This is going to be one hell of a posting for this time, because there is a Thursday from last week, and then my four last days at Clinton, then I’d like to wrap up my experience here with some closing thoughts.

Thursday the 9th, I worked on my action research project for my class by using the QW today: “Recall a time when you were in a play or had to give a speech in front of the class. How did you feel? What happened?” I got some interesting responses to interweave in with my research, and I was pleased with the results in all of the classes. I chose the quote of the day today, and it was “The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” Robert Byrne, writer. Teacher told me today that four or more teachers are being asked to leave CMS next year due to the reconstitution, and several others are being asked to reapply. It is so scary to think about how the jobs are being contingent on these test scores. I’m really frightened and disturbed by this, and I had always know it was a problem, I had just never seen it up close before. I should probably research schools and their report cards before I go and get a job, huh?

Period 1 had seventeen students today. We went through the play “Wingin’ It” about teens waiting to get enough nice comments to sent them into heaven. I was kind of in charge today, and I started calling on student to come up and read. Well, Elaine pulled me outside and reminded me that this class has a high incidence of special education students, an we never make them get up and read in front of the class if they aren’t comfortable. I felt awful! But you know, I didn’t know that, and I didn’t think of it, and now I’ll probably never forget again. Then they worked on a worksheet that had them drawing set designs for the play and writing a sentence to tell where their setting is. They are going to color them in later and we will hang them in the hallway as an example of the work that is being done in this class.

Period 2 had 14 students today and we went to the auditorium to teach them the stage positions (center, stage right, up and down stage) and the body positions (1/4, profile, full front or back, and ¾). They did very well and were able to quickly come up on the stage and move in the places we directed them.

During period three, we went off to the stage to let the students rehearse, but we had to come back because there was a class already in there. I am impressed with how much both the felony speech and the Politician scene have improved over the time. The QW were great today as well. Only one student refused to do one, and everyone’s are looking much better. Better grammar, better punctuation, and more creative and longer response. Something that I noticed today was that a quiet boy in the class has the word ZERO carved into in his arm. There are a few other boys in the school in his gang of friends that do too. They are picking the scabs so that it will scar. He tells me it’s a skateboarding company. Why would a student do this? He can’t really think it’s cool. Is it to prove his masculinity and his pain tolerance to his friends? This group of students has given me so many problems in the lunch hour. They are all too cool for school, in their opinion, and have little respect for authority.

Period 4 had 26 students today. It was off to a really rocky start. I don’t know what to do about this class. Most of the students just don’t seem to even care if they are getting Fs or if they are even following any rules. There were ten people with gum today, and one student became very upset that a new rule was introduced: anyone who moves up out of their seat without permission has an automatic lunch detention. I find that during this class, I learn so much more by just sitting back and observing. The students do NOT respond well to me, and I don’t want to be an impediment to learning. She is WAY more mobile during this period than in any other period, getting up and moving throughout the students to quell misbehavior through proximity. I wonder about assessing this class. Should we celebrate the very small steps? RJ in the back never writes a QW, but today he wrote one sentence. Now, quick writes have to be three sentences, and he barely even spelled one work right in his sentence. There was no capitalization and no punctuation. Should I celebrate the fact that he tried? Absolutely. But should I reward him with a check? I feel uncomfortable about that. I think all students should be held to the same expectations, and those expectations should be high. In this class though, I see my expectations lowering, and I feel so yucky about that. Why does this happen and what can I do about it?

We have another student in this class, a young girl, who has pages and pages and pages of her own writing, covered in front and back. However, she will NOT write three sentences for the QW, and the teacher tells me that she is suicidal. If she doesn’t show up to class, it has to be reported immediately. Why is such a young girl trying to end her life? What is going on in the world that makes this happen?

You know, as I sit in the back and observe this class, I have such a fondness for them. They make me really angry, but I have such a fond feeling for them. Is this what it’s like to have kids when they make you mad?

In the sixth grade classes today, I didn’t write anything down and I can’t remember what we did. Maybe just improv? All I know is that the kids are being drilled about THE TEST THE TEST THE TEST. There is such a culture of fear surrounding this test at this school, and the students don’t seem particularly swept up in it.

Monday this week was interesting as well. I am about brain dead because of all the freaking finals that I have to do. I feel like the world is about to end, and I am SO tired. I really wanted to spend this day with the students though, and the extra hours aren’t hurting, even though I know I am fine on hours. I have almost 200 for the past two quarters. I think I will end up with 193 at the end of this week, and we were only required to have 150 minimum.

Monday QW: What is the best thing that happened to you yesterday? Describe it.

Quote: You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. –John Lennon

Fun fact: Not a single student knew that this quote was from a song, and only a few even knew who John Lennon was.
Period one had 13 students today. They finished up their set designs from Thursday and then worked on a paper entitled “And then….” The paper started off with the first thing that happened was…and then…and then… The students had to fill it in for the story that they had been reading with the teacher, Snake. This was for the students to assess their plot recall and their ability to write complete sentences.

Period 2 (12 students) did the same thing today. They had to finish reading “Wingin’ It” and working on their designs. Two of the students in this class and that always are smiling and volunteering for everything both sat solitary and silent today, with sulky manners. I wonder what’s going on with them. They didn’t volunteer even once, and this was very unusual.

Once again I am struck at how the students work in complete silence, even when they could benefit from peer conversation. My teacher keeps telling me that urban kids thrive on chaos and need to have every minute planned, but I might disagree. If I went to school here, I think I’d go nuts just sitting quietly every day. They are NOT allowed to even work on other things. Do these kids get a lot of homework in other classes? They get minimal homework in this class.

Period three had 24 students today. Very few students did a QW today. There were record absences at CMS today. 61 students were absent. They went to the auditorium to rehearse, and their behavior was very good today. They got a candy bar for their good behavior. Everyone seems to be dragging today because of the time change. I know that I am.

Period 4 had 19 students today. Many that were missing were in intervention (or ISS). One student was late and did not have a pass, so she sent him back to the teacher to get one. I wonder, does this make the problem worse? I mean, he’s already missing class, and then he misses more class to go and get the pass, and then he missed even more class because when he came back again without a pass, he told the teacher to shut up and was thrown out of class. This class is so hard for me to sit through. They can’t behave, so they never do ANYTHING fun, and because they are never engaged, they can’t behave. It’s such a bad cycle. The teacher told me after class that she thinks that this is one of her worst classes in twenty years.

Two things bothered me today during this class. The first is the way the eighth grade girls dress. They are so fashion conscious and dress for the boys. It is ridiculous, in my opinion. I would never let my girls out of the house dressed like some of these girls. Too much attention on the tight jeans. These girls are dressing for boys. The other thing is that the teacher proposed an improv about devil worshipers and witches today, and I was really uncomfortable about it. There are some legitimate Wiccans out there, maybe not here, and I think that this perpetuated a stereotype that really pisses me off.

Sixth grade classes today had 10 and 13 students, respectively. Both classes read through a radio play and made sound effects. There is some real talent in that seventh period class, and real creativity. I wish they could behave more often so that we could do fun stuff and drama and less worksheets. I want to find an actual radio play for them to hear or see…maybe there is a scene in a movie that represents, like Radioland Murders, which I own. I’ll see if I can bring it in…maybe that will be what I teach on Thursday, my last day. The students are also rehearsing for a poem about success on the test. It will be performed at the pep rally for success in April right before the testing starts.

I noticed today that whenever this teacher calls on someone who has not volunteered to perform for the class, she lets them pick which character in the improv to be. I like this.

Tuesday was another tired day, but it is GORGEOUS outside. Seriously, I think they should cancel school when it is this nice outside. All of the students are ignoring anything but the weather anyway. Even the “good” kids were acting out today.

QW: Invent the best dessert in the whole world.

The first two hours were testing practice. Each student went to their eighth period classes to participate in testing practice and study. This will happen every Tuesday and Thursday until the test all over the district. Let me count the ways that this sucks. The students sit in their classrooms, and silently work through the practice book. It sucks.

Something happened today that kind of upset me. A student came down in the hall before school started, to ask a teacher a question, and he got in trouble for being in the hall when he wasn’t supposed to be. The verbal whipping that he took was unbelievable for such a small infraction. It was almost like the army, I kid you not, and it’s the not the first time I have seen something like this happen. I wonder about such harsh discipline. I found out afterwards that this kid is in trouble all the time, and I’m not sure if this makes a difference in the way I see it. Even some of the kids who are basically behaving most of the time get actually yelled at whenever they do something slightly wrong. In a lot of ways, I feel like these teachers at CMS demand respect without actually giving any. I’m just not sure if that’s the way I would do it, but if I was a teacher here, and I didn’t act that way, would I have more problems with the students or less? Would they just eat me up and walk all over me? I just don’t have any other way to compare it, and I imagine I would act much the same way as these teachers in this situation. I’d like to think that I wouldn’t, but I just don’t know.

Third period, I took some girls out into the hallway to practice their scripts, and it went pretty well. I’m getting better at directing without giving line readings, which is something that I’m practicing. These two girls are a lot of fun, and I enjoy my third period time with them. I can really see the improvement from the first time I worked with them, and that’s really gratifying.

Today was a quieter fourth period. There were only 20 students today, and at least 4 were in intervention, which again is like an in-school suspension. They just reinstated it, I think, and now it’s being used to the max. Many kids are out of the classes because of it. Here are my thoughts while observing this class. What would happen if we only checked a few quick writes every day, randomly? Would it increase or decrease the amount of participation? This class NEEDS more social interaction. They are begging for it, and some group work might actually help them focus, in my lowly opinion. Once again, I don’t want to assume that I know better, because I don’t. It’s actually a lot easier to PLAN behavior management than it is to ENACT it. That is one thing that I am discovering throughout my observations, and am struggling with in my own teaching.

After lunch today I only sat in on the first half of period 7, which was actually the first period seventh graders because of the testing this morning. I had to leave early and go and pick up Paul from work because he’s getting some overtime, and his bosses are letting him go early because of it. During this class, I played the Lennon CD I had brought in so that they could listen to Imagine. They didn’t really like it, but some of the kids said that it had a good message. I talked to them about my favorite song right now with a message: Jesus Walks. I’m not big on the whole Jesus thing, but I think that song is really uplifting and it makes me feel hopeful for the world. I encouraged the students to think about songs that did that for them. The rest of the period they listened to other music and just did their work with the windows open. I think that was maybe the best way to end the day.

Wednesday QUICK WRITE: If you could be related to one famous person, who would it be and why?

Quote: You must be the change you want to see in the world. –Gandhi

During the morning, the teacher told me that her cell phone had been stolen and she had spent the morning getting it turned off. One of the kids took it yesterday. Honestly, I can’t even imagine how that works. Another kid came up and told on him after class. This is a kid that is in constant trouble. A seventh grader, who is stealing from teachers. I have such a sadness about that. They got in his locker and found her cell phone and another teacher’s as well. Sigh. Jennifer, you can’t save all the kids, you can’t save all the kids, you can’t save all the kids….

Today I taught. I planned an “Emotion Party” lesson, so that the kids could start thinking of their portrayal of different emotions. I made a list of emotions on the board, which grew as the day went on and the kids added emotions to the pot. I explained to the class that we were going to do something very fun, and if they thought it was lame, they should let me know, that it wouldn’t hurt my feelings. I also told them that there were two parts to the activity, a performing part and a creating on paper part, but that if they didn’t want to get up and perform, they didn’t have to. Anyone who did not perform was expected to work hard on the paper part, because I expected everyone to participate one way or another. I didn’t want to make the students get up in front of each other today if they didn’t want to.

First period (16 students) went really well. Every single student in the class volunteered, and some of the products that they had were amazing. Their behavior was really good, and I’m pretty sure I had 100% engagement. None of the students thought it was dumb. In fact, I even impressed my little resident naysayer. I was extremely pleased about that. The activity kind of came to its own conclusion in this period, and so we moved on to the costume activity. I designed a worksheet with a large box on it. The kids were supposed to design a costume piece for one of the emotions and write a few complete sentences underneath to describe and defend their choices. The kids were pretty excited about this, and I let them talk to each other as long as they were talking about the work. They didn’t really take advantage of this; everyone just sat quietly. But they were already asking when they could do it again.

During second period (15 students), everyone seemed to be in a bad mood. I had a lot of talking out and misbehavior during this period. I had this very cool T&L moment when I realized I could change my behavior management style to reflect what was happening in this class, and once I did, it was much better. I should have thought of it earlier in the period, but the fact that I thought of it at all was a real improvement for me ☺ I am kind of proud of that moment. They thought the activity was cool too, but I had less engagement than in first period. These students didn’t fully participate, but those that did had lots of fun.

After the activity in the first two periods, I was really able to reflect on what I had learned while I supervised rehearsing students during third period. I took them into the hallway so the class could do some improv. They are really getting restless with watching the students who are in the play rehearse all the time, and I wanted them to have some space to act today. I’m really glad I did that, because the class had a blast and they really were engaged today. In my own teaching today, I really tried to incorporate specific praise moments, and I think I was successful in that regard. I also gave the students the time and space to stop, rewind, and try again. This was hard for me, because I had to give up getting as many scenarios up as possible. However, I was very conscious of trying to guide the students through the process, and that felt good.

There were some other things that I could have done to make this activity more successful. I should have adapted my management much earlier in second period to reflect the different class. I also wish that I had taken the time at some point before this to talk to them about good audience behavior and how to be a classroom audience. I was very conscious of this missing ingredient during the whole time I was teaching, and I know that I need to incorporate it the next time. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to do that at DSHS, but I’m sure at this late in the year, the new teacher will have already done that. I am getting very nervous about the student teaching. It’s so hard to plan and produce lessons, and hopefully I will be successful when I am doing it every day.

Something happened during third period that really disturbed me. One of the boys in the hallways was telling another girl that she should have sex with her boyfriend. Now, I wasn’t sure what was going on in the conversation, so I listened a while without saying anything until I figured out what they were talking about. He was saying that she should do it, and she was telling him no, that it was a sin. When I finally figured out what they were talking about, I stepped in and asked him, “Is she your girlfriend?” They both vehemently said no, and so I said to him, “It’s not really any of your business then, is it?” He said, “Well (this kid’s) by friend and I’m just trying to help him out.” This girl is 13 years old. I’m glad she’s saying no, but if he boyfriend is already pressuring her, I wonder how long she will be able to hold out. It’s a long time to the end of her life, and I hope that she doesn’t try to reach for it too fast. Of course, there’s nothing that I can do except instill a sense of self-confidence in her TODAY and TOMORROW, the only two days that I have left. And then I’ll have to let it go. I can’t save everyone. I can’t save everyone. This is a very hard lesson to learn, and I have to remind myself again and again of the kids who have opened up to me, just to gain my approval. The kids who never speak in class unless I have been teaching. I have to force myself to remember that instead of dwelling.

During fourth period today, we only had 20 students. I wondered about the lack of respect for authority again today. There are several students in this school, and in our classes, who don’t even have a little healthy fear of what will happen to them if they get expelled, get suspended, tell a teacher to “F- off!”, or just refuse to work. Why don’t these students care? How can you reach someone who refuses to listen? I guess when you’re a teacher, you just keep trying. Sigh again.

They did do a fun improv today. They had to be a teacher in the school pretending to throw a kid out of class, and the class had to guess which teacher they were being. It was minorly problematic in terms of the respect issue already (okay, maybe majorly problematic) but the kids loved it (of course).

In the sixth grade classes today, the lessons went much the same way as at the beginning of the day, but we didn’t work on the costume sheets at all. The kids all wanted to participate again and again and again, so I figured because I will have them tomorrow, we can finish up and work on the sheets then.

I had a much better management style today with the sixth period classes. I only had to remind students once to do the right thing, or tell them they could handle it, and that was that. I was pretty proud of them. They came up with some great emotions and they were very creative. We stopped and started a lot. I taught them “FREEZE” and “UNFREEZE” in order to make sure that we all had a word that would stop and start the improvs. What I LOVED about the sixth grade students is that I was able to remind them of all the things that the seventh graders didn’t do because I hadn’t reminded them, and I can see how the classes are better when I know how to guide them. Everyone needs practice, and I guess I do, too!

Thursday: QW: If you could wake up anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would you wake up and why?

Quote: “I regard the theatre as the greatest as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it means to be a human being.” -Oscar Wilde, playwright

Thursday, my last day, got off to a late start, because Paul and I overslept for the first time since we moved to Columbus! I wasn’t really late, I was still there by the time the bell rang, but I really wanted to stop and get the kids some candy because it was my last day, so I took the time to do that. Because of testing this morning, I only get eighth graders and sixth graders on this, my last day. I sat while the kids quietly went through their buckle down books. I’m actually very glad that the OGTs are over by the time I get to Dublin. I would NOT want to be a part of all that mess until I absolutely have to.

Third period started with the quick write. These kids are in a really good mood today even though they just finished the evil testing. Is this a direct result of the fact that they got to act yesterday? One kid got a lunch detention for chewing gum today and I know he didn’t have gum. And his behavior just denigrated from there. It was awful. I don’t want kids to be able to pull the wool over my eyes, but I really want to make sure that the innocent remain so. I have seen it happen many times, both in my own schooling and now in my placements.

The class took time today to talk about testing and how important it is. I think the conversation got shortened unnecessarily. The students seemed to be really involved in the conversation and it seemed like they really appreciated the space to vent their thoughts and questions and feeling about how important these tests are. I wish there were more dialogues happening where the students were given space to at least comment on the things that are very important to their lives. It was a nice conversation before it was ended. But then the students got to do improv and they were really excited about it. They did an improv where the students acted like certain teachers in the building, but they weren’t allowed to make fun of the teachers. I thought that is was really interesting. This class has a problem with turning each improv into making fun of others’ clothes, shoes, color, whatever. They were allowed to do this improv scenario with the express agreement that they didn’t mock the teachers. It was good, and the students really put it into their bodies and voices when they were pretending. Then they did improv for the rest of the period.

Fourth period was acting crazy today. I think that if I have a class like this again, and they get candy, I’ll wait until the end to pass it out. A lot of the kids from intervention are back, at least three that I remember. No, four, I just counted. I wonder how long they’ll last. It’s sad that I feel that way, but I just can’t see anything changing right away with the climate staying the same. I wish that the school administrators would realize that whatever they’re doing to rehabilitate repeat student offenders isn’t working, and it’s time to start trying something new. Today we’re trying to implement three strikes and you’re out policy. I hope that this might improve something, but I still think that the students don’t really care about drama, and that’s a problem. Maybe we should have talked to these students about the test, too. I just want to hear their voices, you know? I want to hear what they have to say about life. Drama is really all about life, you know? And for these kids to understand drama, we have to give them space to talk about and understand life. There should be space to talk at the beginning of this class, to share life experiences and other curiosities. Today is the first time I really feel like I know where I could go with this class, and that’s good. However, a girl got in trouble today for doing her math homework for the third day in a row. The teacher took it and is going to return it to the math teacher. Is this the best way to handle this? Now she’s going to get in trouble in math as well, for not having her homework done, and why is this happening? How can I combat this in my own class? Just making it engaging enough that they don’t WANT to do other work in the class?

One of my students for the second time played a parent in an improv and said he was going to go and get his belt. This is scary for me. I can imagine why that is what he associates with dad. I don’t like this at all. You can’t save all the kids, Jennifer. You can’t save all the kids.

After lunch with the sixth graders, we worked on our costume worksheets. I really like the idea of giving them space to learn design skills. I wish I had more time and I could really involve the students in some sort of design/production skills. I have so many ideas for lessons and things.

After everything this quarter, I really don’t think that I’ll ever be able to work in an urban school. It broke my heart a little every day to be at CMS. I can’t save the kids, and it kills me. I really can’t focus on that day after day, I’d be so burnt out. My best friend’s mother teaches first and second graders in the Chicago Public School system. She does it because it is VERY hard for the first six months, but after she makes her breakthrough, it’s more rewarding than I could ever imagine. I don’t think I could spend six months trying to get through to the kids every year, although I know sometimes I will have classes like that. I don’t want my drama class to be a dumping ground for kids who can’t behave in study hall or kids who nobody else wants. I want them to BE in my class from the minute it starts. There comes a time in life when you have to start taking responsibility for your choices, and when you have to start making choices for your own health. I know it sounds like an excuse, or it should, at least, because that’s what it is, but I know I’m not made for that. I would be really unhappy in an urban school setting year after year of feeling like I haven’t made a dent in anything. We’ll see what it’s like at DSHS next quarter. Maybe I’ll love it. Maybe it won’t be as rewarding. We’ll see in a few weeks….

Wednesday this week started off on an interesting note. We didn’t have any seventh graders this morning because the seventh graders are practicing their testing. My teacher informed me that tomorrow I would be teaching the seventh grade classes, and my heart stopped. I really don’t have time to plan something for this week, but we’ll have to see how much I can cram into one night while trying to do regular homework and study for my PRAXIS on Saturday. Plus, I have a six-hour waitressing shift tonight, probably. Sigh. Now I only have six more days at CMS after this week, and next week I’ll teach the sixth graders and then, as my teacher says, she’ll “throw me to the wolves” and try to reach the eighth graders. I better have something excellent planned for next Thursday, and I’m glad I’ll have the two periods after to reflect. I think I’m going to have the kids do bag scenes. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it is when the students choose an unidentified bag with props in it. They then have some time to create a scene using all of those props. The seventh grade classes are kind of small, and it shouldn’t be too much. I can put the bags together tonight. After work. In lieu of Sleep. Sigh. I can’t wait to be a real grown-up with a real job during the day and rehearsals with my students at night. That’s what I am praying for every day.

I got the beginning of the morning to plan for my lesson tomorrow. I am nervous/excited. The idea came to me because the students do a lot of improv/pantomime, but they never get a chance to have tactile experiences with props or costume pieces. I am excited to see what this group can come up with. They can be really creative when they get going. I’ll just have to get them going, I guess. EEeeekkk!

Well, the school is in full-blown crisis mode. Each Tuesday is now being devoted to two-hour blocks, and students will attend sessions all day for either reading/writing or math in all of their classes. Hopefully some of the teachers will try and have authentic experiences. I wish I had some time to sit down and think it over, maybe talk to some of the teachers about their ideas. I personally know that the problems the students in our classes have the most are with complete sentences, capitalization, and punctuation. How can you create meaningful ways to reinforce those ideas? Worksheets seem like the best way to go, but I really hate worksheets with a burning passion. Maybe sometimes they’re not all that evil. I really want the kids to pass this year. I can’t imagine how the teachers who actually teach here year after year feel.

Third period rehearsed their scenes with the other kids from the classes. Some kids that were in drama fourth period were pulled out for an accelerated program, and because of this, the teacher lost some of her kids that were the best behaved from this class. And fourth period is not a class that needs any less well-behaved kids. When one of the girls, who always has a huge attitude in fourth period, was actually on and performing for the third period class, she was actually pretty good and took it seriously.

During fourth period, I interviewed one of the seventh graders about his reading for a project for another class. He was very cooperative, and we had a nice conversation.

We got to take the sixth graders to the auditorium today and show them the basic stage directions, upstage, stage right, down stage, center stage, and stage left. They were very very talkative and as a result had to spend the last five minutes of the class in total and complete silence. This is a punishment that I have seen this teacher use before, and it doesn’t seem to be very effective. I think it is a good idea in theory, but the kids never stay quiet for very long.

We had second period in eighth period today because of the testing, and I gathered some more information for the 874 study that I am doing. I am getting really nervous about completing it, but the professor says that I am on the right track, so hopefully I am doing okay. I hate spending this time I could be involved with the class trying to research and observe specific things for classes. I wonder what I’m missing by this.

Thursday was another day. Today I gave my shoebox skits lesson, and man, I guess I didn’t do that well. Storyman came by to observe me today, and I wish he would have picked a day to observe me when he would be observing with me as opposed to at me. The kids started with their quick write, as always: “If your life was a movie, what kind would it be and why?” I was preparing for the lesson, so I didn’t really get to read the QW very well today. Then I gave my lesson for the day to both seventh grade classes. Here are some of the things that I thought I did well and that the kids did well.

I reminded the kids of things that had been previously discussed, such as good audience etiquette and things that we had done or gone over before.

I planned very well for the boxes.

Some kids who never participate were very animated and engaged. I wonder if I can use this in my future classroom to introduce the topic of props…and while I have them…

The ideas were creative.

For never having worked in groups in this room before, I think the kids did an amazing job working together—especially those who are often not social in class.

I tried not to use the word, “skit.” I don’t personally have a problem with that word, but it seems to not be good.

I improved from the first period to the second period, and I know that I will improve more by the end of the day.

I tried not to do line readings. I really hate that.

Here are some things that I feel that I could have worked on, and my supervisor thought I could work on as well.

Some kids got into a point where they were basically mocking mental retardation and/or homosexuality, and I should have stepped in and had a conversation there. I wasn’t sure what to do, but after speaking to my supervisor about it, I have a better idea of what I will do next time.
I didn’t give specific enough praise. I don’t want to call it empty, because in my mind, it was heartfelt, but I understand that I should give the students something to chew on or digest about their performance. I hate it when people just say, “Good job” to me too. It will come with practice, I think.

I should have spent more time making sure that the students understood how to work in a group, and how to collaborate with one another.

During this break, I am going to write out the things that I want to go over with the sixth graders, so I don’t forget them. I can use the paper as a safety net to make sure I go over everything properly.

I should give the groups time to rehearse, as well as time to redo their performances. “It was great the way you did this, but maybe this time…” I should remember that the value is in the rehearsal, not in the performance.

Focus on the audience. Give the audience a purpose. “A theatre audience is different from a classroom audience. Tell them how to look at a performance.” Maybe give them a task. Write down what you liked about the performance. Write suggestions to the performers. (I wonder, would this help them see what THEY are supposed to do?)

Rethink, redo, rework, restructure, and rehearse. Give them space to do this. Teach them that improv isn’t just quick-bang skits and then you’re done.

Remember who I am as a theatre person. What’s important to me? What’s worth knowing?

His one rule: No one needs to feel uncomfortable at any time.

Explain to the students about ‘cartooning’ and how sometimes that proves a point, but they should strive to avoid it.

Why can’t more than two people in involved in an improv.

Keep reminding myself to start where the students are…look for baby steps. Wait students out who are refusing to perform. Give them five minutes or so on the hot seat, then insist on a conversation after class.

Storyman also gave me some great ideas for what I can do with the quick writes, should I decide to use them in my own classroom someday. I could use them to provide closure to an activity, or to make meaning out of an activity. I could also collect them, take them home and reflect on them for other ways to use them in the classroom.

I really think that I did okay, considering this group of kids and considering that middle schoolers are a lot scarier than my meanest, snottiest fourth graders were last quarter. It was my first lesson after five weeks of observing and interjecting randomly. I haven’t run any activities yet, and hopefully after this lunch period, the sixth grade classes will go much more smoothly. I want to have time to reflect this evening, so hopefully I can make sure that I get my studying for PRAXIS done early tonight.

Sixth graders were an interesting story. I didn’t get to do my activity with the first class, because there was a blackout during lunch that resulted in all the sixth grade classes being released one at a time due to the lack of a bell. So we got about a ten minute late start, which turned into even longer because I broke up my first fight at CMS. That’s right, and when I say broke it up, I mean I literally stepped in the middle of the blows. Two of the children from the seventh period class were in the hallway on their way to class, and one of the students was making fun of the other student. So the offended student pushed him as hard as he could with both hands flat on his back. The pushed student threw his trapper on the floor and started yelling about getting out of his face and how he was going to “F him up.” I was the only other one in the hallway, so I did what I could think of at the time. Each student had taken a missed swing, so I jumped right in the middle of the two of them, one hand on each chest, and yelled, “STOP IT! N, you get in my classroom right now, and S, you stay out here in the hall.” It was the weirdest voice that came out of my mouth. I later got reprimanded for getting in between the students, but I think that if it happened again, I’d probably do the same. I understand the theory of not getting in between, but I’m not going to just let these two sixth graders beat on each other until they decide to stop. No amount of yelling is going to make them stop if they don’t want to, so I wanted a physical barrier in between the two of them, and that physical barrier today was me. While my teacher took the students out in the hall and worked out the problem, the kids and I did a worksheet. It seemed to go well. We did it together, and I tried to use a variety of both volunteers and non-volunteers for answers. They did very well, which makes me hopeful for their test in May, and I tried to make it a little fun, trying to ask questions that weren’t spelled out and asking them what they wanted to know about the information.

The next class went so fast, but I think it also went well. The class got divided into three groups, and two of the groups put on skits. One group didn’t really have a plot, so I know now that’s something that these students could stand to work on. I think we’ll also work on concise. I wish there was more time in the period. One really great thing happened in this period though. I put all four boys who didn’t want to participate in the group together. One boy, who never speaks in class and who basically refuses to ever do anything, who the teacher informed me “could not write” actually tried to cajole the other boys into performing, and then when they didn’t want to, decided that he would write a story using all five props in lieu of performing one. So he wrote a whole story that incorporated the props, and then wanted to perform it by himself! Some students from other groups volunteered, but we ran out of time by the end! He was quite disappointed, so I think next time we’ll make sure he gets a chance.

Some things that really helped me in this new experience were I wrote some things on the board. I wrote the 3 rules for group work on the board and went over them with the students. 1. Every student has a voice. 2. No ideas are stupid. 3. Listen as much as you talk, if not more. I also listed the things that they should focus on when constructing their “skits.” Choose your characters, choose your setting, define the problem, and decide on a beginning and end. This seemed to help me a lot; I’m unclear as to whether or not it helped the students. I didn’t really have anything to compare it to.

So anyway, I thought today went well, and hopefully it will only get better. For my first time EVER teaching a lesson to this group, I think I did particularly well. Time will tell if it gets better. All I know is that it was fun, and the kids seemed to like it as well. More next week, as I only have six days left—two next week, and four the following week. It went so fast…

Well, there’s a lot to say right now, because I’m blogging about two weeks of placement here in this one post. Graduate school seems to be kicking my big butt right now, and the time that I could use to blog was better spent on impending assignments, sleep that was much-needed, or time with the fiancée—as that is always the first priority—taking care of my relationships. This was an incredible two weeks at the middle school though. I really am excited to be there every day, even though it makes me tired, even though it is very, very hard. I am full of energy in the first hours of the day, bouncing up and down, forcing each and every student to respond to my boisterous, “Good Morning!” when I meet them at the door. That enthusiasm never wavers throughout the day, but I do feel it getting hard as the time goes on and the kids talk back. I really appreciate that two period break right before the end of the day. Middle school is such a hard age, and these kids are hard. They teach me so much every day, and each day I find myself wishing I had more time with them, and more opportunities to craft meaningful lessons with them. More on that later in this post…now it’s time to see if I can post five pages of notes in a thoughtful manner.

Last week started off with an off day. I spent Valentine’s Day hiding in my apartment due to bad weather and cancelled school. I returned to school on Thursday the 15th refreshed and caught up on most of my work that I seem to be consistently behind on this quarter. There are not enough hours in the winter day.

So Thursday’s QW was: “What happens when a character steps into a pair of magic shoes?” This made me think…where do the quick writes come from? What do they mean to the students? Why are the quick writes not positioned so that students can draw from their own experiences as well as use their imagination? The quick writes I have seen so far are completely different from what the students are saying when I am listening and what they seem to be thinking about. Maybe I can make a difference in only this small way while I am at this placement…I am trying to go by the motto of state parks—always leave a place better than when you found it. I worry about the arrogance of this thought; can I really expect to make anything better in such a short time with my limited experience? I guess all I can do is try, and in small ways make a difference if I’m lucky.

At the start of the day in my mini-conference chatting with the teacher, I learned that the reason students have been acting up more this year is because of the lack of a time-out room. Students used to be able to be sent somewhere else during the classes, but when the ninth period was taken away, the lunch schedules became complicated and the area was no longer available. Also, I found out that the “police” are coming in today. They are the review committee, and they are going to do formal observations next week to make sure that teachers are doing the things they are supposed to be doing due to their academic emergency. They’re sending in feelers today.

When first period started, so much time was spent running through the morning announcements. There were four different interruptions throughout the period over the intercom, and this really bothered me. It seemed like it took a little longer to settle the kids down after each interruption. This happens again and again throughout the day, and over all three days that I am blogging about today.

In this period we did a read-aloud of a short work called, “Fame and its price.” They read it together, and then talked through the questions and how to answer them. She really tried to make the kids apply it to what they knew about paparazzi and today’s celebrities. I noticed one student today who is constantly off task, but I feel that this might be one of the coping strategies I am reading about in one of my classes. Only more observations will tell.

There was no time for performance today, but at the end of class, the teacher read from Think Big, a book that she is reading aloud to the students (reading aloud is one of the success strategies promoted by the administration at this school). I noticed that the book has some distinctly Christian undertones, and the character is overt and frank about his relationship with God and he reads the Bible faithfully. I wonder what message this is sending to the students who might not be practicing Christians.

They had a few minutes at the end of class to talk to one another, and no one took it. They just sat quietly to pass the time.

During second period, one of the seventh graders said that he didn’t want to read out loud because he’s not a good reader. He then proceeded, when prodded, to read loudly, clearly, quickly, with no mistakes.

These students followed the same routine as the first class, and had some time for performance at the end of the period. Students were cracking me up as they performed. The same five students volunteer over and over again. They make me giggle, and this is because there is a lot of giggling going on during performances.

During third period, I got to go out with two girls and work with them on a scene they have been practicing. I have seen it a few times in class, and I went out in the hall to work with them independently and give some direction. This was amazing. I struggled hard against giving line readings, which is something I really hate. I believe that the performances should come from inside the actors, rather than be imitations. The girls were really receptive to the direction though, and I was able to work with them on their speech patterns and word choices…reminding them that grown women politicians wouldn’t say, “gonna” and so on.

Fourth period is quickly becoming a nightmare period. The students are extremely difficult to handle, and the teacher gets fed up with them. There are 20-25 students in the class on any given day, and only about 5 -7 are engaged at any time. Each time she asks a question, she yells, “Hands!,” and it hardly ever works anyway. Six lunch detentions were given out during this period. I haven’t yet seen her let this class perform anything, because she feels that they shouldn’t be able to until they can control themselves. Today was a constant barrage of students acting out and talking back. The students have no respect for me and little respect for the teacher. This period is going to be mainly one of observation for a while until I can reach the students somehow.

At lunch today, two boys from fourth period who had lunch detention and I sat at the back of the cafeteria and had an interesting discussion about the use of the n-word. I asked the boys not to say it because I didn’t feel that it was appropriate language for school. They quickly informed me that they could say it, but “people of my color” couldn’t. This prompted a discussion about why they use the word, why it’s not okay for me to use the word, and whether or not anyone should be allowed to use the word in school. I wanted to take this conversation further into the critical realm, to talk about the history of the word and why it’s said today and what it meant in the past. I wasn’t able to do this because I didn’t know how to properly direct the conversation. I’m just working on my boundaries and what they are right now, and I wasn’t sure how to end this conversation up where it could possibly go. This is something I will work on, but I’m kinda proud of myself for broaching the subject at all.

After lunch we had the sixth graders, and I just adore these kids. The classes are very small, which is nice for me because I can get to know the kids a bit better. Today I negotiated some space for me to tell the kids some stuff about me and let them ask questions. The quick writes are improving as they get more comfortable doing them, and one student in particular is setting the bar higher and higher for himself each day.

I notice that this group has few volunteers when it comes time to perform, and they drag their feet about going up there. They wait for the teacher to feed them lines before coming up with anything original, and they really don’t even get there. I understand the point of feeding them lines as a support while they get used to performing, but at what point do we leave them out there to fend for themselves, in a sense?

I also got to run some physical warm-ups in these classes because at the end of the day, the kids seem to drag a bit. I know that I am dragging by that time as well.

The next week was really interesting. The kids are getting used to my presence, and in some ways that’s good and in some ways it’s not. I stuck my foot in the door with the QW today, and got to choose it myself. I pretended to choose it from the journal starter book, but in fact, I had made it up the night before. The teacher seemed happy to have one less responsibility in the morning, so I think that the QW is mine when I am there, and we’ll see how I can play with it. The one I chose for today was, “You have to save someone’s life. What happened?” I’m not going to lie; it felt a little dangerous to choose this as the QW. And some of the stories that I got from the students validated that feeling.

First period had 13 students today. They were all about the QW, some telling true stories, and some making up imaginative tales. I can’t tell for sure yet if they responded to the QW because it was different than usual, or if they are just getting used to the process.

There were four interruptions from the intercom during this period today. This is incredibly frustrating for both the teacher and me. Students have to stop right in the middle of improvs to wait for the announcement to end. During this period, I took some notes for data for my Inquiry class, and that took up my observation time during this period.

We had 11 students in period two today. They also focused on improv.

Period 3 today was 30 students. That is such a HUGE class. When checking the QW, I decided to just write down the names of the students who were refusing to do it, instead of repeatedly asking them to do it and failing miserably. The students are memorizing pieces of the “I Have a Dream” speech by MLK Jr., and today they got up in front of the class and were supposed to be graded on their performance and memory. After so many missed days, some students faltered, but she seemed to not be too hard on them. During this period one of the students called something “gay” and I was glad to see the teacher take action. This is a big thing for me, it’s a word that I won’t tolerate. She told the kid that he better shut his mouth, and reminded him about Isaiah Washington and how he might lose his job for say “Fag.” I really wish she wouldn’t have actually said the word. It made me flinch to hear it come out of the mouth of an educator, but I believe that it had the impact on the students that she hoped it would.

Period four today was another struggle, and would continue to be tomorrow. Today she sent two people out of the classroom to another teacher within five minutes of the beginning of class. She also chose one student and called the student’s parent IN CLASS on her cell phone in front of all the students. This probably goes against everything we learned in classroom management about not embarrassing your students when disciplining them, but time will tell whether or not this move will prove effective. One of the students in this class was AWESOME today. He is usually up and out of his seat all throughout the class, talking out of turn and wandering around. I feel sometimes that I constantly have to keep saying his name, and today he was really good in class. He listened, he worked hard, and he even continued his good behavior in the auditorium and in the cafeteria later on in the day.

At lunch duty today I had a run in with an eighth grade boy who was trying to stand next to the line and pick a fight with this other kid who was waiting to buy his lunch. When I noticed the voices getting a little raised, I stepped in between them and told the kid who already had food to go and sit down. He told me repeatedly to “Stay out of my f-ing business.” He’s about a foot shorter than me, so it wasn’t that scary, but he swore at me and wouldn’t stop. The teachers told me later that this student had fetal alcohol syndrome and was a “crack baby” and has severe emotional and behavioral problems because of it. No one ever says anything to him about his behavior; they just let him run as he pleases. This really bothers me for some reason. I know that sometimes we have to make allowances for certain behavior, but this is troubling me and I’m not sure why.

Period seven had something going on today. The students kept talking out of turn and were very disruptive and sullen. It was almost every student in the class. The teacher made them sit out the last 15 minutes of class in complete silence. They couldn’t even work on homework. I wonder what happened in the last few days, because this group is usually so quiet and sweet and hardworking. I’ll bet some classes just have days like these, and there’s nothing that can really be done about it when it happens.

In period 8, the young boy with the prostitute shirt from last week is still mad at me. Last week I made a boy change his shirt in eighth period because it said ho and prostitute on it, and no other teacher had said anything. When I pointed it out to my teacher, she made him change it immediately, and he was really upset with me because of it. He’s still mad at me. He won’t look me in the eye or answer my questions. I also noticed a pattern today of girls not playing parts that are “for boys” and vice versa. The teacher must always pattern the gender of the improv after the gender of the participants.

All in all, I think the new QW I chose today was successful. I seemed to have less students refuse to do it, and the students that did wrote more than usual. Some of them told me true, heart-breaking stories, and some made up imaginative tales of heroics that were equally fun to read. I really enjoyed the creativity and the honesty of some of the pieces. Tomorrow I’ll choose another one that I think might be meaningful for these kids. It’s very hard for me to know what’s meaningful, but I’ll keep shooting and hope I make it.

Thursday started off with me in such a good mood, and that mood continued throughout the day. I just feel good in the morning when I’m at school. I was pretty tired because I had worked until midnight the day before, but I think that things worked well for me because I really love getting up and going to school there.

A few things from periods 1 and 2: I am collecting data on who volunteers for performances for a project in another class, so I am focusing my observations there and reporting that data elsewhere, but here are some questions that I thought of today:

When you become a teacher, does your ability to remember names fly out the window?

How can we continually weave current events into the classroom, even in the theatre classroom?

How many times can you repeat something to a student before you just know they aren’t listening?

How can you get a good balance between calling on the students who want to volunteer and model good work and the students who need to get up sometimes because they never volunteer? And how can you protect the students who don’t feel like participating on a given day? What if I gave the students so many off days per nine weeks that they can opt not to participate in?

Period three was a madhouse today, as some fifth graders were visiting the school and were in and out of the class the whole period. Better this period than fourth, I suppose. The students performed for them, and then when they were gone, something really significant happened. One student (a Black girl) was supposed to get up and perform, and another student (a White boy) called her a baboon. The teacher immediately sent him to his special ed teacher to tell him what he had done. She was furious. Some of the things she said included: “Not a very smart thing to say, especially in a school that’s 80% Black” and reminding the students that she found racism “very annoying.” We talked about it afterwards, and she admitted that the boy probably didn’t realize the racial ramifications of what he was saying, but that she wanted him to understand how dangerous it is to spew that kind of language. She congratulated the girl after he was gone on how she had handled it, “with grace and dignity” and I was very impressed with the level of maturity the class showed. It could have erupted into a very nasty scene, but the other students in the class were able to let it go until he was already gone so they could discuss it.

Period four started off in a bad way and just continued on that path. This is the period that I am going to just sit back and observe. They barely respect the teacher, let alone this stranger in their classroom. I think it would be best for all involved if I just let the teacher handle this one in her way, which seems to be successful. Here are just some random thoughts and events from this class.

One of my really great students in this class was called out by the AP today at the very beginning of class, and he was in big trouble for something. I am disappointed, but I’m not sure yet what he’s done. He’ll be spending some time at home until a parent can come in and have a conference, that I do know.

I’m wondering if some of the students in this class that have really made improvements in their quick writes should still be receiving check minuses. They used to refuse to write, and now at least they make an effort, even if it is poorly punctuated and not strung into complete sentences.

All of the students who act up in class frequently are seated at the very back of the classroom. Is this so the distractions are behind the other students?

Two students were sent out of the room today and another guardian was called. There were five interruptions over the intercom during this period, and it was a big pain each time to get the few students who had been paying attention back on task.

I am getting some ideas on how to handle a class like this, but I certainly hope I don’t have one in my first year.

Today at lunch I learned to always write down who you give a lunch detention to, and I’m pretty sure that while I was walking by a table, one boy told another boy that he thought I had “Nice tits,” but I can’t prove it. Sigh.

The sixth graders did much better today. I can’t wait to have Justin come and work with these kids on improv. They are going to LOVE it. They are working on more complex pantomimes, groupthink, and body language. They worked on building a character worksheets, where they had a picture of a boy and a girl and they had to create a character based on the pictures and present these characters to their class. I think this is a great way to get the kids started off with working with partners, as they will need to do if they want to do scenes later in the quarter. She explained why they had to get up and present: to practice their projection skills. This is big for this group. Their voices are all so little. Hopefully this will improv as they gain confidence and get more practice performing. I can’t wait to see them grow into it.

Okay, so that’s my last two weeks at CMS. I don’t have much longer here, but I plan to come for at least three more weeks, maybe two. We found out that we got a reduction in the hours we thought we had to have, and I’m pretty much done, but I’m not quite ready to leave this group. They are teaching me more than I ever thought they would on the first day. See you next week!

Today was my second day at CMS, and it was a crazy day. The kids were off the first three days of the week due to extremely cold temperatures and too much snow the third day. So by the fourth day of the week, the students were NOT ready to come back to school.

The day started off nice and slow. I learned that the school gives each teacher a grade distribution paper, to let each teacher know what percent of which grades they give out. Report cards just went out the previous week. This teacher told me she’s never had to give out so many D’s and F’s in one period. She is very concerned about the lack of motivation to do well that she sees in a majority of her students.

First period saw 14 students today. The Quick Write (hereafter referred to as QW) today was this: You finally get to the end of the rainbow…what do you find? She pulled it from a book of journals or story starters. I wonder if the QWs are sometimes more relevant to the students’ own lives or experiences. These seventh graders are having a writing practice test tomorrow.

Teacher is reading to all her classes from a novel called Think Big!” It is one black man’s success story. She checks for comprehension while she reads, asking things like, “Okay, what just happened?” or “What happened before this?” to make sure that the students are paying attention and understanding the text. During this particular reading, she tells them the story of how the author almost stabbed in his friend in a fit of rage when he was fourteen, and how the incident scared him into praying for God to take away his temper. She reminded the students after reading that it takes just one incident to change your life forever, and you have to decide which path you want to take.

This class started improv. The following situations were used: two workers in a hotel making a bed, a mother trying to get a precocious child to bed (during this one the teacher went into role as the mother), two women in a beauty salon gossiping, a boy blowing bubbles.

At this point, the improvs took a more serious tone. She reminded the students that they needed to take the situations seriously or she wouldn’t allow them to continue. We acted out an eating disorder, and then the students were asked to show some kind of prejudice. She reminded the students that she had a “PG class” and that violence is not done in her classroom. Then the kids acted out a friend trying to get another friend to stop using drugs. When the students giggled at the scenario, she moved them into a serious discussion about what drugs do to someone’s life. The discussion quieted down the giggling in the room and several students had serious looks on their faces, showing me that the discussion had some sort of impact.

Second period was 13 students, and one of them, a girl, was having a very difficult time today. She was very disrespectful, and called out a lot without raising her hand. She had a little comment for everything today. She was also very loud throughout the period.

This class was structured in the same was as Period 1 today. During this class, we discussed what empathy means, how to be actors (as well as human beings), we have to be able to imagine what it’s like to be in someone else’s shoes.

I wonder if she started off this class with a discussion on what it means to be an audience member. I think that is something that I will do in my own class, have audience be the first discussion.

This class seemed to take the “serious” improvs in a more serious manner than the first class. There was a lot less giggling and pointing.

Third period today was when I finally found my voice with these students. Right now, I am walking a line with how much to get involved and how much to strictly observe. I see the teacher trying to get me more and more involved, and I am holding back for some reason. These eighth graders helped me today, were much more interactive with me. They didn’t just ignore me at the back of the classroom, and I think the teacher was pleased that I took on a more active role.

By the end of fourth period, my voice was silent again. It was a very bad day for this group of eighth graders. While I was wandering around checking people’s QWs, I asked one girl to please put away what she was reading and get started on her three sentences. She got up, looked right in my face and said, “You ain’t my teacher.” I was pretty much stunned into silence for a few seconds before I leveled my voice and said, “Today I am.” The day went downhill for me from this point. The teacher spent twenty minutes of this period yelling, actually yelling, at these students. They questioned everything today. None of them wanted to do the QW because, as one girl put it, “This isn’t writing class.” For the rest of the period the students listened while the teacher explained to them (in a very loud voice) what it means to be on academic emergency and how they couldn’t possibly know all the hoops the teachers are being forced to jump through because they are Just Children. I was a little uncomfortable by this phrasing. I really didn’t think that it was the best way to have this discussion with the students, but then again, I don’t have twenty years of teaching experience under my belt, either. This class received A’s or F’s for the day based on their participation in short improves and their QWs. It was not a fun period for anyone.

At lunch duty today, I found myself doing a lot of posturing to protect myself. Trying to herd the boys into the auditorium was not a fun job, because many of them are so much larger than me, and truthfully, kind of scary. I don’t like it. I don’t like having to put on a brave face and tell these boys, “I’m not afraid of you.” Because I am. I am afraid. I want to shiver when they look me up and down with their eyes glinting. I put on this face, “I’m not scared of you, even though you’re a big boy. You get your butt into that auditorium and sit in a chair. Stop talking. You’re the student and I’m a teacher. Respect me. RESPECT ME!” I feel like I have to act this way or they’ll eat me alive. Is this normal? Why am I so afraid? It’s unlike me to be scared of anything, but I am scared to death of some of these kids. They are so disrespectful, and it’s like they don’t even care. They’re pushy, and why do I feel the urge to push right back?
The sixth graders were a delight today, as they were the first day. 13 students in the first class and 10 in the second. They did Fruit basket, which is a great theatre game, and some pantomime. The first class has this boy who is definitely a drama king. He’s got a great name. The teacher and I talked about how sixth graders are wonderful because they still have a bit of little kid in them, they haven’t been turned yet, almost.

If B.E. or K.C. are reading this blog, I want to know how to do some dramatic inquiry work with these classes, and how to negotiate this with my teacher. Meeting soon?

I will write more next week, I have been very focused on my other schoolwork, and haven’t had time to transcribe my notes until now. Next week will be my first two day in a row shift at CMS, so we’ll see how that goes ☺ Until then readers, I have more homework to complete and no sleep to get….

Today was my first day at CMS. I am sitting in on the classes of Mrs. X, and she is in charge of teaching theatre to sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. In our first discussions of the day, this is what she told me.

She says that the biggest issue at the school is discipline. She thinks that middle-schoolers are babied, and then when they get to high school they don’t know how to meet the behavior expectations of the teachers and staff. The school is in its third year of academic emergency, and is danger of being restructured, which means that they can either shut down the school or fire everyone and make them all reapply for their jobs. All of the teachers at the school are to focus on reading and writing skills, because the administration thinks that those are the easiest areas to raise skills quickly for this year’s test in May. Right away I understood that the focus in the school is on the standardized tests, which is kind of disheartening. However, Ohio is a standards-based environment right now, and it is good to get some experience in the thick of things so that I can understand what it’s like to teach under these kinds of restrictions. Mrs. X told me that half of the eighth graders in Columbus Public Schools are failing the ninth grade, and that the way they are being schooled in he middle grades is to blame.

She said that learning the names of her new students is the number one priority for her, because the kids play with you if you don’t know them for sure. That’s a good tip for later.

The day started off with he announcements over the PA, and it began with an “Epilepsy Fact of the Day.” The teacher wrote the plans for the day on the board, something that she says is required by her administration. She also included a “Quick Write” topic: “If I could change the world I would…” This is something that the students at the school do in each class to work on their writing skills for the upcoming tests in May.

First period is seventh grade theatre. There were 16 students in this class today, 4 girls and 12 boys. There were 3 white students, 11 African American students, and 2 Hispanic students. Students in all classes are expected to bring a drama folder with their past and current work in it each day. She will be performing a folder check each week at a random time. Students are also expected to bring pencil and paper. If students have forgotten a pencil, they can borrow one for some sort of collateral left with the teacher, a binder or trapper (yes, middle schoolers still use Trappers ☺). Many students in this class forgot their pencils. While the kids worked on their quick write, the teacher went around to check on their progress and their thoughts. When she caught one student drawing instead of working on his writing, she demanded to see his quick write. She held it up and read it to herself, and then smiled and said, “That’s really good.”

Each student must also provide her with a card that has their name, their parents’ names, a home phone number and a cell phone number with which to reach them. She told me before the students arrived that she calls parents a lot. She also is in the process of setting up seating charts, which she assigned seats to students and had them sign up in a blank chart.

After the quick writing was over and she had read each students, pausing to give them comments and suggestions, she passed out a treat to each student for their good behavior the previous day for the substitute. She made sure to remind them: “Don’t always expect a reward for good behavior because you are always rewarded for good behavior, even when you are a grown-up. It could be a raise, it could be a promotion, you have to take it upon yourself.”
She moves the talkers in the class to a desk right next to hers, facing the board.

This class did pantomime work after the quick write and folder check. Some of the different pantomime exercises that she did with the class included: washing hands, opening the fridge and drinking a soda, making and eating a hot dog, taking 3 eggs out of the fridge and cooking, and sweeping the floor. She made sure that each pantomime had a beginning, middle, and end, something that she stresses in this exercise (which is preparing them for improv). She called on volunteers first, and then made sure that each child had to go up and perform. She is getting them used to being in front of the class.

Second period was also seventh graders. These students did not receive a treat like the previous class; in fact, in addition to their quick write, these students had to write a ½ page letter to a guest teacher: “Dear Guest Teacher, why I should respect you…” She told the class, “Substitute teachers have to travel all over the city and go into schools where they don’t know the kids. It is a very hard job. And I want my students to respect them. When I am not here, you don’t act crazy.”

This class was 12 students, 3 girls, 9 boys. There were four white kids, 6 Black kids, 1 Asian-American kids, and 1 Hispanic kid.

These students also finished the period with pantomime, and since they had more time to spare at the end of class, they did more complex mimes, pairs playing different sports. One boy volunteered over and over again. When they were doing beginning stuff, the teacher said to a girl who was baking, “Don’t look at me, I’m not in your kitchen.” She is establishing the concept of the fourth wall.

Third period was Theatre Survey, the eighth grade. There were 28 students, 12 girls and 16 boys. The racial makeup was 6 White, 2 Hispanic, and 20 Black students. They were in serious trouble because of their behavior the day before, and received quite a lecture about it. She demanded to see their worksheets from the previous day, and told them that if it happened again, they would all receive Fs for their work.

In this period, I realized that this teacher has complete control over this class. There was no talking, not a peep. It seemed kind of sad, desks in rows, very teacher-centered, but later I learned that she starts off the new students like this and then lets up when she knows the students can handle it. In a school like CMS, this might be the best way to do it. Something else I noticed that carried over from Indianola: students are still halfway through activities when the teacher realizes they don’t have a pencil and they haven’t said anything about it. That used to happen all the time with the fourth graders, and it happens with eighth graders, too!!
It was about this point in the day that I realized that the students only have two minutes to get from one class to their lockers, to another class. Now, CMS is by no means a HUGE school, but it’s still a little large for only two minutes. Lots of students come in late, perhaps because of dawdling, but mostly because of the time constraints.

Fourth period was 23 students, only 10 girls. This was another eighth grade class. This class was structured 4 white students, 17 black students, and 2 students of Asian origin. They also worked on their worksheets and wrote letters to the sub apologizing for their poor behavior the day before. During this period, the teacher explained to me the signs up in front of the room, “Infer, Formulate, Support, Track, Compare, Cause/effect, Evaluate, Describe, Predict, Explain, and Chart,” all with definitions. This is to help the students and remind them what makes up good writing skills for the testing in May. Again, large focus on reading and writing.

Also during this class, I was struck by the amount of disrespect that is shown to the teacher. She asked a girl to spit out her gum, and when the girl was coming back to her seat, she pulled another piece of gum out of her pocket and stuck it in her mouth. Another student in this class sat in the back of the class and drew an elaborate Celtic cross on and around his wrist. It was a gorgeous drawing, but he only worked on that, flying under the radar for the entire class. In this class, the teacher handed out two lunch detentions for off-task behavior and for rudeness.

Fifth and sixth period are lunch period for the teacher and I and lunch duty, respectively. During sixth period, she stands in the auditorium with the boys for twenty minutes, and then when the girls are finished with their lunches, the boys go to the cafeteria for theirs. She makes them stay in their seats, with empty rows in between. The eighth grade boys are very loud and cannot sit still very long. It was a constant battle to keep them in their chairs and in the auditorium instead of out roaming the halls.

Seventh and eighth periods are sixth grade drama students, and today the sixth graders were on a field trip to COSI, so the classes were pretty empty. The first class had 8 students, half girls, all Black students. I noticed that these sixth graders take their sweet time doing things that they are asked to do. During this period, they needed to be reminded: “You need to be in charge of your mouth, don’t let your mouth be in charge of you.”

There were only 5 students in the lat period class, 2 girls. They checked their work from the day before and did the quick write. They also did some basic pantomimes at the end of the period. Both sixth grade classes seem to be less self-conscious in getting up and performing than the other two grades—I wonder why that is?

So that was my first day. Due to the bus drivers needing background checks, there was no school on Thursday, as I found out when I drove all the way up there and was met by the principal at the front door. I won’t be back for two more weeks, and I’ll write more then, but I can already tell that this is going to be a challenging quarter for me. I am really going to have to remember that I can’t save all the kids, right? My heart is probably going to break a little bit each time I do this. Whether it’s the young boy who’s mother was murdered by his stepfather three months ago and he hasn’t missed a day of school yet, or the young girls who come to school with revealing clothing and sashay up the halls at age twelve, I think this is going to be hard for me, but I also believe that it is going to be an unforgettable experience in diversity for me, and experience that I might very likely never get again. I hope to learn from it every moment that I am there.

Well, I'm back. At Indianola that is. I took some time off while the kids went to camp, and oh, how I wish I could have gone, but I digress. I have less time at Indianola left than I would like, but I spent two of my last four days there this week. So until January, there won't be too many more posts. Just this one and the last one.

This week was really great, actually. I really enjoyed being there, I think the most that I ever have. I wish I had more time there, again, because now I am getting way more confident stepping up and having some time with the kids that is led by me. I guess that's how it's supposed to work, right? You get more and more and more comfortable as the time goes one. This week, I directed two activities which I will blog about here. But first things first.

MissTeacher did this great thing in the morning. She's always trying to get the kids on the rug to sit away from people that they are chatty with, and she always says (it's kind of a mantra, actually) "Sit where you can listen and learn." Well, this morning, a kid was arguing with his friend about where he should be sitting, because he knows that he talks to this friend and he gets into trouble. So MissTeacher reminds all of the kids, "Don't feel insulted if someone moves away- they're just trying to sit where they can listen and learn."

One of the very first things that we did Wednesday morning was read the children the story The Composition. I know that Storyman feels as though I shouldn't have started off the drama work by reading the story, but baby steps for me. I still haven't quite let go of the notion that the background knowledge is helpful. I mean, that's all I'm doing, right? I'm scaffolding their knowledge of governments and dictatorships to enrich the drama work. I mean, you can't make lemonade without lemons, right? Actually, I was glad in this case because not a single child knew what a dictatorship was. For those of you who are not familiar with the story, it's about a boy named Pedro who plays soccer and goes to school, and every night his parents listen to the radio. One day his friend's father is taken away to jail by some soldiers and his parents tell him it was because this man was against the dictatorship. Pedro then finds out his parents are also against the dictatorship, and wonders if he can be, too, because he's just a kid. Then a soldier shows up in his classroom and asks each of the children to write an essay on what their family does at night. Pedro writes a beautiful story about how he and his parents play chess every night and then after that he doesn't know because he goes to bed. At the end of the story, his parents share a secret smile and decide to go out and buy a chess set.

During the story, I made sure to always stop and allow for questions, which meant that it took a lot longer, but it was important. The kids had great questions and observations that I will be able to pull into the drama when we start it my last few days at the school. MissTeacher only stopped me once, at the end of the story to tell the kids that they had inferred that Pedro lied even though the author didn't specifically say that. She said that was a really easy inference, and you guys are getting really good at that.

When I asked the kids what a dictatorship was, some of the answers I got were getting closer and closer. "Is it when we start a war?" "It's when then army is the government." (I think that one is really really smart--and it came from a kid who does not ever do well academically). "People go to jail a lot."

Bugboy (the non-writer) has such a wonderful imagination. He is getting better at putting the pen to paper and getting them out, but the stories that he has in his head and so rich with detail and beautiful. He stopped me halfway through the book to say, "Maybe the father is the dictator, and he's trying to trick Pedro." I mean, of course that is not how the story goes, and I'm pretty sure he knew it too, but I could see this alternate story building in his head, and I'm going to remember that when we start the drama.

One thing that was great was that the students wanted to get into the drama right away. Starbright said, "I thought we were going to pretend, like, what if WE were in a dictatorship, what would WE do, like we did with the other stuff." They were kind of sad that we couldn't start right away (of course I was glad because it meant more planning time for me) but we had to move on to another activity. I was really happy that they remembered the last work we did though, and that it had a lasting impression.

Which leads me into Thursday, where we re-staged our tableaux so that I could take pictures and have a record of the activity (more work for my final presentations). We gave the kids 3 minutes to get into their groups and remind themselves of their poses, then we went back into audience mode and I walked around the groups, shooting photos from lots of different angles. For the most part, the kids took it really seriously and we had a lot of fun, too. I also took some copies of their writing samples from that day, and it was the first time that I got to look at them. They were pretty great, and I don't want to share them here just yet, because I am still analyzing them for myself.

Thursdays are pretty low-key, because first most of the kids are gone for choir and right before recess (which is when I leave) we have book buddies, so the kids are all sitting and reading with their buddies from the other class. But one thing that I did in the morning with the boys that I thought was pretty cool was we drew seven boxes on the rug with chalk (this was my idea, with tweaks from MissTeacher). Then I made sheets of paper with the numbers 1-9 on them. THen I made long slips that said "Ones, Tens, Hundreds, Thousands, Ten Thousands, Hundred Thousands, and Millions." I gave each boy a number and a place value, and had them get in order for me so that all their places were in the right order. Then I had them tell me how much the number they were holding was worth according to what place it was in. Afterwards I gave each boy a new place value and had them choose where in the seven spots they should stand. Then I said, "If you were a three, how much would you be worth?" We did this for about 20 minutes, until I was pretty sure everyone understood place value, and then they did a little worksheet. Only one boy is having trouble still--and MissTeacher worked with him while I checked worksheets. It's times like these that I'm really glad I will never have to teach math like this. I just can't wrap myself around how to explain something that I've always understood for the longest time.

I reviewed the last three kids this week, so that's all 26, if you look back over the blog.

Maia is about a 3 for me. She's sensitive and thoughtful and peaceful. She has clear interests, but sometimes when I watch her with her friends, she is being overshadowed by the bigger personalities a lot. She sometimes fades into the background if we're not careful.

Roswell (7) is bright, bossy, and a great teacher's helper. She knows when to socialize and when to buckle down, and she is pretty laid back, but stands up for herself when it is needed. I think she tries to "fit in" with a few girls that take advantage of her brightness and use her for answers sometimes, but I'm not sure. They all hang out together even when they're not doing work, but there's a weird group dynamic when she's involved.

Artiste (2) is the last student to review. She turns in painstakingly perfect work, but she takes FOREVER to finish things. MissTeacher has spoken to me about her, and she is decidedly gifted and perfectionistic, but she needs to add some speed to her work without losing the accuracy. She needs to become more efficient. Her work is always very well done, though.

Okay, see you in the next blog!

Well, we can see how it's goin for me (busy) because I am once again trying to put two weeks in one post. It works out for me because the kids are going to camp this next week so I won't see them at all. The last six days of being at Indianola has been really great. I'm finally trying to let go of a lot of stuff and really just having fun and enjoying myself with the kids and my cooperating teacher. My questions are getting better, I think, and I'm really starting to see some of the stuff that we are talking about in class. I only have four more days of teaching left, because I've officially hit 102.5 hours (I only need 100) for the quarter. I don't want to stop going quite yet, and I want to try out some more drama with the kids. Hopefully we'll get into something good very soon...I'm thinking, two weeks?

Last week, we had the coolest lesson ever on the first morning. Gift came in and we did "tactile algebra." The kids had a scale thing and some dice that had 1-6 on the first side and 5-10 on the next. There were also little pawns to represent our unknowns (or x's). It was awesome. The kdis were doing algebra! I was completely floored by the whole thing.

Dynamo had a few problems that day, but MissTeacher always gives him a choice. That's something that I really like. Today she said, "I hope you'll choose to listen but if you choose to leave you'll hear this at your recess."

Bugboy, the non-writer in the class, made some progress with his writing assignment today. He and I went out into the hallway, away from the distractions of the classroom, and worked on his story. The kids had to draw a map of a place and then create a story around the map. First thing I did was let him tell me the story, and when I said, "Hey, you know, write that down, what you just said. That's part of your story!" When I helped him write the way he talked, it seemed to get a lot easier for him. I think that he's put a huge separation between storytelling and writing, and I'm working to try and get him to see the correlation.

When the kids got up to share their stories, there was the usual amount of fidgeting and chatter. MissTeacher reminded them all that "You're an audience and an audience is always quiet and respectful." I liked that she put them in role, a little bit, made it seem more than just, you have to listen to this story. Instead, it was, "You are an audience." It made it seem more important.

The next day was pretty intense. We had a substitute, and she was.....not my favorite. I felt that she was working in direct opposition to the types of things that MissTeacher tries to emphasize in her classroom, like democracy, and community, and everyone's voice is important. Well, we just made it through the day, I taught a lot of the lessons because the kids seemed to respond to me and not to her. I felt at times that I might be overstepping my boundaries, but at the end of the day the sub said I had been very hepful and she was very grateful that I was there. I made sure to ask her if I had stepped on her toes at all, and she said no, that she was really glad I was there. That made me feel pretty good, because I certainly don't like to make anyone mad. The kids kind of went along with me even though they were quite vocal about their dislike for the sub. It was nice to know that they were kind of on my side. We only had one major problem for the day, and that was that What! decided to cover his hand with pink highlighter. The sub was furious and skipped PEAK to send him directly to the office to call home. He was pretty upset about this, but he seemed okay the next day.

Thursday was just a catching up day. Nothing really exciting stood out for the day, it was just relaxing and getting the kids back to normal. They were all very excited that MissTeacher was back, and I noticed a small upswing in behavior. It seemed as though they were realizing what a good thing they had...and what it could be like without her.

The next week started off badly. On Tuesday, Halloween, when I got to the school, I was in a great mood. Halloween's my favorite holiday and I was really excited to see everyone's costumes and play with them! Well, when I got to the school, MissTeacher said that she forgot that I was coming (this is sometimes frustrating for me because I have given her copies of my schedule, plus I come the same times every week...BUT, I am learning that not everyone works into my stage-manager plan and that some people are just not detail people). The kids were going to the Symphony! This was AWESOME! I was really excited about going. So we got all bundled up and went out to the front ot wait for the bus that would take us to the theatre, and the music teacher came over to me. The conversation went something like this:

Music Teacher: Oh! I didn't know you were coming today.

Me: That's right, isn't it exciting? I never get to go on field trips with the kids and they are always asking me if I coming. I didn't even know that we were doing this today.

Music Teacher: Oh. Mmmmm. Well, I have some bad news.

Me: What's that?

MT: Well, you can't go.

Me: What?

MissTeacher: What? (She was in the conversation at this point)

MT: Well, we didn't buy you a ticket and we can't let you in without one. We didn't pay for you.

Me: Oh. Well, can't I just go and buy myself a ticket?

MT: I'm afraid not. It's a school function and they're all sold out. But I'm sure you'll have a great day off!

Me: Oh, well, yeah. Bye kids! I'll see you tomorrow.

Then I proceeded to fill 3 hours until my class started. I was bored. It was boring.

Then Wednesday came, and with it a new month. It was all about November. Something really beautiful happened in the class that morning. Mathwiz, one of the boys in the class who is VERY emotional, was in the coatroom, crying. When MissTeacher found him, she pulled him to the front of the classroom and said, "Boys and Girls, I think we have a problem here. I was just in the coatroom talking to Mathwiz, who was very sad, and he thinks that everybody in the class hates him. Now, why do you think that is?" The kids listed some different reasons, like people were jealous of how smart he was, or people didn't like that he never gave kids cubes if they didn't deserve them (he watches our transitions (he's our transition marshall) and evaluates how well the class does. if they do well, we get three cubs towards a full jar for a pizza party. if we don't do well, we only get one or zero cubes). So MissTeacher said, "We don't usually stop class for this kind of thing, but I think that we all should tell him the reasons why we like him. I'll start. I like the way he..." Then all of the hands in the class went up, and almost every single child had something wonderful to say about him. I got to say something, too. When it was over, MissTeacher said, "I think you have a lot of really good traits and we always love having you in the classroom. You should be proud of you." He looked a lot better. For the rest of the day, he had a good day. I really thought it was cool the way that even though we had a jam-packed day, she still took time out of the schedule for something that was really important, and really necessary.

Some other things that I saw during the day were these. When we took our spelling tests, I was glad to see that everyone is working on the same 7 or 8 words, and then the rest of their words are ones that they are practicing at their own levels. It's a great way to make sure that everyone in the class is working to their own ability instead of a set standard. And the kids like choosing their own words that will challenge them. MissTeacher makes the kids sit back to back on the rug, not because she's afraid they'll cheat, but as she tells them, "One they get your spelling in their head--they might accidentally copy." That's a great way to put that.

Two other things that I thought were greatly phrased today were said to some boys who were having some issues throughout the day. To Mantis, who was all over the place in terms of body movement today, she said, "You're having a hard time being a good citizen in our classroom today." To Q-man, who is rushing through his work carelessly because he wants to play at his own choice of activities, she says, "You're too smart for me to let you get away with that."

Thursday was a short day, but guess what happened? We did math review for testing, and the kids had to put fractions with different denominators in order from smallest to biggest. I of course thought of Least Common Multiple, but since they weren't there yet, we drew pictures of circles, divided them into pieces, and then shaded to find out which was biggest. BUT, one girl, who is a little ahead in math, sat with me off to the side, and we learned LCM, we learned reducing fractions, and we learned how to find percent, like 4 out of 20 equals x out of 100 and you can cross mutiply and divide to find the answer. It was AWESOME. She really enjoyed learning and it made me feel great to be able to teach her. A girl who's good in math and hwo likes it too. This is what the world is getting to. It makes me hopeful for the future.

Here are the kids I wrote about this week, and my rating of how well I think I know them. I have about 5 kids left to do this for, and so you will hear the rest next time.

Pinky (1) is the quietest student in the class. She never speaks up for any reason, even to ask for help. However, her work is always carefully done and exemplary. I'd like to know more about her.

Continental (3) has a great, upbeat personality. Sometime I notice her being a little clique-y and not allowing outsiders in to play.

A-Town (7) is the teacher's helper. She always rushes to the side of MissTeacher whenever something needs to be done. I like this quality, and she is a very happy girl, but I wish that she would try and socialize with the people in the class once in a while.

Blondie (2) is pretty sweet-natured, and a very good student. I wish she would speak out more sometimes though.

BB (4) is a very creative and artistic soul, and sensitive to other's needs. She, however, does not seem to care about her schoolwork and always just carelessly rushes through it.

Foxy (3) is a gentle, friendly kid. He doesn't disrupt class outwardly, but he's very sneaky about his misbehavior. He always seem to act up when the teacher's back is turned, and he forgets that I can see him too.

Sharebear (6) is a very generous kid. She is a great sharer. I feel that sometimes she could step outside of her comfort z0ne a little though. She'll probably do that later in life, I'm guessing.

Cita (6) is extraordinarily bright an a great student. Sometimes she's a little sassy, and she seems bossy to the other girls. They don't seem to mind, yet, but I can see where it might be going from my own experience as a bossy girl.

Sparky (5) is a helpful, happy child. I can't think of anything, not one thing, that she could stand to work on. She's a little soft-spoken, but I don't see it standing in the way of her learning.

Speakeasy (7) is always accepting of others and trying to make friends. He has probelms with frustration though, and tends to give up on school work easily.

Starbright (5) has a very bubbly, positive personality. I'd like her to have more confidence in herself and her intelligence.

Mathwiz (4) is another very bright child. He has serious emotional problems though. I don't want to judge, because I'm not an expert, but he seem extremely sensitive and gets depressed and sulky very easily.

DramaQueen (6) is a very upbeat, zany girl. She never asks for help on her schoolwork when she doesn't understand though. I wish she would

Bugboy (5) is a sensitve, creative thinker. He should have more motivation for his schoolwork. He tends to wait for answers to be given, rather than formulate answers on his own.

Wired (2) is a very well-behaved, polite child. I wish he spoke up more in class.

Qman (8) is a lot of things. He is a very talented writer, much above his level, and he is very good at his schoolwork when he actually puts an effort into it. He tries to be well-behaved, and I can tell he really wants to, but he seems to take pleasure out of trying to get some of the other boys in trouble. The story always goes that he's not doing anything wrong, it's the other boys. I worry about him sometimes, but for the most part, I think he'll do fine in MissTeacher's class.

More in two weeks, when the kids come back from camp and I see them again.