What went wrong, and what could I do better

The day before Thanksgiving and I made 2 parent phone calls. The good news was that there weren't any offenses to make these phones. Its really about the poor attendance and progress of one student and the lack of focus and constant tardiness of another. Both present the fact that they want to pass, but it is really easy to see it coming that when marking periods come around, they never really hold their end of the bargain, and wish to try and make their grade change overnight. Did that make sense? When they are surprised of their grade, they thought they were angels, and deserve better. I dont think so. I have my first conference with a parent. It is not a harmful one, its more of an informing type of conference. The weird news is that I have worse students who have far more absences and much much worse grades. It is not that I have given up on them, but they just dont care, so it's really up to them to tell their parents that they did not pass because they never came since the first three weeks! 

It is after 21 days of not being in the class that there is no possible way to be aloud to pass for the semester. I am fine with that.  I know when a student has cut my class with no excuse.  I am wondering what they are doing, this was never that case at my school, you couldn't cut.  Discipline is a factor.  Well, there's discipline and then there's nothing to lose.  Many have nothing to lose, so they just go carefree into the world.  When they get out there in the real world, their nothing to lose attitude becomes nothing to ever gain.  So i suppose the parent phone calls were a pro-active move, It is better to be pro-active than reactive.

I have a couple more weeks of Student teaching, and I think I need those couple of weeks.  I have finally made it to the part of student teaching where the idea of getting experience is synching in.  I am running ideas now past my mentor that are for what goes on in the class, as well as outside the class.  My goal is that I leave something he can use.  Not all the ideas I have suggested are my own but I can get around to something soon.  The grading is piling a little, and hopefully he starts to retrain himself on grading since I have been taking care of it most the semester.   I have lost the point of all this, I might have lost the point in most of my ramblings, but all is well,  cant wait for monday after I get a plan together first.

Not too bad

I was slightly sluggish today, it's not that the periods got worse as the day went on, but I did have a little less effort each time around. Now last Friday was different. Every period got better and better. I would think about changing it up each time, but I just did not want to go over time in the period.  This is now where I reflect; What went wrong, and What worked?

Stuck in a rut

So today was alright, it was a lab day, which I prefer over other days, because the students get engaged, and lecture is minimal. Of course, there needs to be a lecture to setup the lab and to get them going. My trouble is how far they make it when they are on their own in the activity. Then trouble is that they get stuck. Today I can sort of see why and its in the questions that are asked as they investigate. However, I was just out of things to say when I was trying to introduce the lab. So when I reflect on this, I tell myself that I know I can do better, but how? more later...

Behind closed doors

it felt like real life and I didn't even know it until after steve came back at the end of the classroom. There was one class where he left, and the students thought they didn't have to learn anything today. I appreciate those who were patient during my lecture pauses, but it's the ones I look down on that have shaped my philosophy of teaching. It was too bad that those who are more mature had to suffer with the wicked.  I tried my best to weed out those who think they can have their own world going on in my classroom, but if I am ready to teach, and the students want to keep yapping away, that's fine since I control the grades.  I turn it on them to take action and act more respectable in a classroom.  Enter the power-trip.  It was best that I stopped trying for the day and turned the class period (with 15 minutes left) into a reading assignment with a handful of questions to be turned in on monday.  The wicked wont do it.  The mature ones know better and they will come out okay in my class, especially if the wicked shape up.  They use to be one of my favorite periods, not so much anymore.  My last period was wonderful.  Time flew, I got through my lecture, did my demonstrations, they had time to work on the assignment, double extra credit points, the whole nine yards for how a classroom should be managed.  Then Steve walked in, and I apologized he missed it.  The part I want to get across is that I dont regret any of the actions I took for any of the periods I taught.  I am just trying to set them up for success in the long run, and it is not my problem if they choose to head down a path that will ruin them.  That sounds a lil harsh, and didn't come out the way I wanted to say it, but my naive beliefs as a teacher are slowly disappearing into what its really like to be a teacher.  The bad news is that I feel fine, the good news is that it gets better.

Report Card Pick-Up

Today I met some of the student's parents.  Not as crazy as I imagined.  Last night I was talking with steve my mentor, and I told him, "just feed me to the lions.  It's inevitable, but there is reason for some of the students not-so well being, and the parents must hear it.  I froze on one set of parents I had dread talking to for the night.  The idea was to stay firm as a rock, but to this family, I was not a rock, but I was nowhere near collapse.  I never set the tone about this student passing, but the student was always rocking the boat into the failing pool.  He asked if it was because of his poor performance on the latest exam.  After I told him that everyone did poor on it, he protested that there was not enough time, and that he should have compensation because he was a special needs student.  That he was, but I dont know why I didn't bring it up, but I could have also mentioned the countless amount of times I told him to sit forward and keep his eyes on his own exam.  My only response to his protest was that he is the only one I know that didn't finish the test.  Everyone had ample amount of time with it.  I am learning my lesson.  They try to turn it on me, and I didn't turn it back on them as much as I had to.  Lesson learned.

 I had no problem talking with other students and their parents regardless of their performance.  If they were in trouble, all I had to do was give my advice on how to improve, and if those improvements were noticed (behavior, punctuality, focus) then everything should be pleasant for them from here on in.  One student shows with her parents, and Steve wanted to break the news to them, "I'm sorry, your daughter is only getting a 97.3% in the class!  I know this must be devastating for you."  I wish I could do that with one of my own students one day.  I actually had a 110% at one point my second quarter in high school physics.  How you like them apples!

Grades

Mr Campion? How am I failing!? You know I do all of my work!

Yes, you do your work, but not ALL of your work, if it IS your work that you are turning in. I can tell by how well students do on the tests. Let's also consider the nature at which you do the work. Coming in late, having your own conversations with people, interupting my lesson by being constantly reminded to be seated, and then handing in something that serves the equivalent purpose of recycled toilet paper will end you up with something nowhere near a passing grade.

You see what happened there? No, that's alright

What the students will always do when they get something they dont like will be to turn it back on the teacher. Always turn it back on them!

It needs to stay in my mind all the time. It's what the HAVE and HAVE NOT been doing that adds up. Lack of assignments plus poor behavior equals F. It's like this graph I have. Consistency vs. Effort.
As the slope goes up in both categories, the higher the grade. If they are here, they can give the effort. Never works by not being in the class.

Turn it back on them because they have grief that it was them that got this grade and they are trying to put it back on you. They will try with as much effort as possible. If you let them do this. They will do it every single marking period. Game Over.

I teach, therefore I am

Election Day. I told some of my students who I voted for, others I told I voted for them, but part of why I did not want to give it away was because I bet I have poor or no political opinion, so why would I place political influence on anyone?

Skip this next paragraph if you want to hear about my teaching experience.
This was my first time voting in the presidential general election. I had the chance last time but the absentee ballot arrived at my campus mail the night it was due. Oh well, the outcome of that made me feel less-hearted about this election for the sole reason that majority vote will not guarantee victory. Sure, the division of the states work alright for representatives, but one larger voice over another should exemplify who ought to be running the country. Maybe it's just me, and I grew up in a majority registered democratic setting where I think my vote didnt count, but I digress.

So today I had to make a bold move to get a message out to a couple of rowdy students. We give them handouts and they dont want to work. There are some who I know wont work, but they wont bother anyone, especially me, during class. but I took the handout back and told them they helped me decide their grade, (the ones who do want to get on teacher's nerves). This feels like I am going against some of my naive fantasy beliefs of trying to keep the students in the classroom as much as possible. They are in the class and lost their chance to be engaged cuz I helped them make that decision. I usually try to push them to focus on what I am teaching. I dont feel like giving up, I just feel like giving up on those who want to play games. Of course I am a sucker who doesn't keep on them whether they were angels that day or not. I was told and will be told and am telling others, do not let your guard down. It is hard to practice, but once you start practicing, it gets easier. Just like teaching overall, as I have been told.

On the lighter side of things

I chose to stay positive today, its going great! The only trouble i have today is to stay focused. It is unbelievably impossible.

There is a collaborative team teacher for some of my classes. He is just somewhat physically there.

Its no problem to interupt my lecture when he wants to address a student for a couple of minutes just because he has a hoody on in the class. That's fine, lets lose some time.

The hardest thing is to do nothing.

Overall I enjoy what I am doing here. If i enjoy myself while I am here, then student teaching shouldn't be a sweat.

I sound like i have naive beliefs right now, but I should build on the positive aspects.

We are going over Newton's Laws, i like it because its pretty basic.

Plus my thematic unit was over this stuff. However, I will only know it so well after i teach it.

Back to grading...after I read my old posts and what not.