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.

A fight.

3 students in the front of the line had a “misunderstanding.”

Student 1: She pushed me.

Student 2: She accidentally pushed him and he thought she did it on purpose and he got mad.

Student 3: It was an accident.

Student 1: How could it be an accident?! I was right in front of your face!

Student 2: And then he called her FAT.

[Student 3 starts crying here.]

That’s right. This all happened as the entire line was quiet and listening to them argue. Unbelievable. I can’t believe this happens ON THE DAY we SPECIFICALLY go over RESPECTING one another.

Good news is that it was handled in 5 minutes.

I listened to each side, and after I realized that NONE of their stories matched up, I gave them two choices.

You can either choose detention, or we can all work together to come up with 3 things we’re going to do differently tomorrow so that this never happens again.

Thankfully, they begrudgingly chose option 2. The results are as follows:

1. I will make an announcement tomorrow that there will be no shoving in line, and no one will be peeking into my classroom. They will simply stand in ALPHABETICAL order until I am ready for them to come in.
2. If there is an argument or misunderstanding, it will be conducted in private and dealt with me. NOT in front of the ENTIRE class.
3. We will start over because tomorrow is a new day.

Hopefully, we’re accountable for these things and my scholars actually fulfill these goals.

And to think that Days 1 and 2 went so swimmingly! Children are so unpredictable sometimes.

I always come home super tired and hungry. I mean my calves haven’t stopped throbbing since yesterday and I can’t get a minute in my day to eat until dinner time. Teaching is so difficult, especially when all our schedules are still disorganized and I don’t have a curriculum.

Thus begins the war on the achievement gap.

I laid down the law in math class today. Laid down the freakin’ law.

Ryan is a smart kid. I’d say he’s the smartest kid in my class. But Ryan’s problem is that he has the attention span of a cockroach. He moves around a lot and always bothers the other kids. My theory is that he’s just bored with the material because it’s too easy for him. I think I’m going to give him a folder filled with really tough worksheets so that he has something to work on every time he finishes his work about 100 light years ahead of his classmates.

As usual, Ryan was wreaking havoc in his little corner on the rug.

But as soon I gave little Ryan a second warning and wrote his name under the “Warnings” list on the board, he sat on his bottom, zipped his mouth shut, locked it for 10 seconds, and threw away the key.

Man, it always surprises me how this stuff actually works.

Kids are so cute though! This experience has tremendously changed the way I look at kids. I used to think kids would be the bane of my existence; beings that I would never be able to comprehend. I used to be passive about kids, or just plain not notice them. But now, whether I’m on a playground, on the subway, or in a grocery store…I always notice the kids. I notice what they say, and what they’re doing. I’m able to appreciate how inquisitive they are, and how quickly they can make connections and retain information.

For example, I was at the Natural History Museum in Manhattan on the 4th of July, and I saw this kid climbing on the statue of President Teddy Roosevelt sitting on his horse. The statue is pretty tall, so I said to the kid, “Be careful, ok?” And the following hilarious conversation ensues:

kid: It’s ok. Did you know that kids can climb really good? Because we come from monkeys.
me: Oh? Do you mean that there is a connection between humans and monkeys?
kid: Yea.
me: Did you learn that in the museum?
kid: Yea, but they’re different because they can grab things with their feet.
me: Can you grab things with your feet?
kid: No. Well, yea. But I can just hold things in between my toes!

Mind you, this kid was VERY young! Can you imagine having a conversation like this with someone 2 and half feet tall? Haha…oh kids.

And yesterday, when I was teaching 2-digit subtraction, Angie raises her hand, and out of nowhere says, “Miss Sapida, your hair is really pretty today.”

…

How do I respond to something like that in the middle of my lesson?!

Caught totally off guard, all I could say was, “That’s very nice of you Angie, but let’s focus on subtraction now.”

Today, when we were learning about picture graphs, another kid named Julian took a thread from his sock and started flossing his teeth with it.

Unbelievably hilarious.

And no matter how much he wasn’t paying attention, I couldn’t get mad at him, because I’d ask him a question to test if he was listening, and he always got the answer right! He’d just blurt it out without even having to look up at the board or at me.

Julian is a very smart kid. Very smart. He just has trouble listening to me because he struggles with English. When it comes to numbers though, Julian eats it up like cake.

I was telling my friend today that I hope each of these kids has someone who takes advantage of their resilient ability to learn. They’re like empty vessels that soak up things like a sponge! It would be a shame to let that go to waste.

I’ve seen people let it go to waste. I’ve seen teachers underestimate their students, failing to challenge them. “Dumb it down for them. They’re 6.” No! I won’t “dumb it down.” They’re going to learn rigorously because they can. I’ve seen them do it.

In response to Mr. G’s post, this underestimation of students’ potential is another reason why it’s so difficult to close the achievement gap. You expect that the kids can’t learn, so they don’t. It’s not rock science.

Thanks for reading