As mentioned earlier, another teacher and I are the advisors for the yearbook next year.  We have already started talking about our superhero theme and have students excited about it and cover designs are in the process!  The last meeting was encouraging.  We had a great turn out and students seemed really excited about this idea.  Now, we have received a letter from DC Comics telling us all the details about actually using the images of super heroes like batman and hulk and superman.  I realized we would need to  give them credit but didn’t realize there would be a price.  If we do use these images, it would need to be approved by DC Comics.  With yearbook dead lines, I am not sure this can be done.  I feel like we have gone so far with this idea and  now we are back at the drawing board for ideas.  Here I thought we were so far ahead and in reality we have now taken a huge step back.  Ugh!  Any good theme ideas out there?

I honestly do not think that because it is June and crazy and overwhelming and hot that this idea is bothering me.  It happens all year, it just seems more annoying at this time of year.  I have a handful of students who I have given a grace period on an assignment that was due April 3rd.  We are now past June 3rd.  That is two months people!  Never did I give the grace period for this long, it has just turned out this way! How long should I wait and wait and wait?!  Each day these students will tell me the assignment is still not completed.  However, they will report to work on time after school and will have their cell phone attached to their hip and will listen to their I-pod when ever they get the chance, but school work is just placed on the back burner?!  I guess it has to do with graduation.   Some of these students happen to be seniors.  Is it better to  hold a student back for one class?  But the other part of me is asking, what exactly are we teaching these students??  We are supposed to be preparing these young adults for the real world right?  In these instances, we are not doing that!  Administrators want higher standards and high expectations and honors classes, yet due dates aren’t kept, policies and procedures are not followed.  So, why do we have such things if in the long run, they aren’t followed?!  One student who had until today at 2:00 to turn in this two month old assignment had staff members typing it for him????????  Outrageous! I have continually wrestled with this idea all year.  In the classes where I have implemented a no late policy, students say they really like it and work does get turned in.  My seniors in my college credit class wish all classes would do this and that it should be for all of high school.  I  can certainly sympathize with a student in an extreme case.  But, define extreme case?  Here we go again!

My collegue and I are advising the yearbook next year.  Neither one of us has done this before so I fear it will be like “the blind leading the blind.”  This week we had our first meeting with the publisher.  The repeated message was: “This is a lot of work.”  After the meeting I was very overwhelmed.  We are starting early in order to save money which will allow the price of each book to be more affordable.  Five very reliable young girls attended the meeting, these are students that I imagine will stick with this until the end. That made me very pleased.  However, I couldn’t help but think we need more students to be involved.  How do I recruit them?  We need, organizers, typists, creative thinkers, artists and photographers.  I also need advice from anyone out there who has ever advised yearbook before.  Help!

As a teacher, how do you feel if someone says: “I heard you have favorites”.  This idea has come up twice this week.  If a teacher works hard at building a rapport with students, does it mean that the students that actually respond automatically become the teacher’s favorites?  A student teacher in our school just recently went for an interview where she had to arrange in order of importance ideas that were written on cards.  She mentioned that rapport was one of those words and in this district’s mind, rapport was number one!  Perhaps this saying, ” you have favorites” comes with the profession?

Over the last two days, I have been so proud of my students.   Wednesday morning I woke up and did not have much of a voice.  I have been nursing a cold for about a week.  So, I wrote a note on the board telling my students what to do and they quickly, and easily went about their work without any hassle.  Some of my students took right over and became my voice and gave extra directions to the entire class that I could not quite utter.

Today in my Honors English 11 class my students completed their debates.  My heart was ultimately bursting with pride as the last two groups presented today.  I watched their faces, I watched them listen to one another and quickly take notes in order to respond and I watched them speak their point of view.  One student volunteered to debate her point of view with a mystery guest and she certainly held her own!  The mystery guest turned out to be one of our social studies teachers.  Overall, never having tried something like this, I had no idea  how it would turn out.  The debates exceeded my expectations.  Actually, my students exceeded my expectations!

In both cases, my students rose to the occasion.  One group of students being so familiar with the daily routine in my classroom, were able to complete a worth while assignment without much direction from me.  Secondly, my honors kids have grown so much and had the opportunity to really shine in front of their peers.  These events are what make it great to be a teacher!

Bravo everyone!!

Have you ever stayed home from school because you were sick, really not feeling well?  That’s what I have been doing for the past two days.  So, why do I feel guilty?  My mother thinks I am overly dedicated to my small rural school and my students.  Isn’t that what a good teacher does, show dedication?  I know that no one can engage my students like I can while reading Macbeth.  No one can answer specific assignment questions but me.  This year like every other year, I have built rapport with my students and even former students who are still in the building.  For some of my students, their teacher is the only constant in their lives.  Putting all of that in someone else’s hands kind of makes me uneasy.  I care about my students and I also enjoy what I do.   Wouldn’t that be considered dedication?

Guilt also arises when I think of the extra assignments I have had to assign due to my absence.  Once I get back, period baskets will be over flowing with completed work, which will in turn need to be graded.  I also look at my desk at home and see four piles of research papers that were turned in before break that need to be graded.  When I am trying to rest, my mind is flooded with thoughts of what I need to attend to.  Things like preparing my students for round two of the Regents Exam coming up in June and a final project for my seniors, how to reschedule debates for my Honors class.  Sometimes I think it is easier to just go to work?!

I just read an article by Dick Iannuzzi about the latest buzz word in re-inventing the wheel of education.  I was encouraged that he stated, “teachers live and breathe accountability…”  A truer statement was never made. Such things as classroom management and content skills are tested daily.  Teachers are reviewed each year in some way.  Then we have school report cards and standardized tests that are also used to evaluate teachers.  I wanted to yell “yes!” when Mr. Iannuzzi stated that,” [a]ccountability  starts first with students.”  It seems that there is so much hand holding and second chances for students when in the first place they are not always held accountable for their actions, inappropriate verbal comments, and lack of school productivity.  Some of the time, they don’t care and will make it very clear that they don’t care.  Remember the old saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink”?  I know this is part of our job to watch over each and every student, yet I can’t help sometimes feeling, should I take time to badger a student who doesn’t care or use the time with students who are truly engaged and want to learn?   I worry about the state making teachers, and administrators accountable for their students or school districts based on test scores.  I know for myself, I was an excellent student, but a lousy test taker.  So, should that reflect badly on the teacher?  I don’t think so.  The article goes on to say there “is little evidence that student test scores are an effective means of evaluating individual teachers….” 

It seems that Mr. Iannuzzi is definitely the voice of the teacher when he says that “‘teachers instinctively  know about student performance… because teachers toil on behalf of [students] every day’”.  He brilliantly asks, “perhaps its time someone asked a teacher.”  We do know our students best.   We build a rapport with them, encourage them, cheer for them, listen to them and teach them.  However, a test score will reflect on the overall job of the teacher? 

After the student, came the parents being accountable. Parents certainly want to know how their child is doing or why their child is failing.  Yet, how often are they actually accountable for the study habits or productivity of their own child? 

Accountability needs to be placed on the proper shoulders.  Yes, data and test scores have their place.  I am not sure it belongs on the shoulders of evaluating teachers. Today, a teacher wears many hats and performs several jobs that are never taught in college during the preparation of becoming a teacher.  This profession is overwhelming and so rewarding all at the same time.  I agree when the article stated, that teaching is an art and being an effective teacher, “‘can’t be measured by a test alone.’”

Since I am a new blogger, it seems that I spend countless hours searching for other high school English teachers who blog about their classrooms and issues that go on and assignments that they have created or situations that they become involved in.  I am in search of YOU!  I am looking to learn and fine tune my craft as well as share in stoires that are common in the education business.

In my small rural high school, we found out that the schedule will be different next year.  The idea of longer class periods had been coming up during department leader meetings.  After months of discussion, it was decided that next year our science department and the English department would go to teaching on the block.  Being an English teacher, this will be a big change for me.  I like the idea of longer instructional time but 82 minutes scares me!  This year I have a very large population of special education students that are blended in with other students.  These are the kids that I worry about.  These kids have trouble already paying attention during class that currently lasts 38 minutes!  What in the world will I do with them for 82 minutes?  How do I keep students who are already hard to captivate, motivated to stay tuned in?  Another issue I fear is not seeing these kids everyday.  Will they be able to maintain what was taught?  Then there is the fact that if a student is absent, they essentially miss two days by missing one 82 minute class period.  I realize that changing instructional strategies will be a must in this type of format.  However, attention span and attendance are my big worries for the changed schedule.

Recently, my colleague and I attended a seminar on incorporating Graphic Novels into the classroom.  Now, of course, being a high school English teacher I was skeptical as to the relevance of this genre.  I must say that after the seminar, I was intrigued and impressed with the knowledge I had gained.  My curiosity provoked me to actually purchase one of the titles that came highly recommended.  I anxiously await its arrival from Amazon!  One of my current students has been very helpful in teaching me how to read Manga and actually loaned me one of her own personal copies.  Reading in this format is tricky and I must confess, challenging.  Since the  book  starts at the back and reads right to left , it is awkward at first.  Slowly I am getting the hang of it.  Now, as summer reading lists are in the air, I am contemplating placing a title from this medium on my list.  I am anxious to see the student reaction and would eventually entertain the thought of incorporating Graphic Novels in my own classroom.  I am interested in anyone’s experience with these types of books.  Please share, I  want to grow and learn as an educator.