Webbed Feet

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

I love Dinah Zike...but not in an inappropriate way.

We had our first Spanish test for the summer school session, and some of the kids ripped it a new one, which really suprised me. I was impressed at how well many of them did. However, a majority of them struggled with the section on the test in which they were asked to conjugate the verb "estar." The next day we made the "fold it like a hot dog, then fold it like a hamburger" books and then wrote the pronoun on the outside and the corresponding verb form on the inside. Then we reviewed the conjugations and it seemed like they understood it well...but the real test would be to see if they were able to retain the information better. Then I explained to them that this is an excellent way to study, instead of just reading their notes. Most of the students were oblivious to the possibility that there is a different way to study instead of skimming over class notes, and ideas like using flash cards or anything was a foreign concept to them. The next time I taught Spanish, we reviewed "estar" and the conjugations, and to my suprise, some of the students actually used the "fold it like a hot dog, then fold it like a hamburger" book to study! Those who studied remembered the conjugations much better!

Sunday, June 18, 2006

The important thing is not to stop questioning - Albert Einstein

Every passing day brings me nearer to taking off the training wheels we call summer school in Holly Springs and sending me off all by myself to my high school in the Delta. Just like that kid who has no fear of riding his bike as long as he has the safety net of training wheels, I feel like every day I am gaining confidence as a teacher. However, I know that the day will come when those training wheels must come off (Dad! Training wheels aren't "cool" anymore! I don't want them and nobody else has them!). We've all been there, the first ride after the wheels come off, and do I really need to explain how it goes? I didn't think so, but I'm going to anyway. All is well for the first few yards, but then the rider starts to lose balance, and wobbles to the left, overcorrects and wobbles to the right, another overcorrection sends the rider careening off the sidewalk where he either bails, or sticks it out to the end. Either way, a bloody mess ensues. I feel confident right now, but eventually the wheels will come off. I will make sure to have my first aid kit handy.

With only six students in the summer school class, formal questioning strategies are hard to employ. It seems like randomly calling on students to answer questions puts more pressure on the students that normally would not answer in class because their number "comes up" more frequently than it would in a larger class. Dread sets in, and at least in my class it seems that it causes some of the students to freeze up. Despite the "Dread Factor," cold-calling has its benefits. I have seen that it keeps the kids awake, and almost all of them are paying attention almost all of the time. I like awake students. I care that my students are comfortable in class, but I will gladly sacrifice student comfort for student participation. Participation, even very basic, simple, and watered-down means learning is taking place. The benefits of cold-calling outweigh the pitfalls. No teaching strategy is foolproof. It will never be perfect, just deal with what you have and make it work the best you can.

Monday, June 12, 2006

No Child Left Behind?

I read a couple of the Second Years' blogs about the No Child Left Behind Act, but I didn't really think about applying it to a specific situation until I had an interview with the Principal and Assistant Principal in my school district. The Assistant Principal asked me what I thought of the NCLBA, and put me right on the hot seat. I figured that by the tone of her voice and her overall attitude that she wanted me to say that it is a worthless piece of legislation that is just another way for the proverbial "man" to keep poor people down. I told her that I wasn't very familiar with the act, in fact, the only real things that I knew were what I had read on the blogs and focus papers. I told the Assistant Principal basically two things that I gathered from the focus papers.

First of all, I told her that instead of punishing the under-performing districts by cutting access to federal funds, there should be a support system for the schools. It seems like the NCLBA is trying to scare schools into raising their levels of achievement instead of encouraging them to do so the right way. In a way, cutting the funding perpetuates the cycle. In my school district, local tax money is sparse to begin with and it would be unreasonable to ask the citizens to pick up the slack if government funds were cut off. This seemed to please Ms. Assistant Principal...then I opened my mouth again.

The second thing I told her was that despite it's flaws, the NCLBA was a necessary evil of the government. I think that schools should be held accountable for the educational welfare of it's students. I also think that administrators, especially given the salaries that many of them bring home, are ultimately the ones responsible for maintaining an environment conducive to learning. When a sports team struggles to meet expectations, rarely, if ever, are the players the ones who take the fall. Almost always it is the coach, the symbolic leader, who gets the can. I feel the same metaphor can be used for school districts. The administrators are more literally the leaders of the school districts and need to ultimately be held accountable. Teachers need to follow a plan set forth by the administration and the powers that be in a school district need to ensure that the teachers are following the plan. It is up to them.

Despite it's flaws, the NCLBA is what the government has given us to assess the effectiveness of our teachers and school districts. The way it works may not be the most efficient method, but for now, it is all we have and we need to make do.

After I finished my mini-diatribe I don't think that Ms. Assistant Principal was as happy as she was when I finished explaining my first thought on the NCLBA.