I have been missing in action for a few weeks now for two main reasons.

1) I have been finishing my M. Ed. (I’m done, by the way….say congrats!).

2) I have been having something of an blogentity crisis as I really enjoy partaking in the larger conversations of the educational blogosphere but have felt that my blog has been too unfocused.

However, I have been able to find my refocus! This blog will continue to be a resource for my students and fellow teachers; I strive to provide excellent resources on my resources page. (Revamping is on my list of to do’s over the xmas break!) Additionally, my blog posts will be more specifically aimed at sharing resources and lesson planning ideas with my faculty.

So stay tuned, the posts will return in a week or so!

Best Group Blog: The Stratford Sentinel

Best Resource Sharing Blog: Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day

* On a side note, I do wish that the video were more ethnically diverse. *

Happy Students

This week I took some time to recognize and reflect on one of my happy students. I have one student in my last block of the day that always seems to be happy, energetic, and positive about class. It occurred to me the other day that he helps to set the tone for the class by giving positive energy to both me and his peers.

For example, when I am telling students about the objectives for the day and what we’ll be doing, he often makes comments like, “Aww…that’s tight!” or “Man, today’s gonna be cool.” Even today, he began by saying, “Yes! I love to act!” (we went to the auditorium to act our scenes from the play we’re reading, Pygmalion).

It is so gratifying to experience someone’s enthusiasm for your subject. I pulled this young man aside this week and told him about my reflections on his role in my class because I wanted to encourage him to continue to bring that energy to others and to feel positive about his school environment. I know he will succeed in life because of his attitude and hope that my telling him so will stay with him.

Negative Nellies

So, I have more than a few negative nellies in my classes that can bring down the tone of a class as quickly as happy students can bring them up…probably quicker. I continue trying to work with these students on the way they present themselves because I honestly do not think that they can hear how they sound.

For example, many of my students constantly grumble about every assignment and every activity. “This is stupid.” “I hate this class.” “It’s too much!” Most of the time, it isn’t the words they are saying, but the way in which they say it.

The past two weeks, I was “going especially hard” on one of my students in particular. She had begun to participate less in class, was becoming much more vocal with complaints, and was pulling away from me when I tried to discuss her behavior with her.

This week, she finally got tired of me “being worsome” and decided she’d just be quiet and not say anything. She had a very quiet couple of days, which bothered me a little because she was being distant. But then, something amazing happened. Another student made a grumble about an assignment and it caught her attention. She looked at me and said, “Is that what I used to sound like?”

I loved that she reacted that way because it showed that she recognized what a drain it can be to be constantly negative. It upset her to think that she had been like that. It was a great teachable moment that I didn’t even have to teach. She taught herself. Sometimes it just pays to be patient.

He Can Be Taught!

So, our class has been reading something far removed from my students’ comfort zones lately (Pygmalion by G.B. Shaw) and it has been very difficult to get them to relate to the characters or even understand their interactions, though most are honestly trying and a few are honestly interested.

At this point in the story, I must introduce one student that had a rough start to the year. He lacked interest in the material; he only halfway completed assignments, if at all; and he was often aggressive when requested to do something. However, something changed over the past few weeks and it is like I have a whole new student! He participates in class; he is engaged in the reading; and he is one of the first to answer questions during class discussions. It’s awesome! (I think I know what kicked off the new student mentality, but will not mention it here because it would give away the identity of the student.)

Here’s the best part about this student! This week, at the beginning of class, I asked this student to put away his cell phone and mp3 player. He looks at me and responds with “Garn! Ah-aw-ah-oohh!”

For those of you unfamiliar with Eliza Doolittle, these are some of the sounds she makes to express disapproval and/or disbelief (and sometimes even pleasure…).

So, my student learned these expressions, internalized their meanings, and then used them in an appropriate way to convey humor. In other words, he made an intellectual joke! I was so happy that I celebrated that moment right then and there in class. He was so proud to have made a “smart joke.” He was all grin, from ear to ear. Never give up on a student’s potential to be an amazing English student!

Supportive Colleagues

I also want to take a moment to be thankful for my colleagues. I work with dedicated craftsmen every day. My colleagues are always willing to discuss methods, classroom management, philosophies, particular students, issues, etc. It is so terrific to be able to find such willing, intelligent sounding boards any time I need to.

We all know that as teachers, we have to make a lot of decisions during the day (many of which can seriously affect the lives of our students). I would be lost without people with whom to share ideas, reflect on best practices, and brainstorm solutions.

In particular, I want to thank my readers! I am happy to have found people that believe enough in their fellow teachers to join the conversation. So, thanks!

Some very interesting information came to me during the course of assisting students with this assignment and reading the results of their work.

First, most of my students did not know what the word “poverty” meant. (And we’re talking about Seniors in high school…) At first, it seemed that they just lacked the vocabulary to describe the state of being poor. However, as I would provide the definition and prod the students to think about the questions I had given them for freewrites on the topic, I began to doubt their ability to conceptualize the state of being poor. They immediately began to state things about African children and men living under bridges….but never turned that lens on themselves as examples of people living in poverty. Even when I referenced that our school is of the most impoverished in the city, they immediately wanted to make that about the school itself not having enough money.

And here is where it gets interesting…one student in particular was really struggling with the concept of poverty once we were already in the computer lab working on our blogs. So, we began to have a conversation about what poverty looks like. Where do we see it? I mentioned, carefully, that most of the students at our school are on Free and Reduced Lunch. Before I could say more, he said, “I’m on Free and Reduced Lunch….But that don’t mean anything. It’s just some kids’ family makes too much money and so they have to pay for their lunch and stuff.”

Mindblowing! These students believe that some people have to pay for their lunch because they make too much money. They have flipped the situation around and forced themselves to understand their situation from a “glass half full” point of view.

I want to say more but my lack of time today prevents this. I’m planning to repost some of my students’ blogs here. Also, I plan to create links to their blogs in my sidebar at least by this weekend so you all can see what they’ve said about poverty.

One of my colleagues and I have been discussing the merits of such an experiment, particularly for our school’s population, for whom consistency is infrequent at best. In reality, if I chose to do this, I would likely loop back to 10th grade because our school has a Freshman Academy small learning community.

However, I am still not sold it is the best decision, so I wanted to open up a conversation to my peers to get your feedback. I have considered some pros and cons and will list them below. Please share your thoughts!

Pros:

• Students would have a consistent teacher
• Teacher would have firm understanding of students’ capabilities and knowledge base
• Students and teacher would form strong and meaningful relationships
• Teachers get variety in the subject matter

Cons:

• Students would not get variety in English teachers
• Teacher would not get variety in students
• Teacher would take longer to become an expert in grade level strategies and lesson plans
• Sometimes teachers do not “click” with their students, so the experience might be four years of h*ll. (although, on the other hand, it would teach both teacher and students to get along…)

Post some comments! I would like to get some fresh perspectives!

I personally went with “The Drew Carey Project: Volume 1″

Much has happened in the past two weeks or so since I posted last. The 9 weeks ended (so grades are due today)…Parent Teacher Conf’s are next week, so I have been making calls…I’ve begun working with our school social worker on the Get Fit Club…I’ve decided to be the assistant tennis coach in the spring…and the list goes on and on.

Additionally, and most importantly, a friend a co-teacher passed away after a fatal car accident…which has left a huge hole in the school and had serious effects on our students and staff.

So, we’ve been quite busy at our little hive grieving, grading, and getting by…

However, I have been making a list of all the things I have been wanting to blog about…some of which seem irrelevant now…but I will be making up for them…now.

The consensus of our conversation was that while appreciation is desirable from one’s administration and peers, it is much better to have their understanding because to be truly appreciated means that you have been understood…that your efforts, motivations, intentions, goals, objectives, methods, etc. are known, supported, and will be reinforced by some form of structure (hopefully ).

(My personal little mini-take on this is that it is the job of all parties involved to make the understanding happen.)

Which brings us to the discussion of Empty Praise and Constructive Praise. Our conclusion was that Empty Praise is usually a sign that you are appreciated but not necessarily understood. While Empty Praise still feels good, it tends to be non-specific, like “You are doing a great job!” and “I am so delighted at the work you are doing, keep it up!”

Constructive Praise is usually a sign that you are both appreciated AND understood. It is more specific and demonstrates that the person giving it has noticed something in particular that you are doing well. The colleague with whom I was speaking is very good at giving this kind of praise and, as someone who is benefiting from it, I have developed a whole new respect for how important it is.

Upon consideration of my new understanding of the differences between Empty and Constructive Praise, I wonder at how well I, as a teacher, truly am at giving Constructive Praise to my students. Am I specific enough in my positive feedback?

We all know we are supposed to give our students positives…but how often do we take the time to be as specific as possible about them? My challenge to myself (and to all my faithful readers) is to really work next week at giving very specific feedback to our students…

Let me know how it goes!