Scientific Adventures

Wow, it is seriously hard to believe that as of the end of tomorrow Term 1 of Semester 1 of the 2010/2011 school year will be over. Midterm marks are due and there is only one term left to lead into exams. And at the same time, this has left like the longest term...I have had many challenges, grown a lot, felt broken down emotionally a few times...Definitely some of the many reasons I have fallen behind on this blog. So much for writing at least once per month!

I have encountered some of the most difficult circumstances of my young life. Working with full-size classes for the first time in my teaching career has brought along with it some interesting challenges - largely classroom management related. I walked into this career with many pieces of advice on the matter, and was told many times that I would learn and create my own style as I went along. I think that hardest part to realize, is that the style that will become my own, will not always be the one I had hoped for. I am not the "hard ass" teacher that I sometimes need to be and sometimes will need to be, especially as I continue to teach applied level course and continue to teach Grade 10 classes (such a fascinating Grade, no longer timid Grade 9s that think they are more mature than they really are).

This was the first experience I had getting to start from scratch with these level courses, and man would I like to take it back and start again. I can now see just how important it is to establish routines that are largely focused in character education and social learning and needs. Boundaries is a word I hear often...and now really understand the value of. It is very difficult to come back and set a tone to reestablish rules that should have been there from the start. And it is amazing to see just how much a 16-year-old will push the gray areas of behaviour. I think that when it comes down to it, the hardest part will be creating these boundaries around students who will always need my empathy and support. There has to be a balance between listening to problems/giving second chances and forcing someone to learn that they have to grow up eventually - no matter what they have had to deal with in their lives.

Enough on the struggles that have made me want to crawl under a rock though...

Being full time in a department that is my second teachable and is not my forte has brought along enough stress to last me a long time. Thankfully I have taught one of these courses already and have an amazingly supportive department. I can ask any of them questions and they are happy to do their best to help. My department head is amazing and provides me with the time and support I need. She has gone out of her way to help me create a major lab for a course that I am new to (and the teacher I work with is not as helpful) and finds ways to create time for me to do things on release days that I need the time for.

Our school is one that is recognized by the Ministry and receives funding for student support. To do this the school has identified 34 students to follow in Grade 10 and has created teams to work on PLCs (professional learning cycles) in certain departments. Science is one of those teams and we are working to develop changes and preparation for the 30% summative. This involves creating transparent assessments around the performance task and identifying true ways to evaluate application of knowledge and develop tasks to help students practice these skills. We have set out to have these 34 students improve their 30% evaluation mark by an average of 10% from their Grade 9 marks.

In any event, it feels like there is a lot of pressure on me to make this happen in Grade 10. Even when my department head will do everything she can (before going on maternity leave) to get the other teacher on board...

I'm sure I could go on for awhile, but I will spare you further digression.
Keep learning!

My First "First Week" of School

So here it is, we are three days into the school year - and I am actually a teacher in September...how weird. It has been a great experience getting to help set the tone of the school year (both within my classroom and in the halls). I think that this year is going to feel much more at home (even if I am teaching Science and terrified that I am going to screw up every day).

I started my first day of classes with icebreakers to help my students get out of their seats and get to know one another. The only thing Science related they saw was my intro letter that they were to read, sign and have their parent/guardian sign. Grade 9s respond much more timidly to name games on the first day, but I think that everyone learned a few names and had an experience they will look back on and laugh about. I must say, indoor "snowball" fights are fun and Grade 9s and 10s cannot do the Birthday Game in silence to save their lives. Hilarity.

My favourite story so far comes from a Grade 10 class on the second day, when a student asked me "Miss, are you Canadian". When I proceeded to tell him that I was, his response was "oh, because you have a Canadian accent". I didn't really know what to think about that one...so as usual, I laughed! (I laugh way too much in that class...they already know they can distract me with their goofy ways. Oh well!)

I'm teaching an applied Science class for the first time in my career. As expected it comes with a group of unique students; many talk too freely about things that teachers do not want to hear about; some have more life experience than I probably ever will in my life; some live in single parent homes; and others will constantly be a struggle to get to do work (even though they are perfectly capable of it). I have actually had some good experiences so far (they make the struggles worth dealing with most days) with students completing work and willingly asking questions and participating in class...it is definitely less of a struggle than applied math was. All I can do is try to keep up what I am doing so far and hope that most of them hold on. I intend to be there as a role model for them and give them a place where they can feel like they are capable of being successful.

I am both excited and nervous to see what the following weeks hold for me and my students. Every day is different and cannot be predicted. Maybe one of these days I will even learn to get to sleep at a decent hour and have things planned before the 5 minutes before class starts. But just maybe.

A New Beginning

Every day in teaching is a new one, where you can prepare as much as you want and never predict what is going to happen.

Well, here we go for a new beginning. The first day of school. For me this is a first as a teacher, having started in October of last year...I have had the first day jitters since last night and been told that every teacher feels this way before the start of every year. I am going with the assumption that this is a good thing - that I am anticipating a new beginning and looking forward to meeting a new group of students.

Anyway, I had intended to write some powerfully reflective summer entry before school started but that has not happened, and now it is getting late and sleep must be had. For didn't you know, the first day of school is the worst traffic day of the year.

To all my fellow teachers, good luck this year, have a blast making a difference in the life of someone young. Think outside the box. Try something new. Love what you do.

Walking on Thin Ice

It's funny how self-centered humans are as adolescents. How we can go through 3 or 4 or 5 years of high school and never really understand what our teachers, parents, principals, guardians and what have you are going through. How easy an adolescent finds it to walk through their day-to-day life and believe that a teacher has it out for them or doesn't believe them or whatever experience you can come up with. And I say this with absolutely no authority as a teacher, but with the authority of having been a teenager not all that long ago.

I was, what most, would call a good student. I did my homework, went to my symphony rehearsals, did well on tests and assignments and went off to accomplish things I had dreamed of for a long time (mind you, I was late for everything). Granted, I was (and still am) a rare case. I love(d) school - friends, teachers, sports, music...you name it - and I knew the whole time that I wanted to teach high school. But I can still look back and know that I took for granted what I had, and failed to recognize a lot of what my teachers, etc were doing for me.

Over the past couple of months I have had so many things run through my mind, so many things I wanted to discuss with myself, with colleagues, with friends...things I wanted to ramble on about on my blog...things I never got around to mentioning to anyone. I do not recall ever wanting to talk about teenagers and their ability to believe outright that one of their teachers wasn't trying to do what is best for them, but maybe that is what it has all boiled down to...I think I worry about this a lot.

I feel like I am often walking on thin ice. Like everything I do changes my students' perception of me. Like I need to be superwoman for them everyday. But I also feel like my students need to see me fail, to make mistakes, to pick myself up again and forge through the day. I have started to realize that, by seeing my parents and family as successful people, by being in the company of friends who were driven and amazing, I have spent very little of my life learning how to fail. Maybe this is something that many of the students at my school (and elsewhere) can see in their teachers. Maybe they can tell that few of us had to truly struggle through a high school course (especially not in a subject we teach). Maybe, that makes us...some kind of enemy...

I have seriously digressed from where I thought I was going to go with this. In the end, what I am trying to understand is how to help those kids who are at risk. Whether at risk, in this case, means of failing a course or dropping out of school. How can I diversify myself enough, that the ones who really need me, can find a way in?

Funny thing is, when I was changing the layout of this blog today...trying to find a background picture...I was thinking about how I want to teach kids to see the bigger picture. I want them to see school as a tool to shape them and change who they will become. I want them to stop analyzing the little things in my math class and start truly learning how to think from themselves. How to problem solve and become independent people. I want them...to learn how to learn about themselves - to become those people and love who they are. Maybe the way to do this, is to reach them all...maybe that's why this entry turned into what it is now.

The Second Time Around

We are finally well enough into second semester that I can actually say that it feels like I am doing this for the second time. This being teaching...and this really being only one course, but still. At least it finally feels a little bit less like a scramble every day. I think.

My Grade 11 course does not have a current textbook and teaching Science for the first time is beyond a scramble. So really, the newbie status has a long while to go before it's behind me (I'm still on probation after all - and will be until the end of October).

I am sure that I have come up with a million little things that I wanted to blog about since my last post, and a couple of big ones too...but it appears as though they have all gotten lost in the shuffle. Pushed back into the complex storm of brain activity that goes on...lost in the madness of a first year teacher.

This week is a fundraising drive for camp that has a patient facility for children with cancer. It has been quite the site to see all of these kids pull out their spare change, run bake sales, sell perogies, sell roses, etc etc etc. So many of the homeforms have contributed some kind of lunch fundraiser and they have had other major events (such as a talent show) to boot. It is really neat to see what these kids can manage when many of them come from less affluent homes. Such great spirit (and I've heard that this hasn't been the most involved year, it's still amazing).

Anyway, I have survived my second Parent's Night now and Math GAINS has been going in full force. We have one more lesson to observe and debrief and one more anchor session to attend. The missing classes thing has been difficult at times but all of my classes are coping so far (and probably used to my absence). It has definitely be interesting though, I have learned a lot and it has been a great experience. Getting to build lessons with colleagues and actually see them in action is very cool - and very Japanese (seriously, they have led the way a lot with this type of Professional Development).

It is late now, and though I have much to say it will have to wait for another time!

Cheers!