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doritoritta
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Name: Ebil Gato Loco
Metro:
Gender: Female
Interests: I have many interests in life, but some of the ones i enjoy most often are: gardening, blogging, photography, math, and writing among other interests like torturing students during my spare time. Other than that my main interest lies in teaching.
Expertise: My main expertise in life is math, more specifically - algebra and geometry. However, I'm also a genius at instructional methodologies.
Occupation: Slightly Sadistic Math Teacher
Industry: Education/K-12
Message: message me
Member Since:
1/2/2003
 Lifetime
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| Of Interest... |
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http://www.forbetterlife.org/ |
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| In order to start the year off with a bang, I decided to go work on my classroom a couple of days before my first official day of work. Last week I went in on Tuesday and took out all of my boxes from their hiding places and figured out what I needed to put up. On Wednesday I started putting up bulletins and posters. But today I went in and I worked on my classroom all day without pay, and I skipped lunch. I was just THAT determined to finish.
Good news - My classroom is set up. The bulletin boards are up, and each has a specific purpose [grades/calendar, student work, word wall, school bulletin/announcements, birthday!wall, VIPs , and one misc.]; posters are stapled to the walls; and everything is pretty much in its place [At least the big stuff that usually eats up my time 'cause I can never figure out where I want to put it]
So Tuesday through Thursday we have our in-service days and my plan of attack is to finish putting things away in my classroom such as teaching tools I use daily in their designated spots. And Wednesday/Thursday I'm going to lesson plan like crazy. Friday is the first day of the school year - Taking this fact into account I've decided to do nice, brainless activities with the kids. So I'm debating whether I should do a geometry/art project a la Henri Matisse or if I should play math!bingo with them.
Personally, I'm leaning towards the geometry/art project 'cause it's easy enough that they'll do it and I can introduce/entice students to the wonders of geometry. Or so I hope. If we play the math!bingo I can totally see the chaos that will ensue considering they don't know my routines & procedures.
Last year on the first day I had them do a math book hunt but I actually kind of hated it myself. And the year before I had them write a math!biography but that didn't work out as well as I had hoped. And to be honest, I was never into the "get to you know" games. I found them incredibly lame as a student and I swore to myself I'd never make my students do them either. >.>
Any other suggestions?
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| “Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them” ~ Voltaire
This is why I don't care to vote sometimes - You get screwed by one person or another eventually. I greatly oppose using student test scores for teacher evaluations or salaries. And if my state rewrites legislation just so they can get a chunk of change from the federal government, I will definitely think twice over leaving education regardless of beating the odds. I do not doubt my own teaching abilities. I know that I'm a good teacher.
I just don't fancy the fickle nature of students who aren't held accountable for their own testing scores. If students were ALSO held accountable such as, for example, not moving on to the next grade if they're not proficient, then the whole system would work! Parents would be embarrassed that their 10 year old is STILL in 3rd grade and take responsibility in their child's education. If you had to pass a NATIONAL/Federal exam in order to go into any college/University then it would run much more smoothly. If this country's politicians truly want a homogenous & standardized nation then it would require that states rewrite laws such that students AND parents be held accountable too. Oh, I would love to teach in a system in which kids sweat state testing just as much as the teachers/admin.
Call me cynical over my views, but I think that if you want this law to work you need to provide an incentive. It's Teaching 101 - All school teachers know this. You can't make a kid care about something if there's no incentive. If there's no consequences for making pictures out of bubble sheets then what's the point of testing?!
Or better yet, the Department of Education would stop all its whining and just tell us exactly what it wanted. My biggest grip with NCLB hasn't been testing necessarily but all the flack that teachers have received from being "highly qualified" to teaching standards. Yet, at its most basic, the standards taught in California aren't the same ones taught in New York. So, my question is "how are we all equal now?" Isn't NCLB meant to equalize us all?
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| Censorship reflects society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime. ~Potter Stewart
Earlier today I checked my professional email and because I'm a teacher, I'm obviously part of the NEA, considering I have to pay union fees whether I agree with the policies or not. Nonetheless, I subscribe to the Opening Bell daily news bulletin, and lo and behold there was two articles that grabbed my attention. One is regarding one particular Two Way Immersion Program in Texas. I actually think this is rather cool, and I'm of the opinion that no one should be denied the opportunity to learn another language - it sure comes in handy once in a while, if not all the time. I'm an English Language Learner myself, except I was never truly classified as one back in the late 80s/early 90s in California before bilingual education was "banned" thanks to Proposition 227 [which I feel has been one of California's most stupid mistakes in regards to education].
Either way, Two Way Immersion Programs aren't rare in California since there's loopholes to all laws, including Proposition 227, which states that such programs can be created in this state with the support/approval of parents and their districts. The fact of the matter is that NCLB requires all ELL students to be proficient every year, but in my experience this is one of the sub-groups that continually fails to meet the grade in standardized tests. How are children who don't even know how to read their own native language be expected to test proficiently in a foreign one? And trust me, English is a foreign language at its essence. Personally, it was easier for me to learn French in high school than it was to learn English as a child. Consider this icon I found a long time ago, which is meant to be 'humorous' but speaks volumes about this language:
Did you know that there's just no English equivalent for some words like "taco" or "burrito" or "quesadilla"? It seems a bit ironic to expect children to learn absorb a language that borrows so much from others. I've heard peers flippantly say that these kids should be given standardized tests in their native language, but I believe they fail to realize that bi-lingual ≠ bi-literate.
The ignorance of some people astounds me.
Now, I didn't intend to go on a rant or climb upon a soap box for ELL education. I'm just saying that there's something rather backwards about the current system, and I applaud the use of TWI programs nationwide because in MY opinion, they are the best way to go about teaching students another language. Kudos, Texas!
Let's face it! Our ELL students need to learn English as much as our EOs need to learn another language in today's world/economy. Our students are the only ones who leave a twelve-year long education knowing ONE language very well [and that's questionable at times if you look at pop culture and texting] and some of us are lucky to learn another language to that of what a native five year old speaker knows -- 'cause let's face it, I've forgotten all of my French. And you've forgotten that German.
/soapbox
The other article that caught my eye was on censorship. I find it rather amusing and ironic that in today's world a book on racism would be banned so quickly from a high school. It's laughable that ONE sole complaint caused one book to be banned/shelved.
I don't have a lot to say on this article, other than censorship is wrong - kids are going to read whatever they want whether you want them or not. They'll learn about sex and drugs from their peers. Parents needs to stop being so high-strung and PC about such issues and take a handle on their child's education but NOT by depriving others of an experience. In other words, if that one parent was so bothered by a racial epitepth you have to question it and suggest alternatives.
/two cents
After ranting about two important educational issues, I have to admit that even though they're quite possibly at opposite ends, censorship and ELL education go hand in hand to some degree. This country is silencing the next generation of kids with its PC behavior.
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| Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty--a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture.
~ Bertrand Arthur William Russell ~
Last year I made a post on my personal blog about how math is beautiful after I threw the hissy fit of the century because a student wouldn't quit with his whining about how useless math is to him and everyone else around him. I felt disillusioned with myself as a teacher and as a mathematician. After a couple of hours of reflection, I made this post:
Math is beautiful...Originally Posted March 6, 2008 | | |
| Musings of Math Teacher: Year 5 -- Teaching is not a lost artWell, last year I didn't do a real good job of keeping track of my teaching, and from what I've perused I spent a lot of time ranting/venting instead of analyzing/reflecting on my lessons. However, the great thing about teaching is that every day is a blank slate bursting with opportunity, and thus every new school year is nothing but a plethora of adventures waiting to be explored.
I'm a bit amazed I'm going into my fifth year of teaching, to be honest. Time sure has flown from the angsty and panic!induced posts I made only four years ago as a first year teacher. Either way, if I'm ever going to leave education this year will be it. According to the NEA, half of all teachers leave the profession within the first five years. Here's to beating the odds! I mean don't feel like a veteran but neither do I feel like a newbie anymore. I'm much more confident in my teaching style. Yes, I've finally got a teaching style down - and it's a bit loony compared to other educators but it works for me. To teach their own.
So it appears that last year I made a couple of goals:- Update my professional development portfolio
- Apply to Grad School to pursue a Master's in Educational Technology w/Emphasis in Math [?]
- Start putting together a National Board Certified Portfolio
- Focus on classroom environment and multiple intelligences
- Perfect my discipline
- Focus on perfecting and diversifying my lessons to keep kids interested
- Blog more about my experience as a teacher
I'm going to have to sadly say that I only accomplished a couple of those [which I've crossed out]. The good news is that this year I am going to apply to grad school. I've looked into a couple of online programs but they seem to fall on the much more expensive side of things. I might just apply to a local university instead and hope for the best. I just need to figure out what's best for me - do I wish to go into administration later on? Or do I wish to remain as a teacher for the next 30 years? This is crucial, in my opinion, 'cause it'll dictate what school I apply to in the end 'cause they all offer different types of MA/MS degrees for educators.
I'll have to decide soon though 'cause earning an MA/MS is in my list of stuff to do before I turn 30.
So this school years starts on August 28 [Yes, on a Friday!] but teacher inservice days are August 25 - August 27. I hope that we have enough time to work in our classrooms. There's a lot of things I need to prep for my classroom. In addition, I need to start re-writing lesson plans. At least for the first two weeks of school. It seems that a teacher's work is never truly done is it? We're always working one way or another. >.<
Work it harder, make it better
Do it faster, makes us stronger
More than ever hour after
Our work is never over | | |
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