7
May 5, 2010
This visit took place on May 5, and was just the normal two classes that I usually do. In large writing on the board was “Projects Due Yesterday.” Mrs. Qwerty told me that she would accept the projects up until that Friday for full credit, and after that the students who did not do it will begin to lose credit. The students also needed to copy a portion of the Declaration of Independence, which they needed to memorize, and recite from memory the following week. The passage started with “we hold these truths to be self evident” and ended with “ruled by the consent of the governed.”
I was sitting with “Lee” while he was copying the Declaration. He did not understand any of it, and was content with just copying the words. I worked with him, breaking down the individual sentences, and defining for him the words that he did not know, until he understood what the entire passage meant. I think that it is more beneficial for the students to know what the Declaration of Independence means, and what it is saying, rather than just memorizing the words on a page. This leads me back to Anyon (one of my favorite readings). This is a working class classroom, and the skill that they are learning is memorization. These students do not know how to analyze, or understand anything; all they do is copy what is in the book. Mrs. Qwerty is not teaching these students, she is just having them memorize phrases, regurgitate them back to her, and then grading them on it. I wonder, what purpose does memorizing the beginning portion of the Declaration of Independence serve?
No student presented a project today, so it was straight to bookwork… again…
One of the questions in the book this week was about Nathaniel Hale, who was a Revolutionary War general who went behind British enemy lines, and took the British plans. On his way back to the camp, he was captured and searched. He hid the plans in the soles of his shoes, and they were not found. The British let him go, without ever realizing he actually had their plans. One of the students that I was working with read his name, and that he was a general, and started to copy just that, without reading anything about his story. I told him to read a little more to see what Hale did. After he read about hiding the plans in his shoes, “Lee” was amazed. He thought it was the coolest thing that he had read all year. He kept asking me questions about how he got away, and why they did not search his shoes, and if those plans were influential in the war. The student was excited about this person. I am now forced to wonder, how much knowledge has slipped between the fingers of these students because all they ever do is book work.
In the second class that I was in, a student told me that they got a bad grade in one of their classes. I told I was sorry to hear that. He then asked me if he could still get into classical with one bad grade. This student was worried about his future. This was one of the first times any of the students that I work with has shown any interest in their immediate future. They all talk about one day going to college, or playing professional sports, but in the here and now, most of them have shown a lack luster attitude toward school. This was the first time that one of the students was worried about their immediate future.
At the end of this session, Mrs. Qwerty asked me if I would like to go on a field trip with the class in June, to a place called Exchange City. She explained to me that Exchange City was a place in the city, where students get to act like adults. One student is the mayor, there are bankers, and accountants, and business owners. The trip is supposed to teach them about economics, and the value of a dollar and how the world works. I told her that I would be able to go, and I am looking forward to the trip.
This visit took place on May 5, and was just the normal two classes that I usually do. In large writing on the board was “Projects Due Yesterday.” Mrs. Qwerty told me that she would accept the projects up until that Friday for full credit, and after that the students who did not do it will begin to lose credit. The students also needed to copy a portion of the Declaration of Independence, which they needed to memorize, and recite from memory the following week. The passage started with “we hold these truths to be self evident” and ended with “ruled by the consent of the governed.”
I was sitting with “Lee” while he was copying the Declaration. He did not understand any of it, and was content with just copying the words. I worked with him, breaking down the individual sentences, and defining for him the words that he did not know, until he understood what the entire passage meant. I think that it is more beneficial for the students to know what the Declaration of Independence means, and what it is saying, rather than just memorizing the words on a page. This leads me back to Anyon (one of my favorite readings). This is a working class classroom, and the skill that they are learning is memorization. These students do not know how to analyze, or understand anything; all they do is copy what is in the book. Mrs. Qwerty is not teaching these students, she is just having them memorize phrases, regurgitate them back to her, and then grading them on it. I wonder, what purpose does memorizing the beginning portion of the Declaration of Independence serve?
No student presented a project today, so it was straight to bookwork… again…
One of the questions in the book this week was about Nathaniel Hale, who was a Revolutionary War general who went behind British enemy lines, and took the British plans. On his way back to the camp, he was captured and searched. He hid the plans in the soles of his shoes, and they were not found. The British let him go, without ever realizing he actually had their plans. One of the students that I was working with read his name, and that he was a general, and started to copy just that, without reading anything about his story. I told him to read a little more to see what Hale did. After he read about hiding the plans in his shoes, “Lee” was amazed. He thought it was the coolest thing that he had read all year. He kept asking me questions about how he got away, and why they did not search his shoes, and if those plans were influential in the war. The student was excited about this person. I am now forced to wonder, how much knowledge has slipped between the fingers of these students because all they ever do is book work.
In the second class that I was in, a student told me that they got a bad grade in one of their classes. I told I was sorry to hear that. He then asked me if he could still get into classical with one bad grade. This student was worried about his future. This was one of the first times any of the students that I work with has shown any interest in their immediate future. They all talk about one day going to college, or playing professional sports, but in the here and now, most of them have shown a lack luster attitude toward school. This was the first time that one of the students was worried about their immediate future.
At the end of this session, Mrs. Qwerty asked me if I would like to go on a field trip with the class in June, to a place called Exchange City. She explained to me that Exchange City was a place in the city, where students get to act like adults. One student is the mayor, there are bankers, and accountants, and business owners. The trip is supposed to teach them about economics, and the value of a dollar and how the world works. I told her that I would be able to go, and I am looking forward to the trip.
School Visit 6
April 30, 2010
This was my first extended visit to the Bat Cave. The first class that I was there for took place in the library. It was Law Day, and Mrs. Qwerty had gotten the Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, the President Elect of the Rhode Island Bar Association, and a lawyer to come and talk to the students. These three people talked about laws, especially cyber bullying. They talked at length about the girl from Massachusetts who recently committed suicide because of bullying. At the end of their presentation, they offered all of the student’s free legal advice. The students (all 8th graders) asked different question about family court, and how long people go to prison for different offences. One student asked how hard it was to go to law school, and another asked how much money the Chief Justice made.
After this class disbanded, it was back to Mrs. Qwerty’s room for the 7th grade classes. I was there for the rest of the morning, and for the two afternoon classes that I am usually there for, the only difference being that it was a Friday, and not a Wednesday (when I am usually there). The students were given book work, and a work sheet that they needed to complete.
In one of the classes that I had never been in before, a student, “Columbus” would not stop talking to me and do his work. He wanted to know everything about me, where I went to school, where I worked, what I was going to do in the summer, what I was going to do when I graduate… the questions never stopped. After a little while, he decided that he wanted to give me a verbal tour of the city. He told me about every street, and which streets connect to which streets, and how to get to different sections of the city, and then where to go to get the best ice cream (a woman with a cart, and it’s actually Italian ice). I thought that this student might be ADHD, or have something wrong with him, but within the last 10 minutes of class, he sat quietly, on his own accord, finished all of the work for the day, and had plenty of time to spare. He told me that at his old school he was in the gifted program, but when he transferred in, there was no room in the classes that late in the semester. He told me that all of the work that he was doing was too easy, and he is bored in class all of the time. He then asked Mrs. Qwerty if he could look at his grades in the grade book, then found his average out to five decimal placed to show me that he was smart. He was rather proud of how intelligent he was.
One student that I was working with “Spike” would not stop talking about God. I would get him on task, and within five minutes, he would tell me “there is not God but Jehovah.” The child who kept saying this was Asian, and Mrs. Qwerty asked him “isn’t your family Buddhist?” he replied that the whole family was, and then went off about Jehovah again… It was a very weird conversation.
In another class, I walked through the Declaration of Independence and Common Sense with a student. This was a case where they would copy what they read in the book, and did not think about the information. When I went through it with them, they would ask questions, and offer opinions, and get a much better understanding of what it was that they were learning.
This was my first extended visit to the Bat Cave. The first class that I was there for took place in the library. It was Law Day, and Mrs. Qwerty had gotten the Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, the President Elect of the Rhode Island Bar Association, and a lawyer to come and talk to the students. These three people talked about laws, especially cyber bullying. They talked at length about the girl from Massachusetts who recently committed suicide because of bullying. At the end of their presentation, they offered all of the student’s free legal advice. The students (all 8th graders) asked different question about family court, and how long people go to prison for different offences. One student asked how hard it was to go to law school, and another asked how much money the Chief Justice made.
After this class disbanded, it was back to Mrs. Qwerty’s room for the 7th grade classes. I was there for the rest of the morning, and for the two afternoon classes that I am usually there for, the only difference being that it was a Friday, and not a Wednesday (when I am usually there). The students were given book work, and a work sheet that they needed to complete.
In one of the classes that I had never been in before, a student, “Columbus” would not stop talking to me and do his work. He wanted to know everything about me, where I went to school, where I worked, what I was going to do in the summer, what I was going to do when I graduate… the questions never stopped. After a little while, he decided that he wanted to give me a verbal tour of the city. He told me about every street, and which streets connect to which streets, and how to get to different sections of the city, and then where to go to get the best ice cream (a woman with a cart, and it’s actually Italian ice). I thought that this student might be ADHD, or have something wrong with him, but within the last 10 minutes of class, he sat quietly, on his own accord, finished all of the work for the day, and had plenty of time to spare. He told me that at his old school he was in the gifted program, but when he transferred in, there was no room in the classes that late in the semester. He told me that all of the work that he was doing was too easy, and he is bored in class all of the time. He then asked Mrs. Qwerty if he could look at his grades in the grade book, then found his average out to five decimal placed to show me that he was smart. He was rather proud of how intelligent he was.
One student that I was working with “Spike” would not stop talking about God. I would get him on task, and within five minutes, he would tell me “there is not God but Jehovah.” The child who kept saying this was Asian, and Mrs. Qwerty asked him “isn’t your family Buddhist?” he replied that the whole family was, and then went off about Jehovah again… It was a very weird conversation.
In another class, I walked through the Declaration of Independence and Common Sense with a student. This was a case where they would copy what they read in the book, and did not think about the information. When I went through it with them, they would ask questions, and offer opinions, and get a much better understanding of what it was that they were learning.
School Visit 5
April 28
At the beginning of this class, Mrs. Qwerty announced that there were only 37 school days left until summer vacation, and there was not a lot of time for students to get their grades up. She told the students that she was not at all happy with the grades in her last class, and that there was a limited time for improvement, and only so much that they could do to get their grades up. She also warned that the projects that they had to do (research a famous historical person, and write a paper with a bibliography of at least three sources, a poster, and an oral presentation) were due in six days.
There was book work that the students had to do today, again about the Revolutionary War. One student that I was working with, “Zeek” was further along in the class, and was a couple of assignments ahead. He was answering a question about the attack on Cromwell’s army on their march to Princeton, and he asked me to help explain it to him. I took a piece of notebook paper, and drew him a diagram of what happened, about how the Americans left the fires in their camps burning to make it look like they were still there, while secretly they snuck behind the British troops, and took them from behind. After “Zeek” realized what happened, he likened it to the game Risk, which he said he liked to play at home with his family. Later on in this class, the same student complained to me about the amount of bookwork that they have to do. He told me that I would get really bored (just like he always is) in that class. He said that it is easy because there are no lectures, but it is not fun doing nothing but book work day in and day out.
In the last class of the day, I worked with a student that I had never worked with before. “Beth” told me that she was worried about failing the class, and wanted to know if I would work with her. I told her that I could, and would be happy to do it. I asked her what assignment she was working on, and she pulled out the work sheet. It was from before I ever came into the class… This girl had a LOT of makeup work to get done. I helped her answer all of the questions that I could in the time that we were allotted, but I was not able to help her accomplish too much work.
All in all, I am not a fan thus far of how this classroom is run. It seems like there is too much emphasis on book work, while there is no room for intellectual development, or critical thought. I see many of these students getting frustrated as they go through the same assignments class in and class out.
At the beginning of this class, Mrs. Qwerty announced that there were only 37 school days left until summer vacation, and there was not a lot of time for students to get their grades up. She told the students that she was not at all happy with the grades in her last class, and that there was a limited time for improvement, and only so much that they could do to get their grades up. She also warned that the projects that they had to do (research a famous historical person, and write a paper with a bibliography of at least three sources, a poster, and an oral presentation) were due in six days.
There was book work that the students had to do today, again about the Revolutionary War. One student that I was working with, “Zeek” was further along in the class, and was a couple of assignments ahead. He was answering a question about the attack on Cromwell’s army on their march to Princeton, and he asked me to help explain it to him. I took a piece of notebook paper, and drew him a diagram of what happened, about how the Americans left the fires in their camps burning to make it look like they were still there, while secretly they snuck behind the British troops, and took them from behind. After “Zeek” realized what happened, he likened it to the game Risk, which he said he liked to play at home with his family. Later on in this class, the same student complained to me about the amount of bookwork that they have to do. He told me that I would get really bored (just like he always is) in that class. He said that it is easy because there are no lectures, but it is not fun doing nothing but book work day in and day out.
In the last class of the day, I worked with a student that I had never worked with before. “Beth” told me that she was worried about failing the class, and wanted to know if I would work with her. I told her that I could, and would be happy to do it. I asked her what assignment she was working on, and she pulled out the work sheet. It was from before I ever came into the class… This girl had a LOT of makeup work to get done. I helped her answer all of the questions that I could in the time that we were allotted, but I was not able to help her accomplish too much work.
All in all, I am not a fan thus far of how this classroom is run. It seems like there is too much emphasis on book work, while there is no room for intellectual development, or critical thought. I see many of these students getting frustrated as they go through the same assignments class in and class out.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Video Blog
This is a link to a clip of a Broadway musical called Avenue Q. The play is basically the muppets grown up. They sing a song about racism. (it;s a little racy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbQiSVeQwVQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbQiSVeQwVQ
Arizona School Teachers
As most of you already know, there are some crazy new immigration laws in Arizona. This is an article about the latest law in Arizona. This article talks about how teachers in Arizona can be fired for having an accent. This begs the question, what kind of accent can get you fired? If you have a New England accent can you be fired? Or a Southern accent? This article discusses aspects of the new law, which are pretty interesting.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/teachers/heavily-accented-teachers-remo.html
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/teachers/heavily-accented-teachers-remo.html
Tim Wise Article
This is a link to the Tim Wise article “A Particularly Cheap White Whine.” The article is about race and meritocracy. In it he talks specifically about the differences in scholarship opportunities between black students and white students. I realize that the semester is pretty much finished, but if any of you have the opportunity, I suggest reading it.
http://www.lipmagazine.org/~timwise/cheapwhitewhine.html
http://www.lipmagazine.org/~timwise/cheapwhitewhine.html
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