Listen. I see you can talk a big talk. But you've done this before and we both know where this road goes. You lash out at the teacher as an authority figure, you get in trouble, you see our behavior people, we call your mom, you don't do any work and you get held back a year. But I'm on to you, you 6'7" 18-yr-old freshman in my algebra I special ed class. You think if you keep acting a fool we'll keep putting you in special ed and you'll be an oversized child forever. You've been doing this for so long, you don't know anything else. You're scared to try. You're scared of a bunch of numbers and words and educational professionals who want to help you so much it's ridiculous. But I'm onto you. You can't push us away. You know why? Because we're paid to make you succeed. And? Because we're your last hope. We're your last stop on the way out to the door of high school drop-out loser-ville. Do you know where high school drop-outs end up? No jobs, no money, and shorter lowww-quality lives, my friend. And you're better than that. It's the same skills you learn out there on the street, just applied a different way. And I mean really. You're 18. You're grown. Do I really have to call your mom? Do you really want to be here raising your hand to ask to go to the bathroom and getting sent to the principal's office when you're 19? We get to keep you until you're 22, young sir. And it's not even going to be that long because I'm sick of it. I'm sick of it already and I've been here for 5 days. You've been doing this for too long and it shows. So let's just not. Let's not do this whole charade. Because it makes me tired just looking at it--looking at your history in schools, at your sad attempt to have power over others. Because that's not you. That's a mask. You could be capable of so much. You could be a model citizen-an example for others. Someone who contributes to the school and the community. You can get the grades and pass outta here. But you have to try.
This is our last chance. And it's all you, young man. It's all you.
And you better do something quick because this ain't for free. Your public k-12 education up to age 22 through special ed is free. Your GED is not. Nor is all the time you waste.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
"Many have the will to win, few have the will to *prepare* to win."
It's the night before my first professional development and I'm really nervous and excited. In all honesty, I'm getting really sick of reading about education and discussing those readings in courses because it puts education in abstraction. I am impatient now but once I begin co-teaching I'm sure I'll have a laundry list of things to learn at PD's.
Over our 2 weeks off, I've taken the time to get together with friends from the cohort and connect with friends of mine who have taught in inner city areas. It's given me food for thought. First off, it appears that those of us who've been in classrooms before, particularly urban classrooms, have a sense of maturity and foresight that the rest of us lack. They care about making connections with one another because they know we'll need the support. There's this sense to scramble to get ready for things--to read every single homework assignment, do extra credit, etc, in my courses. I feel myself resisting that urge because I'm trying to keep the perspective that I will learn so much more through experience than through discussing theory.
To be fair, though, we've had plenty of courses this summer with readings that seem very concretely applicable. For example, the workbooks on designing lessons in "Curriculum and Instruction" seem really helpful, and there are some techniques from "Content Literacy" I hope to use. The reading my new principal just sent us, the introduction to "Teach Like a Champion," by Doug Lemov, seems very useful. It blows the other readings into the water in terms of perceived usefulness. This was only the intro, but the book describes very concrete ways to get students' attention, save time, hold them accountable for class participation and achievement, and encourage learning. I found myself taking particular note of the strategies my instructors this summer used with us as a class in addition to the ones they described. They were clearly very skilled. Lemov makes a valuable point--theory is wonderful but it's also helpful to know what to do at 8:25am when x, y, or z is happening. Of course teaching isn't exactly a formula, but to have ideas for what to do when, and how to shape a valuable atmosphere seems important!
I guess I've just been doing my best. I've been doing my best to do well in school this summer and so far I have. I've taken the readings seriously, the writings seriously, I've taken the discussions and the lessons to heart. I've learned more than I ever thought I would, really.
Lemov quotes coaching legend Bobby Knight as saying, "Many have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win." It's making me think a lot about what it means to prepare and how I best feel prepared. Preparing takes foresight and planning. A person who prepares well takes small actions over time that lead to a larger event so that when the larger event comes, they are ready. I believe in adopting a mindset that works for you, a positive attitude that helps you get through constructively any ups and downs you might have. That mind-set can then guide everything else.
When I am teaching more of the lessons and have specifics to prepare, I will do so. The example Lemov gives is of a teacher who rehearsed her questions for her students during her commute to school and anticipated incorrect answers so she could think of follow-up questions to each one. This allowed her mind to be freer to observe her students in class and make sure they were on task. I look forward to those specific steps I can take to feel prepared. Until then I'll have to continue to think about what it will take for me to "win" here, or be successful as a teacher.
Over our 2 weeks off, I've taken the time to get together with friends from the cohort and connect with friends of mine who have taught in inner city areas. It's given me food for thought. First off, it appears that those of us who've been in classrooms before, particularly urban classrooms, have a sense of maturity and foresight that the rest of us lack. They care about making connections with one another because they know we'll need the support. There's this sense to scramble to get ready for things--to read every single homework assignment, do extra credit, etc, in my courses. I feel myself resisting that urge because I'm trying to keep the perspective that I will learn so much more through experience than through discussing theory.
To be fair, though, we've had plenty of courses this summer with readings that seem very concretely applicable. For example, the workbooks on designing lessons in "Curriculum and Instruction" seem really helpful, and there are some techniques from "Content Literacy" I hope to use. The reading my new principal just sent us, the introduction to "Teach Like a Champion," by Doug Lemov, seems very useful. It blows the other readings into the water in terms of perceived usefulness. This was only the intro, but the book describes very concrete ways to get students' attention, save time, hold them accountable for class participation and achievement, and encourage learning. I found myself taking particular note of the strategies my instructors this summer used with us as a class in addition to the ones they described. They were clearly very skilled. Lemov makes a valuable point--theory is wonderful but it's also helpful to know what to do at 8:25am when x, y, or z is happening. Of course teaching isn't exactly a formula, but to have ideas for what to do when, and how to shape a valuable atmosphere seems important!
I guess I've just been doing my best. I've been doing my best to do well in school this summer and so far I have. I've taken the readings seriously, the writings seriously, I've taken the discussions and the lessons to heart. I've learned more than I ever thought I would, really.
Lemov quotes coaching legend Bobby Knight as saying, "Many have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win." It's making me think a lot about what it means to prepare and how I best feel prepared. Preparing takes foresight and planning. A person who prepares well takes small actions over time that lead to a larger event so that when the larger event comes, they are ready. I believe in adopting a mindset that works for you, a positive attitude that helps you get through constructively any ups and downs you might have. That mind-set can then guide everything else.
When I am teaching more of the lessons and have specifics to prepare, I will do so. The example Lemov gives is of a teacher who rehearsed her questions for her students during her commute to school and anticipated incorrect answers so she could think of follow-up questions to each one. This allowed her mind to be freer to observe her students in class and make sure they were on task. I look forward to those specific steps I can take to feel prepared. Until then I'll have to continue to think about what it will take for me to "win" here, or be successful as a teacher.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Math and feminism
We learned all about the federal documents that students with disabilities have in "Inclusion" today. This week we'll be seeing a lot of examples of IEPs (Individualized Education Plan) and associated documents. I can't remember its official name but today we went over how students with disabilities begin planning for their futures when they're 14. While Dr. G points out a lot of the faults in the federal and local systems, it seems really well-designed to me. Even as someone of my generation, it occurs to me that at one point, students didn't have this. I think it's really cool that as soon as students are 14, their education can be tailored to the most important skills they need. There are also government programs for kids up to age 22 where they can work in some capacity for a company and receive a stipend. The example Dr. G gave was a greeter at Walmart. It might take a student with disabilities time to learn how to greet people appropriately and the earlier that student identifies a goal, the earlier work can begin on getting there because it will take extra time. It is very individualized, but to me that's the coolest part. These kids can learn real-life skills in school. The goal is always self-sufficiency. So sometimes it's learning how to tie shoes or count change or do dishes or whatever. But I just think it's really amazing that the goal is self-sufficiency and it seems like a really practical approach to get there. If the best they can do is live in a group home, then you shoot for that. If a realistic goal is college, you shoot for that. I really enjoyed the class because it really just made me admire the disabilities programs we have in the US. I know we have a long way to go but they're really pretty sophisticated. Anything we can do to make quality of life better for everyone, including people with disabilities, the less we are going to have to worry about providing other services (ie: for homeless, poverty, ER health care) and the better it makes us as human beings that make up the US, I think.
In "Content Literacy" Matt brought in his 2 yr old boy which was really adorable. We had to cut class short since we were a little limited by the distraction of the very adorable and sometimes crying child. However, it was enough to get the gears of my brain turning a little bit.
We've been reading this book on incorporating math and literacy, which definitely has its challenges. However I've really enjoyed parts of the book that explain how to talk about math problems as a class. There's this theory that kids need to be shown how to think as they read, and the same could go for problem-solving and reading in math. So as a teacher you model your metacognition and think-aloud your strategies as you read. These are things all literate adults do--you just don't realize you do it. Summarize, clarify, connect, predict, question, visualize, infer. I think there are some additional strategies for math reading as well. I'm also really enamored with this idea of teaching kids how to use their textbooks. I didn't know how to use a math textbook until college. I think it will be important to model how I would read a part of a textbook, ie: read-aloud and think-aloud through a paragraph before an example, make some notes while I do it, and show that it is different from English reading. It's dense, it's harder, it takes longer. There are more concepts in a smaller amount of space. There are different expectations. I want to make textbooks less scary. Because math textbooks were always scary to me until recently. That can give kids a lot of confidence. I would also walk through an example and how I would use it, covering up the next steps and trying to guess or predict what the next steps will be. Then I would do the problem before looking at how they do it and check my answer. I would also show how this can be used for homework.
So I think that's really exciting.
I really want to write about something that came up last week and I didn't cover last week. On Wednesday I shared an article with the class. We had this activity called "Journal Club" in "Content Literacy." I think our instructor got the idea from his wife, who is a doctor. She regularly gets together with her team of doctors and they review scholarly articles relevant to their field. So we applied that and we are doing that with education. We had little math groups that we discussed these articles with. So we each brought in 2 articles. I was really excited by my second one, which was about "single-sex" high school girls' math and science classrooms. The study was done in Ontario, Canada based off of research over all of North America pointing to the fact that women are underrepresented in the math and science fields. I never would have really guessed this, but I guess girls' experiences with math and science in high school really can have a profound effect on the rest of their lives and careers. I think the hope is that through studies like this and experiments like this, girls can find more of their niche in the math and science world. The study was also prompted by the fact that girls are not called on as often as boys in these subject classes, they have less talk time, and they are not held to the same standards for shouting out versus hand-raising. To be completely honest, I notice these issues at play today in my Master's level classrooms. As a broad generalization, men speak out more in my cohort and they yell out more often as opposed to raising their hands. I don't feel necessarily robbed of any educational experience. Thankfully I am a grown woman and learned from my women's studies classes about how to assert myself. However, I know I am out of my element here in Boston and it's not a place like Portland, Oregon where everybody's automatically a feminist and very knowledgeable about all kinds of issues. As I've learned from what my classmates sometimes say about disabilities, this is not a very PC place! And in a way that's a true indicator of diversity, diversity of knowledge, awareness, and viewpoints. So it's good and I'm embracing it for what it is. So in any case I'm glad I got to present that article and it made me think a lot about the specific struggles girls have with math. What was interesting about this study is that it showed that women did better in the single-sex classrooms in terms of achievement and the way they perceived their competence. However, the girls still struggled with some attitudes towards math, like they didn't look forward to it as much as boys generally do and they put way more effort into math in the single-sex room than girls did in co-ed environments or than boys did in general. I'm not sure if there are some parts of math that are more challenging for girls naturally or if there are some societal issues at play here. It's not so sexy for a girl to be good at math or something, is my guess. It could also be limitations of the study.
As a previous gender studies major, I hope to be sensitive to any gender/sexuality issues at play in my classroom. I really hope my experiences and studies will serve me. I also hope it will remind me to be open to new information and to remember that although I know my own perspective as a woman and I've read about other perspectives, there are a lot of perspectives I don't know! It behooves me to learn about others and help them advocate for themselves in new ways that they need too.
In "Content Literacy" Matt brought in his 2 yr old boy which was really adorable. We had to cut class short since we were a little limited by the distraction of the very adorable and sometimes crying child. However, it was enough to get the gears of my brain turning a little bit.
We've been reading this book on incorporating math and literacy, which definitely has its challenges. However I've really enjoyed parts of the book that explain how to talk about math problems as a class. There's this theory that kids need to be shown how to think as they read, and the same could go for problem-solving and reading in math. So as a teacher you model your metacognition and think-aloud your strategies as you read. These are things all literate adults do--you just don't realize you do it. Summarize, clarify, connect, predict, question, visualize, infer. I think there are some additional strategies for math reading as well. I'm also really enamored with this idea of teaching kids how to use their textbooks. I didn't know how to use a math textbook until college. I think it will be important to model how I would read a part of a textbook, ie: read-aloud and think-aloud through a paragraph before an example, make some notes while I do it, and show that it is different from English reading. It's dense, it's harder, it takes longer. There are more concepts in a smaller amount of space. There are different expectations. I want to make textbooks less scary. Because math textbooks were always scary to me until recently. That can give kids a lot of confidence. I would also walk through an example and how I would use it, covering up the next steps and trying to guess or predict what the next steps will be. Then I would do the problem before looking at how they do it and check my answer. I would also show how this can be used for homework.
So I think that's really exciting.
I really want to write about something that came up last week and I didn't cover last week. On Wednesday I shared an article with the class. We had this activity called "Journal Club" in "Content Literacy." I think our instructor got the idea from his wife, who is a doctor. She regularly gets together with her team of doctors and they review scholarly articles relevant to their field. So we applied that and we are doing that with education. We had little math groups that we discussed these articles with. So we each brought in 2 articles. I was really excited by my second one, which was about "single-sex" high school girls' math and science classrooms. The study was done in Ontario, Canada based off of research over all of North America pointing to the fact that women are underrepresented in the math and science fields. I never would have really guessed this, but I guess girls' experiences with math and science in high school really can have a profound effect on the rest of their lives and careers. I think the hope is that through studies like this and experiments like this, girls can find more of their niche in the math and science world. The study was also prompted by the fact that girls are not called on as often as boys in these subject classes, they have less talk time, and they are not held to the same standards for shouting out versus hand-raising. To be completely honest, I notice these issues at play today in my Master's level classrooms. As a broad generalization, men speak out more in my cohort and they yell out more often as opposed to raising their hands. I don't feel necessarily robbed of any educational experience. Thankfully I am a grown woman and learned from my women's studies classes about how to assert myself. However, I know I am out of my element here in Boston and it's not a place like Portland, Oregon where everybody's automatically a feminist and very knowledgeable about all kinds of issues. As I've learned from what my classmates sometimes say about disabilities, this is not a very PC place! And in a way that's a true indicator of diversity, diversity of knowledge, awareness, and viewpoints. So it's good and I'm embracing it for what it is. So in any case I'm glad I got to present that article and it made me think a lot about the specific struggles girls have with math. What was interesting about this study is that it showed that women did better in the single-sex classrooms in terms of achievement and the way they perceived their competence. However, the girls still struggled with some attitudes towards math, like they didn't look forward to it as much as boys generally do and they put way more effort into math in the single-sex room than girls did in co-ed environments or than boys did in general. I'm not sure if there are some parts of math that are more challenging for girls naturally or if there are some societal issues at play here. It's not so sexy for a girl to be good at math or something, is my guess. It could also be limitations of the study.
As a previous gender studies major, I hope to be sensitive to any gender/sexuality issues at play in my classroom. I really hope my experiences and studies will serve me. I also hope it will remind me to be open to new information and to remember that although I know my own perspective as a woman and I've read about other perspectives, there are a lot of perspectives I don't know! It behooves me to learn about others and help them advocate for themselves in new ways that they need too.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Integrating math, literacy, special ed, ELL, etc, etc
I'm starting to really itch to get in the classrooms. I think we all are. The time's a gettin nearer!
Yesterday I had some internet troubles and didn't get to update but class was very exciting. Dr. G gave a faux math lesson to show examples of how one could give accommodations and modifications to special ed students in what's called an "Inclusion" model classroom--where special ed kids are mixed in with general ed kids instead of in a separate classroom entirely. I really like the Inclusion model, although I'm sure it's difficult in practice...it makes a statement that we are all in this together and people with disabilities live among us and we all have to learn to work together. As Dr. G says, these people with disabilities will be, and are, our co-workers, friends, employers, etc. So learning skills now to interact and accommodate is important!! It was mostly funny just to have a flashback to high school...when else do you get a "fake" high school lesson? It was funny. It was fun. It made me think about teaching a little, about how I would explain things more simply. Because our most recent school is college, it's hard to think in high school language. I have a feeling I may be tempted to make things more complicated than necessary.
"Content Literacy" has been a little challenging because literacy and math have a different kind of relationship than the other subjects. I found myself reminded of my old high school math teacher's experimental project of giving us a pop math article to read and respond to in an essay form. He talked it over with the honor's English teacher and they made it a fun sort of experiment. We talked about how writing about different content areas in English is really ideal because the goal of English is that you have to write anyway...whereas in Math you have to find all these "sneaky" ways to tuck things in. Like this book we are reading suggests having a word wall of math vocab words, have talking exercises where kids talk over math strategies with a partner, make their own graphic organizers where they explain problem-solving steps, etc. It really made me realize how math is like a different language--that's why it has special implications for ELL and even special ed kids. The fact that it doesn't involve written English as much makes me kind of want to capitalize on that to get everyone on the same page. So I'm sure my opinions will evolve over time. I like the idea though of teaching kids how to use textbooks--covering up the answers of the examples and trying the problems themselves before they move onto the next step, etc.
There is definitely more to reflect on but I'm starting to feel like I can't write complete sentences so I'll have to get back at it tomorrow! Gotta love night class. :)
Yesterday I had some internet troubles and didn't get to update but class was very exciting. Dr. G gave a faux math lesson to show examples of how one could give accommodations and modifications to special ed students in what's called an "Inclusion" model classroom--where special ed kids are mixed in with general ed kids instead of in a separate classroom entirely. I really like the Inclusion model, although I'm sure it's difficult in practice...it makes a statement that we are all in this together and people with disabilities live among us and we all have to learn to work together. As Dr. G says, these people with disabilities will be, and are, our co-workers, friends, employers, etc. So learning skills now to interact and accommodate is important!! It was mostly funny just to have a flashback to high school...when else do you get a "fake" high school lesson? It was funny. It was fun. It made me think about teaching a little, about how I would explain things more simply. Because our most recent school is college, it's hard to think in high school language. I have a feeling I may be tempted to make things more complicated than necessary.
"Content Literacy" has been a little challenging because literacy and math have a different kind of relationship than the other subjects. I found myself reminded of my old high school math teacher's experimental project of giving us a pop math article to read and respond to in an essay form. He talked it over with the honor's English teacher and they made it a fun sort of experiment. We talked about how writing about different content areas in English is really ideal because the goal of English is that you have to write anyway...whereas in Math you have to find all these "sneaky" ways to tuck things in. Like this book we are reading suggests having a word wall of math vocab words, have talking exercises where kids talk over math strategies with a partner, make their own graphic organizers where they explain problem-solving steps, etc. It really made me realize how math is like a different language--that's why it has special implications for ELL and even special ed kids. The fact that it doesn't involve written English as much makes me kind of want to capitalize on that to get everyone on the same page. So I'm sure my opinions will evolve over time. I like the idea though of teaching kids how to use textbooks--covering up the answers of the examples and trying the problems themselves before they move onto the next step, etc.
There is definitely more to reflect on but I'm starting to feel like I can't write complete sentences so I'll have to get back at it tomorrow! Gotta love night class. :)
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Acceptance
I had a friend in college who was really accepting and she said she got it from her mother. This friend of mine expressed "acceptance" in a way I had never seen before. When she hears a new piece of information, she really hears it. She doesn't reject it or ignore it. It's hard to explain. She's accepting in a way that leads me to believe that I bet she learns really quickly. She's so open to new things that it allows her to move on to the next thing where others might be stuck.
I find it really inspiring. We've all been in situations where we hold ourselves up by trying not to acknowledge the truth. And as cheesy as it sounds, the more I am able to see and recognize truth, the more successful I will be in Boston Public school district. My instructors give examples of things I never would have thought of. A student may be acting strange because they can only see in one eye, or because they got lupus and missed all of middle school. Tonight Dr. G said that many students come into high school without ever graduating middle school. She talked about how she once had a class half made up of students who could only speak Spanish and had never been in a classroom before and half made up of students who were trying to test into honor's courses for the next year--in English. I was just in awe. I think she said that she even had a para-professional special ed specialist who also couldn't speak English. She emphasized the need to just work with what you have. She made the analogy of how she as an administrator has to work with what she has as a staff, we are imperfect too. This Fall my cohort and I may be surprised by all kinds of crazy situations that seem impossible to effectively teach in. And I guess we just have to accept it. Because the sooner we accept it, the sooner we're going to be able to move forward and do something about it.
I find it really inspiring. We've all been in situations where we hold ourselves up by trying not to acknowledge the truth. And as cheesy as it sounds, the more I am able to see and recognize truth, the more successful I will be in Boston Public school district. My instructors give examples of things I never would have thought of. A student may be acting strange because they can only see in one eye, or because they got lupus and missed all of middle school. Tonight Dr. G said that many students come into high school without ever graduating middle school. She talked about how she once had a class half made up of students who could only speak Spanish and had never been in a classroom before and half made up of students who were trying to test into honor's courses for the next year--in English. I was just in awe. I think she said that she even had a para-professional special ed specialist who also couldn't speak English. She emphasized the need to just work with what you have. She made the analogy of how she as an administrator has to work with what she has as a staff, we are imperfect too. This Fall my cohort and I may be surprised by all kinds of crazy situations that seem impossible to effectively teach in. And I guess we just have to accept it. Because the sooner we accept it, the sooner we're going to be able to move forward and do something about it.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Education just ain't what it used to be
I definitely picked up a theme in today's classes. Things ain't what they used to be. Thankfully, the realm of education is a rapidly evolving world. I think teachers were saying things like that to me when I was in gradeschool. "We don't teach like they used to." It's only natural. It's crazy to think just how many ground-breaking changes have occurred in my lifetime like the internet and the prevalent use of cell phones.
When I was born, Autism was a new thing. Now, that generation of discovered autistic kids are maturing to adulthood, so Dr. G says. These kids are turning 19 and 20 and we have no idea what to do with them. I think it's really interesting too that this is a "newer" disease. Is it really just "new" or is it like depression in the way that it occurred for a long time but never had a name or was talked about? Maybe I'll find out when the group researching Autism presents.
In "Inclusion" we talked about how elite public schools don't know what to do with their autistic students. There are 3 public schools in Boston you have to test into and they are very competitive. Children with Asberger's can often do very well in school but struggle with social cues in ways that would disrupt a classroom. So these kids test into the school and all of a sudden they're just there in these competitive schools. Some of these schools have been around for 50 or even 200 years because it's New England and it's Boston. One thing I have learned about this place is that history runs deep. History is an overpowering force when it comes to so many things--mainly politics and governance and how it effects life out here. And people just feel set in their ways and traditions. The default of doing things as they have been done is often easier than change. Which I find funny in a place they call the "Athens of the US," with all these educational institutions. Such an interesting blend.
So Dr. G talked about how these schools are having to change their culture and their approach to working with kids. These kids with Asberger's need accommodations like there haven't been before. Even if there were intelligent and successful blind and deaf people in such competitive high schools, they would be given the same "sink or swim" treatment as everyone else. Yet, with student's with Asberger's, they are physically unable to do things we think of as within their control. Say, for example, a student with Asberger's has to walk along a certain line of floor pattern to get out the door. If a bully steps in front of them on the line, that student with Asberger's literally *cannot* move around the bully. They are physically incapable of it. They need those routines and they need those idiosyncracies. After all, the brain commands the body, and the brains of people with Asberger's are clearly just different from ours. I think this is really important to understand because I could see how people would expect that person with Asberger's to adjust or treat them with scorn, cynicism, or going all control freak. The good news is we now have more information about the disease and its symptoms and can therefore understand and accommodate such individuals.
I am also learning that Boston is not such a P.C. place. It is incredibly diverse. There is that whole liberal culture here, yes. But there is also the mean grit of the city and it is full of all different types. I have to admit, I am actually shocked and sometimes appalled by what my classmates sometimes say about disabilities. I think it's important to question accommodations and modifications we make for those with disabilities because the proof is in the pudding. Historically, when we first started making accommodations for students with disabilities, the pendulum swung the other way and suddenly things were better for kids with disabilities than they were for regular ed students and that's not fair either. So that balance is important and it's important to question. But it's also a sensitive topic. And I guess I just feel like I was raised with an understanding that some people are different. Some people have handicaps. Some people are gay. Some people are just weird. And they all have a place in society. I could go even further, but I'll stop there. These concepts I thought were commonplace, like making accommodations for people with disabilities and making sure they aren't being bullied (even if they don't realize they are being bullied, because some kids with these disorders don't) are things that are questionable to some of my peers. And I guess I should start accepting it. I probably had a really good education and exposure to how to treat people with disabilities and from all my work with mentoring and based on my nurturing approach I think that maintaining peace in the classroom and making sure everyone feels safe is just a no-brainer. And while members of my cohort would probably agree on those last two points, the "how" may differ. I once heard a mom say that new moms often think there's only one right way to do things and they don't realize there can be more than one way. I imagine the same could be true for teaching. Rather than judging my peers, I hope to see the questioning as healthy and understand that I may sometimes disagree with others' teaching methods but there is also more than one way.
In "Content Literacy" we also discussed how teaching has become more dynamic than it used to be. Teachers put more effort into making things interesting and engaging for the kids. Activities are designed so that kids have 3-dimensional interactions with the text, like bringing in celery if celery is mentioned in the story to pass around so everyone can feel it. You're getting tactile senses involved. There's modeling metacognition so students can learn about the reading process from you. There's pre-reading activities so that kids learn about words they may struggle with before they even struggle with them. There's post-reading activities that are creative. It's crazy. And yet it makes so much sense. The kind of reading strategies we are learning about weave the classroom into this sort of web where no one gets left behind and no one falls between the cracks. Or at least, struggling readers are identified early on so that they can receive the help that they need. I think it's really cool. I just hope to come up with ways it can be used for math.
I feel my confidence level increasing--in terms of walking into Dorchester and teaching kids in the Fall. I feel confident because we're all doing this together and it's started to boost me a little bit. It's nice to get to know other math interns at my high school. I'm beginning to see their strengths and get to know their personalities. I think we're all starting to get a little excited for the Fall.
When I was born, Autism was a new thing. Now, that generation of discovered autistic kids are maturing to adulthood, so Dr. G says. These kids are turning 19 and 20 and we have no idea what to do with them. I think it's really interesting too that this is a "newer" disease. Is it really just "new" or is it like depression in the way that it occurred for a long time but never had a name or was talked about? Maybe I'll find out when the group researching Autism presents.
In "Inclusion" we talked about how elite public schools don't know what to do with their autistic students. There are 3 public schools in Boston you have to test into and they are very competitive. Children with Asberger's can often do very well in school but struggle with social cues in ways that would disrupt a classroom. So these kids test into the school and all of a sudden they're just there in these competitive schools. Some of these schools have been around for 50 or even 200 years because it's New England and it's Boston. One thing I have learned about this place is that history runs deep. History is an overpowering force when it comes to so many things--mainly politics and governance and how it effects life out here. And people just feel set in their ways and traditions. The default of doing things as they have been done is often easier than change. Which I find funny in a place they call the "Athens of the US," with all these educational institutions. Such an interesting blend.
So Dr. G talked about how these schools are having to change their culture and their approach to working with kids. These kids with Asberger's need accommodations like there haven't been before. Even if there were intelligent and successful blind and deaf people in such competitive high schools, they would be given the same "sink or swim" treatment as everyone else. Yet, with student's with Asberger's, they are physically unable to do things we think of as within their control. Say, for example, a student with Asberger's has to walk along a certain line of floor pattern to get out the door. If a bully steps in front of them on the line, that student with Asberger's literally *cannot* move around the bully. They are physically incapable of it. They need those routines and they need those idiosyncracies. After all, the brain commands the body, and the brains of people with Asberger's are clearly just different from ours. I think this is really important to understand because I could see how people would expect that person with Asberger's to adjust or treat them with scorn, cynicism, or going all control freak. The good news is we now have more information about the disease and its symptoms and can therefore understand and accommodate such individuals.
I am also learning that Boston is not such a P.C. place. It is incredibly diverse. There is that whole liberal culture here, yes. But there is also the mean grit of the city and it is full of all different types. I have to admit, I am actually shocked and sometimes appalled by what my classmates sometimes say about disabilities. I think it's important to question accommodations and modifications we make for those with disabilities because the proof is in the pudding. Historically, when we first started making accommodations for students with disabilities, the pendulum swung the other way and suddenly things were better for kids with disabilities than they were for regular ed students and that's not fair either. So that balance is important and it's important to question. But it's also a sensitive topic. And I guess I just feel like I was raised with an understanding that some people are different. Some people have handicaps. Some people are gay. Some people are just weird. And they all have a place in society. I could go even further, but I'll stop there. These concepts I thought were commonplace, like making accommodations for people with disabilities and making sure they aren't being bullied (even if they don't realize they are being bullied, because some kids with these disorders don't) are things that are questionable to some of my peers. And I guess I should start accepting it. I probably had a really good education and exposure to how to treat people with disabilities and from all my work with mentoring and based on my nurturing approach I think that maintaining peace in the classroom and making sure everyone feels safe is just a no-brainer. And while members of my cohort would probably agree on those last two points, the "how" may differ. I once heard a mom say that new moms often think there's only one right way to do things and they don't realize there can be more than one way. I imagine the same could be true for teaching. Rather than judging my peers, I hope to see the questioning as healthy and understand that I may sometimes disagree with others' teaching methods but there is also more than one way.
In "Content Literacy" we also discussed how teaching has become more dynamic than it used to be. Teachers put more effort into making things interesting and engaging for the kids. Activities are designed so that kids have 3-dimensional interactions with the text, like bringing in celery if celery is mentioned in the story to pass around so everyone can feel it. You're getting tactile senses involved. There's modeling metacognition so students can learn about the reading process from you. There's pre-reading activities so that kids learn about words they may struggle with before they even struggle with them. There's post-reading activities that are creative. It's crazy. And yet it makes so much sense. The kind of reading strategies we are learning about weave the classroom into this sort of web where no one gets left behind and no one falls between the cracks. Or at least, struggling readers are identified early on so that they can receive the help that they need. I think it's really cool. I just hope to come up with ways it can be used for math.
I feel my confidence level increasing--in terms of walking into Dorchester and teaching kids in the Fall. I feel confident because we're all doing this together and it's started to boost me a little bit. It's nice to get to know other math interns at my high school. I'm beginning to see their strengths and get to know their personalities. I think we're all starting to get a little excited for the Fall.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Week 3
Ok so I was kinda bad last week about posting. I have some notes from the classes I can go back and reflect on when I have a little more time. For now I'll just take a moment to reflect on the classes.
In "Inclusion" we discussed Autism and how to make accommodations and modifications for a student on the autistic spectrum. Being a math teacher, I think the connection between students with Asberger's and skills in mathematics is really interesting. As Dr. G discussed how students with Asberger's like learning about maps, globes, and routes because they tend to be regular and consistent, I thought that was really interesting. It's really pretty amazing in a way that what is often seen as a deficit (a student with Asberger's inflexibility) is actually really beautiful. What that student is trying to do is anchor themselves in something grounded and real in this world that doesn't change. I think we all have our own ways of doing that and I think that was part of Dr. G's point--we all have our quirks, some are just more pronounced than others.
Dr. G's daughter spoke to the class about her work with autistic children, which was also interesting. She gave the advice to be patient and not to give up on the chid. I really admire that she's passionate about what she does and I can't imagine how much she's learned. I think my biggest take-away from her talk and much of this class is that it's important to teach in "preventative" measures as well as being in the present. From my (little) experience teaching, it's helpful to put some space between some students if possible if you anticipate them setting each other off or distracting each other from class. I think accommodating for students with disabilities could be a lot like this--just about knowing their behaviors and personalities and anticipating their needs and how they are going to act and interact with other students. We will be working on some lesson plans soon for the course, and I'm sure that will give me much more to think about.
We also have case studies for the course, which I hope to get a lot out of. They're written in a 3rd person omniscient form, focusing on the point of view of the teacher. I guess the idea is that usually the teacher could have done something to prevent the problematic situation with the student from occurring. It's a little nerve-wracking to read because I can easily see myself in their position as a new teacher or a teacher trying to do their best. It's amazing how much these exercises make me appreciate my parents and anyone who ever taught me.
Speaking of nerve-wracking, I think I'm starting to get a little more confident about my teaching and the challenges I am up against. I think it helps that we are forming a sort of community and we are getting a lot out of our time with our instructors. Also, we talked about confidence and teaching today in "Content Literacy." Confidence comes from knowing your subject area and knowing how to teach but it also comes from casting away your doubts and fears. It's no surprise that teachers who are more confident do better in terms of reaching kids. So I hope to learn to take that on just as much as I'm taking on the idea of being "harder" out here on the East Coast. :)
In "Inclusion" we discussed Autism and how to make accommodations and modifications for a student on the autistic spectrum. Being a math teacher, I think the connection between students with Asberger's and skills in mathematics is really interesting. As Dr. G discussed how students with Asberger's like learning about maps, globes, and routes because they tend to be regular and consistent, I thought that was really interesting. It's really pretty amazing in a way that what is often seen as a deficit (a student with Asberger's inflexibility) is actually really beautiful. What that student is trying to do is anchor themselves in something grounded and real in this world that doesn't change. I think we all have our own ways of doing that and I think that was part of Dr. G's point--we all have our quirks, some are just more pronounced than others.
Dr. G's daughter spoke to the class about her work with autistic children, which was also interesting. She gave the advice to be patient and not to give up on the chid. I really admire that she's passionate about what she does and I can't imagine how much she's learned. I think my biggest take-away from her talk and much of this class is that it's important to teach in "preventative" measures as well as being in the present. From my (little) experience teaching, it's helpful to put some space between some students if possible if you anticipate them setting each other off or distracting each other from class. I think accommodating for students with disabilities could be a lot like this--just about knowing their behaviors and personalities and anticipating their needs and how they are going to act and interact with other students. We will be working on some lesson plans soon for the course, and I'm sure that will give me much more to think about.
We also have case studies for the course, which I hope to get a lot out of. They're written in a 3rd person omniscient form, focusing on the point of view of the teacher. I guess the idea is that usually the teacher could have done something to prevent the problematic situation with the student from occurring. It's a little nerve-wracking to read because I can easily see myself in their position as a new teacher or a teacher trying to do their best. It's amazing how much these exercises make me appreciate my parents and anyone who ever taught me.
Speaking of nerve-wracking, I think I'm starting to get a little more confident about my teaching and the challenges I am up against. I think it helps that we are forming a sort of community and we are getting a lot out of our time with our instructors. Also, we talked about confidence and teaching today in "Content Literacy." Confidence comes from knowing your subject area and knowing how to teach but it also comes from casting away your doubts and fears. It's no surprise that teachers who are more confident do better in terms of reaching kids. So I hope to learn to take that on just as much as I'm taking on the idea of being "harder" out here on the East Coast. :)
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Dear sentence, I'm glad I can give you a break when you run on and on. Love, Comma
We did the coolest activity today. We learned about this teaching technique called "RAFT" where you personify something you're learning to show your own understandings of the material. The acronym stands for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic. We broke up into our subject groups and wrote our own. One of the history guys wrote a letter (format) to "sentence" (audience) from "comma" (role) about how they were "glad to be of service" (topic). It was pretty adorable.
There was another good one about a seed. It just sounds silly and it's funny to personify a seed. The voice of a seed is like, "It took like a million years to germinate even though Mom said it was only 3 days." Very silly and nerdy. I find these things funny. Anyone who knows my sense of humor could probably imagine how much I was cracking up in class today.
My favorite one, of course, was the math one my new friend Pierre wrote. It was a romantic card to multiplication sign from positive sign about why they go together. It was just so funny to hear him read it. He said he drew a picture and the front asked the question, "Why do you and me go together?" and on the inside were 2 hearts. It read, "Because if both of our values are greater than zero, me times you is greater than or equal to the sum of me and you." Hahahaha....so verrrry nerdy. Yes!
So that was my take-away from "Content Literacy." We also spend a lot of time in groups in that class talking about current issues in education that will be applicable in our experience. Today I learned about the idea of 3 spaces. In a classroom you, the teacher, are exercising authority to "make" the kids do something (1st space), and the kids have their own identity outside of that space (2nd space), but they will form an expression of identity in that space when they're being impressed upon (3rd space). It made me think more about the idea of meeting kids where they are and trying to find common ground. It will definitely take some experimentation to find that, I think, especially my first year.
Inclusion was also really interesting tonight. We got started on our group project. I am working with 3 other students to present information on students who have disabilities in the category of neurological disorders. I look forward to learning more about that.
Something about special ed really resonates with me. I just found out that the endorsement for Sped takes more time and coursework than I had previously thought...which is a bummer, but I will definitely still be thinking in those ways anyway. Ie: how can I make this material accessible for slower learners or English language learners, etc. There are lots of Sped techniques that might take a little more time or effort to employ in your teaching, but would basically benefit everyone in the class, like labeling your steps so they can easily be followed, or providing graphic organizers for material.
The thing in Inclusion that was most shocking today was our talk about drugs and weapons. It came up in the context of discussing how to discipline students in general, and also how to discipline students in Sped within the laws of Boston Public. It sounds like kids mostly throw a few punches in fights and puff their chests, but they really don't want to fight, generally speaking. It's really funny the way Dr. G talks about it. She said, "You wouldn't believe how many fights happen right in front of the school office. It's like, 'really?'" Haha. It goes to show that kids don't really want to fight, they just want to save face. A lot of what we talk about is how to diffuse situations and save face for the parents and for the kids. I appreciate that there are so many ways she showed us that we can step in and make things less awkward or tense. I'm trying to mentally prepare for the scenarios she mentions--ie speaking with parents who just got off of a 48-hr shift in the medical field. Dr. G often tells us not to assume. We basically have this role in the schools to solve problems, not to make them. It's not about ego. She even gave an example of a parent who said to a teacher, "You're white," in the middle of a conversation. That teacher literally threw up their hands and walked out of the room. They were so insulted because they thought the parent was calling them out on their racial difference and saying they couldn't understand their position as a person of color or something. It turned out the parent was saying, in their own way, "You're RIGHT," but had an accent of sorts. So Dr. G encouraged us to just ask questions and be aware of cultural sensitivities. She suggested to ask questions and explore issues instead of taking offense since there are all kinds of complicated racial, cultural, and language barriers out there we need to cross. In other words, I need to prepare myself because I'm typically not a very guarded person--which is good. I still get defensive and take things personally though, so I need to learn to take my ego out of it. However, I am going to be working with kids and families that are very guarded in a lot of ways, in addition to some of these communication and cultural differences. So I'm really glad Dr. G is telling us these stories to illustrate possible scenarios and how she has handled them successfully.
But I digress. The thing she said that was really shocking was that these kids don't really carry weapons or do drugs. She said people never believe her, but it's true, these kids don't do drugs. They can't afford it. Once in a while they dispense or sell pot, it has been found on individuals. But if they have it, they're not going to smoke it. They'd rather sell it and go get a burger. This was truly humbling. I come from a middle class background where kids have the burger and spare change for all kinds of drugs. These kids--they just want a burger. A good meal. Or sneakers apparently. Ha. Sneakers are a hot item. But also--a necessity if you don't have them--or perhaps a cultural thing of value. Dr. G keeps bringing up how these kids want sneakers for some reason. Ha--kind of random.
I just thought that was really humbling.
I'm starting to gain some confidence about being in the city and working with inner city kids. I know it'll be hard, but I'm starting to feel more eager and less nervous. I'm starting to feel like I can really do it and I must be able to if we all are, and we must be able to support each other. I'm starting to prepare myself for the ways the kids will try to take me down, try to play with me, try to break me or be rude to me. I just kind of know it's coming--from what I've heard and from what little experience I have. I know I'll probably come across as some middle class white girl--which I am--who knows nothing about their lives--which I don't. And I guess the only thing to do is acknowledge that and try to find that 3rd space where we have commonalities and where the kids can be open to learning information that they need to be successful in the world.
And difficult as it's going to be, I'm really really excited for those moments when I do connect with them, and where it's worth it. I'm excited to be taken down and to take a deep breath and keep going and take charge and get tough from it.
Oy. Listen to me. Rallying up! This week was a great start to the program. :)
There was another good one about a seed. It just sounds silly and it's funny to personify a seed. The voice of a seed is like, "It took like a million years to germinate even though Mom said it was only 3 days." Very silly and nerdy. I find these things funny. Anyone who knows my sense of humor could probably imagine how much I was cracking up in class today.
My favorite one, of course, was the math one my new friend Pierre wrote. It was a romantic card to multiplication sign from positive sign about why they go together. It was just so funny to hear him read it. He said he drew a picture and the front asked the question, "Why do you and me go together?" and on the inside were 2 hearts. It read, "Because if both of our values are greater than zero, me times you is greater than or equal to the sum of me and you." Hahahaha....so verrrry nerdy. Yes!
So that was my take-away from "Content Literacy." We also spend a lot of time in groups in that class talking about current issues in education that will be applicable in our experience. Today I learned about the idea of 3 spaces. In a classroom you, the teacher, are exercising authority to "make" the kids do something (1st space), and the kids have their own identity outside of that space (2nd space), but they will form an expression of identity in that space when they're being impressed upon (3rd space). It made me think more about the idea of meeting kids where they are and trying to find common ground. It will definitely take some experimentation to find that, I think, especially my first year.
Inclusion was also really interesting tonight. We got started on our group project. I am working with 3 other students to present information on students who have disabilities in the category of neurological disorders. I look forward to learning more about that.
Something about special ed really resonates with me. I just found out that the endorsement for Sped takes more time and coursework than I had previously thought...which is a bummer, but I will definitely still be thinking in those ways anyway. Ie: how can I make this material accessible for slower learners or English language learners, etc. There are lots of Sped techniques that might take a little more time or effort to employ in your teaching, but would basically benefit everyone in the class, like labeling your steps so they can easily be followed, or providing graphic organizers for material.
The thing in Inclusion that was most shocking today was our talk about drugs and weapons. It came up in the context of discussing how to discipline students in general, and also how to discipline students in Sped within the laws of Boston Public. It sounds like kids mostly throw a few punches in fights and puff their chests, but they really don't want to fight, generally speaking. It's really funny the way Dr. G talks about it. She said, "You wouldn't believe how many fights happen right in front of the school office. It's like, 'really?'" Haha. It goes to show that kids don't really want to fight, they just want to save face. A lot of what we talk about is how to diffuse situations and save face for the parents and for the kids. I appreciate that there are so many ways she showed us that we can step in and make things less awkward or tense. I'm trying to mentally prepare for the scenarios she mentions--ie speaking with parents who just got off of a 48-hr shift in the medical field. Dr. G often tells us not to assume. We basically have this role in the schools to solve problems, not to make them. It's not about ego. She even gave an example of a parent who said to a teacher, "You're white," in the middle of a conversation. That teacher literally threw up their hands and walked out of the room. They were so insulted because they thought the parent was calling them out on their racial difference and saying they couldn't understand their position as a person of color or something. It turned out the parent was saying, in their own way, "You're RIGHT," but had an accent of sorts. So Dr. G encouraged us to just ask questions and be aware of cultural sensitivities. She suggested to ask questions and explore issues instead of taking offense since there are all kinds of complicated racial, cultural, and language barriers out there we need to cross. In other words, I need to prepare myself because I'm typically not a very guarded person--which is good. I still get defensive and take things personally though, so I need to learn to take my ego out of it. However, I am going to be working with kids and families that are very guarded in a lot of ways, in addition to some of these communication and cultural differences. So I'm really glad Dr. G is telling us these stories to illustrate possible scenarios and how she has handled them successfully.
But I digress. The thing she said that was really shocking was that these kids don't really carry weapons or do drugs. She said people never believe her, but it's true, these kids don't do drugs. They can't afford it. Once in a while they dispense or sell pot, it has been found on individuals. But if they have it, they're not going to smoke it. They'd rather sell it and go get a burger. This was truly humbling. I come from a middle class background where kids have the burger and spare change for all kinds of drugs. These kids--they just want a burger. A good meal. Or sneakers apparently. Ha. Sneakers are a hot item. But also--a necessity if you don't have them--or perhaps a cultural thing of value. Dr. G keeps bringing up how these kids want sneakers for some reason. Ha--kind of random.
I just thought that was really humbling.
I'm starting to gain some confidence about being in the city and working with inner city kids. I know it'll be hard, but I'm starting to feel more eager and less nervous. I'm starting to feel like I can really do it and I must be able to if we all are, and we must be able to support each other. I'm starting to prepare myself for the ways the kids will try to take me down, try to play with me, try to break me or be rude to me. I just kind of know it's coming--from what I've heard and from what little experience I have. I know I'll probably come across as some middle class white girl--which I am--who knows nothing about their lives--which I don't. And I guess the only thing to do is acknowledge that and try to find that 3rd space where we have commonalities and where the kids can be open to learning information that they need to be successful in the world.
And difficult as it's going to be, I'm really really excited for those moments when I do connect with them, and where it's worth it. I'm excited to be taken down and to take a deep breath and keep going and take charge and get tough from it.
Oy. Listen to me. Rallying up! This week was a great start to the program. :)
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Getting Habituated
It's hard to believe my first week of class is almost over. It has been a whirlwind and I'm surprised I'm still in one piece. Moving cross-country has all kinds of implications you wouldn't expect.
Every time I leave Portland, Oregon, I realize how much I identify with some key "Portland" values. Preserving the environment, respect, the willingness to evolve, and the focus on social justice are just a few such values. For better or worse, the injustice of the world will be thrown at me every day this Fall in the schools, and also on the streets when I see the complex homelessness problems Boston has. The history and diversity of Boston makes everything at least a couple layers deeper than what I've seen out West.
As much as the disparity between the wealthy and the poor upsets me and being constantly confronted with it confuses me on an existential level, I know that it will give me a sense of purpose this year. There are many problems my generation is faced with that are so big. Yet I am just one person and as cliche as it is, if I am dedicating a percentage of my time to solving problems that I care about, then I am doing my part and I can find meaning in enjoying my spare time in the city.
Getting to know my instructors and cohort is continuing to be an exciting and overwhelming process. I look around the classroom of 30 or so and I'm so excited to hear about each and everyone of these individuals and their stories. I can't believe how brave, or desperate (ha), all of us are to be in this program together.
Today in Inclusion we talked about more legal nitty gritty of special ed. Every time I hear Dr. G, I have more respect for her. I reserve a special sense of admiration for people who work with those with disabilities. I was touched by her stories today about easy and simple ways to include students with disabilities. She gave examples of how the JROTC could teach the special ed (or "Sped") kids to march, even if they couldn't do all the ropes courses or whatever that all the other kids could do. Then those kids could wear their JROTC uniforms on Tuesdays and they were so proud to wear them that there was better attendance those days. Dr. G talked about including kids on sports teams. On real sports teams, not just "special" teams. She spoke of a 6'5" autistic guy whose only job was to play a few minutes once in a while and run straight to the basket when "John" got the ball. So he'd keep anyone from catching it off the rebound. He felt so important, she said, and his whole family came out to see him at the games. It just really touched me that public school staff could be so aware and sensitive and considerate. There are simple things that don't take much that go a long way, just so those kids can feel "normal." Even if they don't understand "Beloved" the same way regular ed kids do, the fact that they have the same curriculum is so important. They can pull out their "Beloved" book at lunch and feel like the other kids. I just thought that was really...well, special, for lack of a better word.
Content Literacy was fun today. We moved around a little bit. We did an activity with our high school math sub-group where we talked about where reading and writing skills are applicable in math. It was hard to come up with examples the way history or science teachers might, but I'm glad we got to talk about it. Then we did this cool thing called "Journal Clubs." Each of us has to take turns presenting a relevant peer-reviewed article to a small group. Today's presenter, a Haitian-American, told us about an article on English Second Language Learners. We learned about how integrating these kids in with the fluent kids can be really helpful, especially if you pair a high content knowledge and low English ability student with a low content knowledge and fluent English ability student. Apparently this is an argument in Sped as well. It turns out that according to some research, "tracking" only makes it more difficult to teach struggling students. If you keep them together, it allows the kids who get the material more quickly to be teachers. And we all know that nothing drills something into your head like learning to teach it. I thought that was pretty interesting too.
I'm amazed at the members of my cohort so far. Two of the math teachers learned English as a second language. One worked in a rehab center where all the "trouble" kids went because they got kicked out of public school. These are really bright, motivated people and it's a diverse group, too. (A city with DIVERSITY, I just can't get over it!)
I think my biggest take-away today was, once again, realizing just how much I have to learn from my instructors. They are those people in a room you shut up and listen to because you know they are wise. And when someone's wise AND funny, it's definitely worth listening. :)
Dr. G gave us a lot of information about how to work with parents. Boy, is she a smart lady. She gave examples of how diffusing a situation can often lead to success. For example, if a parent is (G-d forbid) about to hit their child right in front of you, finding a way to ask the parent to talk to you for a second or finding some sort of excuse to just literally "diffuse" the situation by creating more space--for example, taking a step or two back if a parent is threatening you or getting in your face--is a simple way to improve the situation. There were so many pearls of wisdom like that today. I just hope I remember them later this year!
Today was a long day--I'm just trying to get in the habit of reflecting on my "teaching." Or for now--being in class! I'm still really excited about everything!
Every time I leave Portland, Oregon, I realize how much I identify with some key "Portland" values. Preserving the environment, respect, the willingness to evolve, and the focus on social justice are just a few such values. For better or worse, the injustice of the world will be thrown at me every day this Fall in the schools, and also on the streets when I see the complex homelessness problems Boston has. The history and diversity of Boston makes everything at least a couple layers deeper than what I've seen out West.
As much as the disparity between the wealthy and the poor upsets me and being constantly confronted with it confuses me on an existential level, I know that it will give me a sense of purpose this year. There are many problems my generation is faced with that are so big. Yet I am just one person and as cliche as it is, if I am dedicating a percentage of my time to solving problems that I care about, then I am doing my part and I can find meaning in enjoying my spare time in the city.
Getting to know my instructors and cohort is continuing to be an exciting and overwhelming process. I look around the classroom of 30 or so and I'm so excited to hear about each and everyone of these individuals and their stories. I can't believe how brave, or desperate (ha), all of us are to be in this program together.
Today in Inclusion we talked about more legal nitty gritty of special ed. Every time I hear Dr. G, I have more respect for her. I reserve a special sense of admiration for people who work with those with disabilities. I was touched by her stories today about easy and simple ways to include students with disabilities. She gave examples of how the JROTC could teach the special ed (or "Sped") kids to march, even if they couldn't do all the ropes courses or whatever that all the other kids could do. Then those kids could wear their JROTC uniforms on Tuesdays and they were so proud to wear them that there was better attendance those days. Dr. G talked about including kids on sports teams. On real sports teams, not just "special" teams. She spoke of a 6'5" autistic guy whose only job was to play a few minutes once in a while and run straight to the basket when "John" got the ball. So he'd keep anyone from catching it off the rebound. He felt so important, she said, and his whole family came out to see him at the games. It just really touched me that public school staff could be so aware and sensitive and considerate. There are simple things that don't take much that go a long way, just so those kids can feel "normal." Even if they don't understand "Beloved" the same way regular ed kids do, the fact that they have the same curriculum is so important. They can pull out their "Beloved" book at lunch and feel like the other kids. I just thought that was really...well, special, for lack of a better word.
Content Literacy was fun today. We moved around a little bit. We did an activity with our high school math sub-group where we talked about where reading and writing skills are applicable in math. It was hard to come up with examples the way history or science teachers might, but I'm glad we got to talk about it. Then we did this cool thing called "Journal Clubs." Each of us has to take turns presenting a relevant peer-reviewed article to a small group. Today's presenter, a Haitian-American, told us about an article on English Second Language Learners. We learned about how integrating these kids in with the fluent kids can be really helpful, especially if you pair a high content knowledge and low English ability student with a low content knowledge and fluent English ability student. Apparently this is an argument in Sped as well. It turns out that according to some research, "tracking" only makes it more difficult to teach struggling students. If you keep them together, it allows the kids who get the material more quickly to be teachers. And we all know that nothing drills something into your head like learning to teach it. I thought that was pretty interesting too.
I'm amazed at the members of my cohort so far. Two of the math teachers learned English as a second language. One worked in a rehab center where all the "trouble" kids went because they got kicked out of public school. These are really bright, motivated people and it's a diverse group, too. (A city with DIVERSITY, I just can't get over it!)
I think my biggest take-away today was, once again, realizing just how much I have to learn from my instructors. They are those people in a room you shut up and listen to because you know they are wise. And when someone's wise AND funny, it's definitely worth listening. :)
Dr. G gave us a lot of information about how to work with parents. Boy, is she a smart lady. She gave examples of how diffusing a situation can often lead to success. For example, if a parent is (G-d forbid) about to hit their child right in front of you, finding a way to ask the parent to talk to you for a second or finding some sort of excuse to just literally "diffuse" the situation by creating more space--for example, taking a step or two back if a parent is threatening you or getting in your face--is a simple way to improve the situation. There were so many pearls of wisdom like that today. I just hope I remember them later this year!
Today was a long day--I'm just trying to get in the habit of reflecting on my "teaching." Or for now--being in class! I'm still really excited about everything!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
"It's good to be hard"
Why does one move from Portland, Oregon to a place like Boston, Massachusetts? Maybe you like the Red Sox. Maybe you're really crazy about deep snow drifts and humidity that turns your face into a pizza. Maybe you've always wanted to talk like Elmer Fudd. Suppose your dad lives there and you want a change. Perhaps there are the resources there to help you get your education practically for free.
In my case, it is definitely all the above. Ok maybe just the Elmer Fudd thing.
I've now completed 2 days of class in University of Massachusetts Boston's "Teach Next Year," program. I'm with a cohort of 30 or so students and teachers-to-be from all walks of life. For the summer, I'll be in class Monday-Thursday 5-9pm. Come September, I'll be working with a mentor teacher at Dorchester Academy. Somewhere along the way, I'm theoretically getting endorsed to teach high school math--maybe special ed, too.
After several weeks of communicating with the program, I finally made it out here Sunday. Monday, I visited the "old" Dorchester campus. It will be in a slightly new location next year. It was exciting to meet some staff and students. The bus ride to the campus was definitely an experience I'll never forget. Being a white middle class Jewish girl from the Pacific Northwest, I'd never gone as much as 10 minutes in public without seeing another white face. It was kind of exhilerating to experience that kind of difference. I am definitely educating myself as much as possible on the lay of the land and surrounding myself with people who know the lay of the land so as to stay safe and all that.
In spite of feeling a little odd, I really enjoyed seeing the campus. The staff seem like really great, helpful people and the kids seemed sweet. My mentor teacher asked the students she introduced me to to give me advice and they told me things like, "Be strict, be helpful, etc." I was struck by how sweet they seemed. I almost got a false sense of confidence until my mentor teacher showed me her students' final grades. The kids have been tracked, so while one class was 80% F's, the other had a bit more diversity. She said I'd probably be getting a "higher" tracked class as an intern, so that's somewhat uplifting. I could definitely feel my eyes get wide when I saw that paper, though. As much as I tell myself I am going to see things and hear things that are completely foreign to me, I'm pretty sure that nothing is going to prepare me for it except the actual experience itself. I feel about as excited as Kristin Wiig's character who loves surprise parties on SNL. I've got ants in my pants. And part of it's the feeling of needing to rally for something truly challenging.
My first summer term of classes are "Inclusion" and "Content Literacy." Both are taught by experienced special ed teachers. I learned more in the first night of class than I had learned in a month of teaching or any previous sit-down with an education professional. I feel really honored to have such awesome faculty.
"Inclusion" has covered a lot of legal information so far on what constitutes a disability and how students are accommodated. It's very overwhelming, yet it's taught in a clear and concise way that makes me feel like I'm absorbing a lot of information very quickly. I hope to compile a list of "tricks of the trade." Both these instructors seem to effortlessly do things that make paying attention easy, like using their body language and voices to make their message impossible to ignore. They're just big teachers. They take up big space in the classroom. Matt paces the class and moves positions and moves in and out of the rows. It feels a little more like a dialogue that way somehow. Dr. G gets us to shut up and listen by turning off the lights, speaking really softly, or beginning to leave the room. That last one was genius. It really made me think about the psychology of a high schooler. They know teaching can easily become a power struggle--even if they are not trying to annoy you they are probably going to keep talking the first time you raise your voice to get their attention. It's just psychology. They know they have the power. But if you start to do something that confuses them, like start to leave the room, or if you do something that makes them feel like they're missing something important, like repeat the same sentence over and over again very softly, then they have the motivation to stop talking and listen up.
The "Content Literacy" class is about, well, literacy, and how to make it happen for these kids. I find this class very interesting, but I think it will apply to math in a very unique way. Mostly I'm just jazzed by the compassion I see in my instructors and the opportunity to connect with my cohort. I've met all the other math teachers and a few of the teachers at Dorchester. It's so reassuring to know that there will be a cohort going through this and I will have support.
I'm super tired and it seems like my hyper-excitability is exceeded only by my overwhelmed-ness. (I am not an English teacher, I make up words all the time!) For the most part I'm excited about being in a new place, where I can bring new and different skills to a diverse whole instead of just being one of the same kind of thing, like in Portland or in college.
My Inclusion instructor suggested writing in a journal every night to get in the habit of reflecting on class. So here begins this new habit! Welcome to my journey.
For lack of a better word, I think the hardest thing about this year for me will be adjusting to the culture of the Northeast and "toughening up" a bit. Yet I moved here because I want this experience. I'm just beginning to lose some of my self-consciousness as a West-Coaster, but it's definitely different here. People are more guarded and the more ambiguous environment encourages people to be a little more in their own universe. My dad called it "harder." I saw the slogan "It's good to be hard," on the back of one of my classmates shirts tonight and decided I liked that. So simple--and for me--so true. I've got the sensitivity down. I can be patient and nice until the cows come home. What I really want to do is to learn how to be tough, and I'm sure this year will bring me all that and a lot more.
And I hope to be able to look at this later and remember how frickin rad this all is. Programs like this are doing a huge service by connecting America's most educated with America's least--people who--without the monetary or programatic incentive--might not otherwise go out of their way to work in such an environment. This is rad. And as I watch my instructors talk about their passion for their work, I'm excited to continue honing a skill I've always been told I have a knack for--observing people and responding to their needs. This combined with the chill and distance of a true Northeaster and I'll be set! So that being said, "It's hard to be good and it's good to be hard." Let the games begin.
In my case, it is definitely all the above. Ok maybe just the Elmer Fudd thing.
I've now completed 2 days of class in University of Massachusetts Boston's "Teach Next Year," program. I'm with a cohort of 30 or so students and teachers-to-be from all walks of life. For the summer, I'll be in class Monday-Thursday 5-9pm. Come September, I'll be working with a mentor teacher at Dorchester Academy. Somewhere along the way, I'm theoretically getting endorsed to teach high school math--maybe special ed, too.
After several weeks of communicating with the program, I finally made it out here Sunday. Monday, I visited the "old" Dorchester campus. It will be in a slightly new location next year. It was exciting to meet some staff and students. The bus ride to the campus was definitely an experience I'll never forget. Being a white middle class Jewish girl from the Pacific Northwest, I'd never gone as much as 10 minutes in public without seeing another white face. It was kind of exhilerating to experience that kind of difference. I am definitely educating myself as much as possible on the lay of the land and surrounding myself with people who know the lay of the land so as to stay safe and all that.
In spite of feeling a little odd, I really enjoyed seeing the campus. The staff seem like really great, helpful people and the kids seemed sweet. My mentor teacher asked the students she introduced me to to give me advice and they told me things like, "Be strict, be helpful, etc." I was struck by how sweet they seemed. I almost got a false sense of confidence until my mentor teacher showed me her students' final grades. The kids have been tracked, so while one class was 80% F's, the other had a bit more diversity. She said I'd probably be getting a "higher" tracked class as an intern, so that's somewhat uplifting. I could definitely feel my eyes get wide when I saw that paper, though. As much as I tell myself I am going to see things and hear things that are completely foreign to me, I'm pretty sure that nothing is going to prepare me for it except the actual experience itself. I feel about as excited as Kristin Wiig's character who loves surprise parties on SNL. I've got ants in my pants. And part of it's the feeling of needing to rally for something truly challenging.
My first summer term of classes are "Inclusion" and "Content Literacy." Both are taught by experienced special ed teachers. I learned more in the first night of class than I had learned in a month of teaching or any previous sit-down with an education professional. I feel really honored to have such awesome faculty.
"Inclusion" has covered a lot of legal information so far on what constitutes a disability and how students are accommodated. It's very overwhelming, yet it's taught in a clear and concise way that makes me feel like I'm absorbing a lot of information very quickly. I hope to compile a list of "tricks of the trade." Both these instructors seem to effortlessly do things that make paying attention easy, like using their body language and voices to make their message impossible to ignore. They're just big teachers. They take up big space in the classroom. Matt paces the class and moves positions and moves in and out of the rows. It feels a little more like a dialogue that way somehow. Dr. G gets us to shut up and listen by turning off the lights, speaking really softly, or beginning to leave the room. That last one was genius. It really made me think about the psychology of a high schooler. They know teaching can easily become a power struggle--even if they are not trying to annoy you they are probably going to keep talking the first time you raise your voice to get their attention. It's just psychology. They know they have the power. But if you start to do something that confuses them, like start to leave the room, or if you do something that makes them feel like they're missing something important, like repeat the same sentence over and over again very softly, then they have the motivation to stop talking and listen up.
The "Content Literacy" class is about, well, literacy, and how to make it happen for these kids. I find this class very interesting, but I think it will apply to math in a very unique way. Mostly I'm just jazzed by the compassion I see in my instructors and the opportunity to connect with my cohort. I've met all the other math teachers and a few of the teachers at Dorchester. It's so reassuring to know that there will be a cohort going through this and I will have support.
I'm super tired and it seems like my hyper-excitability is exceeded only by my overwhelmed-ness. (I am not an English teacher, I make up words all the time!) For the most part I'm excited about being in a new place, where I can bring new and different skills to a diverse whole instead of just being one of the same kind of thing, like in Portland or in college.
My Inclusion instructor suggested writing in a journal every night to get in the habit of reflecting on class. So here begins this new habit! Welcome to my journey.
For lack of a better word, I think the hardest thing about this year for me will be adjusting to the culture of the Northeast and "toughening up" a bit. Yet I moved here because I want this experience. I'm just beginning to lose some of my self-consciousness as a West-Coaster, but it's definitely different here. People are more guarded and the more ambiguous environment encourages people to be a little more in their own universe. My dad called it "harder." I saw the slogan "It's good to be hard," on the back of one of my classmates shirts tonight and decided I liked that. So simple--and for me--so true. I've got the sensitivity down. I can be patient and nice until the cows come home. What I really want to do is to learn how to be tough, and I'm sure this year will bring me all that and a lot more.
And I hope to be able to look at this later and remember how frickin rad this all is. Programs like this are doing a huge service by connecting America's most educated with America's least--people who--without the monetary or programatic incentive--might not otherwise go out of their way to work in such an environment. This is rad. And as I watch my instructors talk about their passion for their work, I'm excited to continue honing a skill I've always been told I have a knack for--observing people and responding to their needs. This combined with the chill and distance of a true Northeaster and I'll be set! So that being said, "It's hard to be good and it's good to be hard." Let the games begin.
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