Waiting for Ashton

Negative Nessy

I don’t like the person I’m becoming… :( Since working at NNMS, I have become more and more negative.  I feel like I’m ALWAYS complaining about something. Or frowning.  Or have a headache.  Or yelling.  My patience is GONE!  AND I DON’T LIKE IT!  Can I have the old me back?

Over the summer, I lovedddd teaching!  Now it feels like a chore.  We’re constantly ridiculed and beat down at school by the administration.  And because the “leaders” at school won’t hold anyone but the teachers “accountable” for their actions, the students are OUT OF CONTROL!  When I tell you the students run the school…THE STUDENTS DICTATE WHAT GOES ON AT THAT SCHOOL.  I feel like a licensed babysitter because I can guarantee you, not much teaching and learning goes on, much to the detriment of the children. 

We’ve had so many visitors at the school, and they’ve all been appalled by the level of disrespect from the students towards one another, themselves, and the teachers.  Shoot! And visitors!

My days are so unpredictable.  Today, for instance, I had my homeroom class for FOUR PERIODS!  I didn’t even have a planning because we were holding indefinitely.  This isn’t unusual at NNMS… but in the faculty meetings, we’re being chewed out because the students didn’t do well on the 9 weeks exam… ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!  When did we have time to get through all the objectives on the pacing guide when we're STILL holding kids....during the 2nd 9 weeks?

In addition to being negative all the time, I have fallen behind on my work for grad school.  I am at the NNMS ridiculously late most days of the week. And when I come home, I just forget all about MTC and Ole Miss.  I’m usually praying for some mercy and patience for the following day.  Before I know it, it’s 5am the following morning and time to face dreadful front doors on NNMS once again.  This is so out of character for me!!!

(On a positive note...)

Ashley Johnson and Bill Doar have been invaluable throughout these past two months.  In addition, many TFA’ers are constantly encouraging me (via phone, FB, twitter, txt, etc.) to keep my head up and fight the good fight.  Reminding me why I’m in this place and why I’m going through this “storm.”

I know (hope…) things will get better.  In the meantime, I’m sure my text messages will continue to consist of one of the following three messages:

“OMGN!”

“SMH”

“FML”

Come on Ashton…Pop out already.  This isn’t funny anymore…

Reflections

The weeks between September 11 and October 9

I incorporated 2 new assessment tools in my class.  The first was a test similar to the "Fun with Functions" test.  I used the "matching" method to assess my students' understanding of scientific notation.  Each test had a unique sent of cards, so it was very important that the students kept all the cards together and did not swap cards. (Mistake #1). Also, there were about 16 cards per student with only about 10 question on the test. (Mistake #2) For my first class, the assessment worked REALLY well.  However, for the remaining classes, it was a disaster.  Despite specific instructions, several students dropped pieces on the floor, swapped pieces with a neighbor, and took pieces with them when they left the class.  By the end of the day, I was seeing pieces of my test down the hall. And because the pieces were mixed up, several students did in fact have the correct answer, but because they had a card from a different test, their answers didn't always match the answer key for their test number.

It seemed the students were excited about the idea of  the new assessment style, but there were too many cards per student and too much room for error.  In the future, I will do a better job of color coding the cards, creating fewer cards, and requiring the students to write the letter AND the number/answer on their test.  For the first 2 classes, I only required that they write the letter.  For the remaining classes, I required that they write the letter AND answer.  That's how I came to the realization that the pieces were allll mixed up! :(

MCT2 - MCT2 - MCT2 - MCT2

I am so tired of hearing about this state test. That’s alllll we hear about in the faculty meetings, parent phone calls, district meetings, in the hallways- they want us to “teach to the test”. And I’m not sure that I agree with that!

When I chose to enter the education world, my goal was (and still is) to empower my youngsters to excel in whatever they set their minds to, including my math class. Too many of my students came to me gradeeee levels behind, and my mission is to teach them the foundational math concepts, so the latter material will be easier to grasp. Being pressured to “teach to the test” allows very little room for me to do so. When I presented my concerns to the principal, her response was, “Why do you think we have calculators? Give em the calculators!” Is a TI-83 plus really the solution to this problem? Absolutely not!

This chapter focused on several topics, but the one I feel applied most to math and my current situation was the section on standardized testing. Several helpful tips were given to ease the minds of the parents and students when it comes to the seemingly colossal MCT2. Some included putting the parents at ease, providing the parents with information, accurate information, concerning the test, requirements, and purpose. Lastly, making sure the parents understand the difference between percentages correct and percentiles.

These tips are extremely helpful and I will definitely keep this advice in mind when presented with questions or concerns related to the state test. I’m not used to the state test being such a big deal. If the teachers teach the information from the framework, ensure that the students are comprehending and applying the information taught, in addition to understanding foundational information related to the subject area, the state scores will fall in place.