Hi, gang! Sorry I haven't posted for a while loyal visitors but I have been busy with Thanksgiving and other issues. Also, I can sometimes just be lazy. So today I present to you a special kind of presentation. It's a video! It's linked from YouTube because the file is too large for blogger, but that's okay. I'll keep my YouTube site running. Anyways, it's only five minutes but it is a video version of what I would normally type. Sorry for those people who are trying to read this while at work! Try wearing a headset! Anyways, I hope you enjoy it and I can't wait to hear from you soon.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
In the Pressure Cooker
Howdy folks, and welcome to another exciting edition. Sorry for a two week delay but things have been hectic here at the school. Students are taking their test and quizzes and they don't like it one bit. However, who said learning wasn't going to be challenging.
I just want to talk about this week especially. Call me a "party-pooper" but I gave the students little work to complete this week and they are handing it in with blank questions. Some even up to ten or more just empty. I gave them two days to finish it plus time in class. What happened? They waited until the night before and found it too difficult to complete. I forgot the most common thing high school students will do. APPEAL TO THE LOWEST DENOMINATOR! Next time I assign work like that I need to give them some classwork to do as well. Better yet, split the assignment into a two day affair with one half due the next day and the other half due the following day.
The quizzes and tests today went horrible; as well as the quiz that was given out on Wednesday for Physics. I was told that under the former Mrs. Shaw, they liked it when they continued to work on the same problems over and over again without any instructions. They were just given work to do, then without thinking, plug the numbers into the equation. THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN IN MY CLASSROOM. Thinking will be going on. Let me be honest. I remember those days when Mrs. Shaw gave us homework and tests and quizes where we just plugged everything in simple equations, not knowing what we were doing. We were drones following a set of commands that we could not deviate from. Here hand-written homework was easy. Quizzes a no brainer; plus you could easily cheat as several students did. Tests were mostly take home and multiple choice with the correct answer always written differently. I enjoyed how stinkin' EASY it was. That was until I went into college. In my first math class (which so happened to be my first college class) I was confused and felt like I was the dumbest kid in the class. The kids around me knew what they were doing. I had no idea what function was nor how to plug numbers into an equation. I asked the professor for help, but she rejected me and said go ask the TA Tuesday. Ugh! Right then I realized that Mrs. Shaw's math class had ill-prepared me for the task at hand. She had given up on her students. That's why Trigonometry, Algebra 2, and Statistics was easy! I was not angry with her but I did feel cheated. That she let me down. She never challenged us; never gave us a chance to think for ourselves. Never gave us a chance to work on word problems; to solve difficult equations. To allow us to fail so that we would do better next time. No she never did that. Instead, she played to the lowest common denominator and let the good times role. I realized that I may have learned a few BASIC concepts from her, but most of the math I know today comes from what I had to learn in college. These high school students don't realize that yet. They don't see how math or my teaching style can help them. They complain to me saying that I'm not like Mrs. Shaw. For me, that makes me happy.
Now the students have to think; show me what they know. I know that Mrs. Shaw's tests were done sloppily and they weren't very challenging. That's were I make the change for the better. Things are different now and these kids need to realize that. No more easy questions and slipping by. The same student asked me how the physics quiz went. I told her that it went as planned, several students got B's and there were a couple A's and F's. She said that most students would consider that bad because they wanted A's. What a crazy lady! She knows that this class isn't curved so the opportunity is out there. I did not assign grades randomly. This is a reflection of how much you have studied and worked towards this grade. I bell-curve tells me that the test was just right. It wasn't that easy nor that hard. Hey, I would like everyone to get A's. That's why I don't curve grades. However, it does happen naturally that grades do end up on a curve. It's just the nature of a larger class. In my smaller classes that is not always the case. Many will receive a high grade while others will struggle. With a larger class that middle ground starts to sink in.
It's second quarter and this week is "spirit week" where the kids get to dress up and have fun throughout the day. However, there is a time and place for that. They need to know that when it's class time; it's learning time. There is no goofing off. When you do slack off, your grades reflects that. Don't blame me; BLAME YOURSELF!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Holy Egg Yolk!
Welcome back my friends to another exciting edition. This week should be shorter because of the lack of new news but still fun.
Sometimes you have to contain a situation before it gets out of control. So is the case with being a manager with a store. If you let an issue slide and never address it, that problem has the potential to grow into something hazardous. In other words, it's easier to control a fire while it's small before it burns down the entire forest. Case in point: on Wednesday, my Algebra 2 class was getting out of hand even before the class has begun. When the bell rang, students were goofing off by pretending to beat somebody on the ground. Other students were still eating while others were chatting with their friends. Only a few of the students were working on the morning bellwork and it was definitely not an environment where students could focus and work. So before the lesson began I made a speech. Oh, I was mad in my mind but made sure not to sound like that when I was talking to them. Instead, in a calm understanding voice, I gather the class' attention and told them again how the procedure of the class works. I told them that they were behaving like little Junior Highers that need constant guidance. Sophomore in high school are suppose to be more mature and ready to learn. The class routine is very structured. When the bell rings, you are suppose to put away your food, work on the bellwork until we are ready to grade it together. Then once that is turned in, we will go over the day's lesson and the remainder of the time will be given to class work/homework. Then I told them the consequences of their actions. If this keeps up, I will talk with you one-on-one, then if that fails, I will be calling your parents directly and let them know of the situation. After that we will have a conference with Mr. Herring (our assistant principal). I told them that I would have no problem calling each and every one of their parents. Oh, sure they gave me excuses of why they do what they do, but I just go braindead and say, "I know..." I learned that from a series called "Love and Logic." So class has been going better since then. I think that class will continue to improve one way or another.
Also my other classes continue to improve. One of the students who is failing has turned herself around and is trying harder to pass. She turned in her homework in her other classes but I'm still waiting on my homework for my class. I guess one step at a time. She is on the volleyball team and needs to improve her grade so she can go back on the team. Another student who is also struggling has still not turned in his homework for the past two weeks, and I need to call his parents again. The students are beginning to learn that coming in early at 7am for extra help pays off as well as studying. They thought that they didn't need to study for my classes but when they see their grades they're sorely mistaken. I always get asked, "Why'd you give me this grade?" In response, "I didn't give it to you. You gave it to yourself. Congratulations!" Okay, I'm not that sacrastic but I do let them know that the grade is a reflection of how hard you worked. And if you work that hard to deserve a C then you know that you did your best and I can ask nothing more from you. "Huh?" Whatever?
Anyways, I hope you're enjoying your weekend or weekday (I'm writing this on a weekend). Let me know if you have any questions and leave me a comment! See ya later!
Sometimes you have to contain a situation before it gets out of control. So is the case with being a manager with a store. If you let an issue slide and never address it, that problem has the potential to grow into something hazardous. In other words, it's easier to control a fire while it's small before it burns down the entire forest. Case in point: on Wednesday, my Algebra 2 class was getting out of hand even before the class has begun. When the bell rang, students were goofing off by pretending to beat somebody on the ground. Other students were still eating while others were chatting with their friends. Only a few of the students were working on the morning bellwork and it was definitely not an environment where students could focus and work. So before the lesson began I made a speech. Oh, I was mad in my mind but made sure not to sound like that when I was talking to them. Instead, in a calm understanding voice, I gather the class' attention and told them again how the procedure of the class works. I told them that they were behaving like little Junior Highers that need constant guidance. Sophomore in high school are suppose to be more mature and ready to learn. The class routine is very structured. When the bell rings, you are suppose to put away your food, work on the bellwork until we are ready to grade it together. Then once that is turned in, we will go over the day's lesson and the remainder of the time will be given to class work/homework. Then I told them the consequences of their actions. If this keeps up, I will talk with you one-on-one, then if that fails, I will be calling your parents directly and let them know of the situation. After that we will have a conference with Mr. Herring (our assistant principal). I told them that I would have no problem calling each and every one of their parents. Oh, sure they gave me excuses of why they do what they do, but I just go braindead and say, "I know..." I learned that from a series called "Love and Logic." So class has been going better since then. I think that class will continue to improve one way or another.
Also my other classes continue to improve. One of the students who is failing has turned herself around and is trying harder to pass. She turned in her homework in her other classes but I'm still waiting on my homework for my class. I guess one step at a time. She is on the volleyball team and needs to improve her grade so she can go back on the team. Another student who is also struggling has still not turned in his homework for the past two weeks, and I need to call his parents again. The students are beginning to learn that coming in early at 7am for extra help pays off as well as studying. They thought that they didn't need to study for my classes but when they see their grades they're sorely mistaken. I always get asked, "Why'd you give me this grade?" In response, "I didn't give it to you. You gave it to yourself. Congratulations!" Okay, I'm not that sacrastic but I do let them know that the grade is a reflection of how hard you worked. And if you work that hard to deserve a C then you know that you did your best and I can ask nothing more from you. "Huh?" Whatever?
Anyways, I hope you're enjoying your weekend or weekday (I'm writing this on a weekend). Let me know if you have any questions and leave me a comment! See ya later!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Work and Play
Hello folks, and welcome back to another exciting edition. Today we'll be talking about mixing work and play at school. Oh, but I'm not talking about myself. I'm talking about my students.
It seems that whenever I assign any homework and they don't finish it on time, I get blamed by them for assigning too much homework. Nevermind that I give them 30 minutes in class to finish or that you have several days to do it sometimes. Oh, no, let's not care about that. Instead, they can only focus on the negative. You know what? I'm not in it to be their friend. Sure, they are good kids, no doubt. However, this is not some buddy-buddy relationship. I'm not in there for their friendship and trying to be "cool." I have my cool friends outside of school. Instead, I'm trying to earn their respect and let them know that I want them to succeed. Now, I wouldn't be very good at letting them succeed if I gave them credit when they did not do any work. I would be giving in to their bad habit. Instead, I try to encourage them to work hard through difficult problems. Use their problem solving skills to develop their thinking caps. Be creative with their thought and work hard always. I know it's tough, but they are a good group of kids. Growing pains can be hard, but we all have to go through them.
So today I had make-up exam for chapter 2 in my algebra 2 class. I reminded the students several times every day this week. So today I am talking with a few of my students who did not do so well on the previous exam and suggested that they retake the test today. You know what some of my responses are? One girl said, "Well, I have so much going on and there's just a lot of things happening today." So I told her repeatedly that I have mentioned that the make up exam is today. She then said, " Well, can I take it tomorrow morning?" Uh, no. Today is the only day. Make a priority. Do what you want to do after school or do the retest. What's more important. Evidently her other event was more important because she didn't show up. Her F still remains to this day. Another girl said exactly the same thing. She said though, "I don't want to miss my club soccer game today and my volleyball game later on. I already missed a soccer game on Tuesday. Can I take the test tomorrow morning?" Well, then I asked, why didn't you show up early at 7am today to take it then. "Oh, that's too early. So can I take it tomorrow morning at the same time?" Uh, no. First, the day to retake the test is today, and second if you didn't show up early today what makes me think that you will show up early tomorrow! I reminded her of her priorities and that it is important to do well in school. I expected her to show up, but she didn't. Her F remains as well. What's even worse is that her volleyball coach came to talk to me later that day. He asked if she took the retest (we previously discussed that he wanted her to take the test) and I told him that she refused and decided that it was more important to show to her soccer game instead. Too say he was upset is an UNDERSTATEMENT! I don't know what he said to her, but she will be mad and dissappointed when Monday comes rolling around.
Too much play, I say. Get your priorities straight. I remind these students that school is important and that it will help you develop life skills. It will help you succeed in life. It will help you get into college. Instead, they are only focused on the here and now. Instant gratification is the reward of the day. Why work hard when I can get what I want NOW! If I can't get what I want when I want it, then it simply isn't worth it. And this is a Christian school! These young ones have a lot to learn but I can relate. It's hard to see the world when you are a teenage with ambition. The important thing is not to give up. Take the opportunities given to you. Always strive to do better. On my algebra 2 retest, I told the students that I would average the retest grade and their previous grade to obtain a new score. If they did worse on the retest, then their original grade stands. There is NO possible way to lower your grade on the retest! Still, not everyone that failed showed up. Is it disgrace? I don't know.
Anyways, I have been in contact with several of the parents and have had several conferences with some of the parents. They are mostly negative for the student but they are very thankful that I am trying to help their child succeed. They are surprised of all the effort that I do to help them and shocked that their child hardly utilizes any of them. They are also glad that I was able to spot these trends of them slipping in their grades while it is still October and they have plenty of time to change their grade around. I'm thankful too that I have their support and that they too want their child to succeed. It's good when parents and teachers work together to help the student. Because in college, this just doesn't happen. You have to be self-motivated.
Anyways, all work and no play makes Mark a sad boy, dawg...
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Telephone!
Sorry folks for the delay in posting this article, but things and events happen that can disrupt me from posting every week.
Thanks again for joining another sultry entry into this exquisite piece of ongoings of a teacher's mind. To put it simply, currently I'm tired and exhausted but excited that things are going well today. I'm tired from going to bed late and working on students' homework and attempting to grade them. Keeping everything balanced is essential I discovered and the more I have for them to do, the more we progress in my class. The negative is that I have now plenty of work for me to grade and redistribute to my classes. Also, I quit my side job on the weekends (good-bye Fresh and Easy!) and now I will have more time to enjoy myself and allow myself to relax. It will also be a good time to catch up on things that I have been procrastinating on, such as grading. Rest will finally return as I will not be working everyday of the week. I don't think I had a day off since the beginning of September, I am now starting to feel the pains of that. I could keep doing both things, but I don't have to so I decided to drop one of them. I think it's for the best.
Also this week I feel like I am coming to class unprepared but everything is planned out. I have homework to give the students and there are plenty of things for us to cover. However, I am trying to teach for mastery of this subject and the students have a hard time with understanding some of the difficult concepts. It's not all the students but a few. So now I'm in a dilemma...I want to continue moving forward and cover more material, but I feel like the students are overwhelmed currently with tests, quizzes, and homework. On the other hand, I don't want to make my classes seem so easy for the students that do understand the material. Obviously they understand the concepts that are occuring and in fact some of them consider it boring. That is why a few of them are disruptive and need to be spoken with ever so often. So I'm not sure what to do but I'm favoring the former. I think I will hit the brakes soon and slow down the train. I think a good review is in order and perhaps a review game where the students have to work together in groups. That way I can allow the smart students help those students who are having trouble. Less teaching for me and more work for the students. Hehehehe...
Also this week I began calling parents for students who have not been turning in the homework. Some students are really in trouble because they have not been turning in homework for the last two chapters and it really reflects on their test and quizzes. I've talked to each of these students previously but several of them have rejected my help or refuse the extra assistance. They think that all this will just blow over and that they don't have to put any effort in trying to understand it. WRONG! It is imperative that they understand the material and succeed. That's life. When something is hard and you don't understand, find a way and work at it. I don't think I have had a job yet where I didn't have to work hard at it to be successful. If I didn't get something I made time to ask for questions and get help. I learned that eventually but I'm trying to help these kids out now. So anyways, the parents have been supportive and I have finally gotten some material in from a few of the students and even a few have come in to see me for extra help. Previously I had an extra morning help hour on Monday, Thursday, Friday but few people would show; I'm hoping more will show as the semester continues and I keep calling these students' parents. However, some students still refuse to turn in their work and one even asked me for extra credit! EXTRA CREDIT!!! You didn't even turn in the original work! Why would I give you EXTRA work to do?! Sure we can discuss extra credit but once the original work is turned in. That's the deal.
So for me, it's more phone calls to parents both positive and negative. We'll see how things turn out, but so far it's been positive. The experience has been challenging but good. At least I don't want to quit yet like at my first job (thanks Teledyne!), and I think this is something that I can work at. I don't know, maybe I'll actually enjoy this teaching gig.
Well, I've got to go teach now and I'll talk to you later...
Thanks again for joining another sultry entry into this exquisite piece of ongoings of a teacher's mind. To put it simply, currently I'm tired and exhausted but excited that things are going well today. I'm tired from going to bed late and working on students' homework and attempting to grade them. Keeping everything balanced is essential I discovered and the more I have for them to do, the more we progress in my class. The negative is that I have now plenty of work for me to grade and redistribute to my classes. Also, I quit my side job on the weekends (good-bye Fresh and Easy!) and now I will have more time to enjoy myself and allow myself to relax. It will also be a good time to catch up on things that I have been procrastinating on, such as grading. Rest will finally return as I will not be working everyday of the week. I don't think I had a day off since the beginning of September, I am now starting to feel the pains of that. I could keep doing both things, but I don't have to so I decided to drop one of them. I think it's for the best.
Also this week I feel like I am coming to class unprepared but everything is planned out. I have homework to give the students and there are plenty of things for us to cover. However, I am trying to teach for mastery of this subject and the students have a hard time with understanding some of the difficult concepts. It's not all the students but a few. So now I'm in a dilemma...I want to continue moving forward and cover more material, but I feel like the students are overwhelmed currently with tests, quizzes, and homework. On the other hand, I don't want to make my classes seem so easy for the students that do understand the material. Obviously they understand the concepts that are occuring and in fact some of them consider it boring. That is why a few of them are disruptive and need to be spoken with ever so often. So I'm not sure what to do but I'm favoring the former. I think I will hit the brakes soon and slow down the train. I think a good review is in order and perhaps a review game where the students have to work together in groups. That way I can allow the smart students help those students who are having trouble. Less teaching for me and more work for the students. Hehehehe...
Also this week I began calling parents for students who have not been turning in the homework. Some students are really in trouble because they have not been turning in homework for the last two chapters and it really reflects on their test and quizzes. I've talked to each of these students previously but several of them have rejected my help or refuse the extra assistance. They think that all this will just blow over and that they don't have to put any effort in trying to understand it. WRONG! It is imperative that they understand the material and succeed. That's life. When something is hard and you don't understand, find a way and work at it. I don't think I have had a job yet where I didn't have to work hard at it to be successful. If I didn't get something I made time to ask for questions and get help. I learned that eventually but I'm trying to help these kids out now. So anyways, the parents have been supportive and I have finally gotten some material in from a few of the students and even a few have come in to see me for extra help. Previously I had an extra morning help hour on Monday, Thursday, Friday but few people would show; I'm hoping more will show as the semester continues and I keep calling these students' parents. However, some students still refuse to turn in their work and one even asked me for extra credit! EXTRA CREDIT!!! You didn't even turn in the original work! Why would I give you EXTRA work to do?! Sure we can discuss extra credit but once the original work is turned in. That's the deal.
So for me, it's more phone calls to parents both positive and negative. We'll see how things turn out, but so far it's been positive. The experience has been challenging but good. At least I don't want to quit yet like at my first job (thanks Teledyne!), and I think this is something that I can work at. I don't know, maybe I'll actually enjoy this teaching gig.
Well, I've got to go teach now and I'll talk to you later...
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Just Do It!
Hey gang, and welcome back to another exciting edition of life inside of a teacher's mind! Bwahh!
So last week went rather smoothly but still there were a few road bumps along the way. I keep getting asked when are we not going to learn something new...and I keep saying "that's what test day is for!" I give a hearty laugh, but most students just stare at me and say, "Mr. Carbonella that wasn't very funny at all." Oh, well. What do they want? Draw pictures all day, listen to music, talk with friends, text on their phones, play games? Sure, I would allow all that if that is what I can test them all. I wonder how an exam like that would play out?
My Algebra 2 class is finally responding to some of the criticism that I have laying out. On Thursday, they thought a picture in their book was hilarious and started laughing out loud and cracking jokes to another. I tried to control them, but most of them thought it was too funny to stop laughing. I know that can happen; it has happened to me before. But when it's at the wrong moment, you're going to suffer the consequences. So some of those students had a really hard time with the homework that I assigned because they had no clue what to do. "What?" I said. "It's all up on the board." They usually respond, "Well, I wasn't paying attention and didn't hear what you were saying. Could you explain it again to me?" "Sure. Oh wait is that the bell?" The bell rings and the student quickly leaves. "Come see me later after school or in the early morning if you need help." "Okay," the student says. Guess what? I never see that student until class period and the student will turn in the homework blank. What happened? Didn't get it?
At least they are trying to become more attentive when they see their grades online and when I pass back exams and quizzes. I think when I have them, they tend to focus more then when I just to the regular work. For instance, homework for some of them is rather easy. However, when test time comes rolling around, they quickly listen up. It's funny how it works some time, but these are all parts of the dynamic which is the class room. I mean, I experienced it before and remember parts of it. I'm thinking of ways to improve all the time. It's a part of learning and sometimes learning is hard. I know that, but these students have a hard time with it sometimes. They want it served quick and easy. If I don't get it within two minutes, then it certainly must be DIFFICULT! Therefore, I just won't pay attention and hope it won't be on the exam. Keep dreaming students! Learning takes time and effort. It may be hard but it certainly is rewarding.
Two of my students asked me the other day, "Do you like math?" I responded, "Yes. I also like reading and writing and other activities." "Why do you like math so much, Mr. Carbonella?" "Well I like challenging things that make me think. I like to solve problems and figure things out. If something is too easy, then it becomes boring and maybe even repetitive. There's not much reward in that. The logic in math is what I enjoy. It helps me see the world in a different light." "You're crazy Mr. Carbonella." "Why yes, yes I am..."
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Lingo Bingo
Hi folks and welcome back to another exciting installment into the secret life of a high school teacher from a private school.
Sometimes I feel as if students just don't get it or don't want to understand. It feels as if they just gave up and simply don't care. For instance, I usually teach for about ten minutes of class time. The rest of the time, I'm doing examples on the board or answering questions. I tell the students that if they had trouble with last night's homework, they should come talk to me. I will of course give them a hand. Instead, what I see happening is that students turn in last night's homework with blank answers and then get started on tonight's homework. Then of course, they get stuck and feel frustrated again. So now after talking with another teacher, I go around the room individually instead of just answer questions on the board. I ask students one-to-one if they are stuck on anything. Sometimes they say no and other times yes. So that's been good and I think that has helped a bit. However I'm still frustrated at those students who know that they have left questions on their homework blank and when I ask them if they need help, they refuse. They say, "Nope I have no questions to ask." Then I walk away. Then they turn it in with questions unanswered. So now it's time for another change. When I notice that someone is lying or not telling me the whole truth about their homework, I will ask, "Okay, then let me see your paper." If I notice that something is wrong, then its time for some correction. What I can't have happening is students giving up.
I can see students giving up in their attitude and in their behavior. They don't pay attention in class. They don't listen. When I'm done explaining something, they will ask me to do it again because they weren't paying any attention in the first place. They have given up. I don't know what the problem might be. Maybe some issue at home, a friend problem, or any kind of issue (even laziness) could be the cause or source of the problem. I try to encourage the students with fun learning games such as the title of this entry "Lingo Bingo."
Since last time the students had a hard time with definitions and equations on the Physics quiz and test, I decided to play a Bingo game where they put the words down on a Bingo sheet and I will say the definition to them. They place a marker wherever the word matches the definition that I said. I "stole" it from a teacher in college who told the class that she found out that the best way that students learn definitions in from Bingo. It's a matching game of sorts similar to one found on the quizzes and tests. The students really enjoyed it today and I hope their quiz will reflect that.
Also this week, I had an "Ah-ha" moment with one of the students. We were in Pre-Calculus and were discussing some story problems for homework. Then all of a sudden this girl said, "Oh, I get it. I actually like these word problems because it makes it seem like math is useful." Well, duh!!! I was excited in my head that she said that and that she was able to see that math was more than just plugging in numbers and getting a solution. It helps you understand problems that you will encounter everyday. It gives you problem solving skills. She then went on to help the other students and help them understand it well. When the bell rang, she wanted me to finish the problem on the board so that she could have a better understanding of the homework. It was quite exciting and I'm writing this so that I will remember it even when times get tough. This kind of moment doesn't arrive everyday!
My principal, Mr. Doney, asked me today about how I was enjoying the job. It is a big career change after all. I said that I am enjoying it and learning a lot about my new career. It's every changing and very rewarding. At my engineering job, it was fun building the Simpsons ride themeing and other design elements, but it just felt like one project after the next. I wasn't really helping anyone and I doubt anybody's life is going to get better after building those things. I think I enjoyed going on the actual ride then designing it behind a computer all day. Without the human interaction, the job becomes boring. Sitting behind a desk all day for long hours staring blankly at a computer screen may be fine for some people, but was not what I wanted to do. So now I'm here and I'm into education. So far it's very dynamic and I'm learning quite a bit. Okay, not as much as my students, but I'm still learning nonetheless.
Until next time...
Sometimes I feel as if students just don't get it or don't want to understand. It feels as if they just gave up and simply don't care. For instance, I usually teach for about ten minutes of class time. The rest of the time, I'm doing examples on the board or answering questions. I tell the students that if they had trouble with last night's homework, they should come talk to me. I will of course give them a hand. Instead, what I see happening is that students turn in last night's homework with blank answers and then get started on tonight's homework. Then of course, they get stuck and feel frustrated again. So now after talking with another teacher, I go around the room individually instead of just answer questions on the board. I ask students one-to-one if they are stuck on anything. Sometimes they say no and other times yes. So that's been good and I think that has helped a bit. However I'm still frustrated at those students who know that they have left questions on their homework blank and when I ask them if they need help, they refuse. They say, "Nope I have no questions to ask." Then I walk away. Then they turn it in with questions unanswered. So now it's time for another change. When I notice that someone is lying or not telling me the whole truth about their homework, I will ask, "Okay, then let me see your paper." If I notice that something is wrong, then its time for some correction. What I can't have happening is students giving up.
I can see students giving up in their attitude and in their behavior. They don't pay attention in class. They don't listen. When I'm done explaining something, they will ask me to do it again because they weren't paying any attention in the first place. They have given up. I don't know what the problem might be. Maybe some issue at home, a friend problem, or any kind of issue (even laziness) could be the cause or source of the problem. I try to encourage the students with fun learning games such as the title of this entry "Lingo Bingo."
Since last time the students had a hard time with definitions and equations on the Physics quiz and test, I decided to play a Bingo game where they put the words down on a Bingo sheet and I will say the definition to them. They place a marker wherever the word matches the definition that I said. I "stole" it from a teacher in college who told the class that she found out that the best way that students learn definitions in from Bingo. It's a matching game of sorts similar to one found on the quizzes and tests. The students really enjoyed it today and I hope their quiz will reflect that.
Also this week, I had an "Ah-ha" moment with one of the students. We were in Pre-Calculus and were discussing some story problems for homework. Then all of a sudden this girl said, "Oh, I get it. I actually like these word problems because it makes it seem like math is useful." Well, duh!!! I was excited in my head that she said that and that she was able to see that math was more than just plugging in numbers and getting a solution. It helps you understand problems that you will encounter everyday. It gives you problem solving skills. She then went on to help the other students and help them understand it well. When the bell rang, she wanted me to finish the problem on the board so that she could have a better understanding of the homework. It was quite exciting and I'm writing this so that I will remember it even when times get tough. This kind of moment doesn't arrive everyday!
My principal, Mr. Doney, asked me today about how I was enjoying the job. It is a big career change after all. I said that I am enjoying it and learning a lot about my new career. It's every changing and very rewarding. At my engineering job, it was fun building the Simpsons ride themeing and other design elements, but it just felt like one project after the next. I wasn't really helping anyone and I doubt anybody's life is going to get better after building those things. I think I enjoyed going on the actual ride then designing it behind a computer all day. Without the human interaction, the job becomes boring. Sitting behind a desk all day for long hours staring blankly at a computer screen may be fine for some people, but was not what I wanted to do. So now I'm here and I'm into education. So far it's very dynamic and I'm learning quite a bit. Okay, not as much as my students, but I'm still learning nonetheless.
Until next time...
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