Kids These Days

So I have a "hypothetical" question: If, as a teacher, a student comes back from lunch, and as he/she walks by you on the way to his/her desk you catch a whiff of pot... what do you do?? And furthermore, say the school happens to have open-campus lunch hours where students leave and come back... What if the illegal activities didn't happen on school ground? In the honor of this person's privacy I'll just say that recently he/she was expelled from school for a year and won't even be allowed to go to alternative school until after six months, so he/she will be a year and a half behind in school, all because of the situation above. I'm not saying it's right or wrong... but I will say that another student who stole money from a visiting basketball team during a game only got expelled for 6 months and was able to go straight to alternative school and graduate with the rest of his/her class, although he/she wasn't allowed to walk. So the pot incident was punished more harshly than the stealing incident. I can think of some justifications for that I guess. So my real question is should a teacher really be a police dog and smell all his/her students for signs of illegal substances, and get them all expelled in some master plan to "lighten" his or her workload? I'm exaggerating a little here but I mean seriously. Also, when the student is coming back from off-campus lunch and has no paraphanalia and you have no proof that it happened on-campus or that the student was actually the one smoking the pot, should you still turn them in? This is totally off-topic for this course but I thought it was interesting. I think it's probably one of those school policy situations, but I was just wondering what other peoples' thoughts were. I think that if you're sure beyond a doubt that you should do something about it, but I think sometimes there are so many variables that maybe just giving the student some sort of warning after class when you aren't positive might be ok? Or is that a completely wrong thing to do?

Comments from Mrs. O

Mrs. Oxford sent me an email about the exchange; she said:

My students and I have been having post conferences on their research
papers. During our conference, I have been pulling up your students
comments and grades. I thought that your students would want to know that
they are scoring the papers very closely to my scores. This isn't true 100%
of the time, but most are very close. That is great!!

Sounds like you're doing pretty well!

In an earlier email, she mentioned that her students have really been paying attention to your comments and talking about what you have said about their writing. There have been a few bumps. A couple students felt their SIU reader was being mean by pointing out that they didn't seem to be taking the assignment seriously. Mrs. Oxford and I discussed how students sometimes DO need to be told the truth. She also said it's important to realize that sometimes you will have students that want to only hear sugar-coated fluff even when they do work far below their capabilities. They don't deal well with the truth, but many times these students realize months or even years later how you've pushed them and how your high expectations actually forced them out of their comfort zone in a good way. The only other concern of the students was that they were marked down on some things in their final draft when those things weren't mentioned in their first drafts. Mrs. O said this is something she still has to work on, but there are times when some problems seem to be at the forefront on a rough draft and then other things draw more attention as the first things are fixed.

Overall, very nice work, folks! You should be proud of yourselves.

Giving Grades

Giving grades especially on writing was a difficult thing for me to do. It was so difficult because I felt as if I was judging them. And not having seen what they were working on, the grades that I gave just did not seem like they should have been given at least not some of them. I don't know what else to say except that it was difficult. I don't know what the rest of of did but I found it easiest just to go by the rubric that their teacher had provided yet some of the grades that I assigned with it made me unhappy because they were missing things so I had to deduct points for that. I did see a lot of improvement between the drafts and the final paper though. It was great to see that some of the students did hold valve for my comments.

Finding the Balance

I don't know if anyone else has thought about this, but my grading and comments on papers have changed significantly. When we first began grading essays in class, I would read through essays and mark every gramatical error I could find. I focused on the mechanical side of students writing. But as I finished up my final set of essays, I noticed that I was focusing on the content of the paper. Most of my changes and comments revolved around paragraphing, theses, etc. Now what i need to work on is balancing out my comments. I feel that it is important that students improve on both grammar and content. They are equally important. I think the balance is something I will achieve over time and with practice.

RHS essays

I must say that grading the essays for the RHS students was a great learning experience. I liked that many of the students, particularly the students on web cam, took what I was saying seriously and made very positive changes to their papers. It seems as though they just needed someone to point out the idea of something other than five paragraph essays. Another common problem that ran throughout most of the essays was the presence of personal opinion rather than taking a stand on an issue and supporting it with research. While there was an improvement in this problem, many students still had the presence of personal opinions throughout the paper. The only frustrating part of the experience was when students did not listen to the comments I made. It was frustrating and made me feel as though I wasted time by even giving them suggestions. I know that this is something I will simply have to get use to because it will happen throughout my career.

Alright, that's about all I've got. Just wanted to share my reaction on the essays.

Oh and about the web conferences...

Oh, I also forgot to talk about the web conferences! I meant to last week, but life got a little hectic so there is no better time than the present. :)

My web conferences had a few technical difficulties, but despite half of the time on Missy's cell, I did enjoy the experience. I got to see what it was really like to talk to a student that cares about my comments and takes notes during the conference, and I also spoke with a student who did not even bring his paper to our meeting. I did not dislike either experience despite their differences, and I actually learned more from a very close to hands-on conference with a current student. I used to be the student that really cared what the teacher said (not that I am not still), but I never really took notes. I usually was confident in my paper, and I took into consideration what the teacher said. I am aware that this sounds a little egotisitc, but unfortunately, that's how I was in high school. So, it was really educational to see the other two extremes and use my memory of being in high school in order to get through to each individual. I love being honest with the students about my study habits, because I think that it makes them listen to you more willingly. That's all for tonight, my friends...good night.

Another random thought as usual...

So, kiddos, tonight I have yet another random thought to share with all of your lovely faces. :)

Tonight is a little more generic, but I hope that you find it insightful. I am highly fascinated with how to incorporate diversity into the classroom effectively. More specficially, I have a very diverse group of friends, and I love being the young, funny, white girl. I know that sounds kind of bad, but I do not mean for it to be inappropriate in even the slightest sense. I embrace who I am and enjoy learning how to embrace other cultures. However, not every person that meets me would think that I behave in this manner. Although I do not think that I experience racism, I do feel that people assume that I will be racist, when in all reality, I am extremely far from that.

I have always wanted to teach in the inner city schools and teach to kids that actually need someone that cares. I say that I want to teach in Clayton, Missouri and be girly and wear all the designer clothes, but do I? I find so much more pleasure in helping somone that needs me. Don't get me wrong, I know all students need teachers, and every deserves a fair education, but I do feel that we focus on the schools that do well and fund unnecessary projects when students are sitting in unsafe fascilities and being taught by teachers that should be fired.

I am extremely enthusiastic to be a teacher, and I have all intentions to consider diversity in the classroom, but I also do not blend everyone into one color. I do and will see every student as an individual. I know I sound very idealistic in this blog, but sometimes a little idealism is healthy. My ultimate point is that we have to think about what diversity means to us as a person before we can understand it in the classroom.

Web Confrences

The web conferences were a brand new experience I must say. I learned that technology can be a pain in the butt when you need to use it for something. ^_^ But it was also a great experience in and of its self. I did enjoy speaking with live students. You get feed back from your feedback which is great to have. Some of my students did not understand where they wanted to go, some of them did. I have also been given the opportunity to watch several of my CT's conferences with her students. Don't be afraid to ask if you can do this. It is a great way to watch the interaction first hand.

Grading Final Set of RHS Essays

I have to say that I have enjoyed this experience- as tiring as it has been. I think that I have learned a substantial amount both personally and professionally throughout this exchange.

The last set of essays was extremely difficult to get through. I know how I am with my own writing. I can't stand to proofread over and over. I felt like that was what I was doing with these essays. Some I wanted to scream, simply because I knew that they had not taken the revision seriously. Others, did a wonderful job at taking in our comments and working them (at their discretion) into their essays. I enjoyed many of them. It really gives you a rewarding feeling when a student has taken a very rough draft and has completly morphed it into something wonderful. But, I am very thankful that I have finished grading them. I have definitely learned a valuable lesson! :)

Web Conferences

At first when we were informed that we would be going through with the web conferences I felt excited because I would be able to help these students more by actually talking to them instead of just leaving them comments and written feedback. I went back and looked at the final draft that was posted by a student from the first set of essays we responded to and I noticed that the only suggestions of mine that she applied were the grammatical ones. I felt like a spent a good deal of time and put some real effort into suggesting items for revision and then the grammar was the only thing changed. So I was hoping that the web conferences would be better. I felt like I was prepared and I had a substantial amount of feedback to share. I was not nervous until the first conference. This one did not go as well as I had wanted it to but the other three made up for it. I felt more confident during the last three interviews than the first. I felt like two of my students were truly interested in my feedback; they were taking notes and asking questions which I really enjoyed. Then, the other two were not as responsive which is typical. Hopefully, my suggestions were considered and applied more than in the last set of essays.

Student Papers-Round Two

The first round was a bit nerve racking for me. I was so worried that I was not going to be able to help the students in a way that would be beneficial to them. I was even starting to dread this second set of papers a tiny bit. But as I was putting the finishing touches on them last night, I realized how much easier this set was to comment on.

Is there anyone else who thought this as well? I am interested to find out.

I must be honest as I say I am a bit fearful of giving the students a grade on their papers. After reading one paper, however, I am looking forward to a chance to reread them though as a finished product.

Writing Center Conferences

I really was dreading the writing center conference. Since, it was a requirement, I went. I ended up enjoying the session. It is difficult to be a jr. almost sr. ;) in college and have to go to a writing center session. (Even though, I realize that I do still need instruction in mechanics and some aspects of grammar. I am a comma lover!) I enjoyed the session because it made me realize that I am not so horrible at writing. My tutor was especially nice and very helpful. She read through my essay making comments like-- nice, YES!, okay. By doing this, it allowed me to understanding what she was thinking. I know that I often question what other people are thinking while they are reading my essay. It is nice to hear her read it out loud and comment on it. I would go to the writing lab again- maybe soon. I really appreciate these "required" assignments because they often make you do things that you normally would not do. And as I have learned, I usually enjoy doing them!

Web Conferences

Talk about your experience with the web conferences. Describe how you were feeling before the conference. What did you do to prepare? Describe how you felt during the conference. Did you feel stressed? Confident? Comfortable? Like this is what you were meant to do with your life :)? After reflecting on the experience, how would you evaluate it? What went well? What went not so well? What did you learn about yourself through this experience? What did you learn about high school students? What did you learn about teaching?

Unit Plans

What did you learn from this experience? How do you feel about the work you completed? How do you see yourself using these plans in the future?

Writing Center Visit

Talk about your visit. What did you like about it? What did you dislike? What strategies did the tutor use? What can you take from this experience and apply to your future teaching?