I’ve found it difficult to merge the two worlds together. I especially find it difficult to share teaching stories with my non-teaching friends. You can’t expect someone to fully sympathize and understand the classroom when they haven’t walked in your shoes. We can all agree on this right? You can argue that this is universal with all experiences, right?

In the past, the best, most fruitful venting sessions were those I shared w/ colleagues. That all changed last week when a friend decided to spend some of her winter break with Mr. G.

She joined the adventure, and each second sans students was a moment of thoughtful exchange. She offered 3 days worth of different perspectives to the classroom, pointing out different angles to my teaching, student dialogue she found hilarious, and other reflections I appreciate. Things like “it’s a little better than I expected” to “How do you get their attention like that?” to “Wow, that 6th period is exactly as you described. Crazy” to “How am I supposed to help students who don’t want help?” It was nice to know that, at least for a second, it wasn’t 1 vs 30, it was 2 vs 30. HUGE DIFFERENCE. When there’s 2, there’s someone who shares the experience with you. Someone who understands your angle.

On Thursday the classroom felt lonely without her. We all had to adjust, especially the students. “Where’s Ms Angeles??”

Anyway, THANK YOU Ms Angeles, for becoming one of the first to fully understand both my identities. We all hope you come back to the classroom one day, whether in the capacity of a visitor… or even a teacher…

This comes to life in my classroom through the projector. Photos and clips. Photos and clips. They come off as random entertainment, but also serve as an intermission before our brains work math again.

The majority these tidbits are funny or entertaining. Youtube clips of ninja cats or babies biting fingers. Photos of new gizmos and gadgets to highlights of recent sporting events. 2-3 minutes a day – small sacrifice to pay for large impact. Kids’ look forward to my class. And they remember it. (As evident by SO MANY ex-students who can still recall… “have you shown your new classes ____ yet?”)

–
Today I decided to do something different. Last night, riots occurred in Oakland demeaning what could’ve been a highly successful, highly meaningful nonviolent protest. Scoping the net during prep, I read over what broke out. I also viewed images. Why not take a break from silly intermissions to something more real? Why not show these images? Why not discuss? This is something current, relevant, AND engaging. I decided.

I’d preface the discussion to prevent it from degenerating into violent story time. This is about politics as personal. I’d set a 5 minute time limit & ground rules, and we’d do it. The goal: to provide a space for students to discuss issues of social justice, a space for students to be exposed to what’s going on in their own backyard, a space for students to voice and form opinions. I’d share my opinion to close, but would emphasize that this is our dialogue… not mine. They ultimately form the vision they’d like to see of the world, not me.

And so it went. And it went well! Each student highly engaged, listening intently to each others’ opinion, looking intently as each image sat on the screen (ordered from powerful & calm to unruly & violent). Of course, I’d interrupt at times and play moderator to students eager to offer disagreement. But it went, and I was happy with it.

What I did hope to impart: Protest and rallies for a meaningful cause are effective. It is our duty to push for progress, especially in a place like Oakland. However, action without organization is a formula for potential disaster. And what occurred last night weakened the message folks hoped to send.

And now, onto inscribed angle properties…

(Huge credits to MW for the guidance and suggestions on this one).

(Huge credits to dy/dan for showing me how to “buy” my students’ interest & attention).

I sit down at my desk and become a passive listener to their dialogue. She is tutoring the shorter one. And by his language, I can tell he’s likely categorized as special needs.

She’s so patient & so kind. With the tutee’s every mistake & stumble. Mistake after mistake, stumble after stumble, her tone remains the same. Her diligence remains the same – never showing but a hint of frustration.

Ordinarily, I don’t allow students unattended in my classroom when I leave after school. Today, I think I’ll make an exception.

One huge gripe I have against teaching is the constant workload. There’s always something that needs to be done. During the school day, I’m grinding non-stop from the moment I open my classroom door til the final bell. I don’t have the same luxury as my peers who can sign onto gchat regularly. I can’t work at my own pace. I can’t take quick mental breaks zoning out on news articles or facebook. I can’t leave work to have lunch outside with friends. My lunch break is ONLY 27 minutes and students drop in regularly for extra help, ask about their grade, or to simply visit. I can’t even use the bathroom at any time I want. I’ve gotta wait til my prep period or lunch, or (if it’s a real emergency) passing period.

Couple all that with everything else we’ve gotta do, the behavior we’ve got to put up with, administrative and state pressures, a lack of support/resources and it’s no wonder 1/4th of all new California teachers leave the profession in 4 years or less.

I’m currently in year 2 and the gripes have not waned. I promised myself I’d give this profession a minimum of 5 years before I make a real decision on it, but I do understand why one would choose to leave right away…

Student drop out rate is a huge issue; but as serious is the drop out rate we’ve got w/ teachers.

Students cough death left and right. Left and right. Noses blown. Tissue containers (provided by my own budget) vanish daily.

But learning… must. go. on.

Aaaand, I think I should either eat more oranges or buy myself a box of emergen-c.

Or get more rest, or take less stress.

–

(Before 1st period)

Me: “N, I think you got me sick” (sneezes. blows nose)

N: “Well it ain’t my fault. I didn’t wanna come. Blame grandma.”

And now, tomorrow… what’s next?

Teaching geometry a 2nd time around, you notice the difference. Your lessons slowly evolve. The lessons that turned awry the first time around are improved. The concepts you didn’t hit well become stronger. And those rare lessons that were gold are enhanced. I see it happening as I creep towards the midway point of my 2nd year, and I know that it has to only get better during year 3. A process of evolution.

The issue: This year I teach only 2 geometry classes. The other 3? Algebra.

Taking on a new prep feels like repeating the 1st year process all over again. And like I said before, Algebra is much more difficult to teach than Geometry, especially if it’s to a group whose propensity to the topic is virtually nonexistent.

I’m blindly moving forward, hoping some of this stuff will stick. Yet, looking back at these past 14 weeks, I can easily point to more than a handful of lessons that were downright horrible.

Introducing new material THE WRONG WAY is toxic. And you see it happening. You notice students chronically approach problems THE WRONG WAY as a consequence. You’re aware that some students can walk through the motions correctly but have NO CONCEPTUAL CLUE as to why they do what they do. You wish you could time travel back and change the way you did things the first time, but realize you’re weeks behind the curriculum pacing guide and… blindly… move… forward.

As a new teacher, I see no solution to this. Unless some vet walks me through each new topic daily, shedding light on every angle of every lesson, I’ll remain blind. It’s a process I must go through before becoming much improved during my second go round, a process every new teacher must face.

One contributor and I spoke excitedly a few months ago on the topic of our site’s recent success. And by success, I mean increased readership. I pin this on dy/dan, whose recent mention of ST brought some traffic flow. Thank you, sir. Sincerely. We jokingly proposed creating SupTeach t-shirts for all contributors once our subscriber count hit the 100-mark…

Is it possible that we’re paralyzed b/c of this larger reader base? Are we now self-conscious of what we have to say? Are we afraid of critique? Do we presume that our rookie words will be unworthy to vets?

SupTeach does not have a specific purpose. Check our “about”, check our sidebar and you get the sense that we’re here merely to share our experiences – even if only to our small blogosphere of friends.

I’m not sure what my specific goal was in beginning this post, but I would like to acknowledge that I hope to begin writing again (and more consistently) but without presumption that 100+ readers will come across my words. Not that an increased readership is a hindrance; it’s a blessing. And I love it. And I love feedback. But only because I know words will flow more freely from these weary teacher fingers of mine if I do so.

So to begin, one awesome quote from my 2nd period remedial algebra class:

Me: “Really, did you guys figure out 2n+2 all by yourselves?”

S1: “No, she did! Cus she’s a freak!”

She: “No, I’m not a freak. I’m just smarter than I thought I was.”

Indeed, she, indeed. Even if only a handful of revelations like this one occur yearly, you LOVE it when they do.

And to end:

SupTeach writers, WHERE THE EFF ARE YOU!? COME OUT OF YOUR EFFIN CAVES!!!!!!!!!!!

1. Allowing the Halloween spirit infiltrate my lesson.

It was Friday, a review and quiz day. Rather than using my default green background on the keynote, I used orange. And rather than merely putting up review questions on the board that our class could try and discuss, I interspersed screen shots of scary movies…

Take, for example:

I let the image sit on the screen for a mere 3 or 4 seconds, acting as if I was unaware, before I moved onto the next slide. Got a few students with it. Lovely.

2. Harnessing the power of the projector to enhance the effects of one scary story.

More specifically, my FAVORITE scary story. I started the quiz ten minutes earlier than normal, so that I could finish class with a 10 minute story. Shut off the lights, shut the blinds, and lit a candle to set the ambiance. I set the projector to off with my remote (meaning, I could instantly turn it back on with remote). Even the most misbehaving of students gave full attention as I went through the tale. Seconds after I hit the story’s climax, in a completely dark room, I let this image unsuspectingly pop onto the screen:

My projector covers the entire height of the whiteboard. This image was huge. And this time, I got em’ ALL. Students screamed. I’m talking, legit screaming… the type you hear at the scariest moments of the scariest of scary movies. Well, it wasn’t THAT amazing, but it definitely brought a smile to this teachers face. It definitely beat showing a video and passing out candy like other colleagues had done.

3. My costume.

My roommate awoke and sent a groggy ‘good morning’ my way. “Like my costume?” I asked with enthusiasm. “Uhhh, you’re just you… but with a backwards cap on.” Most of my non-teacher friends wouldn’t understand, but this could possibly be my FAV costume of all time – and all I did was dress as myself. You see, as a teacher, you’re on display EVERY DAY. Students grow accustomed to your look, your style. They notice any sort change… a new pair of shoes, a new tie, new hairstyle, etc. I ALWAYS wear glasses to school. On this day, I took em off and wore what any of my male students would wear on a typical day. Baggy jeans, t-shirt, a’s cap, nike’s, a hoodie halfway zipped with the string tied. To complete the outfit, I threw on a black jansport, and some unconnected ipod headphones.

Got EVERYONE! Teachers, staff, students… I encountered more scenarios I can count on my fingers where folks REALLY DID mistake me as a student.

One student’s depiction:

I know it’s a week late, but Happy Halloween! Find ways to make this job fun! It’s there!

Though I maintain this year’s schedule is far more difficult than last, not everything’s turned for worse. One difference is… I’VE GOT HELP NOW!

Three things:

1. An Algebra Tutor
Recently graduated from college, and helps out in ALL THREE of my algebra classes. We’re developing a routine where he pulls out 3-4 students per day to provide my remedial students the support they need. The smaller the group, the more attention each student receives. Since we’re not able to make this happen in the normal classroom, it’s HUGE that students get this support. It’s essentially the private tutor privileged students get – but for MY students. Big time help.

2. A TA
About 5 ex-students turned seniors approached me at the beginning of the year inquiring to be my TA. I chose 1 from that pool, and that 1 has been colossal for me. She comes in during 2nd period, and takes care of ALL GRADING DUTIES aside from assessments. It’s amazing. After the period is done, we’ll check in… the once huge stack of assignments is no longer… and I’ll ask “Did you really grade all that?” She always answers with a calm “Yeah.” “Really, even left feedback, comments, and marked incorrect answers!?” Another calm “Yeah.” I’ll occasionally check, and it’s no lie. ALL OF IT… DONE. Honestly, this probably saves me about an hour per day (5 hours per week… ~25 hours per month)…. COLOSSAL.

3. Learning to Delegate
Students are willing and able! Let me repeat, students are WILLING AND ABLE! It seems any task I find tedious is a task students enthuse over… handing back papers, passing out materials, walking the attendance back to the office, putting things in their proper place, tidying up the classroom, etc, etc. I’m only beginning to harness the immense power behind this. Two other things I’ve brainstormed delegating: a great note-taker who can take notes for those absent, and an organized student who can keep a running record of assigned work. The best thing about it – gives a greater sense of purpose to students doing the task, especially those who loathe mathematics.

Teaching does not necessarily mean you MUST do it all. Delegate, facilate… finding ways to make it easier for you – in a way, it also makes it easier for them.